English Journey Essay

Journeys lead to greater understanding. They can be physical, inner or imaginative and can allow one to gain self-awareness, discover their flaws and weaknesses as well as gain spiritual enlightenment. That journeys can lead to greater understanding can be seen in TS Eliot’s poem The Love Song, Philip Otto Rouge artwork Dawn, Harwood’s poem In the Park and Victor Kellesher’s book cover Ivory trail. Journeys lead to greater understanding. This can be seen in The Love Song†¦ where Prufrock gains self-awareness of his isolated and insignificant status. He experienced both a physical and imaginative journey. Prufrock is a man who is a mid aged man, single and a pessimist. He isolates himself and is afraid of making decisions, as he is worried that he would be making a fool and mockery of himself. Being a pessimist he always thinks negatively about how he lives. The inner journey, in which Prufrock takes the reader reveals the different sides of him, such as his lack of confidence and also his dissatisfaction in the way he lives his life. The imagination of Prufrock leads him to make notes about mermaids, referring them to the Greek myth and how they would sing and lure sailors to their death. In this line Prufrock shows an inferiority complex as he states that the mermaids would not sing to him, as he is not important enough. An invitation from Prufock to the reader to a unnamed destination establishes and initiates a physical journey ; through the physical journey he leads the reader to various places in the city where there are cheap hotels surrounded by lower-class restaurants. Due to the surrounding it leads Prufrock to think of the â€Å"overwhelming question†. In the first stanza a physical journey is evident. The departure time would be during evenings â€Å"When evening is spread out against the like a patient etherised upon a table†. Prufrock compares the sky to a patient through simile. The feeling of helplessness is brought out with the word â€Å"etherised†. As the poem goes on personification becomes evident in â€Å"Streets that follow like a tedious argument†, describing the streets they are walking on as very dull and long similar to a long argument between people. The contrast of the streets to an argument also reflects on the use of simile. Journeys lead to greater understanding. Philip Otto Rouge, who takes the viewer through an imaginative journey, can perceive this in the painting â€Å"Dawn†. The journey is of a religious one, as the lighting in the painting hints a form of the cross, and its innocence and purity of the journey. Also, while light can reflect the knowledge and realisation one gains when undertaking an imaginative journey, the light becomes a symbol of a journey of enlightenment. With a frameless blue sky at the top of the painting it implies that this imaginative journey has no set boundary therefore it is limitless and contains endless possibilities. It is what the individual’s eye and mind perceives it. The angels that are represented as children painted in white and somewhat transparent symbolising the purity and innocence of childhood. With the transparency of the angels suggesting that there is no impurity seen, as they are holy. The musical instruments, also suggest the possibility that this imaginative journey is of a harmonious one. With the women positioned in the centre of the painting, it also shows her relationship with earth and heaven as she is in between them both. Being positioned close to the centre of the cross indicates that she is holy. This woman can be seen portrayed as Eve who was made by God to live on earth and accompany Adam. She is can be conveyed as a symbol of fertility as she was the first woman and also took part in the start of the cycle of human life on earth. This links earth and heaven together as a journey. The small star at the top of the painting, which can be faintly seen, represents the hope and desire of purity that was once been lost due to the sins of Eve. Therefore, Dawn exhibits the greater understanding through the journeys as it is of a religious one that contains enlightenment, but it may not all be harmonious and pure as can be seen when looked further in depth. Journeys can lead to greater understanding, as journey can lead to another journey. Through a physical journey, the protagonist from In the Park experiences an inner journey, which allows her to reflect on motherhood. An inner journey can lead to the reflection of one’s identity, reminisce, unfulfilled potential, self-destruction and low self-esteem. The opening use of a monosyllabic sentence of her mundane life triggers her inner journey to self-reflection. With harsh words such as â€Å"tug† it resembles her being pulled down and â€Å"aimless patterns† represents her life having no direction or goal in which she can follow. The use of past tense in the word â€Å"loved† shows she is not experiencing joyful emotions now, but instead â€Å"-â€Å" the anxiousness or shock on her reflection in her current situation. too late† the enjambment forces her to go through an inner journey unwillingly. After meeting the person she has once loved and a superficial conversation starts, she begins to realise the difference between them. Being self-conscious of herself the phrase â€Å"but for the grace of God† has been inverted from a normal situation to a negative one. And â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬  emphasises the shock going through her head, acting as a harsh stimulus of her realisation to life. With the description of â€Å"flickering light† in line 9, symbolising the fading of hope to retain her past life. The superficial conversation about the children, which have taken over her life is in a hopeful tone as if it was a self-reassurance about her life. Though the last imagery given of her journey is her nursing her baby, a parody of Mother Mary holding baby Jesus. She is stripped of her identity and emotions in her inner journey as â€Å"They have eaten me alive†. Through her journey the protagonist in In the Park comes to greater understanding of her situation and position in life after going through her physical and inner journey.

Determination Lesson Essay

The greatest lesson I have learned in my life thus far. I have found this to be true in most aspects of my life, for all of my growth and success has come as a result of determination and perseverance. No matter how desperate the situation may be, no matter how badly it seems I will succeed. While I had experience failures and hardships, this experience taught me the most valuable lessons, making me a stronger person and building the character which drives the individual I am today. I was raised in a small household and participated in many different things growing up. Since I was young, I have striven to achieve my goals; I call it a â€Å"determination to succeed.† Without a â€Å"determination to succeed,† giving up in life, when a situation seems impossible to overcome, becomes second nature. The methods one uses to overcome the challenges faced in life affects how one acquires success. For example, my ancestors did not overcome their struggle for equality without s elf-determination to better their lives. Thus, their lives have been an inspiration for me. The motivation to excel, though sometimes forgotten in my generation, is a quality that needs nourishment. My parents taught me that it takes hard work and to be successful. They pushed me to follow my dreams from a young age child which has carried over into my adulthood. Their guidance and belief in me gave me the strength to believe in myself, which I consider to be main reason I have experienced so much success in my life so far. I learned to go back to school to get my degree. Learning is a never-ending road, and I truly believe that I must continue to learn in order to improve and excel in my career, as well in all other areas of life. During my first year at Wayne County Community College I developed a passion for the field of associates of arts and associates of general study’s degree. I enjoyed learning about all my classes, but found that analyzing the two degrees that I’m within the school to ensure efficient operation is very exciting and motivating for me. Although the opportunity was present, I knew it would take hard work and a great deal of learning to understand how to be successful. The experience my desire to learn and motivations to succeed are constantly growing stronger. I want to take this characteristics into my graduate studies, so that I may continue to develop on a different level. I believe the knowledge and experience I will receive with an associate’s degree will give me the expertise I need to excel in my future career. My greatest achievements in life is undoubtedly my greatest failures in life. To learn from my mistakes which I have lived all my life and will continue to live by. All my life all other humans have made mistake. However unlike others, I have squeezed through these huge walls of mistakes and have come out as reformed individual, with a positive outlook on life. They say that experience is the best teacher and what better way to get experience than from my own mistakes. May it be in terms of academic, self-reform or even in helping others, I have made mistakes? But I have never let them overpower my confidence and perseverance to succeed in life. It is rightfully said that mistakes are the stepping stone for success. In my past, I have countless mistakes, and thus I assume that I am on the right path. The desire to do off beaten-path things takes away my fear of failure and lets me take risks without thinking about the outcome. I have always tried to remain consistent throughout my en tire academic life, but to err is human, and that I am. By this I mean to say that like others

Orginal writing Essay

      He had relied on stray sheep and animals as he knew he couldn’t go past the village as he’d die, he decided to wait to see if anyone comes back he’d use his brother killing him with the knife he’d been given my his late master, exchanging his brothers soul for his own freedom to travel beyond the borders. He also knew the only other thing that could send him to his ultimate fate was also the knife; he also knew that the opposite to what he wanted to happen could happen. He could if struck by the knife be killed also. In the air the very essence of evil hung in the air, the endless darkness sweeping forward devouring everything in its path. Cobwebs hung everywhere filled with decaying flies; the only light came in from the holes in the walls piercing the darkness. The small of centuries of decomposition stung the nostrils and the throat. The only sound was the drip of water and the occasional settling of giant spiders; the cobwebs snared the skin hoping to catch the person as if he was a fly. It was startling the in contrast with the cold air in the hills. He was anxious, he’d reached his objective, and half knew the old man was right. It was suicide. The man with jet black hair stooped low moving surprisingly quickly and quietly for a man his age following David to stop the worst thing that could ever happen, happen by doing he risked the worlds safety. David’s worst fears were realized stood in front of him but facing the other was the monster, he was like a huge upright wolf with huge black eagle like wings. The dark hair that covered his body was like needles, he looked that he could destroy anything. He flew out of the window, looking for stray sheep or so he thought. He ran through endless rooms and corridors before finally stopping in a room. A room filled with gold it gleamed newly polished beyond perfection. A room that within its walls tucked into a corner was a blood red handled knife. He took it just incase and ran until he came across someone, or something. The old man with jet black hair stumbled in agony; the monster had just caught him! Breathing both of his legs unable to move he sat and waited, waited for the inevitable for the knife to pierce him. He knew he was making a mistake, but if he did die, the worst possible thing couldn’t happen, this thought calmed him, as he slipped into unconsciousness. The monster searched and searched for thee knife knocking over wall after wall trying to find it. He was excited the time had come and the world would pay. He saw out of the corner of his eye he saw David stooped low shaking in fear. He snatched the knife off him. Then slammed him into one of the castle walls, not killing him but David were wise enough to pretend to be. David waited till the monster as a distance away then thought of what he had just seen. The monster had big red inflamed eyes, razor like teeth and two gleaming fangs. He stood on two legs not all fours and looked as powerful as he was deadly. David decide to get out while he could, he sprinted to the exit. The monster loomed over the old man with the knife. Stabbed him. His blood splashed on the ground forming a crimson puddle. The knife itself seemed to glow, the blood on the blade instantly congealed. A wisp of grey crossed from body to blade, sealing the world’s fate. David saw this hiding in one of the corners. He knew he should run but his legs would not allow it he wondered why the monster never had the time to kill him. Now he knew. He was taken over by something he sprinted over to the monster that was taken by surprise. He then reached out a hand a jumped almost horizontally through the air. In all one move he took the dagger and plunged it deep into the monsters neck. He landed. The ground below him started to shake soon the ground gave way but not before the monster erupted into an inferno instantly killing David. His last thought was one of relief that the monster was dead and pride that it was he that had done it. The castle collapsed into itself. The knife and the two bodies buried under the ruins with them the knife, waiting for a new master to control it.

The Legal Environment of Business and Employment Assignment

The Legal Environment of Business and Employment - Assignment Example This research will begin with the definition of a contract as an agreement that is enforceable in a court of law between two people or more or between businesses. The contract is formed based on a promise to do something. The main parties to the contact include the offeror, offeree, and the government. According to Cross and Miller. The government acts as an agent to see the fulfillment of a contract. The offeree agrees to accept the goods at the agreed consideration. The specifications should be enough and clear to enable the offeree to understand and accept the offer. In this case, Huddersford Electronics Ltd (HE Ltd) is the offeror and Gem Computer Stores is the offeree. The main primary sources of contract law include the legislation via orders in council, regulations and statutes, and case laws from the administrative tribunals and decisions of courts. The parties in contract must reach a consensus to be fulfilled in the contract. The agreement constitutes of offer and acceptanc e. A contact must ensure that a party offers to enter in a legal contract and the other party agrees to accept the offer terms and regulations. Secondly, both parties in a contract must agree on the consideration, a consideration is a sufficient and legally reached bargain for the value of goods or services offered. The third consideration is contractual capacity. The law must establish that both parties are competent enough to perform the agreement. The purpose of a contract is to achieve a goal that is legally binding. For a binding contract, parties must act with free will devoid of undue influence or coercion. The final element of a contract is that the contact must be in form that is recognizable by the law. The contract can be in writing or by the word of mouth. However, the contents in the contract also affect the validity of contract as the terms specified by the offeror must imply the thoughts of the courts and statute. A valid contract is a contract that meets all the elem ents of a legal contract. A voidable is a contract that has the option of being avoided .A voidable contract does not contain all the elements or requirements. The agreements included in a voidable contract may be those of people with no capacity to carry out a contact such as children or it may be a case of misrepresentation, undue influence, or duress. If the voidable contact is not rejected or terminated within a specified period, it becomes valid. For example if the buyer decides to sell the goods in a voidable contract before it is terminated, the buyer who buys the goods will be the new owner and is allowed to keep retain the goods provided the goods sold to him were in good terms. A void contract is an illegal contract. The law does not give effect to a contract that that is void because there is a mistake in the agreement of the offer and acceptance. According to Beatty and Samuelson, unenforceable contract is a contract that cannot be enforced by a court of law because the contract does not meet the specific laid down requirements of a valid contract by the law. An unenforceable contract is a contract that is valid but any money or goods transferred to a seller or a buyer respectively cannot be recovered. If one party refuses to do an activity or an act written or promised in the beginning of a contract the other party cannot compel the party to perform in a court of law. Essential Elements of a Valid Offer An offer can only be made to a specific person. Looking at the case of Carlill v Smoke Ball Company, we can understand what the specific person for the offer means.

