From Energy Blues to Green Energy: Options Before Pakistan

Energy crisis in Pakistan had been brewing long before it became an important national issue with the potential to significantly affect the outcome of general elections of 2013. The looming crisis of depleting non-renewable energy sources combined with a feeble economy has lent a new urgency to the search for an energy mix which is sustainable, economically viable and environmentally least hazardous. Fossil fuels with their known adverse environmental impacts dominate the current energy mix of Pakistan. The renewable energy sources remain underutilised despite being cost effective and less hazardous for the environment. A substantial amount of literature has highlighted various dimensions of existing energy sources in Pakistan with a particular emphasis on the environmental impact, the sustainability and the efficiency of various energy sources [see Asif (2009); Basir, et al. (2013); Bhutto, et al. (2012); Mirza, et al. (2009, 2008, 2003); Muneer and Asif (2007); Sheikh (2010) for example]. This study analyses the environmental impact, economic feasibility and efficiency of various energy sources subject to various economic and noneconomic constraints. Section 2 discusses energy security by reviewing various tapped and untapped energy sources besides analysing current energy mix and its future prospects. Section 3 highlights the interaction of energy use and environment. Section 4 discusses two approaches to assess the feasibility of an energy mix: disaggregated and aggregated. The latter approach makes a multidimensional comparison of all the energy sources discussed in this study. Section 5 consists of discussion and concluding remarks

Democracy, Inequality and Economic Development: The Case of Pakistan

In this paper, we made an attempt to understand the costs and benefits of democracy for economic growth in Pakistan by analyzing the relationship between democracy and its various measures. Using instrumental variables and RALS (rth-order autoregressive least squares) estimation techniques, it is shown that during the period 1972-2005, there is only a tenuous and uncertain relationship between democracy and fiscal policy variables like expenditures, revenues and deficit; whereas democracy has no impact at all on the income inequality. Moreover, we observed that the political rights had a significant negative impact on fiscal expenditures, suggesting that with an increase in political rights, the governing institutes begin to feel themselves more accountable and as such are more circumspect in expenditures.Democracy; Political Rights; Fiscal Expenditures; Economic Growth; Income Inequality; Well-Being

A First Look at Digital Rights Management Systems for Secure Mobile Content Delivery

Digital rights management (DRM) solutions aim to prevent the copying or distribution of copyrighted material. On mobile devices, a variety of DRM technologies have become widely deployed. However, a detailed security study comparing their internal workings, and their strengths and weaknesses, remains missing in the existing literature. In this paper, we present the first detailed security analysis of mobile DRM systems, addressing the modern paradigm of cloud-based content delivery followed by major platforms, such as Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime. We extensively analyse the security of three widely used DRM solutions -- Google Widevine, Apple FairPlay, and Microsoft PlayReady -- deployed on billions of devices worldwide. We then consolidate their features and capabilities, deriving common features and security properties for their evaluation. Furthermore, we identify some design-level shortcomings that render them vulnerable to emerging attacks within the state of the art, including micro-architectural side-channel vulnerabilities and an absence of post-quantum security. Lastly, we propose mitigations and suggest future directions of research

Protecting the Vulnerable: The Case of IDPs in Pakistan

Vulnerability as a measure of human deprivations is a more comprehensive and value-laden term than poverty. While the poverty analysis provides a profile of the characteristics of the poor people, vulnerability analysis explains, among other factors, the role of risk in creating the dynamics that contribute to the observed poverty level. Social protection is an important concept in the policy dialogue on the vulnerabilities of the people and is aimed at finding ways to help the vulnerable people in managing the risks and becoming less susceptible to the welfare losses. Vulnerability takes a number of forms and requires different types of social protection mechanisms. This paper analyses the vulnerabilities of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Pakistan and identifies the social protection delivered by various government and non-government stakeholders. The paper also reviews the literature on the vulnerabilities of the IDPs in different parts of the world to explore the best practices in providing social protection to IDP

A First Look at Digital Rights Management Systems for Secure Mobile Content Delivery

Digital rights management (DRM) solutions aim to prevent the copying or distribution of copyrighted material. On mobile devices, a variety of DRM technologies have become widely deployed. However, a detailed security study comparing their internal workings, and their strengths and weaknesses, remains missing in the existing literature. In this paper, we present the first detailed security analysis of mobile DRM systems, addressing the modern paradigm of cloud-based content delivery followed by major platforms, such as Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime. We extensively analyse the security of three widely used DRM solutions -- Google Widevine, Apple FairPlay, and Microsoft PlayReady -- deployed on billions of devices worldwide. We then consolidate their features and capabilities, deriving common features and security properties for their evaluation. Furthermore, we identify some design-level shortcomings that render them vulnerable to emerging attacks within the state of the art, including micro-architectural side-channel vulnerabilities and an absence of post-quantum security. Lastly, we propose mitigations and suggest future directions of research

