Smart Autism is a cloud based, automated framework for autism screening and confirmation. In developing countries, due to lack of resources and expertise, autism is detected later than early ages which consequently delays timely intervention. Therefore a mobile, interactive and integrated framework is proposed to screen and confirm autism in different age group (0 to 17 years) with 3 layers of assessment process. Firstly, it screens by evaluating the responses of pictorial based screening questionnaire through mobile application. If autism is suspected, then in virtual assessment process, the child watches a video, its reaction is recorded and uploaded to the cloud for remote expert assessment. If autism is still suspected, then the child is referred to the nearest Autism Resource Center (ARC) for actual assessment. Analyzing these results, the integrated framework confirms autism automatically and reduce user's ARC visit. It is expected that the proposed framework will bring changes in autism diagnosis process and create awareness.
Union Parishads (councils) being the century old rural local government in Bangladesh are yet to fulfill the expectations of rural citizen which is mainly due to own resources constraints including miserable local resources mobilization. This paper focuses on Union Parishads recent revenue trend and performance from five years secondary data (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) and primary data collected from Parishad representatives, local people, government officials and national experts. Finding of the study shows that despite revenue potentials, weak revenue administration, inadequate adjustments and assignments of local revenue sources including lack of union functionaries training become impediments on local revenue enhancement. Other finding of the study suggests that in the absence of valuation based tax assessment system, households housing pattern and literacy rate can be significant determinants in ascertaining annual average holding tax revenue while per capita household holding tax, remittances, agricultural land ownership, households having electricity connections can be used as significant variables to determine the taxpayers ability to pay holding tax.
Despite several local revenue sources, Union Parishads (Councils) in Bangladesh are yet to perform optimal local revenue mobilisation. This paper evaluates Unions revenue trend and performance, budget and planning practices, effect of central grants on local revenue in the backdrop of central government recent initiative for Unions capacity building. Analysis includes three representative Unions, in a comparative perspective, and uses secondary and primary data (from Parishad functionaries, local citizen, government officials and national experts). Findings show that open budget discussion, discretionary and performance grants have positive impact on local revenue collection while this study raises question about sustainability of the revenue augmentation due to disparity of deconcentrated allocations system and feeble local democratic governance. Study recommends making adjustments in local revenue shares, increase discretionary grants, and validation of local participatory governance. This study has implications for local revenue mobilisation through convergence of central-local policy and strategy, specially for developing countries having similar local socio-economic and revenue source footings.
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