Saturday, August 31, 2019
Desiree’s Baby and Battle Royal: Character Comparison Essay
Reasons the main characters in Desiree’s baby and Battle Royal choose different paths to solve their problems Racism has deterred many Africans from living happily, for from the two given stories we saw that one took her own life for that and the other had to suffer all the cruelty and inequality of the whites in order to continue his academic life. In the stories, our main characters had both chosen different paths, solutions to their problem. The reasons that lead to this dissimilarity were that both of them were different people with different stands in society and also their situations were not alike. As a woman, Desiree’s joy in life lied in her happy family yet she was deserted by her own husband. Armand’s treatment towards Desiree made her became miserable and so when she left with the child, she had nothing to live for. Armand and Desiree were very much in love at the beginning of the story and Desiree could not cope without him. Desiree did not understand what she had done but she felt guilty. Armand thought that she had betrayed him that she was an unfaithful wife. The change in Armand’s attitude towards his wife affected Desiree and due to this she killed herself and her child. On the other hand, our young African-American narrator was a slave. He was and always has been an obedient slave who believed if he worked hard enough the white community would accept him. Thus, through all the abuse and after being treated as an entertainment, he still held on to his speech the one thing he was firmed of. And in the end, though he was very confused if his grandfather’s words were true he had to go continue his academic life first, which left him in a crossroad. Furthermore, Desiree was adopted by a well-respected family and also she married Armand who was also from a wealthy family, which put a lot of pressure on her to be a perfect woman. So when her husband falsely accused her of being black, she was confused since it went against everything she had been in her whole life: good, kind, and pure. She was shocked to see happiness taken away from her so easily and also to see that she had became a humiliation to her husband’s and her own family. That also is why she chose death as her solution. In contrast to Desiree the narrator’s family in Battle Royal were all slaves. They were not ashamed of it. They believed in â€Å"Equal but separate. †, they always taught their kids to be good and their good deed will be rewarded. This point was proven when white people gave the narrator a scholarship. At that point he had caught glimpses of the cruelty of the white society but still he was very grateful for that scholarship hence, it blindfolded him from the real truth. Moreover, Desiree chose death for herself because she thought she had nothing left to live for in this world, she was treated like an outcast. Of course we can argue that she had to live for her baby, but in the end she did what she did to save both of them. She was scared and she knew for sure that in this society no one would accept her baby. She did not want her child to go through what she had thus ending both of their lives was the easiest choice. However, our narrator in Battle Royal, not like Desiree, he had a choice. He could go to college be an obedient African-American like he was and everything would stay perfectly fine. He could have a life and he was not going to throw that rare opportunity away which is why his choice of path was not remotely as same as Desiree’s in the other short story. In conclusion, our characters had unraveled their problems through different ways. Desiree chose to commit suicide and our narrator in Battle Royal continued with his life though he was unsure what he should do. They chose differently because they were different person, they came from different society class at that time, and their problems were not the same. But in the end, Desiree and the African-American narrator were both victims of racism which were portrayed differently in both of our short stories but still were saying in Desiree’s case what tragic did racism brought and in our young narrator’s case that how racism can be covered with the sentence â€Å"Equal but separate. â€
Friday, August 30, 2019
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road Essay
Life can be cruel. In most cases, it squeezes the hell out of us. Nevertheless, the challenge is to come out unscathed. But do we always achieve this? And if so, what do we get out of every excruciating pain we have to endure?            The road to recovery has so many twists and turns. It is a test of strength but more so of faith. It is about believing in something we do not even see. The kind of person we become out of life’s most ultimate test defines who we are.            How many of us could actually say that living life is a breeze? Who have not known pain? Who can claim that life was pure pleasure? Who has never cried a tear?            All of us have been tested by time at one time or the other. We have been bitten by its pangs a couple of times over. We have been bloodied at countless instances. We have cried a pail full of tears.            Yet, we continue to breathe. The sun sets and rises every single day of our lives. We battle it out today for tomorrow has a challenge of its own. We have to gain as much strength as we have lost or if possible, much greater. This is all because pain will not die at the end of day. Most probably, it will wake up the same morning we open our eyes from sleep. Throughout the course of our life’s struggle we do not usually travel alone. Someone keeps us company. Even just for a while, we journey life’s path with a companion. It makes the burden a lot easier and even more meaningful. We are reminded that life after all is about building relationships that sees us through the most trying of times. Life gives us people to guide and accompany us as we thread down the road. Sometimes they live long enough to witness our feat. But usually they do not. Nevertheless, they serve their purpose. They provide comfort whenever we are afraid. They wipe our tears dry and lull us to sleep to regain lost strength. They give us hope in the most miserable of circumstances. They teach us to see another day as a chance to turn things around.            When every one else have left, who do we turn to? When the material wealth we have is none, how can we move on? When fate turns against us, what is the chance for survival? When it seems to be the world versus one man, is success hiding beneath the clouds of doubt? Whenever life robs us of our possessions, may we find comfort in knowing that we have not lost it all. Our family will remain to be the wealth exclusively our own. Neither fate nor circumstance can take it away from us. It is something ours, and ours alone.            A father’s love can be the only thing that can make us possibly walk another mile. It could ease the pain in our hearts knowing that someone is guiding us through. Whenever doubt seems to restrict every movement we make, let us be reminded that our father’s strength runs through our veins.            The story about a father and a son is not uncommon for many of us. Universal as a literary theme is its message. It transcends age, culture, race and tradition. It speaks a language known by all. It is something that lives and outlives generations and beyond.            A father and son’s story is about strength. It is about keeping tears from falling even if you just wanted to succumb and cry. It is about learning to be a man as fate continues to challenge his ability to remain brave and undefeated. Nothing can be more painful than seeing death happen right through our very eyes. Nothing can be more frightening than the thought that the next victim could possibly be me. Nothing can be more frustrating than realizing that tomorrow will just be like any other day of violence and death. Nothing can be much harder than believing that things happen for a reason.            How can we possibly live when life on earth seems to be empty, both literally and figuratively? We all know that it would not always be a bed of roses. But why does it seem to be usually a bed of thorns? How much pain can a man endure? What is the real essence of suffering?            Cormac McCarthy’s novel entitled The Road, is dedicated to his son, John Francis McCarthy. The novel a finalist of the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction and a recipient of both the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Pulitzer Price for fiction unfolds the journey of a man and a boy across a post – apocalyptic panorama. The background signifies what was left after a great cataclysm made existence on this earth almost unheard of (McCarthy, 2006). Whoever said that life must go on may not know of a lot about surviving death. Whenever we witness death, it feels like a part of us has also stopped breathing. It leaves us numb and unaware that the world around us continues to run its course. Life must go on indeed. This statement must be true after all. No matter how hard and how unimaginable it may seem we are all compelled to do it just the same. We cannot pause for a moment and recollect our lost selves before anything else. Time passes by and once lost, it can never be regained. Sometimes, we just got to keep on moving no matter what. Move on and go on and trust that life may lead us to rest right when we need it the most. Death should remind us that life is lived just once. We may not be able to control what lies on the bend of the road, but we still have to thread it, nevertheless. Death reminds us that we have to give meaning to our existence. This is the challenge we all have to face. In the dark tunnel of death, life is the light at the end of it. It may be seen as a symbol of a cycle. Every end can be the start of something new. For every chapter of life that has been told precedes another story yet to unfold. This is but the cycle of life. It is a never ending story about life and death. More importantly, it is a challenge of living a life of worth to make death as important. For death could mean something only if the life lost left a void. There may be times when giving up is all too tempting. Enduring the most painful events of life is really too exhausting. These are the moments when we beg of death. These are the times when life appears to be worthless. We are sometimes too consumed by pain that we seem to believe that life is hell on earth. Life does not come without pain.  Every once in a while or sometimes a little too often pain is thrown on our way. Whenever it does, it reminds us that we are very much alive. It makes us feel so human. It makes things so real. The sweetness of pain lies on our ability to bear its bitterness. Even so, life may not really be all about pain and suffering. We can surely get some sweetness from it when we squeeze it dry. There is some kind of balance in the world we live in. Goodness surely lies on some corner. It may take time and a lot of effort in between, but it is there as it has always been. The most challenging of all circumstances teaches a lesson or two. Things happen not to make man resolve into thinking that life is a crazy game of pessimism. While there is ruthlessness, there is goodness. Goodness comes in the most unexpected of packages. It comes during the most unanticipated of times. It comes when we have almost given up. It comes at just the right moment to remind us that it was worth it to hold on. Holding on is oftentimes the only thing left to do. It may not be the most logical but it could possibly be the most practical. Some people come into our lives and quietly go but they leave us a message that speaks so clear and sound. It is from strangers that we gain the wisdom we would not have otherwise known. And this could be the beauty of life. That after all the pain, we may be able to smile again. Just when we thought that we can never know life to be kind, someone teaches us the value of optimism. When gravity seems to pull us down while trying to hold on with all our might, a helping hand extends for the taking. Just when we get so near the end of our rope, let us find comfort that someone is at the other end to take over.   They pull us through when we might have lost all the strength that is left. They are once a stranger we crossed paths with. But before the road takes us to yet another bend, each other are no more strangers. For that walk we shared has left some of the most important lessons we can never forget. Life is hard but we are tougher. It can take away everything but we can always leave some bit of hope deep inside our hearts. We may not have anymore tears left to cry. We may be left with broken bones and battered ego. But if we continue to struggle along the road and combat every imaginable obstacle there is, we can still be hailed victors of the finest kind. May we not lose hope on the promise of yet another sunrise no matter how painful life has made known itself to man. Life takes on a whole new meaning when it is lived not for thy self. A life lived in this way is noble in all the ways that matter. References BBC.co.uk. (2007, April 17). Novelist McCarthy wins Pulitzer. Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6563291.stm Chabon, M. The New York Review of Books. (2007, February 15). After the Apocalypse. Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19856. Conlon, M. Reuters. (2007, June 5). Writer Cormac McCarthy confides in Oprah Winfrey. Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN0526436120070605?pageNumber=1. Empire. (2007, April 2). John Hillcoat Hits The Road An adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel. Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=20573. Guardian.co.uk. (2007, October 30). Civilisation ends with a shutdown of human concern. Are we there already? Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2201594,00.html. Jones, M. (2006). On the Lost Highway. Newsweek. Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://services.newsweek.com//search.aspx?offset=0&pageSize=10&sortField=pu bdatetime&sortDirection=descending&mode=summary&q=on+the+lost+highway &site-search-submit.x=33&site-search-submit.y=7 Keller, J. (2007). Oprah’s selection a real shocker; Winfrey, McCarthy strange bookfellows. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/1246151131.html?dids=12461 51131:1246151131&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+29 %2C+2007&author=Julia+Keller&pub=Chicago+Tribune&edition=&startpage=1 &desc=Oprah%27s+selection+a+real+shocker+. Kennedy, W. (2001). Left Behind. The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/books/review/Kennedy.t.html?ex=1189396800&en=6d113b5a5cbaf19b&ei=5070 McCarthy, C. (2006). The Road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. National Book Critics Circle. (2006). NBCC Awards Finalists. Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.bookcritics.org/?go=finalists
Foucault Questions Essay
What are the limitations? 2. What distinctions can be made between the ordering and controlling of leprosy and the plague? 3. What does Foucault mean by â€Å"rituals of exclusion†and â€Å"†disciplinary projects†? 4. How does the panoptic mechanism differ from a dungeon? What are the principal characteristics of each? What are the goals of each? 5. What importance does Foucault attribute to â€Å"visibility†? What role do visibility and invisibility play in panoptic structures of power? . Foucault states, â€Å"The plague-stricken town, the panoptic establishment – the differences are important. †What are those differences and how are they important? 7. In describing Panopticism, Foucault is meticulous in tracing the historical evolution of the panopticon as a disciplinary mechanism. What is his purpose in doing so? Why is he so careful? 8. Outline the major historical events Foucault cites. With what example(s) does Foucault begin? With wh at does he end? 9. What does Foucault mean when he says that disciplinary projects moved from the margins of society to the center? What is meant by â€Å"margin†? What is meant by â€Å"center†? What is the significance of this transition of discipline from the margins to the center? 10. What does Foucault mean when he says that societies of antiquity were â€Å"societies of spectacle†and modern societies are â€Å"societies of surveillance†? What are the differences? What historical events created such differences?
