South Asian Association Of Regional Cooperation Research Articles

Indigenous Identities, Languages and Narratives: Understanding Issues and their Representation, Survival and Continuity Across South Asia

This paper looks at an identity of a region, being synonymous to their local and indigenous languages and dialects and the paper proceeds to explain these through examples of South Asia, especially spanning the region of the SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) countries. This is an important factor as these languages preserve narratives, which give an insight into many aspects concerning human rights as well as issues of migrations, resettlements and various aspects of regional history. Thus, the languages and their narratives are important representations in the modern global world. The paper also looks into few noteworthy questions, which are often argued as significant in modern times e.g. – ‘Are indigenous languages endangered?’ or ‘The context of indigenous languages in the present global world’. A closer study of these queries provides answers to look at representation, survival and continuity of narratives of indigenous languages across the region and within the subtexts of these narratives, lie questions of human rights and of lives and their everyday struggles, which are oft left in oblivion from the pages of mainstream books. Thus, far from the confines of rigid urban discussions, these narratives can truly reflect issues of human rights and its sublime approach can help to connect across cultures by cutting through geographical boundaries. The paper looks at the issue through few endangered languages across the region of South Asia with few examples of narratives from each. The paper follows an extensive work of the author across the region of South Asia across 2017 till the present.

Challenges and Potential of SAARC in Comparison with ASEAN

The study compares the socioeconomic development of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to that of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). SAARC was established on December 8, 1985, as a result of former President Ziaur Rahman's efforts to promote the welfare of the people and mutual trust. ASEAN was founded in August 1967 with the goal of accelerating the region's economic growth, social progress, and cultural development while also promoting regional peace and stability. The SAARC countries share problems such as poverty and unemployment. SAARC countries have a GDP per capita four times that of ASEAN. A qualitative analysis based on secondary data pertaining to SAARC and ASEAN reveals that SAARC has not been more successful than ASEAN. National and international conflicts are common within SAARC. SAARC has 22% of the world's population and 3% of the world's economy, and there are enormous opportunities for economic growth and human development.

Dynamics of relationship between stock markets of SAARC countries during COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThe paper investigates the dynamic relationship among the stock markets of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachDaily time-series data of four SAARC countries: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, from February 13th, 2013 to March 31st, 2021 are used. The study considers stock prices prior to the blowout of COVID-19 and during the onset of the pandemic. The novel estimation procedure of the autoregressive distributed lag model is used while the results are also confirmed by post-estimation techniques.FindingsThe study confirms that the COVID-19 contagion has adversely influenced the stock returns of SAARC countries. The findings signify that the pattern of cointegration has significantly different regularities in the pattern of causality in the long run and short run during the COVID-19 crisis. Overall, the study revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has weakened the dynamic connection among the stock markets of SAARC countries.Practical implicationsTo dampen uncertainties generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities and central banks should be equipped with efficient strategies and guidelines to cope with the crisis created by the pandemic. Further, governments should focus on assuaging the panic faced by investors and enhancing the confidence of domestic as well as foreign investors. Further, the weakened integration of financial markets during the crisis offers opportunities for speculative and arbitrage gains for investors.Originality/valueThe research work is an innovative effort to analyze the impression led by COVID-19 on the SAARC stock markets integration.

Investigating the Institutional Determinants of Financial Development: Empirical Evidence From SAARC Countries

A more regulated and better working financial sector contributes toward achieving monetary growth based on proficient resource allocation and reducing information asymmetries. Current trends in research highlight the significance of factors determining the financial sector’s development; therefore, this study explores the institutional drivers, which are indispensable for developing the financial industry in the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. Specifically, it examines the impact of institutional factors, trade openness, real output, legal origin, and inflation on the financial sector’s development. By employing the panel data method of generalized method of moments (GMM), the study concluded that trade openness, institutional factors, legal origin, and real gross domestic product (GDP) have a positive and significant impact on financial depth. However, the inflation rate has been found to affect it negatively. Finally, the study presents policy recommendations based on empirical findings.

