Argument Against the Death Penalty

Argument Essay for the Death Penalty Every day through media streams, we hear news about murders, homicides, and killing. It is hard to spend a day without hearing about these things nowadays. We have our own right to our own lives, but that doesn’t mean we have rights to the person sitting next to us or anyone else. I’ve studied on this topic for almost a year now and I know main issues related to this topic and a few important historical movements related to the death penalty.In the past few years, the death penalty was a controversial issue in many pro death penalty nations like the United States, China, Iran and many more. Since 1990, more than thirty countries abolished the death penalty because it was considered immoral (www. deathpenaltyinfo. com). Supporters of the death penalty consider killing the person who killed others people and that supports why the death penalty is immoral in many ways. First, it violates religious views and beliefs, innocent people get wrongly accused and mostly executed, costs way too much money, and lastly it is not how we deal with crimes.California and Oklahoma were two states involved in the death penalty survey proving that it has reduced crime rate or not (Gorecki). The survey proved to be negative showing that the death penalty actually had increased crime rate rather than decreasing it (Gorecki). Professor Craig Haney of University of California at Santa Cruz conducted the survey on 800 citizens of Santa Cruz, they were chosen randomly by their social security numbers (Gorecki). Professor Haney conducted this same kind of survey back in 1989 when he received strong favor of the death penalty (Gorecki).In 1989, 74% of 800 citizens favored the death penalty, but in 2009, those numbers fell drastically to 44% (www. deathpenaltyinfo. com). The Supreme Court cases Ballard v. Florida, Thibodeaux v. Louisiana are some of the many recent cases of innocent execution that took place in less than a decade (www. deat hpenaltyinfo. com). There are many other reasons that I will present later in this essay to prove that the death penalty is not a rightful way to punish a criminal (Schabas). To abolish the death penalty, we should replace it with life imprisonment without parole.Doing so will save us money and maybe increase budgets for things that communities require, it could save the lives of innocents from dying, no more violation of the Eighth Amendment and human morals, and no evidence that it deters crime rate. First, Innocent people are getting executed ever since the death penalty has been around. The death penalty has claimed lives of 141 innocent citizens since 1973-today with little over half being black and the other half are whites and other races (www. deathpenaltyinfo. com). The Innocence protection Act became a law in 2004 (Ross).Law had a huge effect on innocent executions because the law forced the Supreme Court to test the DNA of an inmate and match it with the sample found at t he crime scene (Guernesey). Act also started charging money to the United States prisons for every wrong conviction made since the effect of the law (Guernesey). Innocent convictions were also caused by racism, bribing, eyewitness error, snitch, government misconduct, and false confessions. To stop innocent executions we should appeal to the courts to allow two different lawyers to have a look in at the same case for errors that could have been missed by one.Judges should not go straight on conclusion, but ask if anyone on both sides have a lingering doubt they might want to clear, and Secondly, the death penalty costs up to $117 million for up to four executions per year (Costanzo). Estimated cost for keeping an inmate in a cell until the execution date average around $90,000 – $95,000 (Costanzo). State of California itself has held 1940 executions since 1978 up until 2009; estimated total cost for 1940 execution was around $4 billion (www. deathpenaltyinfo. com). In compari son to the death penalty cases, life imprisonment cases cost 4 times less (Costanzo).The United States can save up to $12 million per year if the death penalty gets replaced by life imprisonment without parole (Costanzo). The American Civil Liberties Union reviewed the statistics on taxpayers’ money and concluded that, approximately $90 million goes towards the death penalty executions (Costanzo). Capital trails costs up to $11 million per execution comparing to $4 million for life imprisonment (www. deathpenaltyinfo. com). Almost everyone in the United States, whether they're against the death penalty or not, complains about current condition of the US economy not being very good.Due to that fact, we should replace the death penalty with life imprisonment; this could save money for infrastructures, schools, colleges and health care and increase their yearly budgets. Biases also play a big role in determining who will and who will not get executed (Ross). Types of biases that I'm referring to are racial bias and class bias, and political bias (Ross). According to NAACP (National Association of the Advancement of Colored People), out of 40 percent of inmates on death row, 12 percent accused inmates are penalized due to the racial bias in their case (Winters147).Another study was conducted by NAACP, informing us that killers of whites are more likely to get executed than the killers of black (Ross). To avoid racial bias effecting capital punishment decisions, U. S. Senate suggested a Racial Justice Act, an act that outlawed any case that was suspected and held under racial discrimination, but it was consistently defeated (Bohm). Class biases are much more common than racial bias, class biases occurs when a lower class person gets accused and doesn't have enough wealth to hire a good defense lawyer (Haag 167).Protagonist side would argue that the death penalty cause deterrence in crime rates, DNA Testing saved many innocent victims, even bible supported th e death penalty, â€Å"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image† (Genesis 9:6) and life imprisonment keep the fear alive inside victims’ family. The American Civil Liberties Union collected some data on crime rates over the past few years and concluded that, the pro death penalty states had higher crime by up to 46 percent than the states without the death penalty (www. aclu. org).Statistics showed that, Eventhough, crime rates in the pro death penalty states has decreased, crime rates in states without the death penalty had also decreased. In 2011, 11,221 people were killed in thirty-four pro death penalty states, whereas only 6,395 people were killed in sixteen anti-death penalty states (www. deathpenaltyinfo. com). DNA testing was first used in 1990s, but massive effect of that system took place in the September 2011 when it saved 273 lives of innocents that were once announced guilty (www. aclu. org). DNA sys tem saved 75 percent of innocent convictions in past few years, but what about rest 25 percent (www. clu. org)? Now this could be where the class biases come in, rich people could force to not have DNA testing conducted with the power of their money, or poor people could not afford a tests like these once they started paying lawyer fees (www. aclu. org). Pro-death penalty people would also argue that if the death penalty is replaced with life imprisonment without parole, it would keep the fear of criminal being alive inside them. But think about other side effects the death penalty is having on the society, the death penalty is doing nothing but executing.As mentioned earlier in the essay, the death penalty does not deter crime rate, it kills innocent people, and it costs 4 times more than life imprisonment (Costanzo). The life imprisonment could save lives of many innocent people who would have been executed by the death penalty. Exactly what people are worried about are inmates es caping the prisons, but there are low chances of escaping, because according to the Bureau of Justice Department, in 2006, inmates escape rate was 3 percent for every 2 million inmates (www. bjs. ov). In 2011, numbers are around 1. 3 percent per 2 million inmates (www. bjs. gov). I am sure that if everyone knew all facts related to the death penalty, they would have never stood by it and it is not late to be so yet. By looking at the both sides carefully and patiently, I think we should replace death penalty with life imprisonment, because death penalty has many bad effects like high costs, innocent executions, different types of biases effecting final judgment, violation of the eighth amendment and human morals.Whereas, life imprisonment 4 times less than the death penalty, and innocent people have a chance to be free if they are proven not guilty. It is not our job to take revenge on people, listen to the word of creator, â€Å"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath†, for it is written: â€Å"It is mine to avenge; I will repay†. Work Cited Bohm, Robert M. Ultimate Sanction: Understanding the Death Penalty through Its Many Voices and Many Sides. New York: Kaplan Pub. , 2010. Print. 13 Feb. 2013Costanzo, Mark: Just revenge: costs and consequences of the death penalty; St. Martin's Press, New York, Academic Search Complete, 1997. Print. 18 January 2013. Gorecki, Jan. Capital Punishment: Crimial Law and Social Evolution. New York: Columbia UP, Academic Search Complete, 2000. Print. 22 January 2013. Guernsey, JoAnn Bren. The Death Penalty: Fair Solution or Moral Failure? Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century, 2010. Print. 22 February 2013. Schabas, William. The Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law. Cambridge, U. K. Cambridge UP, Academic Search Complte 1997. Print. 11 February 2013. Winters, Paul A. The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, Academic Search Complete 1997. Print. 20 F ebruary 2013. United States. Bureau Of Justice. US Department of Justice. Prisoners in 2011. By Ann E. Carson and William J. Sabol. N. p. , Dec. 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2013. Cooper, David. â€Å"Deterrence: States Without the Death Penalty Have Had Consistently Lower Murder Rates. † Death Penalty Information Center. N. p. , n. d. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. .

Air Pollution Control in India

AIR POLLUTION CONTROL IN INDIA Air pollution  is the introduction of  chemicals,  particulate matter, or  biological materials  that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the  natural environment  or  built environment, into the  atmosphere. The first law against air pollution was passed in 1873. Air pollution can be classified broadly in two types: 1) Urban * Industrialization * Vehicles The increasing number of vehicles and industries constitute a major source for air pollution in urban areas. Heavy subsidy on Diesel also contributed to urban air pollution. 2) Rural * Indoor air pollution Indoor air pollution is caused due to poor availability of resources. It is directly and indirectly linked to lack of awareness and unaffordability which can be tackled by creating more employment opportunities for people. In India around 60% of the total population lives in rural areas and thus pollution caused due to indoor burning of solids is also very high. Case study: Bhopal Gas tragedy (1984) The Bhopal Gas Tragedy, involving a massive release of 40 tonnes heavier-than-air toxic methylisocyanate (MIC) gas, resulted in the death or injury of many thousands of people in the surrounding residential areas.It is attributed to the failure of safety systems, which allowed forty tones of the poisonous methyl isocyanate from the Union Carbide plant, to mix with water at a high temperature. Half a million people were exposed to the gas and 20,000 have died to date as a result of their exposure. More than 120,000 people still suffer from ailments caused by the accident and the subsequent pollution at the plant site. These ailments include blindness, extreme difficulty in breathing, and gynecological disorders. Controlling Air Pollution:National Air Quality Monitoring Program (NAMP)- The objectives of the N. A. M. P. are to determine status and trends of ambient air quality; to ascertain whether the prescribed ambient a ir quality standards are violated; to Identify Non-attainment Cities; to obtain the knowledge and understanding necessary for developing preventive and corrective measures and to understand the natural cleansing process undergoing in the environment through pollution dilution, dispersion, wind based movement, dry deposition, precipitation and chemical transformation of pollutants generated.UNEPs Indian Solar Loan Program- The aim of this effort is to help Canara bank and Syndicate bank develop lending portfolios specifically targeted at financing solar home systems (SHS). With the support of the UN Foundation and Shell Foundation, the project provides an interest rate subsidy to lower the cost to customers of SHS financing.

