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Teacher Education has been transforming throughout the world to cater to the emerging needs of quality education. Significant developments have taken place nationally and internationally in political, economic, and cultural fields, influencing education in general and teacher education in particular. The quality of education depends to a great extent on the quality of teachers. And, the quality of teachers depends on the way they are educated and trained. Pakistan has a vast education sector and a huge teaching force but teacher education in the country has not been keeping pace with modernization and development globally. Teacher education curricula, dissemination, evaluation and implementation revolved around traditional models for decades. However, there has been a growing realization to reform the teacher education system lately. The education policy (2009) of Pakistan indicates such realization on the part of the stakeholders. This chapter reports on an important teacher education reform program, which is based on collaboration between the government of Pakistan and the USAID. The Teacher Education Project (TEP), assisted by USAID, is a reform initiative that aimed at restructuring and modernizing teacher education in Pakistan. This chapter aims to provide insights into the objectives, importance and achievements of the project in terms of shaping the future direction of teacher education in Pakistan. It reports on the substantial structural and policy changes that took place in teacher education under the project. This chapter also highlights the possible challenges in the way of useful implementation and sustainability of this and similar education reform initiatives in Pakistan.

Pakistan's present war against extremists has many folds and sheds. The country's initial participation in the Afghan War in 1979 later gave birth to different extremist trends in the country. State patronage of the extremist Wahabi Islamists during the Afghan jihad opened another conflict in Pakistan, and things became more complicated. The combination of external and internal factors gave birth to the worst kind of conflict, which now has not only become dangerous for the country's own existence but also a major threat for global peace. The Afghan jihad initially started as a war against Soviet occupation and later became the hub of global jihad-war against infidels.

This chapter analyzes how external factors promoted internal contradictions in Pakistan due to which the country became not only an exporter of jihadis for the world but also the worst kind of sectarian conflicts, including. Shia–Sunni, Deobandi–Wahabi clashes, entered into in the past two decades. Such a strong link exists with Pakistan's official support to global jihad. Draft sectarian groups now head to head with their opponents have killed thousands of members of rival sectors, have strong support from external sympathizers, and have spread in the country. The well planned terrorist activities of these groups reflect the fact that support to these groups in the past is now leading to a severe crisis in Pakistan. The nexuses of these indigenous extremists like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen with external terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan of Tahir Yuldasher Chechen Guerilla War has led to several bloody clashes in the country and outside.

Purpose – The purpose of the research is to analyze the efficiency of Islamic banks in Indonesia. The data used in this research are panel data observed from 2012 until 2016. The sampling of this research is conducted on five Sharia banks in Indonesia, that is, Bank Muamalat, Bank SyariahMandiri, BukopinSyariah, BRI Syariah, and Bank Mega Syariah.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The study uses a quantitative method to analyze the efficiency of Sharia banking with formulation of comparison of operating expenses to operating revenues (BOPO).

Finding – The result of this research concludes that Sharia banking in Indonesia has not been efficient during the last five years, that is, 2012–2016. This can be seen from the range of banking efficiency ratio. The average level of Islamic banking efficiency ranges between 89.73% and 94.16%. Bank Muamalat whose range is 94.16% shows the highest average efficiency ratio compared to other Sharia banks. Meanwhile, Bank Mega Syariah maintains the lowest average efficiency ratio that is 89.37%. The five Sharia banks have a high efficiency ratio of over 80%. This shows that Sharia banking in Indonesia is inefficient

Originality/Value – The bank should be able to balance between cost (cost) and revenue. Sharia banks must also be able to create good product innovation in order to increase the collection of funds from the community, such as for competitive outcomes, prizes, or other programs that raise public interest to use the services of Sharia banking.

Research Limitations/Implications – This inefficiency is due to the high bank operating costs compared to the bank’s operating income.

Purpose – This paper discusses the emergence of terrorism in South Asia during last three decades and it resulted in the culmination of Mumbai attacks of 26/11.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper mostly depending on secondary resources is archival in nature.

Findings – This paper links the development of extremism in Pakistan with the events of the Mumbai attacks 26/11.

Originality/value – This paper finds that terrorist activity committed in Mumbai on 26/11 is a result of well-connected Islamist, extremist, who got training and proper support from their network based in Pakistan.

The question of civilian supremacy over managing state affairs has been revisiting Pakistan time and again; the case is the same these days. Assuming its strategic location at the crossroads of Middle East-Central South Asia, the country has a lot of potential not only to prosper and progress, but it can play a pivotal role in restoring peace and stability in the region.

Pakistan's civilian leadership has mostly supported the concept of peaceful coexistence with all neighboring countries, but the theory of animosity propagated by Pakistan's army with its neighbor, especially India, has kept the world's sixth most populous nation in a state of war ever since its inception. This chapter discuses the perpetual conflict between the civil-military approaches and how it is effecting regional peace.