فیض احمد فیض(۱۹۱۱ء۔۱۹۸۴ء) کا اصل نام فیض احمد خان تھا۔ اور فیضؔتخلص تھا۔ آپ سیالکوٹ میں پیدا ہوئے۔ آپ کے والد خان بہادر سلطان خان ایک کامیاب بیرسٹر تھے۔ فیض نے ابتدائی تعلیم مولوی میر حسن اور مولوی ابراہیم میر سیالکوٹی سے حاصل کی۔۱۹۲۹ء میں فیض نے مرے کالج سیالکوٹ سے ایف ۔اے کا امتحان پاس کیا۔ ۱۹۳۶ء میں آپ نے انجمن ترقی پسند مصنفین کے قیام میں بھر پور حصہ لیا اور پنجاب شاخ کے صدر مقرر ہوئے۔۱۹۴۶ء میں برٹش کونسل نے انھیں ایم بی ای کا خطاب دیا۔ ۱۹۶۲ء میں ان کو دنیا کا اعلیٰ ترین اعزاز لینن ایوارڈ دیا گیا۔ (۵۶۶) فیض نے لاہور ،کراچی اور مختلف شہروں میں قیام کیا۔ لیکن انھیں اپنے آبائی گاؤں کالا قادر سے بے حد محبت تھی۔ جب نارووال سے کالا قادر تک پختہ سڑک بنی تو انھوں نے ۱۹۸۰ء میں بیروت سے ’’گاؤں کی سڑک‘‘ کے عنوان سے نظم لکھی۔ جب تک وہ زندہ رہے اپنے گاؤں میں اپنے عزیز و اقارب سے ملنے آتے رہے۔ اپنی وفات سے تین دن پہلے ۱۷ نومبر ۱۹۸۴ء میں فیض نے اپنی زندگی کا آخری مشاعرہ نارووال (سیالکوٹ) کے شعرا کے درمیان پڑھا۔اسی دن فیض نے نارووال میں ’’فیض اکیڈمی‘‘ کی بنیاد بھی رکھی۔ فیض کے انتقال کے بعد ان کے آبائی گاؤں کالا قادر کانام تبدیل کر کے فیض نگر رکھ دیا گیا۔ اس گاؤں میں اب ہر سال فیض میلہ بھی منعقد ہوتا ہے۔(۵۶۷)
۱۹۴۱ء میں فیض کا پہلا شعری مجموعہ’’نقش فریادی‘‘ شائع ہوا۔ جس نے اُس زمانے کی ادبی فضا میں ہلچل مچا دی۔ یہ مجموعہ جدید شاعری میں ایک منفرد آواز ہے۔ اس میں فیض کی پہلے دور کی غزلیں اور نظمیں شامل ہیں۔ ان نظموں اور غزلیات میں ایک مسحور کن اور رومانی کیفیت پائی جاتی ہے۔
دوسرا مجموعہ کلام ’’دست صبا‘‘ کے نام سے ۱۹۵۲ء میں شائع ہوا۔ اس...
The financing operations of conventional microfinance institutions are usually based on interest (Usury/Riba) which is strictly prohibited by the Shariah of Islam, therefore, some Islamic microfinance institutions were set up in Pakistan to provide micro credit and other financial help to the deserving people based on Shariah compliant mechanism. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and compare the social and financial performance of these microfinance institutions in Pakistan. Two separate samples containing two microfinance institutions each, representing conventional and Islamic microfinance institutions has been selected for this study. Four stars, Wasil Foundation and Akhuwat from Islamic microfinance institutions while Asasah and Community Support Concern (CSC) from conventional microfinance institutions, rated by Mix market have been selected for this research paper. The social and financial performance based on outreach, profitability, efficiency/productivity, and portfolio quality of both these microfinance institutions were studied and compared. The study revealed that Islamic MFIs were more cost effective compared to conventional MFIs based on cost per borrower (CPB) and operating expenses to assets (OEA), while on the basis of financial efficiency conventional MFIs performed well. Though the financial and social performance of both Islamic and conventional MFIs have improved over the passage of time, still they have to struggle hard on various fronts especially to improve their profitability based on ROA and ROE measures to make the institutions profitable and sustainable. This study reveals that the successful operation of Akhuwat and Wasil Foundation for the last more than a decade latterly proves that Islamic MFIs are viable and sustainable even in the absence of charging interest from their clients. So, the society and the government should encourage and promote these Shariah compliant organizations in order to help the extremely marginalized people of the society.
Eco- labeling is recognized as an effective measure to control environmental pollution by the manufacturing firms. Given the increasing global demand for eco- labeled products, this study seeks to examine its implications for Pakistan. In the first part of this study, we analyze the existing pattern of eco-labeling schemes adopted by Pakistani textile firms and evaluate the effect of eco-labeling on their environmental and economic performance. We also identify the factors influencing a textile firm’s decision to acquire an eco- label for its products. For these objectives, we use data for 128 firms from the textile industry listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2009 to 2015. The results show that, out of 128 textile firms in the sample, the firms with eco- labeled products are only 32%, which include 21% exporting firms and 11% nonexporting firms. Regression results from three stage least squares (3SLS) estimator show that the textile firms with an eco- label have higher environmental and economic performance. This indicates that the adoption of eco- labels promotes the sustainable growth of the textile firms. Regression results from logit model show that a large textile firm is more likely to adopt an ecolabel relative to the medium or small firm, while an old textile firm is less likely to adopt an ecolabel relative to a new textile firm. As expected, an exporting textile firm is more likely to adopt an eco- label. The environmental performance, as well as the financial performance of the textile firm, increases the likelihood of eco- label adoption. Pakistan exports various products including textiles, apparel, food, fish, pulp, paper leather products, sports goods, cement, and other products. Pakistan’s exports account for 8.5 percent of GDP while its imports account for 19.4 percent. The increasing global demand for eco-labeled products in the international markets poses a potential risk of the exports opportunities for Pakistan. Given the importance of exports in Pakistan economy and increasing demand for eco- labeled products, in the second part of this study, we investigate the potential impact of eco- labeling on the exports of Pakistan. For this part, we use panel data of 24 industrialized trading partners of the country from 2003 to 2014. Results of the Gravity model show that the number of eco- labels in the trading partner country has a negative and significant impact on the exports of fish, food and textiles products of Pakistan. The cost of acquiring ecolabels has a negative and significant impact on the fish, food, textiles, pulp, papers, and building materials exports of Pakistan. The impressive environmental performance of the Blue Angel as a national eco- label scheme of Germany motivated other countries to introduce their own national eco-label schemes. However, there are various factors which determined a country government to introduce a national eco- label scheme. In the third part of this study, we identify the factors which determined the government to introduce a national eco-labeling scheme. For this part, we use panel data of 54 countries that are Pakistan’s trade partners from 1994 to 2014. The results of the panel logit model show that a country with high economic growth and high government integrity is more likely to introduce a national eco- label scheme. A country with a reasonable number of environmentally conscious consumers is more likely to introduce a national eco- label scheme. A country which devoted a significant share of its expenditures for research and development (R&D) is more likely to introduce a national eco- label scheme, while a country which heavily depends on exports is less likely to introduce a national eco- label scheme. A country which X exports high technology products is more likely to introduce a national eco-label scheme. A country which faces a diverse range of eco- labels in its trade partner countries is more likely to introduce a national eco- label scheme, while an economically free country is less likely to introduce a national eco- label scheme.