US Foreign Policy towards Iran under Obama and Trump Administration

This article has analyzed the foreign policy of America towards Iran since WWII. It has also described the dramatic shift in American behavior and policies towards Iran after 1979 with great emphasis on Obama and Trump presidency. Obama administration tried to break the ice and somehow successfully accomplished the most difficult task; bringing Iran on the table for nuclear deal P5+1. This paper deals with Obama’s policies during his first and second term and how Trump reviews whatever was done by Obama with special focus on JCPOA. The concerns of the United States’ allies and Trump’s reckless behavior are creating so many problems for Iranian people and the investors. If America will not pay heed on what she is missing, Iran will have to incline towards anti-US stance

From Stalemate towards Settlement: Afghan Peace Process

United States and Taliban’s complicated relations date back to 9/11, when Taliban had provided refuge to alleged attackers of the terrific attacks. After that, series of atrocities committed by both sides and then finally in 2013, an effort was made to have informal presence of Taliban in Qatar, but the idea rejected by Karzai government. After that, two meetings were held in Urumqi and Murree, these meeting were between the representatives of Afghan government and Taliban, United States attended the meeting as an observer. The peace process halted after the news of death of Mullah Omar just the day before second round of Murree progress, because his death triggered uncertainty in the peace process. The peace process was renewed in 2018 when United States shared table with Taliban, the peace process was moving relatively smooth until the recent meeting which was scheduled in Qatar on 9th and 10th January 2019. It was canceled by Taliban leaders over the disagreement on the agenda of that meeting. Taliban have some demands, including the withdrawal of foreign troops, release of Taliban prisoners, change of constitution, to remove the name of Taliban leaders from UNSC list and the permission to have political presence in Qatar. United States now wants to get rid of Afghanistan and to make the peace process Afghan-led and Afghan-owned, to which Taliban are reluctant. The continued efforts of US and the current uncertain situation are apparently leading to no possible consensus among the adversaries in near future. It seems that this continued uncertainty will ultimately lead to chaos in Afghanistan, because of diversity and war-prone nature of the country

Effect of Despotic Leadership on Employee Turnover Intention : Mediating Toxic Workplace Environment and Cognitive Distraction in Academic Institutions

Despotic leadership builds adverse emotions and turnover intentions in the employees of an educational organization. This study investigated the relationships among despotic leadership, toxic workplace environment, cognitive distraction, and employee turnover intention. This study is based on social exchange theory (SET), social psychology theories of behavioral intention formation (such as the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior), and of the despotic leadership style. A survey questionnaire containing 28 items was completed by 240 faculty members from four Chinese universities. The responses were documented on a seven-point Likert scale. We applied PLS-SEM (partial least squares structural equation modeling) to measure the effects. The outcomes showed that despotic leadership influenced employee turnover intention in academic institutions. Toxic workplace environment correlates with employee turnover intention. Cognitive distraction also correlates with employee turnover intention. Toxic workplace environment mediates the relationship between despotic leadership and employee turnover intention. Similarly, cognitive distraction mediates the relationship between despotic leadership and employee turnover intention. The study concluded that despotic leadership, toxic workplace environment, and cognitive distraction might increase employee turnover intention. This study adds to the literature in the field of despotic leadership, toxic workplace environment, cognitive distraction, and employee turnover intention in academic institutions. Furthermore, it offers valuable and practical implications along with recommendations for future research.Peer reviewe

Effect of Despotic Leadership on Employee Turnover Intention: Mediating Toxic Workplace Environment and Cognitive Distraction in Academic Institutions

Despotic leadership builds adverse emotions and turnover intentions in the employees of an educational organization. This study investigated the relationships among despotic leadership, toxic workplace environment, cognitive distraction, and employee turnover intention. This study is based on social exchange theory (SET), social psychology theories of behavioral intention formation (such as the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior), and of the despotic leadership style. A survey questionnaire containing 28 items was completed by 240 faculty members from four Chinese universities. The responses were documented on a seven-point Likert scale. We applied PLS–SEM (partial least squares structural equation modeling) to measure the effects. The outcomes showed that despotic leadership influenced employee turnover intention in academic institutions. Toxic workplace environment correlates with employee turnover intention. Cognitive distraction also correlates with employee turnover intention. Toxic workplace environment mediates the relationship between despotic leadership and employee turnover intention. Similarly, cognitive distraction mediates the relationship between despotic leadership and employee turnover intention. The study concluded that despotic leadership, toxic workplace environment, and cognitive distraction might increase employee turnover intention. This study adds to the literature in the field of despotic leadership, toxic workplace environment, cognitive distraction, and employee turnover intention in academic institutions. Furthermore, it offers valuable and practical implications along with recommendations for future research

Effect of Despotic Leadership on Employee Turnover Intention : Mediating Toxic Workplace Environment and Cognitive Distraction in Academic Institutions

