Does socio-Demographic Variables Matter in Explaining Issues and Challenges in Islamic Microfinance? Evidence from Malaysia

Purpose - In line with the wide acceptance of the microfinance industry globally, Islamic microfinance has also evolved rapidly in the past years to cater for the demand for Shariah-compliant microfinancing schemes. Despite this, the industry is facing various issues and challenges from both the clients and microfinance institutions. This study aims to identify the issues and challenges faced by different demographic background of microentrepreneurs receiving Islamic microfinancing from Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM). Methodology- It adopts the quantitative research methodology where primary data is collected using survey questionnaires administered on 393 women entrepreneurs who are currently clients of AIM’s Islamic microfinance scheme located in Selangor. The descriptive and cross-tabulation analyses are applied in efforts to understand the influence of socio-demographic factors (age, education level, duration with AIM, and times of receiving financing) on the following issues: cost of repayment, financing period, amount of financing, distance to AIM center, group lending mechanism, discipline among members, problematic group members, and consultation services. Findings - The study finds that clients with different socio-demographic factors perceived the issues differently, suggesting an influential role of clients’ demographic factors on the microfinance intervention. Practical implications - These findings have important implications to the microfinance industry in terms of further improving their products that are tailor-made to the socio-demographic characteristics of their clients. Originality – This research taken views of AIM’s microfinance recipients which were woman entrepreneurs in Selangor directly through a survey. Results of the research would be useful to AIM to enhance their products and services in future.     Keywords: Islamic microfinance, socio-demography, Islamic finance, Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysi

G51.04+0.07 and its environment: Identification of a new Galactic supernova remnant at low radio frequencies

We have identified a new supernova remnant (SNR), G51.04+0.07, using observations at 74 MHz from the Very Large Array Low-Frequency Sky Survey Redux (VLSSr). Earlier, higher frequency radio continuum, recombination line, and infrared data had correctly inferred the presence of nonthermal radio emission within a larger, complex environment including ionised nebulae and active star formation. However, our observations have allowed us to redefine at least one SNR as a relatively small source (7.05 × 30in size) located at the southern periphery of the originally defined SNR candidate G51.21+0.11. The integrated flux density of G51.04+0.07 at 74 MHz is 6.1 ± 0.8 Jy, while its radio continuum spectrum has a slope α = −0.52 ± 0.05 (Sν ∝ να), typical of a shell-type remnant. We also measured spatial variations in the spectral index between 74 and 1400 MHz across the source, ranging from a steeper spectrum (α = −0.50 ± 0.04) coincident with the brightest emission to a flatter component (α = −0.30 ± 0.07) in the surrounding fainter region. To probe the interstellar medium into which the redefined SNR is likely evolving, we have analysed the surrounding atomic and molecular gas using the 21 cm neutral hydrogen (HI) and 13CO(J = 1 − 0) emissions. We found that G51.04+0.07 is confined within an elongated HI cavity and that its radio emission is consistent with the remains of a stellar explosion that occurred ∼6300 yr ago at a distance of 7.7 ± 2.3 kpc. Kinematic data suggest that the newly discovered SNR lies in front of HII regions in the complex, consistent with the lack of a turnover in the low frequency continuum spectrum. The CO observations revealed molecular material that traces the central and northern parts of G51.04+0.07. The interaction between the cloud and the radio source is not conclusive and motivates further study. The relatively low flux density (∼1.5 Jy at 1400 MHz) of G51.04+0.07 is consistent with this and many similar SNRs lying hidden along complex lines of sight towards inner Galactic emission complexes. It would also not be surprising if the larger complex studied here hosted additional SNRs.Fil: Supán, Jorge Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Castelletti, Gabriela Marta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Peters, W. M.. Spece Sciences División. Naval Research Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Kassim, N. E.. Spece Sciences División. Naval Research Laboratory; Estados Unido

Sustainability of private sector in municipal solid waste collection: is it possible?

This paper discusses the sustainability of private sector participation in urban service delivery in developing countries. The solid waste collection service in Dar es Salaam – Tanzania is used as a case study. Cities in Africa are rapidly urbanising as a results municipalities have not been able to cope with the rapid increase of solid waste coupled with the rapid population increase. This resulted in a relatively large quantity of solid waste remaining poorly managed and uncollected, which left with a need for other stakeholders to participate in service provision. The private sector in DSM took the opportunity, in the early 1990s, to fill the gap left by the public sector. The paper deals with the question of operational sustainability and explores whether such an approach is possible or not. The purpose of the paper is to share experience with urban developing countries with similar characteristics to DSM-Tanzania

