Socio-Political Status of Muslims in India: Post Partition

Ever since India got independence, the Muslims who opted to make India as their homeland have to witness numerous problems in terms of their economy, education, politics and culture. Rather their miseries and deprivations even farther multiplied as compared to colonial period of sway. As Gopal Singh committee Report 1983, the Sachar Report 2006 and lastly, the Ranganath Report 2007 manifest the other side of the story against the Indian government’s claim that the Muslims are progressing and prospering alike other communities. Indian governments have constituted several commissions to probe into Muslims’ plight, but have showed reluctance to implement the findings or recommendations of the said committees on the one hand while the Hindu extremists always blame the Indian government’s policy of “Muslims’ appeasement” on the other. Since independence the Muslims have been made sandwich between the two variations... the duplicity of Indian governments and the adverse attitude of the Hindu fundamentalists. However, it is the need of the hour to take certain affirmative measures to curtail the Muslims’ deprivations in the areas of education, economics and politics.&nbsp

Pakistan and the Question of Recognising Israel: Historical Issues and Future Prospects

Historically speaking Pakistan and Israel are not directly engaged in any hostility or clash with each other. Pakistan did not recognise Israel since its inception because of her consistent support to Palestine issue and its apprehension that India Israel connections are against her security, ultimately shattering sub-continental balance of power. During General Musharraf regime, the debate to recognise Israel was on high side. It had been debated at academic, official as well as public levels. It was believed at that time that if Pakistan accord recognition to sate of Israel, the sensitivities associated with the issue might change. The cost and advantage quotient of recognition were kept in mind and discussed openly. During Musharraf regime and onwards, the moot point in Pakistan has been the cost benefit analysis of recognition. The existing world scenario has changed the ground realities and placed Pakistan in a difficult situation that how it can move closer to Israel without abandoning historical stand on Palestinian cause. It is also believed that if the transformation and change in Pakistan’s policy is not hasty, only then it might be more productive and successful. The eventuality of recognising Israel might spur the sentiments of public and it may take some time to have popular placement in our society By analysing different and conflicting view points, this paper will investigate primarily the debate held during Musharraf era in the light of historical background and shall see what course Pakistan should take on in this regard after assessing pros and cons of recognition. After going through different approaches on the subject, this will also contribute whether Pakistan should shift her stance about Israel or otherwise

An empirical analysis of corporate governance and firm value: Evidence from KSE-100 Index

This paper investigates the impact of corporate governance on firm value measured by Tobin's Q. Different corporate governance proxies i.e. board size, board independence, audit committee and CEO duality are interacted with firm value. A sample of 91 nonfinancial firms listed on KSE was selected over the period 2010-2014. The findings of the study show that board size and CEO duality had negative impacts on firm value. Moreover, board size, non-executive directors and audit committee had positive and significant impacts on firm value. Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strategic Significance of CPEC: A Game Changer for Pakistan

This paper is intended to explore the strategic significant of CPEC for Pakistan while hypothesizing that it is a game changer for Pakistan. For testing the hypothesis, researcher reviewed secondary data sources including books, articles published in national and international journals, official reports and other relevant documents. The findings are presented in five themes i.e. economic impacts of CPEC, social impacts of CPEC, impacts on energy crises, impacts on foreign policy and impacts on balance of power and security. The findings indicated that CPEC is of great significance for Pakistan because of its relevance with many positive outcomes for socio-economic development of the country and for enhancing people’s standard of living and their quality of life. However, there are some of the potential gray areas which can be dealt with proper planning, political vision and progressive working by relevant Pakistani stakeholders

An empirical analysis of corporate governance and firm value: Evidence from KSE-100 Index

This paper investigates the impact of corporate governance on firm value measured by Tobin’s Q. Different corporate governance proxies i.e. board size, board independence, audit committee and CEO duality are interacted with firm value. A sample of 91 nonfinancial firms listed on KSE was selected over the period 2010-2014. The findings of the study show that board size and CEO duality had negative impacts on firm value. Moreover, board size, non-executive directors and audit committee had positive and significant impacts on firm value

A forty year journey: The generation and roles of NO in plants

In this year there is the 40th anniversary of the first publication of plant nitric oxide (NO) emission by Lowell Klepper. In the decades since then numerous milestone discoveries have revealed that NO is a multifunctional molecule in plant cells regulating both plant development and stress responses. Apropos of the anniversary, these authors aim to review and discuss the developments of past concepts in plant NO research related to NO metabolism, NO signaling, NO’s action in plant growth and in stress responses and NO’s interactions with other reactive compounds. Despite the long-lasting research efforts and the accumulating experimental evidences numerous questions are still needed to be answered, thus future challenges and research directions have also been drawn up