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This research paper empirically investigates the effects of interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rates on stock market performance of Pakistan by using annual time series data covering the 1991-2017 periods. The prime intention of this research was to inspect the long-run and short-run relationships between the KSE-100 index and macroeconomic variables by employing the econometric techniques of Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing procedure to cointegration and the Error Correction Model (ECM), respectively. By applying the ARDL model, the empirical results revealed the fact that there was a negative and significant impact of interest rate on the market index, whereas; the exchange rate and the inflation rate have a positive impact on stock market volatility in the long-run. Furthermore, the ECM analysis pointed out that an estimated coefficient of the error correction term was significant with expected negative sign and showed that 46.53% deviation of the stock market index are corrected in the short-run per year. The study recommended that the monetary authorities should further reduce the bank rate up to the lowest rate in order to stimulate the stock market performance, which in turn; will boost the existing investment level and will encourage the new investment into the stock market. In addition, this policy will also ensure in the reduction of higher inflation rates. And the study found that the reduction in bank rate and stabilization in exchange rate is essential to local and foreign investors in the short-run.

Since prehistoric times, water conflicts have occurred as a result of a wide range of tensions and/or violence, which have rarely taken the form of traditional warfare waged over water resources alone. Instead, water has historically been a (re)source of tension and a factor in conflicts that start for other reasons. In some cases, water was used directly as a weapon through its ability to cause damage through deprivation or erosion or water resources of enemy populations and their armies. However, water conflicts, both past and present, arise for several reasons; including territorial disputes, fight for resources, and strategic advantage. The main reasons of water conflicts are usually delimitation of boundaries, waterlogging (e.g., dams and lakes), diversion of rivers flow, running water, food, and political distresses. In recent decades, the number of human casualties caused by water conflicts is more than that of natural disasters, indicating the importance of emerging trends on water wars in the world. This paper presents arguments, fights, discourses, and conflicts around water from ancient times to the present. This diachronic survey attempts to provide water governance alternatives for the current and future.

Throughout history, various civilizations developed methodologies for the collection and disposal of human waste. The methodologies throughout the centuries have been characterized by technological peaks on the one hand, and by the disappearance of the technologies and their reappearance on the other. The purpose of this article is to trace the development of sewage collection and transport with an emphasis on toilets in ancient civilizations. Evolution of the major achievements in the scientific fields of sanitation with emphasis on the lavatory (or toilets) technologies through the centuries up to the present are presented. Valuable insights into ancient wastewater technologies and management with their apparent characteristics of durability, adaptability to the environment, and sustainability are provided. Gradual steps improved the engineering results until the establishment of the contemporary toilet system, which provides a combined solution for flushing, odor control, and the sanitation of sewerage. Even though the lack of proper toilet facilities for a great percentage of the present day global population is an embarrassing fact, the worldwide efforts through millennia for the acquisition of a well-engineered toilet were connected to the cultural level of each period.