Coverage of Women Issues in the Pakistan’s Press: A Critical Analysis

The aim of this research is to thoroughly analyze the part multilingual dailies play in covering women issues in Pakistan. It is rooted from national newspapers, the Daily ‘Dawn’, the Daily ‘Jang’ and the Daily ‘Kawish’ in the year of 2011. The study explores to what extent of the violence against women and education issue of women is dealt by the sampled dailies. The study employed content analysis a quantitative research methodology during 1st January 2011 to 31st December 2011. The contents of the newspaper were measured in column per centimeter of the space of one year. For this research work three major dailies of three different languages, the Daily Dawn, the Daily Jang and the Daily Kawish were selected. In sum up, an elite class newspaper the Daily Dawn has published 562 very little issues of women and used 0.6 percent of the total capacity which is of 4353024 co./cm in the year of 2011. However, the Sindhi language newspaper, the Daily Kawish has used 2430 a little more issue of women and covered 2.3 percent of total capacity of 1678976 col./cm of this daily in 2011. To some extent, the Urdu language newspaper the Daily Jang has reported 1297 more number of women issues and used 1 percent of total capacity of 2423616 col./cm in one year. Hence, the result shows that Pakistani press gives a little bit space to issues of women rights. Although, the Daily Dawn and the Daily Kawish have reported more issues of violence against women but the Daily Jang (an Urdu language newspaper) has covered more education problems of women in its newspaper in the year of 2011.

Prospects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Technology on Growth, Mineral Nutrient Acquisition and Fixed Oil Profile of Selected Sunflower Helianthus Annuus L. Hybrids at Various Levels of Rock Phosphate in Marginal Soil

The experiment was carried out in a net house in the University of Peshawar Pakistan, to find out the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation along with application of various levels (0%, 25%, 50% and 100%) of rock phosphate (RP) fertilizer on growth and yield of selected sunflower hybrids (Helianthus annuus L.) in Pdeficient soil. The results revealed that AM fungi effectively promoted the productivity of sunflower hybrids and proved their role as bio-fertilizer. It was noted that dual use of AMF and low-moderate dose of rock phosphate has profound effect regarding plant height, root length, number of leaves/plant, leaf size, head diameter, seed number/ head, seeds weight/head, dry weight of plant, oil content, fatty acid content, mycorrhizal dependency, proximate and mineral composition of the sunflower as compared to control non-inoculated plants. While, at high RP level (RP3) the non mycorrhizal plants outperformed. However the response varied in different hybrids. As far as hybrid response is concerned Hysun-33 performed better in most of the measured aspects as compared to other hybrids. Proximate analysis showed significant (p < 0.05) increase in crude protein, crude fats, moisture, ash and crude fiber content in mycorrhizal plant, however carbohydrates content was reduced. Rock phosphate fertilization showed no significant effect on nitrogen (N), potassium (K) and Zinc (Zn) uptake however phosphorus (P) uptake increases with increasing RP levels in both AMF inoculated and non-inoculated plants. The findings also provided useful information on oil yield and its fatty acid profiles as affected by AMF inoculation. The present study strongly suggests that the AMF-rock phosphate combination produces better results in the enhancement of the oil content of sunflower hybrids even in P-deficient soils. It was noted that the use of AMF along with low doses of rock phosphate promote mono unsaturated (oleic acid) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid), while the use of AMF along with high doses of rock phosphate bring increase in the production of saturated fatty acids like Palmitic acid and stearic acid in sunflower seeds. It has been observed that spore density and AMF root colonization was higher in the soil of control (RP0) plants, which decreases progressively with increasing fertility level, less number of spores and percent root colonization was found at high (RP3) level in all hybrids. Higher P doses declined the sporulation and colonization. Seven AMF species were recorded. The dominant genus was Acaulospora followed by Glomus, Sclerocystis and Gigaspora. The average AMF spore densities ranged from 56-260 spores/ 100gm soil while root colonization ranged from 32-100 %. Mycorrhizal enhancement regarding AMF spore density and root colonization followed RP0>RP1>RP2>RP3 trend in all hybrids. All selected sunflower hybrids were more responsive to mycorrhizal association but degree of dependency also varies according to rock phosphate levels. This study clearly indicates the potential of using indigenous biofertilizer such as AMF for oil seed crops in low fertility soils, to achieve adequate production level with least utilization of synthetic fertilizers for sustainable agriculture practice. The use of biofertilizer is not only eco-friendly but also economical as it reduces our dependence on expensive chemical fertilizers.