(IPS) – Newswire Pakistan

April 12, 2023April 13, 2023

Utilizing effective AI methods and tools can aid in policy planning

Islamabad, April 12, 2023 (PPI-OT): Sentiment analysis through artificial intelligence (AI) can be an effective way to analyse controversial topics. The utilization of efficient AI techniques and tools can also help plan policies as the observed trends can predict the direction a certain situation is headed to. This was highlighted by Sana Sohail, data scientist, who was presenting her MS research paper, titled ‘Investigation of Feminism Trends through Sentiment Analysis, Using Machine Learning and NLP Techniques’, during an in-house session held on April 6, 2023.

The scholar investigated the trends of feminism in Pakistan during the last five years using sentiment analysis as a combined AI-based technique of machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) and presented the insights as extracted by AI models. As per the data models, neutral sentiments on the issue of feminism were recorded to be the highest overall, while positive sentiments were the lowest in five years. The study was conducted by applying three AI models of sentiment analysis, namely VADER, pysentimiento and Roberta-large, on comprehensive Twitter dataset to see sentiments of people on positive, negative, and neutral scales, along with the visualization of words and emoji’s.

After data pre-processing and model implementation, the AI tools observed the trends across five years and extracted the findings as mentioned above. The study also compared insights of human data labelling and AI data labelling and concluded that out of three AI models, the findings of Roberta-large, with 130 GB vocab data, were closest to human findings showing similar figures as manual data labelling. This demonstrates that efficient AI tools with proper data handling can be a substitute for human intelligence, under specific conditions, it was concluded.

For more information, contact:
Outreach and Publications,
Institute of Policy Studies (IPS)
1, Street 8, F-6/3, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-8438391-3 (Ext: 122)
Fax: +92-51-8438390
Website: www.ips.org.pk

April 12, 2023April 13, 2023

Int’l Webinar – ‘Israeli Actions in the Middle East: Normalizing Aggression and Weakening Response’

Islamabad, April 12, 2023 (PPI-OT): Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) is organizing an international webinar titled ‘Israeli Actions in the Middle East: Normalizing Aggression and Weakening Response ‘on 13th April 2023, at 2:00 PM (PST) / GMT+5.

Chair:

Ambassador (r) Syed Abrar Hussain

Vice Chairman, IPS

Speakers:

Dr. Hatem Bazian

Chair, Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project, USA

Dr. Nazir Hussain

Former Dean, Faculty Social Sciences, QAU

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar

President, JUST, Malaysia

Dr. Ali Hussain Zada

Al Mustafa University, Iran

Ms. Zeenat Adam

Deputy Executive Director, Afro-Middle East Centre, South Africa

April 7, 2023April 8, 2023

Pakistan’s Relations with West African Countries: The Necessity of Economic Diplomacy

Islamabad, April 07, 2023 (PPI-OT): Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) held a webinar titled ‘Pakistan’s Relations with West African Countries’ on March 3, 2021. The aim was to look into the potential aspects of cooperation, explore opportunities, and underline challenges for Pakistan vis-à-vis West African countries. It was highlighted that economic diplomacy must be the priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy with special focus on domestic production and promotion of exports, trade, and investment. The session was addressed by Ambassador (r) Haroon Shaukat as the keynote speaker.

April 7, 2023April 8, 2023

Pakistan’s Relations with North African Countries: Challenges and Way Forward

Islamabad, April 07, 2023 (PPI-OT): Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) organized a seminar titled ‘Pakistan’s Relations with North African Countries’ on January 19, 2021, under its ‘Understanding Africa Program’ to investigate the potential areas of cooperation where Pakistan can build and foster its relationship with the region in terms of strategic, economic, and political importance. In light of the region’s growing strategic significance and economic potential, it is vital for Pakistan to pursue its economic and political goals with dexterity. The speakers included Ambassador (r) Mushtaq Ali Shah, Ambassador (r) Tajammul Altaf, senior research fellow IPS, and Khalid Rahman, executive president IPS.

March 25, 2023March 27, 2023

Constitution-specified local governments vital for good governance: Chairman IPS

Islamabad, March 25, 2023 (PPI-OT): As the constitution is fundamental to governance, there is a need to strengthen the electoral system and empower local governments in the light of directives of the constitution to ensure the quality of representation and the effective role of legislators in parliament. This was observed by Khalid Rahman, chairman IPS, during an interactive session with the undergraduate students of the University of Malakand (UoM), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who visited IPS on March 16, 2023, on an exposure trip. The group headed by Mairaj Ul Hamid Nasri, lecturer UoM, also included Sher Hassan, lecturer UoM, Sajid Khan, lecturer UoM, and Mubarak Zeb. The visit of the eighth semester students from the Department of Political Science was aimed at introducing them to IPS and its activities on public administration and governance.

