Consumers Rights and Unprecedented Mechanism of Violation and Protection: Bangladesh Perspective

This study mainly focused on investigating the root causes of rampantly violating consumer rights in Bangladesh and its impact on the people both physically and mentally. It also concentrated on creating awareness among the general people about consumer rights to protect themselves from heinous activities of unscrupulous businessmen. The study found that taking advantage of illiteracy and unawareness as well as loophole of existing laws the unscrupulous businessmen are making windfall profit without caring for consumer rights. The study also revealed that political influence, poorly structured and organized government organizations, bureaucracy and weak enforcement of existing laws, lower control of government on market, absence of world standard laboratory for testing, misleading information, syndicate business and absence of national recognition or award are aggravating the present situation. The study have concluded that ensuring the application of related laws and regulation, setting up a separate court, easing redressal mechanism, strengthening the consumer right associations and building tripartite cooperation among businessmen, government and consumers are badly needed to overcome such heinous activities of violating fundamental rights . Key Word: consumer, consumer rights, violations

Multistakeholder collaboration for urban climate change resilience in Bangladesh

"Improved multistakeholder collaboration in the water and sanitation sector can contribute towards building greater urban climate resilience in Dhaka City. However, the challenge is to ensure all stakeholders come forward to improve the present situation of service provision and find effective means of collaboration. At present, informal settlements in Dhaka lack basic services and infrastructure, and are becoming home to more and more rural migrants. While a number of NGOs and government agencies are addressing the water and sanitation deficit, climate change resilience is not always being considered when implementing these initiatives. Current processes of stakeholder collaboration are still limited. This briefing provides an overview of existing initiatives and collaborations in improving water and sanitation infrastructure, and recommends approaches to improving multistakeholder collaboration in addressing the water and sanitation needs and resilience of low-income settlements in Dhaka.

Strategic Institutional Capacity in Solid Waste Management: The cases of Dhaka North and South City Corporations in Bangladesh

Tutkimus analysoi jätehuollon strategista ja institutionaalista kapasiteettia Bangladeshin pääkaupungissa Dhakassa. Tämä aihe on siitä tehtyjen tutkimusten mukaan lähes kaikissa kehittyvissä maissa vakavissa ongelmissa. Dhaka tarjoaa hedelmällisen maaperän tutkia jätehuollon hallinnollisia ja johtamistaidollisia ongelmia. Jokaisessa organisaatiossa tarvitaan strategista johtamista, pitkää aikatähtäintä ja päätöksentekokykyä järjestää toimivat palvelut. Näin on myös jätehuollossa suurissa urbanisoituneissa kaupungeissa. Strategisella johtamisella on oltava institutionaalista kapasiteettia, jotta sen avulla varmistetaan jätehuollon menestys tehokkuutena ja vaikuttavuutena. Strategisen johtamisen kapasiteettiin luetaan kuuluviksi tehokkaat prosessit, toimivat järjestelmät ja riittävät resurssit. Näitä kapasiteetteja tulisi ehdottomasti lisätä Dhakan jätehuollossa. Tämä tutkimus keskittyy analysoimaan näiden tekijöiden merkitystä Dhakan jätehuollon strategisessa johtamisessa. Se avaa samalla näkökulman muihin kehitysmaihin, jotka kamppailevat jätehuollon strategisen johtamisen ongelmien kanssa. Tutkimus on luonteeltaan laadullinen. Se tarkastelee jätehuollosta vastaavien käsityksiä alansa strategisesta kapasiteetista ja sen eri ulottuvuuksista. Tätä varten haastateltiin 32 strategisesta johdosta vastaavaa jätehuollon ammattilaista Dhakassa. Haastattelut osoittivat, että jätehuollon strategisessa kapasiteetissa on vakavia puutteita. Päättäjät eivät riittävästi ymmärrä strategisen johtamisen asemaa ja roolia jätehuollon kehittämisessä. Strategisten tavoitteiden muotoilu ja toteuttaminen ovat vaikeasti hallittavia prosesseja. Dhakan keskushallinto vaikeuttaa valinnoillaan jätehuollon strategista ajattelua ja hyvien käytäntöjen hyödyntäminen on sattumanvaraista. Tutkimus osoittaa, että Dhakassa, ja myös muiden kehitysmaiden suurissa kaupungeissa, tarvitaan vahvaa strategista kapasiteettia; suhteellisen itsenäistä hallinnollista asemaa, ennakkoluulotonta ajattelua ja johdonmukaista toimintaa. Tutkimuksen mukaan mm. nämä tekijät takaavat toimivat jätehuollon palvelut.The study analyses strategic institutional capacity related to solid waste management in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It finds that Dhaka city lacks institutional capacity regarding solid waste management and governance is in a state of crisis. It investigates these institutional and governance failures and proposes measures to overcome them. Strategic capacity is fundamental for any organization. The success, effectiveness and efficiency of management and governance depends on strategic capacity. The concept refers to the ability to make and institutionalise long-term strategic decisions and trajectories. In the Dhaka case, a lack of proper organizational capacity is notably apparent regarding solid waste management. The study argues that strategic capacity should be increased to deploy available resources, while governance processes and systems should be designed in a more appropriate manner. The scientific objective of the study is to contribute descriptive and interpretative knowledge to the theory and literature of strategic capacity and solid waste-management policy analysis. The practical objective is to understand and analyze strategic institutional capacity building in the Bangladeshi context. The study does not follow any particular theory. It is nevertheless grounded on relevant concepts and theories that conceptualize the research phenomena and develop the conceptual framework. It uses qualitative research methods utilizing a constructivist approach. For data collection, the study interviewed 32 respondents from multiple levels of the Bangladeshi bureaucracy. These were broken down in into categories: the strategic apex, middle-line and techno-structure. Findings were analysed thematically using an inductive approach. The study found that strategic institutional capacity and governance in general in the corporations of Dhaka City is weak. This is particularly true in the case solid waste management. A key finding is that City Corporations in Dhaka lack a proper understanding of the role of strategic capacity in improving governance and institutional capacity. The major thematic analysis concludes; (i) The predominant strategic perspective is inappropriate relative to policy goals; (ii) Current practices are not based on local needs, but on central government influence and bureaucratic guidance; (iii) Good governance practices and institutional capacity-building is not sufficiently emphasized; as a result, (iv) Solid waste management is ineffective. The study recommended that an appropriate strategic perspective should be encouraged in DCCs for effective governance and better solid waste services. Democratic governance practices, sectoral specific strategies, governance coordination policy, resource based plan and cooperative working relation with central government may expedite the appropriate strategic perspective in DCCs. In the long-run, a realistic strategic perspective will increase strategic capacity as a whole and improve institutional capacity as well. While the study specifically focuses on Dhaka city, it nevertheless has important implications for understanding solid-waste management governance practices in the developing world in general

