Analyzing advertisements the danger of smoking Essay

Analyzing advertisements the danger of smoking - Essay Example contribute unfavorable pregnancy outcome resulting to death and even poor health of the fetus (Ricci and Kyle, 744; Hanson, Venturelli and Fleckenstein, 307). The sad thing, both the mainstream and secondhand smoke from tobacco could have adverse impact on fetus (Hanson, Venturelli and Fleckenstein, 307). Considering that health warnings placed on tobacco package have continuously received acceptance from various countries, it seems there is observed substantial effectiveness on them, particularly on disseminating information about the health dangers associated with smoking. The goal in most of these ads is to continuously keep everyone knowledgeable about the peril of smoking, not just on the smokers’ health, but including non-smokers’ having no exemption for unborn babies. Ads like these must be degrading to tobacco products, but for as long as these offerings continue to contribute high amount of tax, the government can only regulate warnings such as â€Å"Government Warning: Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to your Health,† which in some countries have been revolutionized by placing actual pictorials of health warnings on tobacco package, just as presented in this

The Story of an Hour Essay Example for Free

The Story of an Hour Essay The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is an impressive literary piece which touches a readers feelings as well as mind. Although the story is really short, it is very rich and complete, and every word in it carries deep sense and a lot of meaning. The events take place in the 19 century in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard. Speaking about the plot and suspense of  « The Story of an Hour  » we may define such its elements as the exposition, the narrative hook, crisis , the main climax, and the denouement. The plot novel contains all these elements so we can speak of a closed plot structure. In the beginning we find out that Mrs. Mallard is afflicted with heart trouble, and news about her husbands death is brought to her as gently as possible, the second sentence introduce characters to the readers † It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husbands friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallards name leading the list of killed. These sentences are the exposition of the story. When Mrs. Mallard finds out about the death of her husband starts the complication in The Story â€Å"She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sisters arms. † The narrative hook marks the beginning of the collision mentioning some queer changes in Mrs. Mallard’s feelings: â€Å"There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air†. The rising action which adds complication to the story can be found in the part of the novel when â€Å"she was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free! The main climax is expressed by breaking the narrative in a fragmentary sentence â€Å" Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered†¦ . † In the falling action we find out that â€Å"He had been far from the scene of accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephines piercing cry; at Richards quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife. † The denouement indicates the moment when the doctors state Mrs. Mallard’s death – â€Å"When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills. † As for the conflict, it may be pointed out that it is mental or inner between freedom and grief The character of the story are Mrs. Mallard a young woman, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength, Richard her husband friend and Josephine . Mrs. Mallard is the protagonist, her character is dynamic and round as she is the one who goes through a change in one moment. In the beginning, Louise is emotional about the death of her husband, Brently. However, Louise is emotional until she reflects on the death of her husband. Louise departs to her room and reflects on the situation. She sets her feelings aside and analyzes the circumstances. â€Å"She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . She realizes that she does not have to share her life, anymore. Louise is sad about Brently’s death but imagines her life without her husband â€Å"Free!  Body and soul free! †. Louise realizes she does not have to wait on her husband for anything. She can think for herself and say what is on her mind. The narrator describes her emotions in vibrant and powerful words. When Louise’s emotions are described regarding something she is thrilled about, the language becomes lively and rich with color and vibrant images. This stands in sharp contrast to the sections in which she seems indifferent or emotionally unattached. For instance â€Å"And yet she loved him—sometimes. Often she did not† which demonstrates emotional passivity, but as the short paragraph continues and her true emotions come to the forefront, the language comes alive along with her character. â€Å"What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! † It is important to notice not only the language comes to life with the use of words like â€Å"mystery,† â€Å"possession,† and â€Å"impulse† but the very phrasing changing. The initial thoughts in which she was indifferent are short tidy sentences, but as soon as she begins to feel an emotion, the sentences expand and the whole of one massive thought about â€Å"her being† becomes one very long sentence to stand in contrast to the previous one. When her emotions become overwhelming, so do the sentences and language. â€Å"There would be no one to live for in those coming years; she would live for herself† begins the paragraph. There are no lively words, just a matter of fact, unemotional statement without the slightest hint of sadness. In fact, almost as though she suddenly realizes again that she doesn’t need to be sad—that marriage is an unhappy institution for her, she comes to life again through language and sentence structure as seen in a meaningful passage such as, â€Å"There will be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature. † Phrases such as â€Å"powerful will† and â€Å"blind persistence† are much more descriptive and full of energy than any she uses to describe the fact that she had no one to live for. Her emotions goes from calm and passive to wild. Through contrasting language and sentence structures to reveal the emotions of Louise, the reader is able to enter her wild mind just as easily if her every thought was described in an itemized list. The reader is forced focus on her inner-life, which depicts a sad portrait of marriage, indeed. The author doesn’t tell a lot about Richards. Just only that he was a friend of Mr. Mallard. Josephine is a typical sister. She’s extremely worried when it comes to exposing Louise’s fragile heart to pressure and sudden shocks and surprises, which generally shows that she loves her sister wholeheartedly, and doesn’t want something bad to happen to her. But she doesn’t understand that her sister was unhappy in marriage. Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. Louise, open the door! I beg- open the door-you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heavens sake open the door. The story is written from the omniscient point of view. Therefore we know all thoughts and experiences of the main character. We can hear the authors voice through the inner monologue. â€Å"There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air†, â€Å"She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial†, â€Å"No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window. Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. The tone of the story shifts from emotional gloomy to ironically and melancholy tone The story comes off as subtly cruel in that Louises reaction to the death of her husband. She comprehends the news only later, and author shows us little by little how she comes to realize it and what helps her to understand it. She goes to her room, and there stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank (788). Reading these words, the readers suddenly realize that something turns the story to a more positive, reassuring way. What makes us, readers, to think so? Here we see two things, which make us to feel that way a comfortable, roomy armchair as a symbol of security and comfort in spite of her husbands death, and the open window, which here symbolizes connection to the world, to life. The next, fifth paragraph, emphasizes these ideas even more and carries more details and fresh elements of the new, positive turn of the story. Through the open window she can see the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves (788). All these parts of this paragraph show us that Mrs. Mallard gets in touch with life, starts to hear sounds and to smell scents which she didnt feel before. Why? What happened? Does she really start to notice it all only after her husbands death? Yes, and the author gives us even more details, emphasizing it, not yet giving the answer why she starts to feel this way. However, a care ful reader understands the deep sense of the words about patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds . These words didnt appear in the story with no reason. All these details make us to feel the growth of Mrs. Mallards excitement and make us to understand the sign of the meaning of the blue sky a symbol of freedom and future life. In paragraph eight, Mrs. Mallard, young, with a fair, calm face, is sitting in the armchair with a dull stare in her eyes, which indicated a suspension of intelligent thought. (789). Reading these lines, the readers understand that something is going on in Mrs. Mallards head; something is changing everything in her mind. What is it? Mrs. Mallard still doesnt realize it, but she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air (789). We understand, that her soul starts to fill with happiness of freedom; freedom, which is in everything in sounds and beautiful trees around, in blue sky and in songs of the birds. However, for one moment she gets afraid to allow herself to be happy about her freedom she was striving to beat it back with her will (789). This shows us that Mrs. Mallard is a product of her time and has to be dependent on society rules. She realizes that society would determine her thoughts of freedom inappropriate, but she cant stop herself to feel that way. A calm soul is necessary for a human being and is more important than society standards. Feeling happy she just proves this thought. However, she knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death (789) but its just a reaction, which society expects her to have. What can compare to a long procession of years that would belong to her absolutely (789)! Here the author finally opens a reason why Mrs. Mallard feels this way about her husbands death. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature (789). These words show the picture of Mrs. Mallards family life. She was unhappy with her husband; she couldnt have her own opinion and couldnt show her own will, thats why she is happy to be free! Back then society didn t accept a divorced woman, but it accepted widows, and we realize that being a widow it is the only way for Mrs. Mallard to get free. Free! Body and soul free! (789). We read these words and share with Mrs. Mallard her feelings, her excitement and hopes. At this point Mrs. Mallards sister Josephine is looking ridiculous, with her words Louise, open the door! you will make yourself ill. (789) Because practically, Mrs. Mallard, who is a woman, who had numerous years under her husbands will, finally gets an absolutely freedom, a miraculous freedom, which she even didnt hope to get the day before. However, her sister is far from understanding it. Expecting spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own (790), Mrs. Mallard goes out of the room as a goddess of Victory. 790) From the first look, this point of the story seems as the highest culminating moment of the whole story, and here is the irony. The author prepared the main strong culmination right in the end, in three final paragraphs. Mrs. Mallards husband opens the front door with a latchkey (790). He enters composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella (790). He is carrying it composedly, because he doesnt even know about the accident and that his name is on the list of those who died. Even more ironical here are Josephines piercing cry and Richards quick motion to screen (790) Brently Mallard from his wifes eyes. Mrs. Mallard dies of joy that kills (790). These words carry the absolutely opposite meaning, than they read. We understand, that the doctors are wrong, thinking that she dies from happiness of seeing her husband again. She chooses rather to die than to live again under her husbands will, especially after experiencing freedom, even just for one hour. This hour in a comfortable armchair in front of the open window made her feel happy and free, made her to understand the sense of her being, and it was the only real hour of her life.

