President confers 189 civil awards

President confers 189 civil awards, while 67 recipients have been decorated at the President House.
President Asif Ali Zardari gave away Pakistan National Awards at an investiture ceremony held in Islamabad on the auspicious occasion of Pakistan Day. Late Mohtarma Begum Nusrat Bhutto was given Nishan-i-Imtiaz for her meritorious services in the field of public service.
Others who received Nishan-i-Imtiaz include late Salman Taseer; former Senate chairman Farooq Naik‚ National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza‚ Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Secretary General to President Salman Farooqui – all in the public service.
Hilal-e-Pakistan was given to Dr Fuad bin Abdul Salam Muhammad Al-Farsi of Saudi Arabia and Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Aziz al-Ghadeer for their services to Pakistan.
Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz included Mian Amir Mahmood for education, Farzana Raja‚ Nargis Sethi‚ Zamurrad Khan‚ Farhatullah Babar and Sultan Ali Lakhani for public service; Nazir Naji and late Professor Waris Mir in Journalism; Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy as female film-maker and late Prof Dr Syed Wadal Shah in science and education.
Sitara-i-Imtiaz was given to Dr Muhammad Farqad Alamgir; Adnan bin Mohammad Amin Katib of Saudi Arabia and Chen Qiufa of China for their services to Pakistan. Abdul Aziz Bullo Shaheed was given posthumous Sitara-i-Shujaat.
The ceremony was attended among others by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani‚ Bilawal Bhutto Zardari‚ members of the Federal Cabinet‚ parliamentarians‚ services chiefs‚ diplomats‚ notables and high civil and military officials.