LONDON, June 15: Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Post Office campaigner Alan Bates and several Indian-origin community leaders were among those who were made a Companion of Honour for their outstanding services to the society.
The Order of the Companions of Honour was founded by King George V in 1917 to recognise outstanding achievements in the Arts, Sciences, Medicine and Public Service. This year the honour was bestowed on 1,077 people on Friday in recognition of their services.
Of the 1,077 people honoured in the 2024 list, 509 were women – representing 48 per cent of the total – and 10 per cent of all successful candidates were from an ethnic minority background.
Brown, 73, was honoured for his outstanding public and charitable services in the UK and abroad. He was the British Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010.
Besides Brown, Post Office campaigner Alan Bates, and artist Tracey Emin are among the famous faces recognised for their contribution to society in the honours list.
While Bates was knighted in recognition of his work highlighting the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, Emin, actor Imelda Staunton and fashion accessories designer Anya Hindmarch were all named on the list.
“Writer Armando Iannucci was made a CBE and cyclist Mark Cavendish was knighted,” according to a communiqué issued following the issuance of the list.
The youngest recipient on the list was 20-year-old Shamza Butt, who received a British Empire Medal for her work at the voluntary development programme National Citizen Service on behalf of young people.
Harold Jones was the oldest recipient, at 100 years old. He received a British Empire Medal for his fundraising for motor neurone disease charities in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.
Award organisers said 64 per cent of recipients were people who showed “outstanding work” in their communities in either a voluntary or a paid capacity, adding that 66 per cent of recipients lived outside London and the South East.
There are several Indians who have been named in the list.
Among the prominent persons of Indian origin who were named in the list included Jasvinder Kaur Sanghera, founder of Karma Nirvana and human rights campaigner for services to the victims of child, forced marriage and honour-based abuse.
Others included Shalini Arora, Founder Trustee, Belong and Founder of Savannah Wisdom Charitable Foundation for services to Charity and Philanthropy, Greater Manchester, Jamshed Bomanji, Head, Clinical department, Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College and Rabinder Kaur Buttar, Senior Enterprise Fellow, Strathclyde University for services to Innovation, Entrepreneurship and leadership in Business and to life Sciences,
Shruti Kapila, Professor of History and Politics, Corpus Christi the College University of Cambridge was included in the list for services to Research in Humanities, Rajesh Vasanlal Thakkur, President, Society for Endocrinology, for services to Medical Science and to people with Hereditary and rare disorders, Subhash Vithaldas Thakrar, Chair, London Chamber of Commerce, for services to British Trade and investment in Africa, Hari Bah, said the list. (PTI)
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