Aspects, Impediments and Prospects of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)


 
 Combined with common features such as historical context, geographical proximity, common characteristics of social and political values, the amount of material and human resources inspired the recognition of the South Asian block known as SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation). The SAARC sanction plots alluring objectives and goals that are intended to advance nearer trade, economic, cultural, and social relations in South Asia. The association has passed a few goals and archives to seek after these destinations. This regional alliance has a great deal of potential for advancing trade, economic relations, education, travel industry, health care, women empowerment, terrorism, human development, communication, and agriculture development. The key concept behind this co-operational of regional partners was the extension of commercial, political, and social collaboration, a shared understanding of the region's tacit use, and persistence in countering threats
 
 
 
 

Impact of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on China and South Asia Trade Integration

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the noteworthy initiatives of the Chinese government. It has been intended to interface neighboring 65 nations to enhance inter-regional international trade. This research focused on China and South Asia international trade under BRI framework. South Asian nations share pretty much the equivalent social and social foundation. From the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) the initiative for trade connectivity has started in this sub-region. Later several trade agreements came into force. In this present research, researchers uncovered present trade integration with China and South Asian countries. To estimate results we have applied gravity model equation. Estimated results support that BRI has a positive and significant impact on trade Integration among China and South Asia. The significance level of P-value falls below 1%. For data analysis, several databases have been utilized likewise, UN-Comtrade, World Bank, World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS), etc. Data analysis part has done with the application of Stata.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Regional Integration in Asia

In Asia, SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation), ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) are being considered as an active regional trading blocs although East Asian integration is on primary cooperation stage and BIMSTEC is treated as organised sub-regional trading bloc. The GCC has completed all criterion of economic integration except introduction of a single currency and ASEAN is advancing its optimum stage of monetary integration but the advancement of SAARC is halted by the shock of non-cooperation from Pakistan. Therefore, contribution of GCC in integrating Asian bloc is to scrutinise in a new outlook. In this paper, the author endeavours to show the impact of economic integration of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on the Asian economic integration in the sense that the process of integration of GCC with SAARC and ASEAN can accelerate the criterion of Asian integration process. Therefore, the author used cointegration and vector error correction model among the indicators of trade integration of exports such as Asian export share, intra export share of GCC, export concentration index of GCC, ASEAN’s export with GCC and SAARC’s export with GCC during 1995-2019. Similarly, the author applied same methodology among the trade indicator of imports such as Asian import share, intra import share of GCC, import concentration index of GCC, ASEAN’s import with GCC and SAARC’s import with GCC during the specified period. The findings revealed that Asian export share has long run significant causalities with SAARC and ASEAN export shares to GCC. Intra export share of GCC has long run causalities with SAARC and ASEAN export shares to GCC. The export concentration index of GCC has significant long run causalities with SAARC and ASEAN export shares to GCC respectively. Even, the short run causalities from export concentration index of GCC to intra export share of GCC, export share of ASEAN and SAARC with GCC and the short run causality from ASEAN export share with GCC to export share of Asia and from intra export share of GCC to export share of ASEAN with GCC were strictly observed. Again, the import share of Asia has long run causalities with the import shares of ASEAN and SAARC with GCC. The intra import share of GCC has long run causalities with the import shares of ASEAN and SAARC with GCC and the import concentration index of GCC has long run causalities with the import shares of ASEAN and SAARC with GCC respectively. The intra import share of GCC has short run causalities with import share of Asia, import concentration index of GCC and import share of ASEAN with GCC respectively. The import concentration index has short run causality with the import share of Asia. The import share of SAARC with GCC has short run causality with import share of ASEAN with GCC. The cointegration and vector error correction among Asian GDP, sum of intra export and import shares of GCC, sum of export and import shares of ASEAN with GCC, and sum of export and import shares of SAARC with GCC during 1995-2019 indicated that the GDP of Asia has long run causalities with the sum of intra export and import shares of GCC, the sum of export and import shares of ASEAN with GCC and the sum of export and import shares of SAARC with GCC and even they have short run causalities also. All these observations can justify that GCC has great impact on Asian economic integration process associated with SAARC and ASEAN.

Nepal's Response to Contain COVID-19 Infection.

