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The study unveils the Afghan patriarchal ideology and norms that are in conflict and challenge with liberal feminist ideology in Khaled Hosseini's (2013) "And the Mountains Echoed," depicting the cultural and socio-political context of Afghanistan. Tools of critical stylistics, developed by Jefferies (2010), have been used to delve into the conflict as mentioned above. The conflict in ideologies leads to gender differences, and inequalities. Patriarchs view liberal feminism and its motive as a threat to patriarchal social structure. The study reveals how women challenge the monopoly and status-quo of patriarchs to raise their voice for their emancipation and free will in matters of their life. Women in Afghanistan are the "nang" (pride) and "namoos" (honor) of their families. Men, especially patriarchs, misperceive the status and image of women as damaging their reputation if they are granted full freedom in matters and walks of life. Nila Wahdati, a liberal feminist character in the novel, challenges the stereotypical image of women as fragile, fickle, and prone to sex. She even resists and negates the imposed traditional, conservative ideology and supremacy of her father. Through the use of language, women challenge the Afghan patriarchal thinking. The novelist has manipulated verb processes to represent the patriarchal ideology of the Afghan men, while the discourse-producers utilize nouns and modifications to indicate patriarchs' contrary thinking towards women. Linguistic tools, like nouns, pronouns, pre-modifiers, negative evaluative words, epistemic modality, and subordinate clauses, describe the conflict and challenge between patriarchal and liberal feminist ideologies.

Afghanistan's unique geopolitical location at crossroads of Central, East, and South Asia, along with its historical significance, has made it a focal point for global powers. Post-Soviet era, it served as a buffer against Russian influence. The abrupt U.S. withdrawal in August 2021 disrupted regional stability, allowing the terrorist groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to thrive. Taliban, now in control, faces internal challenges with ISIS targeting both civilians and Taliban leadership. The Taliban's reluctance to confront other terrorist factions jeopardizes not only Afghan peace but also regional stability, impacting projects like OBOR and CPEC. The Afghanistan's instability directly affects neighboring Pakistan, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the internal Afghan security and Pakistan's peace. For enduring peace, concerted efforts from regional and international actors are imperative to address Afghanistan's internal security and stabilize the region. The current study is qualititative in nature and discussion the leading issues related to the Afghanistan intricacies and its allied impact and considerations for Pakistan. This study addressed these challenging issues and its implications for Pakistan in prevailing situations in order to reach conclusion and offer recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decades of political turmoil and stifling war, among other issues, has turned Afghanistan into the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Just 4 months after the Taliban seized control, the majority of the Afghan population face starvation, with >3.3 million children unable to afford basic food resources, leading to dozens of deaths every week. Restrictions on humanitarian assistance, withholding of vital food supplies and inadequate medical care play a major role in exacerbating the rates of malnutrition in the vulnerable paediatric population. Global interference is warranted to avoid unfathomable consequences in mitigating this public health catastrophe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to find out the press framing of foreign policies and relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. These relations are described under conceptual model of 'Cascading Model of Framing' presented by veteran media framing scholar Entman (2009). The proposition he suggested for measuring the variables used in current study as hypothesis. Two main concepts in framing introduced by Entman: source of information and 'event schemata'. This longitudinal study was consisted of four newspapers' editorial analysis The Nation, Daily Dawn, Afghanistan Times and Daily Outlook Afghanistan from 2015 to 2021. Sample was selected through purposive sampling. Content analysis was method of data analysis. Data, using cross tab test data was analyzed. The main findings of this study were as: govt. of both countries was major source of framing and after 2015, media routines were at highest in describing events proving event schemata as key in interpretive issues and events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, most of the developing countries are fighting polio, and parents are concerned with the disabling of their children. Poliovirus transmits from person to person, which can infect the spinal cord, and paralyzes the parts of the body within a matter of hours. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 18 million currently healthy people could have been paralyzed by the virus during 1988-2020. Almost all countries but Pakistan, Afghanistan, and a fewmore have been declared polio-free. The mathematical modeling of poliovirus is studied in the population by categorizing it as susceptible individuals (S), exposed individuals (E), infected individuals (I), and recovered individuals (R). In this study, we study the fundamental properties such as positivity and boundedness of the model. We also rigorously study the model's stability and equilibria with or without poliovirus. For numerical study, we design the Euler, Runge-Kutta, and nonstandard finite difference method. However, the standard techniques are time-dependent and fail to present the results for an extended period. The nonstandard finite difference method works well to study disease dynamics for a long time without any constraints. Finally, the results of different methods are compared to prove their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Afghan