Can Sustainable Development Address The North South Divide Politics Essay

Can Sustainable Development Address The North South Divide Politics Essay The North-South divide, is a serious issue that needs to be addressed, it can also be seen as a critical factor for achieving global sustainability. During the course of this text, key ideas and actions related to this issue, will be considered. Sustainable development and the North-South divide will be introduced, followed by an overview and discussion of the situation and status quo. The divide and its solution will be summarised and the text will conclude, with my perspective on the issue. WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? The word sustainable means to sustain, to keep from failing during stress or difficulty. Therefore, an action can be considered sustainable, if it has the capacity to sustain. So what does this mean for our society? Plainly speaking, any instance were actions as a result of our survival, sustain, leave intact or protect the environment, from the stress of our existence within it, can be considered to be sustainable. The most commonly recognised threat, albeit debatable by some, is the impact of climate change on the environment (Carter, 2001). This and other environmental problems such as biodiversity and overconsumption, have resulted in sustainable development becoming a prominent and central issue in international politics (Carter, 2001). The ability of the present generation to meet its needs without undermining the ability of future generations to meet their needs (Carter, 2001) The definition of sustainable development quoted from Carter (2001), arose to suggest that, it is possible to have economic development and protect the environment at the same time. The definition above is as abigious as the concept, which is still being debated. Notwithstanding, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was created in 1992, to oversee and implement the concept in different countries (Carter, 2001). Sustainable development, gives priority to the worlds poor both in the North and in the South, providing the opportunity to live a good life to all. It also recognises, the need to moderate our demand on resources, from the enviornment (Carter, 2001). THE NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE The International Monetary Fund (IMF), was developed to reach a goal of an internationally managed economy. However, the fund is much smaller than the original proposed in 1942, by Keynes and together with the World Bank, it served to aid primarily the global North (Raffer and Singer, 2001). The current system is an incomplete version of the Bretton woods system, lacking Keynes International Trade Organisation (ITO), among other pillars of support. The general idea of the system, was to sustain the economy and prevent another great depression, both in the global North and South (Raffer and Singer, 2001). In addition, the system intended for the IMF and the World Bank to be agencies of the United Nations (UN), guided by the UN General Assembly and the UN Economic and Social Council, to achieve its goal. As a result of the incomplete system being modified and implemented to suit, countries in the global south experienced balance of payments crisis and the subsequent debt crisis (Raffer and Singer, 2001). However, it left intact and in some cases fuelled the growth of economies in the North, driving a biased development. The quote below, puts into perspective the current issue and the reason for a need of consensus between the North and South, bridging the divide on the issue of climate change mitigation. For the next decades, we are locked-in to an unavoidable rise in global mean temperatures by virtue of our past emissions, due to factors such as the large thermal inertia of the earths oceans. This is unlikely to pass wihtout creating serious climate hazards (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) under BaU conditions the number of people affected by weather related disasters in 2030 would be somewhere between 220 and 860 million in the worst case () (Muller, 2002) During the percieved economic growth, globalisation and the IT revolution, swept the world. This wave created a division between the countries that, successfully took advantage of the revolution and those that did/could not (Kawaguchi, 2002). Taking advantage of the scenario, the subsequent economic growth that followed in the North -which was driven by fossil fuel- further widened the economic divide between the North and the South (Koehn, 2004). This divide and the following growth and development experienced by the North, can be seen as a catalyst or root cause, of the current North-South divide on the climate issue. The divide between the North and South on the issue of mitigating global climate change has been confirmed, it was stated that the most important issue for developing countries (the global South) is the dissproportionate human impact burden, which has until recently largely been ignored by the North (Muller, 2002). For example, consider for a moment the agenda for emissions mitigation, which has been firmly set by the industrialised world (Muller, 2002). This agenda, places disportionate burden on countries around the world. Especially those that cannot afford it and those more concerned with other immediate issues (Evans, 2009). The nature of the climate change equity problem, clarifies the stance both North and South side take, in dealing with the current climate crisis. In the North, it is regarded as a need to allocate emission mitigation targets, while in the South it is regarded as a need to assign responsibility for and the sharing of climate impact burdens (Muller, 2002). In addition, it is the perspective of the South, that the proposals for reductions in emissions do not account for disporportionate historical contributions of developed countries. Further adding, that the in effect the structural inequities embedded in the current international economic order, have been extended (Koehn, 2004; Evans, 2009). The Norths response to this perspective, is to disregard historical contributions and system inequities, focussing instead on gross emissions and future projections (Koehn, 2004). The reason for this is that, climate change in the eyes of the North is seen as a problem of polluting the environment and while impacts on human welfare are regarded as potentially life-style-threatening, they are seen to be deserved (Muller, 2002). This presents an overriding moral purpose of environmental integrity. To put it plainly, there is the acceptance of pollution from industralisation, being the cause of the climate crisis. However, there is also denial of the disproportionate nature of the proposed solution, resultant burden and welfare issues relevance. In the South however, the situation is very different (Muller, 2002). Climate change is seen as a human welfare problem, with the people as its prime victims. In addition, there is also the issue of equity between the human culprits and the human victims (Muller, 2002). There is compelling evidence that human-induced climate change is warming the earths atmosphere. The global heat poses a threat to ecological sustainability in the North and South (Koehn, 2004; Evans, 2009). In higher lattitudes this will cause rising sea levels and increase the likelihood of natural disasters, as well as increasing the vulnerability of human populations (Koehn, 2004). This presents a scenario of the inevitibility of climate change impact and its associated burdens, both in the global North and the global South. As an obvious consequence, there is the need to make ready and present innovative and effective solutions by the collective nations, for climate change impacts in the near and medium-term. This will provide the oppourtunity to mitigate and reduce the inevitable impact, in the North and in the South (Evans, 2009). The report, Bridging the Divide: Redressing The Balance, argues that we have reached a point where we must face the inevitability and begin to prepa re disaster responses (Muller, 2002). Notwithstanding, there are nations that are still in disagreement. Gurdial Singh Nijar who represented the Asia-Pacific group, says that without fair and equitable access and benefit-sharing (ABS) protocol, there will be no agreement. Leahy (2010) in his press release goes on to say that, there is concensus that countries, which supply valuable resources to the industrial world should be compensated. However, the situation may not be as straight forward as it seems, since the national representatives have been undergoing complex negotiations for six years (Leahy, 2010). So far, the negotiations have played along the traditional North-South divide, posing the danger of turning them into a sort of collective bargaining. Furthermore, as a result of current rise in economies of some developing countries, this approach has become obselete (Kawaguchi, 2002). To put it all more simply, the problem is the inability to agree on a soltuion, for the inevitable unfair distribution of climate imp act burdens (Muller, 2002). In one of the preparotory sessions, a delegate from the North and one from the South were discussing the form of the Charter. The Northern delegate offered that the Charter should be a short, poetic statement that could be reproduced on posters (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) on the walls of childrens bedrooms (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) as a message of inspiration (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) The Southern delegate responded that most children in the South do not have their own bedrooms and many of them are unable to read. (Wapner, 2003) THE JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT IN BRIEF The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg supported the sustainable development concept, which suggests that the environment can be cherished without sacrificing economic growth, especially in southern (developing) countries (Kawaguchi, 2002). In addition the summit recognized that poverty alleviation cannot come by safeguarding the natural environment alone, but requires actively intervening in the economic system. Futhermore, this can be best achieved, by rigorously considering networks and partnership models of economic development, which are linked to empowerment drivers (Kawaguchi, 2002). The WSSD also recongnises, that access to natural resources plays a major role in development, while in developing countries it also under pins Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Petrie, 2007). A key contribution of the WSSD, was to establish partnerships. Thereby, translating overall principles into hands-on actions, towards adressing specific challenges of sustainabl e development (Wapner, 2003). It is the perception, that sustainable development has failed to bring together the North and the South. As a result, a lot of effort has gone into modifying the concept, so that it can meet interests of both sides (Wapner, 2003). One example of such efforts, is Kawaguchi (2002) proposal of the concept of global sharing, which encourages the sharing of strategies, responsibilities, experiences and information. I understand the importance of fossil fuels to the American people. Dick Cheney understands that. The president understands that Frederick D. Palmer, Executive Vice President for Legal and External Affairs at Peabody (Koehn, 2004) A SOLUTION IN SIGHT? The UN says that without an ABS (access and benefit-sharing) agreement, countries have shut down their genetic resources. As a result, a species of fly attacking mango populations in Kenya, cannot be properly controlled since the flys natural predator in Asia cannot be obtained (Leahy, 2010). The solution to a problem of this magnitude is not simple, made harder still by the lack of sufficient hands-on action to mitgate the threat. Although, there are some schemes, strategies and innitiatives, these should not wrongly be seen as being able to sufficiently sustain the weight of the climate change impact. The task is still very much incomplete, after all, the goal is to create a system that will sustain us (and the environment) through the climate threat. For that to happen, action must be taken. Actions like a complete UN inspired by Keynes or actions like bridging the divide between the North and the South. There have been a few attempts in the past to bridge the divide. The first was a Joint Implementation (JI) mechanism, which was based on the concept that transferring clean technologies to other nations, towards reducing green house gas (GHG) emisssions, could count towards obligations of the nations suppling the technology. The JI mechanism was meant to lower the compliance costs for Northern nations under the Kyoto protocol (Evans, 2009). To the South, this is clearly biased as the benefits will almost surely fall soley in the North, giving Northern nations the oppourtunity to force weaker nations to meet obligations for them. In the end JI was incorporated as a mechanism used amongst Northern nations (Evans, 2009). The second attempt, dubbed the Brazilian proposal was the Clean Development Fund (CDF), designed to provide financing for emissions mitigations projects in Southern nations (Evans, 2009). This would be done by allocating funds collected from Northern nations, who failed to meet their Kyoto requirements. However, Northern nation opposed this structure arguing that it is politically toxic, going on to create a more positive cooperative mechanism. This is how the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) came to be (Evans, 2009). Kyoto protocols Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), is currently the only policy initiative linking developing nations emissions to international cooperative efforts on climate change. It has been hailed as the grand compromise of the North-South divide over climate change mitigation (Evans, 2009). CDM is a market based mechanism, which allows Northern nations with binding emissions reduction commitments under the Kyoto protocol, to earn credits towards meeting their commitments. They do so by implementing emission reduction projects in Southern nations, where it is most cost effective. Southern nations in exchange, gain from the transfer of project related sustainable development benefits (Evans, 2009). However, what a benefit is in terms of sustainable development under CDM is left undefined, creating vagueness and subsequent conflict of interests. As a result, Southern nations place more emphasis on the development aspect of susatianable development, while the North tends to focus more on the GHG related definition of sustainability when assessing the benefits of CDM (Evans, 2009). This serves to drive continued tension over the issues of compensation for historical debt and equity of the South, and the Northern proirities of cost-efficiency and free markets, even with CDM in place (Evans, 2009). It is also thought that instead of facilitating enviornmentally sustainable development efforts in Southern nations, CDM can deter them from pursuing sustainable development paths, as doing so would decrease their ability to attract CDM investment in the future (Evans, 2009). The current means of evaluating the efficiency of CDM is synonymous with cost-effectiveness, however CDM is not meant to just facilitate low-cost emissions reductions. Rather it is designed to engage Southern nations in the global effort to reduce emissions (Evans, 2009). As a result it is more important to focus on factors of the mechanism that concern the South. The efficiency therefore should be, synonymous instead with mitigating the North-South divide, towards reconciling the interests of both sides. Despite the existsence of North-South cooperation in CDM today, the divide nonetheless spreads throughout the mechanism, resulting in divergent demands and expectations based on different priorities and perceptions of what the CDM should offer (Evans, 2009). The earth is a complex geo-biochemical entity whose precise functioning, as well as the complex interactions that occur among its myriad elements, we are yet to understand fully. Its fragile self-regenerative systems (e.g. the carbon cycle) have limited capacity for processing anthropogenic environmental contamination (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) the excess accumulates to disrupt or disable the systems themselves (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) this is the main reason for the mounting environmental predicament confronting us today. (Nath, 2004) ONE WORLD INTRICATELY CONNECTED Under the current regime, the old has been abandoned and the North no longer only care about the environment, neither do the South only care about development, both unable to concieve of one factor deviod of the other (Wapner, 2003). However, Northern governments are letting fall environment issues in favour of economic development (Wapner, 2003). The UNFCCC says that, developing countries will play a significant role in determining the success of multilateral climate change regime. It is accepted that there is a need for increasing attention towards accomodating Southern interests in the CDM specifically (Muller, 2002; Evans, 2009). The economy has been seen to drive growth and development. However, it is also the problem and the best solution towards our survival, is to embrace growth via knowledge and science. It will be necessary to abandon the driving psyche of the economic bottom-line, as well as the excessive consumption of our resources, otherwise our survival is forfiet. The brundtland report stated that, the adoption of less-consumptive and less-polluting life-styles, is required to progress towards global sustainability (Nath, 2004). However, since the rich and powerful are as unlikely to renounce their wealth, as the poor are unlikely to rein in their developments towards a better life, there is a fundamental problem. Ideas in the North, like sustainable consumption a concept which provided policies and strategies in the Netherlands, to curb levels of consumption, attempt to reduce the nations impact on the environment (Spaargaren and Martens, 2005). On the other hand, even though the role of the resources sector in sustainable development is disconnected from the social fabric of life in the developed world, it is seen as the lifeblood of the economy in developing countries (Petrie, 2007). Once again the bottom line inhibits our progress and survival, it is not the economy or planet that needs saving, it is us. Although they are important, if we are not around to support the economy it will crash and the planet, well it will survive whether we do or not. Our prime directive in this crisis should be human welfare and welfare growth/development; charity they say begins at home. You Americans raped your environment in order to develop your country and raise your standard of living. Now we Jamaicans reserve the right to do the same. Jamaican Official (Evans, 2009) CONCLUSION It is reasonable to conclude that an abandonment of market mechanisms may be necessary to facilitate the substantive perticipation of Southern nations in global emissions abatement efforts which is required by the severity of the climate crisis. After all, a crisis of this magnitude will undoubtedly drain the piggy bank, those who do survive will be more valuable than abstract numbers and values, especially when it comes to rebuilding. Therefore, it is imperitive we accept that, protecting the economy in favour of the environment and/or human welfare is detrimental to our survival. It is clear that the crisis is inevitable just as it is clear that we are entangled with the fate of the planet, for better or worse. Where sustainable development has failed CDM seems to fair better, even though it too has not completely solved the problem. The solution does not lie solely in the realm of policy but also in the state of mind of the people. Just like a train changes from a dead end track to a clear one, so also do we need a change of paradigm. In addition, science, knowledge and a true, unified UN will be indispensible tools in our efforts. Furthermore, these tools will aid to bridge the Nouth-South divide on the climate issue, putting both sides on the same page.

