News Update Times

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) The School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS), in collaboration with the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the IBA Karachi, hosted day two of the 2^nd Annual International Conference titled, ‘Development: Discourses and Critiques’. The three-day conference is taking place from March 25-27, 2022 at the IBA Karachi, Main Campus.

This year’s theme invites works from a wide range of disciplines to critique, question and reconsider the experiences of transnational, national and sub-national actors with the development process. What does ‘development’ mean for different actors, and how has this narrative shifted over time? How does development define and redefine power relations and what implications does this have for different groups? How have colonial experiences shaped futures and how does one deconstruct ideas rooted in these experiences?

To encourage innovation and diversity within modes of thinking, the conference is hosting presenters and participants from diverse backgrounds, including Skardu, Sukkur, Gilgit, Quetta, and Islamabad from Pakistan, and multiple professors from esteemed universities from the USA.

By centering radical subthemes, including but not limited to, decolonial and feminist frameworks, this conference aims to center critical perspectives that help us gain a nuanced understanding of social change and development.

The keynote address of the day and the second keynote for the conference, was Hans Timmer, Chief Economist, World Bank South Asia. The address emphasized the need to reorient the development sector’s emphasis towards the digital services and digital economy. Mr. Timmer underlined the need to account for the global mobility of capital through various interactions with the internet.

The first panel of the day, and the third one for the conference, was titled ‘Impact Evaluation of Public Policies.’ The discussion included the following five panelists: Dr. Ishrat Husain, Professor Emeritus IBA and Former Advisor to the Prime Minister; Dr. Sanval Nasim, Assistant Professor of Economics, Lahore University of Management Sciences; Najy Benhassine, Country Director of World Bank Pakistan, South Asia Region; Dr. Shehreen Mustafa, Civil Servant – Sindh Rural Support Organization; and Martin Dawson, Deputy Head of Mission and British Deputy High Commission. The panel discussed the importance of different strategies with which impact evaluation of public policies can be conducted.

The second panel of the day, and the fourth one for the conference, was titled ‘Why Pakistan failed to achieve sustainable economic growth?’. The following five discussants contributed to the discussion: Dr. Gonzalo Varela, Senior Economist, World Bank; Dr. Sajid Amin Javed, Research Fellow, Head Policy Solutions Lab – SDPC; Dr. Izza Aftab, Assistant Professor, Beaconhouse National University; Dr. Wasim Shahid Malick, Professor Mehbub ur Raschid Chair, University of Peshawar; and Dr. Muhammad Nasir, Assistant Professor, Economics department, IBA Karachi. The panelist brought their own unique and rich perspectives to the discussion that questioned the Pakistani economic growth at the intersection of employment generation and economic inclusion across the board. The discussion analyzed the role of structural issues, policy failures, and the potential growth capacity in this regard.

The third panel of the day, and the fifth one for the conference, was titled ‘Dissent,’ which included the following four discussants: Dr. S Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director, IBA Karachi; Dr. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, Associate Professor of Political Economy, Quaid-e-Azam University; Sheema Kirmani, Social activist and Performer; and Asma Shirazi, Pakistani Journalist. This panel provided comparative perspectives from theoretical frameworks and grassroot organizing all over Pakistan to underline the interplay between the structure of domination and hegemony with perceptions of rights and citizenship. This panel provided critiques against such hegemonic power and underlined the alternative possibilities that grounded more towards equity, inclusion, and diversity.

An Inaugural ceremony on a collaboration between the IBA and World Bank on ‘Social Inequality Lab & Economic Growth and Forecasting Lab’ was also held. This collaboration intends on collecting more situated and expansive data on inequality and growth from across Pakistan using diverse methods that will further help in providing more accurate and relevant knowledge production and policies.

The first conversation of the day was titled ‘Social Inequality and the Dynamics of Political and Ethnolinguistic Divides in Pakistan, 1970-2018.’ The conversation engaged the following four thinkers: Dr. Sultan Mehmood, Assistant Professor, New Economics School, Moscow; Amber Shamsi, Director, CEJ, IBA Karachi; Dr. Aqdas Afzal, Assistant Professor of Economics, and Program Director, Habib University; Asim Bashir Khan, Economics, Public Finance Expert, IBA Faculty.

The second conversation was titled ‘Sludge: Administrative Burdens, Confusing Forms, Time Taxes, and Other Problems,’ where Professor Cass Sunstein, Professor at Harvard University engaged in a dialogue with Dr. Sahar Nadeem, Assistant Professor and Chairperson, Social Sciences & Liberal Arts, IBA Karachi.

