Environmental Ethics and Sustainable Development: An Analysis of the Rampal Coal Power Plant in Bangladesh

Environmental ethics and sustainable development maintain a very close relationship with each other. Environmental ethics gives priority to the future generation, and sustainable development also says about development considering the next generation. In this essay, the Rampal coal power plant in Bangladesh has been analyzed, focusing on future generation's sustainability. From this essay, it is found that the environmental specialists and UNESCO argue to stop the project, but from the government is arguing, showing the logic that the project is not harmful to the environment and the project authority can manage the probable environmental degradation because of it. The author of this essay has also found a more persuasive argument against the project

Shrinkage, pretest and LASSO estimators in parametric and semiparametric linear models

The theory of pretest (Bancroft (1944)) and James-Stein (James and Stein (1961)) type shrinkage estimation has been quite well known for the last five decades though its application remains limited. In this dissertation, some contributions to different types of parametric and semiparametric linear models based on shrinkage and preliminary test estimation methods are made which improve on the maximum likelihood estimation method. The objective of this dissertation is to study the properties of improved estimators of the parameter of interest in parametric and semiparametric linear models and compare these estimators with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Tibshirani (1996)) estimator. Chapter two contains a study of the properties of the shrinkage estimators of the parameters of interest in a Weibull regression model where the survival time may be subject to fixed censoring and the regression parameters are under linear restrictions. Asymptotic properties of the suggested estimators are established using the notion of asymptotic distributional risk. Bootstrapping procedures are used to develop confidence intervals. An extensive simulation study is conducted to assess the performance of the suggested estimators for moderate and large samples. In chapter three, we consider generalized linear models for binary and count data. Here, we propose James-Stein type shrinkage estimators, a pretest estimator and a Park and Hastie estimator. We demonstrate the relative performances of shrinkage and pretest estimators based on the asymptotic analysis of quadratic risk functions and it is found that the shrinkage estimators outperform the maximum likelihood estimator uniformly. On the other hand, the pretest estimator dominates the maximum likelihood estimator only in a small part of the parameter space, which is consistent with the theory. A Monte Carlo simulation study has been conducted to compare shrinkage, pretest and Park and Hastie type estimators with respect to the maximum likelihood estimator through relative efficiency. In chapter four, we consider a partial linear model where the vector of coefficients β in the linear part can be partitioned as (β 1, β2) where β1 is the coefficient vector for main effects and β2 is a vector for “nuisance” effects. In this situation, inference about β1 may benefit from moving the least squares estimate for the full model in the direction of the least squares estimate without the nuisance variables, or from dropping the nuisance variables if there is evidence that they do not provide useful information (pre-testing). We investigate the asymptotic properties of Stein-type and pretest semiparametric estimators under quadratic loss and show that, under general conditions, a Stein-type semiparametric estimator improves on the full model conventional semiparametric least squares estimator. The relative performance of the estimators is examined using asymptotic analysis of quadratic risk functions and it is found that the Stein-type estimator outperforms the full model estimator uniformly. On the other hand, the pretest estimator dominates the least squares estimator only in a small part of the parameter space, which is consistent with the theory. We also consider an absolute penalty type estimator for partial linear models and give a Monte Carlo simulation comparison of shrinkage, pretest and the absolute penalty type estimators

E-Banking Offences and Interrelated Laws in Bangladesh

“Electronic Banking” refers to the systems that enable bank customers’ access to accounts and general information on bank products and services through a personal computer (PC) or other intellectual devices. Internet facilities have been introduced in Bangladesh in June 1996 beginning a new era of automated banking and commerce. E-banking is the cornerstone and waves of the future banking services and security. Now most of the banks in Bangladesh are providing a number of E-Banking services and playing a pivotal role. E- Banking services is one of the great initiatives to bestow a part of modern world. It provides gigantic benefits to consumers in terms of case and cost of transactions, either through internet, telephone, mobile or other electronic delivery channels. For many consumers, electronic banking means 24-hours access to cash through an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) or Direct Deposit of paychecks into checking or savings accounts. But in present time E-Banking involves numerous types of transactions. E-Banking offences are earlier occurred in   Bangladesh. For the expansion and safeguard of transaction in country, here exist different types of laws. Laws look after the consumer's rights and liability with banking safety. Laws have been enacted in this field for interest of consumer and bank to ensure their function, duty and rights as so as liabilities. For personal and governmental safety there exist some rules and regulation and also those have some loopholes. This paper represents the painstaking scenario of e-banking services, offences and how laws cop and formulate a better e-banking environment in Bangladesh and tried to simplify future problems and ultimate possibilities to drawbacks them from E-Banking. Key words: e-banking offences, e-banking laws, e-banking in Bangladesh, Banglades

Variability of Rainfall by Some Others Climatic Phenomena in the Northern Part of Bangladesh

