What Should Chateau Margaux Do?

What Should Chateau Margaux Do? Chateau Margaux, in Bordeaux region, has been the most splendid wines for many years with excellent reputation. Being the designated wine in the French State Banquet, the reputation is universal. There is limited room for the improvement of the brand images. With the rapid growth in the worldwide wine market, it is time for Chateau Margaux penetrating into it. China, one of the markets with rapid growth in economy, will be one of the best options. With the large population and growth in economy, the China wine market has expanded rapidly, especially for the wine in Bordeaux region. From the statistic from the China Wine Information Website, the import of wine from Bordeaux region has increased 82% in 2007 and soared 21 times in 8 years time. There is really a great opportunity for Chateau Margaux entering this huge potential market. In order to enter the China wine market, the top priority is to promote the brand and products. After cultivating in China market for years, French wines has become the pronoun of romance and elegance, and even the symbol of luxury. It is suggested that Chateau Margaux should set up a luxury store with wine cellar in China. The main purpose of the setting up is not selling wines in the stores, but increasing the publicity of the brand and products by holding different kinds of function. Since the first step is to let people know about Chateau Margaux, it is a good idea for Chateau Margaux inviting celebrities and wine critics to the open ceremony of the luxury store. Press conference can also be held to introduce Chateau Margaux to the public. This will be the stepping stone for Chateau Margaux entering the China market. As new to the China market, it is essential for Chateau Margaux taking part in some exhibitions and also wine tasting events, like the 2008China International Wine & Liquor Expo. In participating in the 2008China International Wine & Liquor Expo, which is the biggest wine professional exhibition in China, Chateau Margaux can let consumers know more about the products and even can take the benefits from the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Game. However, during all the promoting functions, it is important to keep the image, â€Å"Chateau Margaux is a grand and luxury product† After promoting the brand and products to the public, Chateau Margaux should react quickly to suit with the China wine market. As most of the potential consumers in China are new to the high-end wine, they would like to know more information about the particular wine or even particular vintage, which is not included in the label of Chateau Margaux. A booklet introducing different Chateau Margaux wines will be published to let consumers have more in-depth information. Besides, it is possible for Chateau Margaux co-operating with China food enterprises since wine paired with food will be one of the ways to promote the products. Since the wine market in the rising economies countries like China increased so quickly, getting market shares in these places as quick as possible will promote the future growth of Chateau Margaux to the worldwide wine market. (521 words)

Holy Moly Essay

Socrates is simply asking questions to get a straight answer from Euthyphro, which he is unable to do. When asked,â€Å"what is piety? † Euthyphro answers â€Å"Doing as I do†. He thinks he is doing the pious thing by bringing his father up on charges of impiety. In his words, he is saying prosecutinganyone guilty of murder, no matter who they are . Socrates, basically is not entertained by this response, because it is not an answer. When asked again â€Å"what is Piety? † Euthryphro responds with, â€Å" What is dear to the Gods is pious and what is not dear to them is impious†. Socrates asks† â€Å"Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious? Or is it pious because it is loved by the gods? Euthyphro is contradicting himself. That which is dear to the gods is dear to the gods because it is first loved of them, not because it is dear to them. But the pious or holy is loved by the gods because it is pious or holy. Which is the same as saying that it is loved by them because it is dear to them. Hisexplanation is going in circles. When asked again, Euthyphroresponds, â€Å"Piety is knowing how to please the Gods in word and deed, by prayers and sacrifice†Socrates responds by saying that it is a way of doing business between the gods andmen. You ask the gods what you can do and they tell you what they want you to do. Euthyphro has failed to show what pious is. I believe Socrates goal in the dialogue was to change his mind about prosecuting his father and to determine whether Euthypro’s definition of piety or impiety was sufficient enough toprosecute his own father for murderandto clear himself of his indictment. The features of the dialogue that led me to believe this was when Socrates asked, â€Å"Are you able to show your fatherguilty of murder orthat all the gods are agreed in approving of our prosecution of him. Then says to Euthyphro† If you had not certainly known the nature of piety and impiety, I am confident, you would not have charged your father with the murder† Euthyphro, then hurries away , I am thinking to save his father from being tried for murder. If Socrates knew the nature of piety and impiety he may have been able to clear himself ofMeletus and his indictment.

Marco in a View from a Bridge Essay

Give advice to an actor playing Marco on how he should present the character Marco is a character of two faces. At the beginning of the play, a grateful and respectful man is presented to the audience. He shakes Eddie’s hand, and makes it clear that he does not want to impose – ‘when you say go, we will go’. This is in stark contrast to the absolute lack of respect your character gives Eddie later in the story, and the more-so you can make this the better the reception will be from the audience. Marco is also quite a reserved character. When the two men first come to the house, Marco speaks only in short sentences, rarely elaborating on his point. However, he also seems to have a quiet authority and this is shown in stage directions when Eddie ‘is coming more and more to address Marco only’. This authority is also shown when Rodolpho starts to sing, saying ‘You’ll be quiet, Rodolpho.’ silencing his brother. This reservation is also shown in his realistic sense of mind, compared to his brother who has possibly unreachable dreams. He is also not as flamboyant or elaborate as his brother, who sings, cooks and sews; he is a ‘regular bull’. This makes others respect him and this sense of authority and strength needs to be portrayed. In the scene where Marco shows his strength by lifting the chair one-handed, the tables start to turn. The respect Marco once had for Eddie seems to have disappeared suddenly, as Marco menacingly holds the chair over Eddie’s head. On the surface, it looks as though he is protecting his brother, but the underlying reasons are mainly that by doing so, Marco has just proved Eddie’s inferiority. This enjoyment of feeling superior mixed with the defence of his brother makes Marco a fierce character in this scene, and a character that may have been shadowed in earlier scenes come to prominence in the play, and this continues in the later parts. The character then follows a vicious path of revenge after realising that is was Eddie that reported them to Immigration. Your character loses sympathy with the audience due to this, and as you lose sight of everything else – why you came to America, your family etc. – the seems to be no compassion in Marco. He not only wants to kill Eddie but humiliate him as much as possible in the process. Essentially, Marco is like Eddie. A formally caring man of his family, he is an honourable man who lacks the quality of forgiveness.

Porter's Five Forces Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Porter's Five Forces Model - Essay Example Even though we have better expertise in managing our hospitality business, banking is entirely a new business segment for us. So, before entering banking industry, it is necessary for us to analyze our business prospects in banking industry based on Porter’s five forces model. My organization’s management asked me to prepare a report about our business prospects in banking industry. This report analyses the strengths and weaknesses of our organization in doing banking business based on Porter’s Five Forces model. Banking industry and Porter’s Five Forces model According to Michael Porter, there are five competitive forces that may affect any organization doing business in any sector. These five forces are; Threat of substitute products, Threat of new entrants, Intense rivalry among existing players, Bargaining power of suppliers and Bargaining power of Buyers (Porter’s Five Forces Model, 2009). The figure given in the next page explains Porterâ€⠄¢s five forces theory. (Porter’s Five Forces Model, 2009) Even though our organization has a good brand value in the market, it should be noted that our brand value is in hospitality industry alone. ... In other words, competition in British banking industry is going to be toughened because of the potential entrants from overseas countries. The threats from substitute products are also growing day by day against banking industry all over the world and British banking industry is also not an exception. Substitute products are products which are entirely different from banking products, but capable of providing alternative options to the customers. For example, products such as mutual funds, insurance and term deposits are currently offered by many non-banking institutions. These non-banking institutions are offering attractive terms and conditions to the customers so that many of the customers are currently approaching these institutions for baking purposes. In short, the threat for banking industry is currently coming not only from the banking sector, but also from outside as well. Rivalry or competition is not a good market condition most of the firms like to have. In fact all the business firms like to establish monopoly in the market in order to control the price mechanisms. Monopoly is a market condition in which a single firm controls the entire market. Banking industry can never establish a monopoly in Britain because of the huge number of banking service providers in the market. In fact, banking is an industry in which rivalry exists at its best. Many new generation banks are currently raising stiff challenges to traditional public and private sector banks in Britain. Recent recession has destroyed the financial back bone of many of the prominent banks. Many prominent banks such as Lehman Brothers, bank of America were forced to close down and many others are struggling to stay in the market.

