Weaknesses of Malaysian public procurement: a review of auditor general’s reports

Purpose This paper aims to systematically analyze the weaknesses of public procurement in Malaysia as reported in the Auditor General’s Reports from 2011 until 2018. Specifically, the study examines the types of weaknesses, the modes of public procurement involved with the weaknesses, the procurement categories involved with the weaknesses and the key recommendations to mitigate the weaknesses in public procurement. Design/methodology/approach A document analysis was adopted in achieving the objective. The Auditor General’s reports and the reports of activities of federal ministries/departments published by the National Audit Department, Malaysia from the year 2011 until 2018 are the main documents used in this study. The data gathered were analyzed using frequency distribution and displayed with descriptive statistics and relevant graphs. Findings The findings of the study revealed that the top five reported are non-compliance to scope, specifications and terms of contracts; delayed completion/non-completion of project; poor documentation; low quality of products, service and work; and little or no prior planning. It is also found that direct negotiation mode was reported with the highest issues of public procurement, while the procurement mode with the least public procurement weaknesses is direct purchase. Moreover, it was found that work category is the highest with public procurement issues reported compared to supplies and services. The top recommendations given by the Auditor General were to improve internal control, to enhance monitoring, to establish planning in details, to improve assets management and to take appropriate actions toward contractors and procurement officers when needed. Originality/value This is among a few studies that attempted to systematically examine the main issues regarding the public procurement activities in Malaysia. This study highlighted pertinent aspects of the public procurement activities, which need close attention by the relevant authorities to ensure efficient and effective public procurement.

Optimization of Bayesian repetitive group sampling plan for quality determination in Pharmaceutical products and related materials

Sampling plans are extensively used in pharmaceutical industries to test drugs or other related materials to ensure that they are safe and consistent. A sampling plan can help to determine the quality of products, to monitor the goodness of materials and to validate the yields whether it is free from defects or not. If the manufacturing process is precisely aligned, the occurrence of defects will be an unusual occasion and will result in an excess number of zeros (no defects) during the sampling inspection. The Zero Inflated Poisson (ZIP) distribution is studied for the given scenario, which helps the management to take a precise decision about the lot and it can certainly reduce the error rate than the regular Poisson model. The Bayesian methodology is a more appropriate statistical procedure for reaching a good decision if the previous knowledge is available concerning the production process. This article proposed a new design of the Bayesian Repetitive Group Sampling plan based on Zero Inflated Poisson distribution for the quality assurance in pharmaceutical products and related materials. This plan is studied through the Gamma-Zero Inflated Poisson (G-ZIP) model to safeguard both the producer and consumer by minimizing the Average Sample Number. Necessary tables and figures are constructed for the selection of optimal plan parameters and suitable illustrations are provided that are applicable for pharmaceutical industries.

Mechanized Placement of Drip Tape in Potato Comb

Over the past two years, decrease in potato yield has been observed in the Moscow region. One of the main reasons is unfavorable weather conditions. To obtain a guaranteed yield, as well as to improve the quality of products, it is necessary to carry out reclamation works, including additional irrigation. Creation of the optimal water - air balance of the plant throughout the entire growing season will increase productivity, and improve the quality of agricultural products. Drip irrigation is the most economical method of irrigation, but its widespread use is hindered by the high proportion of manual labor when installing the drip tape. A mechanized method of laying the drip tape by placing the working equipment on the Grimme GF-75/4 comb former is offered. The existing methods for determining the irrigation rate do not consider the parameters of the humidification circuit, which leads to excessive irrigation and additional losses of irrigation water. The paper offers a method for determining the irrigation rate considering the shape of the humidification circuit and its geometric parameters.

IoT and Raspberry Pi application in the food industry: a systematic review

The Industry 4.0 technologies are in ascension in the worldwide market, in Brazil still needs to be explored. It was made a Systematic Review to measure the application of IoT in the food industry. Some platforms were used to select works, applying the string “IoT AND Raspberry Pi AND Cheese”. It was possible to evidence the majority of IoT applications in the food industry, focus on the control of temperature, humidity, color, traceability of productive chain, and enlargement of sustainability in the food industry. The most difficulties faced in the conventional application of IoT are related to the high cost of proprietary arquitectures, qualified manpower and obstacles of data security implementation. There are alternatives that aim to reduce the costs of implementation, like the utilization of Raspberry Pi. The food industry presents potential application of technologies that aim for the quality of products, being an excellent opportunity.

