SochBichar

SochBichar

By Nadeem HaqueScienceSocial SciencesGovernment
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SochBichar episodes

  • Webinar on "Setting up a Cricket Market in Pakistan"

    Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 06:00 PM (PST)

    Guest Speaker: Mr. Najam Sethi, Author, Journalist, Political Commentator & Chairman of PSL

    Moderator: Dr. Nadeem ul Haq, Vice Chancellor, PIDE

    Cricket Leagues have become one of the raging phenomena across the globe. The existing scholarship asserts that such professional leagues provide profitable avenues for players, governments, boards, public and investors. Among the determinants of growth of sports industry are identified public interest, attraction of celebrities, sponsorship of multinational companies and returns on investment. Also, the revenues generated from sports constitute significant determinant of growth of sports industry.

    Following this tremendous growth in the sports industry on global front, cricket leagues are turning into more institutionalized and professionalized avenues for economic growth. Pakistan Super League (PSL) is the most visible manifestation of interest in the cricket league in the country. Set against the backdrop of burgeoning sports industry (with a focus on cricket leagues) as an avenue for generating growth, economic value and employment in Pakistan, the current webinar entails to:

    1. Understand current issues and challenges faced by the sports industry of Pakistan.
  • Explain how sports industry of Pakistan can generate income and employment opportunities in the country.
  • Understand the structure and dynamic of cricket market in Pakistan.
  • Understand PSL as an opportunity for income generation and employment creation in Pakistan.
    • 1 hr 28 min
  • Webinar on Sehat Sahulat Program, Universal Health Coverage, Pakistan

    Monday, March 15, 2021 at 10:00 AM (PST)

     

    Chair:

    Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and Chairperson BISP.

     

    Moderator: 

    Dr. Nadeem Ul Haq, VC, PIDE

    Speakers:

    • Faisal Rifaq, CEO at Sehat Sahulat Program, Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination
  • Shabnam Sarfraz, Member Social Sector, Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiative, Government of Pakistan
  • Mahmood Khalid, Health Economist, PIDE
  • Sara Rizvi Jafree, Assistant Professor, Forman Christian College, Lahore

    • Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC), Government of Pakistan, in alliance with Provincial Governments initiated a healthcare intervention titled the Sehat Sahulat Program. The objective of this program is to lead a path towards Universal Health Coverage in Pakistan and to grant easier access and free-of-cost healthcare services to the poor. The program, implemented in 91 districts of the country, includes Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jamu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, Islamabad Capital Territory, Newly Merged Districts of KP and District Tharparkar, Sindh. The program also claims to cover 9 million families. The program’s horizon is extended to include individuals with disability and transgender persons registered in NADRA and has special CNICs.

    In the wake of examining the efficacy of this program, PIDE intends to conduct a webinar based on following objectives:

    1. To examine the structure and dynamic of Sehat Sahulat Program.
  • To understand the methodology for the identification of the poor and vulnerably poor.
  • To analyze the outreach and efficacy in terms of delivering the deliverables (program’s objectives).
  • To evaluate the impact of program in the light of program’s objectives
  • To specify the challenges of the program and its sustainability with respect to the program’s objectives and results.

    •  

    1 hr 51 min
  • Webinar on "The Politics of Media Economy in Pakistan"

    Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 07:00 PM (PST)

    Moderator:

    Dr. Nadeem ul Haque (VC PIDE)

    Speakers:

    Ms. Anum Malkani, Director Policy Advisory, Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP)

    Mr. Asad Beyg, Executive Director/Founder, Media Matters for Democracy & Media Lab

    Mr. Aftab Alam, Media Law Specialist & Policy Expert

    Mr. Bilal Gilani, Executive Director, Gallup Pakistan

    Dr Huma Baqai, Media Analyst &Anchorperson

     

     

    Media plays a critical role as opinion-shaper in Pakistan. The burgeoning forms of media in the form of electronic, print, and social media, shape national narratives about politics, society and culture. Also, with respect to economy, the role is becoming more pronounced when factors such as commercialization, advertisements, political economy, TRPs, media as an avenue for culture industry, and digitization are brought into light. In the light of this debate, the current webinar is an attempt to:

    1. Understand Pakistan’s media economy (Media industry numbers in revenue, Media measurement tools in the past and in present and what media generally covers?)
    2. Explain functional regulatory and legal frameworks of media economy in Pakistan.
    3. Articulate if Pakistan’s media content, especially televised contents reflective of socio-economic and political realities prevalent in the country, or not.
    4. Reflect on the quantity vs. quality control of electronic media in Pakistan.
    5. Decipher if there is political economy dimension through which media economy can be understood.
    6. Understand the process entailing TRPs of televised contents in Pakistan.
    7. Respond to a question, “Is media economy politicized in Pakistan?”