Building climate resilience to Noapara town: a coastal urban centre of Bangladesh

"This paper attempts to identify ways of making the town of Noapara, a coastal urban centre in the Jessore district in Bangladesh, resilient to the impacts of climate change, with specific focus on the water and sanitation sectors. Climatic events can trigger migration from hazard-prone areas to large cities. But if sufficient livelihood opportunities are available, improved resilience of towns or urban centres close to major cities may play a role in diverting migrants from the large cities. The situation in Naopara was investigated to see what investments would need to be made in the town to make it an attractive option for migrants. The findings indicate that Naopara lacks access to basic services such as safe water and sanitation, with only one percent of households being covered by the municipal water supply. The rest are dependent on hand tube wells and other sources. In particular, poor communities lack access to safe water because they do not have their own land, or the economic capacity to afford a tube well. Additionally, the lack of proper drainage systems, adequate sanitation facilities and waste management facilities increases the vulnerability of those communities during hazards. Climate change-induced hazards such as intense rainfall, cyclones, flooding and salinity intrusion are expected to exacerbate this. In order to address these limitations, the appropriate institutional support from the government, and collaboration among stakeholders, including public-private partnerships and community-based organisations, can play a key role. The preparation and implementation of a city resilience plan could eventually attract displaced people to smaller towns such as Naopara.

Road operation phase sustainability indicator as a response to the climate change phenomena

Road infrastructure is a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) around the world. Once constructed, a road becomes a part of a road network and is subjected to recurrent maintenance/rehabilitation activities. Studies to date are mostly aimed at the development of sustainability indicators that deal with the material and construction phases of a road when it is constructed. The operation phase is infrequently studied and there is a need for sustainability indicators to be developed relating to this phase to better understand the GHG emissions as a proper response to the climate change phenomena. During the operation phase, maintenance/rehabilitation activities are undertaken based on certain agreed intervention criteria that do not include environmental implications relating to the climate change aspect properly. Availability of appropriate indicators may, therefore, assist in sustainable road asset maintenance management. This paper presents the findings of a literature based study and has proposed a way forward to develop a key “road operation phase” environmental indicator, which can contribute to road operation phase carbon footprint management based on a comprehensive road life cycle system boundary model. The proposed indicator can address multiple aspects of high impact road operation life environmental components such as: pavement rolling resistance, albedo, material, traffic congestion and lighting, based on availability of relevant scientific knowledge. Development of the indicator to appropriate level would offset the impacts of these components significantly and contribute to sustainable road operation management

