Social Welfare and Poverty Reduction Activities of NGOs in Bangladesh: An Empirical Study

Bangladesh is both a developing nation and a medium-sized economic power. It is among the eleven market-based middle-income countries with the fastest expanding economies. It is the forty-second market-based economy on the planet in nominal terms and the thirty-first largest by purchasing power parity. According to the IMF, Bangladesh's economy is the second biggest country on an upswing in 2016, with an annual rate of 7.1%. Since the early 2000s, Bangladesh's poverty has unexpectedly decreased, accelerating economic growth. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) actively contribute to the decline of extreme poverty in our nation. NGOs engaged in some charitable work and improved social welfare. This study's primary goal is to show how NGOs and their initiatives affect Bangladesh's social welfare and poverty reduction. Researchers have used primary and secondary data and powerful statistical tools to assess pertinent data to accomplish these goals. From the researchers' observations, data analysis, and findings, it is clear that NGO programs significantly promote social welfare and reduce poverty in Bangladesh

Global Oil Price and Its Economic Impact in Bangladesh

This paper highlighted the plummeting price of oil that is at present the most sensational energy story in the world. This research work outlined the main reasons for the current situation is the low demand for oil as well as concerned companies found it more profitable to extract oil by unconventional methods. In Bangladesh, no changes have been made in the oil price. By figure, at present (June 2017) BPC (Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation) is making profit of Tk 13.77 per liter of Kerosene, of Tk 14.68 per liter of Diesel, of Tk 19.57 per liter of Furnace oil and of Tk 18.75 per liter of jet fuel oil where the very latest world crude oil price come down $ 35.62. The present study is done to make the overview of the world oil prices and Bangladesh as well using purely secondary data collected mostly from newspaper reports, websites, magazines, journals, periodic, reviews and various published data. This study also investigates the impact of the sharp fall oil price to the economy of Bangladesh. In the study, there is seen negatively correlation with the oil price of the world and that of Bangladesh. This paper will be useful to the all stakeholders even policy makers to take proper initiatives for the adjustment of the plummeting oil price of the world. This present study may disseminate that the BPC, as the government-sponsored firm, cannot make the maximum profit as like the Monopoly Company in Bangladesh, so, the retail consumer may give the benefits of the adjustment with the sharp oil price fall in the world

Couple’s reports of household decision-making, unmet need for contraception, and unintended pregnancy in Bangladesh

Introduction: Previous researches emphasize the role of wife’s sole contribution in household decision-makings as predictor of family planning and reproductive health behaviors in many developing countries. These studies tend to overlook how couple’s joint decision-making may promote better reproductive health outcomes than any partner’s sole decision-makings which lack input or agreement from other partner in a marital relationship. Using married couple’s matched responses in decision-making questions; this study examines the association between couples’ concordant and discordant decision-makings, and wife’s unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy in Bangladesh. Methods: This study used couple’s dataset (n= 3336) of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey of 2007. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the likelihood of unmet need for contraception, and unintended pregnancy among married women of reproductive age. Findings: Study findings reveal that there are substantial levels of both concordance and discordance in responses to household decision-making items. Results from logistic regression analyses suggest that compared to couple’s joint decision making, husband-only or wife-only decision-making is associated with higher risk for women in having both unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy. Regression results also indicate that unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy are lower among women with lower parity, women from relatively richer households, and women heard family planning messages on television. Conclusion: As couple’s joint decision-making is significantly associated with better reproductive outcomes, policy makers may promote community based outreach programs, and communication campaigns for family planning focusing on egalitarian gender role approach

Global Oil Price and Its Economic Impact in Bangladesh

This paper highlighted the plummeting price of oil that is at present the most sensational energy story in the world. This research work outlined the main reasons for the current situation is the low demand for oil as well as concerned companies found it more profitable to extract oil by unconventional methods. In Bangladesh, no changes have been made in the oil price. By figure, at present (June 2017) BPC (Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation) is making profit of Tk 13.77 per liter of Kerosene, of Tk 14.68 per liter of Diesel, of Tk 19.57 per liter of Furnace oil and of Tk 18.75 per liter of jet fuel oil where the very latest world crude oil price come down $ 35.62. The present study is done to make the overview of the world oil prices and Bangladesh as well using purely secondary data collected mostly from newspaper reports, websites, magazines, journals, periodic, reviews and various published data. This study also investigates the impact of the sharp fall oil price to the economy of Bangladesh. In the study, there is seen negatively correlation with the oil price of the world and that of Bangladesh. This paper will be useful to the all stakeholders even policy makers to take proper initiatives for the adjustment of the plummeting oil price of the world. This present study may disseminate that the BPC, as the government-sponsored firm, cannot make the maximum profit as like the Monopoly Company in Bangladesh, so, the retail consumer may give the benefits of the adjustment with the sharp oil price fall in the world

