481 research outputs found
Humayun Kabir, Men and Rivers, and Faridpur
No full textIn the history of South Asian literature in English, Men and Rivers is the third fictional work written by a Muslim author after Rokeya's Sultana's Dream and Ahmed Ali's Twilight in Delhi (1940). Men and Rivers is a literary work of great merit though more research needs to be conducted on the work to appreciate its value by examining various thematic and stylistic features. Through Men and Rivers, Hamayun Kabir conferred on Faridpur literary immortality. I believe the novel will continue to make the district memorable and special to its readers for a very long time
Bangladesh’s writers on Wikipedia: Abbasuddin Ahmed and Humayun Kabir
No full textIn this essay, I have elaborated the cases of two writers, one of whom Wikipedia characterises as Bengali and the other as Indian. I have argued that Bangladesh should be included in their identity even if in a hyphenated form. There are a host of other pre-1971 writers whose identity should not remove their geographical affiliation to what is now Bangladesh. I hope Wikipedia entry-producers and others will consider describing writers with provenance in the spatial (not temporal) boundary of Bangladesh as Bangladeshi
Investigating culture and its influence on socio-economic development in the Kingdom of Eswatini / Aaron Gwebu and Md Humayun Kabir
Full text linkIn the socio-economic sphere, culture has become one of the influences or determinants of the same. Depending on the living environment, culture has tended to be either a resource or an impediment of socio-economic development (SED). The purpose of this study is to investigate existing cultures influencing SED in light of the prevailing socio-economic situation in the Kingdom of Eswatini. A mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) approach was used. Traditional leaders, constituency heads and development practitioners were considered as sample data for the study, where stratified sampling technique was employed in order to accommodate the diverse groups. Results of the study indicate that cultural influence is most prevalent in the rural communities, while the adoption of the new national constitution in 2005 brought an insignificant change in the way culture influences SED. From the findings of the study, it was noted that cultural governance, cultural tourism, customs and traditions, gender discrimination and marginalisation of people living with disabilities are the main existing components relating to the area of the central phenomenon. Further findings indicate that culture in the Kingdom is largely epitomised by the existence of the Monarchy authority, as a wide range of norms, beliefs, customs and traditions are entrenched in the core values of same. This infers that the Kingdom of Eswatini is predominated by socio-cultural values, which necessitates a telling influence on SED issues. A major recommendation would be the formulation of constitutionalised legislation with domesticated regulations and policies that will seek to balance the values and systems of culture with those of socio-economic development. The study creates awareness among the citizenry on the existing cultural influence to SED, which is something that could stimulate willingness to change their current mind-set and perceptions about culture and socio-economic development for the better
Assessing the effectiveness of lean service principle on control and maintenance of the wage bill at Management Services Division, Eswatini / Sabelo G. Sifundza and Md Humayun Kabir
Full text linkThe Government of Eswatini (GoE) civil service wage bill continues to rise despite the implementation of Lean Service Principle by Management Services Division (MSD) to contain the wage bill to manageable levels. So far, there are no tangible outcomes that indicate that the principles as applied have been effective in the reduction of the wage bill. Thus, this research aims to examine the question why the Lean Service Principle failed to effectively slow the rampant growth of the civil service wage bill in the Kingdom of Eswatini? The study investigated the wage bill push-factors and the shortcomings of the Lean Service Principle and Just-In-Time (JIT) Technique in the management and reduction of the GoE civil service wage bill. The study found that the techniques used were not designed for the specific control of the wage bill. They are designed for value creation in the delivery of goods or services to the end-user. They are customer centric techniques. To this end, the MSD has been applying the wrong methodologies in wage bill control, which has been evident by the continued yearly increase of the wage bill. The study recommends that Lean Service Principle and the JIT technique should not be used to control and/or manage the wage bill, but must be used for process and systems improvement to create customer value. This study will enable Cabinet to make an appropriate decision on the mandate and future of the MSD, as there have been growing calls to disband the division due to the failure to reduce and/or control the wage bills as that is the core mandate of the division
Effects of layer orientation of CFRP strengthened steel hollow members
