Educational Inequality in Rural and Urban Sindh

The key development objective of Pakistan, since its existence, has been to reduce poverty, inequality and to improve the condition of its people. While this goal seems very important in itself yet is also necessary for the eradication of other social, political and economic problems. The objective to eradicate poverty has remained same but methodology to analysing this has changed. It can be said that failure of most of the poverty strategies is due to lack of clear choice of poverty definition. A sound development policy including poverty alleviation hinges upon accurate and well-defined measurements of multidimensional socio-economic characteristics which reflect the ground realities confronting the poor and down trodden rather than using some abstract/income based criteria for poverty measurement. Conventionally welfare has generally been measured using income or expenditures criteria. Similarly, in Pakistan poverty has been measured mostly in uni-dimension, income or expenditures variables. However, recent literature on poverty has pointed out some drawbacks in measuring uni-dimensional poverty in terms of money. It is argued that uni-dimensional poverty measures are insufficient to understand the wellbeing of individuals. Poverty is a multidimensional concept rather than a unidimensional. Uni-dimensional poverty is unable to capture a true picture of poverty because poverty is more than income deprivatio

Sustainability of Urban Regions and Migration in Pakistan: A GIS Analysis

The concept of sustainable migration has emerged recently after realizing the potential of migration in framing and altering the social, economic and environmental structures at destination, especially in the context of sustainable development goals (SDGs). An empirical investigation on the link between regional sustainability and sustainable migration is rare in literature, especially in the context of Pakistan’s urban areas. Present study aims at analysing the relationship between the two by geographic information system (GIS) spatially. This study shows that out of thirteen urban regions, hosting above-average migration along with positive in-migration growth, the migration towards nine regions is unsustainable. Two mega cities namely, Karachi and Lahore are included. This highlights the sustainable growth of regions, specifically and the nation generally. Therefore, in the national policy framework, migration policies should appear as an integral part

Economics of child labour

The dissertation aims to explore the supply and demand side determinant of child labour at macro, meso and micro level. At macro level it explores the effect of globalization (defined as openness to trade and inflow of foreign direct investment) and credit market imperfections on child labour. At meso level it explores the effect of labour market conditions on child labour. As the above two levels of analysis are mainly concerned with the demand for child labour, the micro level analysis explores the supply side determinant of child labour. At micro level this dissertation explores the effect of intrahousehold distribution of power on child related outcome. Specifically it explores the effect of mother’s decision making power on her child’s labour and schooling. The macro level analysis is based on cross country regression framework while meso and micro level analysis is based on the data from Pakistan. At macro level, this dissertation points out that trade openness and FDI inflow raise the standard of living in an economy thereby reducing child labour incidence. As the channel through which trade could affect child labour is by increasing income of the poor, credit market imperfection shows insignificant effect. At meso level, this dissertation points out that high adult wages in an area increase demand for child labour while presence of adult unemployed proportion in an area reduces demand for child labour. However, presence of unemployed adult in a house increases supply of child labour. Exports, on one hand, reduce supply of child labour by affecting the income of poor at macro level while on the other hand at meso level, subcontracting of production process to small informal sector increases demand for child labour. The informal sector being unprotected by law employs a high proportion of child labour. At micro level mother’s decision making power significantly decreases child labour supply and increases child schooling. The effect is significant in case of girls but not in case of boys. This study also shows that whether children work for generating income or as family helpers, mothers are equally concerned for their welfare. Their decision making power significantly reduces labour among children

Impact of Authentic Material on ESL Learners’ Receptive Vocabulary Size

In Pakistani pedagogical process, English is taught as foreign or second language and as a compulsory subject from class 1 to bachelor level. But the results are unsatisfactory in the whole process. Various studies (Heflin, & Alaimo, 2007) have been conducted to find out the reasons and remedies but vocabulary being the most important part of a language is not given due concern in pedagogical process. This research study is undertaken to observe the impacts of authentic material i.e. newspaper on ESL learners’ receptive vocabulary size at intermediate level. This is basically a quantitative research which borrowed the framework of an experimental research. The population was the ESL learners at bachelor level in Lahore. Through convenience sampling technique, the researchers have selected 50 students and formed them into control and experimental groups. The data were collected with pre-test and post-test tools. Later, data were analyzed statistically and shown in charts. In this research study, the researchers have found that good results can be obtained by teaching ESL learners with the help of authentic material i.e. newspaper as compared to the traditional methods of text book teaching. The EFL process can be enhanced with living and practical settings