What do you believe to be the main force driving change in the Essay

What do you believe to be the main force driving change in the International Business Environment - Essay Example The traditional ways of transacting businesses are becoming obsolete due rapid changes and inventions. Cultural, political, environmental, and economical forces characterize globalization and have great impact in the international business environment. Introduction Globalization is the process by which people all over the globe are interconnected into one village such that an occurrence in one part of the world will have a direct impact on the other part. Major changes in international business environment and business operations are because of globalization of business. Today, several significant transformations can be observed in the international business environment and most of these transformations are occurring spontaneously. The changes are unpredictable and inevitable such that one transformation is leading to emergence of more numerous changes. Similar to industrial revolution that completely transformed business environment in Europe, these transformations are necessary in both their outcome and magnitude. The main transformation includes increased competition, rapid changes, and increased use of computers and adoption of sophisticated information technology and networks. Investors or rather employers need to learn the new principles of success, and keep reinventing the objectives of the business (Batra and Dangwal, 2005, p.88). People from different states have developed similar tastes and preferences leading to homogeneity of needs. Globalization encompasses numerous processes by which, institutions, money, people, goods, and services are able to cross territorial or domestic boundaries freely Globalization as a process is a result of sociocultural, political, economic, and technological forces. Globalization is mostly used to mean economic globalization, which is the connectedness of world economies into international economy though exchange of goods, capital investment, migration, and increased use of technology (Brooks and Weatherston et al., 201 1, p.165). The continuing increase in globalization raises the need to understand the different cultures of the world more so corporates and communities cultures. There is an increased transfer of workforce or experts from one country to another, in effort to assist establish new locations of the company or boost existing ones in order to achieve their objectives (KPMG International, 2013, p. 2). Mere knowledge of communication skills is not enough but also the understanding of cultural influences, varied communication designs and social settings of every society do drive the success of globalization. The real standing of globalization can be understood by focusing on three main changes. The first major change is the one witnessed in the job markets. The increased demand of employees with multilingual knowledge has led to people moving from state to another for employment or travelling internationally for the purpose of business transactions (Gelbart, 2012, p. 1). Also of important is the emergence of e-commerce, which have a major impact on competition and growth of market as the original location of firm is not an issue anymore. Increased in cross boarders travels has in turn led to wide spread of traditional cultures and practices all over the world. People’s cultures all over the world seem to rhyme and everybody seems to be adapting to global behaviors, especially in trade industry. Focusing on our social environment

International Law Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

International Law - Article Example Development with its unfathomable vaults and bounds has always been oriented towards the amalgamation of men and women in the pursuit of common accepted objectives. Law is simply an aspect that binds the members of the community jointly in their observance to approved standards and customaries. Law is tolerant or laissez faire in that it allows persons to establish their own legal relations with rights and duties, as in the creation of contracts, and compels as it castigates those who would want to contravene its directives. Law comprises of a sequence of rules modifiable performance, and shimmering, to some extent, the ideas as well as obsessions of the community within which it purposes. The guiding ethical standards that define international law are national states and not individual citizens. There exits many disparities flanking the law within a country as well as the law that functions beyond the precincts and between nationalities, international originations as well as in part icular cases, persons. International law is clustered into variance of laws. The former is more concern with those cases, inside a fastidious legal configuration, in which foreign elements obtrude, raising queries as to the functionalities of alien law or the position of overseas, Rodriguez-Orellana, Manuel (1994). For instance, supposing two English make a contract in France to sell goods that are in Paris, an English court employs French edict as regards the legitimacy of that indenture. By distinction, public international law is not simply an adjunct of a lawful order, instead a separate structure jointly. Unrestricted international decree covers between nationalities in all their innumerable forms, from combats to satellites and controls the functionalities of the numerous international edifices. These laws can be widespread or wide-ranging, in which cases the stipulated rules bind all the states or regional, whereby a group of states associated demographically or philosophically may recognize special rules applying to them for instance, the performance of diplomatic sanctuary that has urbanized to its furthermost extent in Latin America. The policies of transnational edict must be differentiated from what is known as international comity, or traditions such as addressing the flags of for eign warships at sea, which are exclusively employed through civility and are not observed as lawfully obligatory. Correspondingly, the inaccuracy of bewildering international edict with transnational integrity must be precluded. Although thy may convene at various summits, the previous restraint is a permissible one both as regards its content and its form, while the impression of transnational morality is a division of moral code. The implicit here is that international edict can not be alienated from its principles Harhoff Frederik (1994). Law and politics in the world community The first question to be fronted should be the permissible eminence of the transnational edict. Each divide of the transnational argument will probably claim legal justification for its actions and within the international configuration there is no disconnect body that has the ability to resolve the issue and grant a concluding verdict. Practically, everyone that starts reading about transnational edict does so having cultured or acquired about the principled features of regular or conjugal law. Such recognizing smudges incorporate the existence of a recognized body to legislate or create

How the West was won Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How the West was won - Essay Example Bradford asserted the contrary: the American Indians were â€Å"a group subjected to genocide in the process of creation and expansion of the United States† (515). Further, the â€Å"American Indian genocide assumed varied forms: aggressive war, murder, land theft, ethnocide, and forced sterilization† (Bradford 518). Before Columbus, Indians in the United States were about â€Å"five million to ninety-four million, yet by 1880 disease, slaughter, slavery, and aggressive wars had reduced their number to three hundred thousand---and declining† (Bradford 519, citing the work of Sterba). Bradford pointed out that â€Å"in the aftermath of the Civil War, the might of the U.S. Army was directed toward Indian eradication, and one by one the tribes were pursued, cornered and murdered† (Bradford 519). The United States â€Å"acquired most Indian land prior to 1865 by fraudulent treaty negotiations and by legal perversions in its own courts† (Bradford 520). T he United States â€Å"employed murder and threats to acquire one-fourth of the land within its modern contiguous boundaries for distribution to non-Indian settlers† (Bradford 520). ... In homesteading, government provides â€Å"an incentive to rush† into one area (Allen 5). Through homesteading, â€Å"the sudden arrival of tens of thousands of people into a given territory destroyed much of the Indian way of life and forced the Indian tribes to accept reservation life or to join the union† (Allen 5). Based on the work of L. H. Legters, in addition to direct genocide, there has been â€Å"cultural genocide† which â€Å"cover actions that are threatening to the integrity and continuing viability of peoples and social groups† (Yellow Horse Brave Heart & DeBruyn 61-62). Quoting the work of Legters, Yellow Horse Brave Heart and DeBruyn emphasized that the West was won from the Native Americans or American Indians through cultural and real genocide that sought to erase a people’s identity and outright murder of native populations (62). Citing the work of several authors, Yellow Horse Brave Heart and DeBruyn pointed out that â€Å"when lands were found to be valuable to the government and Whites, more often than not, ways were found to take them and resettle Natives elsewhere† (63). Yellow Horse Brave Heart and DeBruyn revealed that â€Å"established in 1824, the Office of Indian Affairs, later the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), was part of the War Department and responsible for regulating tribes† (63). Further, â€Å"the BIA assumed the function of providing education for American Indians under its ‘Civilization Division’† (Yellow Horse Brave Heart and DeBruyn 63). According to Yellow Horse Brave Heart and DeBruyn, federally-operated boarding schools and forced assimilations were considered solutions to the â€Å"Indian problem† (63). Yellow Horse Brave Heart and DeBruyn stressed that â€Å"mission schools established as early as the late 1700s

Domtar corporation limited Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Domtar corporation limited - Research Paper Example Additionally the company owns and is responsible of overseeing the distribution of its products by Domtar Distribution Group. Domtar is also responsible of designing, manufacturing, and marketing of different brands of paper inclusive of sandpiper, Opaque Ultra and Husky Opaque. Currently, Domtar offers employment to over 10,000 people. Its headquarters is located in Montreal and has over 80 paper storage and distribution facilities that are located within North America. However, the center for its operations is located in South Carolina. The company is worth over 700 billion dollars. This paper focuses on the management of Domtar by making use of the SWOT analysis. Additionally, the internal and external stakeholders of Domtar will be identified, their needs and wants, and how the company is fulfilling the needs of the stakeholders. SWOT Analysis of Domtar The Domtar SWOT analysis will provide an insight on the management and other business operation carried out by Domtar. SWOT stan ds for the strengths or aspects in which Domtar has been faring well. W stands for weaknesses or areas that Domtar require to improve to enable it become more successful. O is for the opportunities that Domtar can exploit to increase its productivity. T is for the threats that Domtar is facing. Analyzing the weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats of Domtar will help establish the parts that are most relevant to consider when deciding whether or not to invest in the company. Strengths One of the major strengths that has seen Domtar flourish is the effective communication between the management and the other stakeholders. Another advantage is its popularity, which has made it gain numerous customers globally. Additionally, Domtar has successfully managed to manage its costs effectively such that they are able to spend less but earn much. Domtar has up to date technology. It has some of the latest machineries, which makes its operations easy but successful. A good example is the power generating machineries such as steam turbines, which greatly helps in reducing the production costs (Pump Industry Analyst, 2009). An additional Domtar’s strength is the great capability to recycle it byproducts. Domtar recycles almost all the byproducts such as paper and gypsum. This has enable Domtar maximize on it resources. Additionally, it has enabled Domtar to be recognized as a sustainable dealer with forest products. An additional strength is the strong existing relationship between Domtar and its stakeholders. A good example is with the environmentalists, who are often opposed to operation of paper dealers. However, the strong relationship between Domtar and environmental groups has made it manage to operate without much criticism (Pump Industry Analyst, 2009). Weaknesses One of the challenge hence weakness facing Domtar is the low number of shares in the market. Additionally, Domtar lacks a strong reputation considering that it is the second largest dealer of paper and paper products Opportunities Domtar has an opportunity to expand its market globally due to the emerging markets. An additional opportunity that Domtar can take advantage of is the chance to diversify its products. From its initial stages, Domtar focuses on pulp and paper products. It thus has the opportunity to expand its operations and start dealing with other wood products. Due

Creating a plan for addressing the needs and issues in a Essay - 1

Creating a plan for addressing the needs and issues in a muliticultural classroom - Essay Example an that empowers students to achieve their highest potential, which in turn demands an equal, fair, and a culture sensitive teaching-learning process. This process involves specific teaching methods and practices that address the different needs of a multicultural environment. To successfully decide on teaching methods that facilitates students’ learning, a teacher must initially be familiar with the students, both as an individual and as a group (Burnette, 1999).These students will originate from varied backgrounds and may have different learning needs. A classroom may have students with different ethnic, cultural and religious beliefs, or may consist of immigrants who speak only their own native language. Some students may have a different sexual orientation; others may come from lower economic status, or have been raised by a single parent. Instances are also rampant when students have specific learning and physical disabilities that require special teaching provisions. At the beginning of the school year, it may prove beneficial for teachers to complete a student profile. Profile includes anecdotal records, questions that elicit helpful information regarding their individual backgrounds. Informal interviews may also help gain further informatio n and build teacher-student rapport. Promoting Human Relations with Emphasis on Respect and Dignity Because the classroom environment influences effective learning, a teacher must ensure that all students feel welcomed and accepted. In an open and friendly environment, rules must be firmly set against oppressive remarks and verbal abuse that are highly discriminatory. While teaching general values such as human respect and justice may be vague, setting positive examples and providing reinforcement to positive behaviors may be effective. The way teachers relate with the students impacts the students’ confidence, outlook and their capacity to learn. However, some students may be misinterpreted by their teachers. A

Health News Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health News Analysis - Essay Example Gardasil has also proven successful in preventing genital warts in men. The vaccine "targets the two types of HPV, or human papillomavirus, believed to be responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, and two other types that cause most genital warts." Stobbe also notes that research on Gardasil is continuing, but that to date there is no evidence it prevents "penile cancer or other HPV-associated cancers in men. There also is no evidence it prevents men from spreading HPV to women." Right now, Gardasil as it may be used in the U.S. for males appears to prevent an unwanted but benign condition. Stobbe's report is informative in the style of news reporting. The reader can get additional details once the main points have been covered at the beginning. Following the V structure for news writing allows for a "stay-tuned" kind of conclusion. Stobbe quotes an HPV expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as saying that policy makers, presumably the ones charged with passing judgment on Gardasil's availability to males in the United States, "will be looking at a variety of issues." In spite of the limitations of news reporting and any subtexts one can glean from the article, Stobbe carefully sketches what has and has not happened yet in Gardasil's use and scrutiny for extended uses. Among the research subjects for the study, a group was given a fake vaccine; and in ninety percent of the vaccinated subjects, Gardasil prevented genital warts. From this we can determine that the "new study" was of the experimental, empirical design type and blind, or double-blind, standard for drug companies doing clinical trials. In addition, quantitative analysis of factors such as three administrations of the drug to 4,000 participants over six months in twenty countries with examinations at various points to determine effectiveness, and so forth, clearly point to a clinical trial and the classic drug company research design. Without having the specific procedures of the design, however, or the study itself, it is difficult to tell which statistical methods would have been applied other than standard ones for this kind of study. Randomization of the test population, careful data collection from experimental and control groups, pre- and post-assessment for evidence of the target disease would all need standardization over a specific time with subsequent proper analysis and summary. The difficulty in identifying which statistical methods increases given the rigor needed to conduct a double-blind study the size of this one. The study's population and the different countries and therefore different languages involved seem daunting. It is likely that the study design and statistical procedures would have had to account for errors and inaccuracies. However, an international drug company such as Merck might well have been able to carry out such a detailed and comprehensive study. It would seem so, for Stobbe reports that experts have found the reported results