Nepal is a landlocked country bordering two most populous countries, India and China. Nepal shares open border with India from three sides, east, south and west. And, in north with China, where the novel coronavirus infection (CVOVID-19) began in late December 2019. The first confirmed imported case in Nepal was reported in 2nd week of January 2020. The initial response of Nepal to COVID-19 were comparably slow but country geared efforts after it was declared a 'global pandemic' by WHO on 11 March, 2020. Government of Nepal's steps from 18 March, 2020 led to partial lock down and countrywide lockdown imposed on 24 March, 2020. Government devised comprehensive plan on 27 March, 2020 for quarantine for peoples who arrived in Nepal from COVID-19 affected countries. This article covers summary of global status, South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) status, and Nepal's response to contain COVID-19 infection discussed under three headings: Steps taken before and after WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and lab services regarding detection of COVID-19. Nepal has documented five confirmed cases of COVID-19 till the end of March 2020, first in second week of 15 January, 2020 and 2nd case 8-weeks thereafter and 3rd case two days later, 4th on 27 March and 5th on 28 March. Four more cases detected during first week of April. Non-Pharmacological interventions like social distancing and excellent personal habits are widely practiced. Country has to enhance testing and strengthen tracing, isolation and quarantine mechanism and care of COVID-19 patients as Nepal is in risk zone because of comparably weak health system and porous borders with India. The time will tell regarding further outbreak and how it will be tackled. Keywords: COVID-19; lockdown; Nepal; pandemic; response.

Evaluation of Nitrate Reductase Assay For Rapid Detection of Drug Resistant Tuberculosis

Emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) urgently demands for simple, rapid and inexpensive methods of its detection for the effective treatment of drug resistant tuberculosis, particularly in low-income countries. This prospective study was carried out at National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory and South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre, Thimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal, from November 2009 to May 2010 to evaluate nitrate reductase assay (NRA) efficacy for rapid determination of streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin and ethambutol susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. A total of 113 clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis were tested for four first line antitubercular drugs by nitrate reductase assay and were compared with standard proportion method. Results were available in 7-14 days by NRA as compared to proportion method which generally takes 4-6 weeks. The sensitivity and specificity of NRA were 98.1% and 100% for isoniazid, 95.1% and 98.6% for rifampicin, 91.4% and 94.9% for streptomycin, and 78.6% and 97.9% for ethambutol respectively. Agreement between NRA and proportion method were 99.1%, 97.3%, 93.8%, 95.6% for isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin and ethambutol, respectively. NRA is easier, inexpensive and reliable method for susceptibility testing of Mycobacterum tuberculosis for isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most important drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis. The reduction in susceptibility testing time, and higher sensitivity and specificity of NRA method is of fundamental importance in detecting MDR-TB.
 Key words: Drug susceptibility, MDR-TB, NRA, proportion method

Role of SME in Poverty Alleviation in SAARC Region via Panel Data Analysis

The key objective of the formation of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is to join hands collectively for slow economic growth, poverty eradication, deprived health and education sectors. In the 12th SAARC Summit, it has been declared that poverty eradication is the main area of concentration and SAARC countries would strive their best to minimize all types of poverty with the help of any possible strategy. The main objectives of the current study are to evaluate the development of the agenda of poverty eradication in SAARC countries through small and medium enterprise (SME) development because it would be considered as a short-routed remedy to mitigate poverty. The poorest 20% income holder as a percentage of GDP has been used as the proxy for poverty in the SAARC region. SME development has been measured through the SME share in GDP in respective countries. The panel dataset has been developed for the period of 1990 to 2015. The fixed effect method (FEM) and regression equation techniques were used to analyse the observed data. The results of the FEM were misleading. The regression equations for the respective countries were used for empirical analysis. The results have identified that there are three main factors that are essential in reducing poverty in the SAARC region: SME growth, openness of trade and social sector development.

