COVID-19 and Politics of Representation: A CSA of Pakistani Print Media Semiotic Discourses

Print media discourses are highly polarized. Different linguistic and meta-linguistic moves are employed to represent the same issue under different socio-political themes. This study decodes the semiotic discourses of two (02) Pakistani English and Urdu newspapers (Dawn & Jang) about the representation of COVID-19 related issues. This has been done to broaden the canvas of the research by including English and Urdu newspapers’ readership. The time span for data collection ranges from March 15, 2020, to May 15, 2020. The integrated research approach used in the study has been devised by drawing upon Kress (2010) and Krueger (2001) to analyze the data at linguistic and semiotic levels. The findings of semiotic analysis have been validated through focus group discussions on the selected cartoons from English and Urdu newspapers. The findings of the research reveal that the representation of COVID- 19 related issues varies in English and Urdu newspapers. The most frequently occurred themes in English newspapers about the representation of covid19 related issues include economic downfall, danger to the worlds’ economy, the clash between America and China, delays in vaccine production, and food and health insecurity at national and international levels. On contrary, the Urdu newspapers highlighted the issues related to corruption, the oil crisis, a satire on the general masses for not observing SOPs, a satire on health ministry, and poverty increase because of lockdown policies. The research contends that semiotic discourses are the best sites for ideological investment and are designed keeping in view the target audience.

How Singapore’s Sovereign Debt Risk Has Changed from 2016 to 2021

In this paper, I build an economic model and adapt it to fit Singapore’s economic and historical background. My empirical analysis is based on data about external debt to GDP, foreign investment, and net export products and partners. But I also address concerns about risk factors coming from covid and the oil crisis. In my analysis, even in the worst case, Singapore is not going to be worse than the Netherlands in the IIR rating, which corresponds to an IIR rating of 90. In contrast to my baseline, risk assessment for Singapore is a rating of 93.

Global Oil Crisis and Early COVID-19 Strategic Containment Responses in Africa: The Nigerian Experience

African countries have been hit by a dual shock of COVID-19 pandemic and global oil crisis, which have caused severe economic and social disruptions. Most studies shed light on the correlates between COVID-19 and the global oil crisis, including their economic impacts on oil producing/exporting countries. However, the objective of this study is to examine the effects of the global oil crisis on the implementation of World Health Organization’s (WHO) healthcare and public health measures to contain COVID-19 in Nigeria. Empirical data from Nigeria was collected and analysed using content analysis based on WHO’s methodology. There was low level of healthcare preparedness and emergency response capacities to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health measures against COVID-19 such as lockdowns and social distancing policies were poorly implemented at the expense of the people without adequate countercyclical stimulus packages and palliatives.

Five Decades Of Petroleum Exploration And Discovery In The Malay Basin (1968-2018) And Remaining Potential

Since the first oil discovery in the Malay Basin in 1969, more than 700 exploratory wells have been drilled. To date, there are more than 181 oil and gas discoveries, about half of which are currently in production and about a dozen are already in their secondary or tertiary recovery stages. In 2014 it was estimated that a total of over 14.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (bboe) of recoverable hydrocarbon resource have been discovered in the basin, contributing to approximately 40% of the total hydrocarbon resources of Malaysia. By the end of the first decade of exploration in 1979, all the major basin-centre anticlinal structures had been tested. This play type contributed 60% of the total discovered resource in the basin. By 1981 this most prolific play type had been practically exhausted, as all the giant fields (those with recoverable resource > 0.5 bboe) had been found. As “creaming” of the basin-centre anticlinal play continued into the early 1980s, exploration efforts gradually shifted to the newly discovered western margin play types, particularly in the Western Hinge Fault Zone, Tenggol Arch and the adjacent Penyu Basin. There was a “lull” period from 1985 to about 1990, due to the global oil crisis, after which exploration was rejuvenated through significant discoveries in several play types on the northeastern ramp margin. This followed a successful drilling campaign that lasted until around 1997 and contributed an additional ~1 bboe of recoverable resources over a seven-year period. Since then, most of the incremental resource addition came from the highly gas-charged play in northern region that comes under the Malaysia-Thai Joint Development Area (JDA) and on the northeastern ramp margin, which includes the Commercial Arrangement Area (CAA) between Malaysia and Vietnam. Individually, however, the hydrocarbon volumes in these later discoveries were relatively small compared to the earlier discovered play types. Subsequently, new play types were pursued, including stratigraphic channels, deeper reservoirs beneath existing fields, high pressure/high temperature (HPHT) reservoirs, overpressured and tight reservoirs, and fractured basement reservoirs. All had some measure of success but none were able to volumetrically match the discoveries made decades earlier. As of end of 2018, over 2100 exploration and development wells had been drilled in the entire basin. Based on the creaming curve, since around 1990 and into the fifth decade of exploration, the incremental resource addition has been increasing steadily at an average rate of ca. 120 MMboe per year. The data indicate that the expected average discovery size would be less than 25 MMboe, and that at least 5 wells need to be drilled per year to sustain the same rate of resource addition. If no new plays are explored and no significant discoveries made, resource addition is expected to plateau beyond 2020. The basin needs a new stimulus, and more importantly, new exploration play concepts to sustain exploration business.

