Knighthood for UK cancer expert
Friday, 01/01/2016
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
LONDON: Cancer expert Harpal Singh Kumar, whose parents fled to India from Pakistan during Partition and later moved to Britain, has been knighted in a royal honours list that includes several Indian-origin individuals who distinguished themselves in various fields.
The list of New Year Honours 2016, announced on Thursday, drew criticism for awarding knighthood to Australian strategist Lynton Crosby, who was campaign director for the Conservative party during the May election.
Veteran actress Barbara Windsor was made a dame, the women’s equivalent of knighthood, in the list that includes 1,196 individuals.
Cambridge and Harvardeducated Kumar, 50, is the CEO of prominent charity organisation Cancer Research UK (CRUK). After training as a chemical engineer, Kumar worked as a healthcare consultant with McKinsey in 1992 and went on to hold senior positions in the field.
The citation accompanying his knighthood said he “has been hugely influential in promoting research into the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and cancer care. CRUK’s income and research spend are at an all-time high”.
Prominent Indian-origin individuals honoured with civilian awards such as OBE and MBE include Raminder Singh Ranger, whose company Sun Mark Ltd has won several export awards from the British government.
Other award winners include Prathibha Ramsingh (for services to job-seekers and employer engagement in London), Gurmukh Singh of Khalsa Aid (community cohesion and charity), Meena Upadhyaya (medical genetics and Welsh Asian community), Ayesha Hazarika, chief of staff to Labour party’s deputy leader (for political service), and Jayshree Mehta, president, Bharat Hindu Samaj, the Hindu Temple and Chair, Sangam Indian Women’s Association (for services to community and Community Cohesion in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire).
