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.     

The Role of Egyptian Influences on the Religious Dynamics and the Idea of Progress of Malaya's Kaum Muda (Young Faction) before the Second World War

Egyptian influences related to progress spread in Malaya before the Second World War through the journals published and the religious schools established by the Kaum Muda (The Young Faction). The Kaum Muda traced its origin from the reformist thinking of Mu?ammad Rashīd Ri?ā who published the journal al-Manār from 1898 in Egypt. To disseminate their reformist thought, the Kaum Muda published al-Imām from 23 July 1906, a journal that was directly influenced by al-Manār. Apart from publishing journals, the Kaum Muda, particularly its staunchest exponent, Sayyid Shaykh al-Hadi, also published books and novels with reformist themes, particularly on women’s emancipation. As well as using printed media to convey their messages, the Kaum Muda used modern religious education known as madrasa education, which was associated with reformist thinking, to spread their ideas and bring progress to Malay society.     

Fatal Intoxications Due to Administration of Isosorbide Tablets Contaminated with Pyrimethamine

In January 2012, 664 cases of pyrimethamine toxicity and 151 deaths were reported among cardiac patients that had recently received free medicines from pharmacy of Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore, Pakistan. These patients, ages ranged from 58 to 75 years, were prescribed simvastatin, clopidogrel, aspirin soluble, isosorbide mononitrate, and amlodipine. On examination of medications being given to them, it was found that a particular batch of isosorbide mononitrate tablets was contaminated with 50 mg pyrimethamine. Cardiac patients were taking isosorbide contaminated with pyrimethamine twice daily (100 mg pyrimethamine/day), whereas therapeutic dose of pyrimethamine for malaria is 25 mg/week. Postmortem urine, cardiac blood, and femoral blood specimens of three deceased males were submitted to author's laboratory for analysis. Postmortem toxicological analysis revealed that pyrimethamine concentration fell within the range of 1–10 μg/mL by liquid chromatography. Clinical, autopsy, histopathological, and toxicological findings strongly suggested toxicity due to pyrimethamine accumulation that resulted in deaths of these cardiac patients.     

Y-STR haplotypes in Central Anatolia region of Turkey

Allele frequencies and haplotypes of the 11 Y-chromosome STRs loci, namely DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS389I/II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS438, and DYS439 were determined in a sample of 113 unrelated males from the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. In the 113 samples 106 different haplotypes were encountered, of which 100 were observed only once. The overall haplotype diversity was 0.9987. In the study, a duplication at locus DYS19 and locus DYS393 was observed. The results demonstrate that these loci will be very useful for human identification in forensic cases and paternity tests in the Central Anatolia region.     

Adaptability of Kuwaiti Public Administration Employees to Total Quality Management Requirements

This exploratory study examines the infrastructure of total quality management （TQM） in Kuwaiti public administration. The research was based on a questionnaire administered to a random sample consisted of 600 government officials from various Kuwaiti ministries. The basic elements of TQM which were investigated relate to work relations, administrative procedures, and professionalism. The objective of the study is to improve quality of public services through diagnosing and strengthening positive points, shedding light on the negative aspects, and giving recommendations on how to enhance services＇ quality. The study results showed that public administration employees are highly adaptable to TQM requirements. Statistically significant variations were found in adaptability to TQM requirements due to gender, age, educational level, job level, and work relations with regard to many aspects. It is recommended that decision makers in Kuwaiti public administrators take some measures to enhance TQM orientation such as simplifying administrative procedures, making greater compatibility between employees and type of work, investing more resources on continuing education of public administration employees and conducting field studies concerning adaptability of other government bodies （public institutions, public companies, etc.） to TQM requirements to see similarities and differences between them and the ministries in this regard and draw appropriate lessons.