Search results

This study aims to examine the role of information and communication technology (ICT)-based communication technologies to create a sustainable recovery strategy through Build Back Better practice in the existing policy framework of Bangladesh. Its purpose is to analyse the problems associated with the current recovery process of the country and how the ICT-based communication technology can improve the situation. Nevertheless, the aim also extends towards the limitation of the technology and the infrastructures and possible adjustments in this regard.

To achieve the aim, the study conducted an extensive literature review of numerous grey literature, policy papers and scientific/academic articles in an exploratory approach.

The result shows that the disaster recovery process of Bangladesh is slow, and there are some mismanagements (the lengthy risk assessment using ancient data generation processes, lack of accessibility and report-based data product) which was a cause behind the massive destruction done by recent cyclones. The ICT-based methods (proper database, many to many communications, GIS) can make this response faster, transparent and easy to access.

The research results may lack generalizability due to the research approach of the study. Thus, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.

The study includes some possible adjustments to the argument for the existing policy infrastructure and scope of communication technology to bridge the theory and practice.

The study also includes some suggestions to engage society in disaster recovery processes.

This paper urges to study the implication of technology in terms of disaster recovery on a broad scale.

Linear and narrow focus of climate change and disaster impact assessments on agriculture turns out as a limiting factor to understand how impact conditions trigger changes in the whole system resulting to make problems complicated. The paper aims to identify the micro-level challenges of the agriculture sector and then shows how macro-level planning could be developed and may help the rural peasants of Bangladesh to better cope with the adverse conditions generated as a result of disaster impacts and/or climate change-induced threats.

The paper, based on a secondary literature review and primary data generated by the author, shows that agriculture happens as a system where many microelements and processes contribute and benefits from it do not only confine into the final product generation. Using both the primary and secondary data, the paper shows how simplistic approaches to assess disaster impacts on agriculture in Bangladesh are taking place and thus leaving scopes to read properly the more complex and cyclic forms of hazard impacts in the sector by using the systems thinking approach and complex systems methodology.

The paper finally suggests how a better and comprehensive understanding of disaster and climate change impacts on agriculture would provide arguments for mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction actions into regular development planning of the government.

The authors declare that this submission is their own work, and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it contains no materials previously published or written by another person or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of anywhere else.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a replicable model that ensures Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage as well as water treatment facilities at the community level by providing total service coverage at community scale. An intervention was implemented in one of the low-lying areas of Basirhat Municipality (West Bengal, India) that included a number of action programs in order to address household- and community-level water-induced challenges.

A research study was undertaken to identify the root causes of the problems that are generally spawned from geomorphological, hydro-fluvial, climatic factors and processes and the situation becomes complicated when many other cumulative problem-contexts layovers the existing ones. A number of social and technological innovations were tested in the field and this paper critically examined the intervention processes and outcomes. It was implemented through participatory process by involving related stakeholders working at that scale so that necessary public acceptance is received for scaling up, at least, in the similar physical, social, economic and institutional contexts.

The problem conceptualization process, spatial assessment for contextualizing the problem, design of interventions for different scales, development of project deployment strategies from field-based learnings contributed in developing a total solution based on fusing of household-level technical solutions, social innovations and actions for community engagements towards sustainability. Mobilized community members in addressing local inundation and waterlogging crisis. Satellite image-based maps shown to make them understand the upper-lower connection of drainage. People also developed their own action plans and engaged themselves in resuscitation of an old canal, removed the garbage that resulted in improved drainage conditions in the area.

Pandemic due to COVID 19 and its related prolonged lock down, West Bengal State Assembly Election, closure of municipal governance system due to the forthcoming municipal election, closure of educational institutions, closure of Anganwadi Centre in the field area were the limitations. Due to the lock down, it was difficult for the team to maintain the time frame as well as the budget. As per the Election’s Code of Conduct gets released no public meeting was allowed without permission, people in the vicinity became suspicious, hence movement of the team members got restricted.

Due to the COVID protocols, the team could not organise mass training programs. It was difficult for the team members to commute in public/private transport, hence filed work got impacted. As the team could not access data from the health department, they developed a strategy of generation data on body mass index, mid-upper arm circumferences and waist-to-hip ratios to understand the status of health and nutrition of the community. It was difficult to access the Public Health Engineering Department’s laboratory situated in the municipality for water sample test. Cost escalated due to extension of the project time.

During the second phase (wave) when people lost access to health facilities they requested the team to stop field visit. Women’s empowerment through acquiring knowledge and skill on treatment and safe storage of drinking water at home. Men appreciated and recognized this, which improved the status of women in the society. Children after expressing their willingness to learn the new technology of water purification were given handholding training by their mothers and knowledge transfer has taken place in the next generation. Mobilized community members in addressing local inundation and waterlogging crisis. Satellite image-based maps to understand the upper-lower connection of drainage helped them develop their own action plans and engaged themselves in resuscitation of an old canal, removed the garbage that resulted in improved drainage conditions in the area.

