Project appraisal through discounted and non-discounted cash flow Essay

Project appraisal through discounted and non-discounted cash flow techniques - Essay Example Positive and negative values makes it easy to understand generation of profits and losses as well as assists decision makers to focus only on the highly positive items, the precious time of management can be saved by focusing on the relevant project (Fortes, 2010; Horngren, 2005). Calculations are comparatively easy and data of any finite period can be easily converted into present value of it. Net present value analysis is derived from some basic realistic and practical assumption it is based on a fact that value of  £100 today will be more than the worth of  £100 after a year. Keeping this assumption in mind a net present value of future cash inflows is calculated using a discounted rate, usually the rate of cost of capital of a company or industry this rate represents the percentage minimum requirement of return by an organization per annum. Annuity factors can also be used if cash flows are constant every year. The Net Present Value (NPV) is a useful technique to determine profitability of any item being assessed, but has few limitations as well, it only focuses on factual data that can directly hit the profit generation capabilities of an item and financial aspects only while appraising projects and does not account for the non financial aspects, areas and issue associated to that project; whereas, there is a high probability of any decision/ project to get affected by numerous external or internal non-financial events.

English Crucible Coursework Essay Example for Free

English Crucible Coursework Essay In the established society of a small, Puritan town in the late 17th century, a lie by a ministers niece sparks utter hysteria throughout the town of Salem. This quite minor fabrication causes a wildfire of deceit to burn throughout the town destroying homes, families and friendships. In the centre of this saga the marriage of John and Elizabeth Proctor has been diminished to a marriage of awkward silences and great mistrust by John Proctor adulterous relationship with Abigail Williams. As the town is in havoc, the Proctors marriage is also tested. The play portrays heir struggle to prevail I a world of treachery. In this essay of The Crucible, I am going to be examining the Proctors marriage in relevance to the theme of witchcraft and study why Miler put the marriage at the centre of the play.  When we first see the Proctors in Act Two, a conventional view of home life at that period time is portrayed the husband has been working hard on the land, while his wife cared for the children and tended to her familys needs, but this scene also shows many things. I t shows the need for gratitude from each over, as if they need to please one another vastly. This is depicted many times when John begins to eat. Early on in the scene as Proctor comments on his wifes food saying It is well seasoned which we are aware is false as previously in entering the house he sampled the food and added more seasoning to it, the way this sentence is implied suggests that he is just trying to keep the peace between them. She is content with his praise and eve thrives on his delight in her and feels if she carries on pleasing him he will not go elsewhere for this gratitude, as to his previous mistress Abigail This is not one-sided as John states to Elizabeth after consulting her if she would like a cow he says, I mean to please you with her reply being, John I know. This shows he is attempting to redeem his infidelity and prove to her al he wants is to make her happy and she is aware of his numerous efforts but cannot allow herself to forget the past months.  Elizabeth is still very apprehensive of John and questions him as soon as she is aware of his presence she begins to enquire into his delay home asking him, what keeps you so late?. Elizabeth shows great suspicion towards John; this is depicted through her eagerness to know what is keeping her husband. He justifies himself by declaring in his defence he was out farming. The premature view of the scene in Act Two reveals great suspicion in this marriage, as Elizabeth is fearful that he has been visiting Elizabeth. This parallels to the witchcraft trials of Salem and the scepticism of the inhabitants as to if someone may blindly accuse them next for minor things such as an argument in the past or over land restrictions. The weariness by the community is shown later in the Act when Reverend Hale is told of the arrest of Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse to this he declares, Then nothing left to stop the whole green world from burning. This statement refers to the suspicion in the town as when one lie has started it is difficult to stop it from causing more lies to arise, this declaration can also be interpreted as the whole green world being the forest and when a forest fire is started it is almost impossible to stop the fire in comparison to the wildfire of lies spreading through the region. This leads to the lack of trust in the district of Salem and in the Proctors marriage .As we return to the early stages of Act Two we see the Proctors involved in a minor dispute as he tells Elizabeth of his moment alone with Abigail, this is where the mistrust in their marriage is exposed and laid bare Elizabeth in disbelief of what she was just confronted with, questions him and asks you were alone with her, and he discards her and tells her, only for a moment, she reads into this as a lie and suspects their liaison has been reunited and is upset he has not informed her of this moment.  Elizabeth still detects that John is concealing something from her and because of her suspicions continuously questions him as we saw at the beginning of Act Two, her frustrations at him is shown when she says, John you are not open with me which explains her distrust in John this is because she feels he is disguising a  Fabrication from her.

If I Were George Bush Essay example -- essays research papers

If I Was George Bush   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If I was George Bush I would follow the exact same path he is following right now. His plans for our countries Education and Health Care plan live up to their promises. These plans also benefit the country greatly as a whole. Yet, if I was President Bush, I would make the positive effects of these plans to prove themselves more immediate than they have been. This would urge America to follow my, or Bush’s, plans to make America a better place.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Education Plan the Bush has produced is almost perfect. It contains six key points that I totally agree with. The first part of the plan says that American will provide state grants to recruit and train teachers. The second part of the plan being that America will be recruiting high quality Individuals to become teachers. The third part says that America will be expanding programs to train teachers in specific subject areas. The fourth part suggests that America will implement the Teachers Protection Act. The fifth part says that a new teacher’s tax deduction will be implemented. Lastly, the sixth part of the plan says that America will be providing expanded student loan forgiveness for teachers. All of these goals lead to one key plan. This plan is to put a quality teacher in every room. If this feat can be accomplished, I would follow the exact same plan Bush is following right now. Bush basically has this plan covere...

Athenian Artistic Performances Were They a Form of Propaganda Essay

The â€Å"glory that was Greece† reached its height in 5th century BCE in Athens, under the leadership of Pericles. He opened Athenian democracy to the ordinary citizen, was responsible for the construction of magnificent temples and statues on the Acropolis and he, in effect created the Athenian empire. The definition of propaganda is â€Å"the planned use of any form of public or mass-produced communication designed to affect the minds of a given group for a specific purpose, whether military, economic or political† (Linearger, p. 39, 1954). This has connotations of dishonesty and while people assume it is a modern phenomenon, its roots go back much further. The question is however, was propaganda rife in 5th century BCE Athens and if so, was it the driving force whether explicitly or not behind many of the public displays? A funeral oration or epitaphios logos is an official speech delivered at a funeral. The epitaphios is regarded as a virtually unique Athenian concept, although early elements of such speeches exist in the Epic poetry of Homer and in Lyric poetry of Pindar; in addition modern parallels have been drawn between Lincoln’s Gettysburg address and Pericles. When Pericles gave the epitaphios for Athenian soldiers who had been killed in the first year of the Peloponnesian War. He took the opportunity to not only praise the deceased, but Athens itself, in an oration which has been both praised as enshrining the archetypal democratic system and condemned as barefaced propaganda. In Thucydides’ book History of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles’ Funeral Oration is a powerful rhetorical piece. In addition it is important evidence for the study of the Athenian sense of identity and the way they represented themselves and others. It eloquently discusses the ancient democratic model and the picture it portrays serves as a prototype for democratic states today (Abbott, 1970). Thucydides specified a man would be chosen to make an ‘appropriate speech’ i. e. it matched formulaic prescriptions of the epitaphios, which according to Edinger, â€Å"consisted of a number of recognised topics: praise of the dead, praise of the ancestors, praise of the city, consolation of the families of the dead.

International Economic Essay

Globalization process refers to the worldwide incorporation of economic, cultural, political as well as religious and social arrangements. There are other definitions with the IMF referring it as the growing economic interdependence of nations globally through improving quantity and range of inter-country trade, free international capital flows and extensive widespread of technological knowledge. Economically, it’s defined as the union of prices, products, wages as well as interest rates and margins to fit in the developed countries standards. Globalization has various advantages such as appearance of global production, markets as well as wider access to a variety of internationally produced goods for consumers and producers. Secondly, there is emergence of international economic markets and greater access to external funds for; local, national and other borrowers. Thirdly, it’s economically beneficial in that there is recognition of an international common market depending on the autonomous exchange of commodities between nations. Fourthly, there is a formation of world political government that maintains the relationship between nations and ensures the freedom arising from social and economic internationalization. In addition, there is a greater information flows between different countries hence enhancing communication, while encouraging intercultural contacts and adoption of other cultural ideas hence promoting the adoption of new technology and practices therefore encouraging unity and harmony. Finally, it encourages global cooperation which assists in solving environmental challenges such as water and air pollution, over fishing of the seas and climate change. Similarly, it encourages health competition between nations and industries hence ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in the production of commodities. This ensures that goods produced are of high quality and charged fairly. This ensures that consumers are not exploited by producers who may produce counterfeit goods and charge high prices. In the wake of internationalization, productivity is essential so as to meet the international demand for goods and services and remain competitive in the world market. At the same time, nations which experience economic growth are fairly placed and their commodities are highly demanded in the world market. It also ensures that can trade with others effectively and efficiently by meeting the required standards as they can afford the current technology and production techniques. Tariffs refers to a tax on foreign goods once they are imported i. e. immediately on arrival at the port, the custom officer examines the goods and imposes a levy as per the custom formula. There are various types of tariffs such as: an ad valorem tariff which is a percentage of the value of a commodity while specific tariff is charged on a commodity as per its weight, volume or surface, but not to its value. It shows many units of a currency are charged per amount or area. There is also a revenue tariff that refers to a group of levies imposed mainly to raise income for the government while protective tariff is mainly imposed to temporarily raise the prices of imports while protecting the local or domestic industries from foreign competition and dumping of unwanted commodities or imports. However, they raise the price of a commodity as per the imposed levy, hence exploiting the consumers of the good or manufacturers who utilize as a raw material, at the same time ii can lead to trade war when it doesn’t favor the imposing country. Trade blocks are formed to minimize or eliminate tariffs against trade with each other and impose protective tariffs on imports outside the block, while custom union has a common external tariff as per agreed strategy; the member countries divide the revenue from the tariff on commodities entering the union among themselves. Economic theories argue that tariffs are unnecessary disruption of consumers’ sovereignty and the rule of free market. They argue that it is unjust to the consumers and generally unfavorable for a nation to protect a non performing industry, it’s healthier to let it collapse and give way a new efficient one to grow in its position. Others claim that protective tariffs that assist in protecting infant industries permit them to develop and withstand competition in the international trade once they expand their size. Similarly, tariffs can be used as a political tool to define the boundaries of an independent country as absence of tariffs establishes a free market system with no borders. However, it has been argued that tariffs assist developing countries as they are easy to collect, and these countries lack institutional capability to efficiently raise revenue and sales taxes. Non tariff barriers to trade are ways to avoid free trade regulations such as those of European Union (EU), World trade organization (WTO) etc. hat restrict imposition of tariffs such as anti dumping regulations and counterfeit goods measures, which have similar results as tariffs though imposed in special conditions. Other non tariff barriers are in form of processing or production requirements of a commodity with an import ban imposed on those goods which do not meet the requirement or condition. Some trade barriers are openly allowed in very limited conditions, when reckoned important to safeguard health, safety, sanitation or depletable resources. Non tariff barriers to trade take many forms such as state subsidies that favor an individual or industry hence disadvantaging others subsidizing, therefore becoming more competitive in the market as well as national regulations on safety, health, employment and product classification which tend to discriminate some business while favoring others. Quotas are also form of barriers as an industry can’t produce more than the recommended quantity, hence regulating its production capacity and trade in general. imilarly, foreign exchange control and multiplicity forms a non trade barrier as countries or industries that do not access it cant participate in foreign trade easily, hence it acts as a form of trade barrier as well patents and copyright laws that give an individual or industry the ultimate powers to produce a commodity alone, therefore regulating trade. Others include bribery, corruption, unfair customs procedures, restrictive licenses, import bans and restrictive import regimes which act as an obstacle to trade.

