This study is an attempt to analyze the youth labour market activities and outcomes in Pakistan. Based on micro data of Labour Force Survey (2006-07), the strength of analysis presented in the study is twofold. First, it presents a comprehensive descriptive analysis of youth labour market at provincial and country level. Second, the econometric analyses describe the determinants of youth activities, employment probabilities, wage, employment status and supply of working hours in Pakistan. Moreover, a comparison between youth, child, and adult labour market outcomes is also made to judge the relative position of youth in the labour market. One of the main contributions of the study is that it tests the link between educational attainment and youth labour market outcomes in Pakistan. More specifically, we set the human capital theory not only in terms of wage equation but also extend it to analyze the impact of human capital on probabilities of employment, employment status choices and decision of hours worked. Our results confirm the hypothesis that increase in the level of education increases the earnings of individuals. Surprisingly, however, we find higher probabilities of unemployment among educated youth in Pakistan. Further analysis shows that lack of proper skills and experience, higher expectations about job and earnings, predominance of the informal economy (which is highly biased towards unskilled low wage labour) are the main factors that may contribute to the higher unemployment among the educated youth in Pakistan. Results show that young people with higher education level are more likely to be an employee instead of self-employed. On the other hand, youth with low level of education are more likely to be self-employed and less likely to work for normal hours. Another important contribution of the study is the analysis of youth labour market based on usual status approach. We find large differences between unemployment rates based on weekly status and usual status approaches. The main reason of such differences is the selection of one week reference period which greatly undercounts the extent of unemployed people in the country. The study shows that a significant percentage of young people start their career early and are vulnerable in the labour market. Moreover, a substantial percentage of youth is neither in labour force nor enrolled as student which shows the wastage of human resources in the society. To empirically investigate the youth labour market outcomes, the study uses two types of econometric techniques, logistic and multinomial logistic regression analyses. Our results suggest that youth living in rural areas are more likely to participate in economic activities, work in informal or agricultural sector, work for fewer hours and are less likely to be unemployed or enrolled as a student as compared to their urban counterparts. In general, being a female reduces the chances of employment or full-time student, and increases the chances to remain in the vulnerable employment throughout the working life. Our results show that age, sex, marital status, migration, training, location, employment status, education level and characteristics of head of household have significant impact on youth labour market activities and employment probabilities. Similarly, young people living in households with better employment status and education of the head of household are more likely to enroll as a student instead of being engaged in informal and low paid activities. Results of the multinomial logit estimates for supply of working hours suggest that chances of working for excessive hours increase if the young person is male, living in urban areas or have status of employer or self- employed. At the end, study makes some recommendations that youth in Pakistan cannot be considered as a homogeneous group, their preferences and opportunities of work depend upon their age, sex, marital status, education level and family structure. Therefore, the needs of youth must be addressed in a comprehensive manner keeping in view their educational, social and labour market requirements in different regions of the country.
