The Mediatization of Politics in Pakistan: A Structural Analysis

Last two decades of twentieth century saw a development in media due to growing influence of privately-owned television channels. This TV era was so influential that society and politics in Western democracies became dependent on the media and its logic. This process was theorized as mediatization of politics and/or society. Though initially a western phenomenon, soon it started to diffuse in the developing world. Using mediatization as a key concept, this article presents a theoretical framework to analyze the media development in Pakistan. The unprecedented influence media exerted in political discourse of recent years reveals that Pakistani politics is going to be mediatized. As majority of studies on Pakistani media are of descriptive nature and only narrate the history of Pakistani media, this study tries to establish a structural framework in which media, its development, and transformation from an observer to an active player in political stage can be studied further

Contemporary challenges confronting Islamic banking & finance

The philosophy of Islamic economics is "brining economics in consonance with Shariah", guiding Islamic banking and finance to abolish interest from operations, has reported a monumental growth, envisaged the most lucrative and unsusceptible segment of the economy. Islamic finance is undoubtedly flourishing worldwide entails trajectory development but at other front it encounters a number of impediments in development since its inception. The emphasis of this study is to encapsulate in tabular form, the contemporary problems and challenges Islamic finance has encountered during the span of last 28-years from 1988 to 2015. The austere Shariah compliance; regulatory and prudential challenges; misconception among western society about Islamic banking philosophy; unavailability of money and capital market for scant Islamic financial instruments; piercing competition; privation of Islamic banking and finance awareness; absence of uniform reporting standards; complexities of regulatory and supervisory issues; lack of central supervisory body, governance and dearth of consensus among Shariah scholars been the precarious challenges among many others. A unified central regulatory and supervisory mechanism required in converging sprinkled Islamic finance practices and to foster a synchronized and standardized regulatory framework consensus need to be developed among all Shariah scholar

Impact evaluation of structural adjustment program: a case of Pakistan

We analyzed the effect of Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) on macroeconomic variables of Pakistan using annual time series data for the years 1981-2001. The impact of four policy instruments of SAP, i.e. reduction in budget deficit, increase in indirect taxes,adjusting the exchange rate and sliding down of subsidies, on employment, income distribution, per-capita income and inflation has been analyzed. It is found that the first policy instrument, i.e. decrease in budget deficit has affected employment, income distribution and inflation adversely. The second policy instrument of imposition of indirect tax negatively affected the employment, income distribution, per capita income and positively affected the inflation. The third policy instrument of SAP was adjustment of exchange rate. It is estimated that adjusting exchange rate has resulted into increased unemployment and inflation. The fourth policy instrument of shrink in subsidies augmented the unemployment, unequal distribution of income and inflation and dwindled the percapita income. It appears that SAP has adversely affected the major socioeconomic variables of the economy. Currently the government is considering for loan from IMF, so it is proposed to avoid such type of policy directives from IMF.Structural Adjustment Program, Budget deficit, Indirect taxes, Exchange rate, Subsidies, Employment, Income distribution, Per-capita income, Inflation,Pakistan

Natural Resource Rent and Finance: The Moderation Role of Institutions

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Doctors’ Knowledge of Hypertension Guidelines Recommendations Reflected in Their Practice

Aim. To evaluate doctors’ knowledge, attitude, and practices and predictors of adherence to Malaysian hypertension guidelines (CPG 2008). Methods. Twenty-six doctors involved in hypertension management at Penang General Hospital were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Doctors’ knowledge and attitudes towards guidelines were evaluated through a self-administered questionnaire. Their practices were evaluated by noting their prescriptions written to 520 established hypertensive outpatients (20 prescriptions/doctor). SPSS 17 was used for data analysis. Results. Nineteen doctors (73.07%) had adequate knowledge of guidelines. Specialists and consultants had significantly better knowledge about guidelines’ recommendations. Doctors were positive towards guidelines with mean attitude score of 23.15±1.34 points on a 30-point scale. The median number of guidelines compliant prescriptions was 13 (range 5–20). Statistically significant correlation (rs = 0.635, P<0.001) was observed between doctors’ knowledge and practice scores. A total of 349 (67.1%) prescriptions written were guidelines compliant. In multivariate analysis hypertension clinic (OR = 0.398, P=0.008), left ventricular hypertrophy (OR = 0.091, P=0.001) and heart failure (OR = 1.923, P=0.039) were significantly associated with guidelines adherence. Conclusion. Doctors’ knowledge of guidelines is reflected in their practice. The gap between guidelines recommendations and practice was seen in the pharmacotherapy of uncomplicated hypertension and hypertension with left ventricular hypertrophy, renal disease, and diabetes mellitus