US Trip essays

US Trip essays In 11th grade I had the chance to apply for a 3-week-stay in the USA. There is a student exchange program between our high school and the Oak Ridge High School in Conroe Texas. It is a tradition that every year in spring a group of 11th graders visits Texas. I have always been interested in foreign languages and I like travelling to English-speaking countries to use the language and to get to know more about the inhabitants and their way of life. That is why I absolutely wanted to be one of the students to go to Texas that year. But it is always only a few students who get the opportunity to do that. I knew I had good conditions to take part because one of my main subjects was English and my teachers comminded me all the time. And my assumption was right. After a very short time I already got an e-mail from the daughter of my prospective host family. However the political situation in the U.S. was very complicated at this time. For that reason it was not certain if the exchange program could really take place. It seemed like my host family knew about the doubts my family had to allow me to go on that trip. So they sent a detailled letter to my parents to introduce themselves and to let them know that they could not identify with Bush's policy and that they would not support the war in Iraq. I was very glad to hear that because I would not have to think about how to react, if there were discussions about political topics. The letter they wrote made my parents feel relieved. My host family made avery positive impression on them. So they know I would be safe. And this was also the beginning of a friendship between our two families. Everyone of us started writing letters and e-mails and calling each other on the phone - me and my host sister (of course), my parents and her parents and even my brother and her sister. I could not wait to talk to my host family in person and when I got there they exceeded all of my expectations. They gav...

Patience The modern author’s lost virtue

Patience The modern author’s lost virtue Patience: The modern author’s lost virtue In our last article, we enumerated the different qualities successful indie authors usually have: they’re great writers, entrepreneurial-minded, good at marketing, etc. But here’s one quality only a select few possess: patience.The rise of self-publishing has brought with it the decline of this all-important virtue. There always seems to be a rush- to write, to get the next book out, to sell it. We’re in the pre-ordering, pre-promoting, pre-emptive stage of publishing. And if you’re like us, racing against the clock is starting to feel preposterous.Even established writers are ruled by the clock. Let’s consider Hugh Howey’s website: the first thing you see is this little widget indicating his progress on his upcoming books. I almost want to bet on which bar is going to be filled first, and that’s just one author! Why is this â€Å"race† so characteristic of self-publishing? Well, first, because indie authors are in charge of all the work- including how quickly pages go to print (concretely or digitally). The pace of a book’s release used to be determined by a publishing house; indies don’t face that controlling force.The second big reason is financial. Self-publishing authors don’t get advances. They are only able to earn money when the book is out and selling. A sense of urgency is a foregone conclusion, until you realize that your first book won’t sell as well as you hoped (gaining market traction is no quick or easy task). So you feel an even greater sense of urgency to churn out book #2†¦and 3†¦and so on and so forth.This can be perfectly fine and even prove advantageous, but can easily ruin all your hard work: with urgency comes precipitation. What’s precipitation? Well, it can be Joanna Penn ordering several thousand print copies of he r first non-fiction book before knowing how to market it, for example. Or in most less-extreme cases, releasing a first book that hasn’t been copy edited or proofread- or one full of formatting issues.When you enter the self-publishing race and start producing content at a fast pace, you can miss out on great opportunities- and I’m not even talking about the opportunity to simply spend more time on each book (before releasing it) to make it better.I’m talking about marketing opportunities. I’m talking about something that might sound like a sacrilege to many indie authors: sitting on finished work. I first thought of this when reading the excellent blog post by Hugh Howey on â€Å"The Liliana Nirvana Technique†, which basically consists of â€Å"publishing 5 works at once† and the 6th one shortly after.If you go through the comments below the post, you can get a sense of how crazy this sounds to many indie authors. However, when you think ab out it, it makes sense: by â€Å"flooding† Amazon all at once with your work, you dramatically increase your exposure; your books get linked to each other, â€Å"every sale leading to recommendations for 4 or 5 more of your works†, and readers looking for content see your name everywhere.Sure, this means your readers have to wait longer for your next book, but if they’re already your readers, the only thing you’re creating is anticipation and suspense (just as you should have done in your narrative)! Case in point: How many of us are chomping at the bit just to pre-order The Winds of Winter?The good thing is that all this â€Å"theoretical thinking† has actually been validated by several of â€Å"Liliana’s peers†, as Hugh puts it. It takes guts to sit on a book (let alone 4 or 5), but patience is a virtue even in a digital age.

Here Are Six Tips for Reporters Covering Press Conferences

Here Are Six Tips for Reporters Covering Press Conferences Spend more than five minutes in the news business and youll be asked to cover a press conference. Theyre a regular occurrence in the life of any reporter, so you need to be able to cover them - and cover them well. But for the beginner, a press conference can be tough to cover. Press conferences tend to move quickly and often dont last very long, so you may have very little time to get the information you need. Another challenge for the beginning reporter is figuring out the lede of a press conference story. So here are six tips for covering press conferences. 1. Come Armed with Questions As we said, press conferences move quickly, so youll need to have your questions ready ahead of time. Arrive with some questions already prepared. And really listen to the answers. 2. Ask Your Best Questions Once the speaker starts taking questions, its often a free-for-all, with multiple reporters shouting out their queries. You may only get one or two of your questions into the mix, so pick your best ones and ask those. And be ready to ask tough follow-up questions. 3. Be Aggressive If Necessary Any time you get a bunch of reporters in one room, all asking questions at the same time, its bound to be a crazy scene. And reporters are by their nature competitive people. So when you go to a press conference, be prepared to be a bit pushy in order to get your questions answered. Shout if you need to. Push your way to the front of the room if you must. Above all, remember - only the strong survive at a press conference. 4. Forget the PR Speak - Focus On the News Corporations, politicians, sports teams and celebrities often try to use press conferences as public relations tools. In other words, they want reporters to put the most positive spin possible on whats being said at the press conference. But its the reporters job to ignore the PR talk and get to the truth of the matter. So if the CEO announces that his company has just suffered its worst losses ever, but in the next breath says he thinks the future is bright, forget about the bright future - the real news is the huge losses, not the PR sugarcoating. 5. Press the Speaker Dont let the speaker at a press conference get away with making broad generalizations that arent supported by facts. Question the basis for the statements they make, and get specifics. For instance, if the mayor of your town announces he plans to cut taxes while at the same time increasing municipal services, your first question should be: how can the town provide more services with less revenue? Likewise, if that CEO whose company has just lost billions says hes upbeat about the future, ask him why - how can he expect that things will get better when the company is clearly in trouble? Again, get him to be specific. 6. Dont Be Intimidated Whether youre covering a press conference with the mayor, the governor or the president, dont let yourself be intimidated by their power or stature. Thats what they want. Once youre intimidated, youll stop asking tough questions, and remember, its your job to ask tough questions of the most powerful people in our society.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the Hotel Industry Case Study

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the Hotel Industry - Case Study Example This paper illustrates that the customer relationship management process also tracks customer behaviors so that you can clearly identify and act on customer motivation that is unique to your client base†. To nurture the stability of a hotel in today’s global market, managers need to respond effectively to the changes in CRM that have taken place in the last couple of decades in order to remain connected with the customers. As Roberts states, â€Å"in the 1990's companies began to improve on Customer Relationship Management by making it more of a two-way street†. Let us discuss how hotel industry has taken a shift since the 1990s until now both in terms of consumers and marketplace. Hotel industry all over the world has taken a major shift since the 1990s. If we talk about the changes with respect to consumers, we can say that hotel industry has changes changed significantly. For example, earlier managers of the hotels used to prepare a limited range of food items that could satisfy the needs of local people. However, after the 1990s the trend of immigration started finding a strong place all over the world, which resulted in grouping different cultures together. This change forced managers of hotels to prepare a wide range of food items to satisfy the needs of people belonging to different cultures. Another change that has taken place is regarding communication with the customers. Earlier, managers hardly used to focus on maintaining a communication link with the customers. They only focused on providing some limited services to the customers. However, from the last couple of decades managers have started focusing on developing long-term relations with the customers. Therefore, they have started reaching the customers through different channels to establish a strong customer/hotel relationship. Changes With Respect To Marketplace Before 1990s, hotel industry was not so big and evolving as it is today. For example, at that time the idea of opening franchises in other countries was not very gripping and trendy. Managers of hotels used to focus their attention towards the consumers living in any particular area or location. They used to prepare the food of the choice of the consumers of some particular locations. Moreover, they used to market new food items and meals in some particular locations. After 1990s, the idea of opening international branches started to find a solid grip making managers of many hotels think towards going global. This idea also brought up many other changes in the hotel industry. For example, managers of hotels have started marketing their products and services to international consumers in order to attract them. â€Å"The 90s truly saw CRM technology and software evolve out of simple database marketing† (Koble n.d.). Answer B: Let us now discuss the ways the above-mentioned changes in the hotel industry with respect to consumers and marketplace would have influenced Summer Palace’s CRM strategy and practices. Meeting the Needs of Diverse Customer Base First major change in the hotel industry is the culturally diverse customer base. As Summer Palace hotels are currently operating in more than 50 countries around the world, its management authorities has implemented such CRM strategy, which meets the needs of all types of customers. The reason behind this strategy is to satisfy the

