PUTAJ Humanities and Social Science

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1) Corruption and Foreign Direct Investment: The Case of South Asia
Author(s):Mumtaz Hussain Shah

Abstract :

This paper empirically investigates the influence of corruption, bureaucratic quality and government stability on inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to major SAARC nations including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka over the period of 1985-2008. Owing to the long-term relationship with the host, absence of corruption and bureaucratic interventions are crucial location advantages of host countries, especially in case of countries lacking abundant natural resources to attract foreign investors. The results through random effects panel estimation method indicate the significant effects of absence of corruption, honest public office holders, efficient bureaucracy and government stability for the foreign direct investors in SAARC nations.
2) Educating the Chinese Sages of the Ages: Is Confucius the Only Soul of China?
Author(s):Shiwei Jiang & Tasawar Baig

Abstract :

The Chinese sages of the ages developed philosophical foundations around three scholar as guiding interpretations for an ideal gentleman or superior person (in Chinese, junzi) in a society. These philosophers, namely Confucius, Mencius, and Laozi provided basic principles of Chinese traditions that evolved into a civilization. This paper explores the parallel debates and exchanges between these intellectual traditions, that have weaved various intellectual traditions through comparisons and intra-cultural conversations. It highlights classical tension within Chinese history, for instance between the wen (cultural attainment) and the wu (martial valor. It is intriguing to mention that despite differing opinions within Chinese intellectual traditions, the differing opinion never emerged as a distinct school of thought. In fact, Chinese intellectual traditions are viewed as embodied with cultural values emphasizing on virtue of harmony, benevolence, righteousness, morality, courtesy, wisdom, loyalty, courage and filial piety as guiding principles for societal co-existence.
3) Conditional Relationship Between Beta and Stock Returns in the Pakistan Stock Exchange
Author(s):Hassan Sardar, Atta Ullah Shah & Naimat Ullah Khan

Abstract :

This paper investigates the conditional association between betas and returns in sample of 206 firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The results of this study show that the relationship between betas and stock returns is flat when tested unconditionally. However, when the data is split between up and down-market weeks, then there exists a conditional relationship between risk and returns. The results support the view that beta is still a valid tool for risk measurement in an emerging market of Pakistan. This paper tests the robustness of the results by including several other measures of total and unsystematic risk such as variance, skewness, kurtosis and standard error alongside beta in the conditional CAPM regressions. These additional tests do not change our main conclusion.
4) Role of Trained Women Workforce in China - Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): A Gender Gap Analysis
Author(s):Shamaila Farooq & Saima Gul Muhammad Zahidullah Khan

Abstract :

Pakistan as a developing country is facing critical issues where skilled labour, brain-drain of qualified professionals, lack of technical education and awareness are considered underlying factors for unemployment and underemployment. In the controversial debate about CPEC, the misperception is that it is related to road connectivity and energy projects only. CPEC, beyond this narrow connotation, is about preparing the country to receive not only massive amounts of Chinese investment, but also cross cutting integration of trained personnel and culture. The current picture for trained personnel in the context of CPEC places a huge challenge for Pakistan unless we have a qualified and broad-based human resource in different sectors. This challenge is further aggravated by the lack of qualified and trained women workforce. With economic globalisation, evident through CPEC, there is a call for a comprehensive human resource development policy for women at national level. The paper identifies gaps with regards to training for women in Higher Education sector, awareness of opportunities for women and their participation in small and medium enterprises that come along CPEC inherently such as logistics, services, food processing, and cultural and media related collaborations. This qualitative research is based on data and interviews from women in academia, business and media as primary sources. The findings reveal that educated women need to be given trainings and awareness on CPEC f
5) Deosai National Park: Conservation, Control and Conflicts
Author(s):Kashif Saeed Khan & Sajjad Ahmad Jan

Abstract :

Establishing national parks and protected areas without considering necessary management and local community needs often leads to human-wildlife conflicts. One such case is the Deosai National Park (DNP) in Northern Pakistan. This paper explores and discusses conflicts that developed between local communities and their access to natural resources following the establishment of DNP in 1993. It also assesses how these conflicts were resolved through a Management Plan implemented in DNP since 2004. The Management Plan catered to local community needs and sensitivities as well as protection of endangered species such as the Himalayan brown bear. After the community-based conservation control practices were implemented, the population of the endangered Asiatic brown bear has stabilized in DNP. In view of the success of community centered conservation control practices in DNP, the paper, therefore, suggests that there is a strong need to replicate these conservation control practices in parks and protected areas across Pakistan.
6) Population Poverty Connections In South Asia: Implications For Policy Makers In Pakistan
Author(s):Shakeel Ahmed & Imran Ahmad Sajid

