Historical, Cultural and Geographical Ties Between Pakistan and Iran

In order to get a vivid picture of Pakistan-Iran relations, the paper delves into the past with Iranian history and Iranian sphere of influence in South Asia. Both South Asia and Iran have ancient historical, cultural and religious ties since the times of the Cyrus the Great to the present. The Persian language and literature particularly the Persian classical poetry have left a great impression on sub-continent’s cultural and educational canvass. Pakistan-Iran border which was drawn by the British in the 1880s, remains still intact. Though the border is a wasteland with little agriculture but on the sea-front both the countries have access to the Strait of Hormuz which is of great strategic importance. Moreover, ethnic Baloch live on both sides of the border and crossborder and trade and livestock is the mainstay of cross-border economy. During the Cold War period, both Pakistan and Iran were subservient to the US policies against the Soviet Union; consequently, both received massive arms and equipment. This paper also indicates that during Mohammed Reza Shah’s time, the relations between Pakistan and Iran were quite friendly but they underwent a change after the Iranian revolution and during General Zia’s time. The main issues have been spelled out up-till 1979 and the minor frictions between the two countries could be managed through diplomacy. External pressures are also influencing the contemporary relations between the two countries and have put Pakistan in a dilemma. Historical and secondary sources have been used for the conduct of the study. Historical research has an important role to play in the Social Sciences. It helps us to understand the present by highlighting the past events.

Investigating of Nano Composite Materials for out Door Insulation Applications

This research deals with the preparation of silicone rubber (SiR), epoxy and EPDM based composite materials for outdoor high voltage insulationapplications. These composites were fabricated by incorporating nanosilica 2.5~5 % by weight, while the microsilica loading were varied from 10~20 % by weight. Uniform and homogenous dispersion of fillers were achieved through process parameters optimization. The tensile strength of fabricated polymer compositesincreases with the incorporation of filler contents. Even in case of hybrid composites, it increases up to 400 %. The prepared composite samples were found thermally more stable than their virgin counterparts. An approximate 25% increase in dielectric strength was also obtained. The novelty of the research work is promise of nano and hybrid composite towards their aging performance under multi-stress conditions. To comprehend the aging phenomena (weathering characteristics) under multi-stress conditions, the entirepolymer composites were aged for a maximum of 5,000 hrs in a multi-stress aging chamber developed as per IEEE standard 1109. Different stresses like ultraviolet, thermal, salt-fog, acid rain and voltage were applied for specifically designed weather cycles. After multi-stress aging according to the data of hydrophobicity loss silicone rubber composites were placed in HC-3 while epoxy and EPDM composites were grouped in HC-4 and HC-5 respectively. The results of leakage current during the multi-stress aging for silicone rubber, epoxy and EPDM composites were found 0.8μA, 1μA and 1.2μA correspondingly. The hybrid polymer composites due to synergic effects responded better towards aging. Percentage deterioration of fabricated compositesalso demonstrated that hybrid composites performed better thannano and micro composites respectively.