ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: President Asif Ali Zardari has conferred civil awards on Pakistani citizens as well as foreign nationals for excellence in their fields on the occasion of Independence Day.

The investiture ceremony will be held on March 23 — the Pakistan Day.

NISHAN-I-IMTIAZ

Abdul Sattar Edhi, Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, DG, Strategic Plans Division; Mehdi Hassan (posthumous),    author Saadat Hasan Manto (posthumous), Muhammad Irfan Burney, Chairman, Nescom; Munir Ahmed Khan (posthumous), ex-chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

HILAL-I-PAKISTAN Yang Jiechi (Chinese foreign minister).

HILAL-I-IMTIAZ

Fauzia Wahab (posthumous),    Ansar Burney, Zia Mohyeddin, Abida Parveen,    Shabbir Hassan Khan Josh Malihabadi (posthumous), Anwar Maqsood, Fatima Suriya Bajia, Maj Gen Ausaf Ali (public service), Ansar Parvez, Chairman, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission; Abdul Hafeez Kardar (posthumous), the first captain of Pakistan cricket team; Fazal Mehmood (posthumous), former captain of Pakistan cricket  team; Masood Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador in China; Ahmed Chinoy, Khalid Abbas Dar (actor), Azhar Abbas (journalist), Hamid Mir (journalist), Maj Gen (retd) Ahmed Bilal, Suparco Chairman.

SITARA-I-PAKISTAN

Dr Rowan Douglas Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury (Britain) for services to Pakistan.

SITARA-I-SHUJAAT

Maulana Muhammad Hassan Jan Shaheed (gallantry), Shafique Ahmed Khan Shaheed (gallantry), Raja Umer Khattab (gallantry).

SITARA-I-IMTIAZ

Yusuf H. Shirazi (public service), Senator Haji Ghulam Ali, former president of FPCCI; Ramzan Chhipa (social worker), Dr Attiya Inayatullah (public service), Taj Haider (politician), Dr Aamir Ali Syed (health), Ghulam Ali (singer), Ms Jugnoo Mohsin (journalist), Hashim Khan (posthumous -squash), Aleem Sarwar Dar (cricket umpire), Shaista Zaid (newscaster), Air Commodore Muhammad Khalid Banuri (policy analysis), Lin Zouming (services to Pakistan), Wang Guangya (services to Pakistan), Mohsin Agha (civil engineering), Muhammad Jameel Rahi (nuclear engineering), Haris Ahmed Butt (physics), Brig.

(retd) Sajjad Ali (public service), Shahzad Ali Malik (public service), Prof Dr. Noshad A. Shaikh (public service), Arshad Sami Khan (posthumous), former ambassador of Pakistan), Abdul Sami Khan (public service), Shujaat Ali Baig (public service and promotion of sports), Saleem Ahmed Kharral (public service), Syed Aqil Shah (public service), Dr Qamar-ul-Haque (physics), Dr Muhammad Ashfaq (agriculture), Prof Dr Ihsan Ali (archaeology), Prof Dr Khan Bahadar Marwat (agriculture), Dr Muhammad Aslam (nuclear engineering), Dr Sarfraz Khan Niazi (engineering science), Dr Khalid Jamil Akhtar (rehabilitation of disable persons); Dr Mohammad Ali Jawad (medicine), Dr Muhammad Altamash (health), Dr Wajid Ali Khan (health), Shaista Masood Khan (health), Dr Nehal Masood (health), Hakeem Rizwan Hafeez (health), Mohammad Haroon Rashid (researcher), Aziz Latif Jamal (research), Al Haaj Siddiq Ismail (Naat Khwan), Sohail Ahmad (drama acting/ compering) Syed Ghulam Mohiyuddin Noor (film producer), Dr Gopi Chand Narang (literature).—APP