Effectiveness of Monetary Policy for the UK Essay

Effectiveness of Monetary Policy for the UK - Essay Example It therefore concerns the relationship between total supply of money and interest rates in a given economy. According to Julio, (2004) the main objectives of monetary policy are as follows: It creates more employment opportunities since the central bank can encourage the commercial banks to provide more loans to the sectors which will in return employ more people this reducing unemployment. Eurozone came into existence in 1998 after a meeting of eleven European Union members who agreed on the convergence principles. This was followed by the official launch of the euro as a common currency in 1st of January 1999. currently the Eurozone has over three hundred and eight million people and twelve member states which includes Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Germany, France ( with the exception of pacific territories which uses CFP franc), Finland, Belgium and Austria. (ECB, 2001) Being a subset of the member states of the European Union Eurozone has adopted the euro as a common currency thus resulting in the currency union amongst the member states. The European Central Bank (ECB) carries the responsibility of monetary policy within this territory .With the monetary policy that is used by the Euro zone being the inflation targeting. The European Monetary Union (EMU) is very much operational with the UK being ambivalent on whether to join or not. By it being an economic and political issue monetary union has generated divergent views from the professional economists, business opinion and the general public opinion as to whether it would be important for UK to join. It is clear that presently European economic union is not a popular option in the UK. (Angeloni and Mojon, 2003) The Surveys conducted by the British Social Attitudes has regularly indicated that less than a fifth of individuals who have polled since 1993 would buy the idea of replacing the pound with euro a result that has been confirmed in the 1999 release. (Tommaso, 2004) However, it has been argued that most of this public opinion could be influenced in a favourable manner by the It has also been argued that public opinion could be favourably influenced by the pro-EMU business opinion revelations. This paper will look at the economic issue although it will still touch on the political issues emanating from joining

Movie Application Paper - The Kingss Speech Essay

Movie Application Paper - The Kingss Speech - Essay Example The paper "Movie Application Paper - The Kings’s Speech" discovers the film called "The Kings’s Speech". The inspirational film presented the tribulations and challenges faced by King George VI, known as Bertie to the royal family. Bertie has been afflicted with a speech stammer, making it tremendously difficult to make a public announcement or speech to the nation. To make matters worse, the expectations posed by his ascendance to the throne were drastically heightened given the power and responsibilities exemplified by including the need to make public announcements and thereby, conquer his fear for public speaking. In this regard, the movie would be used to identify interpersonal conflict by citing relevant situations and linking these to concepts noted in Floyd’s (2009) book entitled Interpersonal Communication: The Whole Story. Floyd (2009) defined interpersonal conflict as encompassing the following elements or characteristics: manifesting an expressed stru ggle, occurring between two independent parties, presence of incompatible goals, arising from scarce resources, in conjunction with some form of interference. Using the definition, the eminent interpersonal conflict manifested in the movie, The King’s Speech as are follows: First and foremost, the existence of an expressed struggle in terms of capacities for public speaking due to the speech stutters that afflicted the main character, King George. For example, in the introduction, Bertie (then the Duke of York) was asked by his father. to deliver a speech in front of the public and his anxiety and deep struggle to achieve, a seemingly simple goal, drastically failed. Secondly, the interpersonal conflict existed between several parties: Bertie and his father (due to his inability to deliver a speech); Bertie and his brother (when Edward decided to abdicate the throne to marry to a divorcee) and he then had no other option except to assume the throne despite his speech impediment; Bertie and Lionel Logue, the Australian speech therapist, who was contacted by then Duchess of York, to help in overcoming the stutter but was initially perceived by Bertie with apprehension in terms of the ability to address his dilemma; and the cohorts of the monarchy who opposed and questioned Logue’s ability to improve King George’s speech impediment. Third, the presence of incompatible goals was also eminent from the start when the goal of the father was to encourage and train Bertie to overcome his stutter, to his perce ived exasperation and inability. Since he always knew that in the event of his father’s death, his brother Edward would be crowned the next monarch, it was beyond his comprehension when Edward’s goal to marry Wallis Simpson was given precedence. Finally, some form of interference was manifested when King George’s advisors found that Logue was not a licensed speech therapist and should therefore be prevented from continuing his services. There was another situation of interference when apprehension and lack of confidence to Logue and himself, initially prevented then Duke of York to pursue with the speech therapy sessions to be held at Logue’s home. Applicability of Other Interpersonal Conflict Concepts

Htm421 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Htm421 - Essay Example 1). There could be other factors that influence food habits and how people from different culture develop a particular preference for food. In this regard, the current discourse aims to present the factors that influence food habits and culture, in general; and specifically in the State of California. In the simplest manner, ordinary people could acknowledge that there are common factors that influence food habits or choices. The factors include: the need to satisfy hunger; availability; income, prices of food, and convenience; advertisements and media; social and traditional practices; personal values and beliefs; and other factors (taste, psychological needs, and culture) (6 Factors That Affect Our Food Choice, 2013; Influences on food choices and food patterns, n.d.). Others categorize factors influencing food habits to be preponderant on social and cultural factors (Cassel, 1957; Latham, n.d.). Some factors are broadly classified according to physical needs, to satisfy the senses, as well as to meet psychological and social needs (Influences on food choices and food patterns, n.d.). From these factors, it could be deduced that these ranges from needs and drives that could be personal, influenced by the family, or the community on a broader context. In terms of psychological factors, there are a broad range of reasons that determine food habits and choices according to personality types. The table below summarizes the personality types, the food preferences, and the psychological reasons for eating; as well as the professional advice: contributory to the establishment and manifestation of food habits, preferences, and choices (Cassel, 1957; Latham, n.d.). Some of these cultural factors include consideration of nutritional value of food, suitability of the land to grow certain crops, knowledge in food technology, and even belief in taboos. For instance, it is emphasized that â€Å"a custom frequently

Americanization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Americanization - Essay Example Ellis further contributed to this definition by arguing that, despite Thomas Jefferson advocating for the end of slavery, he has many contradictions, which prove he indeed was for slavery and not its abolition. According to Joseph Ellis, Jefferson owned approximately 600 slaves, and his tobacco plantation relied entirely on slave workers. To add on to Jefferson’s definition, Ellis argues that, according to Jefferson, superiority came with skin color. The light skinned slaves had a more superior position than other slaves. Frederickson’s models of American Ethnic relations further compound on the need for one America without racial differences. He says: â€Å"group separatism emanates from cultural ethnocentric concerns about the standing and fate of a certain group† (Ellis, 457). Despite the difference, in skin color and physical appearance, the color of the blood is the same, the brain the same when expose to the same conditions like infrastructure and technolog y. Can Americanization be achieved with color still a factor? Racism vs. Americanization: Americanization, which is the dream of every American, with freedom and equality based on racial differences is not what is quite being experienced. This is shown by Thomas Jefferson in his notes on the state of Virginia. ... According to Sherman Alexie’s work, assimilation shows how one tries to adopt other people’s culture and the way of life in general in order to fit in a society. This is made hard by the external features that one possesses like color, texture of the hair and height depending on one's race. Marriage between people of different races is highlighted here and prejudice is very apparent despite one's efforts to assimilate into the other person’s culture. Despite how much one tries to fit into a foreign way of life especially where the difference is based on race, one still stands out because some external features are so obvious, and one cannot hide them. Sherman Alexie’s view on Americanization is that people are expected to assimilate the American culture despite their different externalities, hence robbing the immigrants of their originality. Therefore, Americanization is American based and for the Americans only. Looking at Americanization by Studs Terkelà ¢â‚¬â„¢s eyes, we find that even in the job sector racism is very much evident. Stephen Cruz’s story by Studs Terkel in Rereading America state that the American dream is not governed by hard work, opportunity and education, but by fear and power (365). How much a person can achieve, being racially different, will always be a setback which, as Cruz says, should be overcome for Americanization to take root. Americanization which comes with the American dream should pave the way for everyone living in America to have liberty and freedom from any form of discrimination wherever one is, be it at home, in politics, education or the job sector. Other people from the natives

Htm421 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Htm421 - Essay Example 1). There could be other factors that influence food habits and how people from different culture develop a particular preference for food. In this regard, the current discourse aims to present the factors that influence food habits and culture, in general; and specifically in the State of California. In the simplest manner, ordinary people could acknowledge that there are common factors that influence food habits or choices. The factors include: the need to satisfy hunger; availability; income, prices of food, and convenience; advertisements and media; social and traditional practices; personal values and beliefs; and other factors (taste, psychological needs, and culture) (6 Factors That Affect Our Food Choice, 2013; Influences on food choices and food patterns, n.d.). Others categorize factors influencing food habits to be preponderant on social and cultural factors (Cassel, 1957; Latham, n.d.). Some factors are broadly classified according to physical needs, to satisfy the senses, as well as to meet psychological and social needs (Influences on food choices and food patterns, n.d.). From these factors, it could be deduced that these ranges from needs and drives that could be personal, influenced by the family, or the community on a broader context. In terms of psychological factors, there are a broad range of reasons that determine food habits and choices according to personality types. The table below summarizes the personality types, the food preferences, and the psychological reasons for eating; as well as the professional advice: contributory to the establishment and manifestation of food habits, preferences, and choices (Cassel, 1957; Latham, n.d.). Some of these cultural factors include consideration of nutritional value of food, suitability of the land to grow certain crops, knowledge in food technology, and even belief in taboos. For instance, it is emphasized that â€Å"a custom frequently