Causes of World War One :: essays research papers

Causes of World War One -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Economic Imperialism at home and abroad - In one generation Africa - direct possession (1902: only Liberia, founded by former American slaves remains independent) Asia and Near East: economic and diplomatic pressure Economic concessions and extra-territorial privileges: Ottoman Empire - most vulnerable; China - most vulnerable; Japan - modernizing rapidly; India - firmly in British hands; Importance to Europe: keeps fat on European economy; colonial rule a reproach to democracy; encouraged feelings of national and racial superiority; "Pan" movements - a form of imperialism Technology and science: materialism B. Social Human welfare: serfdom gone (except in Russia); surgery and anesthetics perfected; life span longer; Victorian middle class morality in decline; spread of literacy. Peace movements: "pipe dream of peace". Aristocratic remainders. Neglect of the proletariat. C. Intellectual 1. European cultural heritage 2. Ideologies of progress: conservatism - delaying action not progress (aristocracy) liberalism - freedom, law, representative government (upper middle class) radicalism - remove class distinctions, anti-clerical (lower middle class) socialism - collectivist doctrine (city workers) new left - syndicalism D. Political 1. the nation-state: language and race 2. parliamentary government 3. parties: tied to class and ideology lack of responsibility too many of them 4. Differing forms separation of powers only in the USA king or president a figurehead in Britain and France search for majorities in parliament Britain: the cabinet held the whip France and Italy: parliament held the whip 5. Extension of the suffrage 6. Exceptions to democratization Germany: only has external form of it, the Reichstag is a "debating chamber" Austria-Hungary: maintaining monarchy in polyglot confusion Russia: a struggle between Duma and Ministry E. Military 1. popular militarism Boer War naval building race: Admiral Tirpitz - risk theory Three-year army law: France 1913 Tripoli campaign in Italy, 1911 2. Comparative figures on army increase, 1870-1914: 1870 1914 Russia 700,000 1,300,000 France 380,000 846,000 Germany 403,000 812,000 Austria-Hungary 247,000 424,000 Britain 302,000 381,000 Italy 334,000 305,000 Japan 70,000 250,000 U.S.A. 37,000 98,000 3. military expenditure