    2 hr 3 min
  • "Learning from Medical and Cancer Research"

    Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 07:00 PM (PST)

    Speakers:

    Dr. Azra Raza (Cancer Specialist and Researcher)

    Dr. Samia Altaf (Public Health Specialist)

     

    Moderator: Dr. Nadeem ul Haque (VC PIDE)

     

    Dr. Azra Raza is the Chan Soon-Shiong Professor of Medicine and Director of the MDS Center at Columbia University in New York. Previously, she was the Chief of Hematology-Oncology and the Gladys Smith Martin Professor of Oncology at the University of Massachusetts. She is considered an international authority on pre-leukemia (MDS) and acute leukemia.

    Dr. Raza has published her original clinical and basic research comprising over 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts in high profile journals like Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, Cell, Molecular Cell, Cancer Research, Blood, Leukemia. She has published >1000 abstracts, dozens of book chapters and edited a book devoted to MDS.

    She is a sought after speaker in scientific circles and the recipient of numerous awards including The Hope Award in Cancer Research 2012 (shared with the Nobel Laureate Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn). She was named as one of the 100 Women Who Matter by Newsweek Pakistan. Dr. Raza is a member of the Founder Group designing Breakthrough Developments in Science and Technology with President Bill Clinton and met with Vice President Joe Biden to discuss the Cancer Moonshot initiative at his residence at the Naval Observatory in 2015.

    She is the author of The First Cell: And the human costs of pursuing cancer’s last published by Basic Books, October 2019.

    In addition to her scientific accomplishments, Dr. Raza is a dedicated reader of Urdu literature, the co-author of GHALIB: Epistemologies of Elegance.

    1 hr 34 min
  • Webinar on "Counter Violent Extremism in Pakistan"

    Moderator: 

    Dr. Durre Nayab, Joint Director PIDE

     

    Book Author: 

    Dr. Anita M. Weiss

     

    Discussants

    Raza Rumi, Policy analyst
    Saba Gul Khattak, Political scientist
    Yaqoob Khan Bangash, Historian

    This book identifies and analyzes the impact of the various ways in which local people are responding, taking stands, recapturing their culture, and saying ‘stop’ to the violent extremism that has manifested over the past decade (even longer) in Pakistan. Local groups throughout Pakistan are engaging in various kinds of social negotiations and actions to lessen the violence that has plagued the country since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which let loose a barrage of violence that overflowed into its borders. In so many ways, Pakistanis are engaging in powerful actions that transform how people think about their own society, impeding extremists’ rants while acting on ‘envisioning alternative futures’.

    This book, hence, focuses on finding the sparks of hope that local people are creating to counter violent extremism based on close ethnographic study of ground realities about not only what people are doing but why they are selecting these kinds of actions, how they are creating alternative narratives about culture and identity, and their vision of a future without violence. This book is also designed to celebrate what is flourishing in cultural performances, music, social activism, and the like in Pakistan today because of people’s commitment to take stands against extremism.

    Biodata

    Professor Weiss received her doctorate in sociology from UC Berkeley and is professor of International Studies at the University of Oregon, where she has taught since 1988. She has published extensively on social development, gender issues, and political Islam in Pakistan. She was in Pakistan extensively between 2016-19 conducting interviews for this new book, including six months on a Harry Frank Guggenheim research fellowship; Professor Weiss stepped down after seven years as Head of the Department of International Studies to conduct this research in Pakistan. She is a member of the editorial board of Globalizations as well as a number of journals from Pakistan, has been a member of the Research Advisory Board of the Pakistan National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), and has been Treasurer and Vice President of the American Institute of Pakistan Studies. She was a Distinguished Speaker at the PSDE Annual Meeting in 2002.