Household-level solutions include supply of low cost, easy operable, sustainable water purifiers, community-level solution focused on securing water-related challenges at social/public gathering places and wider catchment area level solutions include the engagement of local communities to drain out stagnant waters by clearing drains, creating/digging small canals through collective actions. Geo-spatial techniques (topographical mapping, spatial survey, water quality tests) along with social methods such as participatory appraisals for gathering information on human health, public awareness campaigns and partnership development with local government agencies were the major activities performed as part of the implementation of interventions. It is imperative to mention that water-related challenges in the low-lying settlement areas of Basirhat Municipality have effectively been addressed by relying on necessary theoretical underpinnings (Disaster risk reduction/humanitarian principles) transmitted through application of scientific techniques and mediated through local people and their agencies.

The purpose of this paper is to present the dependence of capacitive sensing of organic vapours by porous silicon (PS) on its molecular structure for the realization of a organic vapour sensor, compatible with existing silicon technology, with desired miniaturization and selectivity.

The method introduces large surface area of PS obtained by electrochemically etching of silicon wafer for characterization of organic vapours through capacitive sensing.

The method provides a comparative study of sensor response for organic vapour molecules of different structures and leads to an insight into the sensing mechanism.

The surface of PS has been stabilized by thermal oxidation process.

The method is useful for the development of a simple, cost‐effective sensor for selective gas analysis.

The result is an outcome of regular experimental work carried out to observe the capacitive sensing behavior of PS for different organic vapours.

The article examines Sheikh Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabauwi's initial concept of paper money, which in the early 20th century wrote Risala Raf'u Al-Iltibas.

This paper uses a qualitative approach based on the critical extraction analysis that can reveal a set of concepts related to the thoughts of Sheikh Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabauwi on paper money.

Through an attentive reading of Sheikh Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabawi, the authors can formulate several significant results: First, Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabawi applies two methods in studying critically on paper money, namely, the comparative law method and qiyas. Second, Ahmad Khatib believes that paper money has similarities with dinars and dirhams, namely its nominal value function. It is just that the existence of these values is different. Briefly, there are set law consequences for those who used paper money in economic activities, i.e. payment of zakāt on paper money applies when used as business capital.

Sheikh Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabawi's work related to paper money is written heavily from the perspective of fiqh. Briefly, it is challenging to describe legal reasoning from work. As a result, articles are also thicker with fiqh analysis.

Sheikh Ahmad Khatib Al-Minangkabawi's view regarding paper money becomes the foundation for the theory of the value of money in Islam. However, it is rarely disclosed. In this regard, this paper can serve as the foundation of the value for money offered by scholars from Indonesia in the early 20th century.

Money is not a commodity. Still, it must be positioned as capital to be productive. It finally becomes why trade is compelling and becomes the most practical reason for paying out zakāt.

It is not easy finding out articles that attempt to reveal the concept of classical ulemas or clerics from Indonesia relating to paper money. This article manages to identify that, and at the same time, becomes a novelty.

This paper attempts to present varying discourses pertaining to women's work and how it is impacted by interpretations of Islam.

Current discourses from various viewpoints are presented including Muslim scholars on the one hand and active feminists on the other. Personalities are presented as being representative of the debate that has been going on pertaining to women in Arab societies.

Attempts that aim at categorizing Arab thought and activism into two camps, one is religious‐based adverse to women's causes, and the other being secular and supportive of their causes does not present a candid depiction of the different forces.

Personalities chosen represent specific case studies that, although thought to be representative, cannot realistically reflect all the multitudes of views expressed pertaining to the issues discussed. Future studies may cover other relevant personalities in the region.

Developing the status of women in Arab societies requires a major reassessment of Muslim history and traditions. The dialogue and debates going on among religious scholars and feminists should be continuously communicated, discussed and exposed. Readers and mangers would benefit from understanding the complexity of issues and diversity of views presented.

This paper offers a window into the world of women's work and participation in Arab societies and how such participation is impacted by Islam, or its interpretations thereof. In addition to the English sources, this paper offers an opportunity for the reader to get a glimpse of the debate that has been going on in Arabic (especially when it comes to the little known religious discourse).

It is axiomatic that, like other fields in the Social Sciences, value‐free development is non‐existent. A Growth or Redistribution‐With‐Growth Strategy, for instance, could not exist independently of the Neo‐Classical values. So are the Structuralist and Dependency Strategies: they did not emerge independently of the Marxist or Neo‐Marxist values. Irrespective of its origins, these mainstream development strategies have been associated with values of their own ideological world‐view especially when local customs and traditions involving indigenization of development are added, or independently, based on religious doctrines. All are obviously value‐loaded.

