President, governors to confer civilian awards

Around 163 people will be decorated at ceremonies in federal, provincial capitals

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain will decorate 84 recipients of civil awards – including  8 foreign nationals and Pakistanis living abroad –  during an investiture ceremony that will be held at Aiwan-e-Sadr today (Wednesday).

Governors of all the four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) as well as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee will also bestow civilian awards on behalf of the president upon prominent personalities for their contributions in different fields.

The president had approved conferment of 159 civil awards on August 14, 2015 – the independence day of the country.  Four additional awards were also approved after 14th August, 2015 as special cases.

This year the recipients include State Bank’s former governor Dr Ishrat Husain, Punjab former home minister Shuja Khanzada and film star Zeba, who will be awarded Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Shuja’at and Hilal-e-Imtiaz, respectively.

Punjab Governor Rafique Rajwana will decorate 24 recipients of Pakistan Civil Awards, at an investiture ceremony to be held in Governor House Punjab in Lahore.

Twelve recipients will be decorated by Sindh Governor Dar Ishratul Ibad in Karachi while four recipients will be decorated by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra in Peshawar.

Five recipients will be decorated in Quetta by Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai while one recipient will be decorated in Gilgit by the G-B Governor Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Rashad Mahmood will also decorate 29 recipients on behalf of the president at an investiture ceremony in Rawalpindi.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2016.