Russia under Vladimir Putin’s leadership has assumed a personalised character which has drastically transformed its domestic and defence policy as well as its globalgrand strategy. The main contour of the grand strategy is a strategic rebalancing in the places of its influence including its near abroad and its area of interest including Asia, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Putin’s leadership and psychological orientation have a fundamental role in the materialisation of this transformation and the study of this factor serves as a lens to explain Russia’s resurgence and also provides a guide to Russia’s futureforeignpolicy.Oneofthesignificantaspectsofthestrategic rebalancing is Russia’s increasing influence in South Asia and the projects of building transport and trade corridor. While China remains another significant powerful player with similar geostrategic and geoeconomic plans;statessuchasPakistanforeseegreatchallengesaswellas opportunities which emerge as a result of the increasing influence of Russia and China in the region and the lingering dissonance in Pakistan’s relations with the United States of America.

A major health policy concern is the presence of inefficiencies in health care provision. This study estimates the technical efficiency for ambulatory services and inpatients care in private sector hospitals in Pakistan. Efficiency scores for the sample hospitals, estimated using Stochastic Frontier Analysis, are aggregated at the regional (district) level to identify the existence of spatial interdependence. The results from the spatial analysis suggest that efficiency has a positive spillover for outpatient care in small hospitals. Big hospitals, however, show inconsistent results. We concluded that small hospitals compete in outpatients with the motive of profit maximization.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) traces the evolution of Changezs sense of belonging by encompassing a substantial part of his life odyssey, ranging from his movement to the US for higher studies to his disillusionment and redirection of fundamental desires. This study explores those transformative stages that help shape his identity. For this purpose, James Marcias theory of identity achievement has been used as a theoretical framework. Marcia (1980) contends that certain situations and events (called crises) act as catalysts to prompt identity moratorium. The internal conflict caused by such catalysts stimulates adolescents to probe into their beliefs, goals and values. Changez also encounters the four statuses described by Marcia i.e., identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and final achievement. Consequently, a refraction in his sense of belonging takes place - from love for American exceptionalism to love for Pakistan and Islam (Morey, 2011). This study evaluates the level of identity achievement in Changez as a result of this refraction

The political debates are the major indicators to open a dialogue and to set the tone of politics in society. The elections' debates in Pakistan are directly linked with the nature of the state and its ideological and elite composition. The post-colonial state structure and its reflection in electoral politics is a dominant determining factor which led to induce order through objectifying in existing electoral status quo. The dominant forces on the electoral scene have the power to interpret the existing knowledge production and debate for their own interest. Both objectivities and subjectivities in which electoral debates operate are in control of the post-colonial state structure. This paper is an attempt to explore the articulation of electoral debates in academic knowledge production. Further, how does existing academic debate explain the nature of electoral politics? Why?The purposively selected academic debates on elections revolved around functionalist and interpretivist paradigms influenced by the existing debate between subjectivity and objectivity. The descriptive method has been applied in exploring a research question under study.

The evolution and growth of press in the Subcontinent revolutionized the flow of information and propagation of political activities. All-India Muslim League went through the process of reorganization in the late 1930's and the new political resolve needed more publicity and propaganda to expand further among the masses. League handled the need of the hour by starting its party-owned newspapers while the provincial Leagues and some of the League organs launched their newspapers to publicize policy and program of the party. The major share in the press came from the Leaguers and pro League newspapers from all over India. The last phase of the freedom movement witnessed the emergence of a more radical and outspoken press in support of the demand for Pakistan. Overseas publicity and press remained weak ground for League due it financial constraints. The Middle East zone was omnipresent in League's activities due to its Islamist stance.England publicity wing started working quite late but it remained successful in making a mark over the minds of the public. The American front was neglected and only a few appearances were available to propagate League and its demand for Pakistan.

