Need of elevating the role of shariah board and portraying them significantly on Islamic bank websites: Why and how? / Tahreem Noor Khan.

Islamic banking emerged rapidly to fulfil the financial needs of Muslim consumers, by using different viable modes of Islamic financing. These tools of financing were designed to avoid risk-free return, unjustified increase of money on money and uncertainty. To make these tool authentic, in all Islamic bank, Shariah board members are the pillar of the management structure. The presence of renowned scholars in a bank actually helps to increase the worth of a Shariah financial brand as they are the one who oversee and supervise the activities of banks. However, it is noticed that confusion and misperception exist generally about Islamic banks due to lack of devising authentic products, modes of structure and operational default. To identify the customer perception about Shariah scholars, Online Survey was conducted. In total 92 respondents participated. With that, 14 top Islamic bank websites (Bahrain, Lebanon, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Srilanka, Indonesia, Bangladesh, UAE, Pakistan, Malaysia, Kuwait, Jordan, Eygpt, Oman) was observed to figure how they have given importance and exposure to the Shariah board members. The findings suggested that web-marketing could highlight the role of Shariah scholars so that both users and non-users of Islamic banks were able to learn more about the machinery of Islamic financial products. In addition, Shariah board scholars should consciously reconsider and review their past and present approaches so as to perform better in the future

Assessing the Potential Impact of Nanotechnology on the Purification of Water

Independent Research Paper Research in progress for PHYS 2426: University Physics II Faculty Mentor: Raji Kannampuzha, Ph.D. The following paper represents research work done by students in a University Physics 2426 class, the second half of a two-semester introductory course in physics. It is a calculus-based physics course, intended primarily for physics, chemistry, math, and engineering majors. Students are introduced to the concept of academic research by learning to ask research-focused questions and then use the library resources to pursue outside research to find answers. For this assignment, students are asked to investigate a physical science, biological science, or technology problem or topic of their choice by searching the academic literature and then writing a research paper. They are asked to include at least one professional journal article in the references, and the provided rubric contains the same requirements of any professional science journal. In addition, students are required to complete two peer reviews of the paper draft. This helps them see other students’ work and get constructive criticism from their peers before they submit the final paper. In the following paper, Noor Khan assesses the impact of nanotechnology in water purification. She also mentions pollution and its effect on the clean drinking water supply. Khan investigates two different processes used in water purification: electro-spinning with carbon nanotubes and photocatalysis. She also compares the advantages, disadvantages, and cost for each of these processes with traditional purification processes. The use of nano-fibrous filters to purify water samples at a faster rate suggests the possibility of utilizing this new process to better our water purification process. Even though it has its challenges, it is a promising technology that can be adapted in water purification

Evaluating Saudi Corporate Companies Online Recruitment

Organisations are already using their corporate website to advertise jobs and receive resumes online. However the matter of question is how efficient is the web features and e-recruitment process? This research evaluates job opportunities advertised at Top Ten Saudi companies listed in February 2016. Factors evaluated on company webpage are: Navigation (career link), Job advertised (updated and information), nationality and gender focus for advertised job, information about company values on career page, process for filling application. These criteria were evaluated as they are the key determinant factors to identify efficiency and functionality of a webpage. Furthermore, it will assist to understand trend for pooling applicants in Saudi context. Based on concise review of online recruitment practices, it was possible to suggest ways on empowering and usability of e-recruitment method for Saudi companies

In vitro antimicrobial activity of triterpenoid saponin from Tephrosia purpurea seeds extract

A novel oleanen type triterpenoid glycoside has been isolated from the butanolic extract of the seeds of Tephrosia purpurea. Its structure was elucidated as 3-O-{β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)]-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)]-β-D-xylopyranosyl}-2,16-dihydroxy-23,29-dihydroxymethylolean-11,13(18)-diene-28-oic acid on the basis of spectral evidences, i.e. FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FAB-MS data. The isolated saponin was tested for its antimicrobial activity. Significant results were obtained by evaluating the antibacterial activity by “Disc diffusion method” and antifungal activity by “Spore dilution method”. Maximum inhibition was recorded in gram positive bacterium- Streptococcus pneumoniae, while complete inhibition on the growth of fungus-Alternaria alternata was observed at a concentration of 200 μg/mL. The potency of the extract was quantitatively assessed by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration values against selected bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration values were in agreement with antibacterial results where minimum value was recorded to be 23 μg/mL for Streptococcus pneumoniae