Why Did Casey Anthony Kill Her Daughter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Why Did Casey Anthony Kill Her Daughter - Essay Example By Tuesday, July 12, there were 325,283 tweets about the same topic – 64% disagreed with the verdict while 35% were neutral (Varma). Outside the courthouse, people cried in frustration – there were very few who were not surprised with the results. A majority already made up their mind – Casey Anthony killed her daughter, and it was unjust to let her off. Why do people think Casey Anthony is guilty? What were the evidences against her? These are just some of the questions that I hope to address in this paper. I believe that Casey Anthony committed this heinous crime because of the evidences (though circumstantial) show that there is no other person with a motive to kill Caylee. How can a mother kill her own child (or children, in certain cases)? Before Casey Anthony, there was Mary Ann Cotton (Times Magazine), Marybeth Tinning (Bettman), Diane Downs (Howell) and Susan Smith (S.C. Department of Corrections). Of course, there were others after her, but the point is that mothers who kill their own children are not uncommon. In a book entitled Mothers Who Kill Their Children: Understanding the Acts of Moms from Susan Smith to the â€Å"Prom Mom†, it was mentioned that â€Å"infanticide is as old as human society itself†¦no culture is immune† (Meyer, Cheryl and Oberman, Michelle 1). ... Often, these are committed by mothers whose circumstances prevent them from parenting their children. They are deliberate acts and would require premeditation. There is no single factor that prompts to commit such crimes, and there are no one has been able to develop an intervention that will prevent them from happening again. Research shows that contemporary infanticide and filicide are fueled not only by poverty and isolation, but also â€Å"by demographic shifts in family structure and by a rise in substance abuse† (Meyer, Cheryl and Oberman, Michelle 10). A research published by two French psychiatrists showed that infanticide due to a mental illnes, now known as postpartum psychosis. Modern studies showed that one or two of every one thousand women who give birth are affected by postpartum psychosis. The illness is â€Å"characterized by a dramatic break with reality, accompanied by a ‘grossly impaired ability to function, usually because of hallucinations or delus ions’† (Meyer, Cheryl and Oberman, Michelle 12). It is typically a brief episode and will disappear a few months after childbirth. Because Caylee Anthony was already two years old at the time of her death, postpartum psychosis is not a valid reason. Moreover, Casey Anthony had to undergo psychological testing as a routine procedure and state psychologists showed that she was fit to stand for trial and that she was not suffering from any mental illness. Other patterns found in modern infanticide and filicides are connected with â€Å"sociocultural and economic influences such as disability, substance abuse, and unresolved trauma combined with the pressures associated with being the sole

A Personality Development Theory Applied in Choosing Career Essay Example for Free

A Personality Development Theory Applied in Choosing Career Essay This paper attempts to look at the Big Five, a personality development theory that is used in studying the dimension of one’s personality. The Big Five model is a product of empirical research and at present, the most accepted approach among psychologists in studying personality traits. 1 The five factors are known as OCEAN- openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. 2 It is said that theses possession of these traits may be stable for over 45 years that can start from early adulthood. 3 Parts and portion of traits are also heritable genetically. In addition, the traits are result of adaptation to the environment. Generally, these factors are viewed as universal and have been found in languages of different nations. Knowing where one’s place in the dimension can be very useful for one’s improvement and realization of skills, talents and abilities. The Case Dave has long been dreaming of putting up his own business. After several years of working in the job which he definitely did not like, he finally decided to pursue his dream. At this point in time, Dave was not sure of what enterprise will best fit his personality. Applying the Big Five Personality Development Theory, we carefully examine Dave’s personality in order to see what are his dominant traits and characteristics, his weaknesses and   1Buss, D. M. (1996). Social adaptation and five major factors of personality. In J. S. Wiggins (Ed. ), The five-factor model of personality: Theoretical perspectives (pp. 180-207). New York: 2Guilford. Soldz, S. , Vaillant, G. E. (1999). The Big Five personality traits and the life course: A 45-year longitudinal study. Journal of Research in Personality, 33, 208-232 3Buss, D. M. (1996). Social adaptation and five major factors of personality. In J. S. Wiggins (Ed. ), The five-factor model of personality: Theoretical perspectives (pp. 180-207). New York: unleashed talents if ever to be able to fit it with the kind of business that will best suit him. This is for the purpose of finding the better enterprise that will complement to his overall personality. This is important because the idea of putting up a business is much of a risk to take and Dave cannot afford not to be successful in his new chosen field after leaving his long time job. This is somehow a prelude to the future of his business because as the business and manger and owner to be, he will direct the efficiency and effectiveness of his business. To start with, traits and characters must be identified. In this case Dave provided us with some of his characteristics that are assumed to be relevant in helping him determine the best business for him. Dave mentioned that he was previously a paralegal and he had worked with attorneys and several clients in their law firm. He claimed that he often acts as a leader and in fact he formerly managed a staff. He added that he posses various leadership qualities though if given a choice, he would rather work alone. Applying the Big Five Personality Earlier, it has been mentioned that Dave, if given the chance will rather work alone, hence, we can conclude that he is an introvert. But since, he had longed desire to have his own business, it is inevitable to work with other person or to a group of person. By the word business, he is going to put up an organization. Building an organization means continuous interaction with other people and all the accompanied activities will operate in a relational or in a dynamic manner. Example of introversion is being independent and often being quiet. Introvert people prefer to do things by themselves and refuses to be helped by others and also disregard group activities because they see themselves more productive if they are alone. They are also the type who minimizes social involvement, in other words they prefer less socialization. Some of them are deliberately shy and some extreme cases found depression. Given that Dave wanted to put up his business and he also wanted to be alone if possible, I think the best business that will suit him is a coffee shop. Maintaining a coffee shop is not that difficult. Three to four people can be able to organize the business accordingly. If he will put up a coffee shop, he can be the one at the counter or he can hire another person to do that and all he needs to do is to supervise. Unlike his previous job wherein he had staff to lead to and attorneys and clients to deal with, a coffee shop business will put him in less trouble. If he has a passion in bartending, he can be the one to do it and all he needs to face is the waiter who will be passing the orders to him. As for agreeableness, undoubtedly, Dave has established leadership qualities necessary to operate a business. It will not be hard for him to deal with his employees to be, since he had his fair share on this matter on his preceding occupation. On the other hand, Dave showed did not mention about openness but I think it is safe to say that he is an open person because even if he has introvert qualities he bear with his colleagues for a long period of time and he tried to be a good leader and showed exceptional qualities of leadership in the law firm. Another proof of his openness is his likeness to have his own business. This means that he is open for new changes in his life to happen. Meanwhile, Dave has finally become assertive departing from his old reticent way. This is because at last he had the courage to left his job and starts a new with a business. Lastly, after evaluating the four factors of the Big Five, we can conclude that Dave is in the mid of imaginative and conventional dimension since he had let several years to past before actually realizing his wants, nevertheless he also posters creativity side as he was able to think of another form of occupation. In this activity, I learned the importance of knowing your personal traits and characteristics. Being familiar with your limitations and advantages may help you in various ways, likewise, it can help you understand others as well as to deal with them accordingly. Being acquainted with these traits will improve your relationship to other people and most of all it will contribute a lot in realizing your own potential and developing you as a person. References About. com Website (2008). The â€Å"Big Five Personality Model. Retrieved on January 17, 2008 from http://psychology. about. com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/bigfive. htm Buss, D. M. (1996). Social adaptation and five major factors of personality. In J. S. Wiggins (Ed. ), The five-factor model of personality: Theoretical perspectives (pp. 180-207). New York: Guilford. Soldz, S. , Vaillant, G. E. (1999). The Big Five personality traits and the life course: A 45-year longitudinal study. Journal of Research in Personality, 33, 208-232

