CHALLENGES FACING THE DEVELOPMENT OF TAKAFUL INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH AND INDONESIA: A REVIEW

Takaful is the Islamic version of insurance, and the size of global takaful industry is about USD$51 billion in 2019. Limited studies have been conducted on the development of takaful sector in Bangladesh and Indonesia using a comparative approach. As such, this review aims at investigating the challenges facing the development of takaful industry in these two countries. Primary sources such as laws and regulations, and the secondary sources such as scholarly articles and books on the subject matter were reviewed to derive conclusions. This review concludes that efficiency of takaful in both countries depend on some common factors, such as having a proper and sophisticated regulatory framework for takaful with the development of required talent pool while focusing on creating awareness and education to ensure that not only the general public have the required takaful literacy; but even the existing and potential customers have the basic knowledge about takaful. Further, it is also found in this review that in order to further develop the takaful industry in both countries, it is imperative to use innovation and technology to promote takaful parallel to the conventional insurance by creating a level playing field. This review also identifies some specific issues in both countries and have suggested recommendations accordingly. It is anticipated that the outcome of this review will assist policy makers and other stakeholders to understand the inhibitions facing the development of takaful industry in these two jurisdictions with hope that these challenges can be eliminated for the sustainable development of takaful sector. Keywords: Insurance, Islamic insurance, Islamic finance, review, Shariah, Takaful. Cite as: Lubaba, S., Ahmad, A. U. F., & Muneeza, A. (2022). Challenges facing the development of Takaful industry in Bangladesh and Indonesia: A review. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 100-113. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp100-113

Efficiency of Public and Private Universities in Bangladesh: A Comparative Approach using Data Envelopment Analysis

The aim of this study is to measure the efficiency of higher educational institutions and investigate the comparative efficiency of public and private higher education in Bangladesh. Using data envelopment analysis (DEA), technical efficiency of 15 public universities and 20 private universities of Bangladesh are evaluated over the period 2008-2018. The empirical results reveal that public universities on an average operate between 56.2 to 80.7 percent level of technical efficiency while the private universities between 49.1 to 77.6 percent level over the study period. That is, universities in Bangladesh, on an average, do not operate efficiently in terms of resource utilization. Over the years only 33% public universities and 25% private universities are found efficient. The inefficient universities can improve their efficiency by utilizing full capacity of the inputs or reducing the amount of inputs at the estimated inefficiency rate of the respective universities. Findings also show that the public universities have the scope of producing 1.24 to 1.78 times and private universities 1.28 to 2.04 times as much output from the same level of inputs. Special monitoring by the regulatory authorities is required for inefficient universities to enhance their efficiency level.

Training associated alterations in equine respiratory immunity using a multiomics comparative approach

Neutrophilic airway inflammation is highly prevalent in racehorses in training, with the term mild to moderate equine asthma (MMEA) being applied to the majority of such cases. Our proposed study is largely derived from the strong association between MMEA in racehorses and their entry into a race training program. The objectives of this study are to characterise the effect of training on the local pulmonary immune system by defining the gene and protein expression of tracheal wash (TW) derived samples from Thoroughbred racehorses prior to and following commencement of race training. Multiomics analysis detected 2138 differentially expressed genes and 260 proteins during the training period. Gene and protein sets were enriched for biological processes related to acute phase response, oxidative stress, haemopoietic processes, as well as to immune response and inflammation. This study demonstrated TW samples to represent a rich source of airway cells, protein and RNA to study airway immunity in the horse and highlighted the benefits of a multiomics methodological approach to studying the dynamics of equine airway immunity. Findings likely reflect the known associations between race-training and both airway inflammation and bleeding, offering further insight into the potential mechanisms which underpin training associated airway inflammation.

Determinants of Insecticide Resistance Evolution: Comparative Analysis Among Heliothines

It is increasingly clear that pest species vary widely in their propensities to develop insecticide resistance. This review uses a comparative approach to analyze the key pest management practices and ecological and biochemical or genetic characteristics of the target that contribute to this variation. We focus on six heliothine species, three of which, Helicoverpa armigera, Heliothis virescens, and Helicoverpa zea, have developed resistances to many pesticide classes. The three others, Helicoverpa punctigera, Helicoverpa assulta, and Helicoverpa gelotopoeon, also significant pests, have developed resistance to very few pesticide classes. We find that host range and movement between alternate hosts are key ecological traits that influence effective selection intensities for resistance. Operational issues are also critical; area-wide, cross-pesticide management practices that account for these ecological factors are key to reducing selection intensity. Without such management, treatment using broad-spectrum chemicals serves to multiply the effects of host plant preference, preadaptive detoxification ability, and high genetic diversity to create a pesticide treadmill for the three high-propensity species.Without rigorous ongoing management, such a treadmill could still develop for newer, more selective chemistries and insecticidal transgenic crops.