Study on the Post-Harvest Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Apricot (Prunus Armeniaca L.) in Peshawar

Physical and chemical properties of four apricot varieties viz., Travett, Palumella, Charmaghz and Badami, fruits were presented in this study. Information about these properties is very important for understanding the behavior of the product during the post harvest operations such as harvesting, transporting, sorting, packing and storage processes. The mean value of fruit length, width, thickness, weight, volume, pulp weight,  kernel weight were established between 40.36-31.19mm, 36.17-26.76mm, 32,20-26.16mm, 30.63-23.83g, 29.53-22.10cm³, 29.91-22.20g, 2.63-1.63g, respectively. The chemical properties which include TSS was found in range of 11.27-9.43, total sugar 11.21-8.75%, reducing sugar 2.43-1.65%, non-reducing sugar 7.35-6.32 and titratable acidity 1.60-1.12%. Therefore, based on physical (quality) properties varieties Palumella and Charmaghz were found superior, whereas in chemical properties varieties Badami and Travett were the best among the tested varieties.   Keywords: Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L), Apricot, physical and chemical properties, Pakistan

Islamic Banks Service Innovation Quality: Conceptual Model

Customer perspectives and satisfaction level are considered important for analysing the performance of Islamic bank service quality. Sufficient researches has been done to explore customer perception and satisfaction level with Islamic banking service quality, however there is lack of data to compare and find the similarity in understanding the main determinant attributes needed for Islamic banking service quality. The purpose of this paper is to describe and integrate the results of existing wealth of research on service quality in Islamic banks. After weighing up all the views from existing research, common findings, concerns will be discussed. This research did not find much of information or studies indicating toward innovation in Islamic banking service quality. Thus based on review of the literature this paper suggests main key attributes of service for Islamic banks (RIBA Service IQ). This research strongly asserts that sincere motivation, truthful intention, dynamic and practical service innovation of quality approaches can uplift Islamic financial brandDOI: 10.15408/aiq.v8i2.316

Dimensi pelaporan kewangan menerusi Internet

Purpose – This paper aims to address the issue of internet financial reporting(IFR) index, by carefully reviewing existing literature relating to the topic, and then suggests a suitable dimension of disclosure index to represent IFR. Design/Methodology/Approach – The study was dependent on an extensive review of the literature of IFR.Findings – Many have investigated the extent, mode and quality of IFR over the last decade. Most of early IFR research is descriptive and exploratory in nature,thus unable to explain the item to represent the level of IFR. Furthermore,while many have conceded that a suitable proxy such as an index of disclosure can be used to gain insight into the sophistication of information disclosed by companies, to date, very few attempts have been made to develop such index. Of these few studies, the dimensions used to represent IFR are inconsistent among the researchers. These differences contribute to the variations in the findings and thus are unable to clearly explain factors influencing the behaviour of the IFR. Based on extensive literature review, we can conclude that the level of IFR can be categorised into two dimensions, which are content and presentation. Originality/Value – The paper provides a basis for mapping existing and future studies on IFR and constructing scenarios of future studies in this area. Paper type – Conceptual paper

An empirical investigation of disclosure item of internet financial reporting in Malaysia

This research attempts to investigate the current status on the disclosure item of internet financial reporting (IFR) among listed companies in Bursa Malaysia based on preparers and users perception. Content analyses are used to provide evidence on internet financial reporting practices by 280 listed companies.The issues of the disclosure item of IFR of the companies listed in Bursa Malaysia.According to a comprehensive review, the evaluation of IFR will be separated into two dimensions which are content dimension and presentation dimension.The items of disclosure in the development of the IFR disclosure index are based on the perspective of preparers and users. Based on the research findings, the level of IFR started from 56.43 to 87.14 per cent.The findings also showed that the overall level of IFR listed companies in Bursa Malaysia were considered good. The implications of the research findings and future research have been discussed

The Flow - Performance Relationship: Evidence from Pakistani Mutual Funds

we use the novel sample of Pakistani mutual funds to examine the flow performance relationship.  We apply linear regression model with fixed effect on unbalanced panel data for the period of 2012 to 2018. Consistence with the existence literature  using sample of US and other developed countries ,we find positive flow- performance relationship , but the prior performance do not have larger impact on subsequent fund flows.  Our results also exhibit that the shape of the relationship is not linear; it’s convex like other developed countries. In other words, the past high performing funds attracts larger inflow in the next periods whereas the past low performing fund suffer from minimal out flow in the next period