Abstract :

This is part-II of our study on population and poverty in Pakistan. The purpose of this study was to empirically test the population and poverty connection in the case of Pakistan and recommend policy options. The connection was discussed in part-I of this paper (Sajid, Ahmed, and Khattak, 2014). This paper conducts a regional comparison of population and poverty of South Asia from Pakistan’s perspective. Many researchers have extensively debated over population and its links to poverty and development. Some argid for a positive association between the two while others found a negative association. In the case of Pakistan, population is usually presented as a menace, a root cause of many a social problems including poverty and under development. However, in part-I of this study (Sajid, Ahmed, and Khattak, 2014), the case studies found that for a rural family, increased number of family members has never caused the problem of poverty. In this paper, we present the comparison of Pakistan and other countries in the region with respect to population indicators and poverty. This paper is based on secondary data. It utilizes the time-series data of past thirty years. The data has been obtained from UNDP’s Human Development Statistics being published in Human Development Reports. Further, the data from the Ministry of Population, Pakistan has also been utilized. The data from 1990 to 2010 has been analyzed using comparative analysis methods. We conclude that fertility control po
7) Seminar Libraries of the University of Peshawar: Use and Resources
Author(s):Mohammad Ismail & Muhammad Idrees

Abstract :

Students in higher education are to be provided with the facilities necessary for mastering the subject matter, techniques, skills, habits of thought, and methods of work in their chosen field. Classroom instructions alone will not provide all the opportunities needed for attaining all these complex educational objectives. It is here that the libraries come to help the students. The university’s seminar library has a prominent role to play in supporting higher education to fulfill objectives of its parent body. This study is a survey of the seminar libraries and of the utilization of their resources and facilities in the University of Peshawar with particular emphasis on their organization, administration and utilization. It also analyzes the services efficiency of these libraries with the help of indices. This study provides a base for the improvement of seminar libraries in the University of Peshawar in particular and other libraries in universities in general.
8) La Mar: Significance of the Retrieval of the Unconscious Feminine Self
Author(s):Humaira Aslam & Nasir Jamal Khattak

Abstract :

The masochistic trends in the Cuban society do not allow Santiago to look within, towards the softer side of his nature for such a person would be considered too effeminate. Santiago is an old Cuban angler who is obsessed with his past glory as a champion. He was considered the best angler and one who could handle big fish with skill like a master. Now that he cannot catch big fish anymore he is considered salao - extremely unfortunate - by his community. However, there is an adamant refusal in him to accept this situation; therefore, he goes all alone and against all odds to the sea to catch big fish, but ultimately fails.
9) Linguistic Landscape: A Study of Signage at Public Museum in Cardiff
Author(s):Amjad Saleem

Abstract :

This work investigates the bilingual linguistic landscape as represented in St Fagans, the national history museum in Cardiff, Wales, UK. Being a history museum it covers knowledge of Welsh history and culture where objects of historical, artistic, and cultural importance are kept for public exhibition. The linguistic landscape (LL) in St Fagans offers the viewers a look into the cultural diversity, the preservation and co-existence of two languages, English and Welsh, over time. Besides focussing on the symbolic functions through linguistic code preference, the study also aims at exploring how the LL contributes to the discursive construction of the museum identity and the collective identity of the people whose history it seeks to represent inhabit it. Moreover, the study sheds light on the relationships between linguistic landscape and the sociolinguistic context of Wales. The study recommends an investigation into the bi/multilingual landscape of Pakistan to help reveal the diverse ethnolingusitic make-up of the country.
10) Fluidity in Postmodernist Textual Techniques: A Textual Analysis of the Selected Poems of Ondaatje
Author(s):Shahbaz Afzal Bezar & Mahmood Ahmad Azhar

Abstract :

Postmodernism is a contradictory phenomenon, a model of rupture focused on pluralism, open-endedness and fluidity. Postmodernist fluidity is the hallmark of postmodernism that is reflected in Oeuvre of Lyotard, Hassan, Derrida etc. However, it has not yet been explored from postmodernist textual techniques, i.e., pastiche, open-endedness, disjunction, recombination, aleatory, collage, intertextuality, multi-voiced narrative, and poly-temporal time structure in the selected poems of Ondaatje. There were two findings of the present study; first, postmodernist textual techniques also contained postmodernist fluidity, second, postmodernist techniques were explored in the selected poems of Ondaatje. Findings of the present qualitative study were investigated through textual analysis because ‘words and phrases’ of the selected poems of Ondaatje were analyzed in the frame of reference to postmodernist textual techniques in order to rank him among postmodern poets. Postmodernist textual techniques were sought out from the selected eight poems of Ondaatje i.e. “The Republic”, “Dates”, “The Diverse Causes”, “Inner Tube”, “Proust in the Waters”, etc.
11) Primary School Teacher as Mediator of Learners’ Autonomy in English Language Classroom of Pakistan
Author(s):Sardar Muhammad Younas & Ayaz Ahmad