The second day also included 50 presentations by undergraduate and graduate students who shared their work on various segments of the larger field of development. Two student circles on resistances also took place, the first did close readings of two poetic texts to trace themes of resistance towards unsustainable development within poetic memory, while the second circle by Karachi Bachao Tehreek discussed the greenwashing of dispossession through the case study of Malir Expressway.

 

 

Women empowerment and strengthening young girls’ education:

Kinnaird College inked MOU with French varsity for student Exchange & Advancement of Research Programs.

Lahore (Nut Desk) A Delegation from Pakistan comprising of Prof. Dr. Rukhsana David, the Principal of Kinnaird College for Women along with Mr. Rizwan Anwar, Executive Director KCLCD Kinnaird College for Women & UN Youth Ambassador and Director KCLCD Maha Jamil is representing Kinnaird and Pakistan at the Erasmus Week”, of University of Catholic De lille at Lille, France these days. Kinnaird’s Delegation is participating at “Erasmus week”, an event that is being organized by University of Catholic de Lille in France every year to introduce and discuss the innovation in teaching and learning, student experience and United Nation’s SDGs in Context of Europe and Worldwide development.

Kinnaird delegation inked an MOU with France’s Top ranking Universities Including University of Catholic de Lille For Student Exchange Programs, Advancement of Research, SDGs and Exchange oof Academic faculties in the field of business Education, Literature, International Relations, Science and Technology. Pakistani delegation discussed about promoting and advancing innovation in Teaching, Education and Research.

Furthermore, During the sessions various topics came under spot light, including the women empowerment and strengthening young girls’ education which will help accomplish UN sustainable goals and 2030 Agenda. “Women Empowerment is key to strengthen the Nation and Education can contribute in building a positive Nation., Kinnaird is empowering women since 1913 and will continue to educate and enlighten the young women of Pakistan to Achieve the UN Goal of Quality Education and Gender Equality. “ Said Prof. Dr. Rukhsana David.

“We need to depict constructive, valuable, and positive image of Pakistan all over the world by engaging the young generation and students with United Nations (UN) and other International Organizations like University of Catholic De lille and for this Youth and Women need to be empowered through education for the progress and advancement of Sustainable Development Agenda.”

Said Rizwan Anwar, Executive Director at Centre for Learning and Cultural Development at Kinnaird College for Women. Maha Jamil Director KCLCD; Stressed upon the Equal Educational Opportunities for all for the sustainable future. High level representatives of Kinnaird put forth and spoke about supporting women and girls in crisis and emergency and furthermore about setting up and accelerating the advancement in research & education and addressing the requirements around the world.

The international Erasmus week is taking place from March 21-25 at Lille, France with over 50 international Delegates from all Continents of the world.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) The School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS), in collaboration with the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) at the IBA Karachi, hosted the 2nd Annual International Conference titled, ‘Development: Discourses and Critiques’. The three-day conference is taking place from March 25-27, 2022 at the IBA Karachi, Main Campus.

This year’s theme invites works from a wide range of disciplines to critique, question and reconsider the experiences of transnational, national and sub-national actors with the development process. What does ‘development’ mean for different actors, and how has this narrative shifted over time? How does development define and redefine power relations and what implications does this have for different groups? How have colonial experiences shaped futures and how does one deconstruct ideas rooted in these experiences?

To encourage innovative and diversity within modes of thinking, the conference is hosting presenters and participants from diverse backgrounds, including Skardu, Sukkur, Gilgit, Quetta, and Islamabad from Pakistan, and multiple professors from esteemed universities from the USA.

By centering radical subthemes, including but not limited to, decolonial and feminist frameworks, this conference aims to center critical perspectives that help us gain a nuanced understanding of social change and development.

The first keynote speaker was Dr. Mushfiq Mobarak, Professor of Economics, Yale University, USA. He spoke in depth on ‘Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration’. The session was moderated by Arooj Waheed Dar, Lecturer, SESS, IBA Karachi. Dr. Mobarak recognized the forms of poverty that emerge during seasonal changes and highlighted its implications, specifically in the form of seasonal hunger. The second section of the address focused on the attempts that help address this problem through structural strategies such as micro-loans that help bridge the financial strain in the lean season.

