Perceptions and Coping Strategies: A Thematic Study on Work-Life Balance of Working Women

The present study aims to explore different perceptions about the concept of work-life balance and the coping strategies used by working women to maintain this balance in the culturally unique context of Pakistan. The participation rate of working mothers has increased substantially in the labor force of Pakistan, creating problems for them in balancing their work and life responsibilities. Having a job with kids and family responsibilities comes in conflict with social and cultural values. This study adopted a qualitative research approach for in-depth exploration of the topic, engaged a snowball sampling technique to collect the data from 16 professional women using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. The themes identification in this qualitative study is through the Braun & Clarke thematic six-phase approach. The main objective of the thematic analysis is to recognize themes; identify the significant data patterns, and achieve the research objectives. Thematic analysis revealed that the participants perceived work-life balance as a personal philosophy, managing both sides and event-based. Working women showed their faith in Allah and considered it the most helpful coping strategy. This faith gives them greater strength and courage to deal with problems. Pakistani working women frequently used various work-life balance coping strategies such as; support systems, time and stress management, determining priorities, and task crafting. The study implies that organizations should implement such HR policies and practices that support working women, providing them with child care centers and flexible schedules.

China’s Increasing Investments and Relationships with Sea Line Countries of Indian Ocean: A Geopolitical Strategy

This study aims to investigate how String of Pearls is referred to as a geopolitical strategy adopted by China and a threat to India as India is a growing regional power? China has invested a lot in building its military bases network in the countries of sea lines that are falling on the Indian Ocean. China has also developed commercial facilities and its military bases, which refer to as String of Pearls. This study will find the interest of China in expanding its engagements in the region of the Indian Ocean. China is investing heavily in the construction of ports, roads, military, and commercial bases along with so many huge products in the countries providing China bases to increase its chain of String of Pearls. The study will identify how these investments made by China are paying off back to China. This research paper will cover Chinese investment in Pakistan, Myanmar, Djibouti, Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Myanmar, Massawa port Eritrea, Iran, Lamu port Kenya, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc.

Indigenous Semiotics in “The Transistor” by Shahnaz Bashir: Application of Roland Barthes’ Codes to Kashmiri Narrative

The research focuses on the indigenous critical perspective when applied through semiotics of Barthes’ codes to the Kashmiri narratives. The study briefly reviews indigenous perspective as explained by Professor Jody Byrd and Aileen Moreton-Robinson after giving reference to Heather Harris about indigenous epistemology. This follows linking it to semiotics through Barthes’ codes with their review and association to cultural indigenousness. The research also reviews the Kashmiri narrative tradition and analyses the short story “The Transistor” in the light of this theoretical perspective to show that Kashmiri indigenousness as presented through signs and symbols when interpreted as indigenous semiotics show the specific Kashmiri resistance, conflictual cultural practices, and indigenous sovereignty under paracolonialism. The research, however, falls short of proving how the Kashmiri cultural paradigm shifts under paracolonial presence which requires separate inquiry from another angle.

Challenges to Afghan Refugee Children’s Education in Pakistan: A Human Security Perspective

Human security is an essential component of the contemporary intra-state conflicts; promulgating renewed understanding of the perpetuating nature of the Afghan problem. Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion to the US’ long war, faces continued Human Security challenges, especially lack of education in around 80 percent of school-aged children of Afghan refugees. Pakistan, which itself has the second largest number of school-aged children out of school, faces illiteracy in children of Afghan refugees as the surmountable challenge that links down to the seven broader components of human security identified by Mahbub-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s former finance minister and economist, in the 1994 Human Development Report. The growing illiteracy in second and third-generation Afghan refugees is the product of poverty, socio-economic disparities, and socio-cultural restrictions, especially in regards to the relative discouragement of female education. In order to offset the gravity of challenges to the educational aspect of human security, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is continuously cooperating with the Pakistani government in enhancing educational infrastructure in terms of community and home-based schooling, vocational and technical training, and capacity building of Pakistan’s schooling system to accommodate Afghan refugee children. Therefore, the paper takes qualitative checks of the primary sources from the government of Pakistan and UNHCR and secondary sources to find the answers to three following questions in different four parts of the paper. The result of this study is that the main challenge for Afghan refugee child education in Pakistan is the poor quality of education. Therefore, UNHCR should work with the Pakistani government to develop investment programs and put in place solid surveillance and oversight of schools to improve their quality to an acceptable standard.

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.

