PurposeThis article aims to examine the COVID-19 pandemic management system in Bangladesh and the role played by various bureaucratic leaders both at national and local levels. Particularly, attention is paid to the interface between the health sector and administrative leaders. The role played by front-line public servants and their superiors are also examined. Also, an attempt is made to encapsulate lessons learned from the crisis and the ways to prepare for the next one.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on secondary data and observation by the author as well as insights from the author's 36 years of experience in the Bangladesh bureaucracy. Administrative leadership is conceptualized as bureaucrats appointed to administrative positions and discharging administrative duties both at the national and local levels.FindingsA disfunctionality in the COVID-19 management system is observed, which is a direct consequence of the administrative leaders' preference for leading from behind. Some structural constraints in the system are also uncovered.Originality/valueIt draws on observations, experiences and insights from the author's long association with the Bangladesh administrative system. Its intended users are researchers and practitioners of public leadership.

Hilsa fish (Tenualosa ilisha) have become an essential factor behind the well-being of the fishing community, giving fishers their identity as a source of cultural heritage. A field survey was conducted to understand the socio-economic conditions of hilsa fishers at the Meghna river estuary of Chandpur District using well-structured questionnaire interviews (N = 250) with hilsa fishers. The survey revealed that fishers’ livelihoods and living conditions were still below average due to low literacy levels, lack of professional skills, and low incomes. More than two-thirds of the fishers were entirely dependent on hilsa fishing, while more than one-third had between 11 and 20 years of fishing experience. More than two-thirds of the fishers did not have an alternative occupation during ban periods, and the incentives provided by the government were not adequately received by half of the fishers. Fishers were divided into three groups according to their dependence on hilsa fishing. Significant differences were found between these groups in terms of the age of fishers, annual income from fishing, and annual fishing activity days. Therefore, the government, Fisheries cooperatives, NGOs, and other relevant organizations must unite to support fishers for sustainable hilsa fishery management.

The south-east coast, specifically the Cox’s Bazar region, of Bangladesh has achieved a tremendous impetus for producing a large volume of dried fish by involving thousands of marginalized coastal people. This study aimed to assess the socio-economic profile, livelihood strategies, and resilience of the communities engaged in fish drying on the south-east coast using a mixed-methods approach and an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The study’s findings revealed that communities involved in drying were socio-economically undeveloped due to their lower literacy, unstable incomes, and labor-intensive occupations. Apart from notable child labor employed in fish drying in Nazirertek, female workers had relatively higher participation than males. Nevertheless, the female workers had less control over their daily wages and reported working at USD 3.54–5.89 per day, which was relatively lower than male workers who received USD 4.15–8.31 per day. Through fish drying activities, very few workers, producers, and traders were found to be self-reliant. In contrast, the livelihoods of the workers were not as secure as the processors and traders. In addition to suffering from various shocks and constraints, dried fish processors and workers, dried fish traders, off-season income, an abundance of fish species, fish drying facilities, trader’s association, and social interrelationship played a significant role in maintaining community resilience. The study recommends appropriate interventions to alternative income diversification options, strong collaboration between communities, local authorities, and government for sustainable livelihoods and better community resilience.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the antibacterial and cytotoxic properties of methanol extract of leaves of Stephania japonica. The crude methanolic extract of S. japonica, n-hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate soluble fractions of methanolic extract were screened for their antimicrobial activity against a wide range of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by disc diffusion method. The crude extract showed moderate and n-Hexane, chloroform soluble fraction of crude extract showed mild antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the extract showed significant antimicrobial activity against Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus. The zones of inhibition produced by the crude methanolic extract, n-hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate soluble fractions were found to be 12.80-16.55 mm, 12.60 mm, 5-14.30 mm and 10-20.25 mm, respectively, at a concentration of 30 g/disc. Chloroform, n-hexane and ethyl acetate soluble fractions of methanolic extract of S. japonica were screened for antitumor properties using brine shrimp lethality bioassay. A reputed cytotoxic agent vincristine sulphate was used as a positive control. From the results of the brine shrimp lethality bioassay, it can be well predicted that chloroform and ethyl acetate soluble fractions of methanolic extract of S. japonica possess cytotoxic principles (with LC50 66.488 mg/ml and LC50 45.662 mg/ml, respectively) comparison with positive control vincristine sulphate (with LC50 0.839 mg/ml). But n-hexane soluble fractions of methanolic extract of S. japonica exhibited no lethality effect on shrimp nauplii. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjm.v28i2.11816 Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 28, Number 2, December 2011, pp 52-56

The crude n-hexane and ethyl acetate extract of the stem bark of E. stricta were subjected to microbiological investigation and were found to be significantly inhibitory to microbial growth, with the average zone of inhibition 12-17 and 10-16 mm, respectively. In the cytotoxic observation, the n-hexane and ethyl acetate extracts were found to show LC 50 of 2.1 and 0.316 mg/ml respectively.