Potential for Blue-Gray Water Trade-offs for Irrigation in Small Towns of Pakistan: A Case Study of Farmers' Costs and Benefits in Haroonabad

The growing demand and the competition for fresh water in various sectors suggest that the irrigated agriculture will have to release freshwater for more important and valuable uses. This implies that other options would need to be identified to meet water demands for agriculture. Meeting irrigation requirements through non-conventional water sources is one of the options for agricultural uses. Gray water use for irrigation, a pervasive practice in urban and peri-urban areas of many developing countries, could be one of the solutions. The debate on wastewater irrigation from an environmental point of view is already on, focussing more on human and environmental “safety” aspects. The “value” aspect of the wastewater irrigation remains neglected, however. The irrigation users of untreated wastewater in many parts of the world had already traded off and revealed their preference for gray over blue water decades ago, when the water supply systems in towns and cities were set up. Why they would do it despite the high environmental and health risks associated with its use needs an answer. The paper documents the costs and benefits of wastewater irrigation from users’ point of view, and assesses the potential for real blue water savings in a small town setting in the southern Punjab, Pakistan. The data presented in the paper suggest that wastewater irrigation does lead to blue water savings, and it is profitable for farmers. While its potential is not fully exploited, more focus on appropriate approaches to physical and institutional aspects of wastewater disposal planning and management could make wastewater irrigation more productive, profitable, and safe for individuals as well as for the society as a whole.

Towards an authentic Islamic development model: Incorporating the roles of trust and leadership in the Islam – Iman – Ihsan paradigm

Over half a century after Islamic economics, as constructed in the post-colonial search for a modern Muslim identity, claimed that a morality-based economic system, built on the axiomatic foundations of Islamic ontological thought, would achieve the social and political aims of Islam, Muslim lands are in a dire state of underdevelopment and chaos in which basic human rights are absent even though resources are not scarce. Therefore, it may be said, that this Islamic economic vision has failed to produce any desired effect. The question is, why? This research explores the ontological sources of Quran and Sunnah, aims to identify the reasons for the failure and, through the reformulation of a new authentic model, aims to present an Islamic development methodology which is holistic in nature and which transcends the limitations of the economic or political spheres. The resulting model encompasses the concept of trust and leadership in Islam and identifies the role and functioning of each one separately. This research, which is qualitative in nature and utilises the methods of discourse analysis and textual and contextual deconstruction, is structured around three major essays the first of which details the overall development model as the path of Islam-Iman-Ihsan (submission-faith-perfection), the second with the role of iman (faith) as the binding force in Islamic social order and the last details a new concept of Islamic leadership, drawn from the prophetic example, and outlines its specific functions to construct the environment in which Islamic development can be sustaine

FACTORS DETERMINING CUSTOMERS’ ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION TOWARDS ISLAMIC BANKING PRACTICES IN MALAKAND DIVISION

Islamic banking, being an integral component of Islamic financial system, gained an exceptional popularity over the last three decades. The higher rate of growth of Islamic banking has proved it as a best alternative to Riba based banking. Like the other industries; in Islamic banking industry, customers are the most integral part of the organization strategies. Various authors endured to examine the perception and attitude of customers from one aspect or another. It is evident form the literature that the determining factors of attitude and perceptions are varying from country to country. Keeping in view the phenomenon under question, the basic objective of this study is to examine the factors determining customers’ attitude and perception towards Islamic banking practices in Malakand division. Previous studies focused on the urban areas and big cities of Pakistan, Malakand division is selected as study region as majority of the population lives in rural areas of the country. Three districts of Dir (lower), Malakand and Swat are selected as sample for data collection. Data is collected through survey questionnaires from 300 customers of Islamic banking branches operating in the study region. Questionnaire is adapted from previous studies. Correlation, and Regression are used for analysis the data.Results of the study show that all five variables have significant positive relationship with customers’ attitude. However, awareness and Shariah compliance show a negative relationship with perceptions of customers. Furthermore, Religiosity is the most dominant determinant of the customers’ attitude and perception, followed by bank image & reputation and social Influence. Customers give lesser importance to Shariah compliance and awareness as determinant of their attitude and perception towards Islamic banking practices.The results of the study are expected to benefit the banking industry in general and bankers in specific. The bankers would be able to attract more and more customers by focusing on the key determinants. The results assist the policy makers in designing, revision and implementation of the policies to satisfy the needs of the customers of the region.  The study is also beneficial to the society at large, as more and easy investment and financing facilities would be available to them. Furthermore, due to awareness and information to the bankers and customers; more and more job or business opportunities would be available to the local community and thus unemployment would be eliminated

FACTORS DETERMINING CUSTOMERS’ ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION TOWARDS ISLAMIC BANKING PRACTICES IN MALAKAND DIVISION