Pakistan’s constitution is an excellent document which is based on consensus and reflects the aspirations of the people. While issues do exist in the governance framework, they emerge from the lacking of decision-makers who are in positions to run the state and not the constitution itself, as portrayed by some factions, said Khalid Rahman. Therefore, in order to adjust or align the constitution with contemporary developments or issues, a proper method of amendments should be the suitable way. In this regard, there is a need for institutional reforms, he stressed.

As parliament is the most important institution in the governance framework, it must demonstrate a good representation of honest and capable people. Since the most serious shortcoming in Pakistan’s governance framework is the electoral system’s incapacity to elect honest and competent candidates, there is a need for electoral reforms, i.e. an electoral system based on a proportional representation model. He further said that changing the electoral system can address many of the contemporary governance difficulties.

Moreover, it must be realized that several elements work behind the scenes to bad-mouth and malign Pakistan under an agenda. Apart from targeting the constitution and institutions, these elements also target the ethnic diversity of Pakistan to change the perspectives of multiple identities and inject social conflict and divisions between different ethnic identities. As collectivism comes from the highest identity, the people of Pakistan, particularly the youth, must not fall victim to such attempts that target the positive diversity of Pakistan to bring division and isolation.

Earlier, the students were introduced to IPS’ background, research areas, contributions to a variety of issues, and strong institutional relationships and linkages with several top-tier universities and educational institutions in Pakistan to facilitate students’ research in a variety of policy-oriented topics. At the end of the session, Nasri thanked Rahman for an impactful interaction with the students and IPS for hosting them.

March 18, 2023March 20, 2023

Report on Islamic Social Finance for Social Protection launched at IPS

Karachi, March 18, 2023 (PPI-OT): Islamic social protection system fulfils multiple SDGs and serves as an excellent tool for building resilience and equilibrium in social and economic lives. For that, effective reforms at the legislative, constitutional, and operational levels are needed to tap the potential of Islamic finance options. This was stated at an event organized on March 17, 2023 to launch a landmark report, ‘Islamic Social Finance for Social Protection in Pakistan’, based on research conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad in collaboration with Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

The session, presided by Prof Dr. Qibla Ayaz, chairman, Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), was addressed as the guest of honor by Muhammad Arshad, CEO, Prime Minister’s Health Program, Khalid Rahman, chairman, IPS, Dr. Atiquzzafar Khan, dean social sciences, Riphah International University, Dr. Salman Ahmad Shaikh, director, Islamic Economics Project and principal investigator of the study, and Mohammad Mustafa Khan, technical advisor, GIZ. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Qibla Ayaz termed the trust-deficit of the people in government institutions and capacity as the major hurdle in the way of creating a Zakat-based welfare system in Pakistan and stressed that foundations grounded in trust are hope for the future of social protection in Pakistan.

Therefore, he stressed, the need is to promote and strengthen trustworthy faith-based social welfare organizations, which must also be given opportunities to flourish. Moreover, the government should initiate partnerships with such private sector organizations. This would result in a more efficient social protection system and build public trust and confidence in the government. The willingness to take ownership, collective effort, and action-oriented measures on part of institutions are foundational to the success of nations, said Muhammad Arshad. The functioning of institutions like Akhuwat, Alkhidmat Foundation, and Edhi Foundation present a bright side of this potential that must be taken forward to a higher level, with a prominent role of the new generation.

As part of action-oriented measures in this context, health insurance under the Sehat Sahulat Program will be converted to the Takaful mode to align it with the Islamic social finance model next year, he announced. Khalid Rahman stressed that the issues affecting the overall paradigm of life must not be discussed in isolation, rather a comprehensive facilitating environment must be created to bring into focus multiple factors and issues affecting the country. He further emphasized the integration of relevant institutions, cooperation-based working models rather than competition, public-private partnership, and consensus as crucial to exploiting the existing unexplored potential in the country.

Dr. Salman Shaikh outlined the establishment of a comprehensive Islamic social finance ecosystem with a proper governance framework and administration. He further explained the social security mechanisms in Islam, analyzed various challenges and obstacles encountered in institutionalizing Zakat, Ushr, and Waqf, explored ways to tackle these issues, and proposed policy steps for reforming the administration of Islamic social finance institutions.

Commenting on the report, Dr. Atiquzzafar highlighted that a welfare economy based on Islamic economic principles provides a prospective alternative to the Riba-based economic system. Countries like Malaysia have set a good example in the adoption of Islamic social finance tools for the social protection of the people. As the collection and disbursement of Zakat is the state’s responsibility, the government should take into account the models of these countries to develop an economic fiscal system based on social welfare.

Adding to this, Mustafa Khan stated that diverting the flow of money towards the lowest strata of society and preventing the rich from getting richer and the poor poorer should be the most important principle for any government to adopt in related policy matters.