4اپریل1979ء کو لیاقت باغ راولپنڈی میں چئیر مین بھٹو شہید کی غائبانہ نمازِ جنازہ میں شامل ہو نے والے یہ لوگ ان بہادر لوگوں میں شامل تھے جنہوں نے پھانسی کے بعد مارشل لاء کے ڈر ،دہشت اور خوف کے باوجودلیاقت باغ کے ارد گرد پولیس اور فوج کے حصار کو توڑا اور بندوقوں کے سائے تلے چئیرمین بھٹو شہید کی نمازِ جنازہ ادا کی ۔سلام ہے ان بہادروں کے قبیلے سے تعلق رکھنے والوں کو، ان میں سے جو لوگ زندہ ہیں وہ کسی بھی تمغہ شجاعت کے حقدار ہیں ۔میری حالت ایسی تھی کہ اس مجمع میں شامل ہو نے کے باوجود مجھے نہیں پتہ کہ کب صفیں باندھی گئیں اور کب جنازہ ختم ہو ا۔میرا دماغ شل تھا ۔ذہن جیسے کام کرنا چھوڑ گیا تھا ۔میرے پاس کوئی ٹینک توپ نہیں تھا کہ جنرل ضیاء الحق کے گھر آرمی ہائوس پر چڑھ دوڑتا خود بھی مر جاتا اور سب کو جلا کر خاک کر دیتا ۔بی بی سی نے رات کو خبر دی تھی کہ کل صبح لیاقت باغ چئیر مین بھٹو کی نمازِ جنازہ ادا کی جائے گی ۔میں جو پوری رات سو نہ سکا تھا ۔چیئر مین بھٹو شہید کی رہائی کی تحریک میں بھر پور شر کت کے باوجود ہم اپنے لیڈر کو بچا نہ سکے ۔جب راولپنڈی کے کمیٹی چوک میں کار کن اپنے آ پ پر پٹرول چھڑک کر آگ لگاتے مجھے افسوس ہوتا کہ کاش یہ اپنے آپ کو آگ لگانے کے بجائے سپریم کورٹ اور اور آرمی چیف کے گھر کو آگ لگائیں ۔لیکن کیا کرتے نہتے کار کن اپنے قائد کو چھڑا نہیںسکتے تھے ۔پھانسی لگتا ہوا دیکھ نہیں سکتے تھے ۔خود سوزیاں کر کے اپنی جان اپنے قائد پر نچھاور کر دیتے یا بھٹو کو رہا کرو جیوے جیوے...
An elaborate endeavor in studying world religions would glaringly uncover the fact that most of the religions have enacted rules to follow, pertinent to daily livelihood. Such are the set of rules that the followers of the religion must follow. These rules very much include the rules about edibles. The food is something upon which not only human sustenance rests but it also keeps the human soul alive. For the same very reason we find religious and scientific prohibitions on things that are harmful for humans and if consumed evil takes the better of man’s heart, bringing upon him moral redundancy and sinister way of life. Such people are deprived of peace and piety. They ultimately not only suffer unbearable individual loss but also become a burden onto the society, country and nation
Heavy metals in terrestrial ecosystems are associated with adverse environmental impacts. The extent of heavy metals in domestic waste waters, their effects on soil, crops, and soil biology were investigated. Waste water analysis revealed pH (10.3), electrical conductivity (ECe; 3.87 dSm-1), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR; 36.2), biological oxygen demand (BOD; 850 mg L-1), and chemical oxygen demand (COD; 1590 mg L-1) were well above the standard limits of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS). In contained, iron (Fe; 15.4 mg L-1), zinc (Zn; 5.83 mg L-1), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and chromium (Cr) exceeded standard limits. In tube-well water, concentrations of Fe, Zn and Mn were below the standard limits, while Cu, Pb, Cd, Cr and Ni were undetectable. Waste water from irrigated soil showed greater concentrations of Zn (59.8 mg kg-1) and Cd (7.11 mg kg-1), while tube-well irrigated soil lacked Zn contents and had Cd below standards. With the exception of Zn and Cd, all of them were within the limits. The bacterial counts of Escherichia coli (590) and Salmonella species (630) were higher than the allowed limit. Plant analysis data showed the highest (395 mg kg-1) and the lowest (21.1 mg kg-1) Fe content in the shoots of eggplant and lettuce, respectively. Maximum Cu (254 mg kg-1), Pb (184 mg kg-1) and Zn (207 mg kg-1) were noted in the shoot of maize (Zea mays) and the minimum in the shoot of lettuce. Likewise, 13.4 mg kg-1 Cd and 2.48 mg kg-1 Cr were noted in berseem shoot and the lowest Cd and Cr, in the shoot of spinach and wild oat, respectively. But these were slightly above the limits in spinach and wild oat. The highest Mn (12.1 mg kg-1) and Ni (9.12 mg kg-1) were noted in the shoot of maize, while the lowest and within the limits were values noted in the shoot of lettuce and ladyfinger respectively. Moreover, the maximum (171 mg kg 1) and the minimum (21.1 mg kg 1) values of Fe were