children have suffered for decades because of chronic socioeconomic health crises. The current state of Afghanistan has deprived the basic human needs of children. The lack of freedom leaves their voices unheard, causing detrimental effects on their mental health. Mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression are prevalent in Afghanistan, causing severe negative outcomes among children. Promotion of mental health services, psychological training, awareness campaigns, acceptance of Afghan refugees, and initiatives to support re-connecting with loved ones, are among the many recommended measures needed to manage this alarming situation. This requires an immediate action plan from government and public health officials to mitigate this impending catastrophe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis has severely impacted the mental health of frontline workers. With the introduction of the Taliban government, ongoing civil unrest, and other forms of violent attacks, healthcare workers (HCWs) continue to provide patient care despite minimal resources. A severe contraction in the economy, poor supply of medications, political turmoil, and insufficient humanitarian aid have added to pre-existing problems. High levels of insecurity and instability as well as decades of traumatic experiences have contributed to increasing mental health challenges amongst frontline workers. Despite the scarcity of mental health services, HCWs continue to persevere with their service to the community. However, inadequate interventions may have serious implications for HCWs bearing the brunt of multiple traumas. Thus, governmental and international involvement is needed to address both the economic and psychological needs of HCWs in Afghanistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of global politics has been shifting from the West towards Asia due to China's substantial role in the continuing antagonism on the chessboard of international politics. The shifting embryonic paradigm of the region will challenge the status-quo showing a strategic change with severe ramifications for Pakistan in the evolving trends of security in South Asia. China's enormous investment in CPEC is raising apprehensions from neighbors in the region, specifically by Indians, which is anxious about China's growing influence and its ambitions in the region of the Indian Ocean. China desires to contain India as it deliberates that the US and Indian desire to counteract China's presence in the Indian Ocean. In this way, there exists Indo-US nexus against China. The challenges to CPEC prolong from the existing regional paradox of security environment in Afghanistan to conflicting geostrategic interests of instant neighboring states like Iran and India. The spillover effects may destabilize the security environment of Pakistan and the region. The successful execution of the CPEC project depends on the region's geopolitical climate, precisely India's stance on the project and instability in Afghanistan. This research aims for analyzing dynamics of regional geopolitics and challenges to CPEC with respect to Afghan and Iranian perspectives. Despite of apprehensions, it is viewed as a win-win situation not only for Pakistan and China but also for Afghanistan and Iran as well as the entire region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Afghanistan has been a center of a struggle between major powers since the 19th century. In 2001, the fight against terrorism had sparked a new power struggle among local, regional, and international Afghanistan actors. Various state and non-state players with conflicting perspectives and conflicting approaches are trying to pursue their strategic, political, and economic goals in Afghanistan. Due to similar security threats, complex economic interdependence, and economic liberalism, different scenarios may emerge in Afghanistan, leading to the potential collaboration of major global and regional powers in Afghanistan. This partnership can be expanded for several logics and reasons, among which security comes first. The peace treaty concluded between the United States and the Taliban on February 29, 2020. The continuing peace process via intra-Afghan peace talks with regional states has fortified hopes for peace in Afghanistan through cooperative measures among major regional and international powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study unveils the Afghan patriarchal ideology and norms that are in conflict and challenge with liberal feminist ideology in Khaled Hosseini's (2013) And the Mountains Echoed, depicting the cultural and socio-political context of Afghanistan. Tools of critical stylistics, developed by Jefferies (2010), have been used to delve into the conflict as mentioned above. The conflict in ideologies leads to gender differences, and inequalities. Patriarchs view liberal feminism and its motive as a threat to patriarchal social structure. The study reveals how women challenge the monopoly and status-quo of patriarchs to raise their voice for their emancipation and free will in matters of their life. Women in Afghanistan are the nang (pride) and namoos (honor) of their families. Men, especially patriarchs, misperceive the status and image of women as damaging their reputation if they are granted full freedom in matters and walks of life. Nila Wahdati, a liberal feminist character in the novel, challenges the stereotypical image of women as fragile, fickle, and prone to sex. She even resists and negates the imposed traditional, conservative ideology and supremacy of her father. Through the use of language, women challenge the Afghan patriarchal thinking. The novelist has manipulated verb processes to represent the patriarchal ideology of the Afghan men, while the discourse-producers utilize nouns and modifications to indicate patriarchs' contrary thinking towards women. Linguistic tools, like nouns, pronouns, pre-modifiers, negative evaluative words, epistemic modality, and subordinate clauses, describe the conflict and challenge between patriarchal and liberal feminist ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study