13th Edition of Aalmi Urdu Conference concludes on high note.

13^th edition of ‘Aalmi Urdu Conference’ concluded on a high note with a simple and impressive closing ceremony held here at the Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP) Karachi on Sunday 06^th December 2020. Closing ceremony was moderated by Dr. Huma Mir with panelist including host Muhammad Ahmed Shah, Munnawer Saeed, Noor-ul-Huda Shah, Sohail Ahmed, Abaseen Yousuf Zai, Dr. Fatima Hassan, Dr. Qasim Bughio, Moin Mirza and Anwer Maqsood.

As stated earlier, this 13^th edition of Aalmi Urdu Conference was attended by very limited number of writers, scholars, intellectuals & academics but thanks to social media this 13^th Aalmi Urdu Conference was attended online in large numbers.

Dr. Huma Mir who was moderating the final session of 13^th Aalmi Urdu Conference spoke highly of President ACP Karachi, Muhammad Ahmed Shah. She said; “only Ahmed Shah could pull-off an event of such magnitude in this pandemic time”. 

Well known Pakistani dramatist, playwright and scriptwriter Hasina Moin said; “with this conference, I am delighted to see that my country is awake and alive. I pray that it remains like this forever to come. She further said; I do remember the time when only few hundred people use to attend conferences like this one, then it rose to thousands and today more than hundred thousand attended this 13^th Aalmi Urdu Conference online. Ahmed Shah has done a commendable job by presenting this Urdu conference which is for the youth and now it’s time for youths to come forward to take this Urdu conference forward”.

Veteran television artist Munnawer Saeed said; “I was a part of every meeting held for this 13^th Aalmi Urdu Conference. Many advised Ahmed Shah to postpone this event due to ongoing pandemic, but President ACP Karachi Ahmed Shah was against postponing this event and he said that we will organize Aalmi Urdu Conference with adopting all precautions and safety measures required by authorities in their standard operating procedures (SOP)’s”.

Noor-ul-Huda Shah another famous and well known Pakistani dramatist, short-story writer, poet and columnist said; “this Aalmi Urdu Conference feels like a vaccine as it has brought many together and brought smiles on many faces”. She further said; “a lot that has been concealed or has been ignored from Pakistan’s National Language was evident in this Aalmi Urdu Conference. Best part of this Aalmi Urdu Conference was that it had many who speak other local language as their native language”.

Sohail Ahmed best known as Azizi, comedian, stage actor and television actor said; “I consider myself as a very loving person and I try not to become hopeless in any situation. Whenever I think about our culture I get to see as nothing is happening but there are some positive points too. Previously any thought of Karachi use to remind me of Sea, but now whenever Karachi comes to mind, Ahmed Shah comes in my mind too. Ahmed Shah’s effort i.e. Aalmi Urdu Conference is like a vaccine for our culture, which keeps it healthy and going”.  

Abaseen Yousuf Zai a very famous Pashtun poet and also the President of the Pashto Academy of the University of Peshawar said; “this 13^th Aalmi Urdu Conference has increased the prestige of literary and books. Ahmed Shah should be given the title of Aman Shah for this peace loving initiatives”.  

Dr. Fatima Hassan one of the best female poet of Urdu language in Pakistan said; “this conference has served the role of guardian for our culture and for our traditions. Our culture, defines our values and our values are now attach with to ACP Karachi”.

Moin Mirza said; “pandemic days are really for everyone, even loved ones are ignored in the times of pandemic, but ACP Karachi spreading message of love and peace even in these horrid times of pandemic”. 

President ACP Karachi, Muhammad Ahmed Shah spoke about the reasons why he insisted on this conference, and he said; “I had only two reasons to organize this Aalmi Urdu Conference. Firstly was to keep our language and culture alive and kicking, which can be done with adopting all precautionary and safety measures. Secondly all sorts of projects can be carried out in any sort of emergency situation, but with its proper precautionary and safety measure”.

President ACP Karachi, added; “organizing an event of this magnitude was a team effort and I would give due credit to each and every team member involved and I congratulate all members of my team for organizing this event is a very smoothest possible manner”.

Ahmed Shah thanked everyone by saying; “I would like to thank and congratulate all the delegates, guests and participants of this 13^th Aalmi Urdu Conference for making a success”.

On his concluding note President ACP Karachi Muhammad Ahmed Shah said; “if pandemic comes under control, ACP will organize National Cultural Conference on occasion of Pakistan Day and next i.e. 14^th Aalmi Urdu Conference will be held from 02^nd till 05^th December 2021”.

After the end of closing ceremony, came one of the most sought-after script-writer, television host, satirist, humorist and a figure of legendary status Anwer Maqsood, who with sharp double meaning skits criticized people in power. He made sure that everyone present in the auditorium laughed out as loud as they could.

