سیالکوٹ کی تہذیب قدامت کے لحاظ سے پانچ ہزار سال سے بھی پہلے کے آثار ظاہر کرتی ہے۔راجہ شل نے اس تہذیب کو پروان چڑھانے میں اہم کردار ادا کیا۔اس شہر کی تہذیبی روایات اور علمی آثار " مہابھارت" میں بدرجہ اُتم موجود ہیں۔سیالکوٹ کی مٹی بڑی زرخیز اور مردم خیز ہے۔سرزمین سیالکوٹ نے علم وادب وفنون لطیفہ کے میدانوں میں گراں قدر خدمات سرانجام دی ہیں۔سیالکوٹ کی علمی وادبی اہمیت مسلمہ ہے۔ہر دور میں خواہ وہ ہندو راج ہو ، مغلیہ راج ہویا انگریز راج سیالکوٹ نے ہردور میں علمی وادبی مرکز کے حوالے سے اپنی شناخت قائم رکھی ہے۔یہاں سے بہت سی نامور روحانی اور علمی وادبی شخصیات نے جنم لیا ہےاور بعض نے یہاں کی روحانی اور علمی وادبی شخصیات سے فیض حاصل کیا ہے۔٧٠٠ قبل مسیح سے٦٠٠ قبل مسیح تک یہ اتنا عظیم تعلیمی مرکز تھا۔کہ بنارس کے شہزادے حصول علم کے لیے یہاں آتے تھے۔
اکیسویں صدی عیسویں میں بھی شہرِ اقبال اپنی تہذیبی و ادبی روایات کی بازیافت کے لیے خاصا سرگرم عمل ہے۔ملا عبدالحکیم سیالکوٹی ،مولانا فیروزالدین،اقبال ،فیض ،مولانا ظفر علی خاں، ہاشم شاہ،حضرت رائج سیالکوٹی، دلشاد ،منشی میراں بخش جلوہ،محمد الدین فوق ،اثر صہبائی ،سلیم واحد سلیم ،بدری ناتھ سدرشن،جوگندر پال ،غلام الثقلین نقوی ،رجندر سنگھ بیدی،عبدالحمید عرفانی،سرمد صہبائی،خالد نظیر صوفی، ڈاکٹر جاوید اقبال،ساغر جعفری،مولوی ابراہیم میر،آسی ضیائی رامپوری،طفیل ہوشیارپوری،اے ڈی اظہر،حفیظ صدیقی،صابر ظفر،اصغر سودائی اور جابر علی سید دنیائے شعروادب کے اہم ستارے ہیں۔جن کا تعلق سیالکوٹ کی دھرتی کے ساتھ تادمِ حیات رہا ۔موجودہ دور میں بھی خطہ سیالکوٹ علمی وادبی میدان میں مضافاتی دائرے سے نکل کر قومی وبین الاقوامی ادبی دھارےمیں شامل ہونے کے لیے پرتول رہا ہے۔پنجاب لٹریری فورم سیالکوٹ اسی سلسلے میں اہم کردار ادا کررہا ہے۔اس ادبی تحریک کا ثمر اس خطے کی ادبی سرگرمیوں کی نشاة ثانیہ کی...
The paper examines the dynamics of The Gambian National Youth Service Scheme (NYSS) founded in 1996 through the efforts of Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme. Though modeled after the NYSC, it has ventured into things NYSC has not. One of these was its most recent partnership with the IOM to curb recurrent illicit migration of The Gambian youths. The questions are, has this aspect of Nigeria-The Gambia history been documented? Has Nigerian Scheme gone into partnership with the IOM in the enterprise like The Gambian counterpart? Since its establishment, how many times has NYSC adjusted to changing realities? In what theoretical contexts could one frame the argument of the NYSS/ IOM partnership and what lessons does that holds for NYSC and similar youths’ services in Africa in the century? In addressing the problem, the paper adopts the qualitative method of historical research and gleans on evidence from diverse sources. It foregrounds its argument on the ideas of the National Youth Service as “Moral Equivalent of War”, “Service- Learning” and “A Way of Strengthening Ties among the People of the World” espoused by William James, John Dewey, and Rosenstock-Huessy. It concludes by charging NYSC and similar services to adjust to meet the current challenges of African youth and society
Petroleum hydrocarbons are recalcitrant compounds and their adverse environmental and public health effects demand that efficient and eco-friendly remediation technologies be devised as countermeasures. The synergistic use of plants and bacteria is considered as one of the efficient technologies for the restoration of crude oil-contaminated soil. The studies performed in this thesis were aimed to (ⅰ) isolate and characterize bacteria associated with the plants growing well in crude oil-contaminated soil, (ⅱ) study the effect of augmentation of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria on plant growth and crude oil degradation in vitro and in vivo. A large number of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria were isolated from the rhizospheric soil, root and shoot interior of grasses (Lolium perenne, Leptochloa fusca, Brachiaria mutica) and trees (Leucaena leucocephala and Acacia ampliceps) vegetated in crude oil-contaminated soil. The rhizospheric soil yielded 22 (59.45%), root interior yielded 9 (24.32%) and shoot interior yielded 6 (16.21%) hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. These bacteria possessed genes encoding alkane hydroxylase and showed multiple plant growth-promoting activities. Bacillus (48.64%) and Acinetobacter (18.91%) were dominant genera found in this study. Green house studies revealed that augmentation with crude oil-degrading bacteria enhanced plant growth and crude oil degradation. Colonization and metabolic activity of the endophytes were higher in the rhizosphere and endosphere of B. mutica than L. fusca. The plant species affected not only colonization pattern and biofilm formation of the inoculated bacteria in the rhizosphere and endosphere of the host plant, but also affected the expression of alkane hydroxylase gene, alkB. The beneficial plant-bacteria partnership was applied in the vicinity of an oil exploration and production company for the remediation of crude oil-contaminated soil. Bacterial augmentation improved plant growth, enhanced crude oil degradation, and reduced soil toxicity and these were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those where plants or bacteria were used individually. A positive relationship (r = 0.70) observed between alkB gene expression and crude oil reduction indicates that expression of catabolic gene (alkB) is important for hydrocarbon mineralization. On the basis of in vitro and in vivo studies, it is concluded that for practical application, support of potential bacteria combined with the grasses is more effective approach than the use of plants and bacteria individually. This technology can be applied for effective remediation of crude oil-polluted sites.