Bus rapid transit system : a study of sustainable land-use transformation, urban density and economic impacts

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has shown significant growth in recent years, particularly in developing countries because of its cost-effectiveness. However, empirical evidence on land-use and economic impacts of BRT is limited. This study measures the sustainable land-use transformation, urban density, and economic impact witnessed after the development of BRT. Spatial analysis shows that BRT has the potential to simulate land-use transformation, however, the extent of transformation is context-dependent. Population density has increased from 268 persons/acre to 299 persons/acre. Besides land-use transformations, inward investments and extension of the labor market were also evident in areas served by BRT. The amount almost equal to US $140 million of inward investment was detected after implementation of BRT, which ultimately brought around 800 new employees from remote areas. An efficient land-use policy, streamlining these land-use transformations, and inward investments, can benefit from developing compact and sustainable neighborhoods. This study will help in the performance evaluation of BRT systems in developing countries for sustainable development

Islamic diplomatic law and international diplomatic law : a quest for compatibility

Most literatures on international law have been observed to neglect or give scanty attention to the contribution of Islamic law towards the development of modern international law, particularly the principles relating to the diplomatic immunity and privileges. It has often been maintained, especially by some Western commentators that there is no modicum of materiality between Islamic siyar and the rules of conventional international law; as such, Islamic law has nothing to offer the international legal system. The current spades of global terrorism which are allegedly perpetrated in the name of Islam against diplomatic institutions have further widened this perceived incongruity between the two legal regimes. This study therefore critiques and also evaluates the exactitude of the contention that the sources of the two legal regimes are incompatible. This study equally examines the compatibility in the diplomatic principles between Islamic diplomatic law and international diplomatic law. It also contends that the attacks on diplomats and diplomatic facilities are antithetical to the classical principles of jihaad and Islamic diplomatic law. It further argues that the need to harmonise the two legal systems and have a thorough cross-cultural understanding amongst nations generally with a view to enhancing unfettered diplomatic cooperation should be of paramount priority

Logistics Hub Location Optimization: A K-Means and P-Median Model Hybrid Approach Using Road Network Distances

Logistic hubs play a pivotal role in the last-mile delivery distance; even a slight increment in distance negatively impacts the business of the e-commerce industry while also increasing its carbon footprint. The growth of this industry, particularly after Covid-19, has further intensified the need for optimized allocation of resources in an urban environment. In this study, we use a hybrid approach to optimize the placement of logistic hubs. The approach sequentially employs different techniques. Initially, delivery points are clustered using K-Means in relation to their spatial locations. The clustering method utilizes road network distances as opposed to Euclidean distances. Non-road network-based approaches have been avoided since they lead to erroneous and misleading results. Finally, hubs are located using the P-Median method. The P-Median method also incorporates the number of deliveries and population as weights. Real-world delivery data from Muller and Phipps (M&P) is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach. Serving deliveries from the optimal hub locations results in the saving of 815 (10%) meters per delivery

Working Capital Management Efficiency and Corporate Governance in Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan

Efficiency in “Working Capital Management” (WCM) has been the key factor of many profitable firms. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of characteristics of corporate governance on the WCM efficiency of firms in context of Pakistan. A total of 40 firms listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX, previously known as Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE)) are selected for the period of 5 years which lead to a total of 200 observations. Cash conversion cycle and current ratio are the main measures of WCM efficiency whereas Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tenure, CEO Duality, Audit Committee and Board Size are the main measure of corporate governance characteristics. The results state that governance characteristics have significant impact on WCM efficiency. Except CEO Duality, all other independent variables have significant role in explaining WCM efficiency. This paper suggests the management to set policies that favors maintaining the optimal level of working capital. Firms can create value for the shareholders by reducing the investments, however improving efficiency, in working capital. Keeping appropriate size of the board and audit committee, management can improve the WCM efficiency. The findings of this study are also beneficial to investors, company stake holders, and other key intermediaries

Working Capital Management Efficiency and Corporate Governance in Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan

Efficiency in “Working Capital Management” (WCM) has been the key factor of many profitable firms. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of characteristics of corporate governance on the WCM efficiency of firms in context of Pakistan. A total of 40 firms listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX, previously known as Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE)) are selected for the period of 5 years which lead to a total of 200 observations. Cash conversion cycle and current ratio are the main measures of WCM efficiency whereas Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tenure, CEO Duality, Audit Committee and Board Size are the main measure of corporate governance characteristics. The results state that governance characteristics have significant impact on WCM efficiency. Except CEO Duality, all other independent variables have significant role in explaining WCM efficiency. This paper suggests the management to set policies that favors maintaining the optimal level of working capital. Firms can create value for the shareholders by reducing the investments, however improving efficiency, in working capital. Keeping appropriate size of the board and audit committee, management can improve the WCM efficiency. The findings of this study are also beneficial to investors, company stake holders, and other key intermediaries

The impact of bank regulatory changes, bank specific factors, and systematic risk upon the off-balance-sheet activities in selected conventional commercial banks in South Asia

Risk diversification is among the crucial issue’s conventional banks face. The banking system in South Asia -, which is a diversified banking system, compriseding of local and foreign banks , is also engaged in off-balance sheet activities. Therefore, the prime objective of the current study is to investigate the impact of bank-specific factors, bank regulatory changes and systematic risks on the off-balance sheet activities in conventional commercial banks of selected countries in South Asia namely Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka . Based on the research objectives, the study employeds two estimates, namely, fixed effects (FE) (time and country) and generalized method of momentum GMM (difference). Within the FE static methodology, the researchers estimated structure, comprising both country and time fixed effect in order to further account for financial shocks and other time-related events that affect each of the four countries. The majority of the findings show consistency with the market power theory, which indicates that the banks in South Asia consider the risks arising from the off-balance sheet activities and performance, as key determinants of off-balance sheet activities engagement. Banks in South Asia are also inclined to follow the market regulatory and tax theory, which claims that the increasing regulatory requirements in the form of capital requirement, provides banks with incentives to take excessive risks of off-balance sheet activities. The systematic risks arising from the macroeconomic factors also appear as a significant determinant of the off-balance sheet activities. The findings of the study have several practical implications that can be applied in the context of the bank-specific risks, regulatory pressure from regulatory restructuring and risks from the systemic factors. These implications are of great importance and will help the policymakers and practitioners to understand the issues related to the off balance sheet activities

Performance evaluation of road pavement green concrete : an application of advance decision-making approach before life cycle assessment

Rigid pavement structures are one of the costly components of the infrastructure development process. It consumes a huge quantity of ingredients necessary for concrete development. Hence, a newly introduced concept of circular economy in combination with waste management was introduced to solve this problem. In this study, three waste products (rice husk ash (RHA), wood sawdust (WSD), and processes waste tea (PWT)) was utilized to develop the concrete for rigid pavement structures by replacing the sand, i.e., a filler material at different percentages. During the testing procedure of compressive (CS), tensile (TS), and flexural strength (FS) properties, RHA and WSD at 5% replacement were found to be a good replacement of sand to develop required concrete. This study will help in the production of eco-friendly rigid pavement structures and a pathway of life cycle assessment in the future

A Study on Hierarchical Model of a Computer Worm Defense System

This research addresses the problem of computer worms in the modern Internet. A worm is similar to a virus. A worm is a self-propagating computer program that is being increasingly and widely used to attack the Internet. It is considered as a sub-class of a virus because it is also capable of spreading from one computer to another. Worms are also computer programs that are capable of replicating copies of themselves via network connections. What makes it different however is that unlike a computer virus a computer worm can run itself without any human intervention? Because of these two qualities of a worm, it is possible that there will be thousands of worms in a computer even if only one computer worm is transferred. For instance, the worm may send a copy of itself to every person listed in the e-mail address book. The worm sent may then send a copy of itself to every person who is listed in the address book of the person who receives the email. Because this may go on ad infinitum worms can not only cause damage to a single computer and to other persons computer but it can only affect the functionality of Web servers and network servers to the point that they can no longer function efficiently. One example is the .blaster worm