PRICE SETTING BEHAVIOUR IN PAKISTAN: Stylized Facts from Micro SPI Dataset

The study analyzes the consumer price behavior by employing the micro-level price data for Pakistan. Substantial heterogeneity in the price setting behavior is observed across various products. The study finds that on an average, 15.8 per cent of prices change every week, with mean (median) duration of 5.8 (4) weeks of price spell. For most commodities, price increase is found more often than the price decrease. On an average, prices are increased by 8.1 per cent and reduced by 7.2 per cent. It reveals a broad spectrum of synchronization across cities ranging from partial staggered to perfect synchronized pricing behavior. The sticky nature of regulated commodities in case of Pakistan is confirmed in the study. Highly significant estimates in the regression analysis proves the existence of elements of both, the state dependent as well as the time dependent factors in determining frequency of the price change in Pakistan

Impact of Authentic Material on ESL Learners’ Receptive Vocabulary Size

In Pakistani pedagogical process, English is taught as foreign or second language and as a compulsory subject from class 1 to bachelor level. But the results are unsatisfactory in the whole process. Various studies (Heflin, & Alaimo, 2007) have been conducted to find out the reasons and remedies but vocabulary being the most important part of a language is not given due concern in pedagogical process. This research study is undertaken to observe the impacts of authentic material i.e. newspaper on ESL learners’ receptive vocabulary size at intermediate level. This is basically a quantitative research which borrowed the framework of an experimental research. The population was the ESL learners at bachelor level in Lahore. Through convenience sampling technique, the researchers have selected 50 students and formed them into control and experimental groups. The data were collected with pre-test and post-test tools. Later, data were analyzed statistically and shown in charts. In this research study, the researchers have found that good results can be obtained by teaching ESL learners with the help of authentic material i.e. newspaper as compared to the traditional methods of text book teaching. The EFL process can be enhanced with living and practical settings

Nitrofurantoin and Fosfomycin, effective oral empirical treatment options against multidrug resistant Escherichia coli

ObjectiveThe present study is designed to monitor antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Escherichia coli to assist in forecasting empirical therapy of urinary tract infection.MethodologyIt is a retrospective cross sectional study. It was carried out at Dow Diagnostic Research and Reference Laboratory for a period of 3 months from February 2017 to April 2017. A data of total 5000 urine culture and sensitivity test reports was taken from the medical record. The data was analyzed by SPSS version 16.ResultsOut of 5000 urine samples processed, 1565 showed significant bacterial growth. Escherichia coli was the most common pathogen isolated. Meropenem, Amikacin, Fosfomycin and Nitrofurantoin respectively were found to be the most sensitive antibiotics against Escherichia coli.Conclusion Fosfomycin and Nitrofurantoin are effective oral antibiotics against Escherichia coli causing urinary tract infection. The present study may help clinicians in making rational choice of empirical treatment of the patients

Income Inequality, Redistribution of Income and Trade Openness

Literature on nexus between trade openness and government spending is impressive [Atif, et al. (2012), Rudra (2004), Dani (1997) and McGuire (1999)]. The literature is growing rapidly. Analysts have documented the positive effects of government social spending [see for example Mesa-Lago (1994); Huber (1996); Weyland (1996); McGuire (1999)]. Unfortunately, Pakistan lacks empirical evidences on the impact of government social spending. Although Government of Pakistan has taken number of initiatives to have some form of redistribution policies, however, inequality in Pakistan is higher as compared to other Least Developed Countries that are open to trade. This situation is alarming. This paper therefore tries to identify the nexus between trade openness and social spending for the period 1975–2012. International evidence suggests that government social spending influences poverty and distribution of income. Pakistan‘s low level achievement in terms of reducing inequality, given the likely adverse economic impact of trade openness, point towards the fact that government has to design the policy in such a way that it affects the distribution of income. Thus, exploring the effect of social spending on income inequality is necessary for the concerned policy makers

Micro-remediation of chromium contaminated soils

Bacteria are tiny organisms which are ubiquitously found in the environment. These microscopic living bodies are responsible for the flow of nutrients in biogeochemical cycles and fertility imparted to the soil. Release of excessive chromium in agricultural soils due to rapid growth of industries may result in minimizing the fertility of soil in future, which will lead to reduction in crop production. Plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) are beneficial to the environment, some of which can tolerate chromium and protect plants against heavy metal stress. The current study aims to identify such chromium-tolerant auxin-producing rhizobacteria and to investigate their inoculation effects on the growth characteristics of Lens culinaris in chromium polluted soils by using two different chromium salts i.e., K2Cr2O7 and K2CrO4 in varying concentrations (0, 50, 100, 200, 400 and 500 µgml−1). The results revealed that Bacillus species are efficient in significantly reducing the deleterious effects of Cr. These effective bacterial strains were able to stimulate the growth of metal effected plants of Lens culinaris which were grown in chromium contaminated environment. Therefore, these plant growth promoting rhizobacteria PGPRs, having both auxin production potential and chromium-resistance ability, are considered as efficient micro-factories against chromium pollution