Thursday, August 29, 2019
European History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
European History - Essay Example In order to better explain how Orwell changed his view of the Spanish Revolution, this essay will discuss the Spanish Revolution and its manifestations among the civilian and military populations, how Orwell and other political groups viewed the Spanish Revolution at different stages, and how Orwell’s own peculiar biases may have affected his ultimate conclusions. As a preliminary matter, in order to define the Spanish Revolution properly, it is necessary to place it in its historical context. In many ways, the revolution was unexpected by the governing elite; indeed, the Spanish military had calculated that a military coup against the Republican elite would be effective in quelling domestic dissent and reestablishing a firmer sense of order for the civilian population. The political atmosphere was especially tense. What happened instead of a smoothly executed coup was a breaking apart of the country; more specifically, anarchists, communists, and those with socialist leanings mobilized against the military rebels while simultaneously rejecting Republican rule. The immediate result was a decentralization of power in many parts of Spain, particularly in areas influenced by the anarchists. The Spain that Orwell wrote about in Homage to Catalonia, therefore, was a Spain in which different areas of the country were held by the Republicans, by the military Nationals, and by the anarchists. Catalonia, the main subject of Orwell’s work, was firmly in control of the anarchists and like-minded groups. The manifestations were rapid and pervasive; as noted by Orwell, for instance, it was surprising how quickly the common workers had taken control of Barcelona. He described this initial sense of transformation by noting that â€Å"It was the first time that I had ever been in a town where the working class was in the saddle†(1.8). This simple statement assumes much meaning given the fact
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Describe three economic issues concerning President Obama's Health Research Paper
Describe three economic issues concerning President Obama's Health Care Plan - Research Paper Example The first source is directly from the White House and considers the economic benefits of President Barack Obama’s health care plan. As it is directly related to the President it is undoubtedly slanted; however, it also is important in that it directly reflects the White House perspective on the economics of health care reform. The White House argues that the health care plan will make health care more affordable for Americans. It argues this will occur since the health care plan will provide significant tax cuts for middle class Americans. These tax cuts are intended to reduce the premium costs of over ten million families, as well as millions of small businesses. In all, the article argues that this helps, â€Å"32 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today – and makes coverage more affordable for many more. Under the plan, 95% of Americans will be insured.†(White House, Web) In addition to the specified benefits, the White House argues that there are a number of other benefits that can be derived from the recently passed health care bill. The arguments are that the health care reform bill will establish a competitive environment among health insurance companies that will further reduce costs and improve quality of service. In addition it is intended to give many Americans the same quality of service that many members of Congress have. It is also intended to bring more accountability to health insurance companies, as the rules will require more transparency and accountability. Furthermore, it notes – and this indeed is one of the major issues that concerns the economic status of Obama’s motivation for health care reform – namely that individuals with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied health care coverage. Finally, the site argues that this reform will set the country on the right path for economic success. While
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Early or late industrialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1
Early or late industrialization - Essay Example Capitalism on the other hand is the belief that the government does not utilize economic resources efficiently as private entities. Therefore, the society would be much better in a free market economy, which determines winners and losers. This topic is important because, essentially, communism and socialism are among the main economic systems, alongside capitalism that have existed since the industrial revolution. Both of these systems have their own merits and demerits. It is therefore, with this reason that the author wishes to conduct an evaluation on what these systems are, plus the merits and demerits associated with them. Since the Soviet Union abandoned the communism, the assumption that capitalism may be the only effective economic system have been aggressively marketed in the capitalist media. This view seems to gain credibility owing to the failure of communism with regard to its aims, corruption, totalitarian, and gross inefficiency. This topic is related to the discipline of economics to the sense that it makes us understand the meaning of economic success. A comparison of the two systems, that is socialism, and capitalism will make us to understand the meaning of economic success. An economic system that is perceives as being unjust and then led to a global poverty would be indeed a dubious achievement. It may be rightly argued that the economic justice is jeopardized when the outcome is peoples ‘that is instigated by poverty. In another spectrum, an economic system that is perceived as being unjust, and which leads to wealth, being concentrated in the hands of a few is a more dubious realization. Further, an economic system that does not motivate individuals and is inefficient cannot be said to be just or capable of producing much wealth. Finally, the ecology can only support much economic entrainment as well as wastes. Most ideologies of communist are derived from the
Monday, August 26, 2019
Physician Assisted Suicide Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Physician Assisted Suicide - Term Paper Example Utilitarianism, which is one of most well-known ethical theories under the umbrella of consequentialism or teleological ethics, is a school of thought, which believes that right and ethical actions are those, which could create maximum good for the maximum number of people. In other words, it focuses on the minimizing the pain and maximizing the pleasure (Devettere, pp. 106-107, 2009). If the issue of physician-assisted suicide is put forward in front of a utilitarianist then he would engage in a hedonic calculus for calculating the pleasure and pain inflicted by the situation of the patient. If the total pleasure is greater than the total pain than the utilitarianist would argue that, the person should live and vice versa. Furthermore, despite the fact that how much pain the person is suffering with, if the life of the person is causing pleasure and benefit for a greater number of people then the utilitarianist would argue that it is better for the person to live for as long as poss ible despite his condition (Donnellan, pp. 61, 2005). More importantly, even if the person pleads death, an utilitarianist in that particular condition would refrain from letting it happen because according to Millian principles of utilitarianism, if ever there is a clash between the two basic principles or values of this ethical theory which are â€Å"Utility†and â€Å"Liberty†, then utility must prevail over liberty (Keown, pp. 201, 2002). Relativism refers to the school of thought who believes that absolute truth, knowledge of reality is inaccessible to the humans because of that every bit and a piece of information or truth that comes to us is highly subjective. Â
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 8
Research paper - Essay Example The detective raid Irene’s home severally and even bribes her servants but no pictures were retrieved. In an eventuality, the princess family acquires the information concerning the scandal and calls off the wedding; hence, the king loses both the princess and Irene who eventually flees with his lawyer lover to America. During her departure to America, Irene sends Holmes a letter telling him how he foresaw his schemes in his detective mission and leaves her picture portrait to be given to the king. This paper will analyse the general overview of the short story and how femininity is portrayed as the main theme in the story. Analysis The short story contains four characters namely Walton, Holmes, the king and the only woman named Irene. However, the narrator brings out the woman Irene as the main character who takes the central point in the story. In this case, the author tried to bring out the contrast between the woman character and the expected woman character in the 19th ce ntury also referred to as the Victorian era. Unlike the usual Victorian woman perceived to be naive and submissive, the author brings out the character Irene in a different perspective (Doyle 11). To begin with, the author depicts the secretive nature of Irene because she secretly hid the much-wanted photo from everyone and eventually runs away secretly with his lover to another country. In addition, the author depicts Irene’s nature of instinct because somehow, she knew that the king was marrying a Scandinavian princess and more still, her instinct showed her that her precious picture portrait was needed; hence, she hid it. The other amazing fact about her instinct is that she knew that the king was planning for her arrest and that is why she run away in time with his lawyer lover to America. More so, Irene knew that Holmes would visit her home in an attempt to arrest her. On a more interesting note, she exactly knew that Holmes would come looking for the picture where he ha d previously seen it; hence, Irene kept a letter in the same place for Holmes to read and her portrait picture of the king to possess. However, Irene possesses the Victorian woman values because the author depicts how women valued their homes, children and other domestic valuables because in the 19th century, the woman was a homemaker who got married and took care of her home. Irene Adler portrays such a character by rushing home to hide her most valued items, the picture of her, and the king after she learned that the king needed the precious picture portrays (Doyle 11). Moreover, the author depicts how women of the Victorian era were victims of love because they had no authority over the male decisions in terms of love affairs. Irene, who is entangled in a past affair with the king, and uses the picture as the weapon to fight and protect her love right depict this weakness. Nevertheless, Irene Adler’s intelligence surpasses the few portrayed weaknesses, because prior to her instinctive and secretive nature, she goes ahead to show her intelligence by keeping the portrait of his former lover, as a weapon that will protect her from future steps that the king might take, which shows that she has strong intensions of controlling rather than destroying. Ideally, Irene Adler’s beauty and brains lays a platform for admiration. The admiration is in a puzzle concept because at the end of the story the
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Job Stress Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words
Job Stress - Research Paper Example The research recommends that the management of DSI clinic restructures operations and job distribution. It recommends that managers should be trained so that they get to understand how job stress impacts on employees at various times. It also recommends that a the DSI clinic establishes a guidance and counseling unit that will help employees going through stressful times. DSI is a conglomeration of clinics that provide dialysis around the United States for people suffering from chronic kidney failure. DSI provides quality care for patients in areas like nephrology and other specialized aspects of dialysis. It is made up of highly qualified nephrologists, nurses, doctors, administrators and support staff members who work hard to maintain the image of DSI as a leading dialysis center in the United States. However, due to the current financial crises, the management of the clinic have had the unpleasant duty of laying off a number of workers. This has led to many workers doing extra hours and others expanding the scope of their work. This has led to a strain on the staff of the company. There have been numerous cases of mistakes, low productivity and a high turnover because of the new arrangements. This has clearly created a situation of low morale amongst staff and workers of DSI. There is clear evidence that the low morale is caused by stress and the increased workload of the company staff. This has led to poor performance. The group that is mostly affected by this spate of stress is the female employees who constitute 88% of the total employees in the clinic. The purpose of this research is to use scientific tools to empirically study the relationship between job stress and low morale and low productivity at DSI Clinic. It will identify the possible solutions to the problem and recommend actions that must be taken to reduce the effects of low morale at DSI clinic. There have been a lot of complaints against the way and manner in which the clinic operates.