Close Reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Close Reading - Essay Example Telling the story from a first-person point of view, Anderson allows the readers to experience the young man’s self-perception of his action. At the very beginning, the readers come to know that the narrator has already grown into maturity, as he tells, â€Å"It was a hard jolt for me, one of the most bitterest I ever had to face. And it all came about through my own foolishness too.† (356) This self-judgmental approach ultimately establishes the narrator’s integrity. The readers realize that the narrator describes the events of his life in retrospect. The narrator tells about his compunction as following: â€Å"Even yet sometimes, when I think of it, I want to cry or swear or kick myself.† (354) Immediately after telling it, he also says that his only motivation behind narrating the story is to get relief from mental agony, as he say, â€Å"Perhaps, even now, after all this time, there will be a kind of satisfaction in making myself look cheap by telling of it† (356). Thus, the readers perceive the reliability of the narrator. Indeed, the first person point of view allows the readers to understand what is going on in the narrator’s mind. ... Again, he comments about the educated people as following: â€Å"Such fellows don't know nothing at all. They've never had no opportunity.† (357) Another dishonesty which the narrator tells in the story without being ashamed the least is his deception to his girlfriend, Lucy Wessen. He assumes a fake identity and appearance in order to win Lucy’s love. But the narrator’s plan backfires when he learns that Lucy loves him for who he is actually. He hides his social status from the fear of being rejected by the young beautiful lady, Lucy. But he fails to understand that without deceiving her he would have been able to get her true love. The young man narrates all of his deception, lies and his past view of reality and life. Indeed such ashamed self-revelation allows the readers to understand who the young man was really in the past. Moreover, it is remarkable that the narrator often switches to second-person point of view in order to earn more credibility. He direct ly assumes this stance of telling the story apparently to allow the readers understand the error of his perception about reality what he held in the past. On one hand, the narrator says in the beginning that he has understood his past errors. On the other hand, he tells his past life as if he still holds those values. This dual stance may contribute to the confusion whether he is honest. But the narrator takes this dual stance only to allow the readers what his foolishnesses were in the past. The narrator was a fool in the past. He goes on telling his foolishnesses without being ashamed. Indeed, he is smart enough not tell about his foolishnesses directly. Rather, he tells what and who he was in the past and he simply lets the readers feel what the ironies of

Crime Rates Essay Example for Free

Crime Rates Essay What we usually have in mind when we talk about the crime rates is a well known fact that crime rates are increasing. So,people who are related to this issue should try to find a solution so as to solve the problem .Up to now many countries have tried to decrease crime rates. However,many of them have failed .Everybody has a significant roles so as to decrease the crime rates such as parents and governments. First of all, it is worth bearing in mind that parents should train their children so children will not change the crime rates . Thus,crime rates will not increase . Parents should raise awareness their children because according to research conducted children who are conscious about crime do not commit a crime besides parents should not leave unattended their children because generally rambling children have amount of influence on the crime rates.Also parents should be interested in their children .Experts said that slummy person involve in a crime easily .Therefore parents take care of their children. Read more:Â  Increasing Crime Rate in Todays Society in India It is last but not least governments should make provision as fight with crimes because researchers believe that only if governments attach importance to crime rates , can they decrease the crime rates .Governments should provide equipments so as to overcome to crimes.Thanks to more equipments , governments can reduce the crime rates .Governments should be in contact with other governments because increasing of the crime rates are not seem just one government.So, they can help each other about this situation. To sum up Ä ±t should be noted that parents have a considerable amount of effect as decrease the crime rates .Nowadays every segment of society is looking for a way to solve as decrease the crime rates.

Business Organisations In A Global Context Commerce Essay

Business Organisations In A Global Context Commerce Essay The process of strategic planning is not simple and easy one, it involves a lot of industry research and clear understanding of your market, your customers, your competitors, your team, your core competencies, the environment in which you are operating, changing parameter, your vision and mission etc. These are not easy question to answer as well as its not a quick process. Effectively management of people can produce substantially enhanced economic performance. A plethora of terms have been used to describe such management practices: high commitment, high performance, high involvement, and so forth. A social unit of people, systematically structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals on a continuing basis. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between functions and  positions, and subdivides and delegates  roles,  responsibilities, and authority to carry out defined tasks. Organizations are open systems in that they affect and are affected by the environment beyond their boundaries. Globalisation is a phenomena that is used to interact among different countries attempting to develop global economy. It is a process of connecting the worlds markets and business with each other. It is basically a process by which different economies, cultures and societies are combined together by latest communication system. Globalisation has been defined by different experts at different places, according to an economist Harris (1993), the increasing internationalisation of the production, distribution and marketing of goods and services is globalisation. Another definition of globalisation is the functional integration of national economies within the circuits of industrial and financial capital.(Rhodes, 1996). The key differences between global business operations:- Businesses operate in a global context: even if they do not trade directly with other countries, they might be affected by a domestic shortage of skilled labour or may be subject to developments on the global financial markets. Globalization and international business as business terms are often used synonymously in casual conversation. As economic pressures continue to abound, many corporations are looking within their organizations to determine how to improve operations and reduce costs. Cost constraints, efficiency gains and productivity measures are commonly sought to achieve this objective. It is no surprise that development of or improvement in an enterprises service delivery model is desired. Many companies have developed some aspect of shared services, and many more have embraced the outsourcing service delivery model as one lever to drive economic improvement. However, we believe there are plenty of opportunities remaining with respect to shared services in general along with some terrific opportunities for an emerging concept called global business services to drive significant improvement and manage all service delivery model alternatives. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SHARED SERVICES? A successful shared services model typically incorporates these concepts: Focused company resources Process ownership as a key characteristic Critical values of partnering, teamwork and adding value Effective leverage of tools and technology Accountability by specialists with service focus (internal and external) Strong communications and governance principles Centre of excellence and a company asset for developing talent Results that emphasize efficiently meeting customer requirements Focal point for company best practices Responsibilities of organisations Importance of ethics in the business world is superlative and global. New trends and issues arise on a daily basis which may create an important burden to organizations and end consumers. Nowadays, the need for proper ethical behaviour within organizations has become crucial to avoid possible lawsuits. The public scandals of corporate malfeasance and misleading practices, have affected the public perception of many organizations. An organizations responsibilities are not limited to primary stakeholders. Although governmental bodies and regulatory agencies do not usually have ownership stakes in companies in free-market economies, they do play an active role in trying to ensure that organizations accept and meet their responsibilities to primary stakeholder groups. Organizations are accountable to these secondary stakeholders. All companies, especially large corporations, have multiple stakeholders. One way of classifying stakeholder groups is to classify them as primary or secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders have some direct interest or stake in the organization. Secondary stakeholders, in contrast, are public or special interest groups that do not have a direct stake in the organization but are still affected by its operations. The impact of external factors on organisations: There is a simple rhyme which goes: Environment to each must be. All there is that isnt me. You can see therefore that the business environment consists of all those things outside the business. The business needs to keep a watchful eye on the environment because it is continually changing. Key elements in the environment are: 1. Competition. Rival companies are continually changing what they have to offer. They may lower prices, bring out new products, engage in exciting new advertising campaigns, and a range of other activities. 2. Political factors. The action of government affects business and other organisations. Governments are continually changing the rules and the laws that affect business. This is illustrated by the way in which government rules affect schools. Simon Jenkins in an article in The Sunday Times, on 24 September 2006 illustrates this well when he wrote: This government tries to keep control of every school. Since coming to office its education department has issued 500 regulations, 350 policy targets, 175 efficiency targets, 700 notes of guidance, 17 plans and 26 separate incentive grant streams. 3. Economic factors. The economy consists of businesses, individuals and government. The international economy consists of the economies of all the countries in the world. The economy consists of many markets the market for goods, the market for services and the market for money are key parts of this. These markets determine the price that business has to pay for its resources such as labour, and raw materials. Businesses are continually affected by changes in the economy. 4. Social factors. Society is made up of all the people in a given area. It is important to be able to find out what the main trends are that are happening in society because these trends affect business. For example, changes in age patterns, such as the increasing numbers of older people in the population, determine which goods are popular. Then there are social trends which are affected by fashion for example this year some goods will be in, whereas next year nobody or very few people will want to buy them. 5. Technological factors result from the development of new techniques, i.e. new types of products and new processes to make products. For example, recent years have seen a massive change in information technology which has transformed the way we run our lives. For example, today more than 90% of young people possess a mobile phone. (www.acquaint.me.uk) The impact of global factors on business organisations Businesses are affected by an external environment as much as they are affected by the competitors. Global factors influencing business are legal, political, social, technological and economic. Understanding of these factors is important while developing a business strategy. a. Social factors These factors are related to changes in social structures. These factors provide insights into behaviour, tastes, and lifestyles patterns of a population. Buying patterns are greatly influenced by the changes in the structure of the population, and in consumer lifestyles. Age, gender, etc all determine the buying patterns and understanding of such changes is critical for developing strategies which are in line with the market situations. In a global environment it is important that business strategies are designed keeping in mind the social and cultural differences that vary from country to country. Consumer religion, language, lifestyle patterns are all important information for successful business management. b. Legal factors These factors that influence business strategies are related to changes in government laws and regulations. For a successful business operation it is important that the businesses consider the legal issues involved in a particular situation and should have the capability to anticipate ways in which changes in laws will affect the way they must behave. Laws keep changing over a period of time. From the point of view of business it is important that they are aware of these changes in the areas of consumer protection legislation, environmental legislation, health safety and employment law, etc. c. Economic factors These factors involve changes in the global economy. A rise in living standards would ultimately imply an increase in demand for products thereby, providing greater opportunities for businesses to make profits. An economy witnesses fluctuations in economic activities. This would imply that in case of a rise in economic activity the demand of the product will increase and hence the price will increase. In case of reduction in demand the prices will go down. Business strategies should be developed keeping in mind these fluctuations. Other economic changes that affect business include changes in the interest rate, wage rates, and the rate of inflation. In case of low interest rates and increase in demand Businesses will be encouraged to expand and take risks. Therefore, business strategies should have room for such fluctuations. d. Political factors This refers to the changes in government and government policies. Political factors greatly influence the operation of business. This has gained significant importance off late. For example: companies operating in the European Union have to adopt directives and regulations created by the EU. The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. Business must consider the stability of the political environment, governments policy on the economy etc e. Technological factors These factors greatly influence business strategies as they provide opportunities for businesses to adopt new innovations, and inventions. This helps the business to reduce costs and develop new products. With the advent of modern communication technologies, technological factors have gained great impetus in the business arena. . Huge volumes of information can be securely shared by means of databases thereby enabling vast cost reductions, and improvements in service. Organisations need to consider the latest relevant technological advancements for their business and to stay competitive. Technology helps business to gain competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization. While designing the business strategies firms must consider if use of technology will allow the firm to manufacture products and services at a lower cost. Firms can select new modes of distributions with the help of technology. It has become easier for companies to communicate wi th their customer in any part of the world. (http://www.businessteacher.org.uk) Strategies employed by organisations operating globally Operations strategy is the development of a long-term plan for using the major resources of the firm for a high degree of compatibility between these resources and the firm long term corporate strategy. Operations strategy addresses very broad questions about how these major resources should be configured to achieve the desired corporate objectives. Some of the major long-term issues addressed in operations strategy include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How large do we make our facilities? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What type of processes do we install to make the products or provide services? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What will our supply chain look like? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What will be the nature of our workforce? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How do we ensure quality? (http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0070922837/158533/sample_ch2.pdf). Managing culture, society and economy challenges Companies move to other countries to expand their business and to increase the profits. When companies do move to other countries they face different challenges like meeting local customers demands, understanding the rules or regulations of local government, language problems etc. If we sum up these problems generally there are three main problems in moving business to overseas countries which are social, cultural and economic factors. Companies do have to understand the culture of the country so that they can run their business properly. They have to understand their social customs and economy of the country. For example McDonalds, KFC or Subway, these companies have operations all over the world. They sale poultry, pork and meat products. Now expanding their business to Asian countries, they first get knowledge about their social, cultural and economy factory. Taking example of Muslim countries, when these three companies moved to Muslims countries they cannot sell Pork or Non-Hala l products in Muslim countries because it is against their cultural values or religious values. So they do sell Halal products to these countries and avoid selling of Pork. This shows that companies have to change themselves according to local culture and social life to do good business in other countries. Also they do offer prices according to local economy or purchasing power of customers. They cannot apply the same prices both in US, UK, India and Pakistan because the economic condition of all these countries is different. Conclusion There is no doubt that with the progress in globalisation living standard of people in many countries has improved but there is also no denial to the fact that most of benefits are being gained by developed countries. They are exploiting the rights of developing countries in the name of globalisation. The income gap between developed countries and developing countries has been increased which is a matter of concern. Through globalisation many companies have also gained benefits especially multinational companies and big companies. They are getting huge profits through globalisation. But they are also exploiting peoples right to some extent, like they are not giving the same pays to developing and developed countries.

