Attash Durrani ( ur, ; 22 January 1952 – 30 November 2018) was a Pakistani linguist, researcher, critic, author, educationist, and
gemologist
Gemology or gemmology is the science dealing with natural and artificial gemstone materials. It is a geoscience and a branch of mineralogy. Some jewelers (and many non-jewelers) are academically trained gemologists and are qualified to identif ...
. He wrote more than 275 books and approximately 500 papers in
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...
. He was the recipient of the
Tamgha-i-Imtiaz
Tamgha-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is a state-organised honour of Pakistan. It is given to any civilian in Pakistan based on their achievements. While it is a civilian/military award, it can be bestowed upon officers of the P ...
and
Sitara-e-Imtiaz
The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...
for his work of Urdu language and
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
University of the Punjab
The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...
, Lahore. He was a curriculum and textbook development specialist for Urdu, literacy, basic and at all the higher education levels and Urdu informatics for ADB, GIZ/GTZ,
ESRA
Esra is a common Turkish given name for females. It is also a common Arabic name. People named Esra include:
Given name
* Esra Battaloğlu, Turkish geneticist
* Esra Bilgiç (born 1992), Turkish actress
* Esra Dalfidan (born 1975), Turkish s ...
,
JICA
The is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international co ...
,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
,
US Aid
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
, Islamabad, Pakistan and Curriculum Wing, Federal Ministry of Education, AIOU and
Higher Education Commission of Pakistan
The Higher Education Commission (colloquially known as HEC) is a statutory body formed by the Government of Pakistan which was established in 2002 under the Chairmanship of Atta-ur-Rahman. Its main functions are funding, overseeing, regulatin ...
(HEC). He has also shown interest in gemmology, writing books on Urdu jawaharat.
He also earned certificates in statistics, journalism,
project management
Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...
, research methodology and curriculum and text book development courses offered by the University of the Punjab, Institute of Education and Research, Lahore; Pakistan Planning and Management Institute (PPMI), Islamabad,
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...
Iqbaliat
This is a selective list of scholarly works related to Muhammad Iqbal, the poet-philosopher of the Indian subcontinent.
The literature on Iqbal is extensive : critic Rauf Parekh, basing himself on the works of Prof Dr Haroonur Rasheed Tabassum, ...
, Linguistics, Translatology, Education, Informatics, and
Computer Science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...
projects/theses.
Career
Durrani wrote many books and articles in Urdu and English languages. His subjects were
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" ''
He was chairman of the subcommittee on standardization (Cabinet Committee on the Implementation of Urdu) in the Ministry of Information, Pakistan. He was also honorary chairman INKSOFT Inc.,
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
, (Pakistan's first Software Localization Company) for the Localization for Urdu, Pakistani (
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, Dari and Arabic languages.Kristen Nehemiah Horst, Attash Durrani, Dign Press, MU, US, His translation work goes for more than 50 thousand pages of Literary, Official, Technical, and Computer Localization. Translations include ''Hymns of Akhenaton'', and ''The Book of Precious Stones'' by
Al-Biruni
Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...
into Urdu, published by
National Book Foundation
The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...
Islamabad. He has served as a professor of Pakistani languages, in Allama Iqbal Open University. He has also served as Director multimedia (Urdu Medium) e-course-ware (Urdu e-literacy), in Computer Science and Pakistani Languages Departments,
Allama Iqbal Open University
Allama Iqbal Open University is a public university in Islamabad, Pakistan.
It is named after Allama Iqbal.
The university is the world's second largest institution of higher learning, with an annual enrollment of 1,121,038 students (), the m ...
Islamabad. He has served as Project Director, Center of Excellence for Urdu Informatics,
National Language Authority
The National Language Promotion Department ( ur, ), formerly known as the National Language Authority (or Urdu Language Authority), is an autonomous regulatory institution established in 1979 to support the advancement and promotion of Urdu, w ...