The Institutional Sources of Economic Transformation: Energy Policy from the Oil Crises to Climate Change

Why are some governments more effective in promoting economic change than others? We develop a theory of the institutional sources of economic transformation. Domestic institutions condition the ability of policymakers to impose costs on consumers and producers. We argue that institutions can enable transformation through two central mechanisms: insulation and compensation. The institutional sources of transformation vary across policy types—whether policies impose costs primarily on consumers (demand-side policies) or on producers (supply-side policies). Proportional electoral rules and strong welfare states facilitate demand-side policies, whereas autonomous bureaucracies and corporatist interest intermediation facilitate supply-side policies. We test our theory by leveraging the 1973 oil crisis, an exogenous shock that compelled policymakers to simultaneously pursue transformational change across OECD countries. Panel analysis, case studies, and discourse network analysis support our hypotheses. The findings offer important lessons for contemporary climate change policy and low-carbon transitions.

Reassessment of Petroleum Engineering Education: Is It the End of an Era or a New Start?

Since emerging more than a century ago, petroleum engineering (PE) education has increasingly kept its popularity despite significant downturns in the industry. During these downturn periods, observed at least four times since the 1973 oil crisis, structural changes in university programs have been considered. On the other hand, during the "heyday" periods, institutions have had to tackle enormous demand from industry, severely increased enrollments, and reestablish resources to provide a proper service. In light of these observations and while experiencing the fifth downturn period over the last five decades, it is time again to ask the same question: "Shall we continue with the same PE education model or radically shift to a new model?" In this paper, after reviewing more than fifty articles published over the last 85 years reporting the attempts made towards reshaping PE education, an option of restructuring PE programs is discussed. This option is less oil industry (and oil prices) dependent and more of a "general" engineering education program with an emphasis on the "geoscience" or "subsurface" engineering aspects of the PE discipline. Detailed discussions focus on curriculum updates to address the industry practice of "subsurface" related engineering applications. Viability of this option was discussed from industry, academia, and students’ perspective. This restructuring option requires substantial changes to curricula, skill development, and teaching and learning styles. Fundamentals are essential to include in PE education similar to other general (or major) engineering disciplines such as mechanical, civil, chemical, and electrical engineering. The essential elements of engineering skills such as creative design, decision making, problem description and solving, management under high degree of uncertainty, and data collection and processing for optimization are to be included in the new model. Finally, the model proposed is critically discussed and analyzed from different perspectives (industry, academia, and students) considering current and prospected subsurface engineering applications.

Ontological security as temporal security? The role of ‘significant historical others’ in world politics

This article explores the link between collective memory and state behaviour in international relations. In that regard, it develops a new concept entitled ‘temporal security’. Building on the existing ontological security literature, it extends a temporal understanding to its underlying identity concept. Countries are now assumed to be temporal-security seekers vis-a-vis a ‘significant historical other’ from their past. Decision makers thus enter into a self-reflective conversation with their country’s ‘collective memory’ when choosing courses of action. Contrasted with existing physical-security and ontological security explanations for state behaviour, the explanatory potential of the temporal-security approach is in a second step illustrated by the empirical case of West Germany and Austria, two former Nazi perpetrator states, and their respective assignments of support during conflict in the Middle East. Through a comparative, qualitative discourse analysis of historical documents during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War and oil crisis of 1973, the empirical study finds that West Germany and Austria adopted different courses of action in their international politics, because they looked to Nazi Germany as their significant historical other.

Review and prospect of maintenance technology for traction system of high-speed train

In the past few decades, high-speed trains have witnessed tremendous and vigorous development with the appearance of the oil crisis and industrialization, which became a significant trend in the transportation industry the world over. With the increase of high-speed railway mileage, the amount of high-speed train has grown sharply, the service life of the trains has increased gradually and the components of the vehicle traction system have become worn and aged as a result. Therefore, advanced maintenance technology and its application are key factors to reduce maintenance cost, human resource input and ensure safe, stable and reliable operation of trains. This paper summarizes and discusses the development, application mode, maintenance management and maintenance technology of high-speed railways of the major countries in the world, especially discusses the condition-based maintenance and the key technology of the traction electrical system, and offers the prospect of research direction and the development of traction maintenance technology.

Neo-Nationalism: A Tool for National Integrity

An ever-growing trend of radical rightist parties has brought newer dynamics to world politics. Neo-nationalism has further substantiated national integrity for changing the socio-cultural, economic and political landscape brought by globalization during the 1980s. The paper intends to analyze the concept of neo-nationalism. The paper explores this concept through an intensive study of the origin and background of neonationalism. In the paper, a study is conducted on the use of national integrity and patriotism to implement the concept of neo-nationalism in those countries. The major precautions in adopting the neo-nationalism concept are discussed in the project. A deep study is undertaken to investigate reasons that have led the world on a modern neo-nationalist order are discussed. Four peculiar reasons, in particular, the oil crisis, the collapse of the USSR and 9/11, financial and refugee crisis, and new nationalists focusing on national integrity have remained key contributors to the formation of the neo-nationalist society in the modern world. The paper studies all the reasons in depth and analyzes the key factors which might determine the new world order. The paper also uses two contemporary examples of Scotland and Western Europe to study the effects of neo-nationalism. A proper comprehensive study is done to recognize the concept of neo-nationalism and its effect on societies. The positive and negative effects are expanded to formulate a better cohesive study. Neo-nationalism is found to be a double-edged sword with monumental benefits and drawbacks. Its concept must be adopted with proper care and precaution so that major extremity groups wouldn’t be formulated.