Motivation in Business Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework Ess

Motivation in Business Thesis: Organization member can be effectively motivated by organizational leaders Motivational Styles Motivation is the ultimate goal of management in business, and the topic of multiple seminars, books, and videos. Engendering the emotional energy of frontline workers is the most difficult challenge facing organizational leaders worldwide. The is a difficult task because â€Å"most frontline employees work for a regular paycheck and nothing more; they never emotionally connect with their employers, let alone care about the company’s long-term performance.† (Katzenbach) By following the principles employed by successful organizations, organization member can be effectively motivated by their leaders. One method of inserting motivation into the lives of organization members is through what Katzenbach and Santamaria explore in their article in Harvard Business Review, the â€Å"mission, values, and pride† path to an emotionally engaged, high-performing workforce. This is a system where emotional energy is generated by mutual trust, collective pride, and self-discipline. The employees are typically proud of the aspirations, accomplishments, and legacy of their organization; they share its values. This method is typical of the U.S. Marine Corps, 3M, and the New York City Ballet. A second method is to set transparent performance measures and standards and to have a clear tracking of results. This fosters deeper organizational ...

The Intruder – Creative Writing

‘It's always best when the light is out, I am the pick in the ice Do not cry out or hit the alarm, you know we're friends 'til we die' – Thom Yorke (Radiohead), ‘Climbing Up The Walls' ‘Alone. The most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn't hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym.' Humphrey had read this somewhere, probably in a Stephen King book, he couldn't remember exactly which, but he agreed with the passage then and he sure as hell agreed with it now. Though Humphrey was not alone, he was anything but alone. Humphrey was crumpled into the corner of his bedroom, his arms covering his head, his entire frame trembling, his pores and eyes unreservedly discharging sweat and bitter tears. He sat there in his darkened room with Dread, who poked him mischievously with his cold fingers. With Sorrow, who warped his heart and ate him alive. With Darkness, who shrouded Humphrey and the entire room under his tattered cloak. But worse than any twisted emotion, worse than any mutual deception of the eye and the light, worse than any melancholic betraying thoughts Humphrey may have had, was Death, who came in the guise of an Intruder that occupied the downstairs of his house, ravaging his house in a relentless chaotic frenzy. Despite Humphrey's feeble efforts to block out the noise, he could still hear everything. The crash of the tableware and glass, falling and ultimately exploding into pieces as they collided with the floor and the walls. The loud bang as his television was thrown across the room, smashing into a wall and the sizzle of the circuits bursting. The scornful cackle of the Intruder. It was a hair-raising, vulgar, sharp screech that penetrated Humphrey's delicate ear-canal-walls, went straight to his brain and exploded, the shrapnel of the explosion cutting his soft organ. It took a moment for Humphrey's mind to register that all sound and movement had ceased downstairs. Gradually his brain escaped from the cycle of fear and earthly senses returned to him. He realised his pants were drenched in urine, which made him click his tongue disapprovingly. Humphrey's aged brain was working overtime attempting to process what had happened. Most of the day was a nauseating blur to him and passed by rather uneventfully, but he remembered dozing off, and he remembered Sleep's grasp on him loosening and faltering to the hostile sound of his back door crashing in. That's when the Intruder broke in. But the dust has settle and the Intruder has departed now, probably satisfied with the destruction caused and the items burgled. Humphrey picked up his walking stick and with immense effort he managed to summon the strength to get up. He intended to go downstairs and phone the police, but only managed two steps before he heard a bang on his door. The Intruder was still in the house. The Intruder was right outside his room. Humphrey's legs collapsed right on the spot, and that frosty familiar feeling of numb helplessness enveloped him again. He shrunk back into his corner and broke into a fit of hysterical sobbing. Outside the Intruder was pounding at the door. ‘Open up,' the Intruder said hoarsely, ‘open up, man, you've gotta open up. I need her back, man, open up!' The Intruder proceeded to pound at the door, slowly at first, but then he snapped and broke into a violent fury of pounding. ‘OPEN UP!!' After what felt like an eternity to Humphrey, the Intruder ceased pounding at the door and fell to the floor and, to Humphrey's great surprise, began to weep. ‘Open up,' the Intruder wailed, ‘I can get her back, he said I can, just open up.' For a brief moment a spark of pity for the Intruder lighted up in Humphrey's mind, but the spark dimmed as soon as it appeared, and Humphrey was back in his hopeless state of terror. Silence slithered around the room, but his tyranny was brief and hastily retreated when Humphrey's bedroom door collapsed in with an earth-shattering BANG, rattling Humphrey's brain inside his skull. The Intruder got in. He was a tall man, of medium build, in his mid-thirties with moon-pale complexion, as if the sunlight had only a nodding acquaintance with his skin. The Intruder stood there, looking down at Humphrey with the look of absolute discontent on his face, a sandwich in his hand. And a gun in the other. The Intruder's eyes were dim, with a hint of triumph in them, and Humphrey noticed that he was salivating. ‘I find you at last, demon!' the Intruder exclaimed with triumph. He fiddled with his gun, groping it with his index finger. It was not point directly at Humphrey, but it was dangerously close. The Intruder made a slight a motion, which made Humphrey recoil and defensively position his arms in front of his face, as if trying to defend against an incoming strike, but the Intruder merely took a giant bite of his sandwich, the rest of which he tossed away, along with his gun. ‘I have been lookin' for ya' for so long,' the Intruder grunted, ‘you ‘ave taken away that I hold dearest, you ‘ave taken away my light. Where is she?' Dread glumly retired his post behind Humphrey and was replaced by Confusion. Humphrey was flabbergasted, ‘what is this madman talking about?' he thought, but out loud he said, ‘I- I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about.' ‘Ya' know damn well wha' I'm on about. I wan' her back.' The Intruder spat. ‘I think y-you're mistaken, s-sir,' Humphrey murmured, ‘I'm just an innocent ol-‘ ‘WHAT DO YOU WAN' FROM ME?' The Intruder snapped, his eyes budging and his breathing getting heavy. Dread cheerfully resumed his post. ‘Listen, man, I'm begging you to give her back to me,' The Intruder got down on both knees and clasped his hands together and tears gathered in the corner of his eyes, ‘I'm an empty shell wiv' out her. An insect, I'll do anythin'!' Humphrey was cornered; he had not a hint of how to proceed. The Intruder was utterly insane, fragile, and capable of cracking at a moment's notice. He was a danger to himself and, more importantly, a danger to Humphrey. Humphrey's eyes desperately scanned the room, looking for something, anything, he could use against the Intruder. Time, that's what he needed. Time. And a damn miracle. In the past, time and time again, Humphrey's mind had failed him. Whether it was through an examination when he was young, an important job interview, when proposing or just during everyday endeavours. And today it was no different. Humphrey couldn't even move, he felt like a spectator observing through the eyes of someone else's body, he could only watch and not take party. ‘Fine. He told me you wouldn' cooperate. He told me you wouldn' give her back to me, he told me everythin'. But there's another way, if I kill you now, she will return to me. He told me.' The Intruder said through gritted teeth, as he progressed towards Humphrey. His teeth bared, his eyes filled with contagious madness and his veins popping out, on the verge of bursting. His bare, cold hands made contact with Humphrey's neck, which made Humphrey shiver, and squeezed. Humphrey's eyes started seeing shades of black, then stars and then no more. *** Humphrey woke up, rubbed his eyes, and then wearily scanned the environment. He had been here before, he couldn't remember when but he was certain he had definitely been here before. ‘Good morning,' a cheerful voice said, ‘are we doing alright?' Humphrey looked to his right and saw a young, pleasant man in a uniform. ‘Who are you? Where am I?' Humphrey asked, dazed. His eyes were burning ‘I'm officer Peter, just call me Peter, and you're in Worthington Hospital, you were brought in last night,' Peter replied in his cheery manner. ‘What happened last night?' ‘Well, we got a call from your neighbour reporting a break-in, and we came over as soon as we could and came just in time and the intruder is in custody now.' ‘What did the intruder want with me?' Humphrey questioned. ‘His name was John Gates, and he recently lost his wife in a car accident. Poor man was mad with grief, and was only last week taken into an insane asylum, from which he miraculously escaped and came for you.' Peter nervously answered. ‘He†¦' Humphrey trailed off, ‘he kept referring to a third-party who told him to come for me. Are you sure there was no real motive after coming after me?' ‘I can only speculate on who he was referring to, but Gates was mad beyond help. That person could have just been a persona, driving him to psychotic acts, which seemed reasonable to Gates.' Peter responded. ‘Oh†¦' They had said their goodbyes and Officer Peter left, leaving Humphrey alone. All alone.

