Understanding urban informality : everyday life in informal urban settlements in Pakistan

PhD ThesisRapid urbanisation and severe housing shortages help explain why informal settlements of self-built housing are widespread in Pakistan today. Failure to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing has led to the steady encroachment of state-owned and private vacant land for informal dwelling. Current estimates are that 67% of the urban population of Pakistan lives in unrecognised settlements (UN-Habitat, 2013). Urban informality is arguably under researched within the South Asian context, particularly Pakistan. This study considers how everyday life unfolds through various forms of extra-legal, social and discursive regulations in this context of pervasive informality. This exploration is developed for the particular case of the Siddiquia Mill Colony, Faisalabad City. A central premise is that we need to develop new theoretical analytic tools that reflect current global urban trends in order to shift the perception of informality from one of deviance and disorganisation to one of alternative functionality and complementarity. The vast majority of new housing and urban economic opportunities around the world occur in informal sectors and unregulated settings. Contrary to conventional understanding, particularly in relation to South Asian informality, the research findings highlight that informal housing and irregular settlements function as enduring modes of urban development, inadequately portrayed as symptoms of economic backwardness. The study provides concrete examples of how informality is co-produced with formal urban development, often filling the institutional, structural and administrative gaps that state-led planning practices leave behind. The empirical research draws on a mix of ethnographic data from a detailed survey of household housing characteristics, in-depth interviews and immersive observations, in a two-tier research design. The findings reinforce the notion that informality is ordinary rather than deviant. Inhabitants exhibit a sense of attachment, a recognition of alternative property rights and a perceived sense of entitlement in relation to their properties. It is noted that, while a desire to ‘own’ their property could be perceived as falling in line with neo-liberal ideals, the drivers and objectives underpinning ‘ownership’ in this context are far removed from the desire, or need, to be part of a capitalistic, neo-liberal, propertied citizenship. Rather, these aspirations are based on ideas of security and perpetuity. This is evident through a close reading of well-defined but complex webs of horizontal and vertical social relations. Social relations internally differentiate the inhabitants of Siddiquia Mill, highlighting the persistence of unequal power relations. The insights gained from this case study contribute deeper understanding in geography and planning debates by demonstrating the multiple ways that urban informality functions simultaneously as a social field of competition and cooperation. This work makes two significant contributions to scholarship. First, it explores the previously neglected context of informality in urban Pakistan, which is quite different from informality in other, more-well documented countries of South Asia. Second, it argues in favour of informality as a counter to neo-liberalist ideology

Biomechanical Analysis of Flex Elbow on Bowling Speed in Cricket

Bowling in cricket is traditionally thought to be a rigid-arm motion, allowing no elbow straightening during the delivery phase. Conversely, research has shown that a perfectly rigid arm through delivery is practically unattainable, which has led to rule changes over the past years. The current rule requires a bowler not to increase the elbow angle by more than 158, thus requiring a measurement to confirm legality in suspect bowlers. This study examined whether such bowlers can produce an additional contribution to wrist/ball release speed by internal rotation of the upper arm. The kinematics of a bowling arm were calculated using a simple two-link model (upper arm and forearm). Using reported internal rotation speeds of the upper arm from baseball and bowling arm kinematics from cricket, the change in wrist joint speed was analysed as a function of effective arm length, and wrist distance from the internal rotation axis. A significant increase in wrist speed was noted. This suggests that bowlers who can maintain a fixed elbow flexion during delivery can produce distinctly greater wrist/ball speeds by using upper arm internal rotation

Economical Evaluation of Sensation Seeking Among Different Levels Weight Lifters

The purpose of the present study was to compare the sensation seeking trait on different levels of weight lifters. The total hundred (50 State level and 50 All- India intervarsity level weight lifters) males were selected for this study. The age of the subjects were ranged between 18 to 25 years. The data on sensation seeking of the subjects were obtained by using a questionnaire developed by Neary and Zuckerman (1976). The t test was used to determine the difference between the mean score of different levels of weight lifters. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between different levels of weight lifters at 0.05 level of significance with 98 degree of freedom. Study showed that All- India intervarsity level weight lifters have higher level of sensation seeking as compared to State level weight lifters. Key words: weight lifters, Sensation seeking, Thrill and Adventure Seeking, Experience Seeking, Disinhibition, Boredom Susceptibility