Hinduism religion Essay

Hinduism is the religion of the great majority of the people of India. The word comes from the Sanskrit sindhu, â€Å"river,† and originally referred to the Indus. Hinduism is actually a collection of many native Indian religions, past and present. It is responsible for the social structure of India, especially for the caste system (a hereditary class system). Hinduism has some 684,000,000 adherents, most known of whom live in India. The rest live in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and countries with Indian settlements. The oldest of the world’s great religions, Hinduism is the only one without a founder. It has never tried to win converts by force and has always tolerated other religions and absorbed ideas from them (Chaudhuri 291). Hinduism has about 20 sects, with beliefs that range from primitive forms of animism to the highest reaches of mysticism and philosophy. Many of the sects and cults seem to be separate religions. Yet all have a family relationship since they spring from common traditions and thrive on the conditions peculiar to India. Most have a mystic strain and all stress nonviolence. Hinduism began to develop about 1500 B. C. while the Vedas were being composed and collected. Vedic Hinduism, or Vedism, had many nature gods, who were appealed to and appeased by prayers and sacrifices. A second stage, called Brahminic Hinduism, appeared about 1000 B. C. In this stage religion had fallen under the control of the Brahmins, or priests, who used magic rites in efforts to influence and control the gods (Wilkins 114). A third period opened about 800 B. C. with the speculative philosophy of the Upanishads. Salvation was sought, not through sacrifices and rites, but through knowledge. Six schools of Hindu philosophy arose, the most important being those of Yoga and Vedanta. In the sixth century B. C. Jainism and Buddhism arose as reform movements within Hinduism but both became separate religions. Moslem invaders conquered India after the 10th century A. D. Hinduism withstood the rival religion Islam but absorbed a few features from it. The clash between the two religions led to the founding of Sikhism in the 19th century. In the 19th century Christian and western ideas presented a new challenge. Several Hindu reform movements borrowed from Christianity and the West. When India became independent in 1947 the conflict between Hindus and Moslems forced a division of the country, the Moslem section becoming Pakistan (Wilkins 121)). II. Discussions A. Beliefs and Practices of Hinduism. Nearly all the sects and cults respect the Vedas (â€Å"revealed knowledge†), the ancient collections of religious writings. The Rig-Veda, whose origins probably go back to before 1500 B. C. , consists of about 1,000 hymns and prayers addressed to various deities. Later Vedas are the Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and Atharva-Veda. The philosophical portions of the Vedas are the Upanishads (â€Å"approaches†). These are speculative treatise dealing with the nature of man and the universe. The fundamental doctrine is that of the identity of the individual soul with the universal soul (Brahman), or God (Kinsley 205). Brahman exists through a trinity of gods. Brahman is the principle of creation, Vishnu of preservation, and Siva of destruction. In addition to this trinity, most villages have their own godlings, demons, spirits, and ghosts to which the people make sacrifices and prayers. Vishnu is believed to have appeared from time to time in avatars, or divine incarnations, in both animal and human forms. The highest human forms are Rama and Krishna, who are worshipped as savior deities (Chaudhuri 297). Hinduism has many sacred objects and places. The cow is the most sacred of animals and must be protected. Most sacred of all places is the Ganges River, to which millions go each year to bathe and to become purified. Hindus believe in rebirth, or reincarnation, and in what they call the law of karma. Under this law the conditions of each new lifetime are determined by the actions of the preceding life. To the Hindu, salvation consists of liberating the soul from attachment to worldly desires in order to gain union with Brahman. If a Hindu dies liberated he must be born again into this world and again endure its suffering (Chaudhuri 299). The Vedas describe four main castes. 1. The Brahmins exercise spiritual power. (Brahmin is also spelled Brahman). 2. The Kshatriyas are warriors who exercise secular power. 3. The Vaisyas are merchants and cultivators. 4. The Sudras are artisans and laborers. Indian society has thousands of castes and subcastes, each of which identifies itself with one of the four castes in Hindu literature. Membership in a caste is based on family association and occupation. Below the castes are the outcastes, or untouchables, who historically have been denied certain social rights. The Indian constitution of 1950 outlawed discrimination against untouchables. The scriptures do not make the caste system an essential element of Hinduism, but it is perpetuated by tradition (Wilkins 139). Hindu worship for most part takes place in the home. A Hindu temple or shrine is considered an abode of deity and is not used for communal worship. There are kinds of Hindu clergy. Temple priests collect offerings and care for the temples and shrines. Domestic priests perform rites involving births, marriages, and deaths. Gurus are spiritual teachers. Sadhus are monks; most live in monasteries, but many live as wandering mendicants (beggars) (Chaudhuri, 304). B. Jesus Christ and Hinduism The original basic beliefs of Christianity are stated in the Apostles’ Creed. It affirms that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that God sent him to earth to live as a man and to suffer and die for the redemption of mankind. It also states the belief that Jesus, after being crucified, arose from the dead and ascended to heaven, from which he will return to earth to judge the living and the dead. Belief that Jesus was born of a virgin mother and that there is a life for man after death are essential parts of the creed (Kinsley 211-212). Man’s need for help from a higher power was stressed in religious earlier than Christianity. The concept of God as benevolent and forgiving—rather than as vengeful—is a main tenet of the Christian’s faith. Another Christian belief is that even though man has sinned seriously and separated himself from the love of God, he can be saved by repentance and accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. The necessity, and therefore the possibility, of communion between God and man is accepted by all Christians (Kinsley 211-212). C. Doctrinal Differences At first, the gospel of Jesus was spread by his disciples, followers who remembered his sayings. As Gentiles (non-Jews) as well as Jews entered the church, the influence of other minds began to be seen in the interpretations of doctrines. In this work, early Christian theologians borrowed ideas from the teachings of the Greek philosophers. At the same time, national traits and customs began to affect rituals and observances. Even within each year of the three great divisions of the Christian church—Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox— there are variations of practice. This is particularly true of the Protestants. The sacrament of baptism provides an example. Baptists hold that the convert must be completely immersed in water; Methodists believe that sprinkling water on head is sufficient. Most denominations baptize infants, but some insists that the individual be old enough to understand the meaning of the sacrament (Wilkins 144). There are other differences. The Disciples of Christ and certain Protestant groups insist upon using the Bible alone as a source of guidance. The doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three beings (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one divine nature—is accepted as basic by most Christians, but is rejected by Unitarians and Universalists (Wilkins 144). III. Conclusion Religion is such a big help in building our faith on God as individuals. Hinduism is a religion where each believer believes on reincarnation. Its followers are hoping to live life again but depending on how they live their lives at present. Though Hinduism has no founder yet believers tend to have strong faith and continuously believe and follow its structured beliefs. On the other hand, for the Christian Church, its faith is built on the Trinity which is the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and Christians believe that these three personas are one. Reference: 1. Chaudhuri, N. C. Hinduism: a Religion to Live By (Oxford University, 2003). 2. Kinsley, D. Hinduism: a Cultural Perspective (Prentice-Hall, 2002). 3. Wilkins, W. J. Modern Hinduism: an Account of the religion and Life of the Hindus, 5th edition (Humanities Press, 2005).

SAT Score Error Use Hand Score Verification to Correct the Mistake

SAT Score Error Use Hand Score Verification to Correct the Mistake SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Did you make a weird error in filling out your multiple choice answer sheet that led to a dramatically reduced score? Was your essay scanned incorrectly? Hand Score Verification is a way for you to address and correct these mistakes without having to retake the test. In this guide, I'll describe what SAT Hand Score Verification is, how it can help you, and how it might hurt. What Is Hand Score Verification? Normally, the College Board grades its hundreds of thousands of test answer sheets through automated scanning machines. This is why the SAT instructs you to fill in answers using only No. 2 pencils. If you order Hand Score Verification, the College Board reviews your multiple choice answer sheet or essay again manually (by a human)for a fee. It's $55 for either multiple choice or the essay ($110 for both). If you used a fee waiver for the SAT, the fee is reduced to $27.50 each. If you marked the answer sheet correctly but there was a problem in the scanning or scoring process, your score may change, and the fee you paid for score verification will be refunded. If you made an obvious error in filling in the information on the answer sheet (putting your answers in the wrong section of the answer sheet, improperly recording the test identifying code), your score may change, but you won’t get a fee refund. For the essay, the College Board will determine whether there was an error made in the scanning of the essay or the processing of scores assigned by essay readers. In this situation, your adjusted score will be automatically reported and your fee will be refunded. This is not a way to appeal your essay score if your essay was already reviewed and scanned in correctly.Your essay doesn't get reread and re-scored in the process of Hand Score Verification unless it didn't scan properly.If your essay was written in pen (which messes with the scanning process), your score may change, but you won't get a fee refund. Note that your whole answer sheet will be reviewed, even if you only think there was a mistake on one section. I'll explain why this is important next. When Should You Use Hand Score Verification? Because SAT Hand Score Verification costs quite a bit of money, and your score could potentially change for the worse, there are only a few specific situations where it's a good idea. Scenario #1: Your Overall Score Was Very Different from What You Expected If you ended up with consistently high scores on practice tests but you scored fairly low, you could have reason to question your results. You might have bubbled in an entire section incorrectly, or there might have been a mistake with the scanning. Score verification would fix both of these and raise your score. Scenario #2: You Missed Many Questions That You Would Normally Ace Look at your detailed score report to see which types of questions you missed on the test. The College Board splits questions up into easy, medium, and hard categories on the score report and tells you how many of each you got wrong within each section. If you find you missed a lot of easy questions in your strongest subject areas, there might have been a mistake in the scoring process. Scenario #3: Your Essay Is Blank or Unreadable in the Online Score Report This could indicate a scanning error (especially if you remember writing your essay in pen). In this case your essay will be rescored. Scenario #4: You Can't Find Answers with Other Means of Score Verification The College Board also offers Score Verification services in the form of the Student Answer Service and the Question-and-Answer Service. The Student Answer Service just provides you with the types of questions on your test; their levels of difficulty; and whether you answered correctly, incorrectly, or not at all. The Question-and-Answer Service provides you with a booklet copy of the questions on the test and your answers, the correct answers (including how the questions were scored), and information about the types and difficulty levels of all questions on the test. If your scores still don't make sense to you after wading through all this information, Hand Score Verification may be the way to go. That's deep, bro. When Should You NOT Use Hand Score Verification? In these situations, you should consider against SAT Score Verification, because it's unlikely toimprove your score. Scenario #1: Your Score Is Only Marginally Lower Than Expected Some students will freak out because they got a 700 instead of an 800 on one section of the SAT, thinking there must have been some sort of terrible mistake. I'd say that if your score is 0-100 points lower in a section that you expected it to be (or up to 300 points lower overall), you shouldn't order Hand Score Verification unless you look at your score report and the questions you got wrong make no sense to you at all. Hand Score Verification could actually hurt you in this situation because your scores might go down, and you would lose the $55 fee. Scenario #2: You Aren't Happy with Your Essay Score, but Your Essay Shows up Clearly in the Online Score Report Score Verification doesn’t involve the review or rescoring of essays that were scanned in properly. Even ifyou're convinced your essay was destined to be a defining literary classic for your generation and couldn't possibly have gotten the score it did, don't order Hand Score Verification in this situation. Scenario #3: You Didn’t Fill in Your Answer Sheet Properly Examples of this include circling bubbles instead of filling them in or making tiny unicorn drawings in the bubbles to indicate your answers. If this is the case your score won't be changed, but you might just get a magical imaginary 800 for creativity (not accepted by colleges). How Do You Order Score Verification? After reviewing the pros and cons of hand score verification, you might decide it's the right choicefor you. Here's a link to the form you need to fill out to order Hand Score Verification.You can request Hand Score Verification for up to five months after your original test date. As I mentioned in the first section, there is a fee of $55 for Hand Score Verification for either multiple choice or the essay. However, that fee can be reduced by half if you used a fee waiver to pay for SAT registration.If you have information that you think could affect the results of the verification process, you should report it to Customer Service (contact info listed on the form) at the same time that you submit the form. The exact check you will receive in the event of a fee refund for Hand Score Verification. A Final Word About Hand Score Verification If you aren’t 100% sure that you want to order Hand Score Verification, don’t do it until you have exhausted all other score verification measures. These include Student Question-and-Answer Services or Student Answer Services depending on when you took the SAT. If you order Hand Score Verification, you won't have access to the Student Answer Service or Question-and-Answer Service for your hand scored answer sheet. You also won't see the full online score report for this new round of scoring. This time you'll only receive your score report in the mail, just like teenage cavemen did when they took their first SATs. Hand Score Verification is the most rigorous score verification process the College Board offers, so there are no score appeals beyond it.Once Hand Score Verification results are reported, they are final for that version of the test. Don't worry though, you can still take the SAT again if you are unhappy with your results. You should get a letter back within five weeks with your new scores and, depending on whether there was an irregularity in the scanning and scoring process, cold hard cash in the form of a fee refund. Well, it'll probably be a check, but you get the idea. What's Next? If you're reading this article, chances are you're not too happy with your score. We're here to help. Read our in depth guides on earning a perfect score on the SAT, along with strategy guides for reading, math, and writing. Maybe you don't need to aim as high as you think. To come up with the ideal target score for you, and you alone, this article will help you figure out what you should be aiming for based on your top choice schools. If you're unhappy with your score, you can still take the test again! Check out our article onhow many times you should take the SAT. You can also take a look at test dates for2016-2017. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Free Essays on My Opinion About Frank OConnors “My Oedipus Complex“

