The Effect of Foreign Remittances on Schooling: Evidence from Pakistan

The underlying study intends to show the impact of foreign remittances on the educational performance of children in the households receiving these remittances. Much of the literature in this area covers the effects of remittances on poverty, consumption, and investment behaviour of the receiving households. The literature on the impact of remittances on educational performance, however, is rare, especially in Pakistan. To investigate the impact of remittances on educational performance, primary data at the household level is collected from four main cities of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The OLS results illustrate that, without considering parental education, remittances have significant adverse effects on educational performance. However, the effect becomes insignificant once parental education is included, as a control variable, in the regression. The results also reveal that the low level of parental education, current income, assets, family type, and family size play an important role in the educational performance of children.Remittances , Education, Parental Absence

Business Plan: Paper Recycling Plant

This Business Plan was written for Business Plan competition organized by Ministry of Youth Affairs Government of Pakistan. It explains the paper recycling business, its pros and cons, cost of paper recycling, plant options and feasibility.Paper; recycling; business; plan; paper recycling; business plan; pakistan

Post- Operative Recovery Profile after Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: Comparing Inhalational Versus Intravenous Anaesthetic Regimen

Background: To compare inhalational anaesthetic regimen with intravenous regimen with regard to post operative recovery after laparoscopic cholecystectomy Methods: In this comparative study 166 patients were selected by lottery and assigned into two groups. Induction was done with sevoflurane 8% in 50% nitrous oxide in oxygen (group-A) and propofol 2mg/kg (group-B).All patients had volume controlled ventilation and standard monitoring.Before shifting Fast Track criteria was used inside operating room and Post Anaesthesia Discharge score employed in recovery area. Spearman’s Rank correlation was used to check interdependence between the two recovery scores i.e.Fast-Track criteria and Post Anaesthesia Discharge score in both groups. Results: Fast track criteria and post op anaesthesia scores were equal in both groups.Inhalation induction(group-A) was slightly slower as compared to intravenous induction with propofol (group-B) but a higher incidence of un-expected movement/cough was noted during propofol induction as compared to sevoflurane. ASA physical status classes of both groups are identical. Though different anaesthesia techniques were used in both groups while standardizing anaesthetic maintenance factors and per-operative medications, no clinical superiority in recovery times was noted in ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The value of correlation co-efficient(r) was .372 and .556 respectively in both groups and significant at 0.01 level

Changing nature of competition in the weak party system of hybrid regime in Pakistan

Pakistan as different post-colonial states had experienced three military rules till 2008 since its inception in 1947. During and in between different military rule political parties did not cease to exist barring few. These parties have been engaged in a contentious competition among each other that has paved the way for different military rules. After the end of last military rule in 2008 Pakistan had gone through three consecutive elections with three different parties gaining majority. During this period the nature of competition has been oscillating between contentious and cooperative forms. This dissertation combines the theoretical traditions of hybrid regimes and party-system institutionalization to explain the changing political dynamics of Pakistan. Case of Pakistan is analyzed with reference to configurative approach of Gilbert and Mohseni (2011) in linkage with the concept of party-system institutionalization (PSI), proposed by Mainwaring and Scully (1995). It is proposed that in the presence of current degree of PSI in Pakistan, hybridity of the regime will persist

Catalytic upgrading of hydrothermal liquefaction biocrudes: Different challenges for different feedstocks

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) followed by catalytic hydrotreating of the produced biocrude is increasingly gaining ground as an effective technology for the conversion of biomass into liquid biofuels. A strong advantage of HTL resides in its great flexibility towards the feedstock, since it is able to treat a large number of different organic substrates, ranging from dry to wet residual biomass. Nevertheless, the characteristics of biocrudes from different typologies of organic materials result in different challenges to be met during the hydrotreating step, leading to differences in heteroatoms removal and in the typology and composition of the targeted products. In this work, biocrudes were catalytically hydrotreated with a commercial NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst at different temperatures and pressures. Sewage sludge biocrude was found to be very promising for the production of straight-chain hydrocarbons in the diesel range, with considerable heteroatoms removal even at mild hydrotreating conditions. Similar results were shown by algal biocrude, although complete denitrogenation is challenging. Upgraded biocrudes from lignocellulosic feedstock (miscanthus) showed high yields in the gasoline range, with a remarkable content of aromatics. Operating at a higher H2 pressure was found to be crucial to prevent coking and decarboxylation reactions.Comment: Accepted manuscript for publication in Renewable Energ