Postmodernism and Jean-Paul Sartre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Postmodernism and Jean-Paul Sartre - Essay Example The essay "Postmodernism and Jean-Paul Sartre" discovers postmodernism. Before modernism, there was a very distinct line which separated humans from machines. However, increasing industrialization has transformed us into automatons without feelings. Death was not an abstract thing as long as people remained people and acknowledged the value of social relationships. Transition into mere objects can be explained by increased industrialization which has made human life increasingly mechanical. A mechanical lifestyle has made us â€Å"lose touch with the pulse of life†. Postmodernism has not only introduced us to an absence of social relationships because we have gone beyond that. We have also lost ourselves. Through No Exit, Sartre forwards this argument that we abuse the right to gaze at others so much that we restrict their freedom in addition to objectifying them. All three damned souls in the play also are so infuriated with each other’s gaze upon themselves that they desperately look for mirrors or anything that could help them avoid the burning effect of gaze. It is claimed that in a postmodern life, â€Å"reality itself—i.e., what we have conventionally understood as real—is in a process of disappearance†. In the past, people were considered human beings. Now, they are gazed upon as objects. People are judgmental and they view others as objects. Such is the culture found around the globe in the current postmodern era in which we witness â€Å"the disappearance of the human, the social, and the real† .

Social Influence- Organization Behavior Case Study

Social Influence- Organization Behavior - Case Study Example   This is particularly true if the super-powerful leader becomes the organization’s brand, as observed in the case of Oprah Winfrey. Most stakeholders may, therefore, support the organization because of her presence and image and should these fade, the stakeholders would withdraw their support irrespective of the nature of a new leader. Another danger of a single super-powerful leader in an organization is limited room for growth of other leaders. This is because of actual lack of growth opportunities as the leader assumes most responsibility or because other leaders may feel inferior and shy away from assuming challenging responsibilities. Another potential danger of the arrangement is negative effects of inefficiencies of the powerful leader because such inefficiencies may go unchallenged, and the effects uncorrected. Since it is associated with centralized management, a single power center is likely to threaten advantages of decentralization such as high level of commitment and communication among employees (Gupta 138). Winfrey might ensure her succession through three strategies: rational persuasion, inspirational appeal, and consultation. Rational persuasion might help her to convince stakeholders that perceived power gap between her and other leaders is not real. In succeeding in this, Oprah might ensure that all stakeholders, especially other leaders in the organization, are acceptable and have equal opportunities to succeed her. This might also develop a sense of equality between her and other leaders to make the leaders acceptable should her personality fade or she leaves the organization. The inspirational appeal is another effective way in which Oprah might ensure effective succession because of possible effects of grooving new leaders who can rise to take her place and, like her, develop their own  brands that command an audience.  

Culture, End of Life and Evidence Based Practice Assignment

Culture, End of Life and Evidence Based Practice - Assignment Example We also use scientific theories to support our hypothesis. Using their findings, we tend to explore and add evidences to tailor their needs or the clinical problem. It is not easy to find research findings that would be of clinical significance to your study. Critical thinking skill is very much essential in finding the best evidence that would support your study. In addition, the researcher in evidence based practice always work on what they think would be of the best interests of the patient. They also used their clinical judgment in applying evidence to patient care. 2. Discuss the process of how current evidence is used to make clinical decisions. In using current evidence to make clinical decisions, evidence based practice follows a distinct process which are different from nursing research process or research utilization. First, researchers observe, recognize, and identify clinical problem. After identification of the clinical problem, researchers will gather researches that ar e of clinical significance to the present situations. When we speak of clinical significance, we can say that related literatures or studies the researchers have gathered came from the experts and have used scientific theories. Using their critical thinking, the researcher will synthesize all the evidence and will integrate all the findings from the expert to the patient input or current situation. ... PICO stands for Population, Intervention being tested, Comparison, and Outcome (Gerrish & Lacey, 2010, 69). PICO could be illustrated in the question that follows: â€Å"In an adult population, does taking virgin coconut oil (compared to not taking one) increase the level of good cholesterol?† The population is the adult population, taking virgin coconut oil is the intervention, comparison set-up are those adults who are not taking virgin coconut oil, while the projected outcome is the increased levels of good cholesterol. 4. Identify common complementary and alternative therapies used by clients based on culture. The use of complementary and alternative therapies has increased dramatically for the past decades. Complementary therapies refer to treatment approaches that can be used in conjunction with conventional medical therapies whereas; alternative therapies are treatment approaches that are not accepted by medical practice (Daniels, 2004, 812). The used of complementary-a lternative modalities (CAM) depend upon the culture of an individual. Sometimes, those therapies of Western origin are called complementary while those who do not are called alternative. For instance, the Ancient Greek culture viewed health as the balance of in all the dimensions of life and healing is administered primarily by trained priest-healers. In Chinese, Japanese, and Indian culture, health is viewed as the balance between mind, body, and spirit. They have this concept called â€Å"energy force† which is deeply rooted on their religious beliefs; examples of which include the Tao healing in Chinese and the Ayurveda in Hindu culture. Aside from religious affiliations, one can observe the emergence of Shaman

MGT WK5 ASSIGNENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MGT WK5 ASSIGNENT - Essay Example He feels that nervousness, uncertainty, and surprises characterise new recruits. Good orientation will help in answering questions that employees may have, and offer the necessary bonding needed between the employees and the leaders of the company, (Cheng 39). An orientation programme may determine the length and quality of individuals’ professional stay in a company. Poor orientation leads to high turnover and increased industrial accidents. However, orientation is an on-going process where the person in question continues to build on the knowledge about the job and the company. Training on the other hand involves actual performance of the job, where an employee gets a chance to perform a task under supervision. Different methods used in training an employee depends on the company policies and the size of the company. Most supervisors vested with the role of training use on the job training. During training a supervisor should not only pinpoint the mistakes made by the employee but should also praise them for the little efforts they make. This way, employees on training will be motivated to do the job correctly. A training supervisor should be open-minded towards the trainees and should avoid any kind of misconceptions. OJT is a large retail company that has seven outlets in the city. The biggest problem is to train the sales clerks, who represent the company to the public. In addition, understanding of the computerised cash register, interaction with customers, and product knowledge are key areas that a supervisor must really work on. The table below shows a three-day orientation and training programme for sales clerks. On arrival to the company Monday morning, the sales clerks will be welcomed to the company by the human resource manager, who will have them sign their contracts. The human resource manager will go ahead and explain to the sales clerks their major role of carrying the company’s image

International finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International finance - Essay Example This traditional system increased the necessity for the bankers to carefully evaluate the creditworthiness of debtors. However, as the years passed, a huge change was observed in the entire system of raising and borrowing funds. Under the new system it was observed that brokers started raising funds and lent it to the borrowers instead of the bankers. This particular process was termed as â€Å"originate and distribute model† wherein the brokers were paid depending upon the number of mortgages they sold to the borrowers. This in turn played a huge role in causing the financial crisis, as the brokers were not concerned whether the borrowers defaulted from the mortgage owing to limited liability in the transaction; instead they were only concerned about selling more number of mortgages. Consequently, the economies of numerous Asian and European nations were adversely affected by the US securitization system. For instance, there was a 4% fall in the GDP of Japan in the year 2009 wherein there was heavy decline in the overall industrial production of the nation due to which, its economy suffered largely. Thus, it was considered that one of the major causes for the financial crisis was due to the change in the U.S. mortgage industry (Allen and Carletti, 1-43). Global imbalances and the advent of the US housing bubble were also considered as a cause for the financial crisis being faced by the economy of various nations. It was believed that global imbalances resulted in bursting the US housing bubble, due to which, the global financial crisis occurred. Correspondingly, it is argued that the global imbalances was a result of economic policies framed in the East Asian regions, export-led development strategy, undervaluation of the exchange rate in China and accrual of global reserves that was driven by self-insurance purposes. Export-led development strategy was also considered as a cause due to the

Language Learning Activities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Language Learning Activities - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that the linkword method, on the other hand, involves using images to link a word in a learner’s first language with a word in the foreign language the learner is learning. For example if an English speaker is learning French the instructor would provide the learner with an image of the object and its English word, and then link it with a French word for the image. In Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition there are five main hypotheses used to understand the process of language acquisition/language learning. These hypotheses are the acquisition-learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the natural order hypothesis, the input hypothesis and the affective filter hypothesis. According to the paper these three methods have advantages and drawbacks. There are certain fundamental principles that ensure success of TPR as a learning activity during the process of language learning. These principles are built upon the second language acqu isition theory by Stephen Krashen. The first principle states a language can be learned easier when a student can be in a position to receive a lot of comprehensible input from the natural surrounding. Comprehensible input means something that is simply understandable through communication which Krashen commonly refers to as the communicative act. The second principle is that a language learner benefits greatly from a ‘silent period’ during the learning process. The silent period is the period when the learner tries to understand and to respond to language instructions without attempting to speak. The silent period is natural and language learners speak only when language has fully developed in their brain. A learner will undergo a process of learning where he/she just receives input but stays for a certain period of time before they can speak the language.

