President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi conferred Pakistan Civil Awards on 397 individuals including those from the media fraternity as well as foreign nationals on the occasion of Independence Day, August 14, 2023.

The investiture ceremony for these awards will take place on March 23, 2024, Pakistan Day. As many as 299 martyrs of Covid-19 have also been awarded posthumously.

Amjad Aziz Malik, Shama Junejo, Waqar Satti, Farooq Adil, Fahad Hussain, Sohail Warraich and Salman Ghani from the media industry have been conferred the awards.

Muhammad Hafeez Qureshi was conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz for his work in nuclear science; Iftikhar Arif for literature; Islahuddin Siddiqui for sports (Hockey); Syed Qaim Ali Shah former CM of Sindh, PMLN’s Raja Zafar Ul Haq, former governor of State Bank of Pakistan Dr Shamshad Akhtar and Air Marshal (retd) Najib Akhtar for their public service.

Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng were granted Hilal-i-Pakistan.

Journalist Zahid Malik was posthumously conferred the Hilal-i-Imtiaz along with Tariq Fatmi and Tariq Bajwa for public service.

Assistant Defence Minister of Saudi Arabia Engineer Talal bin Abdullah Al-Otaibi was conferred the Sitara-i-Pakistan, while Chinese diplomats Lou Zhaohui, Ning Jizhe, Nong Rong and Sha Zukang were granted Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam.

Around fifty individuals will receive Sitara-i-Imtiaz including Bilal Lashari, Satish Anand in arts; Abdul Quddoos Bezinjo, Chief Minister of Balochistan; Wasif Nagi, journalist; Waqar Chohan, DG NAB; Mohsin Hassan Butt, DG FIA; Mufti Muneeb ur Rehman; Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, columnist; Naila Kiani, mountaineer; and Fahad Haroon among others.

President’s Pride of Performance award will be conferred on 53 individuals including journalists Khalid Masood Khan, Sohail Warraich and Salman Ghani.

Among them are artists such as the late Inayat Hussain Bhatti, singer Shazia Manzoor, actor Ajab Gul, Adnan Siddiqui, Hassan Askari, Sheema Karmani.

As many as 118 citizens were granted Tamgha-i-Imtiaz including officers of the defence ministry, scientists, artists, educationists and journalists.

Amjad Aziz Malik, Shama Junejo, Waqar Satti, Farooq Adil, Fahad Hussain, Syed Naqi Haider Naqvi, Iftikhar Ahmed and Fahad Saleem Malik from the media industry were granted this award.

Tamgha-e-Khidmat was conferred on Aziza Shimmi Kidwai, Muhammad Irfan Siddiqui, Karamat Ullah Chaudhry and Professor Amjad Shad.

Tamgha-i-Shujaat, a gallantry award was conferred on 21 officers, out of whom five were from the Intelligence Bureau including Farman Ullah (director), Bilal Riaz Burki (director), Syed Amer Akhtar (director), Azmat Ali Shah (deputy director) and Mujeeb Ullah (inspector).

Five officials of Sindh police, four of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, three each of Balochistan and paramilitary forces have been granted this award, while seven were martyred during operations against terrorists.