recorded in the root of maize and lettuce roots, respectively. These values were much lower than the standards. Highest concentrations of Cu (209 mg kg-1), Pb (157 mg kg-1) and Zn (179 mg kg-1) were noted in the root of maize while lowest values of Cu and Pb were found in the root of lettuce, and Zn in the root of berseem. Pb contents of 23.3 mg kg 1 were noted to be higher whereas, Cu (19.1 mg kg 1) and Zn (21.9 mg kg 1) were found within the limits. Highest Cd (13.0 mg kg 1) in ridged gourd root and lowest Cd (0.03 mg kg 1) in spinach root was observed. Similarly highest (Cr 1.97 mg kg-1) in the root of ridged gourd and lowest and within the limits was Cr (0.09 mg kg-1) in the wild oat root. Highest Mn contents (i.e. 3.67 mg kg 1 and 13.1 mg kg 1) and lowest (i.e. 0.51 mg kg-1 and 13.0 mg kg 1) were noted in cauliflower and spinach root, respectively. Similarly highest (3.85 mg kg 1) and lowest (0.87 mg kg 1) Ni concentrations were noted in the root of maize and spinach, respectively. In the second phase, a two-year pot experiment was conducted to observe the effects of tube-well water and different concentrations of waste water viz., 20%, 40%, 80% and 100% on Brassica napus. A decline of 61.5% occurred in the number of pods per plant when 100% waste water was used (T4). Similarly, pod length (59.7%); number of seeds per pod (42.5%); number of seeds per plant (82%); seed weight per plant (88%); 1000 seed weight (19.5) and straw yield (54.2%) were decreased in T4. There was 82% and 88% decrease in the number of seeds and seed weight per plant, respectively compared to control. Over all, a 60% decrease in dry matter in the first year and 4.83% decrease in the second year occurred. In third phase, Zea mays and Brassica napus were used for phyto-extraction of Cu, Pb and Zn from soil.A pot experiment was conducted in which treatments included tube-well water (T1), waste water (T2), and 300 mg kg-1 and 600 mg kg-1 soil each of Cu, Pb and Zn (T3), and T4 respectively. Compared to Brassica napus, maize (T2) retained maximum Cu (164 mg kg-1), Pb (259 mg kg-1) and Zn (271 mg kg-1) in shoot and 26.8 mg kg-1, 130.5 mg kg-1 and 61.1 mg kg-1 in root, respectively. Brassica napus absorbed Cu (117 mg kg-1), Pb (187 mg kg-1) and Zn (180 mg kg-1) in shoot and 40.0 mg kg-1, 81.7 mg kg-1 and 45.4 mg kg-1 in root respectively for treatment T2. Maize and Brassica napus had lowest dry matter yield of 66.3 and 31.6 g, respectively, for treatment T4. Finally, waste water was filtered through sorption media, viz., sawdust (T1), lime powder (T2), wood charcoal (T3) and sand (T4) placed within PVC pipe. Highly significant differences with respect to sorption of heavy metals Cd, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn were noted. Also non-significant differences were observed for Cu and Mn when filtered through sawdust, lime powder, wood charcoal and sand. Sawdust retained maximum Cd (0.27 mg L-1), Cr (0.807 mg L-1), Fe (6.47 mg L-1), Ni (1.753 mg L-1), Pb (1.65 mg L-1) and Zn (2.680 mg L-1), respectively. Lime gave similar results as with sawdust and retained Cd, (0.237 mg L-1), Cr, (0.66 mg L-1), Fe, (5.75 mg L-1), Ni (1.70 mg L-1) and Pb (1.72 mg L-1), respectively. Wood charcoal, with minimum sorption efficiency, retained lesser quantity of almost all the heavy metals. It can be concluded that waste water could be used as a second option for irrigation where no canal water or Tube-Well water is available. Prolonged waste water irrigation can raise the magnitude of heavy metal pollutants in soil and crops. For the purpose of remediation, although bioremediation is a time consuming but is the cheapest method compared to physical removal of the pollutants from soil and it can be suggested that other crops which are grown for commercial purposes and neither used food nor feed can best be trialed. In the last various media used for the treatment of waste water though on small scale, proved effectiveness and the results were encouraging but it can be suggested that other locally available organic materials should be tested.