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Digital literacy is the ability to analyze, evaluate, and create a teaching and learning media which enables adults and youth to understand complex communication. Fintech has transformed the history of the financial sectors and places an individual at significant advantages. Therefore, this research study has examined how digital knowledge could provide an opportunity to learn financial capability. For this research, the authors have selected Bankers, Teachers, Information Technology (IT) professionals, and university students from Bangladesh and United Kingdom to respond to our questions. In this research study, the authors aim to determine the participant's financial literacy level and digital knowledge about individual adults' advantages. The authors have developed hypotheses, financial literacy tests, survey questionnaires. The survey was carried out by financial professionals and university students in the UK and Bangladesh. A small group of participants was selected on a later stage using convenience sampling to conduct a small-scale interview. The research findings have found that present financial decision-making and assets' growth depend on an individual adult's financial capability.

Established and well-known employers in Bangladesh often complain that suitable candidates are not available for employment in their organizations, despite the millions of unemployed graduates in the country. This bears clear witness that graduates in Bangladesh are mostly unable to fulfill the needs and expectations of established and well-known employers. Employing a qualitative research approach, this article explores the desired employability skills and graduates' work readiness from the perspective of established and well-known employers in Bangladesh. The study identified the desired skills and traits as 'communication' 'teamwork and collaboration', 'problem solving', 'computer literacy and technical skill', 'honesty and integrity', 'hardworking and willingness to take on extra work', 'achievement orientation', 'adaptability', 'time management', 'leadership', 'personality' and 'academic results and knowledge'. The study also revealed that graduates mostly lack the necessary skills as envisaged by Bangladeshi employers. As employers have outright authority in the selection of graduates, it is suggested that universities work together with industries to develop the skills and traits they demand. This is the first study, to the authors' knowledge, to explore employability skills and graduates' work readiness from the perspective of established and well-known employers in Bangladesh.

The Teachers' Portal (teachers.gov.bd) is an online platform for Bangladeshi teachers designed to store and retrieve digital educational contents of different subjects useful for classroom teaching and students' learning. The portal also facilitates professional networking among teachers across the country. This study aims to find out the benefits of using this Portal and associated challenges from teachers' perspective. Following a mixed methods research approach Teachers, head teachers, teacher educators from primary, secondary, madrasa and vocational educational institutions and specialists on teachers' Portal (N=410) were interviewed and consulted for the study. Telephone interviews, online surveys, Key Informant Interviews (KII), Focused Group Discussions (FGD), Face-to-Face interviews, and large consultative workshops were used to collect data. The results suggest that teachers are motivated to use the Portal as its contents stimulate students' creativity and encourage students' active participation in classrooms learning. Besides, it empowers teachers in a number of ways. However, internet connectivity, slow Internet speed, power failure, technical issues, high cost of Internet and unavailability of equipment are found as major challenges. In short, the Teachers' Portal is a key driver for changing Bangladeshi education and preparing the young generation with quality education.

Youth are the largest cohort in history numbering more than 1.2 billion with an estimated 87% living in developing countries. The majority of young people live in cities with 60% of the urban population in the developing world. In Bangladesh it will become 65% in 2030 (proportion of total population). Many youth live in informal settlements where opportunities for dialogue with governments are scarce. At the same time young people have been at the forefront of the rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT) particularly the mobile miracle. Mobile platforms offer new opportunities for engaging youth in urban governance. This research addresses these questions through the presentation of data-based canvassing of Bangladesh (especially Chittagong city) followed by personal interviews. The findings are organized around key parameters designed to guide the development of programmes and policies that connect ICT as a tool to improve urban governance and local democracy for youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safe drinking water scarcity is an acute problem in the coastal regions of Bangladesh which is mainly caused by salinity intrusion. In this context, drinking water sources are severely affected, including adverse effects on agriculture, health, fisheries and the ecosystem. This research investigates i) selected water quality parameters ii) local people's perception on drinking water scarcity iii) how local people's cope with safe drinking water scarcity. This research was conducted using local water samples, questionnaire survey of 200 households and 4 focus group discussions (FDGs) in Shyamnagar and Tala sub-district of Satkhira district. The study of the water quality parameters exposed the extreme conditions of the drinking water sources in the area. The average values of total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC) and Chloride concentration (Cl − ) were found respectively 4044.12 mg/L, 7186.7 μS/cm, and 3143.6 mg/L in Shyamnagar and 2313.60 mg/L, 4390.3 μS/cm, and 1402.1 mg/L in Tala. The result of community perception reveals that local people are aware of the safe water scarcity and nearly all of them perceive that salinity is the main reason behind it. Even though there are a number of socioeconomic factors, communities have their own adaptation technologies to cope with the problem. The study concludes with the development of a community based model defining the key responsibilities of the stakeholders, including local and central government, NGOs and community people to work in a well-coordinated manner which will be effective for reducing the scarcity of the safe drinking water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keynesian and the monetarist theorists have been debating for a long time on the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policy. The outcomes of several empirical researches are open to further studies and those outcomes suggest that none of the policies can be thought of as superior to the other. The relative effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies in any economy depends on the prevailing economic and political conditions at any point in time. In order to determine the influence of fiscal and monetary policy on the economic activity in Bangladesh we have used time series analysis on the annual data for the period 1980-2012. The results obtained show that monetary and fiscal both the policies are equally effective in simulating economic growth in Bangladesh. Moreover it has long run relationship with cointegrated impact on economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a precursor to risk assessment and risk management through consuming contaminated seafood, food safety needs to be quantified and assured. Seaweed is an increasing dietary component, especially in developing countries, but there are few studies assessing uptake rates of contaminants from this route. As such, the present study determined likely human uptake due to the trace elemental (Fe, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Hg, and As) concentrations in the edible red seaweeds (Rhodophyta) Gelidium pusillum and Hypnea musciformis , growing in the industrialised Cox's Bazar coastal area of Bangladesh. Metal and metalloid concentrations in G. pusillum were in the order (mg/kg): Fe (797 ± 67) > Mn (69 ± 4) > Ni (12 ± 5) > Zn (9 ± 4) > Cu (9 ± 4) >Se (0.1 ± 0.1) > Hg (0.1 ± 0.01), and in H. musciformis : Fe (668 ± 58) > Mn (28 ± 5) > Ni (14 ± 2) > Zn (11 ± 5) > Cu (6 ± 4) >Se (0.2 ± 0.03) > Hg (0.04 ± 0.01). Despite the industrial activities in the area, and based on 10 g. day−1 seaweed consumption, it is concluded that these concentrations pose no risk to human health as part of a normal diet according to the targeted hazard quotient and hazard index (THQ and HI) (values < 1). In addition, and as a novel aspect for seaweeds, Selenium Health Benefit Values (Se-HBV) were determined and found to have positive values. Seaweed can be used as an absorber of inorganic metals for removing contamination in coastal waters. The results are a precursor to further research regarding the efficiency and rate at which seaweeds can sequester metal contamination in water. In addition, management techniques need to be developed thereby to control the contaminant inputs. • Hypnea musciformis and Gelidium pusillum were assessed for human food safety. • Of eight trace and heavy metal concentrations analyzed, Fe was high and Hg was low. • The health indices EDI and THQ values were <1 mg for all elements except Fe and Mn. • Seaweed consumption, estimated as 10 g. day−1, was found safe for human health. • The Se-HBV index was positive, indicating that Hg contamination has been mitigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]