Despotic leadership builds adverse emotions and turnover intentions in the employees of an educational organization. This study investigated the relationships among despotic leadership, toxic workplace environment, cognitive distraction, and employee turnover intention. This study is based on social exchange theory (SET), social psychology theories of behavioral intention formation (such as the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior), and of the despotic leadership style. A survey questionnaire containing 28 items was completed by 240 faculty members from four Chinese universities. The responses were documented on a seven-point Likert scale. We applied PLS-SEM (partial least squares structural equation modeling) to measure the effects. The outcomes showed that despotic leadership influenced employee turnover intention in academic institutions. Toxic workplace environment correlates with employee turnover intention. Cognitive distraction also correlates with employee turnover intention. Toxic workplace environment mediates the relationship between despotic leadership and employee turnover intention. Similarly, cognitive distraction mediates the relationship between despotic leadership and employee turnover intention. The study concluded that despotic leadership, toxic workplace environment, and cognitive distraction might increase employee turnover intention. This study adds to the literature in the field of despotic leadership, toxic workplace environment, cognitive distraction, and employee turnover intention in academic institutions. Furthermore, it offers valuable and practical implications along with recommendations for future research.Peer reviewe

Impact of entrepreneurial curriculum on entrepreneurial competencies among students : The mediating role of the campus learning environment in higher education

This study explored the direct and indirect influences of the entrepreneurial curriculum on entrepreneurial competencies, using the campus learning environment as a mediator. In this study, a survey questionnaire composed of 48 items was used to collect data on the entrepreneurial curriculum, entrepreneurial competencies, and campus learning environment from pre-service vocational teachers enrolled in six universities located in Hunan Province, China. The entrepreneurial curriculum has four components, namely, curriculum content, curriculum material, teaching strategies, and feedback and assessment. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used through SmartPLS 3.3.3 to measure the effects. The curriculum content has a direct, significant, and positive influence on entrepreneurial competencies. For the indirect influence, all four dimensions of the entrepreneurial curriculum influenced the campus learning environment, which, in turn, was positively associated with entrepreneurial competencies. The campus learning environment was therefore revealed to play a mediating role between the entrepreneurial curriculum and entrepreneurial competencies. The study explored that effective entrepreneurial curriculum delivery and campus learning environment are helpful for developing entrepreneurial competencies among the pre-service vocational teachers. Universities should take initiatives to update the entrepreneurial curriculum and create a conducive campus learning environment that brings a positive change to develop entrepreneurial competencies among their students. Moreover, practical implications and future research directions are also discussed in this article.Peer reviewe

Effects of Dual Sector Inflation Across Income Levels in Pakistan

In this paper we will be primarily concerned with the effect of inflation on different income groups. Putting it another way, we are looking for an answer to the question, "What have been the differences in the degree of inflation in various income groups in Pakistan?". Though it is not in the purview of this paper to go into the causes and cures of inflation, we feel that it is necessary to give a brief discussion about inflation in general. The classical economists believed that inflation was a purely monetary phenomenon. The theory developed was popularly termed the 'quantity theory of money' and the basic relationship postulated was that the rate of inflation is equal to the rate of growth of money supply. Keynes [6J attacked the quantity theory of money. stating that the immediate source of inflation was the excess of desired expenditure over output and thus established the income-and-expenditure approach to the determination of the level of economic activity and prices. Later, however, Keynes (7] addressed himself to the effects of inflation and advanced a theory which has since become a basis for the 'inflationary gap' models

A Solar PV Based Multistage Grid Tie Inverter

The inherent advantage of fuel less and maintenance free energy production from solar photovoltaic makes it a very important source of energy. For harnessing power from the solar photovoltaic (PV) cell/array and to supply it to the utility grid, dc to ac inverters is needed. The conventional line commutated dc-to-ac inverter has square shaped line current which contains higher order harmonics whereas PWM based inverters employing IGBT/ MOSFET are less reliable and has low power handling capability. Moreover, a dc-to-dc converter is generally employed along with the inverter circuit to operate the solar PV array at maximum power point. It adds to the cost, which increases with the size of the system. This paper describes a multistage series converter topology for solar PV based grid tie inverter with low harmonic in line current and inbuilt maximum power point tracking (MPPT) features. The developed prototype has been experimentally tested and verified.Keywords: Multistage converter, Grid tie inverter, Maximum power point tracker (MPPT), Total harmonic distortion, photovoltaic system

Correlation of Schmidt Hammer Rebound Numbers with Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity and Slake Durability Index of Dolomitic Limestone of Khyber, North Pakistan

The ultrasonic pulse velocity and slake durability index are the indirect techniques used widely for rock strength determination. Various experimental studies like slake durability apparatus, ultrasonic pulse velocity and Schmidt hammer have been conducted on dolomitic limestone. The correlation of Schmidt hammer rebound number has been developed with these properties. The uniaxial compressive strength has been determined using the correlated rebound number. Statistical analyses were conducted and the most suitable models were recommended. The linear model was suited in correlation of Schmidt hammer and durability while exponential model appeared best fit with pulse velocity. Most of the tested samples show pulse velocity in the range of 1800-3800m/s. The mean value of pulse velocity was 2751 m/s while the rebound hammer value was 45. Using the correlations from literature the compressive strength calculated by rebound hammer and pulse velocity was 146MPa and 66MPa respectively