Tower Cranes Essay Example for Free

Tower Cranes Essay Force Force can be defined as that which causes a mass to accelerate. Force has common units of pounds force (lbs) or Newtons ? Acceleration (F=MÂ ·A). In other words 1 Newton is the force required to accelerate 1 kilogram by 1 m/sec2, or 1 pound force is the force required to accelerate 1 slug by 1 foot/ sec2. You will notice that the imperial unit for force is pounds force and not just pounds. There is a common inaccuracy in our language that is only really important when talking about physics. The word weight truly refers to a force – this is why your weight on the moon is not the same as your weight on earth. To fully understand this we need to dissect the mathematical meaning behind the force term. Two components go into calculating a force; the first is mass, the second is acceleration. What is mass? Mass is the amount of stuff present in a given sample, lets say a person. A person’s mass will be the same whether on earth or the moon – in both places that person is made up of the same amount of stuff. Mass has two common units; kilograms (kg) and slugs. So a person might have a mass of 70 kg or 4. 78 slugs. For the example of weight, or the downward static force exerted by an object, the acceleration of interest is the acceleration due to gravity. The acceleration due to gravity can be defined as the pull one object exerts on another. For this pull to be felt, one of the objects has to be extremely massive. For most people the most massive object they will encounter is the earth. The acceleration due to gravity on the earth is 9. meters/sec2 or 32. 2 feet/sec2. So a person on earth might weigh (70kg x 9. 8m/sec2) = 686 Newtons or (4. 78 slugs x 32. 2 feet/sec2) = 154 lbs. On the moon the same person will weigh (70kg x 1. 62 m/sec2) = 113 Newtons or (4. 78 slugs x 5. 32 ft/ sec2) = 25 lbs. So when a person says they weigh 154 lbs they are being true to physics, but when they say they weigh 154 kg, they’re actually referring to their mass. As a further twist, it’s also interesting to note that the acceleration due to gravity changes with altitude. So your weight at sea level will be slightly different that your weight at the top of a mountain (Newton’s law of gravitation Fg = G ? gravitational constant). ? kg ? m ? . The equation used to mathematically define force is Force = Mass x 2 ? ? sec ? m1 ? m2 , where G is the r2 Stress Stress is defined as force per unit area and has the common units of Pounds force per Square Inch (psi) or Pascals (Pa) (a Pascal is a Newton per square meter or kg/m sec2). In construction there are five basic types of stress which concern engineers. These are bending, tensile, compressive, shear, and torsional stress (see picture below). For the purpose of building Popsicle stick bridges we are really only interested in bending, compression, and tensile stresses. When we take a close look at bending we’ll see that it is just a combination of tensile and compressive stresses. Of these three types of stress tensile is perhaps the easiest to measure. As a result engineers will take samples of material and, using special machines, subject them to higher and higher tensile loads until they break. By dividing the force at which the sample breaks by the cross sectional area of the sample the materials Ultimate Tensile Stress (UTS) can be determined. The ultimate tensile stress is given the symbol ? (Greek letter sigma), and essentially represents the strength of a material. For comparisons sake a sample of plain carbon steel might have a UTS of 50,000 psi, while pine (which is what Popsicle sticks are made of) might have a UTS of 1,000 psi. It is important to recognize that UTS is not the only important consideration when selecting a material, but material selection is a bit outside the scope of this summary. Let’s take a closer look at tension and compression. Tension is the stress an element experiences when exposed to a pulling force. To get a feeling for tension think about a piece of string. String can only experience tension; it is not able to resist pushing or bending. Compression is the opposite of tension; it’s the stress an element experiences when exposed to a pushing force. Sand is an example of a substance which can only experience compression. A column of sand can support a large load, but is unable to resist any pulling force. As most materials have different tensile and compressive loading potentials, it is important to know what sort of forces will be exerted on every member in a building or bridge. Bending combines both tensile and compressive forces in a single element. To demonstrate this, take a look at the picture below. It’s pretty obvious from this picture that bending puts one face into tension while the other is in compression. It also logically follows from this conclusion that at some point between the two faces there must be a point where there is no tension or compression. This point is called the neutral axis. The mass of material above and below the neutral axis will always be equal. So in a symmetrical member the neutral axis will be along the midline, but will not necessarily be along the midline in an irregularly shaped member. This simple concept of leverage can be used to explain several more complex concepts in structural engineering. The first is why it’s easier to break a Popsicle stick when it’s bent on its flat side as opposed to its edge. To explain this we have to explain the concept of leverage. This one is pretty simple and can easily be demonstrated by the classroom door. Leverage (also called moment or torque) occurs when a force is applied to an object which can rotate about a pivot point. In the case of the classroom door the pivot is the hinge and the force applied comes from the person wanting to open the door. In the case of bending a Popsicle stick the pivot is the neutral axis and the force we’re concerned with is the tension or compression on the outside faces. Moment is calculated by multiplying the force applied by the distance from the point of force application to the pivot. If you increase the applied force, or the distance from the pivot point, the moment increases. That’s why door handles are put as far from the hinge as possible – we make the distance from the point of force application to the pivot point as large as possible, that way a small applied force will create a large moment. So the Popsicle stick is harder to break when bent on edge because we’ve increased the distance from the neutral axis to the point of maximum force. Explain the difference between tensile, bending, and compressive forces with examples of the equations used to calculate each. Explain truss elements and why they are a superior way of building a bridge. Sample FEM output for simple bridge design o Calculate the amount of popsicle sticks required to make a simple beam with the same strength as a truss element. Hints on building a strong bridge o Truss o Strength comes from the Popsicle sticks, not the glue – but well glued joints are a must. Additional information: http://andrew. triumf. ca/andrew/popsicle-bridge/ http://www. eir. ca/resources/presentations/Bridges%20-%20By%20Doug%20Knight. doc

