This study was conducted to determine the influence of irrigation levels on spring planted sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) sown with different planting methods. Sunflower was sown either on 60 cm apart single rows on flat seed-bed or on ridges. Three irrigation treatments were I0 (irrigation at early vegetative stage, at bud visible stage, at anthesis and at achene development stage), I1 (irrigation at early vegetative stage, at bud visible stage and at achene development stage) and I2 (irrigation at early vegetative stage, at bud visible stage and at anthesis stage). In I1, irrigation was missing at anthesis and in I2 irrigation was missing at achene development stage. Sunflower yield and yield components showed positive response to ridge sown sunflower with normal four irrigations. Maximum achene yield 3.33 t ha-1 was recorded in ridge sown sunflower with four irrigations. Oil content percentage was highest in case of I0 (42.25%) while the effect of planting methods on oil content was insignificant.

The changes in extreme daily rainfall totals in Punjab Province, Pakistan, during the period (1981- 2014) are examined in this study. The analysis was focused on the extreme annual and monthly rainfall events, by processing the exceeding of the daily rainfall over various thresholds, which are indicators for the incidence of extreme rainfall events. To analyze the changes in extreme rainfall events and trends of the time series of the annual number of extreme rainfall days (%) the thresholds of 30mm and 50mm has been estimated. Evidence from the twelve stations considered shows that there is an increase in annual number of extreme rainfall days (%) in dataset. These changes of heavy and extreme rainfall events pronounce significant environmental consequences which cause considerable impact on society.

Firms can use working capital management which is one of the essential determinants to influence their profitability. The main theme of present study is to investigate the relationship between working capital management and profitability of Tobacco Industry of Pakistan. This study is based on secondary data collected from financial statements of selected companies of Tobacco Industry of Pakistan for the period of 2005-2014. For data analysis, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Correlation analysis is used to check the relationship between the variables, while multiple regression analysis is used to examine the effects of working capital management on profitability of firms. The result reveals that there is a strong negative relationship between variables of working capital management and profitability of Tobacco Industry of Pakistan. This means that as the cash conversion cycle increases, it will lead to declining of firm profitability and managers can create a positive value for shareholders by reducing the cash conversion cycle at optimal level. The study concludes that managers can create value for shareholders by managing the working capital well designed and implemented, and by keeping each components of it at optimal level.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of HR practices such as (Recruitment, empowerment, working condition and compensation) on Job satisfaction in the prospects of Hotel Industry of Pakistan. The sample size for this study was 100 employees who were selected through convenience sampling techniques. This study was restricted to 10 Hotels of Peshawar. Hypotheses of the study were tested through correlation and regression analysis to inspect the employee’s satisfaction. The findings investigates that there is significant relationship between HR practices and job satisfaction. Moreover Recruitment and selection, empowerment and working condition have positive effect on job satisfaction, while compensation has negative effect on job satisfaction, which indicates that most of employees are not satisfied from payment of employer. Empirical findings concluded that best HR practices have significant and positive effect on employees job satisfaction. Therefore, it is suggested for HR manager to understand and implement the HR practices correctly to take good work from their employees.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of corporate governance practices such as (board size, board composition, CEO duality and audit committee) on the performance of selected Pakistani firms. Research design, data, and methodology – This study examines corporate governance structure by using the data of 80 non-financial firms listed on Karachi Stock Exchange Pakistan during 2010-2014. Hypotheses of the study were tested by using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Result – The findings indicate that board size and audit committee is positively related to the firm performance (ROA & ROE). In contrast, board composition and CEO duality are negatively related to the firm performance (ROA & ROE). As far as controlling variables is concerned, leverage is negative, whereas firm size is positively related to all measures of performance. Conclusions – Empirical findings concluded that corporate governance practices affect the firm performance. Therefore, it is suggested that managers should understand the governance mechanisms to work more efficiently in the firm

Purpose The purpose of this – study is to empirically investigate the impact of capital structure on firm performance. Research design, data, and methodology – This study examined the impact of capital structure on the performance of cement companies listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange during the period 2009-2013. The authors hypothesize that there is a negative relationship between capital structure and firm performance. To examine the association, the authors run a Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results – Results reveal a strong negative relationship between debt to asset and firm performance variables (GPM, NPM, ROA, and ROE). Further, there is a positive relationship between debt to equity and firm performance variables (GPM and NPM), anda negative relationship between debt to equity and firm performance variables (ROA and ROE). Moreover, capital structure variables significantly impact firm performance. Conclusions – This study concluded that financial analysts and managers should emphasize on the optimal level of capital structure and efficient utilization and allocation of resources to achieve the targeted level of productive efficiency in business