Lord Paul honoured by House of Commons

In a rare distinction, the House of Commons has congratulated NRI industrialist Lord Swaraj Paul on his appointment as the first Chancellor of the prestigious University of Westminster.

In an Early Day Motion moved by Labour MP and former minister for foreign and Commonwealth office Keith Vaz and three others, the House also applauded Lord Paul for becoming the first person to be Chancellor of two Universities simultaneously - Westminster and Wolverhampton.

The motion read, 'That this House congratulates Lord Paul of Marylebone on his appointment as Chancellor of Westminster University; notes that this is his second Chancellorship of a University; further notes his achievements in other fields including receiving the Padma Bhushan Award and the Bharat Gaurav Award from the Indian Merchant's Chamber; and wishes him well in his tenure as chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Delivery Committee'.

Besides Vaz, others who tabled the motion were Bob Spink, Mike Penning and Peter Bottomley.

The Westminster University has some 24,000 students including many from India and other 150 countries.