The Ideological Ranting in the Debut Novels of the Contemporary Pakistani Writers

People believe that ideologies work for their betterment by showing them a path of prosperity. However, they fail to understand the consequences of blindly following a specific ideology. In their debut novels, the contemporary writers of Pakistan depict the working of one of these ideologies: religion. The present study aims to analyze the projection and exploitation of power in the name of religion: how people suffer for the sake of faith, and the manipulation that follows it in these selected novels: The Prisoner, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, How it Happened, and Agency Rules. The study also highlights the link between religious ideology and the conditioning of the minds of people. The analysis takes place in the light of Marxist theory. The study discovers the role of religious ideology in overpowering helpless people with the belief that following a certain path will reward them in life after death.

Impact of Sports Anxiety on Sports Performance of Players

This study aimed to assess the impact of sports anxiety on the sports performance of players. The sample was comprised of 110 sports players (68 males, 42 females). The data was collected by using the probability sampling technique of purposive sampling from Sports Players that belong to Bahawalpur and Multan cities of Punjab Province. The age range of the respondents of this cross-sectional research was from 18 to 35years. Demographic information such as age, gender, qualifications, Area, marital status, socioeconomic status, and which kind of sport they play was also asked from them. Two questionnaires were utilized for the purpose of data collection, one was a 15-item, The Sport Competition Anxiety Test, and the second was a 6-item, Athlete’s Subjective Performance Scale. After data collection, SPSS (1.0.0.1406latest 21 version) was used for the analysis. The findings showed that if the sports anxiety increases, the sports performance of the player will decrease and vice versa (r=-.33). Moreover, sports anxiety was also a significant predictor of sports performance. The results also revealed no significant gender differences in sports anxiety and sports performance.

Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors of household Expenditures: A Case Study of Southern Punjab (Pakistan)

Household expenditures are the main source of society's well-being and welfare. The examination of socioeconomic and demographic determinants of Household Expenditure in Southern Punjab is the major objective of the study. The primary data of 785 households is collected in Southern Punjab. The estimation analysis is based on the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) methodology. The age of household head, years of schooling, household size, Remittances, the value of assets, number of earners, distance of health center from household residence, the distance of the school from household residence have a positive effect on household monthly expenditures in Multan division, D.G Khan division, Bahawalpur division, and Southern Punjab. The households which belong to the informal sector have a negative relationship with monthly household expenditures in all three divisions and Southern Punjab. The association between the area of residence and monthly household expenditures is positive in all three divisions and Southern Punjab. The result shows that households living in urban areas of Southern Punjab have more expenditure as compared to rural areas. The presence of disease and household expenditures are negatively related to each other in Southern Punjab. Therefore, this study suggests that health facilities should provide at a large scale in various divisions of southern Punjab.

The effects of Cultural Limitations, Constitution, Feminism, Sexual Orientation status among the Women in Pakistani Families

The objective of this research paper is to analyze the status of women in Pakistan in other words status provided to women in Pakistani family structure and also to analyze its status in Islam. This study describes to what extent, women were oppressed and abused by way of every attainable method in societies. This study has collected secondary data from books, research papers, journals and different reports. It is noted that women facing violence at various stages in their life in Pakistan. The teaching of Islam is neglected here regarding women's status. It was concluded that, With regards to Pakistan, the indispensable issue is that our religion Islam has not had the option to cancel the exceptionally old un-Islamic and furthermore cruel social indecencies that are being exercised in the land. Hence, ancestral family, tribal imagery has gotten more prevailing and helpful than the confidence of Islam. So it was recommended that the government should maintain the status of women according to teaching of Islam.

Designing Applied Linguistics Course for a Postgraduate Class: A Case Study in Literature Major

The present research aims at designing an applied linguistics course for the students of literature at the post-graduate level. The inclines of English linguistics and literature are: One is related to the immaculate hypothetical evidence, while the other is related to culture, society, and art, and the various results it can envision, which brings it under a specific arrangement. In this study, the researcher refines different hypotheses and theories instead of the issue of further developing exercises and instruction modules. Content Analysis by Harold Lasswell has been used as a tool for data collection and the framework applied for this study is Syllabus Designing by David Nunan because to design a course, syllabus designers animate the feelings, needs, and musings of their students by engaging them in different activities. This can occur if instructors separately investigate standards and examinations with abilities. They, at that point, then made an English Literature class that would be met with a course in building hypotheses, methods, and theories about their experience and the discoveries of their associates (e.g., Nunan, Widdowson, Candlin, Carter, etc.) in attempting to concentrate in this new era. By then, they are associated and adjusted to the English (literature) courses of consenting to the writer's experience and consenting to the requests of certain researchers (e.g. Pennycook in Critical applied Linguistics). The purpose of the researcher is to give direction on how this is accomplished. The study is limited to the students of English Literature at the postgraduate level only. The result shows that a teacher who knows about the reasoning for the plan of the schedule can show what, why, when, where, and how much for the class to instruct much better and all the more proficiently. The research is intended to direct teachers to a basic appraisal of thoughts and the educated application regarding their study halls.