President Zardari confers civil awards on Pakistan Day

President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday conferred Pakistan’s civil awards upon 69 personalities including the Pakistani nationals and foreigners in recognition of their outstanding services in various fields.The investiture ceremony was held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in which different personalities were decorated with the civil awards in recognition of their services in health, education, literature, journalism, public, research, diplomatic matters and economy.The ceremony was attended by the federal ministers, Chairman Senate, parliamentarians, members of the civil society, diplomats, media and a large number of people.Nishan-i-Pakistan (posthumous) was conferred upon Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, former prime minister and founder of PPP in recognition of his outstanding services to the country, democracy and people. The award was received by his daughter Sanam Bhutto.Among other prominent recipients include Sultan Alai Akbar Allana, Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah, Ali Haider Gilani, Khawaja Anwar Majeed, Javed Jabbar, Saadia Rashid, Umar Farooq, Sana Hashwani, Safinaz Munir, Aneeqa Bano, Amin Muhammad Lakhani, Sarwar Munir Rao, Hassan Ayub and Mir Nadir Khan Magsi.The foreign nationals who received the award include Hyder Qurbanov and Dr Christine Brunhilde, who received Sitara-e-Qaid-e-Azam, while Agostino Da Polenza and Professor Valeria Picacentini were given Tamgha-e-Pakistan and Dr Xinmin Liu was awarded Tamgha-e-Quaid-e-Azam.