(Our Bureau, June 12) Over 30 Indian-origin individuals are among those who feature in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List this year. A majority of them are healthcare experts who helped develop the COVID-19 vaccine and worked towards supporting the community during the pandemic. Of these, Kolkata-born Divya Chadha Manek, director of business development and marketing at National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network, was conferred the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her involvement in the research and development of vaccines and their clinical trials.
Individuals who worked towards the COVID-19 pandemic response constitute 23% of this year’s list. At least six Indians have been conferred the OBE this year including Sikh Recover Network’s Jasvinder Singh Rai for helping the Sikh community, and Lloyds Banking Group’s Jasjyot Singh for services to financial services during the pandemic.
Those honored as Members of the British Empire (MBE) include Vaccine Taskforce’s Devina Banerjee, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Dr Ananthakrishnan Raghuram, and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust’s Anoop Jivan Chauhan. The Queen’s Birthday Honours List is released each year to coincide with Queen Elizabeth’s official birthday on the second weekend of June. This year there has been a special focus on efforts made by individuals during the pandemic.
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