Health Care Informatics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Health Care Informatics - Essay Example 2. Improve efficiency through faster transmission of results between physicians and departments. That means that if, for example, a patient has undergone lab tests, an MRI, a CT and a stress EKG, all the results should be readily accessible at the time that the doctor makes a therapeutic or diagnostic decision. 3. Improve billing cycles. This means getting the necessary information to the billing department in a form which can be submitted to an outside agency for reimbursement. Even in a heavy private-pay and HMO setting, such as this fictional clinic, it is important to have such an access. In a hospital which does, for example, $360 million in Medicare, Medicaid and third-party insurance billing per year, a 1-day saving in time from procedure to billing can shave $1 million off that hospital's accounts receivable (i.e. free up cash of $1 million for every day saved). 4. Make healthcare delivery more efficient and productive. Hospitals are in a service business, but are relatively people-intensive and unorganized. To the extent that a hospital can use computer tools to reduce staff per patient, staff per procedure, or staff per dollar of patient revenue, those computer tools help the hospital to be more efficient and productive. 5. Link to outside institutions which refer patients to our facility. Hospitals which value their high-margin operations, such as cardiology, oncology and orthopedics, depend on outside referral from primary care physicians and community hospitals. The better the connectivity between the referring doctor and this institution, the more likely that this hospital will receive those patients. Three strategic goals 1. To become the number one hospital in the region for patient referrals for tertiary care. That means that this hospital needs to establish, then maintain, a better outcomes record than other hospitals in the region. 2. To reach out to patients directly, in a way that involves the referring physician, but gives the patient the ability to help understand and direct his/her health care. 3. To use computing to supplant humans as the primary mode of communication. The longer-term goal is to eliminate paper, entice the health care professionals to use computer tools more thoroughly, and thereby to improve productivity. 2. Search the Internet for information about joint application design (JAD). Summarize the information you learned in the form of a memo to your supervisor outlining the use of JAD in the development of an RFP. Memo To: Mr. Supervisor Re: Relevance of applying Joint Application Design (JAD) to our implementation of new computer infrastructure. Dear ___, This memo covers the application of the tools of JAD to our specific situation at the Clinic. I believe that proper application of this technique will help us in developing a

Response paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Response paper - Essay Example Buddhism, in turn, refers to a â€Å"vast and complex religious and philosophical tradition† stretching over some 2500 years, including Hindu tradition (Gethin, 1998); while Christianity and Islam derived their foundations from the Bible, which is considered the cornerstone of Judaism (Steinsaltz, 2006), being based on the lives and teachings of Jesus Christ and Mohammed respectively. Each and every one of these religions is comprised of a particular set of beliefs and rituals, whose centerpiece is the concept of divinity. The latter not only represents the hub of any religious doctrine, but also accounts for the major source of either difference or similarity between one and another. In that regard, Hinduism and Buddhism on the one hand, being an amalgamation of various ancient traditions (Ahloowaila, 2009), and Judaism, Christianity and Islam on the other – having developed, and respectively build on the notion of the One pre-eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, and infi nite God – epitomize the monotheistic-polytheistic divide. Besides the divinity concept, as developed in the monotheistic and polytheistic beliefs, this paper examines the focal tenet of Hinduism/Buddhism – reincarnation/rebirth – as against the notion of eternal life in monotheistic religions. The Concept of Brahman-Atman and It’s Expansions The relationship between Brahman (the Supreme Being) and Atman (a ‘self’, or a world for all beings, along with the human soul), which is generally described as the â€Å"frame and the substance of universe†, hence â€Å"inseparably united but not identical† (Oxtoby and Amore, 2008), is central to Hinduism. Despite some prima facie similarity to the Holy Trinity, the Brahman-Atman relationship actually implies certain imperfection. This is not only because of Brahman’s need of additional powers and classes in order to get fully developed, thus necessitating an array of deities as veh icles of those powers, but also, and perhaps more importantly, due to both components’ mutual dependence on each other – Brahman is the inner controller of Atman and Atman provides Brahman with corporeal avataras which are Gods’ physical presence (Hume, 1921; Klostermaier, 1998). On the other hand, according to Klostermaier (1998), avataras are required to make Supreme Vishnu accessible to humans (Pancaratra doctrine), along with the super-human spiritual beings, called ‘vinhas’, an inner presence, named ‘antaryamin’ – the ruler within – and ‘arcavatara’, which is Gods’ visible presence in an image made of either stone or metal. Thus, to put it in a nutshell, Hindu deities need specific attributes in order to become recognized in the material world and to make themselves available to the believers. The twin concepts of Karma and Samsara are characteristic of both Hinduism and Buddhism; while the former generally refers to a system of cause and effect, or action and reaction, which is considered a natural law, rather than an act of divine judgment, the latter is defined as a cycle of death and rebirth, or reincarnation (Oxtoby and Amore, 2008). According to the Upanishads, one would be liberated from the Samsara cycle – hence to become immortal – only if achieved transforming experiential wisdom (Oxtoby and Amore, 2008). Thus, polytheism, as represented by Hinduism and Buddhism, has laid great emphasis on human senses, perceptions, experiences and demands, rather than being

Developing Jypothetical multi attribute table and brief decription Essay

Developing Jypothetical multi attribute table and brief decription - Essay Example The negative coefficient of the price attribute confirms that reduced price increases the probability of purchase. As deals are quite crucial in the stimulation of purchases for the dealt brand, the addition of promotion attributes should increase the ability of the model to explain the behaviour. There is no direct measure of promotion in the data. The information provided is on sales, advertising and price (Ehrenberg, 1972). Because it is quite reasonable to expect a promotion to be accompanied by price change, heavy item movement or even advertsing may infer a deal in effect by the presence of any of those. Any of these occurences may not be relieble at all and therefore, the product will be identified through promotion if any only if these tow things are present. The attribute on promotion will be implemented as a dummy variable which will indicate if the product was identified to be on promotion at the time of the

Medieval Warcraft part 13 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Medieval Warcraft part 13 - Essay Example For example in the application of medieval weapons, greater display of mastery of technology was showed (Castle Battle, 1978). In the picture below, it would be seen how the soldiers at the time displayed maximum sense of basic mechanics and translated into technology to get their targets rightly hit. Topographically and geographically, the French and Phillip II for that matter seemed to have greater advantage the resulted in the outcome of the attack. For example the situation of the Chateau Gaillard, which was surrounded by the great river gave Phillip II and his soldiers an advantage of overcoming the dwellers of the castle by destroying the bridge and subsequently cutting short on the movements of the dwellers of the castle (Medieval Media, 2012). Indeed, if this had not been and the soldiers had had their maximum freedom to operate, the likelihood that they would have easily fought back was higher because the attack was launched in their own

Application of Ansoff Matrix to Zara Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Application of Ansoff Matrix to Zara - Essay Example The present research has identified that Ansoff Matrix is one of the tools which have been used by management for the purpose of strategic planning. Ansoff model was introduced in 1957 by H Igor Ansoff. Ansoff model helps managers to understand the barriers and opportunities in existing and new markets with existing and new products. According to Ansoff model, an organization has four strategies with two based on markets and products or services. According to this matrix, when an organization moves to next quadrant vertically or horizontally, risk increases. The image attached to the appendices section shows the Ansoff model. Ansoff matrix is commonly known as product and market expansion grid and this matrix helps managers to make decisions whether they should expand their business or penetrate in the existing market. Ansoff Matrix shows that management has four strategies and these are; 1. Market penetration 2. Market development 3. Product development 4. Diversification. All these four strategies have some risks associated with them. It is important for the management to identify and analyze risks associated with each strategy and then take the final decision. For many years different companies use this grid for strategic planning. Zara, one of the leading international fashion brands, uses this model to grow their business in different markets as well as within the existing market. For the entire process of business expansion, Ansoff model has been used. Now, this part of the report will discuss and analyze each of the quadrants of Ansoff matrix and apply it to Zara’s expansion. Market Penetration: Market penetration is when a company stays in an existing market with their existing products or services then the risk is very low. A company knows the product is already doing well in a market and market holds few surprises. Market penetration is to go further deep into the market as there are opportunities prevailing in the market but the company has no t capitalized on these opportunities. So to go deep into the market, the company penetrates and increases its market share in the market it is already operating. The company already is aware of the market and its characteristics like barriers to entry and exit or opportunities in the market etc. It is very important for Zara to maintain its market share in existing market with existing products. The company is operating in 59 countries and it is incurring the cost by operating its stores. Therefore by penetrating into the markets where it is already operating, the company can further utilize the markets and increase its market shares in these regions. Thus it can help in improving profitability. Zara has achieved competitive advantage by changing the products quickly. However, industry average to deliver products is nine months whereas Zara’s in-house team is capable to deliver the same in 4 to 6 weeks.

