This dissertation communicates the results of a scientific endeavor undertaken for exploring the diversity of Basidiomycetous fungi of District Malakand, Pakistan. The District Malakand is an administrative unit of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, occupies 952 Km2 land within the geographical limits of 34⁰ 35’ to 34⁰ 66’ N and 71⁰ 65’ to 72⁰ 25’ E. Collections of mushrooms, rust and smut fungi were made from different area of Malakand District during the years 2013 and 2014. Field data of the specimens were recorded on the spot, proper photographs were taken and the collection was dried and preserved accordingly. More than 150 specimens of Basidiomycota were collected, comprising of 51 taxa belonging to 17 families. Distribution pattern of the groups shows that Agaricomycotina, the mushroom forming fungi, was the largest group represented by 39 species, Pucciniomycotina, the pathogenic rust fungi by 11 species and the smut fungi, Ustilaginomycotina, with a single species viz., Urocystis avenastri. All these fungi were characterized morpho-anatomically. The members of Agaricomycotina were also subjected to molecular identification, based on four gene regions viz., ITS, nrLSU, rpb2, tef-1α. Phylogenies of the analyzed taxa were elaborated with maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and Bayesian analysis. Our research outputs includes one new species to science viz., Tulotoma ahmadii. Ten more taxa viz., Agaricus malakandensis nom. prov., A. minorus nom. prov., Cantharocybe pakistanicus nom. prov., Coprinopsis hispidus nom. prov., Hymenagaricus pakistaniensis nom. prov., Leucoagaricus badius nom. prov., La. xiii sultanii nom. prov., Parasola lentiformis nom. prov., Pa. malakandensis nom. prov. and Psathyrella fusiformis nom. prov., are in the process of recognition / publication as new species. Furthermore, other 12 species viz., Agrocybe semiorbicularis, Conocybe papillata, Coprinellus curtus, Marasmiellus palmivorus, Pleurotus cystidiosus, Parasola lilatincta, Pa. schroeterii, Stropharia ambigua, Puccinia microspora, P. nakanishikii, Termitomyces umkowaan and Trametes lactinea are added as new records to the species list of the fungi of Pakistan. In Agaricomycotina, Agaricaceae proved to be the most frequent family represented by six genera (Agaricus, Hymenagaricus, Leucoagaricus, Leucocoprinus, Lycoperdon and Tulostoma). The second largest family was Psathyrellaceae with four genera viz., Coprinellus, Coprinopsis, Parasola and Psathyrella. Only two genera were recorded for each the family i.e., Omphalotaceae, Polyporaceae and Strophariaceae. Whereas families like Bolbitaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Hymenocheataceae, Geastraceae, Lyophyllaceae, Miripelaceae, Mirulaceae, Pleurotaceae and Pluteaceae were represented by a single genus each i.e., Conocybe, Cantharocybe, Phillanus, Geastrum, Termitomyces, Rigidoporus, Irpex, Pleurotus and Volvariella, respectively. Pucciniomycotina was represented by two families, Phragmidiaceae (Phragmidium) and Puccineaceae represented by (Puccinia, Uromyces). The Ustiloginomycotina was monotypic only represented by Urocystis avenastri. This study concluded that low altitude mountains, foothills and grassy lands of Malakand are rich in fungi species and needs exploration of other groups also. These findings have not only upgraded the existing knowledge of basidiomycetes Mycota from District Malakand but also established a sound baseline for future research and exploitation of fungi in Pakistan.
The question of the status of Prophet Muhammad has been one of the most crucial and controversial issue of Muslims-Christian relations since the advent of Islam. In almost every Muslim-Christian encounter, the question of Christian acknowledgement of prophet-hood of Muhammad has been raised. Muslim ask, when we accept and regard Jesus as a prophet, why you (Christian) do not recipro-cate by giving the same status to prophet Muhammad. The present study is an attempt to analyze the points which Kenneth Cragg has raised, In response of the Muslims, who say, why the Christian don’t give such respect to Muhammad(SAW) as the Muslim give to Jesus. In this study I proved that Cragg’s answer is not only against the Holy Quran but also against The teachings of Gospel and the only reason for this disregard Is prejudicial and polemical.
This study looks into the determinants of foreign direct investment and economic growth of four countries
(Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and India) based on secondary data covering the period form 1970-2010. The
selected three countries are from Subcontinent. China is included in this study because China is getting highest
foreign direct investment and it is on the top of preferred destinations of foreign direct investment. Ordinary
Least Square (OLS) is used in this study to reveal the relationship between variables through two equations.
The results, obtained from the analysis show that large market size and growth in the market of the host
country are most significant determinants of foreign direct investment and foreign direct investment is an
important ingredient of economic growth and economic growth. The relationship between foreign direct
investment and economic growth is ilateral.
The results also reveal that domestic saving, growth in exports and employment are contributing to the
economic growth. Depreciation in the exchange rate and deficit trade balance attracts foreign direct
investment. When countries face trade deficit they adopt more favorable policies towards foreign direct
investment.