KARACHI: The 6th UBL Literary Awards 2016 were held at the Beach Luxury Hotel in Karachi on February 11 2017. The awards were held in conjunction with the 8th Karachi Literature Festival. Celebrating the literary efforts of Pakistani writers, the United Bank Limited (UBL) have held these awards for the past six years. Acclaimed Urdu writer, Mushtaq Ahmad Yousufi graced the event – for his celebrated literary works, the government of Pakistan awarded Yousufi a Sitara-e-Imtiaz (1999) and Hilal-e-Imtiaz (2002). Yousufi, also a former UBL president (1974-76), had been awarded the Quaid-e-Azam Memorial Medal for his distinguished services in Banking. Over 160 entries were received as nominations for the seven categories of awards. The books, which were written by Pakistani authors and published in Pakistan in 2015, were shortlisted by an esteemed panel of judges comprised of Dr Asghar Nadeem Syed, Dr Asif Farrukhi, Ghazi Salahuddin, Dr Arfa Syeda, Kishwar Naheed, Dr Anwaar Ahmad and Masood Ashar.