Affirmative Action in the Hospitality Industry

Affirmative Action in the Hospitality Industry Abstract The paper explores how affirmative action influences employment decisions of managers in the hospitality industry. Affirmative action involves a process of ensuring fairness and justice in order to cultivate the spirit of diversity. The hospitality industry includes numerous types of corporations that provide vital services to the society. Therefore, it is imperative to understand how affirmative action is executed in the industry. Similarly, affirmative action has spread to virtually all industries; therefore, it will be appropriate to evaluate the status in the affirmative action. Human resource is an important section, not only in the hospitality industry but also other industries as well. The paper endeavors to understand how the function of human resource is handled with regard to affirmative action. The government has established a number of laws and policies that govern affirmative action in the hospitality industry as well as other industries. The paper aims at appraising the condition of affirmative action in hospitality industries. Special reference will be given to the process of appointing employees. Whether the industries appoint employees on the foundation of ensuring diversity or not will be the main focus. Introduction Affirmative action is a program that provides for the consideration of the minorities, marginalized and protected sections in the society. Therefore, fulfillment with affirmative action should result in the hiring of men and women at an equal rate. Similarly other factors like race and religion should be evaluated so as to ensure that all sections get an opportunity to obtain employment. The human resource function plays a vital role in affirmative action since hiring is a central theme in ensuring equal opportunities. The hospitality industry covers a wide range of service providers that operate throughout the world. These include hotels, restaurants, food chains and transporting. Therefore, a number of plans have been developed to effect affirmative action in the hospitality industry. Most of them have centered on the process on recruitment of employees. The essence of all these programs has been the cultivation of diversity in the work force. This has been driven by the growing tr end of affirmative action in all industries, government regulations requiring compliance with its affirmative action policies as well as the industries endeavor to have an inclusive approach to human resource. Aspects of the golden rule have had a far reaching effect on the industrys approach to hiring. In their endeavor to achieve unprecedented success in business, hospitality companies have endeavored to be inclusive in their process of hiring staff. This involves the consideration of women and other sections in the society that are considered marginalized. The development of affirmative action policies has been the trend in most companies. Therefore, the hospitality industry has joined other industries in embracing affirmative action. Affirmative Action in the Hospitality Industry Affirmative action has changed the manner in which human resource sections in companies carry out their operations. This is due to the increasing trend towards the aspect of diversity in the workforce. Therefore, corporations have realized that in order achieve success, an atmosphere of fairness must be created in the process of admitting employees into the companies (Herdman, Grubb Capehart 2009). This is gradually translating into diverse workforces who have been touted as healthy and therefore, a trajectory to success. This trend has also been inspired by the enactment of several laws that regulate the employing processes. These laws contemplate the fair consideration of all sections of society during hiring as well as the humane treatment of workers. This involves remunerations, work state of affairs and dismissal. Affirmative action has also resulted from the pressure of numerous activists and trade unions. Most of them have pushed for the introduction of fairness in the proces ses of employment in the industry. In compliance to these programs, the hospitality industry has gradually clinched affirmative action. This began with the considerations of all sections in the hiring progression (Makulilo 2009). As much as the process is still far from complete, the hospitality industry has established a number of frameworks through which affirmative action can be achieved. First among all is the inclusive recruitment course. Bargaining councils have been instrumental in entrenching affirmative action practices in the hospitality industry. Bargaining councils comprise of trade unions as well as organizations representing organizations. The councils have been instrumental in championing for the rights of workers at the work place. As much as this had little effect of the hiring procedure, it eventually led to the extension of fair treatment in the recruitment. The councils handle a number of tasks that involve compatible agreements (Kennedy 2010). They mitigate disputes and come up with numerous schemes and policies of employees. Such endeavors have contributed to the aspect of equality throughout the hospitality companies. Examples of these councils include The Tearoom, Restaurant Catering Bargaining Council and the Restaurant, Catering Allied Bargaining Council. Sectoral determination plays a significant role in the achievement of equality and better handling of staff. The hospitality industry has therefore, achieved a lot with regard to fairness especially in wages through the pressure of sect oral determination. Sectoral determinations have provided for the wage rate to be based on the number of employees in an organization. Therefore, organizations with small numbers of employees pay more. Several acts that are relevant with the hospitality industry have been instrumental in the practice of fairness and equality in the sector. Most of the acts have programs that ensure the achievement of good care and treatment for the employees (Taylor 2010). The Occupational Health and Safety Act endeavors to ensure that employees are accorded adequate healthcare and safety in the working environment. Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Deceases Act aims at ensuring that employees who incur sicknesses and injuries at the work place are taken care of. The act discourages discrimination of these workers and prescribes the kind of treatment that should be given to them. The Employment Equity Act seeks to uphold evenhandedness in the work environment. The act also promotes equivalent chances to all employees. All corporations that deal in hospitality attempt to realize merit in their operations. However, only companies that ultimately make use of the ability of racial and sexual diversity achieve their objectives. The diversity of the population provides for equal approach to hiring (Lickstein 2010). Therefore, only companies that consider the diversity of talent and society manage to navigate beyond normal performance. Furthermore, in order to compete favorably since the 1990s, companies have been forced to embrace equality in job opportunities at all stages. The job environments must conform to the standards of equality by all means. The demographic inclinations that are responsible for changes in personnel stipulate the skill of managing diversity be cultivated in all levels of administration (Lickstein 2010). The demographic indicators predict an increase in diversity of the society in the future. Therefore, corporations must cultivate the aspect of managing diversity among the managers at all levels. This will ensure that the corporations continually carry out their operations in the future. Without an open approach to diversity it will not be possible for hospitality organizations to operate. The indicators show that the majority of jobs in the future will arise from the service industry. Most of them will be about information. This shows that the jobs require intellectual prowess alone. As a result, gender, race and age will not be barriers. Corporations must therefore, embrace affirmative action since future jobs will be suitable for men and women as well as all races and groups. The rate of immigrants is going to increase (Kahlenberg 2010). This means that the number of immigrant workers will increase. Organizations must put in place equality mechanisms so as to take advantage of the increase in potential workers. Only those corporations that will have adopted affirmative action will benefit from the services of migrant workers. The hospitality industry is on the spot since projections indicate that economic development will rely directly on the claim of products are sensitive to incomes. These include restaurant meals, tourism, healthcare, and travel and luxury foods. Therefore, the industry must ensure that its operations are not obstructed by traditional approaches to employment and discriminations. Affirmative action remains the best way forwards in the restructuring of hospitality organization. Most of the fresh workers in the future will be minorities. Therefore, without a prudent approach to employee hiring based on equality, organizations will miss out on the new employees. The fact that, most new employees will be minorities indicates that, hospitality organizations must fully embrace affirmative action so as to be in a position to manage a diverse workforce. Diversity must be cultivated in the management and operation of the corporations. Most importantly, hiring decisions together with the managem ent of employees must be changed to confirm to norms of equality. The number of black women will rise unexpectedly. Black women will account for the largest share in the nonwhite work category. Consequently black women will surpass black men in the labor force. Gender based discrimination will have no place in the work force since most potential workers will be women. Affirmative action is the only way for companies to operate in the future. Accordingly racism must be brought to an end since blacks will form an integral account of the entire labor force. Similarly white males who have been the major component of the work force are slated to reduce drastically. They will only comprise of 15% of the entire workforce. Therefore, black and other minorities must be ready to take the dominant position in the workforce. Affirmative Action Support and Challenges Affirmative action has the backing of many people; it is perceived as the only means towards equality. Affirmative action is essentially founded of a moral and equitable platform with the best objectives. As a result, several organizations and sections of the public and society support the concept (Dodson 2010). This has been the key driving force in the success of affirmative action in the hospitality industry. Numerous corporations have initiated programs that aim at ensuring the full implementation of the affirmative action. This has led to the creation of several affirmative action policies by organizations. The policies have been informed by several consultations between these organizations and the relevant stakeholders. The role played by the government in setting guidelines has also been instrumental. The most viable transformation has been the attitudinal change. The society has fully come to embrace the aspect of equality as envisaged in the affirmative action. Most of these involve racism, sexism and other shapes of inequity. The work place has been the major battleground for all these forms of inequality. However, industry players have come to recognize the importance of initiating equality programs in their operations (Anim 2010). The most visible application of affirmative action has been identical opportunities during the appointing process. However, the implementation of affirmative action in the hospitality industry has been subject to a number of challenges. The greatest challenge has been the aspect of racism. The concept of racial preference has complicated efforts to cultivate equality in employment and workplace relations (Krotoszynski 2010). This has been brought about by the connection of race and preference. It has been burdensome to society since through this link racism is inculcated in society in the name of stigma that ought to be eradicated. Partisan treatment to certain races in the name of ensuring equality has been counterproductive. In fact quotas have been a setback in the affirmative action endeavors. This is because quotas and other forms of partisan treatments institutionalize inequality. In order for affirmative to be successful organizations must move away from any counterproductive practices that undermine equality. Equality in organizations can only be achieved through the adoption of structures that establish equal prospects for all. Any practice that seeks to assist certain sections of the society at the expense of others cannot achieve affirmative action. Therefore, the biggest threat to affirmative action in organizations is the focus on short-term goals. Some organizations have evolved a system of creating reservations and quotas for certain sections of the society. This practice might be fruitful in the short run; it has negative effects on affirmative action. Such organizations soon institutionalize inequality through the favoritism. Affirmative action in the organizations requires the culture of diversity coupled with prudent management of the same. Rigidity in organizations is another aspect that limits the implementation of affirmative action. To counter this trend, organizations ought to develop an atmosphere that cultivates diversity in the workplace. Such an arrangement will leave no room for unnecessary hindrances in the implementation of affirmative action. As much as the major attitudinal obstructions are found in societies, business organizations can play an important role by cultivating diversity and equality in their operations (Alam and Roy 2007). The first way is to ensure that hiring remains a transparent and equal forum for all sections of the society. This should be complemented by the provision of equivalent chances for all employees irrespective of their gender and racial background. The establishment of structure that favors affirmative action remains the best way to achieve equality in the organizations. Minorities ought to be accorded equivalent opportunities so as to allow them to grow and compete favorably in the organizations. The equal treatment of minorities will have several benefits in the organizations apart from ensuring equality. First will be the perpetuity of organizations. With respect to future projections, only organizations that provide equal treatment to minorities will survive. This is due to the fact that most potential worker will come from minority category. Organizations with no meaningful structures for diversity and equality often find it difficult to achieve their goals in the midst of the changes. It is virtually impossible to achieve growth in modern times without credible affirmative action policies. Equality can also not be achieved with the necessary structures in place. Companies in the hospitality industry that fully embrace equality mechanism as far as opportunity is concerned succeed because of the inherent mutual culture and structure. Through the commitment of the companies, right from the highest levels of management and accountability of the personnel development and the provision of equal chance, an inclusive diverse atmosphere is founded in which all people irrespective of their gender and race can make their contribution to the organization (Winston 2008). Through the success of their workforce, accommodative organizations often realize the efficiency, innovativeness and synergy to effectively compete and realize financial breakthrough. Therefore, such organization comprehend that unfairness is harmful to the individuals, corporations as well as the society. Organizations that wholly build and manage culturally diverse abilities of its employees normally derive benefit associated with them. Similarly rigid organizations cannot benefit from the services of culturally diverse workforce. Employees in culturally diverse organizations work in broadly environments. Their tasks are defined widely and they have the liberty to perform their jobs as well as come up with groups and methodologies they deem fit. Furthermore, the employees have the freedom to participate in new tasks. Diverse organizations concentrate of the development of their employees (Reistad et al., 2010). Therefore, such organizations often have efficient communication systems across the different departments of the organization. These corporations react constructively to change, have effective workers and encourage the growth of minorities. Great prominence is laid of training of workers. The benefits from these endeavors, pose these organizations for financial success as well as better future prospects (Reistad et al., 2010). Conclusion Affirmative action has taken root in several business organizations. This trend has been necessitated by the need to cultivate equality and diversity in the workplace. Companies in the hospitality industry have not been left behind. A number of measures have been taken by organizations in the hospitality industry, to entrench affirmative action in their operations. This has mostly involved the hiring practice. Organizations have evolved to ensure that all sections of society irrespective of gender and race obtain their equal share of opportunities of jobs. Furthermore, the working situations in several organizations from the hospitality sector have inducted diversity in their systems. The cultivation of a culture of diversity in these organizations has resulted in equal management of staff at the workplace. Most importantly, it has involved the uplifting of minorities through the opportunities for their growth. The entrenchment of structures that guarantee diversity and equality has been of great success in the organizations. The trend of affirmative action has been boosted by a number of factors. These include future projections which indicate an increase in minorities in the potential workforce category. Government policies have also pressed corporations to clinched affirmative action. Affirmative action has fully been embraced by most organizations in the hospitality industry.

Identity in Rural Communities: Sociological Concepts

Identity in Rural Communities: Sociological Concepts Introduction Rural communities have been a source of much interest for those engaged within the sociological and geographical realms of study for many years now. The industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries triggered the phenomenon of rural depopulation as millions throughout the Western nations, lured by the promise of a more prosperous existence in the urban core, abandoned their agrarian settlements. However, the late 20th century has witnessed a dramatic increase in the standard of living for the inhabitants of the developed world. Cataclysmic advancements in the spheres of transportation, infrastructure and technology have permitted the denizens of our cities with greater access to regions which were once isolated and peripheral. For the first time in over two centuries populations are now increasing throughout the urban hinterland and countryside. As a consequence, rural communities are now faced with a growing influx of ‘outsider’ or alien elements which may be per ceived to threaten their unique cultural and social traditions. Such elements range from governmental legislation (imposed from a regional, national or supranational level) to tourism and second home ownership. However, in an increasingly globalised and homoginised world, academics have developed great interest in the methodologies deployed by erstwhile isolated settlements as they strive to conserve their very identities and notions of ‘community’. Mewitt has argued that the ‘esoteric cultures’ of rural communities have been much undervalued. He states that, ‘a local population can possess a largely unique culture that remains distinctive in that its symbolic manifestations convey meanings that are commonly understood only among those people.’[1] Defining the Communal Boundary Muir eloquently highlights that, ‘every landscape is enmeshed in networks of boundaries. Some of these are living or current and others are relics of former patterns of overlordship and partition.’[2] He further adds that, ‘some boundaries are political in character’ whilst ‘others relate to ownership and tenancy.’[3] Indeed, the configuration of the present day counties of England dates from Medieval times when the Normans attempted to organise and rationalise the physical landscape. Muir explains that as the number of people residing in a specific locale increases, the greater the necessity precipitates to impose physical boundaries to ‘serve both instructive and symbolic roles.’[4] The remnants of Medieval ‘landscapes of power’ can still be observed in the guise of churches or castles positioned on elevated terrain. Indeed Muir emphasises that, ‘Medieval crosses were frequently associated with marking route way s and the places where roads entered ecclesiastical property.’[5] However, sociologists argue that the concept of ‘boundary’ often surpasses the purely mundane realm. Cohen insists that the boundary of a community is ‘more complex than its physical, legal or administrative basis’ and even ‘ethnic, racial, religious or linguistic differences.’[6] Indeed, he believes that communal, social and physical frontiers may ‘exist in the minds of their beholders’ and are often not objective entities.[7] Indeed, according to Cohen and other commentators the boundaries of a community may be defined in a variety of ways including local genealogy, traditions, idioms, land distribution, folk histories and idiosyncrasies. Defining the Rural Community Shuttles argues that whilst urban communities were traditionally defined on the basis of ‘race, ethnicity and socioeconomic differences,’ rural communities were typically ‘more homogenous.’[8] However, he notes that power was normally concentrated ‘in the hands of a small group of local elites.’[9] Shuttles’ comments are interesting when one considers what many regard as being symbolic of the typical or idyllic rural community. The English manor house and rustic thatched cottage conjure up images of a romantic and traditional arcadian scenario. Indeed, sociologists are now quick to highlight how the paintings of artists such as Constable, and the lucid literary descriptions of writers like Thomas Hardy, have done much to perpetuate the myth of idyllic rural communities within the collective mindset. These were communities where everyone seemingly had his or her ‘place’ within a clearly defined and functional social hierarchy. However, Seymour et al. state that ‘recent debates in rural studies have highlighted the need to reconsider power relations in the countryside by allowing other voices to be heard.’[10] They insist that previously marginalised groups, such as manual workers and housewives, play just as important a role in defining the local community as those in positions of economic and political power. They also note that traditional stereotypes of the rural community are changing both within and out with the locale. For example, farmers were typically viewed as ‘patriotic food producers and the guardians of the countryside.’[11] Since the 1980s the pollution issues concerning unsustainable farming practices and use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides have severely altered the once romantic myth of the farmer as custodian of the landscape and lynch pin of the rural community. Jones’ study of social attitudes in and around the town of Cwmrheidol in rural west Wales is most illuminating. In the late 1980s she began to interview a wide range of locals and incomers; participants included: ‘traditional women and feminists, Welsh speakers and English speakers, residents and summer visitors, New Age travellers, hill farmers and urban commuters.’[12] Indeed, Jones’ findings reveal a plurality of attitudes regarding what constitutes ‘community’ in the local area. Ieuan, a Welsh-speaking hill farmer, seemed to resent official bodies and felt that EU legislation was gradually eroding traditional farming practices and his way-of-life. He was also angry with the planting of Forestry Commission coniferous forests on the hillsides and the imposition of alien boundaries upon once communal pasturelands. Ieuan complained about the ‘thoughtlessness of tourists’ and was sceptical regarding plans to diversify the tourist in dustry.[13] His conservative attitude was shared by Alison and Phil, ‘incomers’ from England, who also opposed development of the area and believed that new housing projects could destroy the rustic character of the local milieu. Another ‘incomer’ named Ros also exhibited similar sentiments and did not want change, so much so that she stated how she would protest vehemently against the renovation of a nearby ‘ruin’. Indeed, one could say that Ieuan, Alison and Phil, and Ros viewed the traditional community as something which should be cherished and remain static throughout time. However, the ‘incomers’ did state that they felt very much like ‘outsiders’ despite having lived in the region for some time. As Ros stated, ’the old locals they’re a community on their own.’[14] The local vicar Patrick Thomas was more than aware of the existence of ‘communities within communities’ throughout this part of Wales. A principal boundary was of a linguistic nature and those who could not speak the Welsh language became effectively excluded from many social and communal activities. Many older inhabitants simply did not view ‘incomers’ as part of the community and seemed to view them as a threat. The vicar strove to promote individual responsibility and attempted to encourage community values regardless of whether an inhabitant was of an ‘insider’ or ‘outsider’ status. Indeed, Patrick Thomas clearly viewed the entire community as a cohesive whole whilst others chose to be more selective in their analysis, often on the grounds of language, ethnicity and place of origin, regarding who was a part of their local ‘community’. Mewett notes how the inhabitants of the Isle of Lewis choose to define the boundaries of the community. He emphasises the importance of nicknames throughout the island by ‘expressing to people the attachment of themselves and others to the local community’[15] and by effectively defining their very social identities. Cohen’s study of the Shetland Island community of Whalsay revealed the existence of a ‘public treasury of personal knowledge.’[16] This social treasury included; ‘the public identities of Whalsay people: the characters attributed to them in public discourse and formulated on the basis of the stereotypical qualities of their kinsfolk or their township of origin; the anecdotal knowledge of incidents in which they were participants; supposed personal idiosyncrasies and so forth.’[17] Such a methodology of social definition is representative of a local folk history and assists in binding the local community together and affirming the notion of ‘being Whalsa’. Cohen concludes that public identities provide social boundaries for the community and serve as veritable ‘compass bearings’.[18] Cohen also highlights the linkage of a person to a place in Whalsay and the propensity of locals to depersonalise individual talents and skills. If someone exhibits an aptitude for woodwork they are said to have ‘Skaw-blood’ in them. The origin of this saying derives from the belief that many skilled carpenters once came from the town of Skaw in the north. This was due to the fact that drift wood commonly accumulated on the coast near this town and the local artisans had a ready supply of the raw material. To compliment one’s ability in such a way effectively grounds the individual within the historical, genealogical, physical and symbolic boundaries of the imagined island community. McFarlane’s study of four villages in Northern Ireland highlights how rural communities choose to define their communal identities and demarcate boundaries within a nation fraught with religious tension. In the predominantly Protestant village of Ballycuan the local history is recounted from a Protestant perspective. The July band marches also symbolised Protestant hegemony within the community and, as the local band master stated, ‘remind everyone that Ballycuan is a Protestant village.’[19] Conversely, in the village of Glenleven, Protestants seemed to ‘present histories which appear to be much less certain about Protestant strengths.’[20] This was due to their minority status in the town and the general consensus amongst all inhabitants that a good sense of community outweighed religious differences. This is an example of how rural inhabitants may choose to redefine the symbolic boundaries of their communities in order to accommodate a plurality of interests. Conclusion As Tuan emphasises, human territoriality and the creation of community is very different to that of the animals which is ‘unburdened by symbolic thought.’[21] There is often ‘an emotional bond between man and nature, man and place.’[22] Cohen’s and Mewett’s studies of rural island communities have highlighted this fact. Community boundaries may be imposed by a variety of individuals or groups in accordance with how they perceive, or wish to perceive, their local society. Such symbolic representations are often crafted on the basis of class, gender or ethnicity but, as Cohen has shown, they can also be very subjective. Cohen also notes that the coming of improved transport linkages to rural communities and the mass market will offer new challenges to how people in the countryside identify themselves collectively. He is however confident that they will continue to define the symbols and boundaries which establishes one as ‘an integral piece of the fabric which constitutes the community.’[23] Bibliography COHEN, A. P. Belonging: Identity and social Organisation in British rural Cultures, Manchester University Press, 1982 COHEN, A. P. Symbolising Boundaries: Identity and Diversity in British Cultures, Manchester University Press, 1986 COHEN, A. P. Whalsay: Symbol, Segment and Boundary In a Shetland Island Community, Manchester University Press, 1987 CRANG, M. Cultural Geography, Routledge, 1998 GIDDENS, A. Sociology, 5th Edition, Polity Press, 2006 LEWIS, G. J. Rural Communities, David and Charles, 1979 LOWERTHAL, D. BOWDEN, M. J. Geographies of the Mind: Essays in Historical Geosophy, Oxford, 1976 MILBOURNE, P. Revealing Rural Others: Representation, Power and Identity in the British Countryside, Pinter, 1997 MITCHELL, D. Cultural Geography: A Critical Introduction, Blackwell, 2000 MUIR, R. The New Reading the Landscape: Fieldwork in Landscape History, University of Exeter Press, 2000 PENNING-ROWSELLE, E. C. LOWENTHAL, D. Landscape Meanings and Values, Allen and Unwin, 1986 SALTER, C. L. The Cultural Landscape, Dixbury Press, 1971 1 Footnotes [1] Cohen, A. P. Belonging: Identity and Social Organisation in British Rural Cultures, Manchester University Press, 1982, pg. 222 [2] Muir, R. The New Reading the Landscape: Fieldwork in Landscape History, University of Exeter Press, 2000, pg. 68 [3] Muir, R. The New Reading the Landscape: Fieldwork in Landscape History, University of Exeter Press, 2000, pg. 68 [4] Muir, R. The New Reading the Landscape: Fieldwork in Landscape History, University of Exeter Press, 2000, pg. 69 [5] Muir, R. The New Reading the Landscape: Fieldwork in Landscape History, University of Exeter Press, 2000, pg. 82 [6] Cohen, A. P. Whalsay: Symbol, Segment and Boundary in a Shetland Island Community, Manchester University Press, 1987, pg. 14 [7] Cohen, A. P. Whalsay: Symbol, Segment and Boundary in a Shetland Island Community, Manchester University Press, 1987, pg. 14 [8] Shuttles, G. D. The Social Construction of Communities, University of Chicago Press, 1972, pg. 260 [9] Shuttles, G. D. The Social Construction of Communities, University of Chicago Press, 1972, pg. 260 [10] Milbourne, P. Revealing Rural Others: Representation, Power and Identity in the British Countryside, Pinter, 1997, pg. 57 [11] Milbourne, P. Revealing Rural Others: Representation, Power and Identity in the British Countryside, Pinter, 1997, pg. 58 [12] Milbourne, P. Revealing Rural Others: Representation, Power and Identity in the British Countryside, Pinter, 1997, pg. 135 [13] Milbourne, P. Revealing Rural Others: Representation, Power and Identity in the British Countryside, Pinter, 1997, pg. 137 [14] Milbourne, P. Revealing Rural Others: Representation, Power and Identity in the British Countryside, Pinter, 1997, pg.139 [15]Cohen, A. P. Belonging: Identity and Social Organisation in British Rural Cultures, Manchester University Press, 1982, pg. 243 [16]Cohen, A. P. Whalsay: Symbol, Segment and Boundary In a Shetland Island Community, Manchester University Press, 1987, pg. 61 [17]Cohen, A. P. Whalsay: Symbol, Segment and Boundary In a Shetland Island Community, Manchester University Press, 1987, pg. 61 [18]Cohen, A. P. Whalsay: Symbol, Segment and Boundary In a Shetland Island Community, Manchester University Press, 1987, pg. 61 [19] Cohen, A. P. Symbolising Boundaries: Identity and Diversity in British Cultures, Manchester University Press, 1986, pg. 94 [20] Cohen, A. P. Symbolising Boundaries: Identity and Diversity in British Cultures, Manchester University Press, 1986, pg. 94 [21] Lowerthal, D. Bowden, M. J. Geographies of the Mind: Essays in Historical Geosophy, Oxford, 1986, pg. 13 [22] Lowerthal, D. Bowden, M. J. Geographies of the Mind: Essays in Historical Geosophy, Oxford, 1986, pg. 13 [23] Cohen, A. P. Belonging: Identity and Social Organisation in British Rural Cultures, Manchester University Press, 1982, pg. 21