My responses to Frank O’Connor’s â€Å"My Oedipus Complex† In Frank O’Connor’s short story â€Å"My Oedipus Complex†, we get a chance to explore the world of a little boy. In this story, Larry, a five-year-old boy obsessed with his mother suddenly sees a drastic change in his life when his father returns home from war. With abundant humour and considerable pragmatism, O’Connor depicts in this story the ‘Oedipus stage’ of a boy’s life alluding continuously and wittily to Freudian psychoanalysis. The focus of the story is the relationship between Larry and his father. It is witty and ingenious in the way it depicts the oedipal phase. The conflict arises when his father comes back from the war. Larry views his father as a stranger who suddenly steals his mother’s love and attention away from him. Larry is a very possessive, self-cantered and selfish boy. He despises the fact that his mother is paying more attention to his father. He becomes extremely jealous of his father and starts competing with him as only a five year old would know how. This creates a very hilarious situation and the readers are constantly amused by the absurdity of his actions. He is typically babyish and childish in his behaviour towards his father, mother and his brother Sonny. However, at the end, he finally comes to terms with his father and Larry moves from rivalry with his father over possession of his mothers love to reconciliation with him. The denouement or the unravelling of the plot of t he story is prompt but very plausible. The story is written by the older man who looks back and tells the story from the little boy’s point of view. The older narrator knows what the boy does not know. This gap creates an irony throughout the story. Larry thinks that he is in the right, never realising that he is the selfish one. The author is brilliant in recreating the boy’s world. He explores the mind of the young boy and gives a vivid portra... Free Essays on My Opinion About Frank O'Connors â€Å"My Oedipus Complexâ€Å" Free Essays on My Opinion About Frank O'Connors â€Å"My Oedipus Complexâ€Å" My responses to Frank O’Connor’s â€Å"My Oedipus Complex† In Frank O’Connor’s short story â€Å"My Oedipus Complex†, we get a chance to explore the world of a little boy. In this story, Larry, a five-year-old boy obsessed with his mother suddenly sees a drastic change in his life when his father returns home from war. With abundant humour and considerable pragmatism, O’Connor depicts in this story the ‘Oedipus stage’ of a boy’s life alluding continuously and wittily to Freudian psychoanalysis. The focus of the story is the relationship between Larry and his father. It is witty and ingenious in the way it depicts the oedipal phase. The conflict arises when his father comes back from the war. Larry views his father as a stranger who suddenly steals his mother’s love and attention away from him. Larry is a very possessive, self-cantered and selfish boy. He despises the fact that his mother is paying more attention to his father. He becomes extremely jealous of his father and starts competing with him as only a five year old would know how. This creates a very hilarious situation and the readers are constantly amused by the absurdity of his actions. He is typically babyish and childish in his behaviour towards his father, mother and his brother Sonny. However, at the end, he finally comes to terms with his father and Larry moves from rivalry with his father over possession of his mothers love to reconciliation with him. The denouement or the unravelling of the plot of t he story is prompt but very plausible. The story is written by the older man who looks back and tells the story from the little boy’s point of view. The older narrator knows what the boy does not know. This gap creates an irony throughout the story. Larry thinks that he is in the right, never realising that he is the selfish one. The author is brilliant in recreating the boy’s world. He explores the mind of the young boy and gives a vivid portra...

The 3 Stages of a Spiders Life Cycle

The 3 Stages of a Spider's Life Cycle All spiders, from the tiniest jumping spider to the largest tarantula, have the same general life cycle. They mature in three stages: egg, spiderling, and adult. Though the details of each stage vary from one species to another, they are all very similar. The spider mating ritual also varies and males must approach a female carefully or he may be mistaken for prey. Even after mating, many male spiders will die though the female is very independent and will care for her eggs on her own. Despite the rumors, the majority of female spiders do not eat their mates. Egg, the Embryonic Stage After mating, female spiders store sperm until they are ready to produce eggs. The mother spider first constructs an egg sac from strong silk that is tough enough to protect her developing offspring from the elements. She then deposits her eggs inside it, fertilizing them as they emerge. A single egg sac may contain just a few eggs, or several hundred, depending on the species. Spider eggs generally take a few weeks to hatch. Some spiders in temperate regions will overwinter in the egg sac and emerge in spring. In many spider species, the mother guards the egg sac from predators until the young hatch. Other species will place the sac in a secure location and leave the eggs to their own fate. Wolf spider mothers carry the egg sac with them. When theyre ready to hatch, they will bite the sac open and free the spiderlings. Also unique to this species, the young spend as many as ten days hanging onto their mothers back. Spiderling, the Immature Stage Immature spiders, called spiderlings, resemble their parents but are considerably smaller when they first hatch from the egg sac. They immediately disperse, some by walking and others by a behavior called ballooning. Spiderlings that disperse by ballooning will climb onto a twig or other projecting object and raise their abdomens. They release threads of silk from their spinnerets, letting the silk catch the wind and carry them away. While most spiderlings travel short distances this way, some can be carried to remarkable heights and across long distances.   The spiderlings will molt repeatedly as they grow larger and theyre very vulnerable until the new exoskeleton forms completely. Most species reach adulthood after five to 10 molts. In some species, the male spiders will be fully mature as they exit the sac. Female spiders are always larger than males, so often take more time to mature. Adult, the Sexually Mature Stage When the spider reaches adulthood, it is ready to mate and begin the life cycle all over again. In general, female spiders live longer than males; males often die after mating. Spiders usually live just one to two years, though this does vary by species. Tarantulas have unusually long life spans. Some female tarantulas live 20 years or more. Tarantulas also continue molting after reaching adulthood. If the female tarantula molts after mating, she will need to mate again, because she sheds the sperm storage structure along with her exoskeleton. Resources and Further Reading Cranshaw, Whitney, and Richard Redak. Bugs Rule!: An Introduction to the World of Insects. Princeton University, 2013.Evans, Arthur V. National Wildlife Federation: Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America. Sterling, 2007.Savransky, Nina, and Jennifer Suhd-Brondstatter. â€Å"Spiders: An Electronic Field Guide.† Field Biology, Brandeis University, 2006.

Sony PlayStation Network security breach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sony PlayStation Network security breach - Essay Example On April 20, the Sony did off the affected systems and left to restore the PSN services for the users in U.S until 14th May. Users were asked to change their usernames and passwords till mid of the May. Sony had to do the page down as temporarily because attackers exploited the URL of Sony’s website (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2011). A series of attacks on the Sony’s online entertainment services on the PSN and Online Entertainment services were carried by the attackers in the same period. Other victims of attackers concerning the Sony were as the â€Å"Sony BMG Greece†, â€Å"Sony BMG Japan†, â€Å"So-Net ISP in Japan, and servers of Sony in Thailand. The attackers also hit official version of the Sony Ericson Eshop in Canada (McMillan, 2011). Personal information of more than 77 million Qriocity and PSN users more than 24.5 million Online entertainment users stolen. The attackers rummaged through a wealth of information concerning the users, and their attributes such as names of users, their addresses, email addresses and birth dates. Attackers also approached the login information of users such as usernames, and passwords. Kazuo Hirai, who was head of the board of Company â€Å"Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC†, told the U.S. lawmakers in a May 3 letter (Colvile, 2011). Attackers worked so sophistically that Sony hired the forensic consultants to check, and confirm the extent of the stolen data. It took more than a month to discover whether credit card information was stolen or customers’ data. It was told that only credit card information was stolen as attackers encrypted the credit card information (Carstensen, 2011). It was noticed on April 19, that Sony’s PSN servers were rebooting, and no process was rescheduled on these days. The next day, it was identified that someone had intruded the Sony’s severs and accessed the data. It turned out that

Assinment # 2 Report on Religious Field Research Paper

Assinment # 2 Report on Religious Field - Research Paper Example However, from author’s views the existence of religion is debatable. In his book ­ On the Philosophy of Religion ­ Richard Gale argues we must not just accept the existence of religion and God without thinking. He did not say straight he did not believe in religion but put emphasis on rationalism (Gale page 64 ­145, 2006). I was in a state of spiritual confusion during my childhood. I never understood other religions apart from Islam and Christianity. In fact I thought of Hinduism as a form of occult. Because Hindus never eat cows, the first impression which attacked my mind was that they worshipped cows. I also deduced that Hindus did not have a strong faith in god. If the did, then why worship many gods. This strongly presented ambiguity to my mind and denied me all the patience required to understand Hinduism. Besides, the social divisions within the religion were another source of confusion. As a theology practitioner, I created time to interact with Hindus by attending a real worship. The variety of books on religion have come across also gave me a deep insight of the doctrines of Hinduism. I just found it wise to try to bury the religious misconceptions about it. Its origin and foundation was attributed to the original inhabitants of the Indus Valley located in India. Indus Valley was a victim of frequent combat attacks from other communities, especially the Aryans. This motivated scholars globally to study the complexity of this Valley. Reports from religious historians suggested that there are approximately 33 million Hindu gods in India, each treated with equal magnitude of respect and fear (Fisher page 72 ­112, 1997). allowed to eat other forms of meat, feeding on cows is prohibited. Hinduism is believed to be the most populated religion after Christianity and Islam. It is also the oldest religion. These believers strictly follow their

