Indian-origin cancer researcher knighted by Queen Elizabeth

London An Indianorigin cancer research expert has received a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his influential work on prevention and treatment of cancer in the annual New Years Honours list published here todayHarpal Singh Kumar who is the chief executive of Cancer Research UK CRUK has been honoured for services to cancer research and being hugely influential in promoting research into the prevention early diagnosis and treatment of cancer and cancer careCRUKs income and research spend are at an alltime high Under his leadership it has been instrumental in pushing the government to take further measures to reduce smoking and to ban sunbeds for under18s Kumars citation readsHe also chaired the Independent Cancer Taskforce and authored the NHS Cancer Strategy Achieving World Class Cancer Outcomes A Strategy for England 201520 published in July 2015 it saidQueen Elizabeth IIKumar leads this years honours list of Indianorigin names covering fields of entrepreneurship financial services and community service He has been instrumental in setting up the Francis Crick Institute as a worldleading centre of biomedical research and innovation the citation addedSamir Desai founderCEO of Funding Circle receives a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire CBE for his work in the field of financial inclusion and Raminder Singh Ranger chairman of Sun Mark Ltd is awarded a CBE for services to business and community cohesionAmong the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire OBE list are Kala Patel managing director of Kiddycare Ltd Nurseries for services to childcare business and Daljit Lally deputy chief executive of Northumberland Country Council for services to integrated care A British Empire Medal has been awarded to Aatin Ashok Anadkat managing director of Hotel Maiyango in Leicester for services to entrepreneurshipThe largest Indianorigin representation is among the list of Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire MBE which include Rekha Mehr founder of Indian sweets inspired bakery Pistachio Rose for services to entrepreneurship and enterprise Ayesha Hazarika chief of staff to the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party for political serviceThe other Indianorigins in the list include Gurmeet Kalsi Building Services Engineer Palace of Westminster for parliamentary services and voluntary services to the Sikh community in Surrey Jayshree Mehta president of the Bharat Hindu Samaj for services to the community and Satpal Nahl from Her Majestys Revenue amp Customs HMRC for services to taxpayers and public administrationWhile Yasmin Mohammed Farooq Nathani director of Shama Womens Centre is named for empowerment of women in Leicester Karnail Singh Pannu is for services to the community in Windsor and MaidenheadMukesh Sharma managing director of Selective Travel Management for services to travel trade in Northern Ireland and Suresh Chandra Vashishtha for services to the community in the London Borough of RedbridgeIn total 1196 people have received an award in this years list In addition to the honours recipients this year sees three new admissions to the Order of Merit which is awarded to those who have rendered exceptionally meritorious services towards the advancement of the Arts Learning Literature and ScienceThe award is in the personal gift from the Queen and is limited to 24 living recipients This year it went to Iraqiborn Professor Lord Darzi for services to medicine Professor Dame Ann Dowling for mechanical engineering and Sir James Dyson of the Dyson vaccum cleaner fame for his work in industrial designThere are 578 successful women candidates in the List representing 48 per cent of the total and 57 per cent of the successful candidates come from ethnic minority backgrounds The awards are presented in the name of the British monarch and published by the UK government in the London Gazette on New Years Eve every year