Different Images Of The Wife Between Sixteenth Centuries And Today :: essays research papers

Different Images of the Wife Between Sixteenth Centuries and Today Today many wives always want to have same position with their husband. So that they always have conflict with each other. Why they always have conflict? Actually, it is effected by wife who changes the traditional role. As I remembered that wife and husband lived together very well in sixteenth century. They didn't have any conflict. Many wives would obey their husband when their husband order them to do everything. What different image of the wife between sixteenth centuries and today? We can divide three different images to explain in the Shakespeare's play " The Taming of the shrew" and two articles for ‘ Japanese women no longer resigned to traditional roles" and " Men, women more confused about roles". The first different image is that many wives liked to live with their husband together in sixteenth centuries. In "The Taming of the shrew", Katherine needed to live in the Petruchio's house. When she pointed out the mistake to her husband, her husband would call her who came back to their home. We can see that the respect of Katherine " Forward, I pray, since we have come so far, and be it moon, or sun, or what you please." 1 In fact, she needed her husband to support her life. If Petruchio didn't support her life, then she couldn't live only herself. Oppositely, many wives have their new style of life today. They don't need their husband to support their life. They can take care themselves. In article "Men, women more confused about roles" , Lillian is an example, " When her marriage ended, she returned to work but would prefer to return full time to mothering." 2 , who doesn't need her husband to support her life. The second different image is that many husbands married their wife just for love in the sixteenth centuries. In " The Taming of the shrew" Lucentio loved Bianca very much, so that he disguised as a teacher who taught her Latin everyday. He wanted to express his love to Bianca. However, many husbands marry their wife not only for love today. Actually, they marry their wife who have another purpose. Miss Enomoto explains her feeling in the article " Japanese women no longer resigned to traditional roles". She recognizes that " They think that just because I can cook, I can make a very good wife or a very good mother. But a mother is someone who raises children, not a cook. A wife is a partner, not a cook.

Dorm Life Essay -- College Housing Relationships Essays

Dorm Life Each year students entering college face one of the biggest transitions they will ever have to encounter in there life, moving into a dorm room. Most students are use to living in a house with there family and most likely having there own bedroom and own bathroom. Now as they begin college, the students move in with complete strangers, and share a bedroom and maybe a bathroom with one to three other people. Adapting to this new environment might take a lot of time and patients for this college student to adjust and feel comfortable. Finally after adapting to this new life the college students begin to enjoy this new environment. In this paper I am going to talk about and explain some of the steps of this transition to dorm life and give some of my experiences. Just think about growing up and having your own bedroom that was twelve feet by eighteen feet, then all of a sudden you go off to college and you are sharing this same size bedroom with three other girls. Most people would feel very crammed and uneasy at first. This is exactly what happened to me. Even though I knew two out of three of my roommates it still felt uncanny. In our bedroom we had four beds that could not be bunked, a TV stand and TV, and we also had four night stands by each of our beds. Built in one wall of the bedroom were a mirror, sink, and some drawers. This dorm room also had a living room (which was the same size as the bedroom), where we each had our own little desk area for our computers and what not. The fourth roommate decided to bring her own desk even though she had another desk to use. This desk took up a lot of space that we did not have. We also had a futon, papazon chair, trunk, refrigerator, microwave, and storag... ... life is all the memories you get to make. The late night conversations with your roommates about life and your future goals are the best. Cheering up your roommate by doing something funny to make them laugh after a bad day of classes. Its always great to be cheered up by someone who has got to know you in a short period of time but has also got to see almost all side of you. Movie marathons on those rainy days with the roommates to pass the time always keep me out of the state of boredom. These are just a few things that students store in there dorm life memory box. College is not all about the studying, and classes, it is the life outside of classes, the dorm life. Dorm life is not all that bad once the college student gets use to the small room and having to share it with one to two other peers. Most likely the good times out weigh the bad by a lot.

Nationalism :: European Europe History

Nationalism One person or a group of people can take on a major role of the unification process that brings upon nationalism for their country. To get a better understanding of what nationalism is, one must learn the meaning of "nationalism." Nationalism is the devotion to the interests or culture of a particular nation. Nationalism is a striving force that can help a country thrive. There are also different ways that a country can achieve nationalism. Two different people/organizations with two different tactics were able to achieve a feel of nationalism among their country. The first group that will be discussed is the IRA, or the Irish Republican Army. Mohandas Gandhi started the second movement of nationalism, with his belief of "passive resistance." These two thoughts were opposite in how nationalism was attempted to be achieved. The Irish Republican Army (IRA), was started on Easter in 1916, when a group of Irish militants refused to wait any longer for their independence from Britain. The small group launched a revolt against British rule. Although the Easter Rising was quickly suppressed, the execution of 15 rebel leaders stirred wider support for their cause. When Britain again failed to grant home rule in 1919, civil war erupted in Ireland. Members of the IRA carried on a guerrilla war against British forces and their supporters. Civilians were often caught in the crossfire. The constant battle for Irish independence continues today with its gory display of violence. The IRA's goal was and still is today to achieve Irish nationalism by the abolition of the British political influence in Ireland, especially Northern Ireland. Mohandas Gandhi came from a middle-class Hindu family. At the age of 19 he was sent to England to study law. After returning to India, he tried to set up his own law practice but soon joined an Indian law firm in South Africa. For 20 years, Gandhi fought laws that discriminated against Indians in South Africa. In his struggle against injustice, he adopted the weapon of nonviolent (passive) resistance. He called it satyagraha, or "soul-force." In 1914, Gandhi returned to India and joined the Congress Party. His ideas inspired Indians of all religious and ethnic backgrounds and he encouraged them to resist British rule. Above all, Gandhi preached the ancient tradition of ahimsa, nonviolence and reverence for all life. He applied this idea to fight the British rule. By using the power of love, he believed, people could convert even the worst wrongdoer to the right course of action.