explores and evaluates the discursive representation of the Afghan national identity in Khaled Hosseini's (2009) novel: A Thousand Splendid Suns. It also seeks to address how the novelist represents the Afghan nation in his work. The selected data is analysed from critical discourse studies perspective, and Fairclough's (1989) dialecticalrelational approach to critical discourse analysis, especially description stage of his model regarding text/textual analysis, is applied for the analysis of the selected discourses on the Afghan national identity. The study concludes that the novelist as an Afghan-born American has associated various virtues and vices to the Afghans, such as pride, firmness, valour, fearlessness, hospitality, honour, dare/venture, challenge, help, slight recklessness, patriotism, rapid acquaintance-making, loyalty, love, care, courage, cultural richness, loud talking, independence-loving, exaggeration, defending nature, freedom-fighting, melancholy, war-affectedness and double standard of the Afghan men. However, racism, ethnic nationalism, gender and ethnic discrimination have been associated with the Afghans like the Taliban and the tribal and traditionalist Pashtuns. The novelist's representation of the Taliban and the tribal and traditionalist Pashtuns as racist and ethnic nationalist is exaggeratory, biased and political because ground reality, geopolitical and the socio-political history of Afghanistan manifest that the racial and ethnic prejudice, discrimination and inequality always circulate in almost all the Afghan ethnic groups with varying degrees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The GRACE's performance was evaluated in two different agro-ecological zones. • The trend of groundwater abstraction was analyzed from 2002 to 2017. • The correlation of GRACE with in-situ measurements was better at plain regions. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has recently been identified as a useful tool for monitoring changes in groundwater storage (GWS), especially in areas with sparse groundwater monitoring networks. However, GRACE's performance has not been evaluated in the highly heterogeneous Indus Basin (IB) to date. The objective of this study was thus (i) to evaluate GRACE's performance in two distinctively different agro-ecological zones of the IB, and (ii) to quantify the trend of groundwater abstraction over 15 years (i.e., from 2002 to 2017). To capture this heterogeneity at the IB, the two different agro-ecological zones were selected: i) the Kabul River Basin (KRB), Afghanistan, and ii) the Lower Bari Doab Canal (LBDC) command area in Pakistan. The groundwater storage anomalies (GWSA) for both regions were extracted from random pixels. The results show a correlation (R2) of 0.46 for LBDC and 0.32 for the KRB, between the GWSA and in-situ measurements. The results further reveal a mean annual depletion in GWSA of −304.2 ± 749 and −301 ± 527 mm at the LBDC and the KRB, respectively. Overall, a net GWS depletion during 2002–2017 at the LBDC and KRB was 4.87 and 4.82 m, respectively. The GWSA's response to precipitation analyzed through cross-correlation shows a lag of 4 and 3 months at the KRB and the LBDC, respectively. The GWSA's poor correlation with the in-situ measurements particularly in the mountainous region of the KRB is driven by the 4 months lag time unlike in the LBDC (i.e. 3 months); besides, the observations wells are sparse and limited. The complex geomorphology and slope of the landscape also cause discrepancies in the correlation of the in-situ measurements and the GRACE-derived changes in GWS at the two different agroecological zones of the IB. The spatially averaged GWSA in monthly time steps is another reason for the lower correlation between GRACE-based GWSA estimates and point-based in-situ measurements. Therefore, care must be taken while using GRACE's output in regions with heterogeneous geomorphologic features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the U.S.'s unannounced and unacknowledged war against Pakistan in the form of drone attacks launched from sites in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is mentioned that it continues to be a source of political unrest in the region. It is also mentioned that it became a symbol of what many consider an unequal partnership between the U.S. and the government of Pakistan. As stated, compounding the confusion about the legality of such attacks and the anger directed against them is the behavior of the Pakistani authorities, who publicly condemn these attacks and privately condone them.

The study is an attempt to explore the issue of ethnicism in Afghanistan with reference to Khaled Hosseini's (2003)The Kite Runner which is a rich source of the constructed ethnicism between a group of the so-called extremist Pashtuns, i.e. the Taliban and a group of the Hazaras. The novel under study is a historical and political depiction of the past of Afghanistan and its natives. The ethnicist and exclusionary practices and encounters between major characters are viewed from the perspective of critical discourse studies. Moreover, it systematically applies Norman Fairclough's (1989, 1995, 2018) critical discourse analysis as a theory and a research method on the selected data for analyzing the issue under study. As a novel is more or less fictitious and constructed work, so the discourse-producer and his stance regarding the constructed ethnicism are challengeable. The study not only unveils the Taliban's ethnicist mindset and practices that targeted and harmed the Hazaras severely, but also exposes the way the discourse-producer has manipulated language and some historical events of ethnicism for building a certain image of the Taliban as characters into the readers' minds. The issue of ethnicism exists in almost all the ethnic groups of Afghanistan with varying intensities, and choosing the extremist Pashtuns, like the Taliban, as ethnicists and exclusionists, and sidelining or ignoring the other ethnic groups' ethnicism raise a question mark at the discourse-producer's realistic and unbiased depiction of the Taliban. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]