Friday, August 23, 2019
Legality of downloading mp3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8750 words
Legality of downloading mp3 - Research Paper Example The first chapter of the paper, called â€Å"Status-quo of the illegal mp3 downloads†will analyze in the two sub-chapters the statistics and the damages of the illegal file sharing both in the national and international context and it will critically analyze the legal issues that arise from the mp3 downloads and the attempts of reforming the Canadian copyright law. The context in which illegal mp3 download can be justified in the Canadian legislative context will be studied, too. Nowadays, when there are so many talented singers, it has become a lot easier to listen to their music by using the Internet, rather than buying a licensed CD. This way, the consumer is happy, because he listens to whatever kind of music he likes, the singer is popular, because his music is downloaded from the Net thousands times per day, sometimes even more, so, at first sight, it is a win-win situation. Nevertheless, singing for the artist is a job; it is his way of earning money, so by downloading his â€Å"job†from illegal sites, the consumer is actually stealing his intellectual property, â€Å"forgetting†to pay for it. There are many contradictory opinions on this subject, and the fact that day by day the number of illegal mp3 downloads grows just makes the matter more and more actual and painful for the people whose work is being stolen. Transmitting mp3 files over the Internet has become by far the most popular method of distribution, generating in this way controversial and intense debates. The Canadians are among the lucky ones, however. The legislation permits downloading mp3 files from the internet, as long as they are not shared by the user. While the neighbors – the Americans are afraid to even enter a pirate website under the threat of a lawsuit, Canadians encounter no restriction whatsoever in downloading whatever kind of music they
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Time Delay Disputes in Construction Contracts Assignment
Time Delay Disputes in Construction Contracts - Assignment Example Internal environments usually consist of scheduling issues; i.e. if the construction process was poorly scheduled. Additionally, it may comprise of certain financial problems or changed orders. Exogenous factors largely consist of external elements such poor weather or government laws and regulations. Inputs factors that may lead to delays in construction are largely related to the issue of manpower shortage. (Sweis, 2008) In other words, delays may either be non excusable or excusable. For instance, when a delay is caused by labour disputes, unusual deliveries, and transportation deals that had not been foreseen or other causes that could not be predicted, then the affected party can consider forgiving the offending party. However, in other instances, then delays cannot be excused by the offending party. For example, when delays occurred during ordinary weather or when the subcontractor failed to meet his/her end of the bargain. It is also inexcusable to delay a construction if the project site was poorly coordinated. This may also be a problem when the contractor fails to finance the project properly or when there was poor workmanship, delays in material acquisition among others things. When a delay is caused by any of the latter factors, then it is likely that that person found guilty of the offense will be liable to pay damages. (Fewings & Jones, 2005) The first aspect that is involved in dealing with the disputes is mitigation of its effect. It is likely that the construction process may still be underway. Consequently, the affected parties have to look for ways in which they can minimise the distractions that would lead to further delay or that would cause ultimate project failure. (Kamara, 2002) The next thing that needs to be done is to determine the root cause of the problem. One must be able to determine whether the causes of these delays are actually excusable or not. This is usually done by conducting a detailed evaluation and analysis of the construction site, the contractors, the subcontractor, workers, materials and all other interests groups required to make the project complete. It is usually plausible to break down all the disputes involved in the process little by little. This is because certain events may have caused different delays. Additionally, to effectively solve disputes, it is necessary to assess the overall liability involved and the actual damage caused to the affected party. Thereafter, the two parties in the construction process are usually required to take part in a settlement agreement. This will require legal consultants who will be able to voice the concerns of each of the affected parties. At that time, it may be also be necessary to consider the legal representatives for each party as there is a whole team involved in the dispute resolution mechanisms. The assembly of this team may usually be necessary in mediation cases rather than in settlement arrangements. (Iyer, Chaphalkar & Joshi, 2008) However, in the event that a dispute is quite severe or when the affected parties have failed to reach a compromise, then these two parties will be required to take their case to court. This usually occurs when the dispute has resulted in litigation in the part of the affected party. Usually, judges will listen to their respective cases and then come up with possible explanations about what could have caused
Texting While Driving Essay Example for Free
Texting While Driving Essay How many people text behind the wheel of their vehicle? Can we relate to the following story? Jaci Lemons* is driving down the street, headed to school. The 17 year old driver is texting another friend. As she looks down to read the incoming text, Jaci veers off to the right and crashes head-on into the back of a parked vehicle. She is taken to the hospital, but after brief examination by the attending ER doctor, Jaci is released. Thankfully, the only thing bruised is her pride, and her pocketbook. Missouri should make texting while driving illegal for all drivers, not just the drivers aged 21 and under. Missouri has passed a state law, on Aug. 28, 2009, that prohibits drivers 21 years of age or younger from sending or reading a text while driving. While that is a great start, it isnt enough. Drivers across the country have been seen in their vehicles doing all sorts of dangerous, weird, and downright strange things while driving. Watching a DVD movie (really), dressing, putting on makeup, eating, texting, etc; but texting is what is causing legislatures some concern here in Missouri. The problem is we spend so many hours behind the wheel that seemingly, we are driving on auto pilot. (Have you ever driven a while and then could not remember any of it?) Young people will be forced to at least keep their fingers off their keyboards while they drive,said Leanna Depue, director of Highway Safety or the Missouri Department of Transportation. The law is a small step toward counteracting some of the distracted driving that causes crashes in Missouri. And, according to a recent study by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, texting while driving is the leading cause of traffic crashes in Missouri, as well as across the country. 80% of crashes involve driver distraction; mainly that texting is the number one thing that distracts motorists attention while driving. Half of all teen drivers say they text while driving. HALF. Its almost unthinkable to realize so many drivers dont have their eyes on the road. Couple that with the sobering fact that most cars on Americas roadways are traveling approximately 65 to 70 miles per hour. According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, statistics show that teenagers have the most problems texting while they are driving, probably because they text more than anyone else and send longer texts than their adult contemporaries. Some teens can very easily burn through a thousand minutes of texting in no time. Twenty-three other states, along with Missouri, have already made texting while driving illegal. While texting while driving a car should not be legal in any case, the law in Missouri allows drivers over the age of 21 to text while they are driving. Motorists in some states are allowed to use a cell phone while they drive, as long as its hands-free. Most states already have laws against talking on the cellphone and driving; however, what doesnt make any common sense at all is allowing those over the age of 21 to text and drive while banning those under 21 to do so. Take for instance, 38 year-old Donald Rios*. One afternoon, while traveling to another town, he was texting a co-worker about picking up some 4 by 6s for their job site. In the meantime, traffic was slowing because a farmer was burning his fields next to the interstate. Donald Rios looked up to see that traffic was nearly at a standstill, and he could not stop in time. He rear-ended the back of another vehicle, and in turn, a semi rear-ended him, causing his truck to cave in like an accordion. Subsequently, Rios lost his life in the accidentall because of his inattentiveness to the road ahead. Legislation encouraging laws which ban texting have also been encouraged at the federal level with proposals suggesting that any state who didnt ban texting could risk losing federal highway funding. Missouri is the 23rd state to ban texting while driving, but is 1 of 9 to single out a particular age group. The fine for texting while driving under Missouris new law is $200. Senator Ryan McKenna sponsored the bill. An insurance industry study has revealed that accidents increased in 3 of 4 states that has laws prohibiting texting while driving. The study, prepared by Highway Loss Data Institute, says it looked at accident statistics from insurance claims in four states that have made it illegal for motorists of any age to text while driving, as well as nine states with no, or limited bans; in three states, accidents increased dramatically after the bans passed. Those were California, Louisiana and Minnesota . So, how does law enforcement actually catch you texting while driving? How can they tell if you were texting if you dont have the phone in plain view? Heres how: If your phone is destroyed in an accident, the phone company has a log of all texts and calls, which are also logged with the exact date and time. Phone companies keep a log of text histories just like a computer does of websites and pages. Please dont text (or do other distracted hazards) and drive. Your life, as well as others lives depends on it.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Rise of Diplomacy in US foreign Policy
