Meghnad Desai, Noted Economist and House of Lords Peer, Passes Away
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New Delhi: Meghnad Desai, famed British-Indian economist and a peer at the House of Lords in England, died on July 29. He was 85.
PTI has reported, on the basis of what a family source said, that Desai is believed to have passed away in a hospital in Gurugram following a health issue.
The news agency has quoted his wife, Kishwar Desai, as having said: “I am devastated, as he was my rockstar husband, larger than life. Indestructible. I adored him.”
Desai was born in Vadodara. He secured a bachelor's degree in economics from Ramnarain Ruia College, a master's degree in economics from the University of Mumbai, and his PhD in economics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1963.
Desai was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in 2008.
Active in the British Labour party, which he headed through chairmanships in 1986 and 1992, Desai quit it 2020, citing Zionism concerns, after Jeremy Corbyn was readmitted as member.
Desai was elevated to the House of Lords in June 1991.
Tributes have poured in on social media.
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