Acc 422 final exams Essay Example for Free

Acc 422 final exams Essay 1) Which of the following is NOT considered cash for financial reporting purposes? 2) What is the preferable presentation of accounts receivable from officers, employees, or affiliated companies on a balance sheet? 3) Which of the following is considered cash? 4) If a company employs the gross method of recording accounts receivable from customers, then sales discounts taken should be reported as 5) Assuming that the ideal measure of short-term receivables in the balance sheet is the discounted value of the cash to be received in the future, failure to follow this practice usually does NOT make the balance sheet misleading because 6) Which of the following methods of determining annual bad debt expense best achieves the matching concept? 7) The accountant for the Orion Sales Company is preparing the income statement for 2007 and the balance sheet at December 31, 2007. Orion uses the periodic inventory system. The January 1, 2007 merchandise inventory balance will appear 8) Eller Co. received merchandise on consignment. As of January 31, Eller included the goods in inventory, but did NOT record the transaction. The effect of this on its financial statements for January 31 would be 9. If the beginning inventory for 2006 is overstated, the effects of this error on cost of goods sold for 2006, net income for 2006, and assets at December 31, 2007, respectively, are 10) Assuming no beginning inventory, what can be said about the trend of inventory prices if cost of goods sold computed when inventory is valued using the FIFO method exceeds cost of goods sold when inventory is valued using the LIFO method? 11) Which method of inventory pricing best approximates specific identification of the actual flow of costs and units in most manufacturing situations? 12) All of the following costs should be charged against revenue in the period in which costs are incurred EXCEPT for 13) In no case can market in the lower-of-cost-or-market rule be more than 14) When the direct method is used to record inventory at market 15) An item of inventory purchased this period for $15.00 has been incorrectly written down to its current replacement cost of $10.00. It sells during the following period for $30.00, its normal selling price, with disposal costs of $3.00 and normal profit of $12.00. Which of the following statements is NOT true? 16) The retail inventory method is based on the assumption that the 17) A major advantage of the retail inventory method is that it 18) In 2006, Lucas Manufacturing signed a contract with a supplier to purchase raw materials in 2007 for $700,000. Before the December 31, 2006 balance sheet date, the market price for these materials dropped to $510,000. The journal entry to record this situation at December 31, 2006 will result in a credit that should be reported 19) The cost of land typically includes the purchase price and all of the following costs EXCEPT 20) Cotton Hotel Corporation recently purchased Holiday Hotel and the land on which it is located with the plan to tear down the Holiday Hotel and build a new luxury hotel on the site. The cost of the Holiday Hotel should be 21) If a corporation purchases a lot and building and subsequently tears down the building and uses the property as a parking lot, the proper accounting treatment of the cost of the building would depend on 22) The period of time during which interest must be capitalized ends w hen 23) Which of the following assets do NOT qualify for capitalization of interest costs incurred during construction of the assets? 24) When computing the amount of interest cost to be capitalized, the concept of avoidable interest refers to 25) The King-Kong Corporation exchanges one plant asset for a similar plant asset and gives cash in the exchange. The exchange is NOT expected to cause a material change in the future cash flows for either entity. If a gain on the disposal of the old asset is indicated, the gain will 26) When a plant asset is acquired by issuance of common stock, the cost of the plant asset is properly measured by the 27) The cost of a nonmonetary asset acquired in exchange for another nonmonetary asset and the exchange has commercial substance is usually recorded at 28) Which of the following principles best describes the conceptual rationale for the methods of matching depreciation expense with revenues? 29) If an industrial firm uses the units-of-production method for computing depreciation on its only plant asset, factory machinery, the credit to accumulated depreciation from period to pe riod during the life of the firm will 30) Which of the following most accurately reflects the concept of depreciation as used in accounting? 31) Prentice Company purchased a depreciable asset for $200,000. The estimated salvage value is $20,000, and the estimated useful life is 10 years. The straight-line method will be used for depreciation. What is the depreciation base of this asset? 32) Harrison Company purchased a depreciable asset for $100,000. The estimated salvage value is $10,000, and the estimated useful life is 10 years. The straight-line method will be used for depreciation. What is the depreciation base of this asset? 33) Starr Company purchased a depreciable asset for $150,000. The estimated salvage value is $10,000, and the estimated useful life is 8 years. The double-declining balance method will be used for depreciation. What is the depreciation expense for the second year on this asset? 34) Costs incurred internally to create intangibles are 35) Factors considered in determining an intangible asset’s useful life include all of the following EXCEPT 36) The cost of purchasing patent rights for a product that might otherwise have seriously competed with one of the purchasers patented products should be 37) Malrom Manufacturing Company acquired a patent on a manufacturing process on January 1, 2006 for $10,000,000. It was expected to have a 10 year life and no residual value. Malrom uses straight-line amortization for patents. On December 31, 2007, the expected future cash flows expected from the patent were expected to be $800,000 per year for the next eight years. The present value of these cash flows, discounted at Malrom’s market interest rate, is $4,800,000. At what amount should the patent be carried on the December 31, 2007 balance sheet? 38) Mining Company acquired a patent on an oil extraction technique on January 1, 2006 for $5,000,000. It was expected to have a 10 year life and no residual value. Min ing uses straight-line amortization for patents. On December 31, 2007, the expected future cash flows expected from the patent were expected to be $600,000 per year for the next eight years. The present value of these cash flows, discounted at Mining’s market interest rate, is $2,800,000. At what amount should the patent be carried on the December 31, 2007 balance sheet? 39) General Products Company bought Special Products Division in 2006 and appropriately booked $250,000 of goodwill related to the purchase. On December 31, 2007, the fair value of Special Products Division is $2,000,000 and it is carried on General Product’s books for a total of $1,700,000, including the goodwill. An analysis of Special Products Division’s assets indicates that goodwill of $200,000 exists on December 31, 2007. What goodwill impairment should be recognized by General Products in 2007? 40) The intangible asset goodwill may be 41) The reason goodwill is sometimes referred to as a master valuation account is because 42) Goodwill 43) If a short-term obligation is excluded from current liabilities because of refinancing, the footnote to the financial statements describing this event should include all of the following information EXCEPT 44) Stock dividends distributable should be classified on the 45) Which of the following items is a current liability? 46) A company offers a cash rebate of $1 on each $4 package of light bulbs sold during 2007. Historically, 10% of customers mail in the rebate form. During 2007, 4,000,000 packages of light bulbs are sold, and 140,000 $1 rebates are mailed to customers. What is the rebate expense and liability, respectively, shown on the 2007 financial statements dated December 31? 47) A company offers a cash rebate of $1 on each $4 package of batteries sold during 2007. Historically, 10% of customers mail in the rebate form. During 2007, 6,000,000 packages of batteries are sold, and 210,000 $1 rebates are mailed to customers. What is the rebate expense and liability, respectively, shown on the 2007 financial statements dated December 31? 48) A company buys an oil rig for $1,000,000 on January 1, 2007. The life of the rig is 10 years and the expected cost to dismantle the rig at the end of 10 years is $200,000 (present value at 10% is $77,110). 10% is an appropriate interest rate for this company. What expense should be recorded for 2007 as a result of these events? 49) A contingency can be accrued when 50) Mark Ward is a farmer who owns land which borders on the right-of-way of the Northern Railroad. On August 10, 2007, due to the admitted negligence of the Railroad, hay on the farm was set on fire and burned. Ward had had a dispute with the Railroad for several years concerning the ownership of a small parcel of land. The representative of the Railroad has offered to assign any rights which the Railroad may have in the land to Ward in exchange for a release of his right to reimbursement for the loss he has sustained from the fire. Ward appears inclined to accept the Railroads offer. The Railroads 2007 financial statements should include the following related to the incident: 51) Which of the following contingencies need NOT be disclosed in the financial statements or the notes thereto? 52) The covenants and other terms of the agreement between the issuer of bonds and the lender are set forth in the 53) If bonds are issued initially at a premium and the effective-interest method of amortization is used, interest expense in the earlier years will be 54) Bonds that pay no interest unless the issuing company is profitable are called 55) Minimum lease payments may include a 56) An essential element of a lease conveyance is that the 57) While only certain leases are currently accounted for as a sale or purchase, there is theoretic justification for considering all leases to be sales or purchases. The principal reason that supports this idea is that 58) In the earlier years of a lease, from the lessees perspective, the use of the 59) In a lease that is appropriately recorded as a direct-financing lease by the lessor, unearned income 60) In order to properly record a direct-financing lease, the lessor needs to know how to calculate the lease receivable. The lease receivable in a direct-financing lease is best defined as