Couple’s reports of household decision-making, unmet need for contraception, and unintended pregnancy in Bangladesh

Introduction: Previous researches emphasize the role of wife’s sole contribution in household decision-makings as predictor of family planning and reproductive health behaviors in many developing countries. These studies tend to overlook how couple’s joint decision-making may promote better reproductive health outcomes than any partner’s sole decision-makings which lack input or agreement from other partner in a marital relationship. Using married couple’s matched responses in decision-making questions; this study examines the association between couples’ concordant and discordant decision-makings, and wife’s unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy in Bangladesh. Methods: This study used couple’s dataset (n= 3336) of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey of 2007. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the likelihood of unmet need for contraception, and unintended pregnancy among married women of reproductive age. Findings: Study findings reveal that there are substantial levels of both concordance and discordance in responses to household decision-making items. Results from logistic regression analyses suggest that compared to couple’s joint decision making, husband-only or wife-only decision-making is associated with higher risk for women in having both unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy. Regression results also indicate that unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy are lower among women with lower parity, women from relatively richer households, and women heard family planning messages on television. Conclusion: As couple’s joint decision-making is significantly associated with better reproductive outcomes, policy makers may promote community based outreach programs, and communication campaigns for family planning focusing on egalitarian gender role approach

Use of Wireless Sensor and Microcontroller to Develop Water-level Monitoring System

This paper presents the design and development process of Wireless Data Acquisition System (WiDAS) which is a multi-sensor system for water level monitoring. It also consists of a microcontroller (ATMega8L), a data display device and an ultrasonic distance sensor (Parallax Ping). This wireless based acquisition system can communicate through RF module (Tx-Rx) from the measurement sources, such as sensors and devices as digital or analog values over a period of time. The developed system has the option to store the data in the computer memory. It was tested in real time and showed continuous and correct data. The developed system is consisting of a number of features, such as low energy consumption, easy to operate and well-built invulnerability, which cangive successful results to measure the water level. Finally, its flexibility facilitates an extensive application span for self-directed data collection with trustworthy transmission in few sparse points over huge areas

Progress in utilization of antenatal and delivery care services in Bangladesh: Where does the equity gap lie?

Despite a central element of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the progress in making pregnancy and childbearing safer for women has been slow in many developing countries. Though Bangladesh has achieved commendable progress in reducing maternal mortality in recent decades, the country faces pervasive inequity in antennal (ANC) and delivery care services. The purpose of this study is to provide recent estimates of trend in inequity in antenatal and delivery care services in Bangladesh during 2004-2011. We employ rich-poor ratio, concentration curve and concentration index to examine the trends of inequities in ANC and delivery care services using the latest three waves of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. This study uses logistic regression analysis to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic factors and six indicators of ANC and delivery care. Concentration index for 4+ ANC visits dropped from 0.42 in 2004 to 0.31 in 2011 while it remained around 0.20 for receiving ANC from medically trained provider. Findings indicate that inequity in delivery at health facility and delivery by caesarean section decreased by about 33% in between 2004 and 2011. Women from the richest households were about 3 times more likely to have 4+ ANC visits (OR=2.91, 95% CI: 2.24-3.78), delivery at health facility (OR=3.16, 95% CI: 2.40-4.17), and skilled assistance at birth (OR=3.32, 95% CI: 2.51-4.38) compared to women from the poorest households. There was an overall progress in reducing inequity in utilization of maternal health care but rural area lagged behind to achieve equity compared to urban area. The evidence of inequity in maternal health care utilization highlights that the country faces not only a persistent equity gap between rich and poor women but also substantial rural-urban inequity. It is essential to design multi-sectoral and concerted interventions from an equity perspective to accelerate safe motherhood and childbirth in Bangladesh

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Analysis EDFA Gain in OCDMA System for Fiber-to-the-Home Network

In this paper, the optimum EDFA gain is analyzed for an optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) at different bit rates for 30 km transmission distance. The Enhance Double Weight (EDW) code is used as a signature address of the system because this code can accommodate more number of simultaneous users under considerable standard Bit-Error-Rate (e.g. ≤ 10E-9). In addition, this system receiver is designed using NAND subtraction technique to produce better signal and increase the bit-error-rate (BER) performance and maintain error floor transmission rate (10E-9). The extensive theoretical and simulation has been taken into the account to carry out analysis. We ascertained from our analysis results that the proposed detention technique significantly improves the signal quality and require low optimum gain of the system. Therefore, this system is considered as a promising solution for Fiber-to-the-Home access network