Wakhi people are members of the Iranian ethno-linguistic group living in mountainous areas of the Pamir-Hindukush-Karakoram knot, in the heart of the geo-cultural region known as Central Asia. Their wedding ceremony, being an example of their distinctive culture, results from long-term preparations, which have roots far in history. As time has passed, of course, some more or less important details were omitted, left out or forgotten. On the other hand, new issues emerge within the ceremony and meet with sympathies or antipathies of society members. Informants who have interpreted gradual progression of the engagement ceremony, preparations for the wedding ceremony and their culmination were themselves aware that its traditional form and content is — even in its incomplete form — rarely practiced. Some of them are interested in preservation and largest possible revitalization of the original ceremony state, others would rather head towards the “Western” model.
Pakistan’s security policy is defined, articulated and implemented by the country’s army. This is a problem at many levels, mostly because the security policy history is full of shortsighted mistakes, delusional adventurism, and a narrowly defined concept of national interest. Pakistan’s reputation as an exporter and facilitator of terrorism is mostly in line with the Pakistani state’s historical actions. In order for Pakistan to function as a stable, democratic and constitutional state, it would have to change the way it imagines itself and its role in the world at large. But the Pakistani military is not going to hand its monopoly over security policy to anyone in the foreseeable future, because the military mind has proven itself to be largely incapable of doing this. This has serious implications for India.
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Background: During the last two decades Pakistan was one of the most attractive countries that received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) among developing economies, and especially in first half of the last decade the growth was so rapid and sustainable in different industries as well as in agriculture. In Pakistani economy the role of Foreign Direct Investment is very important. Policies are clear about the foreign investment even then adjustments are made according to the time, objective, needs and economic circumstances in the country. Methods: The present study aims to investigate the determinants of foreign investment in Pakistan by using Gravity model. By using panel data of FDI which is used as dependent variable and Gross domestic product, Gross domestic product per capita, Gross domestic product growth rate, Inflation rate, Trade, Total government expenditure, Population growth and Distance used as independent variable from 1999 to 2009 for empirical consequences, the study encompasses the examination of Foreign Direct Investment inflows from different countries and their geographical distance from Pakistan. Results: Two type of test is used (1) fixed and (2) random effect to check the relationship among foreign direct investment and independent variables. In our both models distance shows a negative impact on the decision to make an investment by investing partner while GDP and GDP growth have a positive and significant impact. Gravity in this regards does not effect that much for foreign direct investment attraction because results are negatively significant in this case that shows higher distance is a hurdle for the inflow of foreign investment but rest of the variables are significantly positive and related to the inflow of foreign investment except population growth which is negatively correlated. Conclusion: This research concludes that there is a strong evidence of existence of gravity between Pakistan and its investing partners. It is also conclude that those countries have less distance from Pakistan, having more investment in Pakistan, therefore, attracting these countries for investment in Pakistan would cause a greater chance of economic growth in Pakistan.
Pakistan has been facing a high level of violence over the decades. Although a paucity of knowledge on this issue in Pakistan is observed, this essay nonetheless outlines the documented patterns of street-youth violence: its causes, perpetrators and the socio-cultural and political constructs of the phenomenon. The wide gap in both the empirical and theoretical knowledge of the ‘North and South’ of the intellectual global world impedes the researchers of the indigenous social problems to construct a comprehensive sociological perspective on the street-youth violence that exists in this region.
PL
W Pakistanie od dziesięcioleci odnotowuje się wysokie wskaźniki przemocy. Brak dostatecznej wiedzy na temat tego zjawiska w Pakistanie. Niemniej jednak niniejsze opracowanie stara się pokazać udokumentowane schematy przemocy ulicznej wśród młodych: jej przyczyny, sprawców a także konstrukty społeczno-kulturowe oraz polityczne tego zjawiska. Głęboki rozziew między wiedzą empiryczną i teoretyczną „Północy i Południa” w zglobalizowanym świecie intelektu stanowi dla badaczy miejscowych problemów społecznych przeszkodę w budowaniu kompleksowego socjologicznego spojrzenia na przemoc uliczną wśród młodych w tym regionie.
