On Overinvoicing of Exports in Pakistan

Whereas the policy incentives were designed to promote exports from Pakistan, the incentive system instead led to illicit export practices, i.e., export overinvoicing due to the weaknesses of implementation. Such practices resulted in a significant financial loss to the country and undermined the effectiveness of the export-promoting policy. This paper has determined the presence of overinvoicing of exports in Pakistan and the geographic and product-wise patterns in export overinvoicing. The paper has applied the ‘partner-country data comparison’ technique. Empirical findings confirm the strong presence of export overinvoicing across trading partner countries and products. This conclusion is further supported by the evidence of a significant difference between the duty-drawback rate and the premium on foreign exchange in the kerb market. Convincing presence of export overinvoicing is the basis for a set of policy recommendations made in the paper.

On Overinvoicing of Exports in Pakistan

Whereas the policy incentives were designed to promote exports from Pakistan, the incentive system instead led to illicit export practices, i.e., export overinvoicing due to the weaknesses of implementation. Such practices resulted in a significant financial loss to the country and undermined the effectiveness of the export-promoting policy. This paper has determined the presence of overinvoicing of exports in Pakistan and the geographic and product-wise patterns in export overinvoicing. The paper has applied the ‘partner-country data comparison’ technique. Empirical findings confirm the strong presence of export overinvoicing across trading partner countries and products. This conclusion is further supported by the evidence of a significant difference between the duty-drawback rate and the premium on foreign exchange in the kerb market. Convincing presence of export overinvoicing is the basis for a set of policy recommendations made in the paper

IN VITRO EVALUATION OF SUN PROTECTION FACTOR (SPF) OF A CREAM FORMULATION PREPARED FROM EXTRACTS OF MUSA ACCUMINATA (L.), PSIDIUM GUJAVA (L.) AND PYRUS COMMUNIS (L.)

Objectives: Use of phytoconstituents, especially obtained from fruits extract with high content of flavonoids has gained considerable importancein personal care products such as creams and lotions. Finding new results and data through experiments will be helpful for both researchers andindustry on the subject. The purpose of this study was to evaluate in-vitro sunscreen activity of a cream formulation containing the fruit extract ofMusa accuminata, Psidium gujava and Pyrus communis based on their flavonoid contents.Methods: Extraction of fruits to include maximum quantity of flavonoids was carried out using solvent system comprising of methanol (35%),ethanol (35%), and distilled water (30%). The cream was formulated and tested for the physicochemical parameters such as color, odor, pH andspreadability. While total flavonoid content was determined by aluminum chloride colorimetric method. The in-vitro sun protection factor (SPF) ofcream formulation and commercially available sunscreen was determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometric method.Results: The total flavonoid content of cream formulation was found to be 45.81±8.49 and expressed in terms of standard quercetin equivalentμg/g. The SPF value for the cream formulation was recorded as 3.90, whereas commercially available sunscreen it was 12.26, indicating that creamformulation has photoprotective activity and may be used to develop a good cosmetic formulation and to explore its commercial viability.Conclusion: Use of phytoconstituents, especially those obtained from fruits extract with high content of flavonoids has gained considerableimportance in personal care products such as creams and lotions. Finding new results and data through experiments will be helpful for bothresearchers and industry on the subject. The proposed spectrophotometric method is simple and rapid for SPF determination. Due to the high costand time consumption relating to in vivo SPF determination andsome ethical issues for the volunteers, the in vitro method is gaining more importance.Keywords: Antioxidants, Formulation, In-vitro sun protection factor, Photoprotection, Fruit extract, Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy.Â

Western Concept of Nationalism and Islamic Concept of Nationalism: An Ideological and Philosophical Critique and Analysis