Supply Chain Management, Vertical Integration and Horizontal Research Paper

Supply Chain Management, Vertical Integration and Horizontal Integration of Business Structure - Research Paper Example There are two main issues that we need to consider when making a decision for the vertically integrated, these issues are control and cost. However, the cost feature relies on the cost of marketplace transactions among corporate versus the cost of administering similar activities within a single corporate. On the other hand, the next concern is the influence of asset control that is able to influence barriers to entry as well as that can make a certain collaboration of main value-adding players (Susan Crawford blog, 2010). According to (Clinton et al., 2008) there are a lot of advantages of the vertical integration that potentially a present reduction in transportation costs if general possession results in nearer geographic proximity. In addition, it enhances the supply chain coordination. Also, it offers additional opportunities to differentiate through augmented control over inputs. Since the vertical integration captures downstream or upstream profit margins. This also augments the entry barriers to potential business competitors, for instance, if the company is able to achieve sole access to a limited resource (Clinton et al., 2008). According to (Clinton et al., 2008), there are also various drawbacks those can negate some of the potential gains attained through vertical integration. The main problem is about the capacity balancing. For instance, the corporation can require constructing excess upstream capability to make sure that its downstream operations have enough supply beneath all demand circumstances. In addition, there is a problem of the potentially high costs because of little efficiencies consequential such as lack of supplier competition. Also, there is some decreased flexibility because of the previous downstream or upstream investments. Furthermore, there is some less capability to augment product diversity if major in-house development is needed.     Ã‚  

Market Orientation in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Market Orientation in Business - Essay Example Considering any business term requires a clear understanding of what is meant by its name. Thus, it is necessary to give an explanation of the term ‘market orientation’ before going to its detailed analysis. According to a definition provided by the Business Dictionary, market orientation is ‘a business approach or philosophy that focuses on identifying and meeting the stated or hidden needs or wants of customers’. As stated in the Cambridge Dictionary, by the term ‘market orientation’ one should understand ‘management of a company, product, brand, etc. so that it satisfies the needs of customers’. In the book ‘Changing Market Relationships’ written by Jean-Jacques Lambin, market orientation is defined as ‘a set of capabilities, activities and behaviors needed to implement a strong marketing orientation’ (Lambin 2008).Despite the fact that all the definitions mentioned above reflect the main idea behind mar ket orientation quite clearly, the most comprehensive definition of the term is presented by Morgan and Strong in their work named ‘Market Orientation and dimensions of strategic orientation’. In this work, the two authors define perceive the concept of market orientation as a certain mode of corporate management that is founded on encouraging a permanent gathering and sharing of statistical information regarding customers, appreciation of customer needs as a fundamental aspect of the business.

Doesn't matter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Doesn't matter - Essay Example As an accounting manager, only those costs and revenues should be considered that are altered as a result of the decision. Incremental costs and revenues get the prime importance in this decision-making tree. Cost is one of the most crucial factors of accounting when it comes to decision-making. "Cost behavior patterns" refers to the way in which cost behaves in connection with the level of activity. For instance in a project there are fixed costs and variable costs. Some costs increase as the project progresses while others remain fixed. Determining the minimum price quotations is crucial. This will help the company decide whether they should hire new technicians or not. It is not a final key in the decision-making. But this will give the managers the absolute minimum price. Beyond this, they can decide if they want to increase the sale price. The manager also needs to think in terms of overhead absorption. Dividing the total cost of technicians by the number of animals will give a cost per animal. This only gives a rough idea of the real cost of servicing each animal. As an accounting manager, it would be crucial to see what this extra work shift will mean in terms of cost/profit. A comparison of the profit statement when 12,000 test capacity is performed, with the profit statement when the additional shift of 18,000 tests is carried out, would be essential to judge the difference in terms of profit. There are certain factors that need to be included in case a decision is made regarding the additional workload of 18,000 tests. The greater the number of factors the more complicated the decision-making process. The presence of many options available for the company makes it difficult for accounting managers to ration and quantify the benefits across the board. The first factor to consider is whether the decision of taking on more technicians

Consumer law in england and wales Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Consumer law in england and wales - Article Example Accordingly, in this paper I shall adopt a focused approach and particularly consider the e-commerce driven consumer measures and their concomitant impact on consumer law in England and Wales. The rapid pace of online business activity has fuelled piecemeal responsive legislative measures in an attempt to balance the interests and protection of consumers whilst simultaneously facilitating market growth. It is submitted at the outset, that ad hoc responsive EU legislative measures have been insufficient to cover the multifarious consumer transactions covered by the "e-commerce" umbrella. Moreover, the underlying weakness in such measures has been the fact that effective online business is clearly dependent on effective consumer protection as opposed to being mutually exclusive. If we consider this contextually, within England and Wales the primary issue impacting consumer protection under the e-commerce paradigm has been effective consumer protection vis-'-vis optimum market facilitation. ... Additionally, in order to commercially exploit the new e-commerce business model, the key to growing a successful online business is to ensure compliance with legal requirements regarding the selling of goods and services to consumers, work with reliable internet service providers and programmers and utilise effective marketing tools to promote business (Alexiou, 2002). As such, the central consumer protection legal issues raised by this are as follows: 1) The use of online terms and conditions - Standard commercial agreements need to consider the protection against unfair commercial practices and unfair contract terms (Singleton, 2003). Moreover, consumer contracting on online terms and conditions raises jurisdiction and applicable law issues; and 2) Data protection compliance needs to be addressed both in respect of collecting information on online users, selling customer lists and monitoring e-mail and viral marketing. Businesses must be registered with the Information Commissioner for processing and implement an online privacy policy and marketing and detailed internal policies on employee monitoring (Smith, 2001). Furthermore, the e-commerce business model involves the provision of goods and services online in the course of business to consumers at a distance and as such, raises issues as to applicable law and enforceability, which is further compounded by borderless frontiers in enforcement (Smith, 2001). The global nature of transacting online has fuelled a number of international e-commerce initiatives (Lloyd 2004). However, the rhetoric of these proposed models focus solely on the regulatory aspect of e-commerce, which is arguably one element of wider issues raised by e-commerce from a

Market Orientation in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Market Orientation in Business - Essay Example Considering any business term requires a clear understanding of what is meant by its name. Thus, it is necessary to give an explanation of the term ‘market orientation’ before going to its detailed analysis. According to a definition provided by the Business Dictionary, market orientation is ‘a business approach or philosophy that focuses on identifying and meeting the stated or hidden needs or wants of customers’. As stated in the Cambridge Dictionary, by the term ‘market orientation’ one should understand ‘management of a company, product, brand, etc. so that it satisfies the needs of customers’. In the book ‘Changing Market Relationships’ written by Jean-Jacques Lambin, market orientation is defined as ‘a set of capabilities, activities and behaviors needed to implement a strong marketing orientation’ (Lambin 2008).Despite the fact that all the definitions mentioned above reflect the main idea behind mar ket orientation quite clearly, the most comprehensive definition of the term is presented by Morgan and Strong in their work named ‘Market Orientation and dimensions of strategic orientation’. In this work, the two authors define perceive the concept of market orientation as a certain mode of corporate management that is founded on encouraging a permanent gathering and sharing of statistical information regarding customers, appreciation of customer needs as a fundamental aspect of the business.

Consumer law in england and wales Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Consumer law in england and wales - Article Example Accordingly, in this paper I shall adopt a focused approach and particularly consider the e-commerce driven consumer measures and their concomitant impact on consumer law in England and Wales. The rapid pace of online business activity has fuelled piecemeal responsive legislative measures in an attempt to balance the interests and protection of consumers whilst simultaneously facilitating market growth. It is submitted at the outset, that ad hoc responsive EU legislative measures have been insufficient to cover the multifarious consumer transactions covered by the "e-commerce" umbrella. Moreover, the underlying weakness in such measures has been the fact that effective online business is clearly dependent on effective consumer protection as opposed to being mutually exclusive. If we consider this contextually, within England and Wales the primary issue impacting consumer protection under the e-commerce paradigm has been effective consumer protection vis-'-vis optimum market facilitation. ... Additionally, in order to commercially exploit the new e-commerce business model, the key to growing a successful online business is to ensure compliance with legal requirements regarding the selling of goods and services to consumers, work with reliable internet service providers and programmers and utilise effective marketing tools to promote business (Alexiou, 2002). As such, the central consumer protection legal issues raised by this are as follows: 1) The use of online terms and conditions - Standard commercial agreements need to consider the protection against unfair commercial practices and unfair contract terms (Singleton, 2003). Moreover, consumer contracting on online terms and conditions raises jurisdiction and applicable law issues; and 2) Data protection compliance needs to be addressed both in respect of collecting information on online users, selling customer lists and monitoring e-mail and viral marketing. Businesses must be registered with the Information Commissioner for processing and implement an online privacy policy and marketing and detailed internal policies on employee monitoring (Smith, 2001). Furthermore, the e-commerce business model involves the provision of goods and services online in the course of business to consumers at a distance and as such, raises issues as to applicable law and enforceability, which is further compounded by borderless frontiers in enforcement (Smith, 2001). The global nature of transacting online has fuelled a number of international e-commerce initiatives (Lloyd 2004). However, the rhetoric of these proposed models focus solely on the regulatory aspect of e-commerce, which is arguably one element of wider issues raised by e-commerce from a