2007 financial crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

2007 financial crisis - Essay Example The risks kept building up and through the synergistic effect; they interconnected among the institutions, which in the end undermined the stability of the financial institutions. There were seven main causes that worked together to cause the 2007 financial crisis. Such included the securitization of the mortgages bringing forth to the rise in the shadow banking sector, regulatory arbitrage and conflict of interest, leverage and lower interest rates, outsourcing of mortgage broker function, the suits vs geeks’ problem and finally the bankruptcy law changes. The factors mentioned above worked as follows to cause the â€Å"perfect financial storm.† (Mishkin 2004) The securitization of mortgages was the first cause of the crisis given that throughout history it had been a trend that mortgages were issued and serviced by the same bank (Mishkin 2004). The government created Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac although both were eventually spun off as private companies to encourage ho me ownership by creating home loans, which were issued at quiet lower interest rates. These institutions along with other banks converted loans into securities called mortgage backed securities whereby the money paid by the borrower had to pass through the bank to the holder of the security (Mishkin and Eakins 2012). The banks were therefore able to get more funds to issues more loans by selling the loans. The selling of the loans also made them pass the risks associated by the loans to the buyers of the securities whose impacts both tended to reduce the rates of interest on the mortgages (Casti 2012). The two formally created institutions together with AIG and other financial institutions insured those securities against default through credit default swaps, which are just insurances on cars or houses. Securitization of mortgages itself wouldn’t necessarily be unsafe if only low risk mortgages were securitized but the successive administrations went on to encourage Fannie an d Freddie to bundle mortgages so as to expand home ownership. Mortgage backed securities are much profitable when there is no default but with defaults insurance payouts grew and the government had to come in to bail out Fannie and Freddie plus AIG (Lounsbury 2010). Mortgage backed security market is part of the broader trend called the shadow banking where firms run from banks to direct finance due to the better rates they are likely to get (Lounsbury 2010). The participants in this sector take a greater risk as this sector is not regulated like the banking sector. These companies also lack the capital requirement that the banks have compounding the risks further so incase of anything these banks lose a lot. Through regulatory arbitrage, capital requirements reappear (Mishkin and Eakins 2012). This act occurs when financial institutions have a way of undermining the intent of regulation to increase profits like the bizarre risk rankings and the shopping for a regulator. Regulatory arbitrage combined together with the conflict of interest contributed to the growing instability of the financial sector. Poor lending practices caused by the changes within the mortgage market was a cause given that the lending authority was given to the independent contractor who were outsourced and being paid on a fee per loan. They therefore had the incentive for loaning people even without looking at their security, which banks could not do as they securitized the loans (The Guardian 2012). Recent government actions like allowing the investment banks to borrow at lower rates so that they could make profits by purchasing MBSs also contributed to the

The Ongoing Evolution of Electronic Music and Its Impact on Music Essay

The Ongoing Evolution of Electronic Music and Its Impact on Music Culture and the Production and Performance of Music - Essay Example People listen to some sort of music every day in their lives, from the moment they are born till the day that they die. Music brings joy, a kind of joy which nothing else can offer especially in times of loneliness and despair. Music has a peculiar strength which captivates and mesmerizes the listeners, and they emerge rejuvenated on listening to it. One of the greatest accomplishments of humanity is developing songs, lyrics, beats, tunes and such other innovative musical strands that connect and create music culture. Music, as we know today is very far from what it was centuries ago. The ability of human beings to mimic the sounds they hear in the environment and converting them into their own music using the different tools he can find is one distinctive facture of human being race. It is believed that music has been around since the times humans, or as referred to during that time ‘cavemen,’ have existed. As it is known, musical instruments did not exist continues ago. The people then just made music out of things they could lay their hands on, like banging stones together, rubbing sticks together, clapping, and humming and so on. Evolution of Electronic Music: Music, like every other art form, has evolved over times to keep in tandem with the transformations in human aesthetics. Similarly, the advent of technolog y in the modern world has revolutionized all spheres of human life including music. â€Å"Key subjects in the music industry range from music production policy and consumption of popular music† (Wiechmann 2009). The evolution of music into electronic form, thus owes it allegiance to a great deal to the developments in technology. The first acknowledged form of an electronic music device is the telharmonium or dynamo phone, invented by Thaddeus Cahill. The evolution of electronic music indicates the type of music that uses various electronic musical devices and technologies of electronic music in its production. In general a difference can be made between the sound created using electromechanical ways and that which is formed using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound creating instruments are Hammond organ, Telharmonium, and the electric guitar. Pure electronic sound can be created by using instruments such as the sound synthesizer, computer and Theremin. The Effects of New Technology on the Approaches to Creating Electronic Music and Artists/DJs etc who Utilize Such Technologies: The effect of new technology has created lots of advantages in the process of creating artists, music or DJs who utilize such kind of technologies. The growth of new instrumental idiom and verbal idiom some of the outstanding phenomena of current music. There are undoubtedly certain contributing factors in the current music forms: the effect of folk instrument methods; the influence of jazz, and, afterwards, rock methods; the emancipation of percussion devices (a growth for which Bartok is particularly important); and at last, the arrival of a growing number of young singers and instrumentalists who specialize in the performance of current music, and who themselves play attention in questioning the idiomatic resources of their devices. The growth of idiom, obviously, has been an ongoing procedure over the centuries; in fact, it is incumbent upon every age to "reinvent" devices as modes and styles of expression change. â€Å"The music industry is one industry that has been greatly affected by technology† (Jones 2005). The influence of technology on music is devastating. A DJ gives all types of music.

Eddies death Essay Example for Free

Eddies death Essay In a view from the bridge, the theme of justice is consistent throughout, particularly at the end. The five main points I am going to talk about in this essay are Alfieri and his monologues, Eddie phoning immigration on the cousins, Marcos hatred towards Eddie at the end of the play, leading swiftly on to Eddies death. Other words associated with justice are vengeance, betrayal and revenge. Starting with Alfieri and his monologues, we can see that, being a lawyer, Alfieri values the law, more than justice. We can see this when he says most of the time we settle for half and I like it better, by this, we can see that when he says settle for half he means that the written law may not always act in favor of justice, yet it is better to follow the law than to take it into your own hands. He says that he likes it better like this, which also supports this, he sees that when people go against the law to assert justice, it can lead to conflict and death, which he does not support. Alfieri also says Justice is very important here, the keywords in the quote are important and, evidently, justice, they show how meaningful justice is in the neighborhood in which the play is set, which subtly informs the audience of an ongoing theme which is to be raised at some point in the play, maybe more than once. This prepares the audience for coming conflicts because when one thinks of justice, like Alfieri, they know it can lead to conflict and death, therefore creating dramatic tension. In addition, Alfieri says Only God makes justice, which further supports the quote above, suggesting that Alfieri is a strong believer of the law, and that people should not take justice into their own hands, that is Gods job. This may lead the audience to believe that Alfieri believes in fate, whats meant to be is meant to be, and if that one person deserves justice, God will serve it to them. Moving on to the next point, Eddie phoning immigration on the cousins. Eddie says, Give me the number of the immigration bureau, using the imperative give me, like an order, rather than asking politely for the number suggests to the audience that Eddie is making an irrational move, out of spite, maybe, because of his anger towards the cousins. Throughout the play, Eddie shows his status as high and powerful, trying to force this onto the cousins, too. When the cousins arrived, his status was knocked, and because of his delusions about Rodolpho being gay, he subconsciously created divides in his relationships with Beatrice and Catherine, because they were not seeing what he thought he saw. This angered him, and lead the audience to believe that, by turning the cousins in, Eddie thought he was rightfully serving justice, when, in fact he was purely making a selfish move to reclaim his status and have his relationships with Beatrice and Catherine restored. Furthermore, Eddie later says, after having had Marco spit in his face, Ill kill you for that you son of a bitch. By using the threat, Ill kill you suggests that Eddie wants to get revenge on Marco for embarrassing him in public, and deliberately lowering his status. The language and tone that Eddie uses is both violent and aggressive, which are also key traits and features of someone seeking justice. An example of this in everyday life are stories like 9/11, where a group of terrorists believed that had been wronged, they therefore committed an illegal act, driving two planes into the twin towers and consequently claiming the lives of hundreds of innocent people in a violent and aggressive manner. In their minds, however, the terrorists thought they were claiming their justice on the world who they believed had been unfair to them. Eddies story is like this in the way that he felt his status fading, he felt betrayed by Beatrice and Catherine for not backing him up, so, by phoning immigration on the cousins, he felt he was serving his justice, they would be deported back to Italy, and he would reclaim his status in the house he shares with Beatrice and Catherine. In his mind, he felt the victims, Rodolpho and Marco were getting the justice they deserved, when, in fact, they were completely innocent, Eddie had only deluded himself with his obsession that Rodolpho was gay, and his love for Catherine that he made the irrational decision of turning the cousins in. Another story of revenge like this, is in Hamlet, when his fathers ghost came to him, telling him that Claudius had poisoned him. Hamlets swears revenge, and does so violently and aggressively, killing Polonius, the eavesdropping court chamberlain. Several events occur, leading to a duel between Polonius son, Laertes, and Hamlet. This example also supports Alfieris view that revenge can lead to conflict and death, because the result of the duel ends with the death of Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius and Hamlet. Marcos hate towards Eddie, is similar to that of Laertes towards Hamlet, whose actions lead to the death of Polonius, Laertes father, and Ophelia, Laertes sister, who loved Hamlet but was driven to madness by his actions and died by drowning. Eddies actions, phoning the immigration bureau on the cousins lead to Marcos hate towards Eddie. Marco says That one! He killed my children! That one stole the food from my children! , he says this because once he is sent back to Italy, he will no longer have a job and will no longer be able to provide for his children. Because of this, Marco, like Laertes, wanted to get revenge, and spat in Eddies face, embarrassing him in front of the whole neighborhood. Marco also says In my country, he would be dead by now. He would not live this long, this suggests that although his action of spitting in Eddies face was, while being degrading towards Eddie, was actually quite minimal, because this quote suggests that, given the chance, Marco would have killed Eddie for betraying his family. Marco feels that this would be the rightful punishment for Eddies actions. Consequently, later in the play, Marco gets his wishes. When him and Eddie confront, a fight is initiated and Eddie pulls a knife. Eddie yells You lied about me, Marco. Now say it. Come on now, say it! , this behavior by Eddie is completely out of spite and is irrational anger, he is so obsessed with his opinions about Rodolpho, and further angered by the previous events when the immigration officers showed that he is using provoking language and tone which leads Marco to lunge, screaming Anima-a-a-a-l! and resultedly leads to Eddies death. The word animal is lengthened and is shouted in action. Marco is so angered by Eddie and is so taken over by emotion that he lunges towards Eddie and kills him, therefore avenging him for what he has done to his family. These points effectively highlight some of the main events in the play that are related to the theme of justice. They show that justice was a theme not only brought up once, but consistently throughout the play. Justice is evidently a main theme in the play, and, without it, would result in a boring play with no proper story. This shows that justice is an effective theme and keeps the audiences attention because it creates tension and therefore, interest.