    Endorsements for book

    Anita Weiss, a prolific expert on Pakistan for some 40 years, has written a “must read” groundbreaking book on the role of religion and the exponential increase of religious extremism in Pakistan. Based on exhaustive on-the-ground research, she provides a unique window on how and why people have responded to and what they have done and are they doing to stop the spread of violent extremism. (JOHN ESPOSITO, Professor, Religion & International Affairs and Islamic Studies, Georgetown University; Founding Director, Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding, Georgetown)

    Anita Weiss brings to the fore the voices of Pakistanis who have long struggled to counter extremism, intolerance, and terrorism in all its forms. Going beyond the urban areas, she has located people and organizations in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas, where change is happening daily. The diversity of approaches of these change makers is exhilarating: from the non-violence of Bacha Khan to the science focus of the Zoya schools, the stirring and resilient emerging Pashto and Sindhi poetry, to the urban initiatives in art for peace and open spaces. Making a strong case for a hopeful and forward-looking Pakistan, Weiss has certainly opened an important avenue of study. (YAQOOB KHAN BANGASH, Director, Centre for Governance and Policy, ITU, Lahore; Founder, Afkar-e-Taza ThinkFest, Pakistan)

    1 hr 38 min
  • Webinar on "Impact of SROs on Pakistan Economy"

    Our particular focus areas will be:

    1-Should the use of SROs be only confined to formulation of procedures for implementing a tax law/laws?

    2-If the SROs allowing tax concessions were eliminated, would it not hurt those sectors which are currently benefiting from them?
    3-Is it true that SROs are a source of promoting a culture of rent-seeking?
    4- Can we find any positive results of SROs in any area like promotion of any specific industries, lowering the burden of taxation on social sectors or boosting exports?
    5-We would love to see examples of useful and harmful SROs? Economic impact of industry wise concessions, specific user concessions? Their impact on domestic industry?
    6- Does SRO culture make genuine commercial importers and SMEs uncompetitive?

     

    Moderator: Dr Nadeem ul Haq (VC. PIDE)

    Panelists/Speakers: 

    Ikram ul Haque (Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Managing partner Huzaima & Ikram)
    Robina Ather (Chairperson, National Tariff Commission)
    Manzoor Ahmad (Ex Ambassador, WTO)
    Gonzalo.J.Varela (Senior Economist, World Bank)
    Zahir ud Din Dar ( CEO Dartways) .

    1 hr 51 min
  • Webinar on "Management of State-Owned Enterprises’ (SOEs)"

    Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 7:00 PM (PST)

    Moderator:

    Dr. Nadeem ul Haque (VC PIDE)

    Panelists:

    1. Salim Raza
  • Dr Arshad Zaman
  • Sikander Khan
  • Istaqbal Mehdi
  • Tasneem Noorani

    • This is the first webinar of the series focusing on the issues attached with the ‘State Owner Enterprises’, or the ‘Public Sector Enterprises’. 

    Management of Public Enterprises (PEs/ SOEs) globally is a challenging task. Large number of countries both developing and developed, have confronted serious issues in improving the performance of their public enterprises. There have been several experiences of bringing these enterprises at par with their “counterparts in private sector”. However, there were more failures than successes. Keeping in view the low level of operational efficiency and magnitude of complexities Prime Minister of Britain Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s promoted a program to privatize. Subsequently, during the next few decades privatization policy was adopted by large number of countries. Some of them have been successful in privatizing substantial part of their public enterprise sector. Perhaps the greatest success was in East Europe where large number of PEs were successfully privatized. Privatization policy was also adopted by number of West European and Afro-Asian countries but here the results were mixed.

    Continued Importance of PEs:

    In the recent years it has been noted that despite all the privatization public enterprise sector continue to be substantially large. The “Economist” of January 11th, 2014 included an expose on the role and size of public sector on the global scene including the OECD countries. It stated” Taxpayers might think that the best family sliver has already been sold, but plenty is still in cupboard. State Owned Enterprises in OECD countries are worth around €2 trillion” However, it was added that if minority stakes in companies dealing with public sector utilities and other assets such as buildings, land and sub-soil resources are taken into account public enterprises in rich economies are worth €35 trillion across the OECD countries. Similar share of public sector role is noted in other countries. It was, therefore, concluded by the Economist “All of which points out to a huge opportunity for governments to sell or sweat more assets and by doing so reduce fiscal stress”.