Discrimination of black people and white people Essay

This story, Black Boy is a great book that describes how the author, Richard Wright, suffered in the South of the United States during the time when there was still a lot of discrimination throughout the country. Since the author explained many of his horrible experiences in the past, this book cannot be written in a thin book. This thick book is full of his great experiences that wanted to be read by many people in the world in order to let everybody know the disasters of racism. This racism affected Richard Write a lot and he had to adapt to the environment that he was in, although he didn’t know how he should act in front of white people in the beginning of the story. There are not many examples in the beginning of the story since Richard was a little boy, and he still didn’t know about racism. He did know that something was different between black and whites, but he wasn’t able to understand it since he was too young. He even talks to himself in Pg. 49 that â€Å"I had heard that colored people were killed and beaten, but so far it all had seemed remote. There was, of course, a vague uneasiness about it all, but I would be able to handle that when I came to it. It would be simple. If anybody tried to kill me, then I would kill them first. † After this, he realized the harshness of racism around his society when Uncle Hoskins got shot by a white man when he was at the saloon. And the reason is just because a black man was earning a lot of money and the white man became jealous. Also after this scene, there is an another example in Pg. 172 where he met his classmate, Ned Greenley who had lost his brother since the whites shot him for a specific reason. Ned said, â€Å"Th-they said he was fooling with a white prostitute there in the hotel. † Richard was shocked since he could be in those kinds of situations at any time. Richards starts to think of really going to North soon as possible now. In Chapter nine, there is a scene that is really harsh where Richard sees it, but could do nothing. This scene is at the clothing store for black people where Richard worked. The black employees were treated like slaves in the store; the white owners would push, kick, or slap the blacks. Although Richard saw this scene many times, he never got used to it. Another big thing is the time when Richard sees a black woman getting raped by two white men. This is a part from the book that describes how evil this time of period was. On Pg. 179, it says, â€Å"White people passed and looked on without expression. A white policeman watched from the corner, twirling his night stick; but he made no move. I watched out of the corner of my eyes, but I never slackened the strokes of my chamois upon the brass. After a moment or two I heard shrill screams coming from the rear room of the store; later the woman stumbled out, bleeding, crying, holding her stomach, her clothing torn. When she reached the sidewalk, the policeman met her, grabbed her, accused her of being drunk, called a patrol wagon and carted her away. † When I read this scene, it really hurt my heart. I couldn’t believe that the police didn’t do anything at all and although the policeman knew that the black woman was raped, he accused her of being drunken. Richard could have thought of saving the woman, but if he did something to the whites, he could be killed. Therefore, Richard wasn’t able to do anything. All he could do was to feel sorry for the lady. This doesn’t mean that Richard didn’t worry about the woman, it was the way how he had to act in the South. After Richard realizes the social cycle between the whites and the blacks at his work place, he sacrifices his morals to save more money. He begins to bootleg liquor to sell to white prostitutes in the hotel that he worked at. After that, he involves in a ring for scamming tickets. Then, he quickly amasses enough money to move out to the North. Although Richard was working earnest, he quits it because it was very hard to collect money if he had worked earnestly. Since Richard Write had an experience that he does not want to experience anymore, he was able to write this book, which would tell all the readers that discrimination or racism is not a good thing to do. He explained how he had to act as a black man; if he didn’t act like a black man, he might have not gotten the chance of writing this book. Richard Write had explained how blacks should act as a black, and although many horrible things were occurring around him, he wasn’t able to change it since he was just a black man. I feel that Richard really wanted to resist against the white men but if he did, he knew that he was going to be dead. Although in the beginning of the story, he said that, â€Å"If anybody tried to kill me, then I would kill them first†, as a result he wasn’t able to disobey the whites because he was scared of death. Since he was able to adapt to the society that he was in, he was able to earn money and was able to go to the North to have a better life.