Rise of Diplomacy in US foreign Policy INTRODUCTION Waging a war against any opponent has a huge impact on any nation. Its adverse effects are psychological, social, moral and economical. Although objectives if achieved through the war might prove to be beneficial in the long term but its takes decades to erase the memories of atrocities of war from the minds of general masses, especially those who are directly exposed to active warfare. Each injured soldier, demolished building and death anniversary deepens the agony of a common man. It is said a nation is pushed decades backwards in terms of economic growth after a war. In short, affording a war is not a cheaper option for any nation, irrespective of its economic power and USA is not an exception to this fact. Doctrine Change The rise in diplomacy than the military force in US foreign policy is also a by-product of economic burden that is showing its toll on US economy. According to US doctrine, America could have active engagements anywhere in the world for her interests. Previously the figure for armed conflict around the world was two full and one partial engagement. But after the economically expensive conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are forced to reduce that number one only. This change in doctrine is clearly evident from the reluctance displayed by Obama administration after the use of chemical weapons in Syria and Russian invasion of Ukraine. Pull out of Afghanistan is also a consequence of same change in doctrine. Financial Implications of Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq Lawrence Lindsay, National Economic Council Director of President George Bush’s administration, in an interview to â€Å"The Wall Street Journal†, estimated expenses of war in Afghanistan and Iraq between $100 billion to $200 billion. Later, he was highly criticized by his own administration for being over optimistic and had to resign due to immense pressure from within government. He also claimed that wars will be funded out of oil revenue from Iraq but instead, the Bush administration had to borrow $2 trillion from various lenders to support the wars. According to a study carried at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, following are few financial implications of War chiefly financed by US: (a) 20% of total national debt of US government was added from 2001 to 2012. (b) A total of $260 billion has been paid as interest on war debt by US government. (c) In the coming years, only the interest would amount to trillion of dollars. (d) These wars are would result in amounting as high as $6 trillion as the cost of the wars. (e) These calculations include the expenditures on 1.56 million veterans who are and will be a financial burden on US economy for their lives. Rise in diplomacy than the military force The statistics and research depict that the Obama administration does have an option but to resort to diplomacy. Liberal use of military might is not a luxury available to United States anymore. Time and again the demonstrations and anti war rallies are held in multiple US cities. The common American is not concerned with what is happening outside his small world. According to Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, $6 trillion is equivalent to $75000 for each household. This figure is more disturbing for general masses and the government is bending to the political pressure being exerted. As a consequence, Obama’s administration, after coming into office, had to shift the focus to resources in Asia. This new dimension was well supported by within government as well as by the neutral scholars and thinkers. The republicans based their election campaign on criticizing over spending on war in Asia. In the same continuation, the governments decisions to initiate exit from Afghanistan, close the war in Iraq and counter al Qaeda with more accurate antiterrorism strategies has been welcomed and appreciated by all political entities in the country. This step has also enabled the state to cut short on budget and bring major shift in foreign policy towards diplomatic result oriented strategies US Military Dimension Focusing on its military dimensions alone, it was aimed at boosting the United States defense ties with countries throughout the world and expanding the US presence. Yet these objectives are only a small chunk of the overall strategy. Actually it has economic, diplomatic, and security objectives. The new strategy intends to reallocate resources not only toward the region but also within it, by engaging more with partners in Southeast Asia. The state department realizing the strategic importance of Indian Ocean has initiated and strengthened ties with India. This has also helped to achieve the goal of countering and controlling China as a mighty power in the region. Military drawdown in Afghanistan The U.S.-Afghanistan negotiations over keeping U.S. troops in the country after the â€Å"end of combat†in 2014 have hit a new snag. With elections scheduled for next spring, Karzai is eager to remain a player so he can help elect his chosen candidate. That may be the most significant reason for his recent rejection of an almost-completed deal with Washington, which would allow around 15,000 U.S. troops to remain in the country after the official end of combat in 2014. Karzai has now staked out a position refusing to grant the U.S. forces immunity from prosecution in Afghan courts for any crimes they might commit. And the U.S. is adamant that without immunity, the troops go home. This isn’t a new idea – it’s the same issue that scuttled the potential for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq after the official withdrawal of combat troops. And it led to the complete pull-out of all U.S. troops and all Pentagon-paid contractors in 2011. In Afghanistan, we might actually see the withdrawal of all U.S. troops after more than twelve years of war and occupation. Although the military aspects of the rebalancing strategy have garnered the most attention in the media, civilian departments and agencies have also begun to shift their priorities and resources to Asia. Under the guidance of Clinton and Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, the State Department has deepened U.S. diplomatic engagement throughout the region. The glamorous aspects of the rebalancing toward Asia the geopolitical maneuvers and machinations, the high-stakes diplomacy, the grand strategy are only part of what will be required to make the policy successful. Just as crucial will be Washingtons focus on budgets, bureaucratic institutions, and personnel decisions, as well as its ability to continually assess the policys progress and identify areas for improvement. In an era of fiscal tightening, coming up with the necessary resources for such an ambitious program will not be easy. But because the Asia-Pacific region is fundamental to U.S. national security and the health of the U.S. economy, the rebalancing is the most valuable investment in U.S. foreign policy today
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Copyright Law And Music Piracy
Copyright Law And Music Piracy In order to understand what music piracy is one must first define it. According to Piracy (2001), music piracy is when a person utilizes copyrighted music without either purchasing it, or petitioning the songwriter, or singer for permission to use the music. In the late 20th and early years of the 21st century, this has most often occurred over the internet when a person downloads an MP3 off of the internet off of a website that does not charge the user for music downloads. Prior to the music industry and the Recording Industry, and Artists of America (RIAA) choosing to prosecute internet users who download pirated music this most frequently occurred on sites such as Napster and Kazaa (both of whom now charge for downloads). Sites such as the ITunes store that have always charged for music and video downloads have remained free of prosecution as they pay a fee to the record companies for use of the songs. The music industry has chosen several different routes in their attempts to control music piracy and copyright law violation. First, they have chosen to sue file sharing websites such as Kazaa and Napster in order to ensure that these sites are charging for music downloads. The second method they have used to stop music piracy has been to monitor internet users, and prosecute those users that download pirated music. Finally, many record companies have begun to release copyright protected music that cannot be uploaded onto computers, or file sharing networks.
Monday, August 19, 2019
Obe: The Restructuring Of American Society. :: essays research papers
OBE: The Restructuring Of American Society. There has been a concern for some time throughout America regarding the quality of public education. Students are graduating from highschool without adequate knowledge of the three R's. Universities are recruiting a multitude of incompetent pseudo-scholars. Employers don't understand why the new generation of workers do not possess the basic skills to perform the job. It would appear that American students are not learning as much as their parents did. And yet, teachers are still teaching, taxes are still being paid, and more funds than ever are being appropriated for public education. What's going on in America's classrooms? Up until the 1980's most schools used a standards based curriculum. In the traditional classroom setting, educators focused on the input side of education, teaching a specific body of knowledge. Students were graded against predefined standards and passed or failed based on their ability to meet those standards. This method of teaching produced a graduate with a well rounded education, and prepared him for further development of career skills. With the exception of those who did not apply themselves, the system worked. Today America's educators take a new approach in the classroom. The focus of education has moved to measuring what students can do, rather than what they understand. This is the core principle of Outcomes Based Education (OBE). An outcome, by definition, is something that follows as a result or consequence. So OBE then, is an approach to education where the end result is the most important factor. This is very important in understanding what OBE is, and what it intends to do. In the OBE classroom, every aspect of the curriculum is geared toward achieving a small group of specific goals. To gain an insight into OBE, it is necessary to learn something about its origins and those promoting it. B. F. Skinner, a psychologist and learning theorist, developed the techniques of learning (operant conditioning) based on conditioning phenomena first analyzed scientifically by Pavlov. Skinner called his technique his "teaching machine." Skinner thus developed the principles on which "Mastery Learning" was developed by Benjamin Bloom. Mastery Learning was the original name for the process known today as Outcome Based Education, also known as Performance Based Education, or Restructuring. Educational theories used in OBE are based on Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. A curriculum, according to Bloom, "...may be thought of as a plan for changing student behavior." (p 14 of Ron Sunseri's book OBE: Understanding the Truth about Education Reform, Questar Publishers, P.O. Box 1720, Sisters, OR 97759) Bloom called it "Mastery Learning." Techniques for his new style of education, based on Skinnerian behavioral psychology, focus on
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Yemen Essay -- Yemens Government, Politics
In spite of Yemen’s desire to be a world player, internal strife and an upswing of insurgent activity is pulling the country apart. Yemen occupies the southernmost region of the Arabian Peninsula, sharing boarders with Saudi Arabia and Oman. Yemen enjoys many miles of coastline. The port of Aden is so located as to be the shipping center for the country. This paper’s purpose is to provide information and intelligence assessment for the following areas; history, government, foreign relations, demographics, economy, military and the current threat posed by Yemen. An influx of militants from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan has raised concerns that Yemen has become an Al-Qaede haven (2). This concern contrasts with the government’s efforts in counterterrorism and the goal of being a legitimate world player. I assess that Yemen has seen what seems to be a typical inception and growth for countries of the Middle-East. Prior to the region being named â€Å"Yemen†, it fell under the control of several fleeting kingdoms between the 12th century BC and the 6th century AD. Beginning in the 7th century AD, Islamic caliphs began to exercise control within the region later known as Yemen (1). The Ottoman Turks, as they gained control of the Middle East occupied all of Northern Yemen until there withdraw in 1918 (1). As World War II draws to an end, Yemen joins the Arab League in 1945 and the U.N. in 1947 (1). However, at this point Yemen is still divided in to two states, the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). It took years for the two factions to agree on unification and another decade for a constitution to be agreed to. On 22 May 1990 The Republic of Yemen was declared. I assess that Yemen’s... ...le-East countries, is standing in between the government’s progressive policies and the extremist views of the Muslim radicals. And in a time where having the wrong ally can bring the wrath of the radicals down on you, Yemen is looking in all directions for help. The civil discontent, a weak economy and a growing number of terrorist calling Yemen home put Yemen in a precarious position. The aid they receive from the U.S. helps the government and people while at the same time allowing the insurgents to point fingers at week leadership. As for the U.S., we must proceed cautiously. A true ally in region is invaluable. But a weak ally could draw the U.S. into further conflicts or stretch the amount of aid we send to a region. In my opinion it is better to keep Yemen close. Helping Yemen along allows us to keep our finger a little more closely on the pulse of our foes.
