Lord Paul honoured with 'Pride of India' award

Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Grieve, MP, presented the award to 78-year-old Lord Paul at a gala function at Park Inn Hotel, organised by the 'India International Foundation' last night.

Receiving the award, Lord Paul, the first Asian to be appointed to the Privy Council by the British Queen, said that "it is nice to be recognised by your own community."

"I am proud of India and it is a great country. And it is nice to receive the award from Dominic Grieve, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, who has been taking so much interest in Indian and Asian affairs," he said.

Hardyal S Luther, President of the India International Foundation, made special mention of the achievements of Lord Paul, Chairman of the Caparo Group of Industries.

"Lord Paul of Marylebone is the senior most peer amongst the Indian peers of the modern time and how delighted it is for us all that a few months ago he was elected as the Deputy speaker of the House of Lords and appointed a Privy Council by Her Majesty," Luther said.

Others who received the 5th annual Awards on the occasion included former India cricketer Farokh Engineer (Sports), Guru Partap Pawar (Art and Culture), Dr Gautam G Bodiwala, CBE (Science), Lord Kamlesh Patel (Education), Kulvinder S Sethi (Industry) and Paramjit Kaul Cheema (Judiciary/Law).

Kuldip S Wouhra, who built up the East End Foods Ltd with an annual turnover of 250 million pounds, was given the award for his achievements in the field of industry for 2007.

Prominent among those present on the occasion were Lord Navnit Dholakia, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords; Stephen Pound, MP, former Chairman of the Labour Friends of India; Asif Ibrahim, Minister (Coordination) in the Indian High Commission to the UK; and Rami Ranger, MBE.

Luther said that "awards, when chosen fairly and impartially, go a long way in recognising the recipients' ability, intelligence and perfection.  And, of course, these are inspiration to others, especially those belonging to the same country or community."

"At the India International Foundation, we feel ourselves humbled to honour the great achievers who originate in India and live anywhere in the world, but outside India," he said.