Muhammad Tariq

Due to substantial development in emerging economies over the last three decades, climate complexities are increasing which have posed serious threats to environmental quality and sustainability. To this end, eco‐innovation, green trade openness (GTO), and carbon price have been recognized as effective tools for environmental mitigation and promotion of green growth (GG) in the core of COP 26, Sustainable Development Goals 2030, and Carbon Neutrality by 2060. Considering this, the aim of this study is to investigate the influence of eco‐innovation, GTO, and carbon price on GG and low‐carbon emissions in emerging economies over the period 1996–2021. The current study provides a standard green Solow growth model by introducing a new GG index using the entropy weight method. This index incorporates 30 indicators across five dimensions which emphasizes the essential roles of the investigated factor. Additionally, the current study provides a new index for GTO utilizing an extensive green trading basket of 255 commodities. Due to the cross‐sectional dependency, and slope heterogeneity in the models, this study used dynamic heterogeneous panel data estimation techniques that is, cross‐sectional based augmented nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag, and nonlinear augmented mean group to probe the asymmetric effects. The outcomes from the empirical analysis reveal that positive shocks in environmental innovation, GTO, carbon price, and green energy mitigate carbon emissions and promote green economic growth while the negative shocks in these variables cause environmental degradation and reduce GG in emerging economies. Finally, from policy insight, this study suggests that policy makers in emerging economies should invigorate GTO, stimulate environmental innovation and green energy, implement carbon price mechanisms, and establish a balance between environmental protection and economic growth.

The new Agenda 2030 for sustainable development call for initiatives to bridge the gap between environmental protection and socio-economic development. To provide insight on the relationship between socio-economics, and ecology, the current study examines the effectiveness of environmental stringency and green energy to mitigate the effects of fossil energy and greenhouse gas emissions on human well-being and income for 12 emerging economies. The outcomes from dynamic heterogeneous panel estimators of cross-sectional–based auto regressive distributed lag and cross-sectional–augmented distributed lag indicate that: (i) green energy consumption and electricity consumption have a substantial positive effect on well-being and per capita income. (ii) The stringent environmental policy is found to decrease per capita income, but it increases well-being, while the square of environmental stringency is found to increase per capita income. (iii) Fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have a negative effect on well-being but a positive impact on income. The outcome of U-test confirmed the presence of a U-shaped curve with a turning point (0.433) between per capita income and environmental policy stringency. This study yielded consistent results from the panel Granger causality test. Based on our findings, we may argue that it is necessary to prioritize human well-being over economic growth, and suggest several policy implications to achieve sustainable development goals.

Objective: To determine the presence and severity of depression and anxiety in patients with tinnitus. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at department of Psychiatry, Combined Military Hospital Multan in collaboration with ENT department, Combined Military Hospital Multan, from Sep 2019 to Mar 2020. Methodology: All diagnosed cases of tinnitus in ENT out-patient department Tinnitus Handicap inventory (THI) was applied to assess the severity of tinnitus. Diagnosis of depression and Anxiety was done based on diagnostic criteria of ICD10 of WHO and symptom severity was assessed using Beck Depressive Inventory (BDI) for depression and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) for Anxiety. Results: A total of 88 participants were included in this study. Fifty-three (60.2%) were male, 35 (39.7%) were females. Twentythree (20.2%) ranged between 18-40 years of age, 65 (57.2%) participants ranged between 41-60 years of age. Seven (12.5%) participants scored less than 38 on tinnitus handicap inventory showing mild severity of tinnitus, 3 (5.3%) individuals scored moderate while 19 (33.9%) had severe level of tinnitus. Thirty-three (37%) participants had depression 55 (62%) out of total 88 participants had anxiety. Conclusion: Studies show presence of anxiety and depression in patients with tinnitus so it seems prudent to screen all patients of tinnitus for psychiatric co morbidity. A multidisciplinary approach is required for the treatment of patients with tinnitus so that physical as well as psychiatric/psychological management of these patients is provided well in time.

Pakistan’s agricultural sector growth is dwindling from the last several years due to insufficient foreign direct investment (FDI) and a drastic climate change-induced raise in temperature, which are severely affecting agricultural production. The FDI has paramount importance for the economy of developing countries as well as the improvement of agricultural production. Based on the time series data from 1984 to 2017, this paper aims to highlight the present situation of the agriculture sector of Pakistan and empirically analyze the short-run and long-run impact of Chinese foreign direct investment (CFDI), climate change, and CO₂ emissions on agricultural productivity and causality among the variables. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) model and Granger Causality test were employed to find out the long-run, short-run, and causal relationships among the variables of interest. Furthermore, we have employed the Error Correction Model (ECM) to know the convergence of the equilibrium path. The bound test results verified the existence of a long-run association, and the empirical findings confirmed that Chinese FDI has a significant and positive impact, while climate change and CO₂ emissions has negative impact on the agricultural growth of Pakistan both in the short-run and long-run. Granger Causality test results revealed that variables of interest exhibit bi-directional and uni-directional causality. The sector-wise flow of FDI reveals that the agriculture sector of Pakistan has comparatively received a less amount of FDI than other sectors of the economy. Based on the findings, it was suggested to the Government of Pakistan and policymakers to induce more FDI in the agriculture sector. Such policies would be helpful for the progress of the agriculture sector as well as for the economic growth of Pakistan.