Vascular Reactivity in Hypertension

Vascular Reactivity in Hypertension Vascular Reactivity in Hypertension Introduction High blood pressure (hypertension) is one of the most important preventable causes of morbidity and premature death in the world. The major risk factor for ischemic and myocardial infarction, heart failure, chronic renal failure, premature death, cognitive decline and hemorrhagic stroke is hypertention. Untreated hypertension is usually associated with a progressive increase of blood pressure. Vascular and kidney it can cause lead to a was resistant to treatment Blood pressure is normally distributed in the population and not cut from the natural point above which hypertension is certainly and below which it is not. The associated risk with the increase in blood pressure is continuously, with each increase of 2 mmHg in systolic blood pressure associated with an increased risk of 7% of deaths from ischemic heart disease and 10% increased risk of stroke mortality. Hypertension is very common in the UK and prevalence is strongly influenced by age. In any individual, systolic and / or diastolic pressure can be high. Diastolic pressure increases more frequently in younger people 50. With age, systolic hypertension is becoming a bigger problem because of progressive stiffening and loss of performance of large arteries. At least a quarter of adults (And more than half of those over 60) have high blood pressure. Hypertension’s clinical management is one of the most common interventions in primary education care, representing about 1 million pounds in just 2006 drug costs. The guideline will accept that prescribers will use a summary of the drug product characteristics to inform decisions with individual patients. This guide recommends drugs for indications where lack of marketing in the world approval on the date of publication, if there is good evidence to support this use. Where recommendations were made for the use of drugs outside their approved indications (off label use ), these drugs are marked with a note in the recommendations. What is hypertension? Before understanding on hypertension, we must have a clear idea on blood pressure. It is the force exerted on artery walls when the heart pumps blood through the circulatory system. Rhythmic contractions of the left ventricle, results in cyclical changes in blood pressure. During ventricular systole, the heart pumps blood through the circulatory system, and the pressure in the arteries is at its highest level; this is called the systolic blood pressure. During diastole, the blood pressure in the system decreases and the diastolic blood pressure (1). Systolic and mean diastolic pressure during the cardiac cycle is the weighted average blood pressure over time; this is called the mean arterial pressure. The alternation of systolic and diastolic creates external and internal motions of the arterial walls, which are perceived as arterial pulsation. Pulse pressure is the difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Blood pressure is regulated by: Central factors; the factors that affect the heart Cardiac output. Heart rate. Peripheral factors: the factors that affect the blood vessels Diameter of blood vessels- Blood pressure is inversely proportional to the diameter of blood vessels. When the diameter is reduced, the peripheral resistance of elevated blood pressure is increased. Blood vessels, especially arterioles are always in a state partially limited due to vasomotor tone. Blood volume Venous return Velocity of blood flow Elasticity of blood vessels Peripheral resistance- Important that keeps this is the diastolic arterial pressure factor. Diastolic pressure is directly proportional to the peripheral resistance Hypertension is high blood pressure. The force of the blood is blood pressure against the walls of arteries as it flows there through. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the body tissues. A normal systolic blood pressure less than 140 mm Hg: normal diastolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg Persistent increase in systemic blood pressure is known as hypertension. Clinically, when systolic blood pressure is above 150 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure rises above 90 mmHg, assuming the pressure.(1) Type of hypertension Hypertension has two major types. Primary hypertension Secondary hypertension, Primary hypertension Primary (essential) hypertension is the most common form of hypertension, which represents 90 to 95% of all cases of hypertension. In almost all contemporary societies, the increase in blood pressure with age and the risk of becoming hypertensive adults is appreciable. Hypertension results from a complex interaction of genes and environmental factors. Many common with little effect on genetic variations in blood pressure have been identified as well as some rare genetic variants with large effects on blood pressure but the genetic basis of hypertension is still poorly understood. Several environmental factors influence blood pressure. The lifestyle that lower blood pressure include reducing salt intake in the diet, increased consumption of fruit and low-fat (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)) exercise weight loss and reduced alcohol consumption. Stress seems to play a minor role with specific relaxation techniques not supported by the witness. The possible role of other factors such as caffeine, and vitamin D deficiency is less clear. Insulin resistance, which is common in obesity and is a component of Syndrome X (or Metabolic Syndrome), it is also believed to contribute to hypertension. Recent studies have also implicated in early life events (eg, low birth weight, maternal smoking and lack of breastfeeding) as risk factors for essential hypertension adults although the mechanisms linking this adult hypertension remain obscure exhibitions. Essential hypertension Essential hypertension has a multifactorial etiology Genetic factors Blood pressure tends to run in families and children of hypertensive parents tend to have high blood pressure. Children and parents of the same age with normal blood pressure. Fetal factors Subsequent hypertension pressure associate with low birth weight Environmental factors Among the many environmental factors that have been proposed, the following seems to be the most important: Obesity Alcohol intake Sodium intake Stress Humoral mechanisms The renin-angiotensin system and the autonomic nervous system, and the natriuretic peptide system, kallikrein-kinin plays a role in the physiological regulation of short term Changes in blood pressure and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension. Insulin resistance An association between diabetes and hypertension has a long syndrome was recognized and described in hyperinsulinemia, glucose intolerance, reduced levels of HDL cholesterol hypertriglyceridemia and central obesity in association hypertension. Secondary hypertension Secondary hypertension is where the elevation of blood pressure is the result of a specific and potentially treatable cause. Secondary forms of hypertension are: Endocrine hypertension: This develops due to hyperactivity of endocrine glands as some Conns syndrome Cushings syndrome adrenal hyperplasia Neurogenic hypertension: Disorders of the nervous system that produce hypertension are Increased intracranial pressure Sectioning of nerve fibers from carotid sinus Renal hypertension: Renal diseases that cause hypertension are diabetic nephropathy chronic glomerulonephritis chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis Hypertension during pregnancy: The arterial blood pressure is increased by the low glomerular filtration rate and retention of sodium and water. Cardiovascular hypertension: This occurs due to cardiovascular disorders such as, Atherosclerosis : hardening of blood vessels coarctation of aorta : narrowing of aorta Drugs: There are many medications that cause or aggravate hypertension. NSAIDs, oralcontraceptives, steroids, carbenoxolone, liquorice, sympathomimetic and vasopressin. Experimental hypertension Hypertension can be produced in practical animals by various methods. Can be produced by, Clamping the renal artery Denervation of baroreceptors in carotid sinus and aortic arch Injections of corticosteroids Infusion of salts with aldosterone Manifestation of hypertension Left ventricular failure Renal failure Cerebral hemorrhage Retinal hemorrhage Treatments for hypertension Primary hypertension can be controlled but not cured. Secondary hypertension but is cured by treatment of hypertension in the cause of disease. Different types of antihypertensive drugs are given. Diuretics: Cause diuresis and reduce the volume of extracellular fluid and blood. So blood pressure is decreased Vasodilators: Cause vasodilation reducing the blood pressure. Inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme: Blood pressure is reduced due to formation of angiotensin is blocked. Beta blockers: Beta blockers block the sympathetic beta receptors. Thus, cardiac output is reduced. Inhibits vasoconstriction leading to drop in blood pressure. Calcium channel blockers: Calcium channel in the myocardium are blocked by these drugs reduce myocardial contractility. Cardiac output to the drop in blood pressure is reduced (3). What is the vascular reactivity? Vascular reactivity is essential in vascular function that allows the circulatory system to respond to physiological and pharmacological stimuli which require adjustment of blood flow and the vascular tone and diameter. Vascular reactivity occurs in two modes. Reactivity are vasoconstrictor and vasodilator reactivity. These forms may be exposed to levels both microvascular and macrovascular. Vascular reactivity in hypertension Vascular reactivity in humans has been studied in many different conditions with a variety of methods. The most effective methods use either intra-arterial or intravenous infusion after inhibition of sympathetic outflow and interpret the changes in flow and pressure in terms of work instead of vasoconstriction of resistance. Using these methods, the vascular reactivity to various substances, including norepinephrine and angiotensin II has been found to be increased in essential hypertension, but not in various types of renal hypertension. Some studies have shown that alpha-methyldopa, guanethidine and increased vascular reactivity, although lower blood pressure. Glucocorticoids increase reactivity in normotensive subjects, but not in patients with essential hypertension. Aldosterone and salt increased vascular reactivity, especially in hypertensive patients, but slightly in normotensive individuals (2). Vascular reactivity to different vasopressors has been extensively studied in different types of hypertension in experimental animals. The mechanisms underlying this hyper-responsiveness and its role in the development of hypertension are unclear. But, it has been suggested that high blood pressure may induce structural changes in the vessel wall adaptation, resulting in an increase of the wall: lumen ratio. This could responsible for the increase in vascular reactivity vasoconstrictors stimuli (4). Increased vascular reactivity in hypertension occurs in response to a variety of vasoconstrictor agents, epinephrine, norepinephrine, posterior pituitary extracts, tyramine and renin. Exposure to stress increases sympathetic outflow, and vasoconstriction induced stress can lead to vascular hypertrophy, which leads to progressive increases in peripheral resistance and blood pressure is repeated. People with a family history of hypertension and sympathetic vasoconstrictor obvious stressors increased laboratory tests such as cold and mental stress responses(5). Vascular reactivity to endothelin in hypertensive patients Endothelin is a potent vasoconstrictor substance as produced by the cardiovascular system. Therefore, a pathophysiological role of this peptide has been proposed under these conditions, such as hypertension, characterized by the increased vascular tone. The vasoconstrictor response to endothelin-1 is slightly higher in hypertensive patients than in normal subjects. There is an increase of the activity of the vascular endothelin in patients with essential hypertension, which may be the pathophysiological relevance to their increased vascular tone (6).à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™ Vascular reactivity to catecholamine in hypertensive patients In hereditary essential hypertension, vascular reactivity is increased to vasoactive substances which act on the vascular sympathetic neuronal receptor complex and. Since this increase in reactivity is present in early disease progression and even pre-essential hypertension and associated with certain abnormal metabolism of catecholamines, this is probably an etiological factor. Inherited hypertension is probably caused by an abnormal gene or genes produce an abnormal protein or proteins that directly or indirectly affect sympathetic neural and systemic vascular contractile receptor sites (7). Established in human hypertension, baroreceptor mechanisms remain active. But the blood pressure is maintained at a high level again in place of the normal blood pressure. This process is known as reset baroreceptor. The upward adjustment of these baroreceptors occurs not only in the primary or essential hypertension, high blood pressure, but also secondary to renal disease or other types. In most patients with established hypertension, catecholamine excretion is within normal limits so that if the neurological part kept the blood pressure is increased in pressure, is probably the result of an increased effect activity nerve rather than an increase in the activity itself. This could occur by an increase in the sensitivity of the blood vessels to the endogenous norepinephrine produced by the sympathetic nerve endings. The hypertensive patients have a significantly greater response to norepinephrine than normal subjects. There are a number of possible relationships between increased vascular reactivity and high blood pressure. An important preliminary to elucidating the significance of the altered vascular reactivity is to determine whether it represents a metabolic or a structural vascular abnormality, which causes high blood pressure, or whether it is one of the ways in which a rise in blood pressure, initiated by some other mechanism, becomes an established change (8). After administrating norepinephrine to the patients with essential hypertension, it has been proven that the initial constriction of vessels is greater in hypertensive individuals than in normotensive individual. Hypertensive patients had a significantly higher response to norepinephrine than normal subjects. There are a number of possible relationships between increased vascular reactivity and high blood pressure. An important preliminary to elucidate the importance of altered vascular reactivity is whether it represents a metabolic abnormality or structural vascular, causing high blood pressure, or is one of the means by which an increase in blood pressure he started by another mechanism, becomes a set rate . After the administration of norepinephrine in patients with essential hypertension, it has been shown that constriction of blood vessels is higher than initial hypertensive than in normotensive subjects(9) . Reference Paul A. Iaizzo. Hand book of cardiac anatomy, physiology, and devices. Totowa: Humana Press; 2005. p. 181-182 Kim E. Barrett, Susan M. Barman, Scott Boitano, Heddwen L. Brooks. Ganong’s review of medical physiology. 24th ed. New Delhi: McGraw-Hill; 2012. p. 590-592 Kumar Clark Clinical medicine 6E (857-864) A. E. Doyle, J. R. E. Fraser. Vascular reactivity in hypertension. Journal of the American heart association. 1961; vol 9: 755-761 Milton Mendlowitz. Vascular reactivity in essential and renal hypertension in man. American heart journal.1967; vol 73. Issue 1: 121-128 and Milton Mendlowitz. Vascular reactivity in systemic arterial hypertension. American heart journal.1973vol 85.issue 2: 252-259 B. K. Bhattacharya, N. K. Dadkar, A. N. Dohadwalla. Vascular reactivity of perfused vascular bed in spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive rats. Br. J. pharmac.1977;59:243-246 Carmine Cardillo, Crescence M. Kilcoyne, Myron Waclawiw, Richard O. Cannon, Julio A. Panza. Role of endothelin in the increased vascular tone of patients with essential hypertension. American heart association.1998.vol 65. James Conway. Vascular reactivity in experimental hypertension measured after hexmethonium. Journal of the American heart association.1958; 17:807-810

