The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) today launches its South Asia Studies Project (SASP). This project tracks emerging developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan on a day-to-day basis.

To read the full report, click here.

In an unfortunate result of translation, Pakistani diplomat Akbar Zeb will not become the next Pakistani ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Zeb’s credentials seem in order: He is the former ambassador to the United States, India and South Africa. He held the post of High Commissioner Designate of Pakistan to Canada and is the former director general of Pakistan's Foreign Ministry.

But despite Mr. Zeb’s impressive career, the 55-year-old diplomat’s name proved to be the immovable hurdle. When translated into Arabic, Akbar Zeb means “Biggest Dick.” In a region that stresses modesty, particularly in public, this could not stand.

Source: Albawaba

TOMORROW (Feb. 14) means something special for a lot of people around the Western world. It is Valentine’s Day, a day on which the tradition of honoring your loved one has become a social custom in societies that celebrate such events. [...]

In the Kingdom, some things remain unchanged. Writing for the Associated Press, Abdullah Al-Shehri stated that “the Saudi religious police” (Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice) had “launched last Thursday a nationwide crackdown on stores selling items that are red or in any other way allude to the banned celebrations of Valentine’s Day.” [...]

With the youth across the Arab world increasingly embracing the concept of such an event to express their love and affection, it irks the more devout Muslims who oppose the celebration of this particular holiday as “a Western celebration of romantic love that corrupts Muslim youth.”

In contrast, in some Arab capitals the celebrations are going full steam ahead. [...]

So how do some people here view this particular day? [...]

Nadia, a Saudi college student disagrees. She is emphatic when she says her plans for Valentine’s Day include partying with her girlfriends. “This day doesn’t stop me from praying or reading the Qur’an. What makes it even more special is that it is falling during the school break and we can go out and stay up pretty late.” And yes, she is going out in red. She had a new abaya tailored for the occasion, with the color red being prominently patterned around her cloak.

Yes, tomorrow is different to some. And depending on which side of the fence you sit, the color red will definitely have some say.

Source: Arab News (Saudi Arabia), February 13, 2010

This picture taken on February 11, 2010, shows a woman choosing Valentine’s Day gifts at a shop in Peshawar (Pakistan) — AFP

The rise of Pakistan's most popular rock musician—unfamiliar to most Americans—is the subject of this well-meaning autobiography. Ahmad, the leader of the band Junoon, recounts his wealthy upbringing at an elite British school in Lahore and then as a Beatles obsessed teenager in New York. He describes his return to Pakistan in the midst of General Zia's military dictatorship, which introduced fundamentalist Muslim codes of conduct into public life. Ahmad is at his best describing the mishmash of 1960s American rock, '80s pop songs and Bollywood music that made up the repertoires of Pakistan's youth musicians in that same decade. Ahmad joins a band called the Vital Signs, which sweeps the country with its patriotic rock song Dil Dil Pakistan, even getting to meet Benazir Bhutto after her election. He leaves the group at the height of its fame to pursue artistic freedom and becomes even more popular with Junoon and its hit song Jazba-e-Junoon, which was the official song of the cricket World Cup. In what is well-intentioned but ultimately clichéd and egocentric memoir, Ahmad describes his more recent years as a self-appointed musical ambassador for peace, standing up for Muslims on Bill Maher's TV show and playing a concert at the U.N. General Assembly Hall, while still finding time to show Mick Jagger the Pakistani nightlife. (Jan.)
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Marjan Kalhor has grown on the slopes of the Winter ski n Dizin, north of Tehran, but never thought she would achieve such a feat, that of being, at the age of 21, the first Iranian to participate in the Winter Olympics.

Source: Ennahar (Algeria), February 7, 2010

Two master performers of traditional Turkish music – Niyazi Sayin, who plays the Neyzen (reed flute), and Necded Yasar, who plays the tambur (a mandolin-type instrument) – were honored with the 2009 Culture and Art Grand Award of the Culture and Tourism Ministry in a ceremony over the weekend in Istanbul. The prestigious award, given in a different branch of art each year to artists who have contributed to its development, is handed out by a committee headed by Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay. The committee honored Sayin and Yasar for their efforts to carry traditional Turkish music culture into the next century through their sterling performances as well as for improving the practice of solo virtuosity in Turkish music, Gunay said. The ceremony was attended by scores of high-profile guests, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, State Minister Hayati Yazici, and Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas. In a speech at the ceremony, Gunay said that Sayin and Yasar, who together have spent more than a century in music, deserve this honor more than any other living Turkish classical musicians. Sayin, 82, and Yasar, 79, received their awards from Erdogan during the ceremony, where "Bir Yasam Oykusu" (A Life Story), a film by Fahri Tanir about the two artists' lives and work, was also screened.

Source: Today's Zaman (Turkey), Febraury 1, 2010

Organized for the first time in August 2009 and attracted great attention in local and international platforms, Istanbul Fashion Week, is going to be held between 03 - 06 February 2010 parallel to global fashion schedule, to showcase 2010-2011 Autumn / Winter collection.

Istanbul Fashion Week, the organization that gathers together Turkish designers and brands in an organized roof; aims to support the growth of Turkish fashion industry, increase the awareness and commercial potential for brands and designers in local and international markets.