Bella Fleur Wedding Reception Venue Analysis Marketing Essay

Bella Fleur Wedding Reception Venue Analysis Marketing Essay EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Business description and ownership Bella Fleur is a wedding reception venue specializing in classy and entertaining weddings for all cultures and ages (legally of course). I will be the owner of this business, and as a sole trader I am willing to try hard to assess all aspects of a business in this business plan in order to avoid involuntary cessation. I have chosen this legal structure for my business because the decision making aspect will be easier and also conflict between owners of a business that arises during decision making is avoided. As the business grows, if needed I will be able to change the legal structure to something more suitable for the situation. There will be a cultural Lebanese aspect to the venue which will add the entertaining purposes of the weddings. This culture has been held as an inspiration and will evolve in the different services offered by the venue such as foods, entertainment and sometimes decorations. Bella Fleur will offer many options/preferences as well as services and facilities to the client. Bella Fleur does not only offer services during the reception, but also leading up to the wedding. Qualified staff members are available full time to make any couples WHOLE dream day a reality rather than the dream party alone. The wedding reception venue will be located on the main road of one of Sydneys Eastern Suburbs, Double Bay. The address of this business is; 64 Bay Road, Double Bay. I have chosen a visible location and so the promotion of the venue will be quite an easy task. Bella Fleur is part of the services sector of businesses in Australia as the prime function is to organize and host a wedding for any kind of clientele. The services provided by the wedding reception venue include; wedding planners, waiters, entertainment, MCs, Bella Fleur catering, bartenders, cars and all things that are needed to ensure the bride and groom have the perfect day. Purpose of Plan- The purpose of this business plan is to help Bella Fleur Wedding Reception Venue to prevent failure. Many goals will be put in place in order to give the business a main path to follow and things that will be needed to achieve. Some of the goals placed by the business owner (Maya Geagea) include; The social goals Ensuring that all members of the community are offered with a variety of options in order to create the perfect function Offering a diverse range of services to community members The financial goals Expanding the business over a certain timeframe Ensuring that all debt finances are of minimal occurrence Gaining a sufficient profit The personal goals Being successful Creating good consumer awareness Gaining sufficient profits and minimal debts Situational Analysis Strengths Excellent Reputation Good contact base Excellent management skills Excellent quality services Extensive knowledge of the industry sector Highly qualified staff base Weaknesses Lack of consumer awareness Entrepreneurship Minimal startup capital Size of venue Opportunities Extra services will become available Growing economy Expanding locations Competitors suffering financial problems and looking to sell their business Threats Competitors Decreasing economy Increased inflation Increasing service prices Business Objectives and Strategies Objectives Strategies Provide the Bride and Groom with everything they need to make their day perfect Develop a professional, qualified staff base Ensure all services available are provided correctly Ensure that entertainment is always changing. Develop a loyal clientele base Work well with all clients Ensure that the bride and groom and all the guests are all satisfied Be consistent with all clients and ensure that all treatment is fair Add extra services to the business Research extra services that a venue can provide (2 months) Develop the new services (4 months) Have new services tested and running at full capacity (5 months) Quality Rating Complete a survey of how well the business and staff has operated with clients (3 months) Improve and use these surveys as critical analysis and new objectives (3 months) OPERATIONS Operations Description of goods and services All production facilities for the services offered by Bella Fleur will be located at the same site of Bella Fleur. Bella Fleur not only offers a venue for a wedding reception to be held at but also offers planning services to the Bride and Groom. These include services such as; Entertainment This includes DJs, bands, dancers, and all types of entertainers to ensure that the bride/groom as well as the guests experience a memorable and enjoyable night. Decorators Professional decorative designers who will decorate not only the reception, but also the ceremony location in order to create a coherent environment. They will be in charge of the table cloths, chair covers, foyer decorations, centre pieces, chair sashes, bridal table design, backdrop, fireworks and anything else selected by the bride and groom. Chefs Chefs will ensure that the Bride Groom are provided with their dream wedding banquet and all guests appetites are fulfilled. They will also be in charge of preparing the food for the bridal partys picnic while taking photos after the ceremony. Waiters the waiters must ensure that all tables are adequately taken care of and guests receive all they ask for. The head waiters will attend to the bridal partys needs regarding food and drinks on the night. Drivers Cars The Bride and Groom will have a wide selection of cars in order for them to be able to choose their preferred transportation on the big day. This will include cars for the bridal party and also a getaway car for the bride and groom. A picnic lunch is also available with any car selection provided by the kitchen at Bella Fleur. The bride and groom may choose to speak personally to the car company or have the confrontations done by the venue. MCs the bride and groom will have a choice of one or two MCs on the night, which will be chosen from a list of five entertaining public speakers. Flowers The bride will be able to choose from a wide range of flowers and arrangements of all sorts including her own and the bridesmaids bouquets. Once these flowers are chosen, automatically, boutonniere and corsages will be chosen to match the brides choice. Invitations A variety of invitation samples will be shown to the bride and groom and they will be able to choose their favorite invitation base, and alter any decorations on the invitation. **It is optional for the bride and groom to choose to work with a wedding planner. ** The Above services are available at the request of the bride and groom. Personnel Requirements and skills Waiters 10 waiters will be employed overall. Depending on the size of the function, the number of waiters asked to work will vary. No qualifications will be needed from the waiters; however it is preferable that they have worked in some sort of restaurant before. During induction, waiters will be taught the proper way of setting out wedding arrangements for the tables. Wedding Planners Two wedding planners will be employed. The wedding planners must be qualified in the areas of events management. The wedding planner is expected to have completed the events management course. They are required to speak fluent English and also a second language is highly preferred. Wedding planners should be able to communicate with clients clearly and be able not only to fulfill all the clients needs and wants at the venue, but also everything they need leading up to the big day. They will be asked to try to relate to the bride and groom and find the suitable options for the Bride and Groom. Kitchen Staff Three chefs and three kitchen staff will be employed. The chef is expected to fulfill all requirements on the basis of food, and also should be able to alternate and always help create an innovative menu. The three kitchen staff will be employed as the chefs assistants, they will carry out jobs such as washing the dishes, cleaning the kitchen, providing the chef with all ingredients etc. Receptionist The receptionist must be able to deal with all kinds of people and communicate clearly over the phone as well as face to face. It is preferred that the receptionist be a woman, and also be able to take care of all book keeping requirements. MARKETING Marketing Market Analysis Bella Fleur Wedding Reception will begin as a small business, targeted mainly at people looking for a versatile wedding and a variety of options. The target market for this business will range from clients looking for somewhere to have their wedding reception to clients looking for somewhere where they can hold a christening. Marriages around Australia are of high occurrence, and therefore the target market for Bella Fleur will be diverse and ever growing. The table below shows the number of marriages over time from 1988 2007. Total marriages 1998-2007 Graph: Total marriages-1998-2007 Bella Fleur wedding reception has a main goal of market expansion. Over the time frame of ten years, this business will hope to expand and become a franchise. In order to do so, customer awareness will need to be gained and further focused on. Bella Fleur will mainly focus on promotion and customer awareness in the month of March. As statistics show, weddings in Australia were found in 2007 that March was the most popular month. This is show in the table below found on; http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[emailprotected]/mf/3306.0.55.001 Months of marriage 2007 Graph: Months of marriage-2007 Competitor Analysis Within wedding reception industry in Sydney, the competitive environment is quite intense and the number of competitors is fairly large. This means that while Bella Fleur will be entering the market place, there may be many competitive advantages as well as disadvantages. Existing competitors leaving the industry could be an advantage while entrepreneurs opening up businesses in this industry could be a disadvantage. For this business, two main competitors have been chosen and analyzed. They are shown below. Competitor Information Strengths of Competitor Weaknesses of Competitor Bella Fleur Strategies THE VAUDEVILLE FUNCTION LOUNGE 176 The River Road, Revesby NSW 2212 Specializes in all functions Prestige Excellent promotion and customer awareness Large Space Many years experience No cultural aspect Doesnt offer as many services as Bella Fleur High pricing Bella Fleur holds a cultural aspect and offers all kinds of services possible for an event. The budget is flexible and works with the clients budget. Bella Fleur is dedicated to gain customer awareness by promotion skills and in time will also expand the business. DOLTONE HOUSE FUNCTION CENTRE 223 Belgrave Esplanade, Sylvania Waters, NSW 2224 Excellent View Prestige Customer Awareness Franchise Large Business Large spaces Many years experience No cultural aspect Focuses mainly on the reception rather than the planning High pricing Bella Fleur holds a cultural aspect and offers all kinds of services possible for an event. The budget is flexible and works with the clients budget. Bella Fleur is dedicated to gain customer awareness by promotion skills and in time will also expand the business. Product Analysis The main function of Bella Fleur will be to provide clients with all specific and small components of a wedding and all other functions. This may be the main function, however this function will vary from client to client as it is a service that is offered rather than a good and clientele diversity is a given in this type of industry. The budget of the wedding reception will depend of the clients budget. For example, if a client is will to spend only a small amount of money on the wedding, different options will be given to this client than the client who is willing to spend millions of dollars. Changes at these times will occur mainly in menu, which room the function will be held in, how many people will be at the wedding and all different small details. At Bella Fleur, concentration will be placed on customer comfort as well as happiness, the customer must be happy with the services we have to offer before they will open up to the staff and ensure that trust is placed in us. A product analysis is not entirely necessary when planning this kind of business as it offers services rather than goods. Price Analysis At Bella Fleur, prices will depend upon the budget of the client rather than the budget of the reception venue. Many different offers and deals will be given to clients ensuring they are able to choose and adapt the services and products in order to create a dream wedding while working around their own budget. Once a client has chosen the deal which they would like to go ahead with, it is the responsibility of the reception venue to then purchase appropriate goods and plan appropriate methods to ensure that a profit will be made rather than a loss. Prices will vary depending on; The menu The seating plan The number of people The services chosen Decorations Changes made to the hall Promotion Analysis As any business, when Bella Fleur wedding reception venue first opens up, the main short term goal will be to gain high customer awareness. This goal will become long term while the business grows. The location of this business assists in developing its promotion and prestige. The business will be advertised in newspapers, wedding magazines, on street signs and billboards. However, this will not be accomplished with the original startup capital of the business. Direct Marketing, Sales promotion and Publicity will all be used in order to promote the business. Place Analysis Bella Fleur wedding reception is located on the main road of one of Sydneys higher class suburbs. The location of this business is of prime importance especially for its promotion. The venue is overlooking a lake and a beautiful natural environment. This gives Bella Fleur a competitive advantage over its competitors who are often placed in areas where no view is available. FINANCE Finances Financial Forecasts Revenue Statement Revenue Statement for Bella Fleur Wedding Reception Venue For the period ending 31st August 2012 $ $ SALES REVENUE 1 450 000 COGS Opening Stock 500 000 Purchases 200 000 700 000 Closing Stock 100 000 Total 600 000 GROSS PROFIT 850 000 EXPENSES Advertising 5 000 Insurance 2 000 Interest to bank 20 000 Decoration Expenses 30 000 Mortgage 4 050 Salaries and Wages 200 000 Telephone 4 000 Kitchen Stock 80 000 Total 345 050 NET PROFIT (before tax) 504 950 Balance Sheet Balance Sheet for Bella Fleur Wedding Reception As at 30 August 2011 CURRENT ASSETS $ $ Cash in bank 500 000 Account Receivable 420 000 Stock (ingredients) 100 000 Total Current Assets 1 020 000 NON CURRENT ASSETS Equipment 2 450 000 Land 700 000 Building Properties 500 000 Total Non Current Assets 3 650 000 OTHER/INTANGIBLE ASSETS Good will (intangible) 300 000 Total Other Assets 300 000 Total Assets 4 970 000 CURRENT LIABILITIES Bank Overdraft 600 000 Accounts Payable 200 000 Total Current Liabilities 800 000 NON CURRENT LIABILITIES Mortgage 3 516 000 Total Non Current Liabilities 3 516 000 OWNERS EQUITY Capital 500 000 Retained Profits 154 000 Total Equity 654 000 Total Liabilities 4 970 000 1.28LIQUIDITY: Current Assets 1 020 000 Current Liabilities 800 000 CRITICAL REVIEW Critical Review As a student, I think that Ive completed this assignment quite well according to the plan of approach. I followed all my deadlines and completed things before the due date. My understanding of what a business plan had to be like expanded during the course of this assignment as I researched and questioned different aspects of the assignment. I struggled with some sections of the assignment which had not been explained clearly during class time, and I struggled to understand the concept just by looking at internet sites and in the text book. This weakness can be seen in the effort put into the sections. The two sections which I struggled most in were; marketing and finances. I found it difficult to understand the set up and what we had to include in these sections and this was shown in the lack of quality in these sections. I feel that I did quite well in this assignment regarding the circumstances that were put to us. I am glad that I met deadlines, however next time, I will try to understand all content before beginning an assignment. Overall, my progress throughout this assignment was satisfactory and I was happy with the fact that I was able to teach myself things and understand concepts which are found to be difficult just by reading over a text book or internet site. However, the quality of the two sections is a downfall for the assignment. My goals for this assignment were; Meet the deadlines Ensure all the work was understood Complete the assignment to the best of my ability I feel that these goals were fulfilled and am proud of this accomplishment. PLAN OF APPROACH PROGRESS AND RESEARCH BUSINESS PLAN BELLA FLEUR WEDDING RECEPTION VENUE 22736094 YEAR 11 Bibliography Le Montage http://www.lemontage.com.au/index.cfm?html=true Nielsen Park Venues http://www.receptionsearch.com.au/venues/NSW/Eastern%20Suburbs/Nielsen%20Park%20Venues/The%20White%20Pavilion Terrey Hills Golf Club http://www.terreyhillsgolf.com.au/guests/guests.mhtml Dockside Groups http://www.docksidegroup.com.au/

