Azad Karachi Radio Program 003, October 31, 2005

Program 3 of Azad Karachi Radio continues discussion of the earthquake in South Asia and discusses issues of democracy, civilization and the role of the World Bank and the Military.

You can hear the program, or get information on how to subscribe to the Podcast here.

آداب	Adaab,
فقیر-i	iFaqeer

Siasat Group: A Vanguard for Urdu

Siasat, an Urdu daily published from Hyderabad, has been a vanguard in the world of Urdu media and journalism. It was also the market leader in terms of readership, till one Munsif Daily made a heroic comeback - after it was taken over by a Chicago based businessman - and gave Siasat a tough competition.

Siasat was founded by a philanthropist and educationist - Abid Ali Khan, the man who dedicated his life for the welfare of the masses. Mr. Khan had the vision of promoting social welfare and harmony, and for the purpose Siasat Daily was very much instrumental. For his contribution to his community and the country, he was awarded with one of the prestigious civilian award by the Govt. of India - "Padmashree."

Among other remarkable things that the Siasat Group is involved in, one of their works is highly commendable i.e., the education of Urdu. Today, the group is, in itself, an institution of Urdu. It's not only involved in promoting Urdu education, but is also involved in organizing related cultural activities, like "Mushairas" - a gathering of poets.

To my knowledge, the Group runs Abid Ali Khan Educational Trust Urdu Classes, where tremendous effort are made for educating students in Urdu. Things like Urdu Calligraphy, Urdu Software, etc is taught to the students interested in the language.

Other than Urdu, the Siasat Group continues its good work on many social fronts. Visit the webpage below to read a note from Siasat's current Editor in Chief: Mr. Zahid Ali Khan.

http://www.siasat.com/english/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=75&cattitle=Useful%20Links

Siasat's online edition: http://www.siasat.com/

Azad Karachi Radio Program 002 now available

The second program of Azad Karachi Radio (I mentioned it last week) has just been uploaded. Please take a look and provide feedback:

Azad Karachi Radio is an Urdu language audio program available on the web. Published under the Azad South Asia banner, this program covers, politics, poetry, and life. The first two programs are now available at:

http://AzadKarachiRadio.blogspot.com

You can subscribe using podcasting software using the address:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/AzadKarachiRadio

Azad Karachi Radio is also available for online listening via Yahoo!s new (Beta) Podcasting service at:

http://podcasts.yahoo.com/series?s=3d848ad579b260b163d17218e7fcbad5

آداب	Adaab,
فقیر-i	iFaqeer

iFaqeer on Sahir Ludhianvi; Now in Audio

As a pilot for podcasting on my personal blog, I took the speech I gave a little while ago on Sahir Ludhianvi (see this and this), stuck an English introduction at the beginning and uploaded it. You can hear it here.

آداب	Adaab,
فقیر-i	iFaqeer

Urdu Blogs on the 'Quake

As some readers will know, there's now an extensive section about the quake-related information on WikiPakistan. (See my post on my personal blog.) One of the pages there collects personal accounts from the ground:

http://pakistan.wikicities.com/wiki/Earthquake_10-05_Personal_Accounts

Wouldn't it be a good idea to collect links there to Urdu (and English) blogs of people on the ground, both affectees and those involved in relief work, fundraising, etc.? It would give Urdu-speakers (and other people) around the world a chance to get a first hand view.

آداب	Adaab,
فقیر-i	iFaqeer

Azad Karachi Radio; a New Urdu Language Podcast

We've launched a new Urdu Language Podcast with the title "Azad Karachi Radio". Check it out at:

http://AzadKarachiRadio.blogspot.com/

You can subscribe to the RSS feed using the following address:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/AzadKarachiRadio

Please let us know what you think.

For Azad South Asia,

آداب	Adaab,
فقیر-i	iFaqeer