Corporate Social Responsibility in SAARC Countries: A Study on Commercial Banks

It is needless to mention that there is great potential area for regional cooperation among south Asian nations. Since the formation of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in the year 1985 discussion form time to time for future cooperation among them has taken place. The scope of regional cooperation had been identified in twelve areas: (i) agriculture; (ii) health and rural development; (iii) meteorology; (iv) telecommunication; (v) postal services; (vi) transport; (vii) scientific and technological development; (viii) sports; (ix) art and culture; (x) prevention of drug trafficking and abuse; (xi) women and development and (xii) education. This paper attempts to focus upon how and what way Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices are being discharged by the banking sector of the countries involved in the SAARC. The study based on secondary data. Secondary data have been collected from different published sources. The study observed that there is a similarity among SAARC countries sectors of national involvements of CSR initiatives. By CSR activities, every bank has ensured social development. The study recommended that banks should extend their CSR activities in less privileged areas rather than concentrate in resource rich areas. Keywords: Commercial Bank, Corporate Social responsibility and SAAR DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-3-14

Investment and Economic Growth: A Panel Data Analysis

Investment plays a vital part in economic progress of the countries. The current study tried to examine the influence of the investment on economic development of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries by used the panel data for the dated 2000-2014. This study applied Hausman test to check the fixed effect model is appropriate or random effect model is appropriate. The empirical results explained that the random effect model is suitable in this study. Random effect model has been examined the influence of investment, government expenditure and inflation on economic evolution of SAARC countries. The study also explained that the investment, government expenditure are positive impact on economic progress. The outcome of inflation is negligible on economic evolution.

TRADE POLICIES OF SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION OF REGIONAL COOPERATION COUNTRIES (RESEARCH PAPER)

The Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka these all countries South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries denoted to as “Contracting States”. Commitment of South Asia Preferential Tarde Agreement among SAARC countries in 1995 and South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in 2005 to promote the regional cooperation for getting benefit on the base of many rules and regulation creating equality, remove the barriers on trade between all SAARC countries. When remove barriers on trade then sustainable growth through trade in economy of all SAARC countries.

Unilateral Divorce in Muslim with Special Reference to Countries

The present paper explains the validity of unilateral talaq in the SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) countries. The first portion of it deals with the provisions of talaq laid down in the Holy Quran. Talaq-us-Sunnat is the most approved form whereas; Talaq-ul-Biddat leaves no room for revocation of divorce during the pleasurable life of matrimony. A comparative case study which has been decided by different courts in (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan) has been undertaken to evaluate this issue. I have discussed here that the countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka have banned the use of unilateral talaq; however, this harsh and violent practice is still prevalent in India, Afghanistan as well as in Nepal and Bhutan. Unilateral talaq which is also called triple talaq has been critically analysed in the background of Islamic law, Indian Constitution and provisions of various SAARC countries. Many scholars have suggested reforms to bring this law into conformity with the true spirit of Holy Quran and sayings of Prophet (P.B.U.H.) by treating both spouses on equal footing in the society. Reconciliation or reunification, which is an essence of Islamic form of divorce, is only possible in Talaq-us-Sunnat not in case of declaring Talaq-ul-Biddat. In this context, I have clearly mentioned the valid reasons why this barbaric, harsh and totally absurd practice should be abolished. The most important stands among them are that it is against the verses of Holy Quran and Hadith because unilateral divorce originated in the period of Umayyad dynasty, and so it is unjust and inhumane as it encourages exploitation of women as well as it is against the provisions of the Indian Constitution.

Purchasing Power Parity in the SAARC Region: Evidence from Unit Root Test with Cross-Sectional Dependence

Mixed results on the validity of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) relationship in South Asian countries motivates this paper to conduct a further inquiry. Existing studies lack appropriate treatment of cross-country dependence in the testing procedure. In this paper we employ a method that allows us to identify the degree of cross-sectional dependence (CSD) and apply panel unit root test to accommodate this dependence on the real exchange rate series of five South Asian countries in the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) which include Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. We find evidence of strong cross-country dependence, cross-country correlation being 0.735. Our panel unit test results support the validity of long-run PPP in the sample countries. This result is in contrast to the previous studies in similar countries which did not accommodate CSD in their estimation. This finding implies that real shocks do not have any permanent effect on the real exchange rate and other things remaining the same, no active policy intervention is warranted for the sustainability of external balance.

South Asian Intellectual Property Knowledge Network

The Patent Informatics Division project “Information Driven Innovation in South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Countries for Knowledge Development and Capacity Building” has a dual role of providing patent informatics services and capacity building in SAARC countries by offering short term training programs. Under the purview of the project the website “South Asian Intellectual Property Knowledge Network” (SAIPKN) has been started to act as a platform to provide patent informatics services, and to promote capacity building by offering e-learning opportunities on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The informatics services offered through the website are prior art search services and patent landscape analysis. Through the e-learning module of the website users can access study materials on IPR.