Probing Study on Facilities of Competitive Sports in District Jail, Lucknow (India)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate organizational structure, administrative frame-work andfacilities of Sports in District Jail of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, India. The sample of the present study wasdrawn randomly from the jail administrators, prisoners and physical educator(s) of District Jail of Lucknow.The size of the sample was 55 comprising 50 prisoners and 5 administrators. No physical educator(s) wasfound in the jail. Questionnaire taken for the study was developed by the researchers in a pilot study. Itincludes five sub-scales (a) Organizational Structure, (b) Administrative Frame-work, (c) Facilities ofSports, (d) Preference of Sports, and (e) Achievements in Sports. The percentile method was used in theanalysis of the results. The data indicates that some of the inmate information's intended to continue theirsports involvement following their release whereas some of the administrators recorded their responses to prescribe the Government of India for the proper sports facilities in their jail. Many of the inmates wouldrather watch sports events on television rather than participate in one themselves.Keywords: Organization; Facilities; Prisoners; Administrators; District Jail, Lucknow

Psychological Evaluation of Sensation Seeking and Anxiety State among Body Builders and Weight Lifters

The purpose of the present study was to compare the sensation seeking on Body Builders and Weight Lifters. The total hundred (5o body builders and 50 weight lifters) male All-India intervarsity players were selected for this study. The age of the subjects were ranged between 18 to 25 years. The data on sensation seeking and anxiety state of the subjects were obtained by using a questionnaire developed by Neary and Zuckerman (1976). The t test was used to determine the difference between the mean score of the body builders and weight lifters. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between body builders and weight lifters at 0.05 level of significance with 98 degree of freedom. Study showed that body builders have higher level of sensation seeking and anxiety state as compared to weight lifters

A Comparative Study of Body Builders and Weight Lifters on Somatotypes

The purpose of the present study was to compare the somatotypes of Body Builders and Weight Lifters. The total fifty (25 body builders and 25 weight lifters) male All-India intervarsity players were selected for this study. The age of the subjects were ranged between 18 to 25 years. The data on somatotypes of the subjects were obtained by using the Carter and Heath method, developed by Carter and Heath (1990). The t test was used to determine the difference between the mean score of the body builders and weight lifters. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between body builders and weight lifters at 0.05 level of significance with 48 degree of freedom. The result of the study showed that there was a significant difference between body builders and weight lifters of their endomorph. Weightlifters are tend to have more fat percentage as compared to bodybuilders. There was not much difference found in the mesomorphy status of the bodybuilders and weightlifters but the bodybuilders showed slightly more musculature than the weightlifters and in the ectomorphy status bodybuilders tend to be more ectomorph than weightlifters

Randomized controlled trial of standard versus double dose cotrimoxazole for childhood pneumonia in Pakistan

Objective: Increasing concern over bacterial resistance to cotrimoxazole, which is recommended by WHO as a first-line drug for treating non-severe pneumonia, led to the suggestion that this might not be optimal therapy. However, changing to alternative antimicrobial agents, such as amoxicillin, is costly. We compared the clinical efficacy of twice-daily cotrimoxazole in standard versus double dosage for treating non-severe pneumonia in children.Methods: A randomized controlled multicentre trial was implemented in seven hospital outpatient departments and two community health programmes. A total of 1143 children aged 2-59 months with non-severe pneumonia were randomly allocated to receive 4 mg trimethoprim plus 20 mg sulfamethoxazole/kg of body weight or 8 mg trimethoprim plus 40 mg sulfamethoxazole/kg of body weight orally twice-daily for 5 days Treatment failure occurred when a child required a change of therapy, died or was lost to follow-up. Children required a change of therapy if their condition worsened (they developed chest indrawing or danger signs) or if at 48 hours after enrollment, their clinical condition was the same (defined as having a respiratory rate that was 5 breaths/minute higher or lower than at the time of enrollment).Findings: The results of 1134 children were analysed: 578 were assigned to the standard dose of cotrimoxazole and 556 to the double dose. Treatment failed in 112 children (19.4%) in the standard group and 118 (21.2%) in the double-dose group (relative risk 1.10; 95% confidence interval = 0.87-1.37). Using multivariate analysis we found that treatment was more likely to fail in children who were not given the medicine correctly (P = 0.001), in those younger than 12 months (P = 0.004), those who had used antibiotics previously (P = 0.002), those whose respiratory rate was \u3e or =20 breaths/minute above the age-specific cut-off point (P = 0.006), and those from urban areas (P = 0.042).Conclusion: Both standard and double strength cotrimoxazole were equally effective in treating non-severe pneumonia. Close follow-up of patients is essential to prevent worsening of disease. Definitions of clinical failure need to be more specific. Surveillance in both rural and urban areas is essential in the development of treatment policies that are based on clinical outcomes

