Pleas For Partition In Train To Pakistan

Pleas for Partition in Train to Pakistan Most readers and critics of fictional works about the Partition of British India (that is the division of British India into India and Pakistan upon independence from the British in 1947) agree that writers tend to paint religious differences as the root cause of the communal conflict that eventually led to Partition. This tendency to blame Partition on religion is also found in critics who study Khushwant Singh\u27s novel Train to Pakistan. In contrast, this thesis will demonstrate that instead of blaming communal diversity (in other words difference of religion ) as the root cause of Partition, Singh blames Partition on self-interested politicians. Singh\u27s novel does not show any dissatisfaction among the different ethnic groups in India before Partition. Rather, it portrays communal harmony with individuals enjoying the full freedom of their religious rights. Singh accomplishes this portrayal largely through focusing on a microcosm of India in the fictional small village of Mano Majra on the India and Pakistan borders where inhabitants of different faiths live like brothers. In fact, the citizens of the village openly resist the decision of Partition by expressing their intentions to fight against external forces to protect their neighbors if attacked in the name of religious differences. Instead, by showing communal harmony and showing violence as coming from the top down--instead of from the people--Singh\u27s novel blames Partition on Indian politicians, who create all kinds of conflicts and contradictions among the common people of India in order to promote their self-interest. This thesis will explore Singh\u27s shift in blame by focusing on three aspects of his portrayal --religion, violence, and economic deprivation with forced migration--that together paint a portrait of greedy and manipulative politicians causing the violence of Partition to force migration. The first chapter on religion shows how Singh portrays religious harmony and how his characters resisted Partition. The second chapter on violence focuses on how ethnic groups are divided and led into conflict by politicians. The final chapter on forced migration examines how Singh portrays the followers of different religions as compelled and motivated to leave all of their wealth and possessions as well as their birthplaces where they have been living for generations with the promise of wealth in the hope of being financially better off. Overall, the thesis suggests that Singh was motivated in this depiction of Partition attempt to heal the still sensitive cultural divisions in India and Pakistan

A Case Study Based Slope Stability Analysis at Chittagong City, Bangladesh

Heavy rainfall occurs almost every year in Bangladesh and induces landslides in the hilly regions of this country. Among them the Chittagong City has the worst scenario―as there lives a dense population, extending from the plain lands to the hilly area. So, for risk mitigation and management in this landslide prone city, slope safety margin should be determined. From this context, this article presents factor of safety (FS) values in terms of landslide hazard at Chittagong city, based on geotechnical parameters and slope geometry. Thus a preliminary idea on the allowable stress for slope design could be made from this study. In total, 16 hazard sites of the 2007 and 2008, rainfall induced, landslides were examined as a case study along with subsequent collection of in situ soil samples of the failed slopes for geotechnical laboratory analysis. For FS calculation, the limit equilibrium method for infinite slopes was deployed along with the Cousins’ stability chart. FS values from 0.94 to 1.57 were found at the hazard sites. The results imply that FS value more than 1.57 should be used for slope safety margin. Moreover, from a probabilistic approach, the authors recommend FS > 1.80 as optimum value for the region. Furthermore, a relationship between slope height to slope length ratio, or slope angle and FS was established for this region for a quick calibration of FS value by simple on-field measurement of slope parameters. It is expected that this scenario based finding would contribute in mitigation of landslide hazard risk at the study area. Additionally, site specific FS values were presented in a map by color indexing. This research could ascertain the location wise slope strength requirement and be considered as a guideline for future calculation for slope safety design against rainfall triggered landslides in this city

SUSTAINABILITY OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Background and Purpose: Microfinance is the most effective and widely acknowledged method of poverty alleviation across the globe but these days every so and often the MFIs are digressing from their primary mission in pretext of financial and operational sustainability of the organizations. The purpose of this research is to confirm the adherence of double bottom line sustainability of Microfinance institutions (MFIs) and further to identify the determinants of MFIs sustainability in the Philippines.   Methodology: The sample for the study was obtained from MIX- market for the period 1999-2018. Principal component analysis and KU model are used to measure the sustainability scores of MFIs. Later, a panel regression model is applied to identify the determinants of sustainability.   Findings: MFIs are not adhering to the double bottom line sustainability as majority of MFIs were unsustainable at different benchmarks set for the study. The sustainability can be achieved if MFIs start utilizing their assets, focus on improving their efficiency and portfolio quality. MFIs size also significantly influences the sustainability of MFIs.   Contributions: This study highlights the need for policy makers and regulators to develop a regulatory framework to reduce the operating cost and improve the portfolio quality of MFIs in the Philippines. They should also provide guidelines that would help MFIs in improving their asset utilization ratio as it would help them adhere to double bottom line sustainability.   Keywords: Sustainability, microfinance, double bottom line, outreach, financial sustainability.   Cite as: Bhuiyan, A. B., Saad, J., Md Kassim, A. A., Munir, A. N., & Ali, M. J. (2023). Sustainability of microfinance institutions in the Philippines.  Journal of Nusantara Studies, 8(TI), 43-61. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8issTIpp43-6

Effects of aflatoxin contaminated feed on the fingerlings of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus Linnaeus, 1758)