Titus :: essays research papers

Titus" by William Shakespeare, Titus was a decent and honorable man. Titus loved and cherished his daughter Lavinia. He was a traditionalist, and stuck by his morals. Titus was brave. He showed he was loyal to those he cared for. He honored his family. Titus was a respected soldier and leader. Titus was a decent man because he loved and cherished his daughter Lavinia. Being Lavinia was his only daughter of twenty-six children; he spoke highly of her. In act 1, Titus addresses the public by saying "Kind Rome, that hast thus loving reserved, The cordial of mine age to glad my heart. Lavinia live, outlive thy father's days, and fame's eternal date, for virtues praise" (138). He is describing the link between Lavinia and his heart, and telling her to outlive, and go beyond him. In act 3 Titus shows he would do anything for Lavinia after her hands were chopped off. He says "Give me a sword, I'll chop off my hands too" (194). Being willing to sacrifice his own hands for his daughter shows his deep love for her. Lavinia means so much to Titus, that in act 3 he explains "But that which gives my soul the greatest spurn, Is dear Lavinia, dearer than my soul" (195), meaning his dear Lavinia's misery is giving his soul the greatest amount of hurt. Af ter comparing Ovid's description of the forest to where Titus and his sons hunted, he cries out "O' had we never, never hunted there! Patterned by that the poet here describes, By nature made for murders and for rapes" (214). Titus cares so much for his daughter that he is blaming himself for hunting in a place that is set for a murder or rape to occur. Being a traditionalist is another quality that made Titus an honorable man. In act 1 Titus shows his respect for religious tradition by telling Tamora, "Alive and dead, and for their brethren slain, Religiously they ask a sacrifice. To this your son is marked, and die he must, T'appease their groaning shadows that are gone" (135). He is obeying religion and will kill Tamora's oldest son (Alarbus), for those who have sinned in his family. When Alarbus is being buried in act 1, Titus makes a speech that states "In peace and honour rest you here, my sons; Rome's readiest champions, repose you here in rest, Secure from worldly chances and mishaps.

