British-Indian don knighted

London, December 31

Shankar Balasubramanian, an Indian-origin professor of chemistry and DNA expert at Cambridge University, has received a knighthood along with Olympic stars Andy Murray and Mo Farah, among others, by Queen Elizabeth II for their contributions.

Balasubramanian, 50, Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Cambridge University, has been recognised for his work as a co-inventor of Next Generation DNA sequencing, described as the most transformational advance in biology and medicine for decades.

A host of other Indian-origin professionals are on the honours’ list, including Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for Hardip Singh Begol of the UK’s Department, and Kamaldeep Singh Bhui, Professor of Cultural Psychiatry and Epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London.

Neena Gill, Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands, gets the CBE for parliamentary and political service, Ravindra Pragji Govindia of Wandsworth Borough Council for services to local government and the community, and Anita Thapar from the Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences at Cardiff University for services to child and adolescent psychiatry.

Indian-origin Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBEs) include Poonam Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of PG Paper Company Ltd; Dr Brinder Singh Mahon, CEO of Nishkam School Trust; Yorkshire prison officer Avtar Singh Purewal; and Jasvir Singh, founding chair of City Sikhs. — PTI