Film Versions of Shakespeare Comedies Essay example -- Twelfth Night M

Film Versions of Shakespeare Comedies Shakespearean plays are complex, intricate pieces of work in which a diverse range of interpretations and readings can be made. This is particularly true of his comedies, where the light-hearted humour is often offset by darker, more serious undertones. In adapting these comedies it is for the director – in the cinematic context – to decide how to interpret the play and which elements are privileged and which are suppressed. This variance in interpretation is exemplified in comparing two of the more recent cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare’s comedies, Trevor Nunn’s Twelfth Night and Kenneth Branagh’s A Much Ado About Nothing [‘Much Ado’]. Although both films can to an extent be seen as comedies with serious, almost tragic aspects inherent throughout, Nunn’s film deals with these serious facets as central to the depiction, whereas Branagh, although not entirely ignoring the deeper issues, prefers a more light-hearted and visual ly attractive adaptation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Twelfth Night has been described as ‘like Hamlet in a comic vein’ . In terms of Shakespearean chronology, the bittersweet edge to the play and the fact that it is essentially a comedy with the dark, sometimes disturbing elements, has been linked with the playwright’s movement toward the genre of tragedy. The range of filmic adaptations of the play illustrates the variation in the interpretation of Shakespeare’s work, with the dark edge often failing to make the transition to screen. However this is not the case with Nunn’s Twelfth Night, which achieves this exploration of the serious essentially through his interpretation of some of the play’s principal characters including Malvolio, Feste and Maria. Malvolio's character is significant to Nunn’s adaptation in many respects with it initially appearing that Malvolio brings an air of respectability and chastity to the film. However his essential flaws and his inability to recognise the reality of people's feelings, including Olivia's, remove him from the position of moral overseer to a simple player in the game of love. Malvolio's error is related to his self-perceptions and his consideration of his own self-importance, rather than his caring and compassion for his mistress Olivia. Malvolio’s function in this film is to serve as a comedic contrast to the merry-makers, as well as a vital reminder to Feste t... ... provides glimpses of these issues, yet valorises a light-hearted, aesthetic approach to the text as a whole. Works Cited: Brode Douglas. Shakespeare in the Movies: From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love. Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 97-99. Cartmell, B. Interpreting Shakespeare on Screen. (2000). Cuppit, C. â€Å"Double Trouble: A Discussion of Trevor Nunn’s film adaptation of Twelfth Night.† Fine Line Features. Twelfth Night. Home Page. 2003 http://www.finelinefeatures.com/twelfth/ Accessed 28/5/03 Fine Line Features. â€Å"Trevor Nunn – Director.† About the Filmmakers. 2003 http://www.finelinefeatures.com/twelfth/filmbios.htm Greif, K â€Å"Plays ad Playing in Twelfth Night†, in Modern Critical Interpretations: William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, (1987). Marshall, K. â€Å"How do you solve a problem like Maria?: A Problematic (re)interpretation of Maria in Trevor Nunn’s Twelfth Night.† Literature-Film Quarterly 30, no. 3 (2002): p. 219. Richard, R. â€Å"Much Ado About Branagh†. Commentary 96(4) (1993) Sheppard, P. â€Å"Intercutting in Trevor Nunn’s Twelfth Night†. Literature Film Quarterly 30, No. 3 (2002)

The Failure of the Pony Express Communication System in America :: American America History

The Failure of the Pony Express Communication System in America A race from the start, a rider jumped to the back of his fresh pony and bolted from the station, sweating and tired, but always knowing the mail must go through, the young boy spurred the pony on as the station keepers watched the dust rise under the feet of the United States fastest mail transport†¦ Genghis Khan is often credited with the idea of a Pony Express, more however a relay then a mail service. He began the horse relay for provisions, using a station every 40 miles, then there was William â€Å"Lightfoot† Visscher, who’s credited with working the mail into the idea. He was a rider from a Boston paper, and used ponies to run for news (Bloss 13). And all the while the United States was growing, with it grew the demand for communication between east and west. Having received assurances that fast communication from the Missouri River to California would be well patronized, three early stagecoach men, Senator W.M. Gwin, Alexander Majors, and Daniel E. Phelps, made preparations for the inauguration of the new service. Six hundred broncos, especially chosen for fleetness, toughness, and endurance, were purchased. Seventy-five men, none of them weighing over one hundred and ten pounds, were engaged as riders, being selected on account of their bravery, their capacity for deprivation and their horsemanship, as well as for their shooting abilities and their knowledge of the craft and the manner of attack of the Indians (When 1). While the pony express founded the postal system and played a significant role in communication, it was doomed for failure, due to Indian warfare; hazards on the trail; and the economics, politics, and corruption within the system. Indian warfare presented a large amount of turmoil for the Pony Express. Wars often broke out between settlements, and tribes, causing hardships to the riders. Some Indian tribes believed there was â€Å"magic† in the mochillas (leather pouches carrying the mail), which explained why the ponies they chose were so fast (Adams 86). More often then not, the wagon trains traveling west, would open fire on defenseless Indians, killing and wounding them, and creating more havoc for the express riders traveling from east to west and vice versa (Adams 88). More havoc and turmoil between the two groups was created when cases of slave labor were brought to light.