Upper Tanawallies is in the middle of the Western part of Hazara division, and includes the remote areas of four districts i.e. Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur and Tor-Ghar, having latitude 34°.34.40´ N to 34°.48.88´ N and 72°.84.27´ E to 73°.10.50´ E longitude. This area is loaded with plant diversity, and tree species in this area vary in their life form, leaf spectra and phenological behavior. There is no prior record of plants diversity in the area, hence, this study was conducted to explore the tree diversity, life form, leaf spectrum and phenology of the tree flora. A total 127 sampling stands (10 x 10 m2) were put into place in different locations in Upper Tanawallies to collect field data using the quadrat method. As an outcome, we learned that the region hosts 53 different tree species of 39 genera belonging to 25 tree families. The biological spectra of the trees were constructed according to Raunkiaer (1934). Results showed that Mesophanerophytes was the dominant life form class, contributing 34 (64%) of all tree species encountered, while Mesophyll and Microphyll was the dominant leaf size spectrum classes, each contributing to a count of 18 (34%) of all tree species. Frequent field visits were also carried out during the flowering and fruiting seasons in 2016/17. The result indicates that most tree species of the area show flowering during April-May (32%) while, maximum fruiting were recorded in June-July (36%). Our study concludes that anthropogenic activities on these forests should be reduced to overcome deforestation. This work will be the baseline for new research in the study area.
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This article studies how climate change affects the agricultural productivity in Pakistan`s four provinces Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and the N.W.F.P., measured as weighted food crop yields per hectare, for the food crops wheat, rice and maize. By considering the RABI (Nov-Apr) growing season and including a measure for drought to capture the occurrence of extreme events, exacerbated through climate change, the proposed hypothesis is that changing climatic variables have reduced and are reducing the agricultural productivity and thus posing a threat to long term food security. To depict the effect of climate change, several control variables are introduced in a panel framework for intertemporal analysis. As a result, we should expect lower levels of productivity in the arid zones with greater climatic pressure and adverse effects on food security through lower agricultural yields.
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In the past twelve years Pakistan has gone through a period of acute internal strife between the status quo and the emerging new religious/political ideologies. A number of reasons define the conflict: religious, social, economic, international. A very important element of the strife is the psychological attitude of Pakistanis towards their own state, religion and the world at large. The key elements of this psychological attitude are: inferiority/superiority complex vis‑à‑vis their Arab neighbours, India, and the Western world, and the commonly held belief in dangerous conspiracies that the world outside is constantly hatching against it. These two elements are enhanced by militant (jihadi) electronic and printed media creating a strongly skewed vision of the outside world.
Naegleria belongs to the free-living amoeba family and is well-known as a human pathogen. It is recognized as etiological agent of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis involving central nervous system which always leads to death. To date, there is not a single report demonstrating Naegleria isolation and identification from environmental sources of Rawlakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan, and thus the aim of this study. Naegleria was isolated on non-nutrient agar plates seeded with heat killed E. coli and confirmed by morphological properties of the both stages of cyst or trophozoites. Furthermore, PCR was conducted along with direct sequencing of the PCR product for molecular identification. PCR and sequencing data verified the amplification of Naegleria sp. (07) and Vahlkampfia sp. (01) from both water and soil samples. Interestingly two species were successfully isolated and cultured on both 30 and 45°C. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report demonstrating the Naegleria isolation and molecular characterization from environmental sources of Rawlakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. The author is anxious for further evaluation of the pathogenic potential of the identified species and explores drinking water across Pakistan to investigate its quality and frequency of FLA, which might be a possible human hazard in future.
The economic and political aspect of the equilibrium-saving within the triangle “Delhi–Beijing–Islamabad” is the principle topic of the article. The research is based on the system methodology, thus China, India and Pakistan are presented here as the elements of the international relations subregional system. The inter-elements’ relationships are developing in the vital connection with the algorithms of the functioning of the greater system – Asia–Pacific Region. In connection with the said, the article begins with the APR characterization, the place of Southern Asia within the APR is also initially analyzed. The bilateral China-India and Paki-China relations are observed and the conclusions are formulated. Estimating the new challenges to the global international security and taking into account the considerable role of economics in the development of the countries studied, the new threats and, on the other hand, new opportunities for the uneasy interstate relationships are considered. The policy-influencing economic projects are covered in the article; IT-collaboration, co-operation within the international organizations are also considered as the restraining factors of the “triangle’s” antagonistic relations. Nevertheless, the key issue is, whether China is able to co-operate with both rival sides, avoiding the provocations. As a result of supporting one side, e.g. Pakistan, China can make India feel uneasy, in this way refreshing the old territorial disputes between the countries. Only the wise political steps can save Beijing from the collapse in its Southern Asia policy. The economic and political tools of conducting such a wise policy towards both Delhi and Islamabad are covered in the present article.