Aflatoxin contamination, particularly common in cultured fishes in Asian countries, are considered unsafe both for fish and human health. However, the presence of aflatoxin in cultured fish feed and their effect are still under estimated in Bangladesh. The present study aimed to assess the effects of aflatoxin on growth performance and residues in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings. Fish feed were treated with several concentration of aflatoxin as 0 ppb (T0, control), 25 ppb (T1), 50 ppb (T2) and 100 ppb (T3) and fed the tilapia fingerlings (n=10) in individual glass aquaria (24×12×12 inch, 105-litre capacity) conditions for 12 weeks. Comparatively higher body length (cm) and weight gain (g) were observed in treatment T0 (1.68 and 4.98) and T1 (1.60 and 5.48) than those of treatment T2 (1.31 and 4.06) and T3 (1.20 and 3.10), respectively. The specific growth rate (SGR) were almost similar in treatment T0 (52%), T1 (51%) and T2 (52%) whereas declined significantly (p<0.05) in T3 (39%). Higher survival rate was also demonstrated in treatment T0 (90%) and T1 (90%) whereas significantly decreased in treatment T2 (60%) and T3 (40%). The residue of aflatoxin was not detected in T0 and T1. On the contrary, the residual effect in tilapia fingerling was evident in T2 and T3 treatment. The findings of the present study revealed that aflatoxin contaminated feed is harmful for the growth performance and survival of O. niloticus fingerlings. Further study is necessary to safeguard the aquaculture production as well as to produce healthy food for human consumption

Evaluation of Gentamicin's Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern Against Uropathogens in a Tertiary Health Care Center in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Treatment of UTI patients with aminoglycosides is a familiar incidence. Resistance of antibiotics is also a familiar incidence but it is alarming when it goes to a high ratio. The vital public health problem in developing country like Bangladesh is resistance of antibiotics to different types of bacteria causing UTI and the rates of these bacterial resistances are changing for various antibiotic therapy. Our aim was to assess the susceptible pattern of Gentamicin a drug of Aminoglycosides group against uropathogens. A total of 12943 urine samples were collected in 2016 (Jan-Dec) and out of which 1236 (9.55%) were bacteriologically positive out of these isolated  95.1% were gram negative and 4.9% gram positive organism. Male were found more prone to get UTI under 10 years and between 51-90 years of age and female were more affected in 10 to 50 years and over 90 years of age group. E. coli was the most prevalent (83.9%) isolate followed by Klebsiella spp. (6.7%), Staphylococcus aureus (2.6%), Pseudomonas spp. (2.2%), Enterococcus spp. (2.0%) and Proteus spp. (1.1%). The most predominant organism Acinetobacter spp. (100%) were found sensitive to Gentamicin in both male and female patients and Enterococcus spp. in male (62.5%) and female (58.8%) were found resistant.  Around 37.4% male and 32.5% female were found resistant to E.coli. Keywords: Gentamicin, Aminoglycosides, UTI, Resistance, Uropathogen. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/67-08 Publication date:October 31st 201

Biomass-based curing agents for sustainable leather processing

The biomass utilization without purification and fractionation through a non-selective manner is the best option for high conversion efficiency. Leftover and abundant plant biomass can be a source of preservatives if they keep antimicrobial activity against spoilage microorganisms. Traditionally, 50% w/w sodium chloride (NaCl) is employed for hides and skin preservation (curing). However, enormous water pollution, aquatic toxicity, soil infertility, and high chemical consumption make it questionable. This study investigates biomass-based curing (BBC) agents from Cynodon dactylon grass and Alzibia lebbeck leaves. The plant’s dry powder was directly applied over goatskin and evaluated curing efficiencies. The BBC formulations were user-friendly, highly biomass conversion efficiency (41-53% of raw wt.) and antimicrobial activity (against E. coli: 17-18 mm and B. subtilis: 15-17 mm), and preserved goatskin for 30 days like NaCl. It reduced the salinity and total dissolved solids (TDS) load from tannery-soaking effluent by 67-74% and 41-65%, respectively. The environmental efficiency index (EEI) revealed that BBC systems (EEI: 29.9-31.3) are around 1.5 times more environmentally sustainable than conventional curing (EEI: 20.7). Besides, the alternatives have no effect on the features of final leather. In conclusion, the ecofriendly BBC agents have the potential to minimize the heavy pollution of salt curing

Biochemical, Microbiological, and Sensory Properties of Dried Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) Influenced by Various Drying Methods

An experiment was performed to evaluate the effects of different drying methods with different pre-treatments on the physico-chemical, microbiological, and sensory properties of the silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix. In order to achieve this objective, the collected fresh fish were dried using traditional (without any pre-treatment), improved (fish soaked in a 5% salt solution for 10 min and then treated with chili powder (0.3%) and turmeric powder (0.3%)), and solar tunnel (fish soaked in a 5% salt solution for 10 min) drying methods. The results showed that the dried fish produced by the solar tunnel drying method were rehydrated more rapidly than the products produced by the traditional and improved drying methods. The moisture content of the dried H. molitrix was varied from 18.24 to 25.43% on a fresh matter basis. There was no significant (p > 0.05) difference found regarding the protein, lipid, and ash content among the different drying methods on a dry matter basis. The total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) contents ranged between 37.58 and 45.03 mg/100 g, and significantly (p < 0.05) the lowest TVB-N was observed in dried fish produced by the solar tunnel drying method. Moreover, the highest peroxide and acid values were found in the traditionally produced dried fish as compared with the fish dried by the improved and solar tunnel drying methods. The aerobic plate count of dried fish ranged from 4.52 to 7.51 log CFU/g. The sensory evaluation results revealed that the solar-dried products showed superior quality than the products produced by the traditional and improved drying methods. The results revealed that the dried fish produced by the solar tunnel drying method provided the best product in terms of physico-chemical, microbiological, and sensory aspects