The main objectives of this study are to find the seasonal variations of rainfalls and it’s related some others climatic variables in the northern part of Bangladesh. Also a suitable panel regression model of rainfalls on these climatic variables is fitted. In this study, climatic data for different phenomena i.e. total monthly rainfall in millimeters, humidity in percentage, cloud covers in hour per day, average temperature per day in degree Celsius, bright sunshine in hour per day from 1981 to 2017 are collected from Bangladesh Meteorological Department. The selected explanatory variables humidity, temperature, cloud cover and bright sunshine are considered in this analysis. For the availability of data for all of these variables considered in this study, the weather stations of Bogura, Rajshahi and Rangpur are considered which are situated in the northern part of Bangladesh. Among these three cities, the overall average monthly rainfall is the highest in Rangpur with high variability and the lowest is in Rajshahi with low variability. For all these three cities seasonal effect of rainfall is the highest for the month of July, seasonal effect of sunshine is the highest for the month of March, and that of cloud cover is the highest for the month of July. But for humidity variable, the seasonal effects of Bogura and Rajshahi stations are the highest for the month of July but that for Rangpur station is in September. Since all of these time series data have seasonal variations and non-stationary so to run panel data regression model it is needed to be made transformation for getting stationary time series data. For rainfall data it is needed two times transformation to get stationary form. Firstly, using fourth root power transformation and the secondly make a twelve periods lag difference transformation to obtain stationary form. But for all other climatic variables only twelve periods lag difference transformation is sufficient for getting stationary form.  Insignificant Cook-Weisberg test statistic suggests the homoskedasticity and lowest variance inflating factor conferred the absent of multicollinearity among explanatory variables. A panel regression model is employed to check the effect of humidity, temperature, cloud cover and bright sunshine on rainfall which is conferred by Lagrange multipliers test statistic. Since hausman test statistic is insignificant hence the random effect panel regression model is considered. Coefficient of non-determination is 0.66, implies that about 34% variation of rainfall can be explained by these explanatory variables. Cloud cover, humidity and sunshine have significant positive effects on rainfall whereas average temperature has significant negative effect on rainfall. One can try to fit a dynamic panel regression model such as GMM with Arellano Bond correction or two steps analysis of panel data models for further study. Key Words: Rainfall, Variability, Hausman Test Statistic, Cook-Weisberg Test Statistic, Random Effect Panel Model

The Relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices and Employee Selected Outcomes within the Organization: Empirical Evidence from Cement Manufacturing Company Limited in Bangladesh perspective

This is a compendium of the entire object which seeks to examine the association between human resource management practices and employee selected outcomes within the organizations. Data were collected through questionnaire from 100 employees. SPSS-16 was used to analyze the collected data. In this study, descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression analysis have been applied to determine the contribution of each independent variable in human resource management practices within the organizations. The study shows that there is a significant relationship between independent and dependent variables. The result of the analysis revealed that HRM practices have a significant influence on employee selected outcomes like perceived organizational support, employee attitudes and behavior, affective and normative commitment and discretionary behavior within the organization. Furthermore, findings of this research paper emphasis on the presence and appearance of HR internal experts in the organizations which helps to achieve competitive advantage and improving organizational performance. Keywords: HR Practices, Employee Attitudes, Employee Commitment, Discretionary Behavior

Microfluidic-microstructure interaction study under oscillating flows : design, modeling, testing and verifications

In microsystem applications, many MEMS devices are submerged in fluid and their responses and performances are directly influenced by the microfluid-microstructure interactions. Recent developments in microfluidic devices such as micro pumps, micro valves, micro viscometer, biomedical related micro fluidic chips, have necessitated investigations on fluid-structure interactions at the micro levels. A microcantilever submerged in microfluidic channel forms the simplest model for such investigations. The study of such interactions however necessitates systematic developments in suitable experimental methods. In this dissertation, a polymer base micro-fabrication process called "soft-lithography" is adopted to fabricate microcantilever integrated microfluidic channels. An experimental setup is designed to characterize the dynamic behavior of the submerged microcantilever using a new method called DVIP (Deflection using Video Image Processing) method. The DVIP method is used to estimate the deflection or dynamic responses of microcantilever under different flow conditions. The flow behaviors could also be characterized from the response of the microcantilever. A finite element model of the microstructure is developed and results obtained from this model are validated using the experimental results. The finite element model also provides considerable potential to investigate the influence of fluid viscosity on the dynamic responses of the microcantilever. A microcantilever integrated within the microfluidic chip was subsequently tested in the laboratory with fluids of different viscosities. The results obtained are analyzed and discussed in the context of an application development such as a viscometer. An effort is made to visualize the flows near the cantilever tip using the fluids mixed with fluorescent particles. The DVIP method is further extended to estimate the full cantilever beam deflection, which can be applied for determining the mode of vibration. Finally, it is established that the DVIP method is a reliable approach to estimate the dynamic deflections of a microcantilever subject to fluid forces. The concept of the micro viscometer that is developed in the current study can be miniaturized by integrating a miniature camera and an integrated circuit within the microfluidic chip. The current study, however, is limited to square cross-section microfluidic chip, while the proposed methodology would be applicable to study the responses of the microcantilever integrated within channels of different cross-sections. The DVIP method also offers considerable potential to characterize nano-electromechanical devices by integrating a more efficient and faster camer

Analysis of Socio-Economic Conditions of Rickshaw Pullers in the Capital City of Bangladesh

