‘Shari’ah’ based banking and green financing: evidence from Bangladesh / Mohammad Nazim Uddin.

Environmental protection and sustainability is the part of Islamic finance to ensure the fulfilment and establishments of spirit of Islamic tenants. The need to care for the environment and the forms of life that Allah has created on this earth that includes proper usage of natural resources (Al-Fajr: 11-14). Green finance involves the allocation of funds to the environmental friendly projects that help the mankind from any harmful and compliance to the ‘Shari’ah’ rules. The main purpose of the study is to examine the role of ‘Shar’ah’ based banking on green financing in Bangladesh. The study has used the structural questionnaire for primary data that includes various dimensions on green financing of ‘Shari’ah’ based banking in Bangladesh. The study has also used secondary data relevant to articles, journals, books, and conference papers for theoretical development. In order to validate the findings, the necessary statistical measures include 5 point Likert scale, mean, and rank are used in the study. The study revealed that ‘Shari,ah’ based banking have made significant contribution in green financing that promote the preservation of natural resources and the need to respect all living things. The study seems to carry an enormous academic value since a few studies have been undertaken in this area. The results could be useful to the government, Bangladesh Bank, NGOS, Donors, international agency, World Bank, IMF, Academic researchers and national policy makers who have been making endeavor to save the environment in developing countries as well as Bangladesh as a whole

Status of Institutional Repositories in Asian Countries: A Quantitative Study

With the development of information communication technologies, a number of alternative strategies to the traditional scholarly publishing system have been evolved. Among these, Open Access (OA) model which promise to be extremely advantageous to peers everywhere, especially to those who have acute shortage of resources for purchasing scholarly literature. The impetus of OA was boosted by the Open Society Institute (OSI) in a small meeting convened in Budapest on December 1-2, 2001. The purpose of the meeting was to accelerate progress in the international effort to make research literature in all academic fields freely available on the Internet (OAIS, 2002; Hirtle, 2001). The first major international statement on OA, which includes a definition, background information and a list of signatories, is the Budapest Open Access Initiative. The other two leading statements are the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. The conception of open access in these three statements, which is often called the BBB (Budapest, Bethesda and Berlin) definition, launched, inspired, and continues to guide the open access movement. Although institutional-based, or more typically departmental, \u27archives\u27 were known before this, especially in areas such as computer science and economics that were served by NCSTRL and RePEc, respectively, OAI introduced the Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) to provide common services that could operate over more general, independent sites (Lynch 2001). Institutional Repository (IR) adopt the same open access and interoperable framework as e-print archive, but rather than being discipline-based, represent the wide range of research output of a given university or research organization. The term was coined by Scholarly Publishing for Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), and has been defined by SPARC as “digital collections capturing and preserving the intellectual output of a single or multi-university community” (Crow, 2001). Crow argues that institutional digital repositories will lead to significant increases in the prestige of the institutions that build them (Crow, 2002). Stephen Harnad also cites institutional prestige: “Distributed, institution-based self-archiving benefits research institutions in three ways. First, it maximizes the visibility and impact of its own refereed research output. Second, by symmetry, it maximizes their researchers’ access to the full refereed research output of all other institutions. Third, institutions themselves can hasten the transition to self-archiving and so more quickly reduce their library’s annual serials expenditures to 10% (paid to journal publishers for refereeing their submissions)”(Harnad, 2002). Pinfield, Gardner, and MacColl also argue that an e-print archive can raise the profile of an institution (Pinfield, Gardner, & MacColl, 2001)

Islamic Banking and Green Banking for Sustainable Development: Evidence from Bangladesh

Green banking is an integral part of Islamic banking that makes a basis of environmental protection. This study attempts to examine the relationship between Islamic banking and green banking that contribute to sustainable development. The study has used the primary data through a structural questionnaire that includes various dimensions on green banking of Islamic banking in Bangladesh. The investigation revealed that Islamic banks had made a significant contribution to green banking that improves the environment as means of cost and energy savings, preservation of natural resources and the need to respect all living things. The study seems to carry an enormous academic value since a few studies have undertaken in this areaDOI: 10.15408/aiq.v10i1.456

Library Facilities and Services to Users with Disabilities at Jawaharlal Nehru University: A Pilot Study

This paper identifies the access to the study material available and the services offered to the users with disabilities at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) library and the availability of assistive technologies. Questionnaire methods used for collecting the data and found that nearly enough facilities are available on the library campus and within the main library building. The circulation and reference desks are challenging to reach because they were located at a high altitude. The JNU library supports disabled researchers and students with specialized services and assistive technologies. Braille, large print, audio, and electronic books are among the options accessible for the study materials. With bookshare.org, the library provides relevant collections in multiple formats such as daisy mp3, and e-text to visually challenged users

Effect of Nitrogen on the Yield and Protein Content of Grain Sorghums under Dryland Conditions

Agronom

Genetic Studies of Resistance for Corn Earworm [Heliothis zea (Boddie)] in Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]

Crop Scienc

Assessing the influence of human settlements on the plant diversity in wetlands of Phobji and Gangtey, Bhutan

Plant diversity in the wetlands of Phobji and Gangtey represents an important aspect of the overall wetland ecosystem. However, over the years, the increasing trend in population has initiated the building of many infrastructures and accommodations which lie at close proximity to the core wetland area. The plant diversity in human settled area and core undisturbed area was studied, with an objective to assess the influence of human settlement on the plant diversity. A belt transect method was used for the purpose of vegetation survey and Shannon Wiener diversity was calculated using the relative dominance. Plants were analyzed for their diversity, richness, dominance and invasive nature. Additionally, soil and water parameters were also tested to see the current situation of the pH and nutrient levels. A total of 136 species belonging to 39 families was identified in both the areas. The overall diversity index and species richness was found to be higher in the undisturbed areas. Soil analysis did not show much of a difference in physical and chemical parameters except for a slight difference in potassium content. Similarly, water parameters did not show much difference but only showed variation in calcium content. The findings of the study indicated towards the increasing influence of human settlement in the wetland