Problems of co-ordination in upazila administration in Bangladesh

The present government of Bangladesh has extensively reformed the administrative system and upgraded the previous thana to upazila (sub-district) to serve as the focal point of development administration. A new tier of local government called Upazila Parishad (UZP) has been created and a large number of functions have been devolved to this institution along with the placement of central government employees at its disposal. The reformers argue that the present system will remove the inadequacies of the previous administrative system and will bring about an improvement in the co-ordination of field services at the upazila level. However, the actual situation represents a totally different picture. The desired integration— both vertical and horizontal—and co-ordination in local level planning is non-existent due to the absence of any clear direction from the central government. Proper co-ordination among the field services in the upazila administration does not exist due to the anomalous relation between the upazila and the national government, including excessive central control; the involvement of multiple agencies of the central government in guiding and supervising; ambiguity in government thinking; the absence of clarification from the ministries concerned and agencies on the timing of different development programmes; and conflict over the allocation of resources. There is also conflict between the different tiers of local government in respect of authority and resources. Relations between public representatives and officials at the upazila level are strained because a clear allocation of authority to political executives is lacking; areas for co-operation among different agencies have not been clarified; and public representatives and government officials lack mutual respect.     

Treatment of paraphilia in young adults with leuprolide acetate: a preliminary case report series

Some juveniles who engage in sexual offenses may have a paraphilia, a psychiatric disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of deviant and impairing sexual fantasies, thoughts, and/or behaviors. Though there is no known cure for these conditions, paraphilias can be effectively managed using a multimodal treatment approach. This may include the use of psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatment interventions, including antiandrogen medications. One such agent, leuprolide acetate (leuprolide), a luteinizing hormone-releasing-hormone agonist, has been shown to be effective in reducing paraphilic symptoms in adult patients. To date, however, there is no published data on its use and effectiveness in adolescent and young adult paraphilic patients. This study consists of a case report series of six young adult patients treated with leuprolide. All subjects had been diagnosed with at least one paraphilia (i.e., Pedophilia, Sexual Sadism, Frotteurism, and Paraphilia Not Otherwise Specified). All subjects had been refractory to treatment in a residential program for adolescent sex offenders prior to initiation of leuprolide. All six subjects reported a reduction in sexually deviant symptoms following treatment with leuprolide. Clinicians rated four as much improved and two as moderately improved. The treatment was well tolerated in all six subjects. This preliminary case series supports the conclusion that leuprolide deserves further examination as a potentially safe and effective component in the treatment of young adult patients with paraphilia.     

GCC-US Alliance-Making Reconsidered: The Travails of Dependency

ABSTRACT

Donald Trump’s presidency may have altered less in relations between the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council than recent accounts suggest. Instead, power relations between the US and its Gulf allies have long been, and continue to be, asymmetrical. Dependency theory and postcolonial analysis illustrate the ways in which the US global hegemon exhibits hierarchy, exerting control over Gulf economic resources (oil) and extending its ‘security umbrella’ (e.g. weapons sales and bases) – all in highly unequal dynamics. A critical discourse analysis of American and Saudi speeches during the 2017 Riyadh summit further confirms this assessment. This raises questions about alliance-making and alliance-maintenance norms of promise-keeping and reciprocity.     

Effect of financial sector development and FDI inflow on employment rate in South Asia: New empirical evidence from ARDL approach

The current analysis aims to explore the empirical nexus between financial development, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow, and employment rate. To attain this aim, we collect 30 years of annual data over the period 1990 to 2019 from South Asian economies and employ the autoregressive dynamic least square (ARDL) model for regression analysis. The implication of the ARDL model was subject to the mixed stationarity status of the series as assessed by unit root testing. The robustness of the analysis was checked by employing the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) models. The statistical analysis infers that both financial development and FDI inflow enhance the employment rate in the South Asia region. In addition, the empirical analysis infers that the gross capital formation, economic growth, and export volume have a positive while the population growth rate has a negative effect on the employment rate. The impact of underlying explanatory variables was found significant only in long run. The estimated coefficient values in the case of FMOLS and DOLS models support the direction of the relationship between explanatory variables and employment rate, implying the robustness of the analysis. The findings of the current analysis can be used to devise efficient economic policies to cope with the encroaching issue of unemployment in the South Asia region. This study offers the robustness to existing literature and complements the literature by exploring the underlying arrangement of study to the whole South Asia group.     

‘Let them entertain themselves’: the fall of the Mubarak regime seen through Egyptian political cartoons

This article examines the issues underlying the downfall of the Mubarak regime from the perspective of Egyptian cartoonists. A total of 2734 political cartoons published in five leading newspapers between January 2010 and February 2011 are analyzed. Because they form a significant part of the cultural context within which these cartoons are created, popular political jokes are also referenced. The study identifies political stagnation, domestic issues and corruption as the three most significant issues that paved the road to the fall of Mubarak.     

Do public sector organizations ensure labor ethics? Perspectives from ethics and workplace spirituality in Bangladesh's garment sector

The suppression of labor rights is a matter of serious concern in developing countries. Yet little is known about the role of public agencies in protecting the rights of underprivileged employees. Hence, this study aims to examine the reasons behind the persisting labor exploitation in private enterprises despite the presence of public governance and labor codes. Data was collected through in-depth interviews as well as archives from different external and internal agencies of privately owned garment enterprises in Bangladesh including public administrators and multinational retailers. Kantian ethics and Islamic moral principles were used as theoretical lens to evaluate the labor practices of enterprises. This study contributes to the existing literature by introducing a process model of labor exploitation that depicts multinational power and poor governance to be the main drivers for the abuse of labor ethics. Specifically, political influence and institutional corruption drive poor governance. Public power is exercised to suppress marginalized labor institutions rather than enact labor codes. We found that ethical and spiritual values are not reflected in labor practices and practical suggestions on enacting labor ethics through which the fair enforcement of public power is offered.     

Adult learning and literacy learning for livelihoods: some international perspectives

Reflecting contemporary interest in developing new adult literacy learning programmes based on ‘literacy for livelihoods’, this article examines some case studies from New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Egypt, illustrating literacy being used in livelihoods, and relates these to the kind of literacy being taught in many adult literacy programmes today. It argues that people often change their livelihoods, and that each livelihood has literacy practices embedded within it. The authors suggest that the use of these literacy practices embedded within the livelihood activities might be a better starting point for adult literacy learning than a school-based textbook.