Multilevel inverters play a major role in the development of high-power industrial applications. In traditional low-level inverters (e.g. 2-level), the switching frequency is restricted and the harmonic spectrum of the system is hard to meet power requirements. Similarly, high-level inverters consist of a large number of switches, complex modulation techniques and complex hardware architecture, which results in high power loss and a significant amount of harmonic distortion. Furthermore, it is a must to ensure that every switch experiences the same stress of voltage and current. The purpose of this paper is to present an inverter topology with lower conduction and switching losses via reduced number of switches and equal voltage source-sharing technique.

Herein, the authors present a cascaded multilevel inverter having less power switches, a simple modulation technique and an equal voltage source-sharing phenomenon implementation.

The modulation technique becomes more complex when equal voltage source-sharing is to be implemented. In this study, a novel topology for the multilevel inverter with fewer switches, novel modulation technique, equal voltage source-sharing and Inductor-Capacitor-Inductor filter implementation is demonstrated to the reduce harmonic spectrum and power losses of the proposed system.

The nine-level inverter design is validated using software simulations and hardware prototype testing; the power losses of the proposed inverter design are elaborated and compared with the traditional approach.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of social commerce constructs (SCCs), social support and relationship quality on social commerce intentions, which lead to use behaviour of social networking sites for social commerce.

Data were collected from 343 users of social networking sites in Pakistan. The data analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM.

The results show that SCCs have empowered consumers through the existence of virtual groups, ratings and reviews and recommendations and referrals, thereby having a significant impact on social commerce intentions. The relationship quality with social networking sites, measured through commitment, satisfaction and trust, also proved to be a leading forecaster of social commerce intentions. The impact of social support could not positively influence the relationship quality with the social networking site. However, social support influences the social commerce intentions significantly.

Future research should enrich model with some moderating variables and data may be collected from actual online shoppers only.

This study provides valuable insights to retailers to formulate their social commerce strategies as per decision factors results to have maximum engagement of consumers in social commerce.

The study proposes the unique model for finding the social commerce intentions and use behaviour using social support theory, relationship marketing theory and information systems literature.

The purpose of this study is to develop a new whistleblowing scale considering the conventional and Islamic perspectives in combating corruption. Whistleblowing has received great attention because it helps the corruption prevention process by revealing bad practices, improving transparency and ensuring accountability. However, not many scholars have focused on the concept of whistleblowing in the Islamic context.

The study uses a theoretical inquiry design, delving into the literature to thoroughly examine whistleblowing likelihood, Kohlberg’s theory and Maqasid Shariah. Through qualitative content analysis, relevant concepts are scrutinized and synthesized. The integration of Kohlberg’s theory and Maqasid Shariah aims to offer a comprehensive framework for comprehending whistleblowing likelihood, integrating perspectives from both Western and Islamic traditions.

This study has conceptualized the integration of the six stages of Kohlberg and Maqasid Shariah to understand whistleblowing likelihood. The study offers a scale to explain whistleblowing likelihood based on the two theories.

The correlation between Kohlberg and Maqasid Shariah reveals a nuanced relationship between individual moral evolution and Islamic ethical imperatives, in the context of whistleblowing likelihood. As individuals progress through Kohlberg’s stages, aligning with Maqasid Shariah’s emphasis on societal well-being, their inclination to blow the whistle evolves from early considerations of fear and conformity to a commitment to universal ethical principles and justice.

The new scale integrating Kohlberg and Maqasid Shariah aids ethical climates in organizations by assessing employees’ moral development and promoting ethical leadership through tailored training. Aligned with Islamic values, the scale becomes a tool for fostering ethical behavior and organizational culture, emphasizing justice and commitment to higher ethical objectives. Managers must delicately balance justice and community harmony when implementing whistleblowing initiatives to ensure a positive impact on both ethical principles and organizational cohesion.

By integrating the six stages of moral development proposed by Kohlberg, the new scale plays a role in promoting transparency and accountability for sustainable development. Furthermore, its alignment with Maqasid Shariah contributes to addressing corruption and advocating for social justice, making the scale a catalyst for societal well-being that respects cultural and religious values. Ultimately, the scale supports a socially responsible approach, reinforcing ethical behavior and contributing to the broader global agenda for sustainable and just societies.

The new scale integrating Kohlberg and Maqasid Shariah offers an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to assessing whistleblowing likelihood. This fusion provides a nuanced understanding of individuals’ ethical reasoning, aligning universal moral principles with Islamic ethics. The scale not only broadens the conceptual framework for evaluating ethical decision-making but also respects cultural diversity, making it inclusive and applicable across diverse global contexts.