Leading Non-Resident Indian entrepreneur Raj Loomba, a campaigner of widows' rights, Surina Narula, champion of street children in India and 16 others have been chosen for the Queen's Birthday Honours this year.
Born in Dhilwan in Punjab and educated at DAV College in Jalandhar, sixty-four-year-old Loomba, founder of the Loomba Trust, has been made a Commander of the British Empire for 'charitable services to poor widows and their children overseas, particularly in India, and to UK-India interests more widely'.
Narula, has been chosen for an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in recognition of her 'charitable services in India'.
A tireless campaigner for improving the plight of widows and their children all over the world, Raj and his wife Veena Loomba set up the Shrimati Pushpa Wati Loomba Trust in 1997, of which Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is the President.
In the ensuing ten years, it has concentrated on building a programme to educate the children of poor widows in India. Today, the Trust educates over 3,600 children throughout India, including 500 in Tamil Nadu, who lost their father or both parents in the tsunami.
As chairman of the British Indian Golden Jubilee Banquet Fund, Loomba runs a programme of visiting fellowships at Cambridge, Oxford and other leading universities including Edinburgh, Hull and Wales, whereby prominent Indian academics raise awareness of India's diverse heritage and current achievements as an emerging force in the world economy.
Others in the honours list are - Jashvant Chauhan, inspector of Taxes, Leicester, HM Revenue and Customs, public and voluntary service; Professor Romesh Chand Gupta, Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, services to medicine and to the community in Lancashire (both OBE); Samatiben Desai, link worker, Royal Bolton Hospital, services to social care; Balraj Singh Dhesi, services to the National Health Service and to the community in Warwickshire; Satbir Singh Giany, special constable, Hampshire Constabulary, voluntary service to the police; Baldev Krishan Goyal, voluntary services to the community in the London borough of Havering, Tanika Gupta, playwright, services to drama; Dr Prakash Chandra Kakoty, Barnsley, services to healthcare and to the community in South Yorkshire; Kulwant Kaur, general assistant, University of Birmingham, services to Higher Education and to the community in Birmingham; Kumar Jayant Shamrao Kotegaonkar, GP, Bury, services to healthcare
and to education; Balwantbhai Dayabhai Unka Patel, President, Hindu Association of Bilston, services to the community, Wolverhamption, Hitesh Kaji Patel, services to pharmacy and to the communities in Rothwell and Desborough, Leicestershire; Sheliagh Ann Ram, voluntary services to the Samaritans in London; Shahien Taj, founder and executive director, Henna Foundation, services to diverse community engagement; Mahesh Paul Thapar, special constable, Hertfordshire Constabulary, services to the police (all MBE); Vandana Saxena Poria, services to British trade and investment in India (CBE), and Shalini Mahtani, services to corporate, social responsibility in Hong Kong (MBE).