Artificial Intelligence and Automation

Transformation is being observed in almost every sphere of life. Industries accept technological advancements by accepting artificial intelligence and automation to improve the quality of products and services and to have errorless processes. The industry has a large number of human resources, and it functions on the concept of human touch, also known as the essence of hospitality; however, with the advent of artificial intelligence, fear of losing the human resources and human touch in the industry is paramount. The authors of the chapter detail the significance of the human touch in the tourism and hospitality industry. The chapter also highlights the usage of artificial intelligence in tourism through predictive analysis, travel experiences through virtual assistance, and the digital transformation tourism and hospitality have observed mainly in the coronavirus pandemic. It ends with a discussion on artificial intelligence in tourism and hospitality as support system for human resources or enhanced service quality and customer experience.

Recent advances in observational support from space-based systems for tropical cyclones

fiNys pkj n’kdksa ls m".kdfVca/kh; pØokrksa ¼Vh-lh-½ ds egRoiw.kZ izs{k.k miyC/k djkus esa ekSle foKkfud mixzgksa dh {kerkvksa ls lHkh ifjfpr gSA Hkw&LFkSfrd ekSle foKkfud mixzgksa ls izkIr n`’;] vojDr vkSj ty ok"i pSuyksa ls i`Foh ds es?kkPNknu ds yxkrkj izkIr gksus okys fp= vkSj bu vk¡dM+ksa ls ek=kRed mRiknksa dks rS;kj djus dh {kerk lcls egRoiw.kZ gSA ekSle foKkfud mixzg v/;;u lgdkjh laLFkku ¼lh-vkbZ-,e-,l-,l-½ foLdkasflu ;wfuoflZVh] ;w-,l-,- esa fiNys dqN o"kksZa esa fd, x, vuqla/kku ,oa fodkl iz;klksa ls m".kdfVca/kh; pØokrksa ds Lopkfyr fo’ys"k.k ds fy, ,d mUur M~oksjd rduhd ¼,-Mh-Vh-½ dk fodkl fd;k x;k gSA mRrjh vVykafVd vkSj dSfjfc;u lkxj esa vkus okys pØokrksa ds fo’ys"k.k ds fy, bl rduhd dk izpkyukRed mi;ksx fd;k tk jgk gSA tcfd Hkkjrh; leqnzksa esa ijEijkxr M~oksjd rduhd ¼Mh-Vh-½ csgrj dk;Z djrh gS rFkkfi gekjs {ks= esa bl le; izpkyukRed vk/kkj ij ,-Mh-,- dk mi;ksx bruk dkjxj ugha gSA lh-vkbZ-,e-,l-,l- esa fiNys dqN o"kksaZ esa vuqla/kku ,oa fodkl iz;klksa ls mixzg ds vk¡dM+ksa ls izkIr fd, x, ek=kRed mRiknksa esa Hkh dkQh lq/kkj gqvk gSA bu mRiknksa esa fuf’pr :i esa m".kdfVca/kh; pØokrksa ds fo’ys"k.k esa lq/kkj vk;k gS vkSj ;s m".kdfVca/kh; pØokrksa dh Hkkoh xfr fn’kk dk iwokZuqeku djus ds fy, egRoiw.kZ lwpuk miyC/k djkrs gaSA Hkkjrh; mixzgksa ds vk¡dM+ksa ls orZeku esa izpkyukRed mRiknksa dh xq.koRrk midj.kksa ds vifj"—r foHksnu ij vk/kkfjr gSA vxys o"kZ ¼2013½ ls bulSV Ja[kyk ds u, mixzg ls vf/kd csgrj xq.koRrk ds vk¡dM+sa miyC/k gksus ls mRiknksa dh xq.koRrk esa vkSj vf/kd lq/kkj vkus dh vPNh laHkkouk gSA lw{e rajx vk/kkfjr midj.kksa ls izkIr vk¡dMsa+ Hkh m".kdfVca/kh; pØokr ds fo’ys"k.k ds fy, vfrfjDr mi;ksxh lwpuk miyC/k djkrs gSaA Åijh {kksHkeaMy esa m".k dksj folaxfr m".kdfVca/kh; pØokr dh rhozrk dk mi;ksxh lwpd gSA Capabilities of meteorological satellites to provide vital observations on Tropical Cyclones (TC) are well known since more than last four decades. Most important are the frequent pictures of earth’s cloud cover in the visible, IR and water vapour channels obtained from Geostationary meteorological satellites together with the capability of generating a number of quantitative products from these data. R&D efforts of last several years at the Cooperative Institute of Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), Wisconsin University, USA have culminated into development of an Advanced Dvorak’s Technique (ADT) for automatic analysis of Tropical Cyclones. It is in operational use for analysis of North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea cyclones. It has been used on experimental basis at Satellite Meteorology Center, IMD while the conventional Dvorak Technique (DT) works well over the Indian seas, experience of using ADT does not permit at present its use on operational basis over our region. R&D efforts of last several years at CIMSS have also resulted in lot of improvements in the Quantitative products derived from the satellite data. These products have certainly improved the analysis of TC and have provided useful information for predicting the future intensity/movement of TCs. Quality of currently operational products from Indian satellite data is limited by the coarser resolution of the instruments. With the availability of much better quality of data from the new satellite of INSAT series from year (2013) onward there is a good possibility of making further improvements in the quality of products. Data obtained from microwave based instruments also provides useful additional information for TC analysis. The warm core anomaly in the upper troposphere is a useful indicator of the TC intensity.