Understanding Economic Policy Reform Essay Example for Free

Understanding Economic Policy Reform Essay What is the point of loudly proclaiming reforms if these are not aimed at improving the well-being of a large majority of the population? And if that is their goal, why should reforms be unpopular? In many areas of policy, there may ex1 Quoted by Jose Maria Maravall in Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, Maravall, and Adam Przeworski (1993). â€Å" T ist â€Å"technical† uncertainty as to what the appropriate solution is to the problems at hand. Think of President Clinton’s health care plan, for example, or of global warming. Consequently, reforms will arouse opposition if they are viewed as applying the wrong fix or if they are perceived as being primarily redistributive (that is, zero-sum). What is remarkable about current fashions in economic development policy (as applied to both developing and transitional economies), however, is the extent of convergence that has developed on the broad outlines of what constitutes an appropriate economic strategy. This strategy emphasizes fiscal rectitude, competitive exchange rates, free trade, privatization, undistorted market prices, and limited intervention (save for encouraging exports, education, and infrastructure). Faith in the desirability and efficacy of these policies unites the vast majority of professional economists in the developed world who are concerned with issues of development. 2 2 The convergence is not complete of course. But compared to two decades ago, the various sides have moved substantially closer to each other. One indicator of this is the recent book by Bresser Pereira, Maravall, and Przeworski (1993), which advocates a â€Å"social democratic† approach. The views expressed in this book concede an inor- 9 10 Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XXXIV (March 1996) we observe such instances of collective irrationality. The events of the last decade have underscored the need to understand the political-economy of policy making. One of the eventual consequences of the global debt crisis that erupted in 1982 was a wave of market-oriented economic reforms, the likes of which have never been seen. The reforms were strongest and most sustained in Latin America, where countries like Bolivia, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, and Brazil joined Chile in orthodoxy. But this was very much a global phenomenon. â€Å"Stabilization† and â€Å"structural adjustment† became the primary preoccupation of government leaders in Asia and Africa as well, even though the commitment to economic orthodoxy varied across countries and over time. These countries were in turn soon joined by the previously socialist economies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Economists who had cut their teeth in Latin America’s economic quagmires became the advisors and analysts of these transitional economies. Even India, the giant archetype of a closed, import-substituting economy among developing countries, embarked on a process of economic liberalization in 1991 (see Jagdish Bhagwati 1993 and Arvind Panagariya 1994). These reforms were encouraging to economists and a vindication of sorts to those among them who had long advocated market-oriented reforms. But they in turn raise their own puzzles. Most fundamental of all, why are so many governments reforming now, after decades of adherence to policies of an opposite kind? This question poses a particularly important challenge to political economists: an understanding of these countries’ experiences now requires a theory that explains not only why seemingly dysfunctional policies had been initially un- Hence economists are often torn between two conflicting perspectives: on the one hand, good economic policy should produce favorable outcomes and therefore should prove also to be good politics; on the other hand, the implementation of good economic policy is often viewed as requiring â€Å"strong† and â€Å"autonomous† (not to say authoritarian) leadership. The experience of Chile, a country which has perhaps gone further than any other in implementing liberal economic policies, provides a good example. An essay on Chile’s reform strategy by Jose Pinera (1994), an economist and minister of labor and social security under General Pinochet, concludes: â€Å"[i]n the end, good policy is good politics† (p. 231). The irony is that most of the reforms the author glowingly discusses in the preceding pages required the suspension of normal politics and as heavy a dose of authoritarianism as seen anywhere. Good economics does often turn out to be good politics, but only eventually. Policies that work do become popular, but the time lag can be long enough for the relationship not to be exploitable by would-be reformers. In Chile’s case, free market policies (implemented after 1973) were eventually resoundingly endorsed in the presidential elections of 1989 and have become the envy of Latin America. 3 Conversely, bad economics can be popular, if only temporarily. President Alan Garcia’s popularity soared in Peru during his first two years in office (1985–86), thanks to expansionary fiscal policies whose medium-term unsustainability should have been obvious to anyone with common sense (see Ricardo Lago 1991). The puzzle is why dinate amount to the consensus view, and depart from it in remarkably few details. I will discuss this book in Section IV. 3 For a recent evaluation, see Barry Bosworth, Rudiger Dornbusch, and Ral Labn (1994). Rodrik: Understanding Economic Policy Reform dertaken and then maintained for so long, but also why these policies were suddenly abandoned en masse during the 1980s, often by the same politicians who had been among their most ardent supporters. Second, while the reforms were inspired at least in part by the East Asian experience, they took place much more quickly and, in many areas, are going considerably beyond those undertaken in East Asia. This raises the question of whether the new wave of reformers have internalized the correct lessons from the East Asian experience. Finally, are there any helpful rules for reformers to follow in guiding their policies through complicated political terrain? Can one hope to develop a â€Å"how-to† manual for the reformist politician? Puzzlement over such questions has led to a large and growing literature. A very short bibliography would include books by Merilee Grindle and John Thomas (1991), Robert Bates and Krueger (1993), Krueger (1993), Przeworski (1991), Ranis and Syed Mahmood (1992), Bresser Pereira, Maravall, and Przeworski (1993), Stephan Haggard and Robert Kaufman (1992), Dornbusch and Sebastian Edwards (1993), Haggard and Steven Webb (1994), Lance Taylor (1994), Williamson (1994), and Ian Little et al. (1993), not to mention countless papers. As this partial list indicates, both economists and political scientists have devoted their attention to these issues, often together in coauthored or coedited works. Indeed, no other area of economics or political science that I can think of has spawned so much interdisciplinary work. 5 In this essay, I will provide an econo4 One recent survey—Mariano Tommasi and Andres Velasco 1995—which overlaps with this one deserves special mention. 5 The litera ture on the economics of policy reform is of course even larger. For recent surveys, see Vittorio Corbo and Stanley Fischer (1995) and Rodrik (1995b). 1 mist’s perspective on the political economy of policy reform. I begin by examining the origins and analytical content of the new orthodoxy in development policy (Section II). I will focus here on two issues in particular which I feel remain in need of clarification. One of these concerns the distinction between (a) macroeconomic policies aimed at economic stability, such as fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies, and (b) liberalization policies aimed at structural reform and growth, such as the removal of relative-price distortions and the reduction of state intervention. It has become commonplace to conflate these two groups of policies, but for analytical purposes they are best kept apart. As we shall see, they also have different political-economy underpinnings. Moreover, maintaining the distinction reminds us that the consensus on what constitutes appropriate structural reform is based on much shakier theoretical and empirical grounds than is the consensus on the need for macroeconomic stability. The second issue concerns the appropriate lessons to be drawn from the experience of East Asian success stories. The new orthodoxy has tended to draw a somewhat biased picture that needs correction. Next, I will turn to the reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. This experience has opened an important window on the motivations of politicians, as well as on the nature of interactions between the economy and the polity. As indicated above, an important question is why so many countries have suddenly caught the reform bug. The confluence of economic crisis with reform has led to the natural supposition that crisis is the instigator of reform, a hypothesis that keeps reappearing in the literature and yet is inadequately analyzed.

