Revisiting Purchasing Power Parity for India using threshold cointegration and nonlinear unit root test

This study examines the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) hypothesis in case of India for her five major trading partners over the period of 1991M₁–2009M₂. The study used the DF-GLS unit root test and threshold autoregressive (TAR) model as well as momentum-TAR (M-TAR) models for empirical analysis. However, we relied on TAR and MTAR models based cointegration tests to draw conclusions because of their superiority to traditional cointegration techniques as these models have limit cycles, amplitude dependent frequencies, and jump phenomena. These models are capable of producing asymmetric limit cycles and are suitable for time series data. Our empirical exercise reveals that PPP hypothesis does not exist for all major trading partners in case of India. This reveals that intermediate goods face high barriers to trade in this sampled countries. This supports the argument that Indian government has not been able to strike out the proper balance between flexibility and stability between real bilateral exchange rates and thus unable to maintaining confidence in the domestic currency that has been evident from the recent fall of rupee in relation to the US dollar.     

Adaptation vs. development: basic services for building resilience

In a transect along Indus River after the 2010 floods in Pakistan, this article explores the relationship between the use and duration of use of basic services, among those who recovered well and those who did not, using non-parametric statistical testing in a quasi-experimental design. The research shows a clear and strong correlation between access and duration of usage of certain services before the disaster, and the rate of recovery in each location. This analysis demonstrates a relatively robust and cost-effective methodology to identify and prioritise development interventions that build resilience against climatic shocks that are not undertaken at the cost of poverty reduction.     

Corruption and the Decline of the State in Pakistan

Pakistan is generally included in most discussions of ‘failing states’ that pose the maximum danger to global security, with the rise of Islamic militancy being the most commonly cited reason for the ‘failure’. However, Islamic militancy is a result of impending state failure, not a cause of it. This article argues that the state's inability, caused by decades of systemic corruption, to provide any appreciable level of public goods or services, broadly defined, is responsible for the delegitimization of the state and its inability to maintain law and order in the cities or suppress Islamist insurgents in the rest of the country.     

Bureaucratic Perceptions to the Politics–Bureaucracy Relations in Bangladesh: A Moral Dilemma in between Political Neutrality and Responsiveness

Irrespective of the systems of government, a major question is: what are the views and perceptions of the bureaucrats about politics–bureaucracy relations? Aiming to address this problem, in this article an attempt has been made to undertake an empirical study of bureaucracy in Bangladesh. The study reveals that as a post-colonial structure, government bureaucracy is an essential and integral part of the administration in Bangladesh but the bureaucracies are always in a dilemma regarding their relationship with the political leaderships. The relationship between politicians and bureaucrats is neither normatively dichotomous with political neutrality nor abundantly cohesive or responsive to the political leaderships according to the perceptions of bureaucracy. Moreover, bureaucracy in Bangladesh is suffering from a moral puzzle between political neutrality and political responsiveness even though the bureaucrats are still in a dominant position in some cases.     

Development of Rapid and Economical Colorimetric Screening Method for p‐Phenylenediamine in Variety of Biological Matrices and its Application to Eleven Fatal Cases of p‐Phenylenediamine Poisoning

A rapid colorimetric method for detection of p‐phenylenediamine (PPD) in various biological samples is developed. The o‐cresol test for acetaminophen detection has been modified to detect PPD in blood, urine, gastric contents, and liver. After precipitating protein with trichloroacetic acid solution (2 mL, 10% w/v), biological specimens were required to convert PPD metabolites to PPD by acid hydrolysis. Finally, o‐cresol solution (1 mL, 1% w/v), hydrogen peroxide (200 μL, 3%v/v), and concentrated ammonium hydroxide (0.5 mL) were added in the biological samples. The presence of PPD was indicated by formation of violet color which was turned to bluish green color within 10–15 min. The limit of detection was found to be 2 mg/L in blood, urine, and gastric contents and 2 mg/Kg in liver. This method is also free from any potential interference by p‐aminophenol, acetaminophen, and other amine drugs under test conditions. This method was successfully employed to thirteen fatal cases of PPD poisoning.     

Definitions of and beliefs about wife abuse among undergraduate students of social work

The article focuses on definitions of and beliefs about wife abuse among undergraduate social work students in Israel. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires. The vast majority of students in Study 1 acknowledged acts thought to constitute wife assault and disapproved of a husband's use of force against his wife. The majority of students in Study 2 did not justify wife abuse nor tend to believe that battered women benefit from beating, although they tended to blame the violent husband for his behavior. Significant amounts of the variance in dependent variables were explained by the students' marital role expectations (Study 1) and their attitudes toward women and sex role stereotypes (Study 2). The students' year of study and participation in family violence or wife abuse courses did not contribute toward explaining the variance in their beliefs. Results are discussed in light of the students' patriarchal ideology, and implications for future research are presented.     

The Organisation of Drug Supply: South Asian Criminal Enterprise in the UK

This paper examines the structure and modus operandi of South Asian criminal organisations operating in the UK. It is based on empirical research conducted between 2005 and 2006 among prisoners sentenced for drug offences, a number of drug distributors operating in the market, and observers with a knowledge of the drugs business working for the police force or for rehabilitation services. First, the paper offers an overview of the debate on organised crime, and after a methodological note, the research findings are utilised to propose a typology. Hypotheses are formulated around the illicit drug enterprises involved in British markets. Finally, the implications for law enforcement with respect to these enterprises are discussed.

Piracy of copyright in Pakistan and its effects

This article analyses the copyright piracy in Pakistan through International Intellectual Property Alliance Reports. Copyright piracy ratio is very high in Pakistan in last fifteen years. The article discusses the piracy situation year wise and its effects on Pakistan economy. In this way, it tries to improve the implementation of intellectual property rights. In the end, the article recommends some suggestions to improve the enforcement situation in Pakistan.