Plastic Packaging: A Study on Plastic Imports in Uganda

Plastic packaging is crucial in preserving the quality of products. It has become ubiquitous, and an inseparable part of daily life and the food industry due to its aesthetic attributes, strength, affordability and convenience of use. This has thus led to the increase in demand and imports of plastics in the country. However, plastic packaging alone accounts for 47% of global plastic waste amidst documented threats of plastic waste to the environment-water-food-health nexus. Several reports indicate that between 1994 and 2017, Uganda imported a total of 1.9 million tons of plastic in both raw and finished form compared to 117 million tons across Africa. Imports and use of plastics in Uganda have increased by six-fold within the last three years hence extrapolating the growing challenge for sustainable plastic imports, product packaging, and waste management. The objective of the review therefore was to explore the future trend and impact of plastic imports and packaging in Uganda by analyzing plastic imports and the associated waste. The study further reviews the challenges arising from the growing demand for plastic packaging and presents a discussion on the solutions and potential ways forward for win-win benefits. Several strides to curb the menace of plastic waste are presented, which are manly from the private sector and plastic recycling businesses. A conclusion is made that if these efforts are to meet the intended leaps of change, the government of Uganda has to support the private organisations through grants, space allocation for collection centers and media access across the country. Furthermore, stricter regulations on excess plastic importation have to be implemented by the government as the country develops locally grown solutions to plastic packaging and use.

Haploid biotechnology as a tool for creating a selection material for sugar beets

Since the discovery of the phenomenon of haploidy, biotechnology has become an integral part in the successful creation of new varieties and hybrids of various plant species. In particular, these technologies are actively used in agriculture, which is concerned with increasing the volume and improving the quality of products. The integration of haploid production techniques together with other available biotechnological tools such as marker selection (MAS), induced mutagenesis and genetic engineering technologies can significantly accelerate crop breeding. This article shows the main stages in the development of biotechnology since 1921. Now they are successfully used to create doubled haploids to accelerate the selection process of various plants and, in particular, sugar beet, which is the most important sugar crop in regions with a temperate climate. There are several methods for obtaining forms with a single set of chromosomes. For sugar beets, the use of gynogenesis turned out to be expedient, since in this case the other methods turned out to be ineffective in the mass production of haploids. The article considers the stages of obtaining the H and DH lines of Beta vulgaris L., as well as the main stages of biotechnological production of homozygous breeding material of this culture. These stages include selecting parental forms – donor explants, sterilizing buds and introducing non-pollinated ovules in vitro, obtaining haploids, doubling their chromosome set, creating doubled haploids, determining ploidy at different stages, relocating the obtained plants to greenhouses and growing stecklings. A number of advantages that the technology of creating doubled haploids in vitro has in comparison with traditional methods of selection are described. It has been shown that the use of these approaches is relevant when obtaining new highly productive hybrids and varieties of agricultural plants; however, the methods for the production of homozygous forms in sugar beet still require additional research aimed at increasing the efficiency and reproducibility of each stage of the process.

Maniçoba for sheep and goats - forage yield, conservation strategies, animal performance and quality of products

ABSTRACT: In dry regions worldwide, providing feed for ruminants has been a great challenge, with a need to use plants which contribute to the resilience of production systems. Maniçoba is seen as a potential forage resource in the Brazilian semiarid, being used as hay or silage to feed ruminants. This review summarized results regarding forage production of maniçoba, in addition to dry matter (DM) intake, productive performance, and quality of animal products obtained providing maniçoba based diets, when compared to diets composed by other roughages for goats and sheep. Considering the evaluated studies, the average yield of maniçoba varied from 367 to 1,592 kg DM ha-1, enhancing the forage yield by increasing plant fertilization and planting density. Diets based on maniçoba promoted similar or higher intake of DM and productive performance for goats and sheep, when compared to diets comprising other forage resources. The quality of animal products was also similar to the ones obtained with diets based on traditional roughages, such as Tifton 85 hay or spineless cactus. Therefore, maniçoba allows a forage production that may contribute to ruminant production systems in semiarid environment and promote productive performance and animal product quality compatible to the ones provided by traditional forage plants.