Transient Global Amnesia as the First Clinical Symptom for Malignant B-Cell Lymphoma with Central Nervous System Involvement

We present the case of an elderly male who was diagnosed with transient global amnesia (TGA), only to be diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma with central nervous system involvement a few weeks later. This is the first ever case reported in literature with lymphoma presenting as TGA. Literature review and pertinent points regarding high-yield imaging protocol for presumed TGA patients are discussed

Comparing Effect of Double Dose of Hepatitis B Vaccine Verses Conventional Dose in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of double dose hepatitis B vaccine in patients with chronic liver disease versus conventional-doseStudy design: Randomized control trialPlace and Duration:&nbsp; Six months after the approval of synopsis i.e 15th March 2017 to 14th September 2017, Department of General Medicine, FFH, RawalpindiMethodology: A total of one hundred and sixteen (n=116) diagnosed cases of chronic liver disease of either gender between age 30 to 70 years were enrolled and were divided into two groups one received a double dose (2 ml, 40 µg) and the other received a conventional dose (1 ml, 20 µg). Quantitative anti-HBs was measured at three months in both groups.&nbsp;&nbsp; Mean with standard deviation calculated for quantitative variables like age, anti-HBs level one month after 3rd dose and frequency and percentages in case of categorical variables like gender and effectiveness. Chi-square test was used to determine the significant difference in both groups regarding the effectiveness of vaccination. A p-value ≤0.05 was taken significantly.Results: In patients who received double dose seroprotection (anit HBs &gt;10 IU/ml) was achieved in 93.1% (n=54/58) patients, while the percentage was 77.6% (n=45/58) in patients who received a conventional dose (P&lt;0.05).Conclusions: Seroprotection (anit HBs &gt;10 IU/ml) at three months was significantly better in patients who received the double dose of vaccine. Vaccine effectiveness was significantly better in younger age group

Pattern of Presentation of Spinal Dysraphism: A Study of 72 Patients in Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Pakistan

Objective:&nbsp;&nbsp;To review the pattern of presentation and current understanding of patients with spinal dysraphism in our local population. Material and Methods:&nbsp;&nbsp;Cases of spinal dysraphism of any gender and age were admitted via OPD, emergency or referred from another department were included in the study. Information on demographics, developmental history, presenting symptoms , presence/absence of back swelling, hairy patches, a nevus, dimple, an appendage/ skin tag, lower limb function, sensory/ motor deficit, bowel and bladder dysfunction were recorded. MRI spine was done in all patients to know the exact diagnosis. Results:&nbsp;&nbsp;Out of 72 cases, 52 (72.2%) presented with spina bifida Aperta (spina bifida cystica) while 20 (27.7%) with spina bifida occulta. Total 53 (73.6%) patients presented at the age of 0 – 1 years. 41 (56.9%) of the patient presented with visible sac, 35 (48.6%) swelling over the back, in 5 (6.9%) of patient have hairy patch and dermal sinus each, while 28 (38.8%) patients have neurological deficit. Most common type of spinal dysraphism was myelomeningocele 45 (62.5%). Postoperative course of patients with spinal dysraphism was found to be uneventful in 56 (77.7%), wound infection was seen in 11 (15.2%), deterioration of neurological status in 3 (4.16%) of cases. Conclusion:&nbsp;&nbsp;Spinal dysraphism is not an uncommon condition in our local population its clinical presentation and features are in line with internationally reported literature. Our population is least aware of the adverse neurological outcomes of the condition and face difficulties to access the adequate healthcare for spinal dysraphism

Asymmetric Impact of Institutional Quality on Tourism Inflows Among Selected Asian Pacific Countries

From an idealistic viewpoint, the existence of the tourism industry in a country/region is a blessing because of its anticipated sustainable economic benefits. To turn this idealistic state into a realistic one, institutions need to play a pivotal role in optimizing the desired incentives. The present study examines the asymmetric role of institutional quality in stimulating tourism inflows (receipts and arrivals) in selected Asia Pacific countries involved in tourism. The previous literature has established that improving institutional quality attracts tourism inflows to a destination. However, the literature fails to identify the specific point (threshold level) above (below) which the relationship turns positive (negative). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that estimates the asymmetries in the nexus of institutions and tourism inflows, using robust nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag approach. Our results show that the tourism inflow in Asian Pacific countries responds asymmetrically to any changes in institutional quality, and there is a single threshold of 7.52 points, where the impact of institutional quality reverses. We conclude that our findings are robust to the alternative measures of tourism inflows. The study offers useful policy inputs for devising short and long-run policies for the betterment of the institutional framework in the region by understanding the asymmetric impact of institutional quality on tourism inflow