Management Of Innovation Titan Edge History Essay

Management Of Innovation Titan Edge History Essay Innovation is defined as the process by which new products, services, materials and processes are developed and introduced into the market for commercialization. Thus, Innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas. There are 4Ps of Innovation which are as follows: Product Innovation- Changes in the products/services offered by the company Process Innovation- Changes the way in which the products are created delivered to the customers Position Innovation- Changes the manner in which the product is introduced in the market Paradigm Innovation- Changes the underlying model which changes the way in which the company functions Innovation is very critical for all the businesses in order to grow and survive the fierce competition in the marketplace. Thus companies continuously bring about innovation and introduce a lot of new products and services to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. The companies do this by investing a lot of money in their RD department. There are companies which have the greatest ideas in the world but that do not make them innovative. A starting point of a breakthrough innovation is not an idea but it is an orbit-shifting challenge. Ideas are certainly important as far as innovation is considered but it is not the starting point of the innovation process. To bring about a breakthrough innovation the most important thing for a company is to get a team in place, enroll team members, create strategies, convince stake holders to invest money and finally to create route in order to reach the destination which did not exist before. Problem Statement: The objective of Titan Watch Industries was to design and make the slimmest water-resistant watch in the world. This was the orbit shifting challenge which Mr. Xerxes Desai, the managing director at that time had put forward to his team in the year 1994. To create the slimmest watch in the world it needed to be just 3.5mm thick which is as thick as the edge of the floppy disc. In order to achieve this objective the Titan team went to the Swiss who are known as the master of watch making in order to get a deep insight and get help in developing the watch. But to their dismay, the Swiss said that it is impossible. The major reason behind this was that a watch could either be ultra-slim or either it could be water-resistant. The Swiss themselves had made an effort in the year 1982 but they had failed to make the worlds slimmest water-resistant watch. Although they were disappointed but the Titan team took on the challenge and said that if the Swiss could not do it than they would do it. It took them four long years to make a breakthrough innovation and do the impossible by challenging almost all the parameters of watch making. Thus, the slimmest water-resistant in the world wad conceptualized, designed and manufactured not in Switzerland or Japan but was done right here in India. Objectives of the study: The main objective of this study was to understand that how the innovation process was carried out and managed by Titan Watch Industries in order to make the slimmest water-resistant watch in world- Titan Edge. The Titan story is a classic example of an Indian company achieving an amazing feat by making a truly global innovative product successfully. Hence, studying its success story becomes all the more important. Thus, I selected the Titan Edge case study as the topic of my seminar paper wherein I could learn the way the innovation process was managed effectively by Titan and which made it a global player in the field of watch making. The Beginning: It all started way back in 1985 when Titan Watch Industries was set up as a joint venture between the Tata Group and Tamil Nadu Industries Development Corporation. It began with French collaboration from where they got the watch movements and the technology used to develop them. The production of watches began in the year 1987. By the year 1992, Titan started to surpass their French collaborators and started to improve their own creations. At this time Xeres Desai gave a call to develop the slimmest water-resistant watch in order to become a global player by proposing an orbit-shifting challenge to his team. Titan felt the need to make this innovation because they realized that just being the marketing leaders wont help but to earn the respect as the best in the world it was necessary to become the technology leader. In 1994 Desai gave the RD team the challenge of developing the slimmest movement in the world which would 1.15mm thin- as thin as a credit card. The current movement developed by Titan was 3.4mm thick and the challenge was to develop 1.15mm which was a challenging task for the team considering the fact that it was just the second movement which would be developed in-house. Desai further raised the challenge by asking the team to put the movement in the case and create a watch out of it. And in India it needed to be water-resistant as Indians do not prefer to buy watches which are not water-resistant. This was an impossible challenge because till date there was no ultra-slim watch which was water-resistant. The Challenges: There were various challenges which Desai had to face during the development of Titan Edge. The greatest challenges were internal as the mindset of deference to the development world is the key reason which prevents breakthrough innovation in a developing country like India. The various challenges faced during the project were as follows: Challenge 1: Enrolling to the cause While making a radical innovation the biggest challenge is to create self-belief within the team members. The engineering challenge would have been impossible to achieve unless the self-belief and enrolment had not happened. When the team returned from Switzerland without any progress the reaction of the people within the organization was that if the Swiss cannot do it than how can we do it and if Swiss cannot do it than no one can do it. Thus it was this mindset of deference to the developed world which was the major challenge which Desai had to tackle. The watch manufacturing has three main departments which are case manufacture, movement manufacture and assembly. In addition to this even RD department had to been enrolled and energized. The usual response the manufacturing department gives to the design department is that you give us the drawings and we will work according to it. If it works, it works and if does not work than we cannot do anything about it. But once the true alignment had happened at Titan people take ownership for their work and in this case the response from the manufacturing department to the design people was that you provide us with the drawings and we will figure a way out and see to it that things work out properly. Thus, this is how the entire team was motivated and energized in order to enroll them into the cause of making the slimmest water-resistant watch in the world. Challenge 2: The Movement Challenge The team at Titan kicked off with the watch movement in the RD department which was headed by Subramanya Bhatt. During that point of time there were no benchmarks available in the world because the movement of that thickness did not exist. It was a big challenge for the team as they had to make the movement of that thickness from scratch since reengineering was not possible. It was an astronomical challenge in front of the team and it needed a paradigm shift to bring down the size of the movement from 3.4mm to 1.15mm thickness. There were many technological challenges right from the manufacturing department, assembly department and the testing department. The biggest challenge was to accommodate the components in the available space and mainly the battery and the step motor. For this they had to miniaturize the size of the components drastically. The problem with the battery was that reducing the size of the battery would reduce the power of the battery considerably and would thus reduce the power backup considerably. Thus its a trade-off between the size and the power of the battery. You can either have an ultra-slim battery or else you can have a battery with a long-life. Its an either/or challenge but innovation is all about the and. In the initial survey all the usual battery suppliers said that it is impossible to make a battery of this size and it cant be done. But then the team conducted an intense secondary research and was able to find a supplier located in USA who was able to make the battery which was 1.05mm thick and had a backup for a considerably longer time. But still this was not enough because for the watch to be water-resistant the back cover needs to be opened as infrequently as possible. Thus, this needed that the battery should have backup of comparatively a longer battery life. The team had to reduce the power consumption of the battery by half in order to double the battery life. The step motor is the heart of the watch and it is the component which consumes the maximum amount of power. Hence, they had to somehow crash the power consumption of the step motor. For this challenge a silicon chip was developed and simultaneously the step motor was worked on to reduce the consumption of power. The net result was that the life of the battery doubled. There were number of innovations made in terms of tooling, equipment and production facilities in order to create the slimmest movement in the world. Thus, finally the movement of 1.15mm thickness was ready and the next challenge was to make a case around it and which needed to be waterproof. Challenge 3: The Case Challenge After the movement was developed Desai brought in B.V. Nagraj who was the head of the product engineering in order to tackle the challenge of making the case. With the working prototypes of the movement the team members decided to go to Switzerland to the famous Watch Fair in Basel, to meet the Swiss who are considered the master of watch making and ask them to make a waterproof case around the movement. In terms of styling, design, reliability and quality everything is with reference to the Swiss in the watch industry. Even the Titan team believed that the Swiss were the ultimate and they would have the solution to their problem. But to their shock the Swiss were actually surprised that an Indian manufacturer had made the movement. When Titan team members asked them to make a casing of 3.5mm thickness many of them told them that they had gone crazy. Many of the manufacturers took the prototype back to their factories but they came back and said that its not possible. Some of the VPs were quite surprised that an Indian company could even think of something of such a high magnitude. Thus, the team had to return back to India without any progress. The challenges were that the casing had to serve three functions simultaneously. The first one was that it needed to be just 3.5mm in thickness. Secondly, it would have to be water-resistant and lastly it should be good looking in design parameters as well. Thus for this breakthrough was required for the case: the top glass, the back cover and the crown which is the winding key on the side of the watch. The usual thickness of the glass is around 1-1.2 mm but for a watch of 3.5mm thickness the glass would have to be around 0.3mm which is 75 per cent reduction in the thickness. The glass should have the same strength as the standard glass and in addition it should be water-resistant as well. The team met Desai and said that Swiss cannot do it. So Desai asked his famous question to the team that What are you going to do about it? How will you overcome the problem? The team members told him that if the Swiss cannot make it than we will make it. Desai was confident that they will be able to make the case in-hose but the rest of the organization was not. It took some time for the organization to believe that it was possible. If the Swiss cant do it, than we will became the rallying cry. The fact that the Swiss could not make it energized them instead of de-energizing them. The design team had to be convinced and inspired in order to make the case which would be 3.5mm thick and the tolerances would be as thick as a single hair. The case had to look aesthetically pleasing as well. Thus a complete paradigm shift was required in order to design the case for the movement. The next stage was manufacturing. Hari Rao was the chief manufacturing officer and he was very passionate about Indian manufacturing skills. When he was told that the Swiss could not make it, he promptly said that we will make it and took it as a challenge. Getting Hari Rao on board was a simple challenge but getting the general managers of the case manufacturing and assembly was a tough task. Rafique Ahmed the GM of the case manufacturing was a practical kind of a person and he would prefer to maximize the productivity rather than trying something new. It was not east to enroll him but when he was told the fact that even Swiss could not do it struck a chord and he agreed to make the case provided that the design team would crack the glass challenge. The problem with the glass was its thickness. No glass existed at 0.3mm which could withstand the rigors of daily wearing. The solution was found with sapphire glass as it was far sturdier and more reliable than the normal glass. It could be made much thinner and still it would not break. The team located a niche sapphire making glass-company called Steatlar in Switzerland which was able to make the glass of required thickness for the case. Challenge 4: Prototype Challenges There were several challenges faced while making the prototype. The biggest challenge was that the metal was thin on all the sides. Fixing the glass so that the watch would be waterproof was another challenge which the team faced. This was because of the thickness of the case between the glass and the watch needed to be in proportion with the thickness of the entire watch in order to make the watch aesthetically good looking. Drilling the hole for the crown was another challenge because the thickness of metal below the hole was just 0.1mm and hence it kept splitting. Finally the team figured out a way to do both the things. At no point of time reengineering was possible because there were no references available. Everything needed to be innovated like new jigs and new tools in order to make the case. Even the strap was a challenge. Making the strap was also a paradigm shift. The strap needed to be thin enough in order to match the thickness of edge. The strap supplier had never made such a thin strap before but today he thanks Titan because he can sell these ultra-slim straps abroad at premium rates. There were several such challenges to be overcome. And one by one they were. Finally the case was ready and it was given for the final assembly. Assembling the entire watch together was another major challenge. The clearances had come down drastically. Initially for other watches the clearances were around 150 microns but for the Edge the clearances came down to 100 microns. The challenges multiplied with a factor of ten as very fine clearance between the hands caused them to clash with each other and this needed to be tackled too. Finally, the watch began to come together. It wasnt easy for the team to handle the fights and arguments which used to come up due to frustration. There were constant fights due to the tolerances. Everyone wanted to increase the tolerance but then they were explained the significance of Titan Edge and they were told that it is not like any other watch. After all the hard times finally the watch was ready. The Titan team manufactured about fifteen to twenty Edge watches in thirteen different shape variations which were then sent to Switzerland for testing. Testing: The prototypes were sent to Chronofiable SA, Switzerland for testing which is a world renowned independent Horological testing Agency. The watches were subjected to various types of testing such as high temperature test, low temperature test, temperature shock tests, bump tests and drop tests etc. all spread over a period of eight weeks. After all the tests were conducted, the Titan Edge was certified as not only reliable but it was also certified as water-resistant up to 30 meters. The watch was also tested internally at Titan and the interesting thing is the manner in which they were tested by Dwarkanath. He was of the opinion that the agencies can check the watch thoroughly but they cannot replicate the real life conditions. He threw the Edge against a wall, and then threw it in the floor at different angles in order to check whether its safe. He chucks it into the swimming pool in order to check whether it is water-resistant or not. Finally he tied the watch to the shock absorbers of his car and made several trips on the terrible roads between Bangalore and Hosur, covering 200 km in all. The Edge passed these tests too. Conclusion