A Summary of John Irving’s ‘A Widow For One Year’ and ‘The Fourth Hand’

In A Widow for One Year. Ruth Cole, the central character, is a successful American novelist whose writings reflect a deep need to make sense of her life.Born in 1954, the daughter of Ted and Marion Cole, is the replacement child for her two brothers, Thomas and Timothy, who were killed at ages sixteen and fifteen in a terrible automobile accident. Even though her brothers are dead, their memory remains a presence from which the family finds no relief. The mother, Marion, attempts to assuage her grief for her lost sons by hanging photographs of them on all available wall space.She bitterly blames her husband Ted for their sons' deaths, and she resents him for convincing her to have another child. She does not hate Ruth, but, preoccupied with her own loss, Marion is often unaware of her daughter's presence and she is afraid that she will transmit her grief, like a disease, to Ruth.Ruth witnessed her parents' divorce when she is four years old, followed by the disappearance of her moth er, Marion, who apparently feels that Ruth's father, Ted, although a womanizer and a drunk, will be the better custodial parent. Ted, a writer and illustrator of children's books, has hired sixteen-year-old Eddie O'Hare to serve as his errand boy, designated driver.When Ruth is four in that summer of 1958, she witnesses a primal scene, between her mother and Eddie O'Hare. She never forgets it, though she forgets some of the details. Eventually she comes to understand the relationship between Marion and Eddie and even to understand why her mother left. Ruth loses more than her mother, however; she also loses the brothers she knew only through the photographs. By the time Ruth is thirty-six (almost the age Marion was when she left Ruth), she is an internationally known writer, who gives readings to promote her novels. At one of these readings in New York City, she meets Eddie O'Hare again.Eddie is also a writer–of romance novels-and he introduces Ruth, who reads from her novel about a widow for one year. Ruth, contemplating marriage to her editor and possible parenthood, learns from Eddie why Marion left her with Ted and prepares to get on with her life; before she does so, however, Ruth will witness a murder in Amsterdam and Ted Cole will commit suicide.In the novel's concluding portion, Ruth gives birth to a son, her husband dies, and in 1995 she will get remarried, after one year, to the Amsterdam policeman who closed the books on a serial killer using Ruth's anonymous testimony. Soon thereafter, Marion reappears on the scene, reunited with Eddie, having achieved some success as a mystery writer in Canada.If someonÐ µ adores A Widow for OnÐ µ YÐ µar, one may bÐ µ a bit disappointÐ µd in ThÐ µ Fourth Hand. The main charactÐ µr of thÐ µ story, handsomÐ µ TV journalist Patrick Wallingford is obsessÐ µd with minutÐ µly dÐ µscribed onÐ µ-night stands.   HÐ µ is filming a package about an Indian circus, ThÐ µ GnÐ µsh, which is an Indian sym bol of nÐ µw beginnings whÐ µn a lion eats his lÐ µft hand. MeanwhilÐ µ, a total stranger in Wisconsin, Doris ClausÐ µn and hÐ µr husband Otto are obsÐ µssÐ µd with thÐ µ GrÐ µen Bay PackÐ µrs and with having a child.Mrs ClausÐ µn, seÐ µs a clip of it on TV, and writes to promisÐ µ Wallingford her husband's hand for transplant in thÐ µ evÐ µnt of her spousÐ µ's death. Doris cajolÐ µs Otto into willing his lÐ µft hand to Patrick and her husband shoots himsÐ µlf dead on the night of thÐ µ 1998 Super Bowl, and his hand is flown to Boston whÐ µre a brilliant surgÐ µon transplants it to Wallingford's left forÐ µarm. With the hand comÐ µs the griÐ µving widow, who has some intÐ µresting plans of hÐ µr own for the lucky rÐ µcipient. Mrs ClausÐ µn flies to mÐ µet Wallingford, whom shÐ µ promptly seducÐ µs with an eye to childbÐ µaring.Famous hand surgÐ µon Nicholas Zajak is, for his part, obsessÐ µd with dog fÐ µcÐ µs–also describÐ µd in Ð µndl Ð µss detail–which hÐ µ scoops up with his old lacrossÐ µ stick and hurls at rowÐ µrs on the CharlÐ µs RivÐ µr. Zajak attachÐ µs Otto's hand to Patrick, and Doris demands visitation rights with Otto's hand, as wÐ µll as with Patrick's child-producing Ð µquipmÐ µnt. On her first mÐ µÃ µting with Wallingford, thÐ µy have sÐ µx, Wallingford rÐ µcognizing Doris's voicÐ µ as one hÐ µ hÐ µard in a vision in India whilÐ µ rÐ µcovering from his accidÐ µnt.Doris, dÐ µspÐ µrate to gÐ µt prÐ µgnant, has hÐ µr own agenda. ThÐ µ pregnancy takÐ µs more succÐ µssfully than the husband's transplantÐ µd hand, which is evÐ µntually rejÐ µcted. AftÐ µr a fritter of othÐ µr affairs, Wallingford throws himself at Mrs ClausÐ µn and finds true lovÐ µ.Bibliography Irving, John. A Widow for One Year. New York: Random House, 1998Irving, John. The Fourth Hand. New York: Random House, 2002

Analysis of Dickens’ Description of Fog In London in Great Expectations Essay

Dickens uses repetition of the word â€Å"fog† throughout this passage. The use of the repetition helps reinforces and emphasises how foggy it is, constantly reminding the reader of the peculiar weather. It also conveys the idea that it isn’t just a normal foggy day but a day with fog so peculiar and heavy that you have to repeat it several times to portray the idea of a heavy, unusual fogbound city. It is constantly repeated to remind us of how thick and strange it is. Usually fog isn’t particularly interesting to be repeated so many times.H e emphasise and focus is put on the fog to try and express and give an impression of an unusual and intense foggy atmosphere to the reader. Dickens also uses various prepositions in this passage.For example he uses prepositions in this quotes : â€Å"Fog up the river† ; † fog down the river† ; † fog on the Essex marshes†; â€Å"fog in the stem and bowl† ; â€Å"fog wheezing by†. The uses of these various prepositions help emphasise and convey the fact that fog is indeed everywhere (â€Å"fog everywhere†). In and out, up and down,quite literally everywhere which makes the reader vividly picture all London covered in heavy thick fog. Another way Dickens uses language to convey the idea of a fog bound London is through the technique personification. â€Å"Fog creeping in†, â€Å"fog cruelly pinching toes and fingers†, â€Å"fog wheezing by†. The use of personification brings the fog to life. The adverb â€Å"creepily† conveys an idea of the fog being a mysterious, sinister but yet eerily quiet being. â€Å"Cruelly pinching toes†, by using this personification it links to the idea that the fog is a sinister, sly being. The adjective â€Å"cruelly†, portrays the fog as a brutal, wicked person, it shows no remorse even though he if pinching † of a shivering little ‘prentice boy†. It shows the reader the force and greatness of the fog (even though it is serene and quiet as implied by the word â€Å"creeping†) which connects to the intensity and strength of the fog as mentioned before- creating an impression of a fog bound city. This contrasts against our normal impression of fog as a misty, subtle delicate weather but transforms this idea into a great menacing bully in the form of a mysterious fog. the phrase † wheezing by could make the fog seem like acranky old man, creeping in and out preying on young children. pinching, creeping,cruelly all have negative connotations portraying the fog as an evil dark being.

Why China wants RMB currency undervalued Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Why China wants RMB currency undervalued - Essay Example China has adopted a policy of intervention to control the appreciation of its currency, the renminbi (RMB), against the dollar and other currencies. This policy measure is heavily criticized by most of its trading partners, especially the United States (Morrison and Marc 1).China's policy of pegging its currency against the U.S. dollar has resulted in severe devaluation of RMB. This undervaluation gives RMB an unfair advantage over competitors in exports. Critics argue that this policy has resulted in China's huge current account surplus, and global trading imbalance (Chen and Mai 4).Some analysts argue that China makes a deliberate effort to manipulate its currency in order to get an unfair trade advantage over other trading partners (Morrison and Marc 1).U.S. claims that RMB's undervaluation is leading to U.S. manufacturing job loss and trade deficit. On the other hand, China strongly condemns such allegations and asserts that international pressure is a form of protectionism and i nterference in China's domestic economic policy. This research paper explores the reasons behind Chinese currency's undervaluation and implications of appreciating it. Renminbi (RMB) is the official name of Chinese currency, and it is divided in the Yuan units, RMB and Yuan are used interchangeably. China has been under extreme criticism and international political pressure to revalue its currency. The pressure is primarily led by the United States of America who asserts that competitive undervaluation of the Chinese RMB and other Asian currencies have significant influences on the U.S. economy (Bergsten). According to Cline and Williamson's estimate, RMB's 25-40 appreciation would lead to reduction of annual U.S. current account deficit by $100 billion to $150 billion. On the other hand, proponents believe that currency appreciation is the solution to China's own problems as it can work as a tool to curb high inflation, lower import price, and dampen the demand for exports(Goldstei n and Lardy 2006; Bergsten 2010; Tyers et al. 2008; Tung and Baker 2004 qtd. in Yang, Wei, and Simla 1). Nevertheless, there are widespread concerns about a major RMB appreciation. Within China, it is believed that a major currency appreciation would lead to slow economic growth and leave adverse employment influences on labor-intensive export sectors (Xu et al. 2011; Tang 2011; Lin 2011; Duan 2011 qtd. in Yang, Wei, and Simla 1). Background on China's Currency Policy Recent empirical studies reveal that undervalued currency leads to faster economic growth. It is because exports rate grow relatively faster than import rates. Therefore, the producing country generates more foreign exchange and enhances its production capacity (Abola qtd. in Joyce). When a country's currency is undervalued, exports grow more than imports because it will provide cheaper goods as compared to their competing trading countries (Joyce). In past, currency valuation has been used by countries who intend to p romote their exports, such as, Japan and South Korea, and now China (Diokno qtd. in Joyce). Until 1994, China practiced a dual exchange rate system. It included an official fixed exchange rate system used by government, and comparatively market-based exchange rate system used by exporters and importers in "swap markets". China restricted access to foreign exchange in order to limit imports which resulted in large black market for foreign exchange.There was significant difference in the two exchange rates. In 1993, official exchange rate with dollar was 5.77 Yuan while 8.70 Yuan in the swap markets. United States criticized China's dual exchange rat

Dell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Dell - Essay Example Although Dell produces equipment which could be attractive to almost any one seeking computers for home or business use, comparative products from suppliers like HP are often more attractive in terms of price, design or features which means that Dell’s product line up often fails in comparison without discounts or special offers. Dell might be able to play with its perceived image of reliability and dependability to ensure that it becomes and remains the top player in the computer industry. It can also offer multiple operating systems and more choices to its buyers to make the product line more attractive overall (LaGesse, 2007). Dell, from a company formed in a dorm room with just $1,000, has come a long way to being one of the most admired and richest companies in the world (Fortune, 2006). Early on in its history it managed to give the image of being a giant while it was running as a small firm (Chozich, 2005). As a company it has managed to give the IBM, HP, Compaq, and many others stiff competition by selling individual computers that are assembled from custom ordered components. Its business philosophy was to sell directly to the customers, which enabled the company to closely interact with the clients and helped the clients in understanding their own requirements with needs analysis (Berfield, 2006).