The main purpose of the study was to find out how task and contextual performance within organizations can be improved so as to achieve sustainable organizational performance. The study indicates that increasing task performance, which is about good implementation of formal job responsibilities, might result in favorable outcomes for sustainable organizational performance. Similarly, promoting contextual performance, which involves extra-role behaviors contributing to efficient organization operation, may also improve sustainable organizational performance. However, essentially, the research is all about raising both dimensions. This study aims at exploring the relationship between External Locus of Control (LOC), task performance and contextual performance among employees. The research design used was descriptive while data for the study was collected using convenience sampling method from 170 middle level managers of banks in Pakistan. After collecting data using a modified questionnaire, IBM SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0 were used to analyze it. To conduct this analysis regression analysis was applied.

Issues faced by the Christians of Punjab on various occasions have been reported by the media; however, they have been on the rise in recent years. Media organizations aim to provide coverage and address minorities issues, and also follow policies and procedures for better interest of all involved. This research paper attempts to look into the policies of electronic media organizations as well as the media regulatory body regarding coverage of issues faced by the Christians. In-depth interviews of officials in policymaking; four from media and two from the electronic media regulatory authority resulted that the authority has clear written policies for media content as to the coverage of minorities issues which is to avoid any coverage inciting hatred or fear among people. It also brings forth media’s unwritten policies and practices with regards to covering issues related to Pakistan Christian minority and priorities given to the coverage.

This study investigates the underlying reasons behind the limited offering of micro-takaful(insurance) products by takaful operators in Pakistan and suggests solutions to enhance thegrowth of micro-takaful products in the country. The study is qualitative in nature. The researchers conducted atotal of twenty (20) semi-structured interviews of relevant Islamic finance practitioners (5 sales heads, 5 businessheads, 5 product development heads, and 5 sales agents) working at all five takaful operators (Dawood FamilyTakaful Ltd., Pak-Qatar General Takaful, Pak-Qatar Family Takaful, Pak Kuwait Takaful, Takaful Pakistan Limited)operating in Pakistan. NVIVO 12 software was used for generating items, codes, word clouds and text searchqueries. According to the findings of this study, the issues faced by practitioners include the poor financialcondition of the public, lack of sufficient funds with takaful operators, lack of cooperation among takaful operators,lack of customer awareness and interest, lack of takaful experts and diversified takaful products, absence of aculture of takaful practices, and lack of research and product development in the field of micro-takaful.Academicians should develop suitable micro-takaful products according to the needs of the public, and theregulator can require takaful operators to offer micro-takaful products.

Electoral symbols have a significant role in electoral campaigns. Political parties used stamps to propagate their political stance and to organize political behavior around their programs. The political symbolism demonstrates different meanings to different people due to their socio-political orientations.Some political parties tried to use electoral symbols more proactively than others. These multi-layered meanings led to the articulate political interests of social groups. There are many questions unanswered regarding the impact and use of the political symbol. Can election symbols influence particular areas more than the rest of the country? Does electoral symbol matter in electoral victory? This paper is an attempt to explore the politics and use of symbols in electoral politics. In the electoral politics of Pakistan, the study of electoral symbols is unique due to its multiple uses in highly polarized electoral contexts. The study concludes that political parties use electoral symbols tactfully to maximize their vote bank. A qualitative approach has been used to investigate a core question

Security implausibility due to a long history of conflict and the poor governess made a major contribution to making Afghanistan one of the unstable countries in the world, which poses a potential security risk for their surroundings. Instability in Afghanistan has a great impact on the security of Pakistan.Afghanistan's ability to overcome its security problems has a significant impact not only on the security and development of Pakistan but also the entire region. Furthermore, this paper will provide an overview of the importance, suggestions, and security policy of Pakistan. The Obama administration's strategy in Pakistan, particularly-in FATA, in which US drone strikes occurred, has generated insecurity in Pakistan. Therefore, the Imran Khan Government severely opposes the drone strikes and calls it a violation of the sovereignty and honor of the country.Finally, the paper highlights insecurity and instability in Afghanistan has serious regional implications. Consequently,a stable Afghanistan is more likely to make a contribution to regional security and serve as an economic partner