Pakistan Review of Social Sciences (PRSS)

Afghanistan: Portrayal of Taliban War, Victory and Assuming Power in media and Perspectives of West, China, Russia, Central Asia, India and Pakistan

Erham Ahmed — 2023-03-24

Abstract

This article is an examination of the history of war in Afghanistan during different eras. The history of Afghanistan indicates that the country had been in war for long time. Afghanistan had been in war since historic times, from Ghaznavis in 10th century till 2021. The country was also invaded by foreigners multiple times. Taliban war in Afghanistan after Soviet withdrawal increased and after few events U.S. invaded to control terrorism in the region. The research articles gives insight view of the emergence of Taliban group and the way they took over the country in the end of 20^th century. The portrayal of Taliban in media during and after their war with U.S. troops has been discussed. Latest developments in Afghanistan and Taliban takeover Afghan government is viewed differently by countries across the world. Additionally, this article explores perspectives of the Western countries including United States of America, United Kingdom and European Union countries, few of the neighboring countries, Pakistan, Russia, Central Asian countries and India on Taliban taking over Afghanistan and assuming power.

Climate Change and Global News Perspective: Coverage of Flood Cataclysm by Global News Agents

Javeria Tahir — 2023-03-24

Global news flow has a significant role in establishing communication between distinct parts of the Globe. This flow of news is attributed to some prominent news agencies such as AFP, AP, and Reuters. These agencies maintain 80% of global news reporting and hence work in developing a perspective on any issue. Climate change is one of the main global issues. Amongst others, Flooding is also a direct product of Climate Change. Floods in Pakistan had always made a disastrous impact on the development of the country. Pakistan is in the top 10 countries that are susceptible to climate risks according to Global Climate Risk Index 2021. It is believed that a prominent global perspective on floods in Pakistan is required to enunciate discourse on tackling the situation. Pakistan is suffering from the damage created by significant others. There is a lack of research and discourse on Climatic Cataclysm and news reporting on its reasons and effects in Pakistan. The current study intends to identify the representation of the Flood disaster in Pakistan in international news reports and how this news reporting is creating a global news perspective on climatic conditions. The study used qualitative content analysis approach to analyze the news articles reported in the global news agencies Reuters, Al-Jazeera, and CNN on the Floods cataclysm in Pakistan. The articles are selected by the headlines and the content is analyzed on themes. The results identify the significant role of global news agencies in expanding climate change discussions around the world. The results showed that the major factor of news focused on the economic and financial crisis but less focused on the Climate crisis and its future effects. Aljazeera has significantly different coverage pattern than CNN and Reuters. Aljazeera reported on the theme of Climate Crisis and its future implications.

Keywords: Global news perspective, flood cataclysm, news reporting, news agencies, content analysis

Introduction to the Special Section: Disasters and Their Effects on Child Development

Muzamil Hussain AL Hussaini (PhD Scholar) — 2023-03-24

The special section's papers collectively paint a picture of where disaster and development in children and adolescents research is at. The articles' diversity is impressive; they cover a wide range of crisis circumstances, such as war and the use of child soldiers, terrorism and political unrest, hurricanes and tsunamis, earthquakes and floods, as well as political unrest and climatic change. There are representations of specific calamities that happened in nine different nations. The articles cover a wide range of ages, from very young children through adolescents. In this field of study, longitudinal research and studies that focus on developmental processes are still uncommon. Although a few articles discuss additional levels of analysis, such as biological function and relationships, the majority of the articles concentrate on a behavioral level of function and analysis.

Registration, Production, and Export of Medical Devices: An Assessment of Reforms

Ahmad Waqar — 2023-03-24

With the growth of the healthcare market in Pakistan, the demand for medical devices is rapidly increasing. The COVID-19 pandemic has also triggered the demand for medical devices in domestic and international markets. Even though Pakistan has a strong link in the medical devices global value chain yet it contributes less than 0.2% to the medical devices export market.[1] To cater to the increase in demand for medical devices during the wave COVID-19 and to transform the industry into export-oriented, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) took several reforms to simplify the registration and manufacturing process to facilitate the medical devices manufacturing industry and improve its export competitiveness. The objective of this report is to evaluate the impact of some of these reforms on the medical device market in general and on the medical device manufacturers in particular. This report estimates that these reforms have saved about 6.07 billion PKR in terms of administrative burden.

[1] Export share of Pakistan in the export of medical devices is calculated from the data (HS: 9018 to 9022) obtained from the UN Comtrade.

Russia and Ukraine Crisis: From Geo-Political Confrontation, to Putin’s Ambition to Regain Lost Grandeur

Roqia Khurshid — 2023-03-24

The article discusses different aspects of the Russia-Ukraine Crisis ranging from geo-political confrontation, to Putin’s ambition to regain lost grandeur resulting from Soviet disintegration. Russia’s renewed incursion in Ukraine has initiated deadly conflict in Europe and laid down the foundation of new hostilities between Russia and US-led West and the epicentre of confrontation is Ukraine. Ukraine has remained in constant boil for the past many years for various reasons ranging from internal instability, to Western interference and hostile relations with neighbouring Russia. Ukraine has also been hotbed between West and Russia for its abundant natural and agriculture resources as well as its geo-strategic location blessed with close proximity to Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea making it geo-strategically important for Europe and Russia equally. The Ukraine crisis has left World in a chaotic situation and endangered regional and global peace and stability. Crisis has also resulted in global food shortage and economic crisis globally and shattered the pillars of the global economy. The article articulates that only end to conflict will be by positive approach followed both by Russia and the West.

The Second Iraq War's Background: How Does War Stimulate It?

Selin Çınar — 2023-03-24

As a result of the Iraq War in the Middle East dating back to the very early years, conflicts have been ongoing in the 1980s. As a result, the main causes of the conflicts in Iraq can be traced back to the First Gulf War in August 1990. The war began in Iraq and Kuwait, but it spread around the world under the leadership of the United States, one of the most powerful actors, and ended with the 2003 conflict with Iraq. When we specifically examined the Iraq War in 2003, we focused on U.S. and United Kingdom effects. This study is mostly an attempt to, for all intents and purposes, understand how the Iraq War stimulated the conflicts in non-direct and direct ways, with the being the major way.