Building skills in qualitative research to inform pro-poor policy: experience from a Bangladeshi NGO

This paper describes the research methodology followed in the ‘Livelihoods of the Extreme Poor Project’, a collaborative research project in Bangladesh between PROSHIKA (a large national NGO) and DFID (the UK government department for international development). The dual purpose of this project was to learn about poor people's livelihoods and train the PROSHIKA research team in the use of qualitative research methods. The research findings were to be fed directly into policy formulation and the planning of new development interventions for the poorest people in Bangladesh. The paper provides an assessment of what the approach used achieved both in terms of building staff capacity and in policy influence, concluding that it has been largely successful in achieving its purpose.     

Hate crimes in India

Jindal Global Law Review -     

Book reviews

Jim Whitman (ed.); The Politics of Emerging Resurgent Infectious Diseases (London: MacMillan Press, 2000).

Francis Loh Kok Wah and Khoo Boo Teik (eds.), Democracy in Malaysia: Discourses and Practices ( Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 2002}.

Shu Gwang Zhang, Economic Cold War: America's Embargo against China and the Sino‐Soviet Alliance, 1949–63 (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2002).

John Funston (ed.], Government and Politics in Southeast Asia (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2001).

John Kane, The Politics of Moral Capital (Cambridge University Press, 2001).

Gurpreet Mahajan, The Multicultural Path: Issues of Diversity and Discrimination in Democracy (New Delhi: Sage, 2002), 239 pages.

S.R. Maheshwari, Administrative Reforms in India (New Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd, 2002).

Frank Cunningham, Theories of Democracy: A Critical Introduction (London and New York: Taylor and Francis ‐ Routledge, 2002).     

The effectiveness of the telecommunications regulatory regime: the case of Sri Lanka telecom

This article examines the telecommunications industry in Sri Lanka and assesses the effectiveness of regulatory arrangements associated with the liberalisation of the telecommunications industry, from a management point of view. The review focuses on the scope of services, price and the quality of services available to customers after the liberalisation. This study finds that, despite the early establishment of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to monitor the telecommunications industry, its interventions have been only partially successful in making it conducive to service providers and customers. While liberalisation of the telecommunications industry has been favoured, the role of the regulator has been controversial with regard to its independence, impartiality, capability, transparency and accountability. We argue that the current model has failed to create favourable market conditions under the circumstances prevailing in the country, and hence a more appropriate model is yet to be developed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Criminal poisoning of commuters in Bangladesh: prospective and retrospective study

Travel-related poisoning is an emerging social and public health emergency in Bangladesh but its cause and significance have not been determined. To investigate this syndrome we performed a prospective clinical study and retrospective analysis of hospital records in a general medicine unit of a public tertiary care teaching hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, using toxicological analysis by fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) and liquid chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF MS). The participants of the prospective study were 130 consecutive patients aged 16-80 years who were admitted with central nervous system depression (Glasgow Coma Score 3-14) after using public transportation, in the absence of other abnormalities, from January through June 2004, and a convenience sample of 15 such patients admitted during 3 days in May 2006. In 2004-2006, travel-related poisoning increased from 6.1 to 9.5% of all admissions (210-309 of 3266-3843 per year), representing 46.6-55.7% of all admitted poisoning cases. Incidents were associated with bus (76%), taxi, train, and air travel, or local markets; 98% of patients remembered buying or accepting food or drinks before losing consciousness. Direct financial damage (missing property) was diverse and frequently existential. Among 94 urine samples analyzed by FPIA, 74% tested positive for benzodiazepines. Among 15 urine samples analyzed by LC-TOF MS, lorazepam was detected in all; five also contained diazepam or metabolites; nitrazepam was present in three. FPIA results obtained for these 15 samples were below the recommended cut-off in eight (53%; lorazepam only). Our findings show that the massive medicosocial emergency of travel-related poisoning in Bangladesh is the result of drug-facilitated organized crime and that benzodiazepine drugs are used to commit these crimes, suggesting modifications to the local emergency management of the victims of this type of poisoning. They also highlight the need for more research in the neglected field of acute poisoning in Bangladesh, and for criminal investigations of the use of benzodiazepine drugs in this country.     

Correction to: Fighting impunity in hate crime — history,ethics, and the law: An interview with Harsh Mander

Jindal Global Law Review - The original article was corrected.     

Enforcement of International Human Rights Law by Domestic Courts: A Theoretical and Practical Study

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Integrated Governance: A Pre-Requisite for Sustainable Market-Oriented Development in Bangladesh

Using agriculture input sector as an exemplar, this article assesses Bangladesh's efforts towards a market-oriented development approach. It examines the changing role of the state following the market-based reforms undertaken in this sector and assesses whether the outcomes of the reforms are sustainable. Findings reveal that, although the current move towards a market-oriented approach has led to a shift away from a state-dominated hierarchical structure, it has not been associated with adequate changes in institutional arrangements, safeguards, and regulation. As a result, despite notable achievements of the reforms, the sustainability of these successes is in question. To facilitate participatory, accountable, and sustainable, market-oriented development, the paper proposes an integrated governance model linking state, business, and civil society.