Evaluation of Assamese buffaloes considering important economic traits under field conditions in their home tracts

The Assamese buffaloes are being reared by the farmers/breeders for milk, meat and for draught purposes. These buffaloes are known for higher fat contents in their milk (8.5 percent on an average) and are famous in the market with a great demand and are known as “Khuti milk”. They are good source of livelihood for breeders and the graziers both in its breeding tract and have attracted researchers to consider the study of some important economic traits under field conditions. The present study was organized and considered the data on a total of 324 Assamese buffaloes distributed over three districts namely Kamrup, Nagaon and Darrang in Assam covering 35 khutis (open herds) during the year 2015-16   eighteen months. The lactation milk yield of Assamese buffalo was observed as 448.38±1.67 kg with a lactation length of 237.06±0.74 days and the peak yield and days to attain were measured as 3.41±0.02 kg and 54.16±0.19 days respectively. The reproduction traits like age at first calving, gestation period, service period and inter-calving period were considered for the study based on the breeders’ interview using pre-structured formats. The age at first calving was recorded as 52.28±0.81 months, the gestation period was observed as 323.10±0.68 days with an inter-calving period of 465.70±1.67 day. The service period and the dry period for these buffalo was 171.34±0.82 and 252.84±1.47 days respectively. The production and reproduction performance of Assamese buffaloes need special attention to be addressed for further improvements to help a large size of population of Assam, who are entirely depending for their livelihood on these valuable AnGR (buffaloes) of Assam

Analysis on Factors that Affect Stock Prices: A Study on Listed Cement Companies at Dhaka Stock Exchange

This study investigates on identifying the main forces that affect share prices in the capital market of Bangladesh. For this, the study considers a panel data set of 7 companies of cement industry listed in the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) for the period 2006-2015.The investigation approach is designed with Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression with fixed effects and random effects models. Six fundamental and technical issues namely Earning Per Share (EPS), Net Asset Value Per Share (NAVPS), Price Earnings (P/E), Gross Domestic Production (GDP), Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Interest Rate Spread (IRS) have been brought in light as the major determinants of prices in cement industry. The findings claim that these variables are instrumental in affecting the share prices in the Bangladesh market as far as the cement industry is concerned. Among these factors EPS, NAVPS, P/E and CPI have been found significantly instrumental for cement industry in Bangladesh contexts while other variables were not found noticeably significant. A moderate R square (0.1142-.4567) found in both the Fixed and Random models justify the considerable impact of these variables on the market price of shares. Hence, the study recommends present and potential investors to consider these factors prior to trade and inject funds on securities as the study witnessed volatility in share prices by the fluctuations of these factors. Key Words: Capital Market, Share Price, Dhaka Stock Exchange

Removal of Copper from Aqueous Solution Using Orange Pell, Sawdust and Bagasse

Orange peel, sawdust and bagasse have been used as adsorbents for the removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solution. The effects of contact time, pH, concentration, dose and ionic strength on the removal of Cu(II) have been studied. Moreover, treated sawdust has been used as an adsorbent for the same. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of the adsorbents for Cu(II) was obtained by Langmuir isotherm. The ionic strength effect on the removal of Cu(II) from its aqueous solution indicated that the removal followed ion-exchange mechanism

Multistakeholder collaboration for urban climate change resilience in Bangladesh

"Improved multistakeholder collaboration in the water and sanitation sector can contribute towards building greater urban climate resilience in Dhaka City. However, the challenge is to ensure all stakeholders come forward to improve the present situation of service provision and find effective means of collaboration. At present, informal settlements in Dhaka lack basic services and infrastructure, and are becoming home to more and more rural migrants. While a number of NGOs and government agencies are addressing the water and sanitation deficit, climate change resilience is not always being considered when implementing these initiatives. Current processes of stakeholder collaboration are still limited. This briefing provides an overview of existing initiatives and collaborations in improving water and sanitation infrastructure, and recommends approaches to improving multistakeholder collaboration in addressing the water and sanitation needs and resilience of low-income settlements in Dhaka.