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Predicting financial distress have significant importance in corporate finance as it serves as an effective early warning system for the related stakeholders. The study applies the most admired financial distress prediction O-score model and compares its predictive accuracy with estimated logit model. The study estimates logit model by including the profitability ratios, liquidity ratios, leverage ratios, and cash flow ratios. This study filled the gap by using the cash flow ratios to predict financial distress for Pakistani listed firms. The sample for the estimation model consists of 290 firms with 45 distressed and 245 healthy firms for the period 2006-2016 and covers all sectors of Pakistan Stock Exchange. The study provides important insights on the role of different financial ratio in predicting financial distress and shows that estimated logit model produces higher accuracy rate in predicting financial distress.
Microcredit has been recognized as an effective tool to foster entrepreneurship among the rural women. Traditionally, women entrepreneurs in Pakistan are handicapped in the matter of organizing and running their businesses due to absence of capital and fear of failure. With the efforts of state-owned and private microcredit instructions, many Pakistani women are now establishing new businesses with ideas to start micro and small enterprises. This paper intends to examine the role of Sarhad Rural Support Program (SRSP) in empowering women entrepreneurs through microcredit in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The study was undertaken in six villages from three selected districts to examine the effect of microcredit on social and economic empowerment of the rural women entrepreneurs. The field data was collected by applying multistage sampling techniques from the sample size of 300 women entrepreneurs. However, social and economic empowerment index was developed for the assessment of socioeconomic empowerment of the women entrepreneurs. The study found significant improvement in the social and economic status of the women entrepreneurs and concludes that the overall effect of SRSP’s microcredit was positive in empowering women entrepreneurs and promoting entrepreneurship in the study area. However, to effectively address the gender-related constraints and cultural sensitivity that limit equitable access of women entrepreneurs to the local markets, support services are required by the SRSP to create linkages between the women entrepreneurs and local markets.
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The twentieth century partitions, it has been argued, have been essentially the by‑products of three interlinked global developments: (a) decolonisation; (b) democratisation and the (c) Cold War dynamics. The partition of the Indian subcontinent, in particular, bore the imprint of the maelstrom produced by the intertwining of these three forces. The process of partition in South Asia did not only involve simple division and reorganisation of territories but was accompanied by devolution and indigenisation of political institutions and governance, placing partition at the heart of the process of nation‑state formation. In this sense, the longue duree process of the partitioning of the subcontinent has continued to cast its long shadow over the nation‑building process leading to internal discrepancies and the development of regional dynamics, often competitive and conflictual in nature.
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This article investigates the impact of military expenditures on poverty in Pakistan (along with inflation, industrialization, service sector, and foreign direct investment) for both short-term and long-term perspectives. An effort is made to find out the role of military expenditures in poverty elimination. The question to be addressed is that whether military expenditures is pro-poverty or anti-poverty in Pakistan. A time series analysis is made for the period of 1972-2009. The problem of unit root is inspected by applying Ng-Perron (2001) test; the strength of relationship between military expenditures and poverty in the light of control variables is investigated by using Johansen and Juselius (1990), the long-term coefficients are examined by using Ordinary Least Square Method, and short-term dynamics are computed by applying Error Correction Mechanism. The results show that military expenditures and inflation are significantly elevating poverty in both short-term and long-term periods while the growth of industrial and service sectors help in reducing poverty in Pakistan. It has been diagnosed that the first period lag term of industry is significantly contributing to lowering poverty in the long-term period whereas in the short-term one industrialization does not significantly elevate poverty. It means it takes some time to bear the fruits of industrial growth in terms of reduction in poverty. Growth in the service sector does reduce poverty significantly in both short-term and long-term perspectives. Finally; foreign direct investments do not play any role in the reduction of poverty in the long-term period, but surprisingly it has some significant negative impact on poverty in the short run. From the empirical findings many policy implications can be deduced. The findings suggest that the military expenditure deteriorates the poverty situation in Pakistan. The viable policy option may be to revise the volume of military expenditures in perspective of the reallocation of resources from the defense expenditures to the expenditures on social development of the economy. The caution that requires to be considered is the proper and efficient reallocation of resources.