No full textThis paper reveals the effects of layer orientation on structural behaviour of three layers configured (LHL, HHL, LLH) CFRP strengthened circular hollow section (CHS) members subjected to bending. The beams were loaded to failure under four-point bending. The structural behaviour of the CFRP strengthened tubular steel beams with various layer orientations were presented in terms of failure load, stiffness, composite beam action and modes of failure. The LHL and LLH layers oriented strengthened beams perform slightly better than HHL layers oriented strengthened beams. The LHL and LLH layers oriented treated beams showed very similar structural behaviour
Lead competencies matrix to develop potential future leaders of Malaysia
No full textLeaders take calculated risks to reach a challenging goal. To become a leader, certain
competencies are required. Selection of leaders is also very vital. The purpose of this study is to understand
leadership roles, to determine selection process of choosing the right candidates for potential future leaders
of an organization and to obtain competencies which will lead the candidates to get leadership quality. In
this study, theoretical research has been conducted based on American Society for Training & Development
(ASTD) model and secondary data has been used through existing research publications. A conceptual
framework of Leadership selection process and lead competencies matrix model has been derived in
Malaysian context. This study suggests that there are three steps in leadership selection process and ten lead
competencies which are required to develop for a strategic leadership role to excel organizational
performance. Human resource managers can use this selection process and model for developing future
leaders. Primary data can be a potential enhancement of this research
Durability performance of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer strengthened circular hollow steel members under cold weather
No full textThe use of circular hollow steel members has attracted a great deal of attention during past few years because of having excellent structural properties, aesthetic appearance, corrosion and fire protection capability. However, no one can deny the structural deficiency of such structures due to reduction of strength when they are exposed to severe environmental conditions such as marine environment, cold and hot weather. Hence strengthening and retrofitting of structural steel members is now very imperative. This paper presents the findings of a research program that was conducted to study the bond durability of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) strengthened steel tubular members under cold weather and tested under four-point bending. Six number of CFRP-strengthened specimens and one unstrengthened specimen were considered in this program. The three specimens having sand blasted surface to be strengthened was pre-treated with MBrace primer and other three were remained untreated and then cured under ambient temperature at least four weeks and cold weather (3 C) for three and six months period of time. Quasi-static tests were then performed on beams to failure under four-point bending. The structural response of each specimen was predicted in terms of failure load, mid-span deflection, composite beam behaviour and failure mode. The research outcomes show that the cold weather immersion had an adverse effect on durability of CFRP-strengthened steel structures. Moreover, the epoxy based adhesion promoter was found to enhance the bond durability in plastic range. The analytical models presented in this study were found to be in good agreement in terms of predicting ultimate load and deflection. Finally, design factors are proposed to address the short-terms durability performance under cold weather
Durability of CFRP strengthened circular hollow steel members under cold weather: Experimental and numerical investigation
No full textThe durability of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) strengthened steel circular hollow section (CHS) member under prolonged cold weather has not been explored sufficiently. Furthermore, various parameters that may affect the durability of such members have not been revealed yet. This paper presents an analytical and experimental study with a finite element (FE) approach to study the effects of prolonged cold weather (+3 OC) exposure on CFRP strengthened CHS member subjected bending. It was found that a prolonged exposure about 12 month cold weather immersion adversely affected the durability of strengthened beams by reducing strength and stiffness. Durability design factor has been recommended. The proposed analytical models and FE models were found in good agreement with the experimental results. The results of parametric studies showed that the durability design factors varied from section to section, CFRP with higher tensile modulus and higher number of CFRP layers performed better in cold weather
Durability of CFRP strengthened steel circular hollow section member exposed to sea water
No full textThis paper presents the results from a research program to investigate the durability of CFRP strengthened steel circular hollow section (CHS) members with and without embedded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) at ambient (24 OC ± 4 OC) and 50 OC temperatures under accelerated corrosion environment. The beams were tested to failure under four-point bending. It was found that the accelerated corrosion adversely affected the durability of the strengthened beams at both temperatures and the embedded GFRP enhanced the durability. Durability design factor has also been recommended. The proposed theoretical approach predicts ultimate loads reasonably compared to experimental value of ultimate loads
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