Empirical Econometric Analysis of Relationship between Fiscal-Monetary Policies and Output on SAARC Countries

The seminal 1968 paper of Anderson and Jordan on the relative effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policy on output stabilization caused many debates among both economists and policy makers. This paper uses a standard unrestricted VAR (vector autoregression) model to analyze the above relationship for five SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) over the period of 1974–2007. In a system of five-equation of VAR model, this paper reveals that money supply, government expenditure, the real exchange rate and the foreign interest rate are co-integrated for all countries. The results of both the VD (Variance decomposition) and the IRFs (Impulse response functions) indicate that monetary policy has been more effective on output than fiscal policy in the case of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, whereas fiscal policy has had a more powerful effect than monetary policy on Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

Developing Qualitative Indicators for Journal Evaluation: Case Study of Library Science Journals of SAARC Countries

The purpose of this paper was to identify the existing criteria of various conventional databases that are considered in evaluating journals in the scholarship of library & information science (LIS) journals and accordingly developed a tool box to evaluate some selected journals of LIS in South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. Journals have been evaluated by applying 30 criteria based on the current measures used by Thompson Reuter, SCOPUS, SciELO, LISA, LISTA, etc. The result indicates that although there are a considerable number of journals being published in India since long time, only a few journals are qualitatively strong. The review policy as mentioned in documentation, subject coverage can be considered as their strength, the geographic non-diversity of members in Editorial Board, contributors are their weakness. Most of journals are indexed in LISA and LISTA, however no journals are yet to include in JCR. Overall, to cope-up with international standard journals need to consider their publication policy thoroughly. The findings of the study seems to be useful for (a) academics – to know the list of journals which adhere to the quality requirements of LIS discipline; (b) librarians – to know the core LIS journals of SAARC countries in LIS discipline for their clients; (c) policy makers – to measure the weightage of publication, while evaluating performance for career and promotion, to evaluate individual research performance, while releasing grants for academic projects. DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology , 2014, 34(2), pp. 152-161. http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/djlit.34.4968

Is Bangladesh A Beneficiary of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA)?

South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was primarily concerned with peace thus success in enhancing intraregional trade was minimally displayed. Therefore formation of a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) was proposed with an aim of extending intraregional trade that came into force in 2006. SAFTA in terms of population is the largest of any economic bloc but has appeared as a least integrated bloc while taking trade among members into account, which is only 6.2% of total trade. To increase trade the list of commodities under sensitive categories has been revised in 2012. Taking an interpretivist approach this study reports that Bangladesh will be one of the significant beneficiaries of SAFTA as it will help reduce the longstanding trade deficit with India, create a large regional market and support its key industries such as; Readymade Garments (RMG) and pharmaceuticals to enhance competitiveness. Optimizing the benefits, however, may not be accomplished if nontariff barriers such as; mind-set, political tensions and bilateral conflicting issues are not dealt with extreme care beside tariff barriers.

Liberalising trade in health services: constraints and prospects for South Asian countries

This paper attempts to examine the prospects and challenges associated with liberalising trade in health services in five South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Country-specific secondary information, a brief literature review of empirical studies and debriefing sessions with key stakeholders are employed to explore the issues related to liberalising health services trade. The health sectors in India, Nepal and Pakistan are scheduled under General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) classification, whereas those in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are not. In Bangladesh, there is opportunity for investment in joint venture hospitals under Mode 3. Nonetheless, India is the largest trader in health services under all four modes. In Sri Lanka, cross-border trade in healthcare services is found to be insignificant. Moreover, expertise in eye treatment in Nepal could also attract foreign investment in medical services under Mode 3. In contrast, Pakistan exhibits no potential under Mode 4, because of a lack of healthcare professionals. In this view, the prospects of trade in health services within the South Asian region under the four GATS modes are constrained by infrastructural, regulatory, perception-related, logistical and cultural problems. Considering the level of development and commercial opportunities, regional integration in the health sector could be explored in such areas as telemedicine, medical tourism, cross-border investment and capacity building of health personnel. These developments call for stronger and pro-active government-to-government collaboration in the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region in a transparent and accountable manner.