Hate Crime Laws: Are They Constitutional? Essay -- essays research pap

Are hate crime penalty enforcement laws constitutional? â€Å"That’s Gay.† If you are around teenagers today, that is a phrase you will most likely hear very often. It is not necessarily meant as a homophobic or hate-filled remark, and most of the time it is referring to an object, an idea, or a conversation; things that obviously have no sexual orientation. But now, according to a bill passed by the senate, it could almost be considered a hate crime. Many people support the widening of hate crime laws, assuming that with stricter penalties, the crimes will lessen. In June, 2004, Senate passed a bill that received a record number of votes, passing 65-33, including 18 Republicans voting yes. The measure will add sexual orientation, gender and disability to the list of motives that provide for enhanced federal prosecution of a violent crime against a person (Lochhead). The current hate crimes law, which originated during the civil rights movement of the 1960s when many Southern states failed to prosecute assaults on African Am ericans, includes crimes motivated by hatred based on race, color, religion, and national origin. Many see this as a step forward, but there are some who think it is unconstitutional. Religious groups argue that "It advances the radical, well publicized agenda of homosexuals to gain acceptance for, and legal recognition of, homosexuality as a normal lifestyle" (Toalston). So who’s right? Should there be a separate category for crimes committed to minorities? Shouldn’t all crimes be treated just as serious as another? I believe that the categorizing of crimes into Hate Crimes is just further segregating people because of their differences, and that paying more serious attention to crimes committed on minorities is sending a bad message to those who are in the majority. First off, many people perceive hate crime perpetrators as crazed neo-Nazis or "skinheads". However, most hate crimes are carried out by otherwise law-abiding citizens who see little wrong with their actions. Alcohol and drugs sometimes help fuel these crimes, but the main determinant appears to be personal prejudice. New FBI data shows that the number of hate crimes reported in 2003 increased slightly, from 7,462 in 2002 to 7,489 in 2003. The 7,489 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI in 2003 involved 8,715 separate offense... ...will continue to believe that the widening of the classifications of hate crimes is just a way to keep certain people happy and to make them feel safe, while it really only further separates people who are viewed as different. Hopefully, sometime in the near future, we will figure out how to reach the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups of the world and prevent them from harming others. But I can tell you right now, that will not be accomplished by passing any bills that include the word â€Å"victim†, because it proves itself that its too late to help. Bibliography Lochhead, Carolyn - â€Å"Senate OKs bill including gays as hate crime victims† The San Francisco Chronicle, June 16, 2004 Toalston, Art – â€Å"Baptist agency lists '10 Reasons' to oppose hate crimes legislation† The Baptist Press, July 2 CivilRights.org - â€Å"New FBI Data Reports Increase in Hate Crimes† November 17, 2004 http://www.civilrights.org/issues/hate/details.cfm?id=26241 APA.org - Hate Crimes Today: An Age-Old Foe In Modern Dress http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/hate/ www.fbi.gov – Uniform Crime Reports http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

The National Climate Change Technology Initiative :: Environmental Policy Politics

The National Climate Change Technology Initiative (NCCTI) On June 11, 2001, in combination with his creation of the U.S Climate Research Initiative, President Bush stated that the United States is a world leader in technology and innovation and new technologies can offer a great advance towards climate change. As a result, Bush created a complement to the Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI), called the National Climate Change Technology Initiative (NCCTI). The goal of NCCTI was to make the U.S a stronger leader of climate change-related technology research and development by improving research and development investments across U.S. agencies and by focusing the Federal R&D portfolio on Bush's climate change goal, both near and long term. NCCTI adds on to an extensive foundation of ongoing activities in R&D of climate change-related technologies. The President said on June 11, 2001: "We're creating the National Climate Change Technology Initiative to strengthen research at universities and national labs, to enhance partnerships in applied research, to develop improved technology for measuring and monitoring gross and net greenhouse gas emissions, and to fund demonstration projects for cutting-edge technologies, such as bioreactors and fuel cells."(5) Potential impacts of technology on a global scale are relatively long-term, the NCCTI is guided over this by the climate change goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 (Kyoto Protocol), ratified by the United States and more than 170 other countries (5) (3). The UNFCCC calls for the "... stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in Earth's atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system."(5) In order to achieve this long-term goal, net emissions of greenhouse gases on a global scale must ultimately approach levels that are lower than they are today. (1) Current activities of the NCCTI include a thorough and continuing review of all climate change technology-related research and development programs, with focus on improving the integration of supporting basic research activities. The NCCTI interagency working group is developing criteria to identify high-priority programs that may have the largest potential impact in the long term for reducing, avoiding, or sequestering greenhouse gas emissions.(5)(4) NCCTI also includes a proposal to fund a unique competitive solicitation program, in which technology research ideas will be funded on the basis of their potential to reduce, avoid, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions.

Government Essay

Should wealthy nations be required to share their wealth among poorer nations by providing such things as food and education? Or is it the responsibility of the governments of poorer nations to look after their citizens themselves? What should a government do for a country to become successful? Should money be spent on space exploration? Should rich countries forgive all debts for poor countries? Does foreign aid help donor countries more than the recipients? Should rich countries pay more for environmental damage? Most high level jobs are done by men. Should the government encourage a certain percentage of these jobs to be reserved for women? Should developing countries concentrate on improving industrial skills or should they promote education first? Safety standards are important when building people’s homes. Who should be responsible for enforcing strict building codes – the government or the people who build the homes? Discuss the advantage and disadvantage of giving international aid to poor countries. Should criminals be punished with lengthy jail terms or re-educated and rehabilitated using community service programs for instance, before being reintroduced to society? In most countries disabled people are not catered for adequately, e.g. buildings are often inappropriately designed. Governments rely too heavily on charities and voluntary organizations to provide assistance and funding. What further measures could be taken to assist disabled people? In your opinion should government intervene in the rights of the individual with regard to family planning? The best way to reduce the number of traffic accidents is to make all young drivers complete a safe driving education course before being licensed to drive. Nowadays doctors can become very rich. Maybe they should not focus on profitable activities such as plastic surgery or looking after rich patients and concentrate more on patients health, no matter how rich they are? Does travel help to promote understanding and communication between countries? In your opinion what factors contribute to a good movie? Are famous people treated unfairly by the media ? Should they be given more privacy, or is the price of their fame an invasion into their private lives? Is animal testing necessary? Some businesses now say that no one can smoke cigarettes in any of their offices. Some governments have banned smoking in all public places. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons. To what extent is the use of animals in scientific research acceptable? Human beings do not need to eat meat in order to maintain good health because they can get all their food needs from meatless products and meatless substances. A vegetarian diet is as healthy as a diet containing meat. Argue for or against the opinion above. Forests are the lungs of the earth. Destruction of the world’s forests amounts to death of the world we currently know. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Are our zoos cruel to wild animals? Discuss. Zoos are sometimes seen as necessary but not poor alternatives to a natural environment. Discuss some of the arguments for and/or against keeping animals in zoos. To what extent will migration from the developing world to the developed world become a social and political issue in the 21st century? In Britain, when someone gets old, they often go to live in a home with other old people where there are nurses to look after them. Sometimes the government has to pay for this care. Who should be responsible for our old people? Give reasons. The first car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000 there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on British roads. Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use. What do you think? The best way to reduce the number of traffic accidents is to make all young drivers complete a safe driving education course before being licensed to drive. News editors decide what to broadcast on TV and what to print in newspapers. What factors do you think influence their decisions? Have we become used to bad news? Would it be better if more good news was reported? TV: could you be without it? Discuss. To what extent will migration from the developing world to the developed world become a social and political issue in the 21st century? The mass media, including TV, radio and newspapers, have great influence in shaping people’s ideas. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer. Tourism is becoming increasingly important as a source of revenue to many countries but its disadvantages should not be overlooked. What are some of the problems of tourism? The mass media, including TV, radio and newspapers, have great influence in shaping people’s ideas. To what extent do you agree or disagree this statement? Give reasons for your answer Does modern technology make life more convenient, or was life better when technology was simpler? Will modern technology, such as the internet ever replace the book or the written word as the main source of information? We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. They are used in businesses, hospitals, crime detection and even to fly planes. What things will they be used for in future?.Is this dependence on computers a good thing or should we be more suspicious of their benefits?Use specific details and examples in your answer. In what ways has information technology changed work and working practices in the past 10 years? Technology is making communication easier in today’s world, but at the expense of personal contact as many people choose to work at home in front of a computer screen. What dangers are there for a society which depends on computer screens rather than face-to-face contact for its main means of communication? Will the Internet bring people of the world closer together? The first car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000 there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on British roads. Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use. What do you think? The mass media, including TV, radio and newspapers, have great influence in shaping people’s ideas. To what extent do you agree or disagree this statement? Give reasons for your answer. Should retirement be compulsory at 65 years of age? Telecommuting’ refers to workers doing their jobs from home for part of each week and communicating with their office using computer technology. Telecommuting is growing in many countries and is expected to be common for most office workers in the coming decades. How do you think society will be affected by the growth of telecommuting? In some countries the average worker is obliged to retire at the age of 50, while in others people can work until they are 65 or 70. Until what age do you think people should be encouraged to remain in paid employment? Give reasons for your answer. To what extent should economic planning be influenced by the need of environmental conservation? Damage of the environment is an inevitable consequence of worldwide improvements in the standard of living. Discuss. The rising levels of congestion and air pollution found in most of the world cities can be attributed directly to the rapidly increasing number of private cars in use. In order to reverse this decline in the quality of life in cities, attempts must be made to encourage people to use their cars less and public transport more. Discuss possible ways to encourage the use of public transport. The threat of nuclear weapons maintains world peace. Nuclear power provides cheap and clean energy. The benefits of nuclear technology far outweigh the disadvantages. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer. Education is the single most important factor in the development of a country. Do you agree? What are factors which are related to academic success in high-school students? Do the benefits of study abroad justify the difficulties? What advice would you offer to a prospective student? The idea of going overseas for university study is an exciting prospect for many people. But while it may offer some advantages, it is probably better to stay home because of the difficulties a student inevitably encounters living and studying in a different culture. To what extent do you agree or disagree this statement? Give reasons for your answer. Education is recognized as vital to the future of any society in today’s world. Governments throughout the world should make education compulsory for all children between the ages of 5 and 15. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Foreign language instruction should begin in kindergarten. Discuss. Should sports classes be sacrificed in High School so students can concentrate on academic subjects?