Language-in-education policy and planning : the case of Lebanon

Recent changes in Lebanon's educational legislation indicate a shift away from using the national language, Arabic, as a medium of instruction in favour of other foreign languages, namely English, French, and German. The latest decree that was passed in 1994 stipulated that these foreign languages can be used as instructional languages in all cycles, including the pre-school and elementary levels. The issue of language-in-education in Lebanon is an old one, dating back to the arrival of foreign missionaries during the second half of the 17th century. Since then several policies and decisions have been made by the colonial powers and the successive Lebanese governments. This paper reviews these policies and decisions in the light of the country's political history with special emphasis on their impact on students and communities at the socioeconomic, educational and political levels. The paper maintains that the policies made by the French during their mandate over Lebanon (1920-1943) favoured the Christian Catholic and Maronite communities. Meanwhile, the policies adopted by the successive Lebanese governments in the era of independence (1943-1975) were largely improvised and more of responses to emotions triggered by independence. Consequently, several socio-economic and educational incentives determined the spread of foreign languages, especially English, in contemporary Lebanon. This widened the gaps among the classes that make up Lebanese society and contributed to the distribution of quality education along sectarian and socioeconomic lines.peer-reviewe

Low Frequency VLA Observations of Abell 754: Evidence for a Cluster Radio Halo and Possible Radio Relics

We present 74 MHz and 330 MHz VLA observations of Abell 754. Diffuse, halo-like emission is detected from the center of the cluster at both frequencies. At 330 MHz the resolution of 90'' distinguishes this extended emission from previously known point sources. In addition to the halo and at a much lower level, outlying steep-spectrum emission regions straddle the cluster center and are seen only at 74 MHz. The location, morphology and spectrum of this emission are all highly suggestive of at least one, and possibly two cluster radio relics. Easily obtained higher resolution, higher sensitivity VLA observations at both frequencies are required to confirm the extended nature of the halo-like emission and the 74 MHz relic detections. However, since there is prior evidence that this cluster is or has recently been in the process of a major merger event, the possible discovery of relics in this system is of great interest in light of recent observational and theoretical evidence in favor of a merger-relic connection. We discuss the possible role the merger shock waves, which are seen in the X-ray emission, may have played in the formation of the halo and radio relics in A754.Comment: 15 pages including 4 figures. Accepted for publication by Ap

Innovations and continuous improvements and their impact on firm's performance.

This paper examines the influence of innovation and continuous improvement practices on the competitiveness of firms, which in turn affect their performance. Results obtained from 112 Qatari firms confirm that continuous improvements had a significant positive influence on the firms’ competitiveness. Among six of the ten Ekvall’s creative climate factors examined, only four had some positive influence on the competitiveness of the firms. The authors also found that the organization’s internal environment had significant positive influence on the competitiveness of the firms. Furthermore, results show that organizational competitiveness significantly influenced performance. Managerial implications of the findings are also provided

The New Political Economy of EU State Aid Policy

Despite its importance and singularity, the EU’s state aid policy has attracted less scholarly attention than other elements of EU competition policy. Introducing the themes addressed by the special issue, this article briefly reviews the development of EU policy and highlights why the control of state aid matters. The Commission’s response to the current economic crisis notably in banking and the car industry is a key concern, but the interests of the special issue go far beyond. They include: the role of the European Commission in the development of EU policy, the politics of state aid, and a clash between models of capitalism. The special issue also examines the impact of EU policy. It investigates how EU state aid decisions affect not only industrial policy at the national level (and therefore at the EU level), but the welfare state and territorial relations within federal member states, the external implications of EU action and the strategies pursued by the Commission to limit any potential disadvantage to European firms, and the conflict between the EU’s expanding legal order and national

Influence of Training Levels of Private Security Service Providers in Crime Prevention in Lurambi Sub-County, Kenya

This study aimed to examine the role of private security providers in crime prevention in Lurambi Sub-County, Kenya. The study was necessitated by private security providers' presence and use to protect life, property, and maintenance of law and order in Lurambi Sub-County, Kakamega County, Kenya. The Routine Activity and Situational Crime Prevention Theories of criminology informed the study. Specifically, this study intended to establish resource availability for private security service providers in crime prevention in Lurambi Sub-county, Kenya. The study adopted descriptive and correlational research designs. The primary target population constituted 358 respondents, both male and female, drawn from six registered and regulated private security service providers in Lurambi Sub-County, 5 senior police officers in charge of security, police administration, and 4 police stations across Lurambi Sub-County, and 133 clients of private security services. Purposive sampling was used to identify the 6 registered and licensed private security firms which provided the study population. Proportionate sampling with a statistical framework of 30% was used to identify 108 private security service providers who formed the sample size to ensure that the private security officers from the 6 firms were represented in the same proportion that they existed within the population. Questionnaires were used to collect data from three groups of respondents, including 108 private security officers, 6 managers each in charge of each private security firm that participated in the study, and 40 clients sampled from the 6 private security firms that participated in the study. Interview guides were used to collect data from 5 senior police officers in charge of security, police administration, and 4 police stations spread across Lurambi Sub-County. The study findings revealed that private security service providers were not adequately trained, hence impacting crime prevention negatively in Lurambi Sub-County. The study recommended that private security service providers consider providing relevant and timely training programs to strengthen crime prevention efforts. Key Terms: Training Levels, Private Security, Crime Prevention DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/11-6-04 Publication date:July 31st 202