    2 hr 38 min
  • Cities of the Future

    Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 7:00 PM (PST)

    Moderator

    Dr. Nadeem ul Haque (VC PIDE)

    Panelists

    1. Arif Hasan

    2. Dr. Naveed Iftikhar

    3. Samna Sadaf Khan

     

    Pakistan currently houses some of the largest cities in the world. It has about 20 cities with populations of above a million. Karachi and Lahore are among the twenty-five mega cities in the world. This rapid urbanization is accompanied by congestion, pollution, mobility issues, shortage of housing and other utilities and sprawl. Pakistan also has 40 percent of its urban population living in

    slums. There is clear shortage of urban public spaces, libraries, office and commercial spaces, and sustainable urban transportation. Our cities are not inclusive either. People living in slums, and street hawkers face a constant threat of eviction. Urban planning in Pakistan has not kept pace with the changes brought about by rapid urbanisation. Pakistani cities lack the vigour and dynamism of a
    modern, productive, competitive cities. Future of the countries are in the cities hence they should be better managed. In this webinar, we will learn from speakers how cities can do it right and how we can improve our current cities.

    Points to Ponder

    • What will be the needs of a future city and anticipating challenges of the future?
    • With rising urban population and more challenges ahead, how cities will provide equity to
    all?
    • How future of the mobility will look like?
    • Streets provides vibrance to the city economy, with rise of e-commerce and delivery service,
    how the landscape will evolve eventually.
    • Some cities around the world are taking matters into their own hands, circumventing
    regional and federal government for better and effective legislation, generate their own
    funds and future strategies. What can we learn from these cities?

    1 hr 9 min
  • Master Planning - What is it and what it creates

    Tuesday, January 19, 2020 at 7:00 PM (PST)

     

    Moderator: 

    Dr. Nadeem ul Haque (VC PIDE)

     

    Panelists

    1. Nadeem Khurshid
    2. Dr. Nausheen H. Anwar
    3. Dr. Murtaza Haider

    All major cities in Pakistan are in the process of reviewing and updating their master plans. Our cities spend resources and time developing masterplans to lock themselves and their cities into a predetermined path of growth and lifestyles. When life does not adjust to these preordained plans for their life, cities and their residents end up in years of strife with encroachments happening

    involving lawsuits and law enforcement. Cities try to grow and modernize but planners go to the extent of destroying buildings with court injunctions only because they are a couple of feet taller or longer than allowed by stringent regulations. Yet the push for master-planning continues across Pakistan hoping to keep cities frozen for long periods of time from 15-30 years. Having seen a boom
    after the second world war, master plans are increasingly seen as a thing of the past. Reasons for this disillusionment are many:
    Points to Ponder
    • Master plans are forward-looking, laying the building foundations of a city for the coming twenty years. However, they rely on the present as well as past data to project future demand for infrastructure and public utilities. Little do the planners realize that these
    projections are often faulty.
    • In Pakistan, master-planning seems to be an inside job between planners and builders who know them. Public participation in the planning process is often perfunctory or non-existent. These plans, therefore, are never owned by the community nor do planners recognize the needs of the people.
    • Master plans are often based on unrealistic assumptions about the proposed economic potential of the area as well as the requirements of the population.
    • Master plans are static in nature, made at one point in time by a select few which makes them irrelevant fast and it’s the city dwellers who end up having to face all the ills of that planning.
    • There is little flexibility built in to evolve the plan and move the city forward. They are often not updated on time, leaving room for vested interests to intervene and change rules in their favor.
    • Master plans seem to dictate how markets should develop leaving no room for them to find their own level. It is thanks to master planning that we see a shortage in several areas in our cities.

    1 hr 44 min

About SochBichar

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Conversations on issues of development policy in Pakistan and the rest of South Asia. Political economy subjects that are seldom featured in the media will be taken up.