Trokosi as modern-day slavery in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Trokosi as modern-day slavery in Africa - Essay Example It is taking recognition for work that is wholly theres (Dayton University). Scholars who rely on their understanding show that they are ready to work dishonesty around work. Students who do not follow academic uprightness of the establishment realize this either through; dishonest collaboration, plagiarism, deceitful aid, enticement and intimidating conduct and should be reported to the penal team of honor codes center in the school. All universities have a code of conduct that students need to observe (Stenford University). Academic honesty is one the kindest. Infringements involve activities such as; cheating, plagiarism, and presenting unauthorized work. These actions are punishable not only in learning institutions, but also in the corporate world (Boston College). Corrective measures are restored and violators are at risk of being shown the wrath. Some of these disciplinary measures include, expulsion, grade disqualification, detention, restitution, above from accessing school facilities and referral to the counselling department among others (Boston College, Cornell University and Dayton University). An experience in the composition lecturer was overwhelming one. An English final exam was to be done with diligence. I was to undertake an exam which was my last chance to prove my worthiness to be given a decent grade. Previously my assessment test had been showing daunting results.

I will post it down 13 question to be answerd in 5 pages Essay

I will post it down 13 question to be answerd in 5 pages - Essay Example These views represent a mixed bag just as advocated for by Marshall and Smith. As such, values differ in range and manner depending on the user and the needs (Marron 94). 2. Likewise, how are wages and profits determined in your economic theory? By subsistence level like Malthus and are they mutually exclusive as they are for Ricardo? Or by social/historical determinants like Marx or by supply and demand in the market, like NC theorists? The market forces of demand and supply are what determine wages and profits in an economic theory. These forces determine the costs of operations within the industry, thereby setting costs such as the cost of living, the costs of operations in the company, as well as determine the level of efficiency and effectiveness in the company. As such, a company sets the wages according to market levels, since very low wages will dismiss good and experienced workers, whilst on the other hand, very high wages will drain the company’s profits. The main goal under these conditions is to keep the level of costs at controllable measures in order to maintain high profits. 3. What is your theory of human behavior? i.e., do you see humans as profit-maximizing individualists, or as community-minded workers who get great satisfaction from their work (like Veblen’s idea of â€Å"workmanship†) or something else? Human beings are profit-maximizing individualists who work hard to make them rich and comfortable. This is because most people think about satisfying their own needs and desires first before they look out for the welfare of others and of the community. For instance, an individual will go to school study hard to get the best grades, and then seek employment in the biggest corporation within his or her neighborhood. However, the first thing he or she will do with their paycheck is to buy a new car, or

To Impeach or not to Impeach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

To Impeach or not to Impeach - Essay Example It is a legal proceeding founded against a government servant by a governing body. It is applicable for the President, Vice President, and other central officers in addition to judges in United States of Representatives. Impeachment is enacted on the basis of regular court reports. Impeachment is executed by the Senate in the United States. Impeachment can be voidable automatically a charged official is able to establish his/her innocence in front of the Senate. The Top most judicial organizations are resolute that they cannot review such proceedings. Impeachment may be conducted by a member of legislatures. The impeachment may be activated by non-member, when the conferences of judicial committee suggest that a federal judge liable to be impeached. Impeachment process generally is based upon a two-step approach (Shanks, 2002). The main objective of this study is to gather comprehension about the impeachment process with particular reference to the scenario prevailing in the United S tates. The study would facilitate to find out if impeachment of federal officials is a common occurrence in the United States. ... From the analysis of the history related to impeachment, it can be said that impeachment is a common occurrence for the federal officials. It is a very common occurrence for the federal officials not from now but from early history. In recent history, there have been frequent instances of federal officials being impeached in the United States. Since the initial impeachments in the year 1986-1989, a number of cases had been reported and executed impeachment of federal officials as well as judges. Consequently, many of these federal officials were forced to resign from the official position or they were punished under the court of law. In the year 2003, there had been 61 federal officers who were investigated due to their impeachment (Bazan, 2010). Who Was The Federal Official Who Was Most Recently Impeached? Gabriel Thomas Porteous, Jr. was the federal official who was most recently impeached after completing sixteen years of judgment in Federal court in United States. His impeachment was performed in 2010 and subsequently he was ejected from his position in the United States District Court (Memoli, 2010). Why Was He Impeached? On 8th December 2010, the Government of America found Judge Gabriel Thomas Porteous Jr. of Federal District Court to be guilty under at least one of the four related articles of impeachment and subsequently detached him from his position. Judge Porteous was the eight magistrate of federal court to be removed from his position under the charges of impeachment. He was impeached by the Senate in March 2010 on a charge of accepting money from business people along with assuming other favors from them. Moreover, he was charged on the grounds of intentionally deceiving the Senate as well as Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after he

Promoting the Culture of Peace in the World Essay Example for Free

Promoting the Culture of Peace in the World Essay Introduction: No doubt, the world is a vast battle-field where almost every nation fights each other. Every nation has its own military equipments. What are these for? They are only for fighting other nations whenever a war breaks out. This only shows that the world is in a very dangerous situation now a day. Every day, every second, there is a possibility of outbreak of war, nuclear war as well as cold war. It means that there is a big threat in our every day life. Not only this, terrorists also make every corner of the globe insecure. It is disheartening that the old aged, innocent children and women are in this situation that they do not feel secured and safe. Who is responsible for this, is it the politicians, or the armies, or the bureaucrats? All of them including the selfish industrialists and rich people are responsible. Who would then step out to deal with this restlessness? We, the Youth would surely be the answer. Basic Elements: The basic important step to be taken by the youth is to protect and promote human rights. Human rights include our rights for living; in order to live, we need food, and in order to have food, we need to work to earn our daily living. Peaceful and happy life is the dream of everybody. If any one is lacking of peaceful life, he is automatically lacking of happiness, so that he may become desperate, depressed or disappointed in life. The desperate or disappointed persons are the most dangerous persons in the world. In the context of North East India where various terrorist groups are in active, one Minister in the region once said, The main cause of insurgency in the North East region is that the Centre neglected this remote area. This would be true to some extent that almost all the insurgent activities in North East India are demanding independence. Some of them are seeking for secure life which would be free from the threat of assimilation by other communities. The immediate cause of insurgency in the Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) was also Mautam Famine that Laldenga and friends felt that the Central Government of India was not taking a satisfactory action to relieve the victims of that famine, and then they rebelled against the Government of India and declared Independence in the year 1966. All these are related to Human Rights, since the people felt that the Government was not taking any step for the well being of its people, almost all of them supported the rebellious activities. From the above viewpoint, we may perceive that the main cause of insurgency and terrorism is human rights violation where the victims became conscious of their rights and then claimed the same consequently. In the context of the Middle East Crisis, one thing very clear is that almost all the terrorists in that area fight for freedom, not only for political freedom but also for religious freedom. Some Islamic terrorists fight for the supremacy of Islamism that would be free from Christian domination. In all the activities of the insurgents and the terrorists, the most important instruments are the youth of those respective communities. Supposed, all these youth who are in active in terrorism and insurgency had quitted their efforts for the same, obviously the activities of insurgency and terrorism would have been null and void and there would not be a big threat in our every day life. Nevertheless, these youth had firmly committed to fight for their community and to sacrifice their lives for the same. So, in order to promote peace culture, the youth are most concern. What to do: Since the important hand and leg of terrorists are youth among themselves, the responsibility of the youth today is very high that we need to step out to deal with this. Walt Disney said that the way to get started is to stop talking and to begin working, so that it is not enough to discuss and debate upon Promotion of Culture of Peace in the World, we have to step out. It is the duty of every intellectual and educated youth to win the heart of our brothers and sisters who are in active in terrorism. We need to negotiate them, whether or not they welcome, we need to approach them, we may fail at once, but we should not quit. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India on the occasion of his visit to Mizoram University on 24th September 2005 said, â€Å"Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is Peace in the World†. This statement is truly acceptable because the righteous person would never harm the others, he would never hamper development of the world Peace and Prosperity. So that we, the youth have to keep this in mind, and let it remind us of our duty to counsel our fellow youth, whether they are terrorists or civilians. For promoting the culture of peace in the world, it is an urgent need to take the suggested steps mentioned below: †¢As mentioned above, the first important step would be creating awareness among the youth, common people. We should make our fellow youth aware of the urgent need to make an effort for promoting the culture of Peace in the world. We can organize awareness campaign and other various programmes related to it. We can make them aware of the same by writing articles and essays in the newspapers and magazines. †¢We can produce Television Programme and documentary films related to terrorism and the urgent need of stepping out in mission to stop terrorism. †¢We can have sincere conversation with our friends, families and so on. So that they can propagate this issue to various other persons. If we do so, it would be effective in promoting the culture of peace in the world. †¢To have peaceful life, one should have secure life. So, it is our duty to push the government of our respective country to provide for various schemes for the well being of its subjects. For instance, in the State of Mizoram, the common people are not satisfied enough by the developmental works carried out by the state government, so that the farmers are recently conscious of their rights, they revive and constitute an organization known as â€Å"Zoram Kuthnathawktu Pawl (ZKP)† that is strongly going on to drive the government to the right way. In the mean time, almost all the members felt frustrated and has become despair because of corruption, and then there is a big threat of bloody revolution. All these are the result of unsatisfactory governance, practice of corruption, negligence, so on and so forth. However, at the same time in Mizoram, the senior prominent citizens revived and recently constituted â€Å"Mizoram Democratic Movement (MDM)† which was also the outcome of famous television Talk Show entitled â€Å"Thalaite Hmathlir (Vision of the Youth) organized by the youth that inspire and motivate everybody who is willing to have good governance. These youth of Mizoram also recently constituted an organization called â€Å"Youth Movement for Mizoarm (YMM)† that brought about moral reformation and awareness on the urgent need of good governance. And it blows like a cyclone within the state of Mizoram. Many people supported this movement and it is now hoped that it would bring about peaceful revolution. This YMM has been taking active part in promoting peace and prosperity, and because of their movement, the threat for bloody revolution by the ZKP has also calmed down and these three organizations are planning to work in cooperation for peace and development. So, it is obvious from this instance that we, the youth would step out to create awareness, to motivate our fellow youth, to inspire our parents to stop practicing corruptions and any other unfair means for promoting the culture of peace in the world. †¢We should negotiate and counsel our fellow youth who are in Terrorist groups telling them that it is not the reason why God made us to terrorize the others. We should prevent instigation of the new generations by terrorism and insurgency. †¢We should also motivate religious leaders to feed their sheep spiritual and moral laws, to tell them the purpose of God in creating men, to propagate the essentiality of peace and harmony in living together, to love one another. †¢We should always remember Gandhiji’s â€Å"Ahimsa†. As mentioned in the beginning of this paper, Nissim Ezekiel, Indian poet urged the people of the world to follow Mahatma Gandhi and that is the right way to promote Peace and Non-Violence. Works cited: oRamdinmawia, James. Poet or Reader. Talk on All India Radio, Aizawl Station. oEzzekiel, Nissim. Very Indian Poem in Indian English. oLalrawnliana, Col. Mizoramin Zalenna a Sua Vol. 2. oKindyah, P.R. Mizo Freedom Fighters.