European EN and International ISO standards Essay

The abbreviations â€Å"EN† refers to European Norm while â€Å"ISO† refer to International Standards Organization. Endoscopy literally means â€Å"looking inside† and it is usually refers to look inside the body usually in relation to medical reasons using an instrument called an endoscope. It is used to examine the interior parts of a hollow organ or cavity of the body, and they are inserted directly into the organ. The endoscopes, especially flexible endoscopes are usually complex but can be reused but require very unique conditions for reuse in respect to their decontamination. It is not only their outer surfaces that are exposed, but also their air channels, water channels and even their accessories that enable them to function in the right manner. Their exposure to body fluids and other contaminants means that their reuse has to be very carefully looked into so as to avoid spread of diseases. It is also important to realize that most endoscopes are heat labile and cannot be autoclaved meaning they change under different heat conditions. European (EN) and International (ISO) standards that would be applicable to an endoscope decontamination unit (EDU) in the UK As abstracted from EN ISO 15883, information from the manufacturers should be given prior to purchasing the endoscope. This implies that the manufacturer provides information such the best disinfectants to use with that particular endoscope and what is expected when cleaning, for example the bacteria expected to be found there and also if the disinfectant in question is compatible with the automatic reprocessor in which it is being used. (Gurusamy Manivannan, 2008) As per BS EN ISO 15883-1, a temperature recorder having no fewer than ten sensors should be used, and the specifications are well indicated in the ISO standard. This is because the endoscopes are heat labile, and temperature may affect the chemical compositions of the accessories or other chemicals involved. The manufacturer should also establish the worst conditions under of the devices configuration. Such conditions encompass temperature, detergent concentration and surrogate device configuration. This also includes water flow pressure for use during testing. This may also be categorized in a similar manner as biocompatibility testing where limits such as residual limits are stipulated as per ISO 10993. (Denise Sheard, 20120 The calibrations should be checked in accordance with ISO 10012-1 for uniformity purposes. These are usually dictated by manufacturers using a validated method of applying a sensible reference. Each instrument should also be labeled with a unique reference number. This is important when measuring passage of fluids or drugs so as to get accurate and true results. The standard prEN ISO 15883-1-2004 has a clause that indicates that the manufacture shall all addition information associated with the use and decontamination of the particular endoscope. Information such as maximum flow and pressure of fluids within each channel in the device and the maximum possible permissible restriction of flow within each channel is deemed important and must be provided. (James Walker, 2014) There is also a standard similar to both that the manufacturers may be requested to give information concerning the device at any stage, and act as consultants. This is stipulated in prEN ISO 15883-1-2004. This is important when complications arise that personnel involved were not expecting References Gurusamy Manivannan, Disinfection and decontamination: principles, applications and related issues. Boca Raton : CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, 2008 Denise Sheard , A practical guide to decontamination in healthcare . Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. James Walker, Decontamination in hospitals and healthcare. Oxford: Woodhead Publishing, 2014 Source document

Creation of the Whites Essay

The â€Å"Creation of the Whites† is a story about the whites coming over and slowly starting to colonize what they called the new world. This story shows the whites and the Native Americans being very peaceful towards each other. The whites ask permission to the Native Americans for about everything they do in the new world. Although the whites try to be respectful there are still signs that they consider their selves superior over the Native Americans. In this story it shows the whites coming over the sea and starting to eventually start colonizing the new world. They come over the first time and the Native Americans come up to see them but they leave on their, what the natives called house boat almost immediately. The next time the whites came they tried to talk to the Native Americans but they could not understand each other. The whites came back with more ships the next year and asked the Native Americans to come to shore and eventually did. The whites decided to leave ag ain shortly after they showed up. Then the whites came back again three months later and asked the Native Americans for some earth to fill a box and the natives gave it to them. The whites later came back and let the Native Americans know the ground is fertile. The whites then asked for some land to live on and the Native Americans gave them permission. The thing that amazes me most about this document set is how the Native Americans and whites get along so well. In later times in history the Native Americans and whites rarely got along as well as they did in this story. The whites seem to really respect the Native Americans for most of the story. They ask permission just to come to shore and put dirt in a box. Later on the whites also ask permission to use some of the Native American’s land. The stories that we hear from later times are of the whites pushing the Native Americans off there land without getting permission. The Native Americans give the whites everything they ask for which also surprises me a lot. The Native Americans have lived on the land for many years and it surprises me that they would give some of their land up to people who they thought were created out of sea foam. The Yuchis believed that their tribe originate d from the sun and the whites originated from sea foam. I understand that they don’t know much about the whites beliefs that they are they superior culture but I am still surprised the Native Americans would give up their land. The Native Americans were very generous to the whites. The whites  seemed to respect the Native Americans other than when they tested the land to see if it was fertile which may have shone a lack of trust. The Native Americans had been living on the land for many years and the whites could have easily trusted the Native Americans that the land was fertile. They even came back and told the Native Americans that their land was fertile. This shows part of the whites belief that they are the superior culture. The whites seemed to be very respectful throughout the story. They asked permission for everything they wanted to do. The only thing I saw the whites do that showed that they might of lacked trust in the Native Americans was test the ground to see if it was fertile. This story shows that the whites and th e Native Americans did not always have big conflicts.