Western nationalism is a modern concept that gave birth to nation-states but because of its dynamic vitality, it is often considered to be a very old concept. Currently all the states are the result of the concept of Western nationalism. Owing to its significance and occasionally all-encompassing nature, it is erroneously believed to have a constant influence on political behavior.  One could argue that the American and French revolutions were the first truly potent examples of nationalism. In this concept of Nationalism well defined common territory, race, culture, language, sovereign government, and above all commonalities of interests have got a pivotal role. The Western concept of Nationalism confuses the intellect of the students of history with Islamic background because the Islamic concept of Nationalism has different connotations. This research is Qualitative based on content, discourse and thematic analysis having empirical nature.  The main argument of the study is that, the two concepts are entirely different having different backgrounds and different philosophies. Key Words:    Nation, Nationalism, Nation-State, Western, Islami

Effect of air pollution on daily morbidity in Karachi, Pakistan

Levels of daily particulates (PM2.5) were monitored at two sites in Karachi, Pakistan. One site (Korangi) is an industrial and residential neighborhood, while the other (Tibet Center) is a commercial and residential area near a major highway. Monitoring was done daily for a period of six weeks during spring, summer, fall and winter. Particulate levels were extraordinarily high, with the great majority of days falling into the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” or “very unhealthy” categories. The mean PM2.5 levels in Karachi exceeded the WHO’s 24 h air quality guideline almost every day and often by a factor of greater than 5-fold. Daily emergency room (ER) visits and hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases were obtained by review of medical records at three major tertiary and specialized hospitals. ER and hospitalizations were reported relative to days in which the concentration of PM2.5 was less than 50mg/m3 , and by 50 mg/m3 increments up to 300mg/m3 . There were statistically significant elevations in rates of hospital admissions at each of the PM2.5 categories at the Korangi site, and at concentrations .150mg/m3 at the Tibet Center site. ER visits were significantly elevated only at PM2.5 concentrations of between 151 and 200 mg/m3 at both sites. These results show that the extremely elevated concentrations of PM2.5 in Karachi, Pakistan are, as expected, associated with significantly elevated rates of hospital admission, and to a lesser extent, ER visits for cardiovascular disease

Short-term association between black carbon exposure and cardiovascular diseases in Pakistan’s largest megacity

This study investigated the association between black carbon (BC) exposure and hospital admissions (HAs) and outpatient department/emergency room (OPD/ER) visits for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among residents of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan. We measured daily concentrations of BC in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and collected records of HAs and OPD/ER visits for CVD from 2 major tertiary care hospitals serving Karachi for 6 weeks continuously during each quarter over 1 year (August 2008–August 2009). We subsequently analyzed daily counts of hospital and BC data over 0–3 lag days. Daily mean BC concentrations varied from 1 to 32 µg/m3 . Results suggest that BC concentrations are associated with CVD HAs and OPD/ER visits. However, associations were generally only observed when modeled with BC from Tibet Center, the commercial-residential site, as compared to Korangi, the industrial-residential site. Overall, low statistical significance suggests that while BC may be a valuable indicator for CVD health risks from combustion-derived particles, further evaluation of the constituents of PM2.5 and their relative contributions to CVD health impacts is necessary

Effect of natural and synthetic fruit coatings on the postharvest quality of kinnow mandarins

Natural products are more preferred by consumers now-a-days over the synthetic ones. Therefore a natural fruit coating was developed from natural ingredients (shellac, rosin, gum arabic, water and ethanol from sugar industry) without ammonia or morpholine as an alternative to the synthetic coatings. So this research was devised to compare the effects of this newly developed natural fruit coating (with 9% total solids) with those of synthetic one (polyethylene based ammonia containing wax with 21% total solids) on the postharvest quality of kinnow (Citrus reticulata Blanco) mandarins. The kinnow mandarins were either coated with natural or synthetic fruit coatings or were left uncoated and stored at 5±2°C with 85-90% relative humidity for 63 days with five replications for each treatment. The results showed that both fruit coatings significantly (p0.05) changes in total soluble solids and fruit acidity were recorded for all the treatments. Furthermore the difference between natural and synthetic fruit coatings was non-significant (p>0.05). Therefore, it could be suggested that the natural fruit coating is a good alternative of the synthetic fruit coating