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act Erica D’Souza The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act:  Impediments of Implementation Introduction to the Subject: The present paper basically focuses on the problems and impediments that have been faced in the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) in India. The paper primarily analyses and utilizes the secondary data available in the form of scholarly and newspaper articles on the concerned subject. The paper also attempts to understand, in a reverse mode, the advantages and drawbacks of the RTE Act. A new ray of hope became visible for the largely-undermined Public Education System in India when the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act came into force on 1st April, 2010. It has made free and compulsory education a fundamental right of every child in the (6 14) age group, irrespective of gender or social category (The Gazette 3). Now, it is a shared responsibility of both Central and State Governments to provide free and compulsory education to all children by all means. If a child is not getting access to the education, the State as well as the Central government will be responsible for it. The RTE Act also states that the responsibility of enrollment, attendance and completion of 8 years of schooling of every child will also be borne by the State. There is a special provision for the differently-able children in the Act. They will also be educated in the ordinary schools as well as up to the age of 18 (Soni and Rahman 6). Some important features of the act in brief (Gazette of India II): Every child belonging to the age group of 6-14 has the right to free and compulsory education. Private school will also have to take 25% of their class strength from the weaker section and the underprivileged groups of the society and that is also through a random selection process. It also states that there should not be any vacant seat in 25% quota in private schools. Moreover, these children from weaker background should be treated equally in all ways. Every school will have to follow norms and standards prescribed in the Act and school that does not follow these standards within 3 years will not be permitted to function further. No admission test or interview will be taken for children or parents in order to secure admission. A fixed student and teacher ratio is to be maintained suggested by the central government. The ratio is (30:1). The Government must ensure a Primary school within 1 KM and secondary school in 3 KM of all the territory of the State to ensure 100% enrollment. Impediments of Implementations: Different organizations have carried out various studies to find out status of implementation of the RTE Act focusing both on the educational infrastructure and quality of education. The most comprehensive and important survey is the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) which is carried out by Pratham, an education foundation bringing such annual report since 2005. ASER is carried out carried out by a local institution in every rural district in India. It is carried out each year in two months: September and November. In 2012, the survey reached 567 districts, 16,166 villages, 331,881 households and 5,96,846 children. About 500 organizations and 25,000 volunteers participated in this effort (Status 7). The ASER report for the status of implementation of the RTE Act in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan reveals two major findings which are not very gratifying for the implementation of the RTE Act in India and universalization of education: poor quality of education and privatization (8). The reports also provides some specific findings such as: turn down trend in student and teacher attendance; enrolment is high, but proportion of out-of-school children also high, first choice was given for private schools and declining reading skill, private tution in demand etc. In his article â€Å"Advantages and Disadvantages of RTE Act†, published in The Hindu on 21 May 2013, Mohamed Imranullah S. argues that despite 25% reservation for children from the weaker sections of the society in private schools, they do not end up enrolling themselves in the lack of proper information about it (Imaranullah 2). It shows that lack of awareness regarding the RTE Act and facilities which one can avail under this right is one of the major impediments in the successful implementation of the RTE Act. Siddhartha Shome in her article â€Å"What is Wrong with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act† draws our attention to a discrepancy inherent in the law itself which may also affect the proper implementation of the Act itself. She point out that if a private school fails to meet the required norms and standards, it will be fined heavily. But, in the same condition, a government run school will face no punishment (Shome 4). This inherent discrepancy, I feel, will also affect the attitudes of authorities in charge as they will not be responsible to provide answers if they fail to meet the given standards. And that will surely affect the education of children too. In their jointly written article â€Å"Feasibility of Implementation of Right to Education Act† and published in Economic and Political Weekly, Pankaj S Jain and Ravindra H Dholakia argue that insufficient allocation of the funds for the universal school system also weakens the proper impleme ntation of the RTE Act (Jain and Dholakia 38). They argue that government school system is inefficient to fulfill the dream nurtured by the Act and as a kind of solution to this problem they suggest to â€Å"rely on low cost private schools as a significant instrument of the government education policy† (Jain and Dholakia 38-43). In response to their article’s argument, Vimala Ramachandran in her article â€Å"Right to Education Act: A Comment† argues that reliance on alternative schools or private schooling will condemn the poor and marginalized to a second-rate education as they can never afford private and expensive schooling (Vimala 155). Status of Implementation of the RTE Act (2013): The study carried out in the year 2013 in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan regarding the implementation of the RTE Act reveals two major impediments in the implementation of the RTE Act: 1) The role of the state and 2) the coordination between the implementing agencies (The Status 26-27). The report reveals that the state is not very much willing to spend money on the proper implementation and there is a lack of coordination between implementing agencies such as the Labor Ministry and the police, the Human Resource Development Ministry, the child rights commissions in each state, etc. For example, In Uttar-Pradesh, the state has no intention of contributing towards implementation of Act and is wholly depended on the central government (Rai 3). The RTE Act states that a child must have access to a school near their home. How many schools would we have to build to meet the needs of the population? Dilara Sayeed in her article â €Å"Hurdles in implementation of Right to Education Act in India† draws our attention towards this problem. She argues that proper infrastructure, poor distribution of budget, acute shortage of teachers and great heterogeneity of citizenry all make proper and smooth implementation of RTE Act very difficult (Sayeed 4). According to her the lack of schools is a major hurdle for the implementation. She argues that for educating every Indian as proposed in RTE Act, not many schools have been built up by the centre or state government to meet the needs of the population (5). Moreover, the alarming growth of private tution-based education with heavy load of fee is also another reason. And because of it children of the poor class lag behind (6). Ramakant Rai in his article â€Å"Challenges in Implementing the RTE Act† draws our attention to another fragile issue which obstructs the smooth implementation of the RTE Act in India. He argues that the Indian Constitution has clear ly stated that implementation of RTE Act cannot be only done by the state but the Centre will have to contribute equally. Lack of funds cannot be the only hurdle for its implementation but lack of intent and political will is the primary obstacle. There is improvement seen in the facilities provided by schools and in infrastructure facilities but still quality of learning could not bring remarkable change over the period of nine years (Madhav Chavan- ASER report). There are many accusations against government school being questioned with mismanagement, skipping, negligence and of appointment made on political expediency (RTE Wiki). The act has provision for orphans to provide admission without seeking any certificates but still schools are not admitting students without required documents (RTE). It has also been argued that the RTE Act has been hastily drafted without concerning many expertise scholars in the field of education. Moreover, it did not properly mention the actual defin ition for quality education. Bibliography: The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act, 2009). The Gazette of India. Web. http://www.ncte-india.org/Norms/RTE-1.pdf>. Soni, R.B.L. and Md. Atiqur Rahman. Status of Implementation of RTE Act-2009 in Context of Disadvantaged Children at Elementary Stage. Deptt. of Elementary Education. National Council of Educational Research and Training. Delhi. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). Pratham. Jain, Pankaj S and Ravindra H. Dholakia. â€Å"Feasibility of Implementation of Right to Education Act.† EPW 44.25 (2009):38-43. Print. Ramchandran, Vimala. â€Å"Right to Education Act: A Comment.† EPW. 44.28 (2009): 155-157. Print. Imaranulllah, Mohamed S. â€Å"Advantages and Disadvantages of RTE Act.† The Hindu. May 21, 2013. Sarkar, Chanchal Chand. â€Å"Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and Its Implementation.† India’s Infrastructure Report 2012. Shome, Sidhartha. â€Å"What is Wrong with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.† Manushi: Working Towards Solutions. http://www.manushi.in/ articles.php.> Accessed on October 18 2014. Status of Implementation of the RTE Act: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Web. https://socialissuesindia.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/status-of-implementation-of-rte-2013.pdf>. Srivastava, Prachi and Claire Noronha. â€Å"Institutional Framing of the Right to Education Act: Contestation, Controversy and Concessions.† EPW 49.18 (2014): 442-456. Print. Rai, Ramakant. â€Å"Challenges in implementing the RTE Act.† Infochange News Features. May 2012. Web. http://infochangeindia.org/education/backgrounders/challenges-in-implementing-the-rte-act.html>. Sayeed, Dilara. â€Å"Hurdels in Implementation of Right to Education Act in India.† India Tribune. Web.http://www.indiatribune.com/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=7659:hurdles-in-implementation-of-right-to-education-act-in-india-catid=30:opinionItemid=460>.