Assembling a global database of child pneumonia studies to inform WHO pneumonia management algorithm: Methodology and applications

Background The existing World Health Organization (WHO) pneumonia case management guidelines rely on clinical symptoms and signs for identifying, classifying, and treating pneumonia in children up to 5 years old. We aimed to collate an individual patient-level data set from large, high-quality pre-existing studies on pneumonia in children to identify a set of signs and symptoms with greater validity in the diagnosis, prognosis, and possible treatment of childhood pneumonia for the improvement of current pneumonia case management guidelines. Methods Using data from a published systematic review and expert knowledge, we identified studies meeting our eligibility criteria and invited investigators to share individual-level patient data. We collected data on demographic information, general medical history, and current illness episode, including history, clinical presentation, chest radiograph findings when available, treatment, and outcome. Data were gathered separately from hospital-based and community-based cases. We performed a narrative synthesis to describe the final data set. Results Forty-one separate data sets were included in the Pneumonia Research Partnership to Assess WHO Recommendations (PREPARE) database, 26 of which were hospital-based and 15 were community-based. The PREPARE database includes 285 839 children with pneumonia (244 323 in the hospital and 41 516 in the community), with detailed descriptions of clinical presentation, clinical progression, and outcome. Of 9185 pneumonia-related deaths, 6836 (74%) occurred in children <1 year of age and 1317 (14%) in children aged 1-2 years. Of the 285 839 episodes, 280 998 occurred in children 0-59 months old, of which 129 584 (46%) were 2-11 months of age and 152 730 (54%) were males. Conclusions This data set could identify an improved specific, sensitive set of criteria for diagnosing clinical pneumonia and help identify sick children in need of referral to a higher level of care or a change of therapy. Field studies could be designed based on insights from PREPARE analyses to validate a potential revised pneumonia algorithm. The PREPARE methodology can also act as a model for disease database assembly

Combating Acid Violence in Bangladesh, India and Cambodia

This Report is the first comprehensive, comparative study of acid violence that examines the underlying causes, its consequences, and the multiple barriers to justice for its victims. Acid attacks, like other forms of violence against women, are not random or natural phenomena. Rather, they are social phenomena deeply embedded in a gender order that has historically privileged patriarchal control over women and justified the use of violence to “keep women in their places.” Through an in-depth study of three countries, the authors of the Report argue that the due diligence standard can be a powerful tool for state and non-state actors to prevent and adequately respond to acid violence with the aim of combating it. In this respect, they identify key ways in which acid violence can be addressed by governments and corporations

Flat Price Prediction using Linear and Random Forest Regression based on Machine Learning Techniques

Flat price prediction is an important topic of real estate. Flat price in a city depends on different criteria such as, the crime rate of that location, total populations on that area, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, the total size of the flat, location of the flat, etc. People feel confused and face different harassments with unreliable information during purchasing a flat in a city. By taking consideration of this scenario, we have proposed here flat price prediction framework. In this study, we have used our own data set that we have collected from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Two regression algorithms namely the linear regression and the regression tree/random forest regression have been used for building the prediction model. We have also checked the validity of the model using boxplot analysis, residual analysis, error checking and cross-validation. Finally, the performance of two methods has been compared which shows that the random forest regression model gives the best prediction result than the linear regression model