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Sri lanka agriculture development and rural economy
Dependency theory was really popular during 1960s and 1970s as a direct challenge to the free market theory which was popular during the post-war season. The theory was formulated in 1950s and it is drawn on Marxian analysis of planetary economic system. The theory explains the relationship between economically developed states ( Advanced states ) and developing states of the universe. Harmonizing to the theory, the developed states consider as the nucleus of the system and the developing states as the fringe of the system. When the system is working, resources flow from fringe developing states to the developed nucleus states. It is a cardinal contention of dependence theory that hapless provinces are impoverished and rich 1s enriched by the manner hapless provinces are integrated into the â€Å" universe system. †The dependence theory is applicable to most of the developing states in the universe except few illustrations like India and Taiwan. Harmonizing to my cognition the theory is applicable to all most all states in the south Asia including Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was besides colonized by British Empire during 1815 – 1948 where it made a terrible harm to the Local civilization, Social life, independence every bit good as Economy. Even though the state has been ruled by local leaders from 1948, United Kingdom and other developed states have been created negative consequence on the development of the state. However, presently Sri Lanka is in a right tract toward the development, where the service sector and the fabrication sector shows a fast growing while the Agriculture sector shows a relatively slow growing. Tourism and other service subsectors have been well contributed to the economic system of the state. However the economic system of the state was opened to the universe market in 1977 and the state has been experienced both positive and negative impacts on the development positions. On the one manus most of the local baby industries were collapsed during the period as a negative consequence of the unfastened economic system. On the other manus most of the international investors and multinational carbon monoxide operations came to the state with their new engineerings which was utile to look in the universe market as a bring forthing state. Most of the developing states specially in south Asiatic states, including Sri Lanka have been depend on the IMF, World Bank, ADB and other multinational carbon monoxide operations to carry through their budget shortage through loans or grants under legion regulations and ordinances which severely consequence on the internal development. As consequence of that influence, most of those regional leaders every bit good as people of those states have a dependence outlook which was identified as the major constrain for the development. However, Sri Lanka was able to come in the in-between income state degree and presently the dependence outlook remains merely in some portion of rural countries of the state. In that scenario, Sri Lanka is no longer stray state in the universe, but still in the disadvantaged and developing side which needs particular protection and nutriment for local baby industries to protect them from the international competition. Consequently, Sri Lanka has to utilize different theoretical account which can pull strings the international competition within the state while absorbing the maximal public-service corporation form the international market. Harmonizing to my cognition and experience no any pure theory will helpful to utilize as it is for development in any state. Therefore, the state must hold their ain manner for development which has to critically see their ain resources and restrictions. â€Å" Poor but efficient Agriculture usage of developing state Traditional system †proposed by T.W. Schultz. This is one of a theory which tries to explicate the efficient usage of limited resources by hapless or developing husbandmans in developing states. The theory was foremost found in the T.W. Schultz ‘s book of Transforming Traditional Agriculture which was published in 1960s and the theory was really popular during that period. During 1950s and 1960s, Most of the economic experts and Policy shapers believed that the productiveness of Agriculture sector in developing states as really low. Therefore they argued that the fringy productiveness of the labor in those states as nothing. Hence those agribusiness labors could be transferred from the agribusiness sector to the industrialisation sector without holding any harm to the agribusiness sector. Therefore, it was besides widely accepted that husbandmans in developing states were guided by tradition or civilization. On the other manus they are non responded to the economic inducements. But Schultz argued that the husbandmans in developing states have really limited resources but most of the husbandmans use that limited resources expeditiously. However those husbandmans are hapless because of the other assorted grounds like cultural features such as deficiency of a work moral principle, deficiency of an apprehension of the thought of salvaging, or general ignorance of how to do best usage of their resources. Schultz argued that low income degrees in developing states agribusiness are a consequence of the low productiveness of the available factors of production, but non inefficiencies in their resource allotment. Subsequently, most of the researches have been conducted and accordingly the theory was through empirical observation proved utilizing the research conducted in several developing states. In Sri Lanka, there are plentifulness of little graduated table husbandmans who live under the poorness line but they use their limited resources expeditiously for their harvest cultivation. Water and fertiliser is the most scare resources in the dry zone of Sri Lankan husbandmans. They use particular agriculture pattern which is called as â€Å" Chena cultivation †. Even though that agriculture pattern is non recommended by most of the agriculturalist in the state, Chena cultivation is one of the largely adoptable patterns to utilize H2O and fertiliser. In this method husbandmans ever use new piece of land and they move to new a land in the following season. Farmers use all the vegetive parts as green manure and fire all the difficult parts of workss and mix with dirt as fertilisers. That organic manure covers all the alimentary demand of the new harvests. Farmers cultivate drought immune harvest varsities and cultivate as a mix harvest form. The system lowers the hazard of plague and disease incidence and good as maximise the use of wet. Farmers normally use household labors and utilize some excess labor merely in peak seasons. However, most of those husbandmans are hapless and the life base is besides low. There are many grounds behind the narrative and some of them are low salvaging rate, hapless cost direction, selling jobs, low substructure etc. In that sense, even today, the theory is applicable in most of the developing states and it is utile to understand their agriculture manner, populating manner of the husbandmans. On the other manus, it is utile to propose them to rectify their failings.
Wrongful Termination
Wrongful Termination Kenneth L. Mowery BUS670: Legal Environment Prof. Alexis Hooley August 20, 2012 Wrongful Termination â€Å"Over the past 20 to 25 years courts have been carving out common law exceptions to employment at will†(Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010, p. 1338). One of those exceptions is that of wrongful termination or unjust dismissal. In the past three years there have been five wrongful termination suits brought against Haywood Regional Medical Center.Three cases ended positively for the plaintiffs, while the other two showed that the Medical Center had the stronger case and that the Medical Center had just cause to terminate the employee. . â€Å"The remedies in successful wrongful discharge suits depend heavily on whether the plaintiff’s claim sounds in contract or in tort, with tort remedies being more advantageous for plaintiffs†(Mallor et al. , 2010, p. 1338). If the plaintiff can prove his or her case against the employer for wron gful discharge or termination, the employee can recover damages from the employer.The burden of proof lies with the plaintiff to prove wrongful termination and remedies can be costly for the employer. The employer can avoid the liability of a wrongful termination suit by keeping up with the policies and procedures and performance evaluations of its employees. Employment at Will Let us look at different exceptions to the common-law doctrine of employment-at-will. â€Å"The rule says that either party can terminate an employment contract of indefinite duration. The termination can occur at any time; and can be for good cause or no cause†(Mallor et al. , 2010, p. 1338).However, according to Hames and his evaluation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act, there must be no formal employment contract for a specified period of time and there can be no statutory prohibitions to the contrary (1991, p. 122). Hospitals hire many individuals with different backgrounds, skills, and values, so it is difficult to, as Hames states, â€Å"devise personnel policies and practices that are perceived as fair and just by the majority of their employees†(1991, p. 22). With this in mind, the cause for termination may also be a morally wrong cause. What may seem right to the employer may be wrong, morally, for the employees. Because hospitals hire such a diverse population of employees, many are â€Å"at risk†for wrongful termination suits against them. In his research, Hames noted that in many cases there has been the implication that the courts have eroded the Employment-at-will doctrine, which leave employers with little discretion regarding who they can fire and under what circumstances (1991, p. 122).This can leave employee at many hospitals little protection against wrongful termination. Exceptions to the Employment-at-will doctrine we re mentioned earlier; we will first examine the Public Policy Exception. Public Policy Exception â€Å"The public policy exception to the doctrine of employment-at-will asserts that employees may not be terminated for refusing to perform an act that is contrary to a clearly mandated public policy nor for performing an act that is consistent with such a public policy†(Hames, 1991, p. 123). Employers may not terminate the employment of an employee for morally wrong causes.This can be seen in Wagenseller v. Scottsdale Memorial Hospital (1985), where Wagenseller was fired from her job at the hospital for not engaging in morally wrong activities; mooning an audience and bathing in public being two of them (Hames, 1991, p. 123). If the employee is discharged or fired from their job for not performing morally wrong activities, the employee will be able to win a wrongful termination suit against the employer. In her case against Scottsdale Memorial Hospital, â€Å"the court conclud ed that firing someone for refusing to expose her buttocks violates public policy in Arizona†(Hames, 1991, p. 23). A doctor at Miramichi Regional Hospital