Abstract :

The paper investigates the teachers’ role as a mediator of learners’ autonomy in English Language Teaching (ELT) classroom at primary level in the remote rural setting of Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa Pakistan. At primary level students learn English language more quickly if proper mediation or assistance is provided to approach the potential level of learning. The role of the teacher as a mediator in English Language teaching “is concerned with helping learners to become autonomous, to take control of their own learning, with the fundamental aim of enabling them to become independent thinkers and problem-solvers” (Williams & Burden, 2000, p. 68) which helps in learning English language in a better way. To investigate the study, observation based data of teachers (collected through observation sheet) were collected focusing on 12 criteria of Feuerstein’s Mediation Learner Experience (MLE). The data reveal a lack of professionalism in the realization SLO based curriculum. Teachers were also found lacking skills in mediating for learning in the classroom. The results are significant in pointing at the need for providing special training to the teacher as a mean of mediator in the English classroom.
12) Impact Assessment of Fiscal Decentralization in Improving Public Service Delivery: A Case Study of Districts in Punjab
Author(s):Mehr-un-Nisa & Samina Khalil

Abstract :

Countries around the globe are devolving political, fiscal and administrative powers to lower tiers of government. In Pakistan, devolution reforms were launched through Local Government Ordinance in 2001, with three interrelated objectives. Service delivery was given special prominence. It was argued that empowered, staffed and resourced local governments would deliver better resources to improve education, health and municipal services. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of fiscal decentralization in improvement of public services across selected districts of Punjab province of Pakistan, covering the period from 2003 to 2014 pooled for 12 years. The study applied the fixed and random effects models for panel data analysis and finds that fiscal decentralization improves the delivery of education and health services in districts of Punjab during Pervaiz Musharraf’s regime while this effect reversed after the change of regime in 2008.Thus, it is proposed to decentralize the fiscal, administrative and political powers after making proper planning and management. The continuous monitoring is proposed for successful implementation and effectiveness of the policy.
13) Roots of Sectarian Identity: A Pestering Factor in Gilgit-Baltistan
Author(s):Muhammad Rizwan & Hafiz Nasiruddin

Abstract :

Sectarianism has badly influenced the Northern Areas of Gilgit Baltistan. Although the character of society in Baltistan region is mainly heterogeneous, yet every section of the society has remained nonviolent and cooperative with each other. However, in post 1970s era, the world saw a frightful fracture in the fabrics of social structure, when peaceful throngs started to think and treat others on the sectarian lines. Modern history has witnessed tremendous increase in unpleasant occurrence. It not only produced a wave of fear and hatred in the society but also distorted the existing political commotions. The ominous categorization of political factions on sectarianism has not only accelerated the hostilities in Gilgit Baltistan but has also shaken the trembling economy. This economic disparity between local and national level has created a strong sense of deprivation among the inhabitants of the region. In fact, Baltistan has no bona fid representation in the Parliament of Pakistan. Similarly, Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly is incapable of legislation and judiciary of the region cannot exercise powers as compared to judiciary in other parts of the country. This situation is causing futile functioning of administration against sectarianism.
14) Title and Contents
Author(s):Title and Contents

Abstract :

Title and contents

Volume No. 25

Issue No. 1

Editor’s Note
PUTAJ - Humanities and Social Sciences is HEC recognized journal, with a record of publishing quality research work in humanities and social sciences, biannually. It is an open access, peer-reviewed and refereed journal published by Peshawar University Teachers’ Association, University of Peshawar. The aims and objectives of PUTAJ - HSS is to publish up to date, high-quality and original research papers.
The articles in this issue contain critical, comprehensive, and contemporary issues of national and international affairs. The research papers in the issue covers a vast range of areas humanities and social science.
As the first issue of the 2018, the editorial team is delighted to introduce this volume of PUTAJ – Humanties and Social Sciences. On behalf of the editorial team, I would like to express our gratitude to the authors of the research articles published in this issue, and we acknowledge the substantial help, which both t