Aima Baig enlightens Episode 02 of Velo Sound Station 2020 with Latin flavour.

With the resounding impact and electricity generated with the debut episode of Velo Sound Station – Pakistan’s stellar digital music platform that celebrates contemporary music that reflects today’s Pop culture – music lovers were equally mesmerized by the three class acts that feature on Episode Two that was released today on Friday November 27th 2020. Episode Two featured three original songs performed by iconic band STRINGS popular singer/songwriter, AIMA BAIG and rising star SHAMOON ISMAIL.

Strings helmed by Velo Sound Station producer Bilal Maqsood and lead vocalist Faisal Kapadia performed the original  ‘Piyar Ka Rog’ which was written by Anwar Maqsood, composed by Bilal Maqsood, and produced by Usman and Haroon which had the band experiment with the contemporary genre of Synth Wave. On Piyaar Ka Rog by Strings, Bilal Maqsood said; “Piyaar Ka Rog is one of the songs that I made for my lockdown sessions on Instagram. It began as just a piano version. But now with Faisal Kapadia’s vocals and a full production it sounds amazing!” String’s wardrobe was provided by designer to pop stars Ebtisam Ahmed (EB).

Aima Baig presented an original song entitled ‘Te Quiero Mucho’ (I  Love You So Much) written by Anwar Maqsood,  composed by Bilal Maqsood, and  produced  by Ahsen Pervaiz  which as its title suggests had a very lilting Latin feel and vibe to it. Te Quiero Mucho ‘is a nod towards the popular contemporary music trend and global phenomenon of Latin-American hits such as ‘Havana’ by Camila Cabello; ‘Smooth’ by Santana and ‘Despacito’ by Luis Fonsi, but imbues and invigorates the Spanish sound with a decidedly ‘desi ‘melody and flourish. On Aima Baig’s song Bilal Maqsood said; “Aima Baig’ is a born performer and she outdid herself the way she performed and sang this song”. This time we saw a very different Aima’s wardrobe for her ‘Velo Sound Station’ performance which was specially created by Mavi Kayani.

Shamoon Ismail performed a song called ‘Confetti’ written, composed and produced by the artist himself Shamoon Ismail rendered Confetti in his own quirky and individualistic style. On Shamoon’s song, Bilal Maqsood said; “there’s something very mysterious about the way Shamoon sings and performs”. Shamoon’s hip wardrobe was also specially designed by EB.

Bilal Maqsood’s overview on Episode Two was as; “all of the artists in Episode Two were included to give it colour and variety. This episode’s soundscape had an interesting spectrum. All the songs fell into the current sphere of Pop music but all had their own very distinct styles.”

‘13th Aalmi Urdu Conference’ to commence from 03rd December 2020 – Ahmed Shah.

13^th Aalmi Urdu Conference’ is scheduled to start in the Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP) Karachi from 03^rd December 2020. This was announced by President, Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi, Mohammad Ahmed Shah in a press conference held at lawns of ACP Karachi.

“Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi has been successfully hosting the Aalmi Urdu Conference for last 12 years, however this year the conference will be different from all the previous conferences due to Corona outbreak. The overseas literary personalities will mark their presence digitally in the conference”, these views were expressed by president ACP Karachi Mohammad Ahmed Shah in a press conference.

Addressing the press conference President ACP Karachi Mohammad Ahmed Shah said “due to corona outbreak this year the conference will be limited. Masood Qamar from Sweden, Ghazal Ansari from the UK, Tahira Kazmi from Muscat, and Farhat Parveen from America will join the conference.  Whereas the prominent personalities of Pakistan Zia Mohyuddin, Anwer Maqsood, Sohail Ahmed, Humayun Saeed, Nadeem Baig, Yasir Hussain, Sohail Waraich, Aasma Shirazi, Haseena Moin, Peerzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, Zehra Nigah, Asad Mohammad Khan, Hasan Manzar, Anwer Shour, Mazhar Abbas, Dr. Shehrshah Syed, Kishwar Naheed, Abbasin Yosufzai, Shah Mohammad Marri and others will be the part of the conference.”

The ‘13^th Aalmi Urdu Conference’ will be held from 03^rd December ~ 06^th December 2020 at ACP Karachi. This year the conference will hold the sessions in all regional languages of Pakistan including Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Siraiki, and Balochi. At the conference, there will be a session ‘Bayaad-e-Asif Farrukhi’ in the memory of late literary critic personality Asif Aslam Farrukhi.

This 4 day Aalmi Urdu Conference will also have sessions like Education, Poetry, Culture, Literature, languages, youth Mushaira, Aalmi Mushaira, and many others.

On the occasion of this announcement Secretary ACP Karachi Ejaz Ahmed Farooqi, Treasurer ACP Karachi Qudsia Akbar and senior actor Munawar Saeed was present.