Rickshaw is a familiar transportation media for the people of Bangladesh. Rural immigrates lead their livelihood by pedaling rickshaw. The work has been conducted to realize the socio-economic conditions of rickshaw pullers in Dhaka city. To prevail the socio-economic conditions, several variables have been considered i.e. Rickshaw pullers by their Home City, Previous Profession, Religion, Age, Marital Status, Level of Education, Income, Expenditure, Savings, Residential Status, and Basic Amenities. Data have collected through field survey from the different areas of Dhaka city, like Dhaka University area, Motijheel, Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Kamalapur, Sadarghat, Mohammadpur, Mirpur, mobility hub and so on. The most of the rickshaw pullers were found poor rural people, illiterate and migrated lived in a poor dwelling or in a slum. Keywords: Rickshaw, migration, education, culture, and incom

Value Stream Analysis of Dried Fish’s Supply Chain in Bangladesh

Drying of marine fish is very common in the entire coastal areas of Bangladesh and these dried fishes have demand both in domestic and international markets though the people involved early in the production chain (fishing and drying) add relatively high value and make little profit. In the current supply chain, producers have no influence over supply chain management, rather they are strongly managed and monopolized by giant traders, brokers, dealers, wholesalers and thereby, erodes profitability and preference of primary producers. We conducted a study mainly in Kuakata and Dhaka to examine the supply chain of dried fish between these two areas. Basically this Kuakata is famous for producing dried fish in Bangladesh. Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh, as well as center of different business areas. We have used value stream mapping to analyze the supply chain of dried fish in Bangladesh. In our survey we have tried to identify different supply chain intermediaries and surviving problems in dried fish’s supply chain. At the final stage of our article we have projected our findings and mentioned some possible solutions. Keywords: Supply Chain Management, Value Stream Mapping and Value Stream Analysis, Dried fish, Banglades

Potential use of Rhizobium spp. to improve growth of non-nitrogen fixing plants

Plant growth promoting rhizo-bacteria (PGPR) affect plant growth by producing and releasing secondary metabolites (plant growth regulators/phytohormones/biologically active substances), facilitating the availability and uptake of certain nutrients from the root environment and inhibiting plant pathogenic organisms in the rhizosphere. At the same time, plants produce root exudates containing e.g. sugars, amino acids, organic acids, vitamins, enzymes and organic or inorganic ions. Those substances in turn influence the rhizosphere microflora and also the behaviour of PGPR. In this work, I examined the potential use of legume bacteria, rhizobia as PGPRs since it has been shown that rhizobia (legume bacteria) can function as PGPR in non-nitrogen fixing plants. In the present study, the interactions of nine different rhizobial strains with six different mixed non-nitrogen fixing plant species were examined in laboratory and greenhouse experiments. Mixed botanical plant's seeds were inoculated with same concentration of different rhizobial strains. Significantly increased plant biomasses indicate that rhizobia have naturally potential ability to promote the growth of non-nitrogen fixing plant. The concentration level of rhizobial inoculation is another important factor for seed germination and plant growth. In addition, linseed was inoculated with only one rhizobial strain of different concentrations. To complement experiments were conducted, one was for rhizobial growth and the other one was for interactions between rhizobia and pathogenic fungi. None of the strains tested prevented in vitro fungal growth towards bacterial colonies but after some days of contact between rhizobia and fungi, some strains showed a tendency to dissolve the fungal mycelium. The results showed that Sinorhizobium meliloti strains were the most effective and could be suggested to act as PGPR. The inoculation concentration of the rhizobial strain was crucial. A concentration of 104 cfu mL-1 of Sinorhizobium meliloti proved to be optimal for successful seed germination and growth of linseed

Impact of Edible Oil Import on GDP Growth in Bangladesh: A Panel Analysis

Oil is one of the major imported products and an essential factor in the aggregate production function of Bangladesh. The objective of this study is to see the trend of selected 11 edible oils imports and the effect of selected edible oils imports on GDP growth in Bangladesh. The study uses a secondary data of 26 years for the period 1995-2020 obtained from “The Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics”, published by the National Statistical Organization (NSO) and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). Descriptive statistics and econometric techniques are used to determine the trends of edible oils imports and to evaluate the effect of edible oils imports on GDP growth in Bangladesh. In descriptive statistics, it is observed that money value for import of selected edible oils and quantity of imported selected edible oils are volatile in the whole study period 1995-2020. Trends of imports of selected edible oils in Bangladesh are sighted overall increasing pattern with irregular fluctuations in the study period but imports of mustard oil has a decreasing trend in the same period. The study also found that the considered data has no serial correlation and non existence of heteroskedasticity. The research work has fitted a fixed effect panel regression model with robust standard error for the considered data. Wald test and Hausman test also conferred to fit the fixed effect panel model. The work shows that the money value for import edible oils and quantity of imported edible oils have a negative relationship with GDP growth in Bangladesh. This might be happened due to continuous increasing the price of USD against BDT that results devaluation of BDT which directly impact on imports. Key Words: Edible Oil, GDP, Panel Analysis, Hausman Test, Fixed Effect Model