Banking Sector Reform Essay

From the 1991 India economic crisis to its status of third largest economy in the world by 2011, India has grown significantly in terms of economic development. So has its banking sector. During this period, recognizing the evolving needs of the sector, the Finance Ministry of Government of India (GOI) set up various committees with the task of analyzing India’s banking sector and recommending legislation and regulations to make it more effective, competitive and efficient.[1] Two such expert Committees were set up under the chairmanship of M. Narasimham. They submitted their recommendations in the 1990s in reports widely known as the Narasimham Committee-I (1991) report and the Narasimham Committee-II (1998) Report. These recommendations not only helped unleash the potential of banking in India, they are also recognized as a factor towards minimizing the impact of global financial crisis starting in 2007. Unlike the socialist-democratic era of the 1960s to 1980s, India is no longer insulated from the global economy and yet its banks survived the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed, a feat due in part to theseNarasimham Committees.[2] Contents [hide] * 1 Background * 2 Recommendations of the Committee * 2.1 Autonomy in Banking * 2.2 Reform in the role of RBI * 2.3 Stronger banking system * 2.4 Non-performing assets * 2.5 Capital adequacy and tightening of provisioning norms * 2.6 Entry of Foreign Banks * 3 Implementation of recommendations * 4 Criticism Background During the decades of the 60s and the 70s, India nationalised most of its banks. This culminated with the balance of payments crisis of the Indian economy where India had to airlift gold toInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) to loan money to meet its financial obligations. This event called into question the previous banking policies of India and triggered the era of economic liberalisation in India in 1991. Given that rigidities and weaknesses had made serious inroads into the Indian banking system by the late 1980s, the Government of India (GOI), post-crisis, took several steps to remodel the country’s financial system. (Some claim that these reforms were influenced by the IMF and the World Bank as part of their loan conditionality to India in 1991).[3] The banking sector, handling 80% of the flow of money in the economy, needed serious reforms to make it internationally reputable, accelerate the pace of reforms and develop it into a constructive usher of an efficient, vibrant and competitive economy by adequately supporting the country’s financial needs.[4] In the light of these requirements, two expert Committees were set up in 1990s under the chairmanship of M. Narasimham (an ex-RBI (Reserve Bank of India) governor) which are widely credited for spearheading the financial sector reform in India.[3] The first Narasimhan Committee (Committee on the Financial System – CFS) was appointed by Manmohan Singh as India’s Finance Minister on 14 August 1991,[1][5] and the second one (Committee on Banking Sector Reforms)[6] was appointed by P.Chidambaram[7] as Finance Minister in December 1997.[8] Subsequently, the first one widely came to be known as the Narasimham Committee-I (1991)and the second one as Narasimham-II Committee(1998).[9][10] This article is about the recommendations of the Second Narasimham Committee, the Committee on Banking Sector Reforms. The purpose of the Narasimham-I Committee was to study all aspects relating to the structure, organization, functions and procedures of the financial systems and to recommend improvements in their efficiency and productivity. The Committee submitted its report to the Finance Minister in November 1991 which was tabled in Parliament on 17 December 1991.[6] The Narasimham-II Committee was tasked with the progress review of the implementation of the banking reforms since 1992 with the aim of further strengthening the financial institutions of India.[4]It focussed on issues like size of banks and capital adequacy ratio among other things.[9] M. Narasimham, Chairman, submitted the report of the Committee on Banking Sector Reforms (Committee-II) to the Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in April 1998.[4][9] Recommendations of the Committee The 1998 report of the Committee to the GOI made the following major recommendations: Autonomy in Banking Greater autonomy was proposed for the public sector banks in order for them to function with equivalent professionalism as their international counterparts.[11] For this the panel recommended that recruitment procedures, training and remuneration policies of public sector banks be brought in line with the best-market-practices of professional bank management.[4][6] Secondly, the committee recommended GOI equity in nationalized banks be reduced to 33% for increased autonomy.[4][12][13] It also recommended the RBI relinquish its seats on the board of directors of these banks. The committee further added that given that the government nominees to the board of banks are often members of parliament, politicians, bureaucrats, etc., they often interfere in the day-to-day operations of the bank in the form of the behest-lending.[4] As such the committee recommended a review of functions of banks boards with a view to make them responsible for enhancing shareholder value through formulation of corporate strategy and reduction of government equity.[11] To implement this, criteria for autonomous status was identified by March 1999 (among other implementation measures) and 17 banks were considered eligible for autonomy.[14] But some recommendations like reduction in Government’s equity to 33%,[13][15] the issue of greater professionalism and independence of the board of directors of public sector banks is still awaiting Government follow-through and implementation.[16] Reform in the role of RBI First, the committee recommended that the RBI withdraw from the 91-day treasury bills market and that interbank call money and term money markets be restricted to banks and primary dealers.[6][14] Second, the Committee proposed a segregation of the roles of RBI as a regulator of banks and owner of bank.[17] It observed that â€Å"The Reserve Bank as a regulator of the monetary system should not be the owner of a bank in view of a possible conflict of interest†. As such, it highlighted that RBI’s role of effective supervision was not adequate and wanted it to divest its holdings in banks and financial institutions. Pursuant to the recommendations, the RBI introduced a Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) operated through repo and reverse repos in order to set a corridor for money market interest rates. To begin with, in April 1999, an Interim Liquidity Adjustment Facility (ILAF) was introduced pending further upgradation in technology and legal/procedural changes to facilitate electronic transfer.[18]As for the second recommendation, the RBI decided to transfer its respective shareholdings of public banks like State Bank of India (SBI), National Housing Bank (NHB) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to GOI. Subsequently, in 2007-08, GOI decided to acquire entire stake of RBI in SBI, NHB and NABARD. Of these, the terms of sale for SBI were finalised in 2007-08 itself.[19] Stronger banking system The Committee recommended for merger of large Indian banks to make them strong enough for supporting international trade.[11] It recommended a three tier banking structure in India through establishment of three large banks with international presence, eight to ten national banks and a large number of regional and local banks.[4][9][11] This proposal had been severely criticized by the RBI employees union.[20] The Committee recommended the use of mergers to build the size and strength of operations for each bank.[12] However, it cautioned that large banks should merge only with banks of equivalent size and not with weaker banks, which should be closed down if unable to revitalize themselves.[6] Given the large percentage of non-performing assets for weaker banks, some as high as 20% of their total assets, the concept of â€Å"narrow banking† was proposed to assist in their rehabilitation.[11] There were a string of mergers in banks of India during the late 90s and early 2000s, encouraged strongly by the Government of India|GOI in line with the Committee’s recommendations.[21]However, the recommended degree of consolidation is still awaiting sufficient government impetus.[16] Non-performing assets Non-performing assets had been the single largest cause of irritation of the banking sector of India.[4] Earlier the Narasimham Committee-I had broadly concluded that the main reason for the reduced profitability of the commercial banks in India was the priority sector lending. The committee had highlighted that ‘priority sector lending’ was leading to the build up of non-performing assets of the banks and thus it recommended it to be phased out.[10] Subsequently, the Narasimham Committee-II also highlighted the need for ‘zero’ non-performing assets for all Indian banks with International presence.[10] The 1998 report further blamed poor credit decisions, behest-lending and cyclical economic factors among other reasons for the build up of the non-performing assets of these banks to uncomfortably high levels. The Committee recommended creation of Asset Reconstruction Funds or Asset Reconstruction Companies to take over the bad debts of banks, allowing them to start on a clean-slate.[4][22][23] The option of recapitalization through budgetary provisions was ruled out. Overall the committee wanted a proper system to identify and classify NPAs,[6] NPAs to be brought down to 3% by 2002[4] and for an independent loan review meachnism for improved management of loan portfolios.[6] The committee’s recommendations let to introduction of a new legislation which was subsequently implemented as the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 and came into force with effect from 21 June 2002.[24][25][26] Capital adequacy and tightening of provisioning norms In order to improve the inherent strength of the Indian banking system the committee recommended that the Government should raise the prescribed capital adequacy norms.[9] This would also improve their risk taking ability.[11] The committee targeted raising the capital adequacy ratio to 9% by 2000 and 10% by 2002 and have penal provisions for banks that fail to meet these requirements.[4][6] For asset classification, the Committee recommended a mandatory 1% in case of standard assets and for the accrual of interest income to be done every 90 days instead of 180 days.[14] To implement these recommendations, the RBI in Oct 1998, initiated the second phase of financial sector reforms by raising the banks’ capital adequacy ratio by 1% and tightening the prudential norms for provisioning and asset classification in a phased manner on the lines of the Narasimham Committee-II report.[27] The RBI targeted to bring the capital adequacy ratio to 9% by March 2001.[28] The mid-term Review of the Monetary and Credit Policy of RBI announced another series of reforms, in line with the recommendations with the Committee, in October 1999.[14] Entry of Foreign Banks The committee suggested that the foreign banks seeking to set up business in India should have a minimum start-up capital of $25 million as against the existing requirement of $10 million. It said that foreign banks can be allowed to set up subsidiaries and joint ventures that should be treated on a par with private banks.[4] Implementation of recommendations In 1998, RBI Governor Bimal Jalan informed the banks that the RBI had a three to four year perspective on the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations.[27] Based on the other recommendations of the committee, the concept of a universal bank was discussed by the RBI and finally ICICI bank became the first universal bank of India.[18][29][30] The RBI published an â€Å"Actions Taken on the Recommendations† report on 31 October 2001 on its own website. Most of the recommendations of the Committee have been acted upon (as discussed above) although some major recommendations are still awaiting action from the Government of India.[31] Criticism There were protests by employee unions of banks in India against the report. The Union of RBI employees made a strong protest against the Narasimham II Report.[20] There were other plans by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), representing about 1.3 million bank employees in India, to meet in Delhi and to work out a plan of action in the wake of the Narasimham Committee report on banking reforms. The committee was also criticized in some quarters as â€Å"anti-poor†. According to some, the committees failed to recommend measures for faster alleviation of poverty in India by generating new employment.[3] This caused some suffering to small borrowers (both individuals and businesses in tiny, micro and small sectors). Reception Initially, the recommendations were well received in all quarters, including the Planning Commission of India leading to successful implementation of most of its recommendations.[32] Then it turned out that during the 2008 economic crisis of major economies worldwide, performance of Indian banking sector was far better than their international counterparts. This was also credited to the successful implementation of the recommendations of the Narasimham Committee-II with particular reference to the capital adequacy norms and the recapitalization of the public sector banks.[2] The impact of the two committees has been so significant that elite politicians and financial sectors professionals have been discussing these reports for more than a decade since their first submission applauding their positive contribution Prime Minister’s address at RBI Platinum Jubilee Celebrations| The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh addressed the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Reserve Bank o f India in Mumbai today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion: â€Å"It is indeed a great pleasure to be here in Mumbai for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Reserve Bank of India. For me, this is also a very special moment of nostalgia. I spent some very memorable years in this institution as its Governor. My wife and I cherish the memories of many new enduring friendships that we made during those memorable days. I also recall with deep appreciation the role played by the Reserve Bank in helping the Government of India in the implementation of the agenda for economic reforms when I was the Finance Minister of India at a very difficult time in our country’s economic history. To return as Prime Minister for the Platinum Jubilee of this great institution is indeed an emotionally moving experience for me. When I took over as Finance Minister in 1991, I was convinced that the economic liberalisation and reforms could only succeed if complemented by broad based reform in the banking and financial sectors. I turned to my old friend and former RBI Governor Shri M Narasimham to Chair a Committee to make recommendations on this very important issue. The Report of the Narasimham Committee outlined a comprehensive agenda of reform which served as a blue print of what we needed to do in subsequent years. It would have been difficult to implement those reforms had they not received enthusiastic support, as they did, from the Governor of the day, Shri S. Venkitaramanan and Dr. Rangrajan. Subsequently as Venitramanan’s successor Dr C. Rangarajan took the financial reform agenda further forward in many critical areas, including especially the ending of automatic monetisation of the government’s deficit. As with economic reforms in general, financial sector reforms in India were implemented at a gradual pace. We were often criticised for our incremental approach which critics often complained was far too slow. But few would deny that we have accomplished a great deal over the years and Reserve Bank has made important contribution towards this. We have successfully eliminated stifling controls on industry and investment. We have opened the economy to foreign trade, lowered tariffs and switched over to a market determined exchange rate. We have liberalised capital controls enabling the economy to absorb substantial inflows of capital in the form of both FDI and FII flows into the stock market. In recent years, foreign investment has also become a two way flow as many Indian companies have established a presence abroad through investment or acquisition. All of this has been achieved without experiencing a serious macro economic crisis or severe inflation over an extended period. Most importantly, the real economy has clearly prospered. The rate of growth of GDP has increased steadily over the past two decades, culminating in an unprecedented 9 percent growth per year in the four year period just before the global financial crisis. Poverty too, has declined steadily, though this is an area where much more remains to be done. The Reserve Bank of India has played a major role in this transformation. It has been a lead player in banking and financial sector reforms and has acted as a confidential adviser to the Government on many other issues relevant to the complex task of macro economic management in an increasingly open and liberalised economic environment. Indeed, it is one of our great institutions of which we can all be truly proud. The past two years have been difficult years for governments and central banks all over the world. Excessive credit expansion and asset price inflation both fuelled by so-called â€Å"financial innovations† of dubious value, and a lax regulatory environment led to an accumulation of risk that was not adequately understood and ultimately produced a severe crisis. India was relatively insulated from these developments because our financial system was much less integrated with the global system. However, the RBI deserves credit for having been prescient about the dangers posed by property bubbles. The action taken by Governor Reddy, who is present here, well before the crisis to tighten bank credit against real estate, limited bank exposure on this account. When the crisis exploded in September 2008, the RBI rapidly reversed its earlier tightening of credit to meet the new and changed circumstances. The CRR and the repo and reverse repo rates were rapidly lowered in a series of quick steps. Some initiatives were also taken to enhance access to bank credit by Non Banking Finance Companies. Signs of panic withdrawals from some private sector banks in the initial weeks of the crisis were met with strong reassurances by both the Government and the RBI that our banks were sound and would be fully supported. Ensuring that the Indian financial system remained stable in these very difficult times was a major achievement in financial and economic management. I would like to compliment Governor Subbarao and his team at the RBI for the role they played in this period.