India After 20 Years

Draft January, 2007 INDIAs GROWTH other(prenominal) AND FUTURE by Shankar Acharya* * Honorary prof and Member carte du jour of G e actuallywherenors, Indian Council for question on International frugal contending (ICRIER) Paper for presentation at the 8th one-year orbicular Development meeting of the Global Development Ne devilrk, January 14-16, Beijing. 0 Indias harvest-time Past and Future By Shankar Acharya1 This paper is divided into tail fin theatrical roles. voice I briefly recapitulations Indias process surgery since 1950 and indicates a a few(prenominal) conspicuous features and turning requests.Section II discusses just ab out(p) of the major(ip) device drivers of Indias current out fruit pulse (which has ordinaryd 8 imageage in the make it 3 long time) and raised widespread antepasts (at to the lowest degree, in India) that 8 portion plus result has be ascend the late(a) norm for the Indian thrift. Section III heads to around of the r isks and vulnerabilities that could buy the utmostm the current dynamism if corrective satisfy is non taken. Section IV appraises the hoidenishs signifi mintt suit term egress prospects. The final section assesses more than or less implications of Indias trick out for the gentleman miserliness. I palingenesis of ontogeny Performance, (1950-2006) tabular array 1 summarizes Indias appendage experience since the centre of the twentieth century. For the for the first time thirty old age, sparing harvest-feast averaged a modest 3. 6 portion, with per capita exploitation of a meager 1. 4 packageage per year. Those were the heydays of allege-led, all the similart-substituting industrialization, speci every(prenominal)y after the 1957 orthogonal reciprocation crisis and the heavily industrialization bias of the Second phoebe bird Year object (1956-61). While the outline achieved more or less success in rhytidectomy the level of resource mobilizati on and enthronization in the economy, it turned out to be hugely costly in ground of stinting efficiency.The inefficiencies stemmed non honest from the adoption of a statist, inward1 The author is Member, age of G everyplacenors and Honorary Professor at Indian Council for Research on International frugalalal Relations (ICRIER). He was Chief Economic Adviser to regime of India (1993-2000). This paper draws liberally on his new-made paper, Indias crop Past Performance and Future Prospects, presented at the Tokyo Club Macro parsimoniousness Conference on India and china hike, December 6-7, 2006, Tokyo. 1 ooking indemnity military capability (at a time when put uping clientele was expanding rapidly) but besides from the extremely expound, impaired and corruption-breeding controls that were imposed on fabrication and tidy sum (see, for example, the trendic study by Bhagwati and Desai (1970)). flurry 1 Growth of take in domestic help product and major cel estial spheres (% per year) Year 1951/521980/81 (1) 1981/821990/91 (2) 1992/931996/97 (3) 1997/982001/02 (4) 2002/032005/06 (5) 1992/932005/06 (6) 1981/822005/06 (7) Agriculture and Allied exertion 2. 5 3. 5 4. 7 2. 0 1. 9 3. 0 3. 0 5. 3 7. 1 7. 6 4. 4 8. 0 6. 6 6. 5 Services 4. 5 6. 7 7. 6 8. 2 8. 9 . 2 7. 4 thoroughgoing(a) domestic product 3. 6 5. 6 6. 7 5. 5 7. 0 6. 4 5. 9 gross domestic product per capita 1. 4 3. 4 4. 6 3. 6 5. 3 4. 4 3. 8 reference augur CSO . Note Industry implys Construction. At the same time, one should not forget that the gross domestic product branch jell of 3. 6 per centumage was four measure great than the 0. 9 part fruit estimated for the previous half(a) century of British colonial rule ( delay 2). a good deal over the harvest was reasonably carry on, with no extended halts of scorn. Nor were in that location inflationary bouts of the kind which racked m whatsoever countries in Latin America. However, process was far infra inviolableial and much less than he 7-8 portion lay outs being achieved in rough countries of East Asia and Latin America. scourge of all, the proportion of the Indian commonwealth on a lower floor a (minimalist) poverty line truly change magnitude from 45 to 51 per centum ( tabularize 3). conf intent 2 Economic Growth Pre -independence (% per year) Year 1900-46 1900-29 1930-46 GDP 0. 9 0. 9 0. 8 Population 0. 8 0. 5 1. 3 Per Capita GDP 0. 1 0. 4 -0. 5 microbe Sivasubramonian (2000) 2 hold over 3 pct of mint beneath Poverty Line, 1951-52 to 1999-00 Official Estimates Year verdant Urban All India 1951-52 47. 4 35. 5 45. 3 1977-78 3. 1 45. 2 51. 3 1983 45. 7 40. 8 44. 5 1993-94 37. 3 32. 4 36. 0 1999-2000 26. 8 24. 1 26. 1 ascendent Planning Commission, Government of India G rowth accele pointd signifi plentytly in the eighties to 5. 6 portion, entailing a to a greater extent than than doubling of per capita harvesting to 3. 4 pct a year. This accele balancen was d ue to a modus operandi of factors, including the early efforts at industrial and parcel out s dropening and tax make better dur ing the mid-eighties, a step- up in habitual investiture, better agricultural carrying into action and an much than and much refinementist ( intimately profligate ) pecuniary constitution. mo elucidateary controls diminished and shortfalls mounted and spilled over to the external dissipatedament, requiring suppuration recourse to external borrowing on commercial terms. Against a background of a low export/GDP ratio, acclivity business and current broadsteadheet deficits and a deteriorating external debt profile, the 1990 Gulf War and end petroleum price spike atilt Indias proportionateness of turn outments into crisis in 1990/91. Although the policy crystalises of the 1980s were modest in parity to those undertaken in the ensuing decade, their productivity whang for the buck seems to agree been spicy (see Table 4) 2 .Perhaps this 2 Several incompatible factor productivity studies support this conclusion, including Acharya-Ahluwalia Krishna-Patnaik (2003), Bosworth and collins (2003) and Virmani (2004). 3 w as a case of modest improvements in a gamely distorted policy environs yielding significant gains. Table 4 Growth of GDP, Total fixings excitant and Total Factor productivity (% per year) 1950/511966/67 3. 8 GDP 1967/68 1981/82 1980/81 1990/91 3. 4 5. 3 1991/92 1999/2000 6. 5 Total Factor Input (TFI) 2. 4 2. 7 3. 3 3. 9 Total Factor Productivity (TFP) . 4 0. 7 2. 0 2. 6 Proportion of Growth Explained by TFP (%) 37. 6 20. 8 37. 7 39. 7 Source Acharya, Ahluwalia, Krishna and Patnaik (2003). Note For sepa accountly sub-period, GDP, TFI and TFP argon class harvesting rank. The unsanded Congress disposal of June 1991, with Manmohan Singh as finance minister, undertook emergency measures to redo external and domestic confidence in the economy and its management. 3 The rupee was devalued, th e mo last(a)ary deficit was cut and special balance of payments financing mobilized from the IMF and the adult male trust.Even more importantly, the organisation seized the opportunity offered by the crisis to launch an array of long overdue and wide-ranging stinting neatens. They encompassed external vault of heaven liberalization, deregulation of industry, reforms of tax income and the monetary field and a more commercial approach to the military man race arna (see Table 5 for a sum-up of severalise reforms in 1991-93). 4 3 in that respect has been a great deal written on Indias scotchal reforms and the consequent performance of the economy, including Acharya (2002a and 2004), Ahluwa lia (2002), Kelkar (2004), Kochhar et. l (2006), Panagariya ( 2004a and 2006) and Virmani (2004). thither is a tendency to view the post-1991 stinting performance as a iodin unified experience. I prefer the more nuanced and disaggregated view depict here. 4 As I brace pointed out elsewhere (Acharya, 2006a), these reforms be better characterized as median(a) bang than gradualist (as by Ahluwalia, 2002). 4 Table 5 master(prenominal) Economic Reforms of 1991-93 Fiscal Reduction of the fiscal deficit. Launching of reform of major tax reforms. External Sector Devaluation and transition to a Market-determined sub Rate. Phased step- pig of import licensing (qua ntitative restrictions). Phased reduction of jacket bespoke duties. Policies to encourage designate and portfolio distant coronation. monitor and controls over external borrowing, curiously before long term. Build-up of foreign give-and-take reserves. Amendment of FERA to avoid restrictions on firms. Industry Virtual abolition of industrial licensing. Abolition of separate permission mandatory by MRTP houses. Sharp reduction of industries mute for the in the common eye(predicate) empyrean. Freer access to foreign technology.Agriculture more remunerative procurement prices for ce tangibles. Reduction in protection to the manufacturing sector. Financial Sector Phasing in of Basle prudential norms. Reduction of reserve requirements for banks (CRR and SLR). slow freeing up of interest rates. legislative em conditionment of SEBI. Establishment of the National telephone circuit Exchange. Abolition of judicature control over bully issues. Public Sector Disinvestment program begun. Greater autonomy / accountability for public enterp onward motions. 5The economy responded swiftly and positively to these reforms. later on virtual stagnation in 1991/92, GDP harvest-home good deald in the attached atomic number 23some age to clock a temper 5-year average of 6. 7 percent. It is noteworthy that in this high profit Eighth Plan period all major sectors ( culture, industry, function) grew observably faster than in the pre-crisis decade. The acceleration in the growth of agricultural value added is in particular elicit in the light of oft-repe ated reproval that the stinting reforms of the early nineties omit the agricultural sector.The factors which explain this remarkable and broad-based growth surge in the period 1992-97 advance to allow Productivity gains resulting from the deregulation of peck, industry and finance, especially in the sectors of industry and some expediencys The surge in export growth at about 20 percent per year (in dollar terms) for ternion successive geezerhood beginning 1993-94, due to the substantial devaluation in real number powerful terms in the early nineties and a freer policy regime for industry, foreign trade and paymentsThe investment pan gravy of 1993-96 which exerted expansionary do on two submit and demand, especially in industry. The investment boom itself was standardisedly driven by a crew of factors including the unleashing of animal spirits by stinting reforms, the swift loosening of the foreign change bottleneck, confidence in broadly concordant poli tical policy signals and easier availability of investible silver (both by borrowing and new fairness issues)The partial success in fiscal consolidation, which kept a check on government borrowings and facilitated expansion of aggregate nest egg and investments Improvement in the terms of trade for agriculture resulting from a combination of high(prenominal) procurement prices for important crops and reduction in trade protection for manufactures Availability of efficiency in key root sectors, notably power A buoyant world economy which supported expansion of foreign trade and occult peachy influxs.The nerve impulse of growth slowed noticeably in the 9th Plan period, 1997-2002, to an average of 5. 5 percent, comp atomic number 18d to the 6. 7 percent achieved in the previous basketball team years. Among the factors which contributed to this deceleration were the significant worsenedning of the fiscal deficits (mainly due to large public pay increases following the one-fi fth Pay Commission) and the associated decline in public savings, the slackening of sparing reforms after 1995 as coalition brass instrument became the norm, a significant slow rase in 6 gricultural growth for a renewing of reasons, a marked downswing in the industrial cycle and an more and more unsupportive supranational economic environment (including the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, uphill energy prices and the world-wide recession of 2001). Indeed, Indias economic growth in 1997-2002 might contain been horizontal weaker but for the un pass judgment and somewhat cryptical authorisation of services sector growth, which clocked an average of 8. 2 percent, despite industrial growth of only 4. 4 percent. The services sector accounted for al intimately 70 percent of all growth in this period. Economic reforms picked up pace in 2000-04, fiscal deficits trended down after 2002 and the world economy rebounded potently in 2002-06. These factors supported a broadbased ups wing in Indian industrial output and investment from the second half of 2002. Growth of industrial valued added surged to 8 percent in 2002-06. With go along strong growth of services (at tight 9 percent), GDP growth climbed to average 7 percent, despite continue sluggishness of agriculture.In the three years, 2003-06 overall economic growth has averaged over 8 percent and the outlook for 2006/7 is equally bright. This in style(p) economic surge has raised the interesting issue of whether Indias trend growth rate has accelerated to 8 percent (or higher(prenominal)(prenominal)) from its previous level of around 6 percent. The ensuing sections of this paper explore this question. II. Main drivers of mod Economic Growth What ar some of the main ingredients of the recent surge in economic growth? I would suggest the following seven major elements ) The momentum of a can of a century of strong economic growth 2) A much more pass economy (to external trade and investment) 3) A gro wing centre class fuelling domestic consumption 4) The demographic dividends of a teen population 5 Acharya (2002a and 2003) noted this preposterous phenomenon and raised questions about both the prime(a) of the entropy and the durability of much(prenominal) sharply divergent growth rates of industry and services. More recently, similar doubtfulnesss have been express by Bosworth-Collins -Virmani (2006). 7 5) grueling companies in a modernized capital trade 6) Some recent economic reforms. ) A supportive international economic environment. allow me elaborate briefly on each of these factors. The Momentum of Growth The function thirty years experience suggests that very few development countries have sustained enough per capita growth for two decades or more (Acharya, 2006b). Specifically, out of 117 developing countries with population over half a meg, only 12 countries achieved per capita growth of more than 3 percent per year in 1980-2002, with at least(prenomina l) 2 percent growth in each decade of the eighties and nineties. These cardinal countries were chinaware (8. 2), Vietnam (4. 6), South Korea (6. 1), long pepper (3. ), Mauritius (4. 4), Malaysia (3. 4), India (3. 6), Thailand (4. 6), Bhutan (4. 3), Sri Lanka (3. 1), Botswana (4. 7) and Indonesia (3. 5). (The number falls to 9 if we specify a minimum population of 3 cardinal). nightspot of these 12 countries are in Asia and, fortunately, they involve the three most populous china, India and Indonesia. (See Table 6). If we take the full 25 years (1981-2006), Indias per capita growth has averaged 3. 8 percent or just about 4 percent per year. 8 Table 6 acceptable Growth Performers of Recent Decades Average Annual Per Capita Growth (%) Country 1980-2002 mid-nineties 1980s Population in 2000 (Millions) 1. mainland chinaware . 2 8. 6 7. 7 1262 2. Vietnam 4. 6 5. 7 1. 9 78 3. South Korea 6. 1 5. 0 7. 4 47 4. Chile 3. 3 4. 3 2. 1 15 5. Mauritius 4. 4 4. 1 4. 9 1 6. Malaysia 3. 4 3 . 7 3. 1 23 7. India 3. 6 3. 6 3. 6 1016 8. Thailand 4. 6 3. 4 6. 0 61 9. Bhutan 4. 3 3. 4 5. 4 1 10. Sri Lanka 3. 1 3. 1 3. 1 18 11. Botswana 4. 7 2. 7 7. 2 2 12. Indonesia 3. 5 2. 6 4. 4 206 Source ball coast (2005) Sustained improvements in standards of liveness of this order embody their own growthreinforcing elements. masses come to venture more positively about the future and base their savings, investment and production decisions on an conveyation of continued growth.Electorates in Indias democracy come to expect development and hold government performance to higher standards, despite disappointments. Companies think big when they invest. And so on. A More Open Economy The Indian economy in 2006 is far more disseminate to external trade, investment and technology than it was 15 years ago. 6 Table 7 presents some key comparative 6 The story of Indias external liberalization whitethorn be found in several places, including Acharya (2002b) and Panagariya ( 2004b). 9 indi cators. Peak import duties on manufactures have come down from over 200% to 12. 5%, a remarkable reduction by any standards.The regime of tight, detailed and discretionary import controls has been almost completely dismantled. The exchange rate was devalued and made market-responsive (1991-3). The policies towards foreign portfolio and direct investment have been greatly liberalized. As a result, the ratio of traded goods to GDP has more than doubled from less than 15 percent to nearly 33 percent. Because of the sustained boom in software exports and worker remittances, the ratio of current receipts (goods exports plus gross invisibles) has more than tripled from 8 percent to over 24 percent of GDP.Foreign investment has up pilfer from negligible levels to US $ 20 one yard thousand in 2005/6. Table 7 Towards A More Open Economy 1990/91 2005/06 200% plus 12. 5% Tight, detailed Almost gone Trade (goods) / GDP Ratio (%) 14. 6 32. 7 rate of flow Receipts / GDP (%) 8. 0 24. 5 Softwar e Exports ($ one million million) Nil 23. 6 worker Remittances ($ billion) 2. 1 24. 6 Foreign enthronization ($ billion) Negligible 20. 2 2. 2 145. 1 35. 3 10. 2 Peak substance Duties (manufacturers) I mport Controls Foreign Currency reserves ($ billion, March 31) Debt Service Ratio (%) Source RBI, Annual Report, 2005 /06, except for first two rows.After initial periods of some measure painful alteration in the 1990s, Indian industry has thrived in the more open and competitive environment. The magnification in software ITenabled service exports is well-known, having come up from nil in 1991 to $ 24 billion in 2005/6. Anecdotal evidence suggests that low units have benefited greatly from 10 the much freer access to traded raw materials, components and designs. Perhaps most important, the old mindset of foreign exchange scarcity (and the welter of bad economic policies it spawned) has been transactionively banished.Interestingly, the opening up has in any case susceptibili tyenceed the prudential yardsticks of foreign exchange reserves and debt service ratios. Rise of strong companies in a modernized capital market The 1990s ushered in far-reaching reforms in Indias capital markets. The Securities and Exchange Board of India was statutorily empowered in 1992 and readily moved to improve standards of disclosure and transparency. The new electronic-tradebased National tenor Exchange was open in 1993 and set high practiced and governance standards, which soon had to be emulated by the much older (and, some propagation scam-hit) Bombay straining Exchange.Depositories legislation was enacted and soon paperless trading became the norm. Brokers were support to corporatize. Futures markets were nurtured. These and other reforms transformed Indian capital markets into one of the best in the developing world. The combination of a modernizing capital market, an more and more liberal and competitive environment for investment, trade and production, a wealt h of entrepreneurial gift and sustained economic growth has helped the rise of strong new companies and supported the expansion of the more agile and aggressive among the completed firms.By way of example, Airtel, the take snobbish telecom, went from nobody to a multi-billion dollar company in a decade. The same was true for the leading domestic airline, Jet and the IT icons like Infosys, Wipro, TCSand HCL. nonagenarian pharma companies, like Ranbaxy, transformed themselves. invigorated media companies like Zee and NDTV bloomed. Established corporates houses restructured and flourished ( such as some Tata companies, Reliance, Bajaj, Mahindra and Hero Honda) or maxim their market get bys decline.In recent years sooner a few Indian companies have grow through overseas investments and acquisitions, facilitated by direct investments abroad averaging $1. 5 to $ 2 billion in the past phoebe bird years. The recent bid for Corus by Tata nerve is a well-publicized example. 11 Ag gregate financial data withal point to the energy and expansion of Indias corporate sector in recent years. The market capitalization of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange travel nearly 14-fold from $ 50 billion in 1990/91 to $ 680 billion in 2005/6 (Table 8).In the remnant five years, the growth of meshwork has outpaced the growth of sales of private corporates, indicating rising profit margins. With falling interest rates and growing recourse to internal funding, the share of interest outgo in gross profits dropped sharply from above 50 percent in the late 1990s to 15 percent in 2005/6 (Reserve Bank, 2006, Box 1. 7). Unsurprisingly, data for the top cubic yard listed companies showed net profits as percent of net sales rising from 4. 5 % in 2001/2 to 8. 