ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday announced civil awards for 126 prominent personalities, including foreign nationals, in recognition of their services in different fields of life.

The investiture ceremony will take place on the Pakistan Day (March 23) next year.

The foreign nationals to get the civil awards are Chinese Minister for Transport Li Xiaopeng and former governor of People’s Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan (Hilal-i-Pakistan); Malaysian scholar Mohammad Azmi Abdul Hamid, West Indian cricketer Darren Sammy, Japanese literary figure Takamitsu Matsumura and religious scholar from Oman Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al-Khalili (Sitara-i-Pakistan); Chinese actress Lu Shan, South Korean diplomat Oh Jay-Hee and Pakistani-Norwegian politician Khalid Mehmood (Sitara Quaid-i-Azam); and Australian environmentalist and social activist David Shoebridge.

The name of veteran TV actor Durdana Butt, who died on August 12 due to Covid-19, is also on the list of those who will receive Pride of Performance Award next year. Similarly, the government has nominated late mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara for the Pride of Performance Award.

Following are other civil award nominees:

Nishan-i-Imtiaz: Mohammad Naeem (chemistry), late Nazar Mohammad Rashid alias N.M. Rashid (literature) and late Majeed Amjad alias Abdul Majeed (literature).

Hilal-i-Imtiaz: Dr lnamur Rehman (nuclear physics), Dr Qamar Mehboob (nuclear engineering), Tahir lkram (mechanical engineering), Jamshed Azim Hashmi (electrical & mechanical engineering), Rohail Hayat (music composer) and Kishwar Naheed (literature).

Sitara-i-Shujaat: Mohammad Bux Buriro, Ms Reshma and Col Shafiullah Khan.

Sitara-i-Imtiaz: Dr Mohammad Masoodul Hassan (physics), Dr Syed Hussain Abidi (industrial biotechnology), Aslam Umer (mechanical engineering), Tariq Hameed (nuclear engineering), Dr Mohammad Shahzad (control design system), Dr Syed Waqar Azim (mechanical engineering), Dr Naveedur Rehman (avionics & aerospace), Dr Mohammad lqbal (system engineering), Arshad Nawaz Khan (chemical engineering, late Abida Riaz Shahid alias Neelo (acting), Rashid Ali Rana (fine arts), Shahid Abdullah (architect), Syed Akeel Bilgrami (architect), Salman lqbal (cricket), Maj Gen Arshad Naseem (public service), Roshan Khursheed Bharucha (social work) and late Mehmoodul Haq Alvi (philanthropy).

Pride of Performance: Syed Tajammul Hussain (artificial intelligence & data science), Dr Yasar Ayaz (robotics), Mumtaz Hussain (metallurgy engineering), Zulfiqar Ali (nuclear engineering), Dr Mohammad Siddique (mechanical engineering), Shabbir Ahmad (chemical engineering), Wasim Naser (mechanical engineering), Abdul Ghafoor (chemical engineering), Mohammad Noaman (mechanical engineering), Dr Mohammad Shafqat (chemical engineering), Nadeem Rasul (mechanical engineering), Haseeb Ahmed (chemical engineering), Mohammad lqbal (aerospace), Shahid Hameed alias Shahid (acting), lsmail Tara (acting), Manzoor Ali Mirza (acting), Syed Sajid Hassan (acting), Shaharyar Zaidi (acting), Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah (acting), Shoukat Mehmood (singing), Qamro Jan (folk singing), Shakila Naz (singing), Jan Ali (folk music), Mr Shakoor (instrumentalist), Noor Mohammad Jarral (naat khwani), Imdad Ali Vighio (block making), Madad Ali Sindhi (literature), Rifat Abbas alias Ghulam Abbas (literature), Ayaz Gul (Ayaz Ali Dal) (literature), Dr Fazal Khaliq (literature), late Tahir Afridi (literature), Nargis Hameedullah Hazara (karate), Shehzada Sikandarul Mulk (polo), Azmat Hassan Baloch (public service), Parveen Saeed (social welfare), Soni Faisal (social work) and Irfanullah Jan (social activist/philanthropist).

Tamgha-i-Shujaat: Mohammad Akbar Khan, lqbal Masih (late), Abdul Ghaffar Shaikh (late), Zia Hussain (late), Tabassum Shabbir Awan, lrfan Ahmed Khan Durrani, Asadullah Qureshi, Mohammad Ali, Ahmed Ali, Sadiq Hussain, Noorud Din, Malik Dara Khan (late), Mohammad Rahim Shah, Saeed Khan, Mohammad Waleed Sabir Khan, Waqar Ahmed and Abdul Qahhar Khan.

Tamgha-i-Imtiaz: Dr Samina Roohi (biochemistry), Dr Nusrat Jehan (physics), Dr lrfanullah Khan (chemistry), Prof Dr Syed Ghulam Musharraf (chemistry), Dr Mohammad Aftab Rafiq (physics), Dr Ammad Hussain Qureshi (metallurgy engineering), Mohammad Ashraf Khan (mechanical engineering), retired Maj Imtiaz Ahmed (mechanical engineering), Mohammad Jamil (fluid power engineering), Imtiaz Sarwar (electrical & electronics), Dr Mohammad Yasir (aerospace), Abid bin Abdul Quddus Qazi (civil engineering), Dr Mohammad Abid (mechanical engineering), Prof Dr Robina Farooq (education), Eng Dr Faizullah Abbasi (education), Prof Dr Osman Hasan (education), Prof Dr Mohammad Junaid Mughal (education), Ghuncha Bibi alias Saima Noor (acting), Lal Mohammad (acting), Rubina Mustafa Qureshi (singing), Ejaz Sarhadi (sarinda player); Momina Duraid Qureshi (drama director/producer), Sajjad Ahmed (television producer), late Saeed Hashmi (naat khwani), late M. Anis Nagi (literature), Johar Ali Raki (public service), late Mansoor Hassan Siddiqui (public service), Shehla Baqi (health), Asad Mahmood (public service), Mohammad Hanif Tayyab (social services) and Dr Mohammad Haroon Memon (social work).

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2021