Federal Preemption of Class III Medical Devices Receiving Premarket App

Federal Preemption of Class III Medical Devices receiving premarket approval Case in Review Court rulings have held that the preemption clause included in the Medical devices act of 1976 protects class III medical devices which have been approved through the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) premarket approval process (PMA) from litigation. Injured parties have no means to seek relief from device manufacturers for injuries sustained due to the use of a class III medical device receiving PMA. Overview of the FDA and Medical devices act of 1976: Congress created the Food and Drug Administration in 1938 under a statute known as the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Under the 1938 act, the FDA could not prevent medical devices from entering the market but they could remove unsafe devices from the marketplace. The FDA believed that those same powers given to regulation of drugs should be extended to medical devices to ensure public safety. The Medical devices act of 1976 granted oversight and approval of medical devices to the FDA as a logical extension of duties already provided under previous legislation. The act provided for three classes of medical devices, levels I, II and III. Devices classified under level III were given the most rigorous level of testing and review due to the fact that these devices could produce the greatest level of harm. Level III devices are the only class of devices that are subject to premarket approval which requires manufacturers to submit information related to the safety and effectiveness of their devices for FDA review and approval. The Medical devices act of 1976 included a preemption clause over state law to ensure the federal statutes held supremacy over any state statut... ...mble_fda_final_rule.php>. "Medical Devices." U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. . Miller, Roger Leroy, and William Eric Hollowell. Business Law. Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. "The Development of the Medical Device Amendments | MDDI Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry News Products and Suppliers." MDDI Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry News Products and Suppliers. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2012. . measure, the most plausible, [PDUFA] did not, and in. "Project FDA Report 1 | In the Wake of Wyeth v. Levine: Making the Case for FDA Preemption and Administrative Compensation." Manhattan Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. .

Civilize Them With A Stick

1) Study Guide Questions for Test #1To Prepare for Test #1, I recommend that you write down your responses to the following questions. You do not have to turn this assignment in for credit. If you are unclear about the answers after reading the chapters, contact me. If you'd like me to look over your answers before your test, email them to me. This assignment is designed to help you prepare for the test. You will only be tested on material that relates to the study guide questions: Chapter 1 Study Guide Questions:1. Define and describe sociology. 2. Describe the sociological imagination and apply the sociological imagination to one aspect of your own life. 3. Define and distinguish the macro and micro levels of social life. 4. Describe and distinguish the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist theoretical perspectives. Explain how each perspective would attempt to understand a college degree. Obedience Video Study Guide Questions:1. Describe Milgram’s experiment, his research findings, and your own reaction to the video. 2. Discuss ways in which the findings of the Milgram experiment relate to things that occur in the real world. 3. In what way did proximity to the subject affect obedience? In what way did proximity to the authority figure influence obedience? How did groups influence obedience? (hint: variations are shown at the end of the video) 4. What are the independent variable(s) and dependent variable(s) in the study (Chapter 2 of the textbook defines these terms). 5. What was the operational definition of obedience (Chapter 2 defines this term) Chapter 2 Study Guide Questions:1. Define objectivity and explain why it is important2. Describe the 6 steps of the scientific method and be prepared to assess whether or not the scientific method has been followed in an exam question that provides your with a research study to assess.3. Define operational definition. Be prepared to identify and assess the validity of an operational definiti on in an exam question that provides you with  information about a research study.4. Define and distinguish independent, dependent, and control variables. Be prepared to identify and distinguish independent and dependent variables in an exam question that provides you with information about a research study.5. Explain the difference between correlation and a causal relationship between variables.6. Define and distinguish validity and reliability.7. Define sample and explain the importance of a random sample. Be prepared to identify sampling issues and discuss the importance of a random sample in an exam question that provides you with information about a research study.8. Briefly describe and be prepared to identify the following research methods: survey, experiment, field research and secondary data analysis.9. Distinguish mean, median and mode. Explain why the median income in the U.S. is a better measure of the â€Å"middle value† than the mean (hint: consider the impact of incomes such as that of OprahWinfrey, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on an average).Chapter 3 Study Guide Questions:1. Define culture. 2. Define and distinguish material and non-material culture. 3. Define and distinguish norms and values. 4. Describe the types of norms (mores and folkways). Provide one example of the different types of norms that relate to your own life. 5. Define sanctions. Provide one example of sanctions that have influenced your own behavior 6. Define and distinguish ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Explain how the article, â€Å"Civilize Them With a Stick† Relates to ethnocentrism. 7. Define and distinguish subculture and counterculture. 8. Define culture shock.

