By Prasun Sonwalkar
IANS
London : Christopher Alan Bayly, an India expert at the University of Cambridge, has been knighted along with noted India-born writer Salman Rushdie and several Asians honoured in the Queen's birthday honours list.
Bayly is the Vere Harmsworth professor of Imperial and Naval History at the University of Cambridge. He has been knighted for services to history, but many in the Indian sub-continent will welcome the news in view of his association and expertise in the region.
Bayly has penned several authoritative academic books on various aspects of life and times in the Indian sub-continent. These include the noted book, "Empire and Information: Intelligence gathering and social communication in India 1780-1870" published in 1996.
Bayly's other books include "The Local Roots of Indian Politics: Allahabad 1880-1920", published in 1975; "Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1780-1870", published in 1983; "The Birth of the Modern World:Global Connections and Comparisons 1780-1914" published in 2004.
The honour of the 'Commanders of the Order of the British Empire' has been bestowed on Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent, for services to journalism.
Others include Shami Chakrabarti, the 38-year-old director of civil rights organisation Liberty, for services to human rights; Mayur Keshavji Lakhani, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioner, for services to medicine.
Also awarded the OBE are: Rashmita Shukla, regional director, Public Health, Department of Health, in Warwickshire; Azim Surani, Marshall-Walton professor of Physiology and Reproduction, University of Cambridge, for services to biology.
The title of the 'Officers of the Order of the British Empire' has been bestowed on the following: Raj Kumar Aggarwal, for services to the pharmaceutical industry and to the Asian community in Wales; Parvin Ali, founder director, Forum for Advocacy, Training and Information in a Multicultural Area, for services to diversity, in Leicesterhsire,
Also awarded are: Ramesh Govindalal Gandhi, for services to the community in Lancashire; Ashok Ghose, chair, Asian People with Disabilities Alliance, for services to disabled people in London; Jasminder Grewal, head teacher, North Primary School, Southall, London, for services to education; Daniel Yameen Prakash Khan, chief executive and principal, Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education, for services to further education.
Others awarded the title of 'Officers of the Order of the British Empire' are Professor Srinivasan Raghunathan, for services to aerospace engineering research and to education in Northern Ireland;
Rajadurai Sithamparanadarajah, principal inspector, Health and Safety Executive. Department for Work and Pensions, in Hightown, Merseyside; Waseem Yaqub, lately UK manager, Islamic Relief, for charitable services in Birmingham.
The title of the 'Members of the Order of the British Empire' has been awarded to Jamil Akhtar, acting chief executive, Kirklees Racial Equality Council, for services to the community in Huddersfield; Sanjay Anand, restaurateur and entrepreneur, for services to the hospitality industry; Mohammed Aslam, for services to community relations in Walsall, West Midlands.
Other awarded include Zulekha Dala, for services to the community in Lancashire; Santosh Dass, team leader, Better Regulation, Department of Health, Hounslow, Middlesex; Mrudula Desai, administrative officer, Disability and Carers Service, Department for Work and Pensions, Wembley, Middlesex.
The title was also bestowed on Vinod Desai, chief executive, South Asian Arts, for services to the arts; Ravindra Pragji Govindia, for services to the community in Wandsworth, London; Sudershan Kumari Mohindra, for services to community relations in Nottingham; Satyanarayan Sarkar, estates operations manager, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, for services to the National Health Service (NHS), Croydon, Surrey.
The other two awardees are: Devi Dayal Sharma Trustee, Dickie Bird Foundation, for services to the community in Bradford; and Jaswant, Sira, nurse at the Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Trust, for services to healthcare.