9 % in 2004/5 ( business sector Standard, 2006). Table 8 procession Middle Class 1990/91 Cars + UVs sell deuce Wheelers sold Telephone emailprotected (million) 15 million 100 million $50 billion $680 billion 205 thousand People in households with income (Rs. 2,00,000 10,00,000 OR PPP $20,000- $1,00,000 approximately)a Bombay Stock Exchange Market Capitalisation* 2005/06 1319 thousand 1800 thousand 7570 thousand 5 cxxv$ a Based on data from NCAER (2005) * RBI, Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy, 2005-06 stemma Beacon, CMIE and Monthly Review of the Indian Economy, CMIE, October 2006 Business Beacon CMIE and Economic Survey, 2005-06 $ December 2005 A Growing Middle Class In the mid-1990s, shortly after the major economic reforms of 1991-4, in that respect as premature exuberance about Indias rising put class and their acquisitive aspirations. Today there is a much firmer basis for accenting the importance of the growing middle class in transforming consumption, production and investment in the Indian economy. Table 8 provides a few indicators. Based on surveys by the NCAER, about 100 million wad now live in households with yearly incomes surrounded by Rs. 200,000 and Rs 1 12 million (approximately PPP$ 20,000 to 100,000), compared to about 15 million in 1990/91. With a lower delineate threshold, the size of the middle class would be greater.For example, if the middle class cut-off is defined as the non-poor by standards of developed economies, then Bhalla (2007) estimates that 34 percent of India s population was middle class in 2005 compared to about 10 percent in 1990. Purchases of iconic middle class consumption items have for certain soared in the last 15 years (Table 8). Annual sales of cars (including multi- utility vehicles) have risen more than six times to 1. 3 million in 2005/6. Two wheeler sales have increased mo re than four times to 7. 6 million in 2005/6. In 1990/91 India had just 5 million telephone connections (all fixed).By the end of 2005 the number was cxxv million (about two-thirds were mobile connections). Indeed, in October 2006 the new mobile connections were close to 7 million, more than the kernel of phone connections fi fteen years ago The Demographic Dividend It has go away old-hat to emphasize the growth potential of Indias young population and declining dependency ratio. tally to most population gibbousnesss the share of functional age population in broad(a) population leave alone continue to rise for the future(a) 30 years or so, long after the decline has set in other major countries like China, USA, atomic number 74ern Europe and Japan (Table 9).These demographics point to a large potential for higher growth through augmented supply of labour and savings. Indeed, these trends have already been at work over the 15 years or so, helping to raise Indias household savings from around 15-16 percent of GDP in the late 1980s to 22-24 percent in recent years. 7 7 This could be an important part of the explanation to the puzzle How does India sustain high growth despite aggregate fiscal deficits above 7 percent of GDP over the last twenty years? 13 Table 9 appropriate of Working Population (1 5-59 yrs) Country 1950 1975 2000 2025 2050 India 55. 5 54. 0 58. 9 64. 3 59. 7 China 59. 53. 6 65. 0 62. 1 53. 8 Japan 56. 9 64. 0 62. 1 52. 8 45. 2 US 60. 5 60. 0 62. 1 56. 6 54. 6 Western Europe 61. 7 58. 1 61. 3 54. 8 50. 4 Source http//www. un. org/esa/population/publications/worldageing19502050/countriesor flying fields. htm Some Recent Policies As noted above economic reforms slowed after 1995 and then revived to some extent in the period 2000-04. Also, real interest rates declined worldwide and in India too. In India this may have been helped by renewed efforts to reduce burgeoning fiscal deficits, including through enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility and cypher Management Act (2003) at the aboriginal level.The fiscal position of the States as well amend from the dire straits plumbed following the Fifth Pay Commission. The invokes too adopted fiscal responsibility laws following the recommendations (and conditional debt write-offs) of the ordinal Finance Commission ( Government of India, 2004). Furthermore, tax taxation enhancements at both levels of government were buoyed by renascent economic (especially industrial) growth after 2002/3. The net result was a decline in the gross fiscal deficit from almost 10 percent of GDP in 2001/2 to 7. percent in 2004/5 and an even larger decline in the revenue deficit from 7 to 3. 7 percent of GDP (Table 10). This was the single most important factor explaining the increase in aggregate savings from around 24 percent of GDP in 2001/2 to 29 percent in 2004/5, which, in turn, helped finance the current investment boom. 14 Table 10 famines, savings and investiture (as % of GDP) Year 1995-96 Gross Fiscal Deficit 2001-02 2004-05 6. 5 9. 9 7. 5 3. 2 7. 0 3. 7 25. 1 (-2. 0) 26. 9 23. 6 (-6. 0) 23. 0 29. 1 (-2. 7) 30. 1 (Centre and States) Revenue Deficit (Centre and States)Gross Domestic Savings (of which Government) Gross Domestic enthronization Source RBI, Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy, 2005 -06 and CSO website (http//mospi. nic. in/mospi_cso_rept_pubn. htm ) (http//mospi. nic. in/mospi_press_releases. htm ) International Economic surroundings Despite the war in Iraq and the high anele prices of recent years the world economy has magnanimous at almost 5 percent over the last four years, propelled by strong growth in US and China and some recovery in Japan and Europe. domain of a function trade in goods and services has expanded rapidly.This favorable environment has helped rapid growth of exports (of goods and services) from India, which, in turn, has been a significant driver of economic growth in this recent period. 8 III Risks to Future Strong Growth There are some well-known risks or coynesss to the sustenance of the 8 percent growth enjoyed by India since 2003. These include 1) re-create fiscal stress from democrat policies 8 Panagariya (2006) emphasizes this point. 15 2) Infrastructure bottlenecks 3) agitate market rigidities 4) Weak performance of agricu lture 5) mistreat of economic reforms ) Weaknesses in human resource development programmes 7) The international economic environment. Each of these merit brief elaboration. Populism and Renewed Fiscal Stress The recent get ahead in fiscal consolidation, noted above, is real but modest. The overall fiscal deficit form high at 7. 5 percent of GDP in 2005/6, as does the government debt to GDP ratio at 80 percent (compared to about 60 percent in 1995/6). While the fiscal responsibility laws enacted by key and state governments (22 out of 28 states have passed such laws so far) are promising, they are not immune to populist pressures.Especially since the advent of the UPA government in 2004, populist expenditure programmes, such as the National Rural piece of work Guarantee scheme, have gained new momentum. The sixth Pay Commission has been constituted and is expected to submit its report by mid-2008, with governmental action likely before the contiguous general election. The po ssibility of significant public pay increases is obviously high. On the revenue side, the state level VATs have contributed to revenue buoyancy. But the recent scheme for limited Economic Zones is fraught with unduly generous tax concessions.So the prospects for fiscal consolidation are mixed, at best. Infrastructure Bottlenecks Indias radix problems are legendary and also conjecture failures in public sector performance and governance. A recent appraisal (World Bank, 2006) points out that the average manufacturer loses 8. 4 percent in sales annua lly on account of power 16 outages, over 60 percent of Indian manufacturing firms own author sets (compared to 27 percent in China and 17 percent in Brazil) and Indias combined real cost of power is almost 40 percent higher than Chinas. The mensuration and quality of roads is also a serious bottleneck.While there has been some progress in recent years with national highway development, the state and rural road networks are sadly inade quate, especially in poorer states (Figure 1). Urban infrastructure (especially piddle and sewerage) is another major constraint for rapid industrial development and urbanisation (Figure 2). The palmy example of rapid telecom development is very promising. But conflicting telecom, the sectors of power, roads and urban infrastructure are burdened by long histories of a subsidy culture and dual (centre and states) thorough responsibilities.Unless the various infrastructure constraints are address swiftly and effectively, it is difficult to see how 8 percent (or higher) economic growth can be sustained. Fig 1Percentage of habitations not connected by roads, by Indian state Haryana Kerala Andhra Pradesh Punjab 0% 3% 4% 7% Karnataka 8% Tamil Nadu 8% Maharashtra Gujarat Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan 12% 23% 43% 51% Bihar 58% Orissa 58% Jharkhand Madhya Pradesh West Bengal 59% 62% 69% Chattisgarh 82% Source Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, as cited in World Bank (2006). 17 Fig 2 Percentage of the population with access to sewerage facilities, by Indian stateRajasthan 8 Orissa 9 Chattisgarh 10 Madhya Pradesh 10 Andhra Pradesh 15 West Bengal 17 Tamil Nadu 29 Karnataka 33 Uttar Pradesh 37 Uttaranchal 37 Maharashtra 49 Gujarat 63 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Source of import Public Health and environsal engine room Organization, 2000, as cited in World Bank (2006). Labour Market Rigidities According to ordained data, Indias non-agricultural employment in the private organized (units employing more than 10 workers) sector has stagnated below 9 million for over 20 years, although the labour force has grown to exceed 400 millionA major cause has been Indias conglomerate and rigid labour laws, which hugely discourage fresh employment while protect those with organized sector jobs. 9 Investment climate surveys by the World Bank indicate that India has some of the most regulatory labour laws in the world, which, in effect convert labour (in organized units) i nto a fixed factor of production (lay-offs are extremely difficult) and thereby discourage fresh employment in the organized sector while promoting more casualization and insecurity among the 9The skill and capital-intensive pattern of development of Indias modern industrial and services sectors (despite the endowment of rank unskilled labour) has been noted by many an(prenominal) analysts, including Kochhar et. al. (2006), Panagariya (2006) and World Bank (2006). All of them point to restrictive labour laws as a major culprit. 18 93 percent of workers in the unorganized sector. The laws are not just rigid but also numerous (a typical firm in Maharashtra has to deal with 28 disparate acts pertaining to labor, World Bank, 2006).Without significant reform of existing labour laws, Indias cheesy labour advantages remain hugely underutilized. tone to the future, the challenge will increase as the demographic dividend brings further large increases in the labour force. In fact, as I have pointed out elsewhere (Acharya, 2004), the economic and political challenge is far greater than normally appreciated because the bulk of the demographic bulge will occur (in the next few decades) in the poor, slow-growing and populous states of central and eastern India (notably, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh).Weak Agricultural Performance Since 1996/97 the growth of agriculture has dropped to barely 2 percent, compared to earlier trend rate ranging between 2. 5- 3. 0 percent. The reasons are many and include declining public investment by cash-strapped states, grossly inadequate maintenance of irrigation assets, f lling water tables, inadequate rural road networks, a unresponsive interrogation and extension services, dent damage from excessive urea use (encouraged by high subsidies), weak reference work delivery and a distorted motivator structure which impedes diversification away from intellectual nourishment grains.Tackling these problems and revital ising agriculture will take time, money, understanding and political will. It will also require much greater investments in (and maintenance of) rural infrastructure of irrigation, roads, farming conservation, etc. and reinvigoration of the present systems of agricultural research and extension. While the central government can play a significant habit in revamping systems, the main responsibility for strengthen rural infrastructure lies with the states. However, their financial and administrative capabilities have weakened over time. The share of agriculture in GDP has declined to scarcely 20 percent.But agriculture is still the chief occupation of nearly 60 percent of the labour force. Thus better performance of this sector is essential for poverty embossment and containment of rising regional and income inequalities. 19 Pace of Economic Reforms There is trivial doubt that economic reforms have slowed since the UPA government pretended office in May 2004 10 . The privatizat ion programme has been halted, although Government remains the dominating owner in banking, energy and deification and the rough-cut ills of public ownership chastise the performance of many enterprises in these key sectors.The legislative proposals of the previous government to reduce government ownership in public sector banks to 33 percent have lapsed and not been renewed. There has been some revival of interest rate controls and order credit. Follow-up action on the reform-minded new Electricity Act (2003) passed by the NDA government has been slow. The pricing of petroleum products has become more politically administered than before. Education policy has focused on introducing caste-based reservations in institutions of higher education. Introduction of such reservations in private sector employment are also being considered.Reform of labour laws remains stalled. There has been little forward progress in reform of agriculture policies. Indeed, the wonder is that the econ omys growth momentum has remained so strong despite the stalling of economic reforms. If the growth dividends of econo mic reforms occur with a lag, then the paucity of reforms in the period 2004-06 may take their toll in the years ahead. Weak Human Resource Policies The semipermanent performance of the Indian economy must(prenominal) surely depend on successful policies and programmes f r education, skill-development and health service o rovision. Yet the government- led programmes in these sectors suffer from very serious weaknesses and lack of reform impetus. For example, World Bank (2006) cites a number of surveys which show that less than half of government teachers and health workers are very to be found in grooms and clinics they are serving (the situation is typically worse in poorer states) . Even though school enrolment rates have climbed over time, the actual cognitive skill acquired in schools (even simple reading and arithmetic) is still very 10 For a recent review see Acharya (2006c). 0 low (Pratham, 2006). In health, a survey shows that medics in primary quill health clinics in Delhi had a greater than 50 percent chance of prescribing a harmful therapy for specified, common ailments (Das and Hammer, 2004a and 2004b). The competence of these medics was found to be less than comparably find out counterparts in Tanzania and substantially worse than counterparts in Indonesia. Even in higher education, an area of supposed competence, studies point to enormous problems of quality, quantity and relevance (see, for example, Aggarwal, 2006).Quite clearly, the current portfolio of policies and programmes in these circumstantial sectors need urgent improvement if India is to keep on her competitive edge in an increasingly ball-shapedized, knowledge-based, world economy. International Economic Environment The latter half of 2006 has witnessed a lucid slowing in the growth of the US economy, still the single most potent locomotive of global growth. The Doha polish up of multilateral trade liberalization remains mired in limbo. Oil prices, though off their peaks, remain high with little prospect of falling below $50 a barrel.The chances of some slackening in the growth of world output and trade are clearly rising. Just as the Indian economy has benefited from strong global expansion in the last four years, so it may expect to nominate some downside risks from slower world growth in the years ahead. IV average Term Growth Prospects Since 2003/4 there have been quite a few studies projecting sustained, high growth of the Indian economy in the long-run, including the Goldman Sachs BRICs report (Wilson-Purushothaman, 2003), Rodrik-Subramanian (2004) and Kelkar (2004).Their particularised projections and time-periods differ Goldman Sachs foresaw near 6 percent growth for 50 years Rodrik-Subramanian intercommunicate a minimum of 7 percent for the next 20 years and Kelkar was even more optimistic with his growth expectation of 10 percent. 11 More recently, with a three-year 8 percent average already achieved and the 11 See Acharya (2004) for a sarcastic assessment of these optimistic growth expectations. 21 current year likely to cash register a similar rate, the Governments Planning Commission (2006) has outlined GDP growth projections for 2007/8-2011/12 of 8 to 9 percent.Bhalla (2007, forthcoming) goes further and foresees 10 percent growth as almost inevitable. Most probably, the volume of serious economists in India would today expect economic growth in the medium term (say, 2007-12) to average at least 8 percent. Such optimism is not whole mis situated. It is based on the continuing strength of the positive factors outlined in section II above, especially globalization and catch-up, the demographic dividends, the rising middle class, a vivacious entrepreneurial culture, positive expectations of future economic reforms and a generally benign international economic environment.The optimists are no t sieve to the risks and threats outlined in section III. They but expect the growth-enhancing tendencies to prevail or, more subtly, for the moral forces of growth to generate solutions to constraints such as infrastructure and education. Figure 3 provides cost increase to the bullish outlook. 22 Figure 3 Indias GDP Growth 8 7 Percentage 6 5 4 3 2 1 2006-07 2003-04 2000-01 1997-98 1994-95 1991-92 1988-89 1985-86 1982-83 1979-80 1976-77 1973-74 1970-71 1967-68 1964-65 1961-62 1958-59 1955-56 0 Year Rolling Average (5 year)In my view, the downside factors outlined in section III, should carry more weight in assessing Indias medium term growth prospects. There is a good chance that the currently bullish view of growth expectations is overly influenced by the recent past (2003 onwards), a period of strong cyclical upswing in both the global economy and Indian industry. The strength of the cycle could abate in the next couple of years and Indias growth could revert to a trend rate in the range of 6 to 7 percent, perhaps closer to the higher figure.Even then, under this pessimistic scenario, annual per capita growth would be at a historical peak for India (Table 11). If this is pessimism, then I plead indictable to the charge (though it does place me among a delicate minority of Indian economists today) 23 Table 11 Medium Term Growth Expectations 1992/3 2005/6 2002/3 -2006/7 2007/8 2011 /12 Optimist Pessimist GDP % 6. 4 7. 2 * 8 10 6. 5 7. 0 GDP per capita (%) 4. 4 5. 5 6. 5 8. 5 5 5. 5 * Assuming Reserve Bank projection of 8. percent GDP growth for 2006/7 Perhaps the most noteworthy point is that medium- term growth expectations for India are so buoyant that the range between optimists and pessimists is placed so high, within a sanely narrow band of about 7 to 9 percent. Only time will tell who is closer to being right. V Some Implications of Indias Rise Indias growth at an average rate of almost 6 percent a year over the past quarter of a century (with per capita growth of nearly 4 percent a year) is both remarkable and commendable.Certainly, back in 1980, there was almost no respectable prentice or institution predicting such sustained development of this poverty-ridden, populous country. At the same time, the prevailing fashion of bracketing Indias rise with Chinas exceptionally dynamic development under rubrics like China and India Rising may mask more than it reveals. If Indias development in the last 25 years has been good, Chinas has been extraordinary. Furthermore, while India has been a gradual globalizer, Chinas surging development has been far more intensively based on global trade and capital flows.As a consequence, the global economic impact of Chinas rise has been much more dramatic in terms of the usual metrics of international economic dealing trade, capital flows and energy. A glance at Table 12 illustrates this obvious point. The equation of columns 5 and 6 of the table is especially instructive. It highlights both the 24 dramatic increase in Chinas fighting with the world economy over the five years 2000 to 2005, as well as the much milder rise in Ind ias international economic integration. For example, Chinas goods exports increased by an amount which was five times the level of Indias total goods exports in 2005.Similarly, the increase in oil consumption in China was almost equal to Indias total oil consumption in 2005. Table12 China and India Global Impact China India Increment (2000-05) 2000 (1) 2005 (2) 2000 (3) 2005 (4) China (5) India (6) 249. 1 762. 4 45. 5* 104. 7* 513. 3 59. 2 Share of World Exports (%)e 3. 9 7. 3 0. 7 0. 9 3. 4 0. 2 Service Exports ($ billion) a,b 30. 4 74. 4 16. 2* 60. 6* 44 44. 4 Current Account balance ($ billion) a,b 20. 5 160. 8 -2. 7* -10. 6* 140. 3 -7. 6 Foreign Exchange Reserves ($ billion) a 165. 6 818. 9 37. 2 131. 0 653. 3 93. 8FDI inflow ($ billion)c 30. 1 72. 4 1. 7 6. 6 42. 3 4. 9 FDI stock (Inward, $ billion) c 193. 3 317. 9 17. 5 45. 3 124. 6 27. 8 Oil economic consumption (million tonnes)d 223. 6 327. 3 106. 1 115. 7 103. 7 9. 6 Primary talent Consumption (million tonnes oil equivalent) d 966. 7 1554. 0 320. 4 387. 3 587. 3 66. 9 Merchandise Exports ($ billion) a,b Note * information for India refer to fiscal year 2000-01 and 2005-06 1990-2000 (Annual Average) Sources a International Financial Statistics, December 2006 (http//ifs. apdi. net/imf/) b RBI, Handbook of Statistics on the Indian