The first panel discussion of Day 1 was titled ‘Institutions, Governance and Inequalities’ which included the following four scholars: Dr. Sultan Mehmood, New Economic School, Moscow; Dr. Abid Aman Burki, Senior Research Fellow, Mahbab ul Haq Research Centre, Lahore University of Management Sciences; Dr. Hafeez Jamali, Senior Anthropologist and Civil Servant; Robina Ather, Chairperson, National Tariff Commission, and Dr. Asma Hyder, Professor of Economics and Dean, SESS, IBA Karachi. The session highlighted various statistics on the economic and social inequalities in Pakistan, and also included the inclusion of indigenous communities within the policy-making process, and judicial independence in Pakistan.

In the session titled ‘Agrarian Crisis and South Asian Political Economy’, Dr. Barbara Harriss-White, Professor Emeritus of Development Studies and Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Oxford, was in conversation with Dr. Ahmed Azhar from the IBA as a moderator. Dr. Harriss-White shared her close insights and research on the South Asian political economy, particularly food and energy, and aspects of deprivation.

The second panel of the day was titled ‘Urban Development: Practices and Realities’ and included five scholars and researchers: Dr. Mubbashir Rizvi, Anthropologist, American University; Palwashay Shahab, Social Justice Lawyer and Researcher; Haya Fatima Iqbal, Emmy winning documentary filmmaker; Dr. Laila Farooq, Assistant Professor, IBA Karachi and Director, CBER; and Dr. Shehram Mokhtar, Assistant Professor, IBA Karachi.

The first day also included around 20 presentations by undergraduate and graduate students who shared their work on various segments of the bigger field of development. Two student circles, one on calligraphy, and another on breath-body work, also took place. \

 

 

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  The Chairman, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), Mr. Tauseef H. Farooqi was recently invited to visit the LUMS campus in Lahore. He was joined by representatives from seven NEPRA licensee organisations, which have done tremendous work towards social initiatives, particularly within the areas of renewable energy.

The aim of the meeting at LUMS was to discuss avenues of collaboration with the University. The visiting organisations included K-Electric, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Engro Energy, China Power Hub Generation Company (CPHGC), Karot Power and Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO).

Mr. Farooqi and the other visitors were welcomed by the University’s senior leadership. These included LUMS Provost, Dr. Tariq Jadoon, Associate Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Bilal Ahsan Malik and Director of Advancement, Ms. Nuzhat Kamran. Alumni and students also participated in the session.

During the welcome address by Dr. Jadoon, he praised the CSR initiatives undertaken by Mr. Farooqi in the areas of education, health, environment, and others. He congratulated Mr. Farooqi on setting up the CSR department at NEPRA in 2020 with a focus on Sustainable Development Goals. He also shared how LUMS faculty experiment with innovative instructional and learning techniques and seek to create impact through cross-disciplinary research in the areas, water informatics, energy, linguistics, and economics among several others.

This was followed by a presentation by Ms. Kamran elaborating how over the last three decades, the University has evolved into Pakistan’s leading institution with an immeasurable impact on business and society. “This has been achieved through our donors, who have supported the University’s mission of providing a world-class education to students, enabled ground-breaking research, and helped LUMS become a premier learner-centred institution,” she added.

She also highlighted the University’s commitment to inclusive education through its signature National Outreach Programme (NOP). Providing an overview of the NOP’s transformative experience for scholars from disadvantaged backgrounds, she shared the multiplier effect of this initiative as they come full circle to give back to their communities.

Dr. Malik elaborated on the support services provided to NOP scholars during their time at LUMS with regards to academic advisement. “LUMS spends considerable resources in actively finding talented students in order to give them a fair chance and a level playing field. NOP students are supported in three key areas: helping them settle in at LUMS, providing them with resources to succeed during their time at the University, and preparing them for their future careers,” he shared.

Speaking at the event, NOP alumni, Ms. Adeela Sarfraz, Class of 2009 and Mr. Hafiz Ali Naeem, Class of 2016 and CSS topper, shared their inspiring journeys at LUMS and how they went on to achieve success in their respective fields. They credited the University for providing them with the foundation for their achievements.  Mr. Farooqi, a graduate of LUMS MBA Class of 1996, praised the University’s NOP scholarship as “transformative” that impacts the lives of students, their families as well as their communities. He also spoke about his own journey as a student at LUMS and discussed the various CSR initiatives undertaken by NEPRA, the most prominent of which is the ‘Power with Prosperity’ programme.

The event served to be a starting point where licensees were really excited to collaborate with LUMS.