Document Clustering based on Topic Maps

Importance of document clustering is now widely acknowledged by researchers for better management, smart navigation, efficient filtering, and concise summarization of large collection of documents like World Wide Web (WWW). The next challenge lies in semantically performing clustering based on the semantic contents of the document. The problem of document clustering has two main components: (1) to represent the document in such a form that inherently captures semantics of the text. This may also help to reduce dimensionality of the document, and (2) to define a similarity measure based on the semantic representation such that it assigns higher numerical values to document pairs which have higher semantic relationship. Feature space of the documents can be very challenging for document clustering. A document may contain multiple topics, it may contain a large set of class-independent general-words, and a handful class-specific core-words. With these features in mind, traditional agglomerative clustering algorithms, which are based on either Document Vector model (DVM) or Suffix Tree model (STC), are less efficient in producing results with high cluster quality. This paper introduces a new approach for document clustering based on the Topic Map representation of the documents. The document is being transformed into a compact form. A similarity measure is proposed based upon the inferred information through topic maps data and structures. The suggested method is implemented using agglomerative hierarchal clustering and tested on standard Information retrieval (IR) datasets. The comparative experiment reveals that the proposed approach is effective in improving the cluster quality

The Implication of Positive Reinforcement Strategy in dealing with Disruptive Behaviour in the Classroom: A Scoping Review

The scoping review study was carried out from January 18, 2019, to February 18, 2019, by following the Arksey and O'Malley method of scoping review. An extensive search in the bibliographic databases, PubMed, ERIC, and Google scholar for the gray literature was done. The search was narrowed by a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The studies included in the literature search were sort by the PRISMA flow chart. The selected studies address the use of a positive reinforcement strategy to manage disruptive behavior in the classroom. The positive reinforcement strategies identified were praise (41%), feedback (33%), and other classroom management studies (25%). Skinner's operant learning principle has a classroom implication for increasing the likelihood of the desired behavior. The results of the review can be used to implement evidence-based practice and policy regarding improving the desired behavior in the classroom

Model Kandidasi Birokrat oleh Partai Politik pada Pemilihan Kepala Daerah Langsung di Kabupaten Rokan Hilir Tahun 2015

  This research wants to know the model candidacy, and motive political party choose the candidate with bureaucrat background in head election government in Rokan Hilir Regency year 2015. This study uses a qualitative approach; Triangulation technique was operated to get the more in-depth analysis to give about model candidacy and motives political party to chose the candidate with background bureaucrat. The results show that the bureaucrat candidacy model by political parties with the mechanism of selection, classification, and recommendation of candidates. The motive of the political party choose bureaucrat background candidates on the direct local head election  implementation in Rokan Hilir Regency in the year 2015 is based on several aspects, First, the agreement of support through bargaining and political contracts. Second, the social status and governance management capability. Third,  financial sponsor and electability network. Fourth, the weakness of the system of cadres in the political party. Fifth, bureaucracy mobilization capability.Keywords: Model, Candidacy, Political Party, Direct Local Government Election, Rokan Hilir Regency.  This research wants to know the model candidacy, and motive political party choose the candidate with bureaucrat background in head election government in Rokan Hilir Regency year 2015. This study uses a qualitative approach; Triangulation technique was operated to get the more in-depth analysis to give about model candidacy and motives political party to chose the candidate with background bureaucrat. The results show that the bureaucrat candidacy model by political parties with the mechanism of selection, classification, and recommendation of candidates. The motive of the political party choose bureaucrat background candidates on the direct local head election  implementation in Rokan Hilir Regency in the year 2015 is based on several aspects, First, the agreement of support through bargaining and political contracts. Second, the social status and governance management capability. Third,  financial sponsor and electability network. Fourth, the weakness of the system of cadres in the political party. Fifth, bureaucracy mobilization capability.Keywords: Model, Candidacy, Political Party, Direct Local Government Election, Rokan Hilir Regency. 

Protecting the Vulnerable: The Case of IDPs in Pakistan

Vulnerability as a measure of human deprivations is a more comprehensive and value-laden term than poverty. While the poverty analysis provides a profile of the characteristics of the poor people, vulnerability analysis explains, among other factors, the role of risk in creating the dynamics that contribute to the observed poverty level. Social protection is an important concept in the policy dialogue on the vulnerabilities of the people and is aimed at finding ways to help the vulnerable people in managing the risks and becoming less susceptible to the welfare losses. Vulnerability takes a number of forms and requires different types of social protection mechanisms. This paper analyses the vulnerabilities of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Pakistan and identifies the social protection delivered by various government and non-government stakeholders. The paper also reviews the literature on the vulnerabilities of the IDPs in different parts of the world to explore the best practices in providing social protection to IDP