, Pakistan. He also worked in National Book Foundation as Asst. Editor monthly ''Kitab'', and several other responsibilities. He was serving National Book Foundation as Advisor, Textbook Development since May 2014 for redesigning of textbooks for NBF establishing as Federal Textbook Board, Islamabad, as per style guides he already developed for Punjab Textbook Board, Lahore and federal Education. He was a member of the National Curriculum Council, Federal Ministry of Education Islamabad.
A thesis of M.Phil. level is written by Mussarat Khan Zahidi on the contributions of his works, in the Department of Urdu, University of Peshawar in 2007. Another Study of
M.Phil.
The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...
(Urdu) is conducted by Khalid Mehmood in the
University of Sargodha
The Sargodha university (SU) is a public university based in Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan.
History
The ''De'Montmorency College'' was established at Shahpur Sadar in 1929. Later, it was renamed to ''Government College Sargodha''. The college was s ...
on the linguistic contributions of his works in 2013. Two M.A. and B.A. honours level theses on his literary contributions are developed in the Education University, and FCC University, Lahore in 2012, and several others. The Impact of his Ghost Characters Theory created two doctoral theses: one in Pakistan in 2011 in CS Dept. International Islamic University, Islamabad by Dr. M. Imran Razzak on Online Urdu Character Recognition in Unconstrained Environment; and the second in India in 2013 in CS Dept. North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon by Dr. Imran Khan Pathan on Automatic Segmentation and Recognition of Offline Handwritten Urdu Text. He is also known as Localization Guru of Pakistan. This is also highlighted in the Weekly "Technology Times ", Islamabad.
He was the first in-charge of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
Local Language Program for Urdu Language. He was also Head of Bureau of Translations, Dictionaries & Terminologies at the
National Language Authority
The National Language Promotion Department ( ur, ), formerly known as the National Language Authority (or Urdu Language Authority), is an autonomous regulatory institution established in 1979 to support the advancement and promotion of Urdu, w ...
, Pakistan. His project of Urdu Informatics revealed an Institute for Urdu Informatics, related with Urdu language research and development for its use on computers.
Tamgha-i-Imtiaz
Tamgha-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is a state-organised honour of Pakistan. It is given to any civilian in Pakistan based on their achievements. While it is a civilian/military award, it can be bestowed upon officers of the P ...
on his contributions to the Urdu literature and Urdu Informatics, on 14 August 2010, that was given on 23 March 2011. He has been honoured with a higher civil award 'Sitara-i-Imtiaz' conferred by the President of Pakistan on 14 August 2015 and decorated on 23 March 2016. His books ''Iqbal ka Insiklopedia'' and ''Pakistani Urdu'' received appreciations from former presidents of Pakistan. He was deriving a hypothesis on Pakistani as a language on e-world, a theory against Hindustani. He was the flag-career activist linguist of Language Planning, Development, Promotion and Policy for Urdu and Pakistani languages.
He has been listed in international ''WHO'S WHO'' in Translation and Terminology (1995), published by Union Latine Infoterm International ''Where, How and Praetorius''. He is also listed in the
LINGUIST List
The LINGUIST List is a major online resource for the academic field of linguistics. It was founded by Anthony Aristar in early 1990 at the University of Western Australia, and is used as a reference by the National Science Foundation in the Unit ...
. His credentials as an expert in multilingualism are mentioned in International Directory of Multilingualism, Union Latine, Paris (2007).
He has also been listed in the List of notable or famous alumni/graduates/students from University of the Punjab; prominent alums from this institution include celebrities, politicians and business people. His name is included in the top 1800 scholars/writers by a European researcher Paolo Nagrini of Munich, who impressed at least three other scholars among the thirty thousand on internet. He is the 1st theorist on Computer from Pakistan in the document of Ghost Characters Atomization-Combination Theory accepted and implemented by the UNICODE.
See also
*
Nastaʿlīq script
''Nastaliq'' (; fa, , ), also romanized as ''Nastaʿlīq'', is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write the Perso-Arabic script in the Persian and Urdu languages, often used also for Ottoman Turkish poetry, rarely for Arabic. ''Nas ...