مولوی بشیر الدین احمد مرحوم
افسوس ہے کہ اردو کے ایک کہنہ مشق مصنف کی جسمانی یادگار مولوی بشیرالدین احمد خلف مولانا ڈپٹی نذیر احمد صاحب مرحوم نے بھی اپنی جگہ خالی کی، ۲۴؍ اگست کی شب کو بعارضۂ فالج دہلی میں وفات پائی، تاریخ بیجاپور، فرامین شاہی، عصائے پیری اور کئی تاریخی اور ادبی کتابوں کے وہ مصنف تھے اور اس عہد میں بسا غنیمت تھے۔
(سید سلیمان ندوی، ستمبر ۱۹۲۷ء)
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.
The study in hand is empirical in nature. It attempts to investigate the significance and the effectiveness of the 2semi-bilingual English to English and Urdu dictionary (EEUD) in catering the needs of the advanced learners of English in Pakistan. The study also explores the1purposes and the contexts of the use of semi-bilingual EEUD. Besides, the merits and demerits of the EEUDs, currently available in Pakistan form part of this research. The triangulation method of data collection has been used 3to find the answers to the research questions. The protocol study, similar in design applied by Diab (1990), has been used to find out different uses of semi-bilingual EEUD. Furthermore, following Hartman (1983), Kipfer (1985), Iqbal (1987), Diab (1990); two separate questionnaires have been used to collect information from four hundred advanced level learners of English and twenty-five teachers. Follow up interviews have also been conducted randomly as a supporting tool. In order 140to find the merits and demerits of the currently available semi-bilingual EEUDs, their review analysis has been provided. The analyses reveal that a large majority of the learners use semi- bilingual EEUD for a variety of purposes. They feel more at ease while using the semi- bilingual EEUD than any other type of dictionary. The learners use this type of dictionary as their first choice, and only in situations where they do not find the required information in the EEUD; they use other types of dictionaries, mainly the monolingual English to English dictionary. Unlike the learners of English, the teachers are divided in their opinion about the role and use of semi-bilingual EEUD. The documentary analysis of the existing dictionaries suggests that the currently available semi-bilingual dictionaries have certain drawbacks in their macro- and microstructures, which need to be improved to meet the needs of the learners and to come up to the level of standard lexicography. The research produces a model for the production of a perfect semibilingual EEUD which could fulfil the 67needs of the advanced level learners of English in Pakistan.