ISLAMABAD (APP) - The President has conferred national civil award, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, on Director General Pakistan Meteorological Department Dr Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry for his achievements in the field of Climate Sciences at national and international levels. Dr Qamar earlier won the SAARC Best Scientist Research Award in 1993 and Presidents Pride of Performance award in 1999. In December 2008, Dr Qamar was elected as Vice-President of UNs World Meteorological Organisation Asia region for four-years term. He is also Secretary UN-ESCAP-WMO Intergovernmental Panel on Tropical Cyclone Indian Ocean. Dr Qamar has published more than 50 scientific papers in national and international journals. He is generally known as father of modern meteorology in Pakistan for transforming Pakistan Met Office as a credible state of the art Meteorological Service in the region. WMO now presents Pakistan Meteorological Department as a role model to other developing countries in the region.