Tariff Reduction, Fiscal Adjustment and Poverty in Pakistan: a CGE-Based Analysis

After more than four decades of protective trade policy, Pakistan undertook substantial trade liberalization beginning in the 1990s. We assess the short- and long-run impacts of trade liberalization (full and partial) on household incomes, welfare, and poverty under various fiscal scenarios. A computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Pakistan economy for the year 1990 is used with 10 household categories (identified by employment status in urban areas and by land holdings in rural areas), 12 production activities, and two factors of production. Our general conclusion is that trade reform improves the average welfare of urban households but reduces the welfare of rural households. In both regions, the rich generally benefit, whereas the poor lose out. The fall in urban poverty dominates the increase in rural poverty such that overall poverty is reduced.Trade policy, fiscal adjustment, welfare and poverty, CGE

An ESP Approach to Analyze the Current Teaching Practices and Curriculum of Political Science in University of Karachi

The paper tends to present an in-depth view of current practices to teach English in department of political science in one of the public sector universities of Sindh. It specifically narrows down its vision to teach specific English course to students of Political science in University of Karachi, Pakistan. The data has been collected with the help of three important methods. It was to find the appropriate curriculum of English that could have meet with the needs of students in specialty. The study even analyses the teaching strategies that have been adopted to teach English to students of political science. This step followed to decipher the learning lacks in students. The results have suggested for the design of specific English curriculum to the students of political science. The curriculum that could bring clarity in practices of teaching methodologies adopted to teach English in connection to particular norm of ESP practice and analysis of students’ wants. This has overall forwarded suggestions to incorporate teaching of ESP in department of political science that could result beneficial for learning of students.   &nbsp

Characterization of the Structure of Saudi Crude Asphaltenes by X-ray Diffraction

Structural characterization studies have been carried out on four commercial Saudi Arabian crude oils. The aromaticity and crystallite parameters of the asphaltenes were studied by X-ray diffraction methods and compared to the average structural parameters calculated from nuclear magnetic resonance spectra

Induction process of trainees in pathology residency

This article describes the evolution of the induction process of pathology residency at The Aga Khan University hospital. The Department of Postgraduate Medical Education was established in 1985. The induction process is an exhaustive exercise that includes an admission test held simultaneously in Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, and Rawalpindi, followed by an interview of the shortlisted candidates. The pathology residency program was started 25 years ago and since then the induction process has undergone major changes with the course of time

Discrete Mukherjee-Islam Distribution and Its Characterization

 In the present paper an attempt has been made to introduce discrete form of a well-known and widely used continuous distribution Mukherjee-Islam (MI) distribution. Further some characteristics of the discrete MI distribution have been discussed along with the estimation of its parameters

Q-probes study of replicate specimens at the clinical laboratory, the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi

Objective: The aim of this Q-probes study was to evaluate the precision of replicate specimens.Methods: This Q-probes study done at the Clinical Laboratory, The Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi is about routine chemistry analytes because of their importance in critical care patients. The analytes data was collected for six months from April to September 2002. There were total 358 samples, which were given for reanalysis during this period under the constant working conditions. After analysis, results of both the runs on different days, were compared to determine the percent difference between the results. After calculating the percent difference, the results were either accepted or rejected on the basis of guidelines set by CLIA 88(Clinical Laboratories Improvement Amendment 1988).Results: Among 358 results, 5 were rejected according to the criteria selected. All of these results were then subjected to statistical analysis for calculating statistical significance. As our Null hypothesis was that the prevalence of rejected results were more than 2% with an acceptable limit of less than or equal to 2%. We failed to accept the Null hypothesis that means that it did not exceed the acceptable limits (p-value = 0.962930) with the Confidence Interval range of 0.2 -2.6 where Upper Confidence Interval is still less than 5% for a p-value of 0.05. The rejection of null hypothesis favors high precision between the two sets of results in our studied population.CONCLUSION: It is concluded that Q-Probes study of replicate specimens at the Clinical Laboratory at The Aga Khan University Hospital is within the acceptable limits. These figures show that a high quality precision is maintained among the observed specimens. This is an ongoing exercise and studies like these should be a continuous process to maintain and enhance the quality of Laboratory results)

Comparison of Services of Public, Private and Foreign Hospitals from the Perspective of Bangladeshi Patients

Despite recent developments in the Bangladesh healthcare sector, there is still great concern about the quality of healthcare services in the country. This study compared the quality of healthcare services by different types of institutions, i.e. public and private hospitals, from the perspective of Bangladeshi patients to identify the relevant areas for development. A survey was conducted among Bangladeshi citizens who were in-patients in public or private hospitals in Dhaka city or in hospitals abroad within the last one year. About 400 exit-interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire that addressed the probable factors of the quality of healthcare services in 5-point interval scales. The results gave an overview of the perspectives of Bangladeshi patients on the quality of service in three types of hospitals. The quality of service in private hospitals scored higher than that in public hospitals for nursing care, tangible hospital matters, i.e. cleanliness, supply of utilities, and availability of drugs. The overall quality of service was better in the foreign hospitals compared to that in the private hospitals in Bangladesh in all factors, even the ‘perceived cost’ factor. This paper provides insights into the specific factors of the quality of hospital services that need to be addressed to meet the needs of Bangladeshi patients