won his wrongful termination suit against the hospital because the board did not explain their reasons for dismissing him (Barry, 2005). Dr. Shaikh’s attorney argued â€Å"that in the interest of fairness, Shaikh should have been given notice of his termination and a meeting to defend himself; instead of six months notice, the hospital was ordered to pay Shaikh six months’ salary†(Barry, 2005). This may not fall under public policy; however, it does fall under morality.It was morally wrong for the hospital to dismiss the services of the doctor with no reason being given. It was also morally wrong for the hospital to dismiss the doctor without giving him the right to defend himself. Implied Contract Exception â€Å"The implied contract exception to the at-will rule asserts that employers’ statem ents or actions regarding job security or termination procedures may constitute legally enforceable obligations if they are communicated to applicants/employees and if they are sufficiently specific to permit the courts to discern their intentions†(Hames, 1991, p. 25). An example given by Hames is that of Leikvold v. Valley View Community Hospital (1984). Leikvold was the director of nursing and asked to be reassigned to an available operating room supervisor position. Her job performance was exceptional if not satisfactory; however the CEO of the hospital fired her on the grounds that it was inappropriate to seek demotions (Hames, 1991, p. 125). Patient safety issues are implied at every hospital that I have worked for, and it would seem that this is implied at all hospitals.A nurse filed a wrongful termination suit against the Youville HealthCare Center alleging that he was released because of pointing out â€Å"serious patient safety issues. †(Pham, 1997). Barry Ad ams, the RN, stated that he had noted many medication errors, patients left in unclean situations, and patient that had fall precautions that were being left alone, many of these falling. â€Å"Adams said in his lawsuit that Youville administrators fired him in October after he wrote several memos to hospital officials documenting unsafe patient conditions and requesting help†(Pham, 1997).It was Adams’ implied contract of patient safety that won his wrongful termination lawsuit against the Youville HealthCare Center. One of the cases against Haywood Regional Medical Center, mentioned in the outset, was when a nurse was fired for refusing to administer a medication, which the doctor ordered, to a patient. The nurse stated that the medication consisted of an ingredient that the patient was allergic to, and this was noted in the patient’s chart. The nurse was dismissed due to insubordination; however, she won the wrongful termination lawsuit against the hospital b ecause she was doing the ob that she was hired to do; taking care of her patient. Taking safe care of patients is an implied contract by this hospital. All employees are to safely care for their patients even if it means going against a higher authority’s order. Good Faith and Fair Dealing Exception â€Å"The good faith and fair dealing exception to the at-will rule generally provides that employers may not terminate their employees in bad faith or for bad cause if doing so deprives them of the benefits of their agreement†(Hames, 1991, p. 128).For example, Hames explains, â€Å"A Bozeman Deaconess Hospital employee was fired during her probationary period for insubordination, disrupting patient care, disorderly conduct, unsatisfactory performance, violating safety and health rules, and breaching confidentiality, each of which were disputed†(Hames, 1991, p. 128). The employee sued the hospital on the grounds that her release breached the implied covenant of goo d faith and fair dealing. The administrator had told her that he would investigate the situations that had caused her termination, but he had only interviewed two individuals that had apparently seen the incidents.This employee â€Å"was allowed to join various benefit plans for which only permanent employees were eligible, her employment was not evaluated at the end of 500 hours as required by hospital policy, and there was no reference to her probationary status included in any of the hospital’s correspondence regarding her discharge†(Hames, 1991, p. 129). She had good faith that she would be an employee at the hospital for the length of her contract. She was not dealt with in a fair manner when it came to investigating the situations that resulted in her discharge from the hospital.Hospitals must be cautious of releasing their employees without rhyme or reason. Investigations should be thoroughly done in order to avoid wrongful termination suits. Investigative Proc edures In order to prevent a wrongful termination suit, an employer must investigate the situation thoroughly. Another case from Haywood Regional Hospital that ended in a wrongful termination suit was when the Director of Nursing had a nurse fired due to inadequate care given to a patient that had undergone respiratory distress during the night and later that morning was being transferred to another facility to deal with her problems.The Director of Nursing based her decision to fire the nurse based on what the CNA and another nurse had said. The CNA was caring for the said patient and the nurse that was fired was over the CNA. The CNA stated that she had mentioned to the nurse that her patient was having trouble breathing, but the nurse stated that the patient always does that to get attention. Another nurse corroborated the CNA’s statement. Upon further investigation, it was found that the CNA and the other nurse had lied to the nurse that was fired and had lied about the s ituation to the Director of Nursing.The nurse that was fired won her wrongful termination suit. Janet Michael, of Nursing Management Personnel at Mountain View Healthcare states that â€Å"when doing an investigation, one must not rely on just one or two individual’s statements; a complete investigation when firing an individual would entail an interview with all that were present on the day of the said accusation†(2004, p. 20). This is a very important step when wanting to avoid a wrongful termination suit.Michael also states that â€Å"before deciding to terminate a nurse, you must perform a complete investigation of the situation; talk to all potential witnesses and appropriately gather the necessary evidence to support your termination decision†(2004, p. 20). The Director of Nursing at Haywood Regional failed to do this and terminated the employment of a great worker and cost the hospital money on the suit that followed. Janet Michael also states that risk management, the facility’s attorney, human resources, and any person with the expertise dealing with the situation should be consulted (2004, p. 0). Policies and procedures should be reviewed as well as the state and federal laws that might affect the circumstances. Costs of Wrongful Termination â€Å"Second only to shareholder suits, wrongful termination lawsuits account for 13% of all lawsuits; further, there are strong indications that the penchant for disgruntled former employees litigating the discharge decision is on the rise, including a recent study revealing that such employees in 1997 filed more than 24,000 wrongful termination lawsuits in federal court, up 77% from 1993†(Gardner, Gomes, & Morgan, 2000, p. 8) It is going to cost an employer a great deal of funds if said employer loses a wrongful termination suit. â€Å"Successful plaintiffs are securing ever-increasing awards from judges and juries . . . the median jury award for a wrongful discharged empl oyee rose from $120,736 in 1992 to $205,794 in 1996; a 70% increase in only four years†(Gardner et al. , 2000, p. 39). Imagine what the increase would be now in 2012. Remedies to avoid wrongful termination suits can be as simple as having a written and up-to-date policies and procedure manual on hand.If this is available, directors, managers, and supervisors will have the tools necessary to avoid a wrongful termination liability. Gardner mentions that aggressive performance management is a must; in doing so, companies provide a vehicle to: (1) inform employees of management’s expectations, (2) identify problem areas, and (3) provide opportunities for improvement (2000, p. 40). Avoiding Liability for Wrongful Termination In my experience, employers have seemed to always have the upper hand when it came to the termination of an employee.I have seen people fired for good reasons, bad reasons, and for no reason, and nothing ever came of the situation. Now days, an employer must â€Å"be on their toes†in order to avoid the liability for wrongful termination. As was stated earlier, the Employment-at-Will doctrine has been eroding over a period of time. â€Å"Over time, however, court and legislators began recognizing the inequality of bargaining power between employer and employee and that the inability of employees to protect themselves from unjust actions by their employers had not just economic ramifications, but also emotional and social ramifications†(Ballam, 2000, p. 57). Tomlinson and Bockanic state that an employer’s â€Å"first line of defense is to communicate at-will employment status periodically throughout the employee’s tenure, noting such critical disclaimers in the employment application, the offer letter, and the employee handbook†(2009, p. 82). The employer must be sure to communicate, at least yearly, the at-will status of the employee. Employers must not send the message to their employees that as long as they do good work, they will be employees with the company forever.Situations may arise in which the employer must cut back on a number of employees in order to make the budget or to break even. There is always a possibility of one losing their job, whether it is for a good reason, a bad reason, or for no reason. If these items are communicated with the employee on a regular basis, the employer may be able to avoid the liability of a wrongful termination suit against them. Disciplinary policies should also be included in the communication to employees.One of the lawsuits filed against Haywood Regional Medical Center dealt with the employee stating that he had no idea of the disciplinary policies of the hospital, however after further investigation, it was noted that he had in fact received these policies on the date of hire, as well as each year of the two years that he was employed with the hospital. Fortunately for the hospital, this wrongful termination suit was not wo n by the plaintiff.Tomlinson and Bockanic also note that â€Å"performance appraisals should be conducted on a regular basis, with careful and accurate evaluations based on the essential requirements of the position as specified in the job description†(Tomlinson & Bockanic, 2009, p. 83). If an employer keeps up with the performance evaluations of their employees then if the time comes to terminate the employee, the employer will have the employee’s evaluations there for back-up as well as something to fall back on, especially if the employee’s performance had been declining throughout the years.A proper performance evaluation will let the employer know which employees are improving and which ones are declining in the duties that they are supposed to perform. Wrongful termination suits can be seen to plague employers from all over the globe. Many employers terminate their employees for good reasons, for bad reasons, and for no reason at all. Employers also may t end to fire their employees under immoral pretenses. However, what is right for one individual may not be right for another. When filing a wrongful termination suit, it is up to the plaintiff.If the plaintiff can prove his or her case against the employer for wrongful discharge or termination, the employee can recover damages from the employer. The burden of proof lies with the plaintiff to prove wrongful termination and remedies can be costly for the employer. The employer can avoid the liability of a wrongful termination suit by keeping up with the policies and procedures and performance evaluations of its employees. References: Ballam, D. A. (2000) Employment-at-will: The impending death of a doctrine.American Business Law Journal, 37(4), 653-687. Retrieved from: http://search. proquest. com/docview/203397796? accountid=32521 Barry, A. (2005, Dec. 10). Miramichi doctor wins wrongful dismissal lawsuit; judge says hospital board didn’t explain reasons for dismissing physicia n. The Times – Transcript. pp. A. 8. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/422926221? accountid=32521 Gardner, S. , Gomes, G. M. , & Morgan, J. F. (2000). Wrongful termination and the expanding public policy exception: Implications and advice.S. A. M. Advanced Management Journal, 65(1), 38-44. Retrieved from: http://search. proquest. com/docview/231235990/? accountid=32521 Hames, D. S. (1991). Liability for wrongful terminations: Are hospitals at risk? Hospital & Health Services Administration, 36(1), 121. Retrieved from: http://search. proquest. com/docview/206719067? accountid=32521 Mallor, J. P. , Barnes, A. J. , Bowers, T. , & Langvardt, A. W. (2010) Business Law: The Ethical, Global, and E-Commerce Environment. 14th edition). Boston. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. References Cont. : Michael, J. E. (2004). Investigate thoroughly to avoid wrongful termination suits. Nursing Management, 35(5), 20-20, 22, 53. Retrieved from: http://search. proquest. com/docview/23 1333715? accountid=32521 Pham, A. (1997, Mar. 19). State faults youville in overdose death of patient news of probe comes as ex-nurse who alleged serious patient safety issues files wrongful termination suit against hospital.Boston Globe, pp. F. 1-F, 1:4. Retrieved from: http://search. proquest. com/docview/403833649? accountid=32521 Tomlinson, E. C. , & Bockanic, W. N. (2009). Avoiding liability for wrongful termination: â€Å"ready, aim, . . . fire! †. Employee Responsibility and Rights Journal, 21(2), 77-87. doi: 10. 1007/s10672-008-9068-0. Retrieved from: http://search. proquest. com/docview/219426148/fulltextPDF/6? accountid=32521
Friday, August 16, 2019
Life in the Slums Essay
Life In The Slums Plan Intro: Life is tough living in the slums, but I’m used to it now so it’s not as hard as it was when we first moved here. Especially considering we were looking to come to the city for a better lifestyle, and to have a better chance for my parents to get a job, and for my siblings and I to go to school. My name is Anikal and I’m 13, I have 3 older brothers, and one younger sister. Para 1: living conditions and hygiene and population density Moved to Mumbai 4 years ago looking for a better life- ended up in slums It is basically a tip where we live It’s so crowded- 56% of residences have 3 or more people living in a single room It’s so dirty, it smells (although we are used to it now) People evacuating their bowls in the middle of the streets- 5 million residents don’t have access to toilets We don’t have showers we have to find little pools to clean off in- they’re generally dirty water It is a tough life to get used to- nothing is easy We were playing cricket on a big stretch of concrete and the police came chasing after us- we had to run and weave through the slums Para 2: work and employment opportunities and school and exploitation of children We originally moved to the city for the reasons of work and schooling My siblings and I get to go to school twice a week as that’s all we can afford We all have to work to get enough money for our family to eat, and to go to school It can be tough labor a lot of the time for little amounts of money We are working towards starting a business selling stuff- we aren’t sure what yet There aren’t many opportunities in the slums for work, so you have to take anything you can get We thought there would be a lot of opportunities in Mumbai There are in the main city, but very few in the slums We have to go around asking everyone if there’s anything we can do for them to earn a little bit of money We don’t get to keep that money for ourselves, we give it to mum and dad, and they use it for all the things we need Para 3: buildings and structures and infrastructure and police and security There are so many buildings in a small area in our slum Over half the population lives on 12% of the land When you are walking around there is only a small gap for sunlight to get through All the buildings are right together and the roofs hang over the footpath- if you can even call it a foot path There are some buildings that are more than one story, but they aren’t very safe For some people it doesn’t matter how unsafe it is, they just need somewhere to live The security isn’t all that great in the slums The police are sort of against us, when ever we go places we aren’t supposed to they’re straight onto us and will chase us for ages With people in the main city, they will politely tell them off, but us, straight into a full chase. Our house is substandard When it rains torrentially it sometimes leak We have hardly any access to hospitals and medical attention Conclusion: Life in the slums is tough. We moved to the city with the intention of starting fresh, and having more opportunities but we ended up in the slums. We’ve been here for four years and it’s been hard. I’m used to it now though. It is very unhygienic and packed. The population density is ridiculous. It’s been a hard run in terms of work and school, we only get a small education, and don’t have a job, we just have to try help out with same labor work for some money. There are so many buildings in such a small area, and we don’t have any security, and the police are just out to catch us doing the wrong thing. Our house is very small and squishy, but it’s the life I’m now used to, whether I like it or not, it’s how it is. Essay Life is tough living in the slums, but I’m used to it now so it’s not as hard as it was when we first moved here. Especially considering we were looking to come to the city for a better lifestyle, a chance for my parents to get a job, and for my siblings and I to get an education. My name is Anikal, I’m 13, I have 3 older brothers, and one younger sister. I’m live in the slums of Mumbai. My family and I moved to Mumbai looking for a better lifestyle, but ended up in the slums pretty quickly. It is basically like a tip where we live, it’s terrible. It is so crowded, people everywhere, and in 56% of the residences there are three or more people living in just one room! It is all so dirty, and smells (although we are used to the smell now). People just go to the toilet in the streets, 5 million people don’t have access to toilets, and in Dharavi there is one toilet per 1440 people. We don’t have access to showers- not many people do, but we have to use the water we have, or find pools of water we can clean off in. It’s a tough life to get used to in the slums, nothing comes easy. We were just playing cricket out the back of the slums on the concrete on someone else’s land, but no one was there, we weren’t affecting anyone, and the police just chased us on motorbikes with sticks and all, and we had to run back into the slums, on the roofs trying to get away. We eventually got away then ran back the other way passed them on the roof, we saw them though the gap in between two houses. We originally moved to the city of Mumbai in search of better work and schooling opportunities. My siblings and I only get to go to school twice a week, and get a small education as that’s all we can afford on our very small budget. My whole family has to work as much as we can helping people out, doing laboring work just to get enough money for the things we need. We are working towards trying to start up our own small business, and hopefully then have a steady income that we can live off. There aren’t many opportunities in the slums of Mumbai, so we have to take any work we can get. There are many opportunities if you’re in the main part of Mumbai, but unfortunately we’re in the slums. My siblings and I don’t get any pocket money, any money we go out and earn goes straight to our parents so that they can buy all the things we need, like food. There are so many buildings and other structures in our small area of the slums. It is packed, over half of the population lives on only 12% of the land. When you are walking around through the slums, there is only a small gap for any sunlight to get through between the roofs of buildings, over the footpaths- if you can even call it a footpath. There are some buildings in our slum that are more than one story, they aren’t very safe though, but for some people, thats their only option. We don’t really have any security in our slums, and the police are just out to catch us, whenever we are doing anything wrong, even the smallest thing that would normally just be a warning for others, they chase us all through our slums trying to catch us. They’re just constantly out to get us. Our house is very substandard, it’s just like a little hut, with two rooms that we’re all squished into. When there is torrential rain it can sometimes get in, but it’s u sually pretty good. We have hardly any access to any sort of medical care, and hospitals, so when we get sick or injured, we just have to hope its not too bad and that we can get through and come out better in time. Life in the slums is tough. We moved to the city with the intention of starting fresh, and having more opportunities but we ended up in the slums. We’ve been here for four years and it’s been hard. I’m used to it now though. It is very unhygienic and packed. The population density is ridiculous. It’s been a hard run in terms of work and school, we only get a small education, and don’t have a job, we just have to try help out with same labor work for some money. There are so many buildings in such a small area, and we don’t have any security, and the police are just out to catch us doing the wrong thing. Our house is very small and squishy, but it’s the life I’m now used to, whether I like it or not, it’s how it is. Bibliography: â€Å"Living conditions in the slums.†Sites.google. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. . Marotta, Stephen. â€Å"Slums – mumbaiindias jimdo page!.†Introduction – mumbaiindias jimdo page!. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Aug. 2013. . Slumdog millionaire. Dir. Danny Boyle. Perf. Jamal Malik. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2009. DVD. hallam, james. â€Å"Dharavi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.†Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Aug. 2013. .