Global migration governance from below in times of COVID-19 and “Zoomification”: civil society in „invited “ and „invented “ spaces

The global pandemic has resulted in ad hoc unilateral policies on migration, mobility and border management while at the same time emphasizing the need for global cooperation. For global governance in this field to be effective, it needs to include stakeholders beyond states and international institutions. The Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular Migration (GCM) highlights the role of those groups directly affected by global policies, i.e. migrants and their organisations. The goal of this paper is to analyse the role of civil society in global migration governance in times of COVID-19. It employs a comparative approach between “invented” and “invited” spaces. “Invited spaces” in this context refer to spaces created by international organisations such as the United Nations Network on Migration’s “Stakeholder Listening Sessions” on COVID-19 and the resulting statements. “Invented Spaces” refer to self-organized spaces by civil society actors. The paper will compare these spaces regarding their openness, the central issues and calls for specific policy measures, the stakeholders involved and the strategies they employ. I argue that the pandemic has strengthened the “input” dimension for migrant civil society in global governance. This relates to the structure/format as well as to the content of the participation. “Zoomification” has opened up access to “invited” spaces while pushing forward the creation and scope of “invented” spaces”. There are indicators that the pandemic has also influenced parts of the output dimension, although it is too early to assess whether this will have a lasting effect on policies on the ground.

Cyprus and Sardinia at the Transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age: A Sacred Landscape Approach

In the framework of this contribution, and taking a macro-historic sacred landscapes approach, we established a comparative project analysing in parallel the development of sacred landscapes of two mega-islands, Cyprus and Sardinia, at the transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age. In both Cyprus and Sardinia, the period between the 12th and 8th centuries BC seems to have been a time when re-negotiations of individual, societal, and political identities took place, and this is clearly reflected on the construction of the sacred landscapes of the two islands. We first present our ‘landscape/macro-historic approach’; we then define the chronological horizon and the socio-historical contexts under discussion for each island, exploring at the same time how the hierarchical arrangement of ritual sites appearing at this transitional phase seems to be related with articulated social order or linked with shifting relations of power and cultural influence. Finally, we proceed to a discussion addressing the following three questions: (1) what is the relation between individual insularities and the construction of sacred landscapes on these two mega-islands?; (2) how can a ‘landscape/macro-historic approach’ assist us in better formulating microscopic approaches on both islands at the transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age?; and (3) is a comparative approach viable?

Context and Co-text in Bernard Ogini’s Hamlet for Pidgin (Oga Pikin)

This article examines a phenomenon that may trigger a resurgence in the pleasure of reading or watching performances of Shakespeare’s plays in Nigeria: adaptation and translation into Naija (previously Nigerian Pidgin). Specifically, it examines how the Naija translation Hamlet for Pidgin (Oga Pikin) is prototypical for such a revival. The study adopts a comparative approach and explicates how anaphoric reformulation (AR), cataphoric reformulation (CR) and exophoric reformulation (ER) condition the translation’s peculiar lexico-semantic choices in terms of borrowing, reduplicatives, calquing and the like. These forms enter a networked relationship within the co-text and context to bring about a contemporary equivalent to Hamlet. Readers and audiences extract meaning through clues such as collocation, background knowledge and other linking strategies provided consciously or unconsciously by the author/translator. The article concludes that this translation is also significant for its shift away from the cathartic effect of Shakespearean tragedy and towards a comic mode that has greater popular appeal.

Reasoning Model and Moral Simulation to Improve Students’ Social Skills: A Focused Look at Emotional Intelligence

Education serves the purpose of cultivating the capacity to shape character and civilisation in a dignified manner to advance the nation's intellectual life. Social studies education is an affective domain subject because it teaches students to see knowledge in social interactions and to apply it directly in the community environment. This study compares students' social skills acquired through moral reasoning-based cooperative learning to those acquired through simulation-based cooperative learning in order to determine the effectiveness of simulation-based and moral reasoning-based cooperative learning in improving students' social skills, as well as the interaction between the two. This research employed a quasi-experimental design with a comparative approach. The study was conducted in classes VIII A and VIII B, with 27 students and 26 students, respectively, at SMP N 27 Pesawaran, Lampung Province, Indonesia. The findings of this study indicate a significant difference in social skills between students taught using the Moral Reasoning cooperative learning model and students taught using the Simulation cooperative learning model in social studies subjects. Learning that employs the Moral Reasoning learning model is more effective than learning that employs the Simulation one. Received: 2 September 2021 / Accepted: 5 December 2021 / Published: 3 January 2022