منشی پریم چند
افسوس ہے کہ اس جلسہ میں ہندی اور ہندوستانی کا وہ ادیب موجود نہ تھا، جس کا قلم ان دونوں دریاؤں کا سنگم تھا، یعنی منشی پریم چند، ماسوف علیہ نے اسی مہینہ اپنے دوستوں کو آخری الوداع کہا اور اس دنیا سے رخصت ہوگئے، ان کے قلم نے کم از کم پچیس برس تک اپنے دیہاتی بھائیوں کی کہانی اپنے شہری بھائیوں کو سنائی، وہ زبان کے پرجوش فصیح و بلیغ نہ تھے، ان کی عبارت تکلف و بناوٹ سے پاک اور حددرجہ سادی تھی، ان کی کہانیوں کا اثر ان کی زبان میں نہ تھا، بلکہ ان کے بیان میں تھا، انہوں نے ہمارے دیہاتی تمدن، ہندوستانی وضع و آداب اور ہندی اخلاقی آن بان کی جو تصویر کھینچی ہیں وہ ہمارے ادبی مرقع کی زندہ جاوید یادگاریں ہیں۔
(سید سلیمان ندوی،نومبر ۱۹۳۶ء)
Chronic hepatitis C is a major health problem associated with high mortality and morbidity. It is the most common chronic blood borne infection leading to chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. One of the treatment used for hepatitis C is interferon therapy which can lead to thyroid dysfunction i.e. Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. OBJECTIVE: “To assess the frequency of hypothyroidism in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with standard interferon therapy”. METHODS: Thisdescriptive case series study was carried out at Outpatient Department of Medicine, King Edward Medical University/ Mayo Hospital Lahore for 06 months from July to December 2014. After ethical approval of the study, 200 patients of ages 15 to 65 years with both genders having chronic hepatitis C on Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)& normal thyroid functionstest were taken by Non-probability, purposive sampling technique. Informed written consent was taken from all the patients. Serum thyroid stimulating hormone level (TSH) was sent of all patients to Centre for Nuclear Medicine (CENUM), Mayo Hospital Lahore before and after the completion of three months of interferontherapy and hypothyroidism was considered as TSH>4.0 mIU/L (normal range: 0.2-4.0 mIU/L). RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 36.29 + 8.5 years. Out of total 200 patients, 123 (61.5%) were male and 77 (38.5%) were female. At baselines mean TSH of the patients was 3.16 + 2.57 mIU/L. After 3 months of therapy 163 patients (81.5%) were euthyroid and 37 patients (18.5%) were having thyroid dysfunction. Among patients with thyroid dysfunction 29 (14.5% of total patients) were hypothyroid. Among hypothyroid patients, according to gender distribution 8 (27.6%) patients were male and 21 (72.4%) patients were female. The difference was statistically significant (P=0.0003). CONCLUSION: It is concluded from this study that there is significant frequency of hypothyroidism in patients of chronic hepatitis C treated with standard interferon therapy and females are at more risk of developing thyroid dysfunction particularly hypothyroidism after standard interferon therapy.
In Pakistan, most of the public sector schools have poor teaching/learning practices for English, especially with regard to spoken skills (Rahman, 2003). Enhancing skills in language learning requires both teacher and student motivation and engagement (Azaeem & Dogar, 2011). English language speaking skills are ignored in classroom instruction because it seems that in Pakistani schools, language teachers are not familiar with the new methods of teaching language generally and teaching of speaking skills particularly (Alam & Bashir-ud-Din, 2013). The need to build effective communication skills in learners is increasing as English continues to reign as the global language (Barnes, 2008). Therefore, different educational institutes are applying different methods of teaching speaking skills (Raja, 2013). This study was carried out in the context of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, to explore how task-based instruction (TBI) can be used to motivate and enhance the English language speaking skills of grade 6 students. It was an action research study located within the paradigm of pragmatism which is concerned with action and change, and knowledge and action (Coldkuhl, 2012). The data were collected in three main phases: reconnaissance phase, intervention phase and after-intervention phase. Data collection tools were: observations, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and reflections on classroom teaching cycles. The language teacher of grade 6 and five students participated in this study. This sample was purposively selected. Data analysis of the reconnaissance phase revealed that there are certain issues in the research context dealing with motivation of students to learn English language speaking. One of the important aspects to motivate language learners is student involvement in the tasks (Dornyei, 1998), foreign language anxiety in students and their language confidence (Mahmoodzadeh, 2012), students' willingness to communicate in the target language (Din, 2015) and the students' tendency to use reductive strategies and code-switch from English to local languages (Sert, 2005). On the basis of the reconnaissance phase findings, I planned an intervention and conducted three teaching cycles. During these cycles, I used individual tasks, pair tasks and group tasks which were designed keeping student interest in mind. Findings revealed that the language teachers in my context emphasize on the writing and reading skills of students. They use grammar-translation method to teach language. Teachers focus on the completion of the syllabus. This in turn provides fewer opportunities for learners to practice the target language. The study outcomes suggest that learners' exposure to the target language speaking and language learning