Islamic banking, being an integral component of Islamic financial system, gained an exceptional popularity over the last three decades. The higher rate of growth of Islamic banking has proved it as a best alternative to Riba based banking. Like the other industries; in Islamic banking industry, customers are the most integral part of the organization strategies. Various authors endured to examine the perception and attitude of customers from one aspect or another. It is evident form the literature that the determining factors of attitude and perceptions are varying from country to country. Keeping in view the phenomenon under question, the basic objective of this study is to examine the factors determining customers’ attitude and perception towards Islamic banking practices in Malakand division. Previous studies focused on the urban areas and big cities of Pakistan, Malakand division is selected as study region as majority of the population lives in rural areas of the country. Three districts of Dir (lower), Malakand and Swat are selected as sample for data collection. Data is collected through survey questionnaires from 300 customers of Islamic banking branches operating in the study region. Questionnaire is adapted from previous studies. Correlation, and Regression are used for analysis the data.Results of the study show that all five variables have significant positive relationship with customers’ attitude. However, awareness and Shariah compliance show a negative relationship with perceptions of customers. Furthermore, Religiosity is the most dominant determinant of the customers’ attitude and perception, followed by bank image & reputation and social Influence. Customers give lesser importance to Shariah compliance and awareness as determinant of their attitude and perception towards Islamic banking practices.The results of the study are expected to benefit the banking industry in general and bankers in specific. The bankers would be able to attract more and more customers by focusing on the key determinants. The results assist the policy makers in designing, revision and implementation of the policies to satisfy the needs of the customers of the region.  The study is also beneficial to the society at large, as more and easy investment and financing facilities would be available to them. Furthermore, due to awareness and information to the bankers and customers; more and more job or business opportunities would be available to the local community and thus unemployment would be eliminated

Potential for Blue-Gray Water Trade-offs for Irrigation in Small Towns of Pakistan: A Case Study of Farmers’ Costs and Benefits in Haroonabad

The growing demand and the competition for fresh water in various sectors suggest that the irrigated agriculture will have to release freshwater for more important and valuable uses. This implies that other options would need to be identified to meet water demands for agriculture. Meeting irrigation requirements through non-conventional water sources is one of the options for agricultural uses. Gray water use for irrigation, a pervasive practice in urban and peri-urban areas of many developing countries, could be one of the solutions. The debate on wastewater irrigation from an environmental point of view is already on, focussing more on human and environmental “safety” aspects. The “value” aspect of the wastewater irrigation remains neglected, however. The irrigation users of untreated wastewater in many parts of the world had already traded off and revealed their preference for gray over blue water decades ago, when the water supply systems in towns and cities were set up. Why they would do it despite the high environmental and health risks associated with its use needs an answer. The paper documents the costs and benefits of wastewater irrigation from users’ point of view, and assesses the potential for real blue water savings in a small town setting in the southern Punjab, Pakistan. The data presented in the paper suggest that wastewater irrigation does lead to blue water savings, and it is profitable for farmers. While its potential is not fully exploited, more focus on appropriate approaches to physical and institutional aspects of wastewater disposal planning and management could make wastewater irrigation more productive, profitable, and safe for individuals as well as for the society as a whole

On The Basis Properties And Convergence Of Expansions In Terms Of Eigenfunctions For A Spectral Problem With A Spectral Parameter In The Boundary Condition

In this paper, we consider the spectral problem − y 00 + q (x) y = λy, 0 < x < 1, y (0) = 0, y0 (0) − dλy (1) = 0, where λ is a spectral parameter, q (x) ∈ L1 (0, 1) is a complex-valued function and d is an arbitrary nonzero complex number. We study the spectral properties ( asymptotic formulae for eigenvalues and eigenfunctions, minimality and basicity of the system of eigenfunctions, the uniform convergence of expansions in terms of eigenfunctions ) of the considered boundary value problem

Apparatus for Hydrogen and Carbon Production Via Carbon Aerosol-Catalyzed Dissociation of Hydrocarbons DIV

This invention relates to hydrogen production methods and in particular to a process and an apparatus for the production of hydrogen and carbon via catalytic dissociation of methane and other hydrocarbon

Estimating the Production Potential of Major Crops in Pakistan’s Irrigated Agriculture during the 21st Century

Land and irrigation are the basic resources in agriculture. The role and importance of these resources and their contribution towards productivity, in the context of the country’s increasing population, can hardly be exaggerated. Pakistani agriculture is set in a very distinctive situation of an increasing population on the one hand and diminishing resources on the other. The population of Pakistan was reported to be 131.63 million in 1996 and is projected to be 207 million in 2013 [Pakistan (1996) and WSIP (1990)]. The agriculture sector has to face the difficult task of doubling the existing food production by the turn of this century. The situation demands horizontal and vertical growth in the productivity, either by bringing more land under cultivation, or by increasing the cropping intensity of the existing land resources. This can also be accomplished by bringing more land under cultivation from the cultivable uncultivated area (a large proportion of which exists on medium and large farms under waterlogged or saline conditions). In this context, it becomes important to identify the nature of the relationship that exists between farm size and unculturable wastelands and the kinds of changes the green revolution/SCARPs projects introduced to this relationship.

Method for High Flux Photocatalytic Pollution Control

A new method for design and scale-up of photocatalytic and thermocatalytic processes is disclosed. The method is based on optimizing photoprocess energetics by decoupling of the process energy efficiency from the DRE for target contaminants. The technique is applicable to both low- and high-flux photoreactor design and scale-up. The low-flux method is based on the implementation of natural biopolymeric and other low-pressure drop media support for titanium dioxide and other band-gap photocatalysts. The high-flux method is based on the implementation of multifunctional metal oxide aerogels and other media in conjunction with a novel rotating fluidized particle bed reactor

Chemochromic Hydrogen Sensors

A (H.sub.2) sensor composition includes a gas permeable matrix material intermixed and encapsulating at least one chemochromic pigment. The chemochromic pigment produces a detectable change in color of the overall sensor composition in the presence of H.sub.2 gas. The matrix material provides high H.sub.2 permeability, which permits fast permeation of H.sub.2 gas. In one embodiment, the chemochromic pigment comprises PdO/TiO.sub.2. The sensor can be embodied as a two layer structure with the gas permeable matrix material intermixed with the chemochromic pigment in one layer and a second layer which provides a support or overcoat layer