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Money: Bank and Funds
â€Å"Money†is a fascinating object. The process of creating money and using money has always generated enthusiasm amongst mankind for over thousands of years. The main reasons for such enthusiasm are built around the dynamics of the above process. Even more fascinating is the fact, that this process is perhaps the only subject that is foxing both the pundits and the commoners alike. Such being the importance of money, any narration regarding the process shall always provide enough excitement. Keeping this in view, the role and importance of financial intermediaries is being featured for the benefit of readers. A glimpse of this coverage is provided in the following pages to lead them to a wider canvas. Financial Intermediaries Financial intermediaries play a vital role in building economies. World over, in different economies it is typical to find that the sources of funds and the uses of funds are not one and the same. This process is also so complexly structured that while individual contributions comprise the major source of funds to the market, the utilization of funds is done by different sectors in the economy. Capital formation comprising of Savings and Investment holds the key to this process. In this causal sequence, Savings play the role of the initiator. The ability of an economy to generate savings depends on the combined abilities of the general public and the government. It is here that the financial system comes into play by converting the savings into productive results. Significance of Financial Intermediation The savings process is facilitated by the financial Intermediaries. In simple terms, financial intermediaries perform the function of facilitating supply of funds to the user of funds, by obtaining the same from the depositors or savers of funds. The term ‘financial intermediaries’ includes different institutions like Banks, Insurance companies, Investment companies, Developmental Financial Institutions, Non-banking Finance Companies, Mutual funds, Pension funds etc. While the role of above institutions is singular with respect to financial intermediation, the functions that are performed by each one of them are different. In a nutshell, these types of intermediation revolve around liquidity position of funds, risks in loans, and pooling of risks to take advantage of economies of scale. To sum up, the function of financial intermediation has arisen out of the need on the part of savers to reach the investors and the inability of investors to find savers. Developed economic systems may not require the need of full-fledged financial intermediaries, unlike the developing systems. This is due to the fact that the gap between the saver and the investor is absolutely minimal. This is referred to as â€Å"financial disintermediation†. The process of financial disintermediation is best achieved by reducing the cost of funds thereby facilitating direct capital formation, which spurs economic growth. The greatest advantage in this process is the fact that it reduces the time gap between saving of money and utilization. The process of financial intermediation is always fraught with risks. Risks both for the givers of funds and the takers of funds, besides the risks for financial intermediaries themselves. The risk factor arises in the first place out of the need for the availability of information and in the second place the need for players to be aware of the available information. Consequently, the need for regulations and the role for a regulator are felt. Financial Intermediation in Indian context In India, without exception, a single type of intermediary does not perform the task of financial intermediation. Different types of financial intermediaries exist and their functions are discussed below. Banks: Banks comprise the oldest form of financial intermediaries in India. The Indian financial scene is dotted with a number of banking institutions. All these banks are segregated into various categories. This segregation has been done on the basis of their incorporation and the businesses performed by them. Consequently, we have various kinds of banking institutions. These are: i. Commercial banks, ii. Regional Rural Banks, iii. Local Area Banks, iv. Co-operative banks. The above classification suggests that banks have been divided under various types depending on the need to achieve the different economic objectives. While making the above classification, geographical factors, need for sectoral deployment of funds involving allocation of funds for Agriculture, Industry, and Service sector etc. have been taken into consideration. However, gradually, the needs of industrial sector have become so huge and complex that separate institutions have been set up for farming the industrial sector. Development Financial Institutions (DFIs): Deployment of funds in the Industrial sector is a major challenge. Industry’s requirements vary depending upon their short-term and long-term needs. The activities of short-term lending and long-term lending are separate and specialized functions. After understanding this finer aspect, the Government of India took initiative to set up specialized institutions for this purpose. For this reason, we find that most of the DFIs – such as the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), are statutorily formed. These institutions provide finances for most of the greenfield projects in the Indian economy and have made a significant contribution by way of financing long –term projects. It is significant to note here that DFIs have been influenced by the changes in the Indian banking scenario to such an extent that these institutions are conlemplating to become universal banks. Insurance Companies: The path of reformation in the Banking industry has also caught up with the other intermediaries as well. In this respect, Insurance industry is witnessing path-breaking changes. In fact, in many countries Insurance companies perform a leading role as financial intermediaries. In India, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) continues to play a very vital role in mobilizing savings and delivering Insurance, though the industry is experiencing the competition from players both Indian and Foreign. With the entry of banks into the arena of insurance business it is interesting to find the beneficial impact of convergence of banking and insurance business. Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC): The process of Intermediation virtually begins at home, with the household sector. This sector is the basic source of funds for the intermediaries. Such being the important role of the households, NBFCs as independent institutions, have come into existence to meet their financial requirements. The services offered by the NBFCs cater to the whole gamut of needs of the household sector in particular and savers in general. * Emerging Disintermediation in India** With a rapid growth in the intermediation process, the need for financial disintermediation at some stage cannot be overlooked. Realizing fully well that developed systems find lesser need for financial intermediation, in the Indian context the policy reforms aimed at encouraging free market institutions have been moving the financial markets towards disintermediation. The onset of the process of economic liberalization in 1991 has brought about a sea change in the financial markets. The abolition of the office of Controller of Capital Issues (CCI) and the establishment of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 1992 was done essentially with a view to giving an impetus to the capital markets. The market happenings in 1992-94, did strike a hard blow to this mechanism. During the past three years the process of consolidation has begun. Though a reduction in the number of IPOs does suggest to a slackening of the Capital markets, there is also a brighter side of investors becoming more suave. Sources of Funds A discussion on financial intermediaries has to begin with the ‘raw material’ for this activity, i. e. funds. Financial intermediaries are required to raise funds in order to fulfill the needs of both fund-based and non fund-based activities. Considering the various sources and choices available, the financial intermediary considers the following variables in deciding about the ways and means of raising funds. These are: Maturity, Cost of funds, Tax implications, Regulatory framework and Market conditions. Maturity is vital since the intermediary has to plan for the repayment of debt. Since investors look for returns as against the intermediary looking for good spread and income, Cost of funds turns out to be crucial. Tax treatment on returns on some of the instruments could be different – with certain exemptions Thus, Tax implications are useful for tax planning for both the intermediary and the saver. The instruments have to fulfill a plethora of rules and regulations which require the knowledge of Regulatory framework. For designing a particular type of instrument knowledge of Market conditions is essential. Different Sources of Funds In addition to providing low-cost funds, the shareholder route is a popular and easy way for the common public to become ‘owners’ of companies. As the name suggests, the money belongs to the shareholders. Financial institutions have been innovating different methods for raising money from the prospective shareholders. ‘Reserves’ is another source of funds. Incidentally, it is to be known that some of the Reserves are created statutorily. Borrowing by a company is another source of funds for the company, which are repayable with interest. Unlike equity, the funds raised by way of loans are to be repaid. ** **Sources of Funds unique to a Bank The previous classification of sources of funds does not fully explain the avenues for Banks. By virtue of being one of the earliest financial intermediaries, and possibly the most prudent as well, banks have a privileged access to a few more instruments. Considering the fact that different types of financial intermediaries have accessibility to varied types of funds at different rates of interest, it has become necessary for the RBI to lay down norms in this regard. Financial Intermediaries look towards liquidity in the market for enhancing their scope of operations. However, liquidity is a double-edged knife. Excess liquidity or lack of liquidity affects the financial system resulting in either a reduction or an increase in the rate of interest. The cyclical effect is felt by the economy. For controlling liquidity levels in the economy, RBI exercises control through the mechanisms of CRR and SLR. CRR is the reserve to be maintained by banks with the RBI. SLR is the reserve that is maintained by banks for investment in cash, gold or unencumbered approved securities. Deposits The customers’ confidence level reflects the strength of a bank. There is no better way of reflecting the same by any other indicator than Deposits. In the wake of globalization, the avenues for banks for raising funds in the capital market have increased, both in the national and international markets. In terms of value to the Banking system, banks that have a greater deposit base have more value than the banks with a poor deposit base. Banks accept deposits in different ways. Such acceptance could be different in terms of the period, amount, rate of interest and the type of depositor. All the deposit accounts could be classified under Transaction accounts and Non-transaction accounts. The types of accounts that a customer – individually, jointly or corporate can have, are varied. Having said that Deposits are an important source of funds for the banks, a banker is wary about the types of deposits. A term deposit is a dependable source, but the cost is higher than Demand deposits that are low cost funds for the banks. Consequently, the composition of deposits has a direct impact on the profitability of the bank. Application of Funds The real challenge for the financial intermediaries begins at the very end of the first stage i. e. after mobilization of deposits. The meter virtually starts ticking from that time onwards since the deposits are to be repaid by the bank to the customer after a certain period with interest. In order to honor this commitment, financial intermediaries use their funds in different ways. Broadly, the purposes under which they are used can be classified under: i. loans and advances, ii. investments, iii. fixed assets. Loans â€Å"Loan†is a distinct activity wherein funds are taken from the saver and given to the investor. By nationalizing major banks in 1969 and 1980 Government of India sought to direct the utilization of bank funds for socially disired, objectives reflected in priority sector lending. Priority sector lending includes Agriculture and Small Scale Industry as focus areas that would promote equitable development of regions and promote employment avenues. Loans can be classified as secured loans and unsecured loans based on the availability of security or otherwise. Investments The best way to earn attractive return on money is by following an Investment strategy. Since banks have to service their borrowings and deposits at a reasonably good rate and put the funds into more profitable use, Investments in securities offer an option, though in many instances, this is a statutory requirement. There are three main reasons for the Banks to invest in government securities. These are: (i) in case need arises; government securities meet the liquidity requirements of a bank; (ii) it forms a second line of security, for emergency borrowing from RBI, and (iii) for meeting statutory SLR requirements, aimed at protecting the interests of depositor. Banks are also selectively restricted from investing in equity shares. Investments are made in equity shares either through primary issue or by secondary market. Investment initiatives in equity by banks are expected to boost a sagging capital market. Apart from the primary functions of deposit collection and lending, banks also perform treasury operations. The necessity arises out of liquidity compulsions in operations. Banks invest in bonds and debentures as a part of their regular treasury operations and also on behalf of customers. Fixed assets however, constitute a very small amount of investment by banks. The Management of Financial institutions revolves around two basic functions: i. the ability of the intermediary to raise funds, and ii. to deploy them. These two activities determine the sustenance as well as profitability of the intermediaries. Lending Function Apart from the fact that Lending constitutes the major source of income for the bank, the process of lending also depends on the bankers’ appraisal skills. The banks’ funds can be applied in two major areas i. e. investments in securities and credit accommodation. In the process, banks essentially look to balance the ‘spreads’. Apart from the necessity of complying with the regulatory prescriptions, requirement of profitability virtually forces banks to develop an organized credit deployment mechanism. The credit policy of banks is determined by the demand and supply of loanable funds of banks. Firstly, on the demand side of the economy there are the consumers of goods and services. Secondly, the need for credit comes from the corporate sector in the manufacturing, trading and services sectors. Credit management is a specialized area. This is due to the fact that there are different types of credit, and each type of credit is characterized by certain unique factors. Loan is a broad term used to explain the different types of credit facilities – short/medium term extended in the credit market. The selection of the type of loan by a borrower depends on three factors namely, need for credit, cost factor, and cash flow requirements. Since a loan has a demand side and supply side as well, loans can be classified accordingly. Demand side loans will be individual loans while Supply side loans can be classified as commercial loans. As in the case of a borrower, for the bank, providing the loans depends on three factors, namely the nature of credit, the type of security and the purpose of loan. Based on these parameters, further classification of the banks’ advances is done. Loans are also further classified under secured and unsecured loans. Banks have been providing advances to different sectors of the economy and at the same time providing loans to the needy sectors. The sectoral classification of bank loans is made as under: i. priority sector, ii. public sector, iii. banking sector, and iv. others. Loan Appraisal and Disbursal Preliminary appraisal involves an analysis of the market, technology, financial, and managerial skills of borrowing. Once the bank decides to finance, other critical issues are the decisions relating to the mode of financing. Finance is given for land, site development, building, plant and machinery and also for working capital. Banks arrive at the amount of Maximum Permissible Bank Finance (MPBF) through various appraisal methods. **Non-fund Based Services* Non-fund based Services Non-fund based advances in the form of: Letters of Credit and Guarantees offer a very attractive proposition to the banker. Since funds disbursement arises only on default or the happening or non-happening of an event, bank holds only contingent liability. Payments and clearing operations Clearing and remittences constitute important services under ancillary services. The major role of a bank involves mobilizing savings and channelizing them into investments. Complementing these activities are ancillary services of the banks which facilitate the entire payment and settlement system of financial transactions
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