KARACHI: Five people received Sitara-i-Imtiaz, 12 the President’s Pride of Performance award and 10 Tamgha-i-Imtiaz on behalf of President Mamnoon Hussain at a ceremony held at Governor House to mark Pakistan Day on Monday.

The awards, conferred by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, acknowledged the services of professionals and social workers from different walks of life.

The Sitara-i-Imtiaz was conferred upon Prof Dr Abdul Quadir Mughal (education), Yusuf Kamal Shakeel (acting), while for public services Prof Nisar Ahmed Siddiqi, Najeeb Danawala and Muhammad Siddique Sheikh were acknowledged.

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Those who received the President’s Pride of Performance award included Dr Rukhsana Mughal (health), Prof Shehnaz Ismail (visual arts; education), Meher Afroz (painting), Masmat Pari (art), Salahuddin Tunio (acting), Abdul Karim Solangi (art and sculpturing) Muhammad Bux alias Bakhshan Mehranvi (arts; parody), Wali Ram Vallabh (literature), Dr Ali Shouq (literature and education), Mohammed Saleem Kausar (literature), Mohammed Idrees Bakhtiar (journalism) and Aqeel Khan (sports; tennis).

Personalities such as former KU dean Prof Dr Shakeel Auj, shot dead last year, was awarded Tamgha-i-Imtiaz posthumously, and so was famed hockey player Anwar Ahmed Khan. Others also awarded include Dr Syed Riaz Baquar (scientific research), Mohammed Zafar Adil Malik (engineering), Prof Zakaria Sajid (journalism) and Allama Ghulam Rasul Saeedi (education), Abdul Waheed Khan (sports; hockey), Najam-ul-Saqib Hameed (social services), Mehtabuddin Chawla (social services) and Syed Atiq-u-Rehman (social services).

Senior education minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, deputy speaker Shehla Raza, Karachi corps commander Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar, Pakistan Navy Commander Karachi Vice Admiral Syed Arifullah Hussaini, and PAF commander of Southern Command Air Vice Marshal Syed Azhar Hasan Rizvi also attended the ceremony. The proceedings were conducted by Sindh chief secretary Mohammed Siddiq Memon.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2015

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