Nanoparticles

Therefore, nanoparticles could be the key factor for the future technologies. Scientific as well as public associations are paying their attention for nanoparticles technology as a good investment source. Nanoparticles could be produced via physical, chemical or biological methods (Haider and Kang, 2015; Ebrahiminezhad et al., 2017). Both chemical and physical methods use reducing agents such as sodium borohydride, sodium citrate and alcohols (Rai and Duran, 2011). However, using of microorganisms in synthesis of nanoparticles represents another great achievement because of the economic and ease production (Shelar and Chavan, 2014; Patel et al., 2015). Research revealed that biological methods is an inexpensive and eco-friendly way for synthesis of nanoparticles. This method used biological agents including bacteria, fungi, yeast and plants (Mourato et al., 2011). Recently, emerging such microorganisms as eco-friendly nano-factories to manufacture inorganic nanoparticles was attractive (Lee et al., 2004; Lengke et al., 2007). Fungi were mentioned as excellent candidates for metal nanoparticle synthesis because they contain many of enzymes that induce the production (Sastry et al., 2003). It was assumed that the mechanism involved in nanoparticles production by fungi was due to cell wall sugars that could reduce the metal ions (Mukherjee et al., 2002) and because they have the high cell wall binding capacity, metal uptake and secrete more amounts of proteins lead to the higher productivity of nanoparticles (Vahabi et al., 2011). Fungi have some advantages over the other microorganisms regarding the synthesis of NPs, because fungal mycelia are able to resist pressure, high temperature and easy storage in the laboratory (Kiran et al., 2016). There are many of metals for biosynthesis (NPs) such as copper, zinc, iron, iron trichloride, lead carbonate, gold and silver (Siddiqi and Husen, 2016). In addition, silver NPs could be synthesized by fungi either intracellularly or extracellularly but the extracellular biosynthesis downstream process much easier and showed more activities against many pathogens (Ahmad et al., 2003).Among the active fungi that were reported to produce nanoparticles; Rhizopous oryzae produced nanoparticles intracellularly of gold (Das et al., 2012), Verticillium sp extracellularly peodcued gold and silver nanoparticles (Soni and Prakash, 2014) in the size range of 20–51 nm. However, F. oxysporum produced nanoparticles of silver of 5–15 nm and 8-14 nm in diameter extracellularly (Ahmad et al., 2003; Senapati et al., 2005). Many other fungi were approved for their productivity of nanoparticles of different metals either extracellularly or intracellularly including: Phoma sp. (Chen et al., 2003), the endophytic fungus Colletotrichum sp. (Shankar et al., 2003), Aspergillus fumigatus (Kuber and D'Souza, 2006) , Fusarium acuminatum (Ingle et al., 2008) , Trichoderma asperellum (Mukherjee et al., 2008), F. semitectum (Sawle et al., 2008), Phoma glomerate (Birla et al., 2009), F. solani (Ingle et al., 2009) , plant pathogenic fungi Aspergillus niger (Gade et al., 2008; Jaidev and Narasimha, 2010). Aspergillus flavus (Vigneshwaran et al., 2007; Jain et al., 2011) , Paecilomyces lilacinus (Devi and Joshi, 2012), endophytic fungus Pencillium sp. (Singh et al., 2013), Aspergillus foetidus (Roy and Das, 2014), Rhizopus stolonifer (AbdelRahim et al., 2017), Penicillium Oxalicum (Bhattacharjee et al., 2017) and Trichoderma atroviride (Saravanakumar and Wang, 2018). Many recent reports have shown that production of nanoparticles by fungi are could be affected by various condition of temperature, biomass weight, time and pH ( Balakumaran et al., 2016; Liang et al., 2017; Othman et al., 2017). Husseiny et al. (2015) reported that most important factors that were affecting the biosynthesis of AgNPs were the temperature, pH, time, the concentration of AgNO3 and amount biomass. Narayanan and Sakthivel (2010) approved that incubation at 27 0C for 72 h with 7 pH and 10 g of the fungal biomass and 1mM concentration of AgNPs were considered the optimum conditions for production of AgNPs from AgNO3 by fungi. Researches showed some variations in the characteristics of the biosynthesized AgNPs by different fungal species. These variations could be due to the source of fungal isolates or strains and types of medium (Devi and Joshi, 2012; Roy and Das, 2014). When Alam et al. (2017) compared the different types of media, they found Czapex dox broth was a good medium to produce enough mycelial biomass to synthesize AgNPs. This because this medium contains essential carbon and nitrogen source along with other vital macro and micronutrients such as magnesium, sodium, calcium, potassium, iron and zinc which are vital for fungal growth.Nowadays, application of AgNPs confirmed their effectiveness in treatment of cancer, bone implant, anti-inflammatory and their biocidal activity against many bacteria and pathogens (Husseiny et al., 2015; Majeed et al., 2016). The antibacterial properties of AgNPs are due to the oxidation and liberation of Ag+ ions into the environment that makes it an ideal biocidal agent (Sivakumar et al., 2015). It is expected that the large surface area to volume ratio as well as high fraction of the surface atoms of the nanoparticles increase their antimicrobial activity as compared with bulk silver metal (Joy and Johnson, 2015). Moreover, the small size of the nanoparticles facilitates their penetration inside the cell. Additionally, excellent antibacterial properties exhibited by AgNPs are due to their well-developed surface which provides maximum contact with the environment (Mitiku and Yilma, 2017). Recent research approved the antibacterial activity of the silver nanoparticles against many bacteria especially those having the capability to cause severe disease for the human such as Salmonella enterica, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococci and Pseudomonas sp (Devi and Joshi, 2012; Shelar and Chavan, 2014; Muhsin and Hachim, 2016; Madakka et al., 2018; Saravanakumar and Wang, 2018). However, shape, dimension, and the exterior charge as well as the concentration of the AgNPs are important factors that affect the antimicrobial activity the nanoparticles against the tested bacteria (Madakka et al., 2018). Devi and Joshi (2012) approved the antibacterial activity of AgNPs comparing with erythromycin, methicillin, chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin agents Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Salmonella enterica and Enterococcus faecalis. They showed that the diameter of inhibition zones obtained by the silver-nanoparticles, with 5-50 nm in diameter, were more than those obtained by the antibiotics. Shelar and Chavan, (2014) showed that Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus sp were inhibited by silver nanoparticles with diameter of 17-32 nm in very close pattern to the standard antibiotic streptomycin. Muhsin and Hachim (2016) reported the best concentration of silver nanoparticles with diameter 8-90 nm that showed strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Staphylococcus aureus streptomycin was 100 Â µl/ ml. Based on the above-mentioned information, we assume that fungi as bio-factories for the biogenic synthesis of the silver nanoparticles are very interesting during eco-friendly and safe technology, also for future application as antimicrobial agents.

Lincoln-Douglas

The significance of the Lincoln-Douglas debates for the political history of America is hard to overestimate. Therefore, careful analysis of these debates can be extremely educational and enlightening. This paper will focus on three main aspects of the analysis, namely the causes of the debates, the content of the debates, and the results of the debates. The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of seven debates during the Illinois senatorial race of 1858 between Republican Abraham Lincoln and the Democratic incumbent, Stephen A. Douglas. The candidates were sharply divided on the issue of slavery. Before Lincoln announced a formal challenge, the candidates spoke in turn in the cities of Chicago and Springfield. Thus, Lincoln suggested speaking to the same audiences at one time by writing the following to Douglas: ‘Will it be agreeable to you†¦to make an arrangement for you and myself to divide time, and address the same audiences during the present canvass?’ (Encarta, 2007, para. 3). Scrutinizing the social and political circumstances at the time of the election campaign, it is necessary to note the Kansas-Nebraska Act, sponsored by Douglas, allowing slavery in the U.S. territories north of latitude 36 °30†² if there citizens agreed to it, and the U.S. Supreme Court Dred Scott decision of 1857, allowing masters to bring slaves into free territory without any alterations in the legal status of a slave. Therefore, the Supreme Court Dred Scott decision entered into a contradiction with the Kansas-Nebraska Act (Encarta, 2007). As for the content of the debate, Lincoln’s main focus was the human rights issue implicitly present in the debate on slavery. He told the audience that slavery violated the Declaration of Independence and was firmly determined to portray the practice of slavery as evil and immoral. For his part, Douglas paid considerable attention to legal technicalities, such as the principle of ‘popular sovereignty’ under which inhabitants were able to decide whether they would accept slavery in their territory (Encarta, 2007). However, this principle ‘with its self-proclaimed neutrality toward whether slavery was voted up or voted down, was a sheer absurdity on its face, according to Lincoln’ (Jaffa, 1999, p. 31). Lincoln employed all his rhetorical skills to prove the moral and ethical unacceptability of slavery. He also perceived the sharp division over the issue of slavery as a threat to national unity. When accepting his nomination, he said the following phrase: ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free’ (University of Houston, 2008, para. 4). He also argued that the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision were a part of conspiracy aimed at legalizing slavery in the entire territory of the United States. Douglas, in turn, focused on the right to self-government, which he saw as being of preeminent importance. However, as the debates progressed, Douglas started to clash Lincoln’s position directly and accused him of favoring black Americans over whites. He ended up picturing his opponent as a radical politician inciting tension and possible civil war. Lincoln denied this and voiced his support for the Fugitive Slave Law and the existence of slavery in the territories where such practice had been already established. The issue of slavery was debated in the light of the prospect of granting citizenship to black Americans. Douglas was fiercely opposed to such a notion, while Lincoln took the middle ground by recognizing black citizens’ right to life, liberty, and economic freedom while being wary about the acceptability of ‘bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races’ (University of Houston, 2008, para. 10). The two candidates also had opposing views on the institutional nature of slavery. Douglas was convinced that slavery could not exist without the support of friendly local legislation and was essentially a dying practice. Thus, his suggestion was to treat it as a local problem to be decided by inhabitants of a certain territory. Local residents, in his view, could de facto outlaw this practice by refusing to pass legislation protecting property right of slave owners: ‘Slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere†¦unless it is supported by local police regulations’ (University of Houston, 2008, para. 12). On the contrary, Lincoln believed that slavery, with its status undecided, had a potential of spreading quickly on the nationwide scale. As concerns the results of the race, Lincoln lost it, yet, in his own words, it was ‘a slip and not a fall’ (University of Houston, 2008, para. 15). Lincoln’s popularity was boosted greatly by the series of debates, which, in turn, contributed to his victory in the Presidential race of 1860. However, the debates had far-reaching implications by attracting public attention to the issues of slavery and human rights as well as establishing the tradition of formal debates between candidates for a governmental post. References Jaffa, Harry V. (1999). Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Revised Ed. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. (2007). ‘Lincoln-Douglas Debates.’ Retrieved January 20, 2008, from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_1741500415/Lincoln_Douglas_Debates.html University of Houston. (2008). ‘The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.’ Retrieved January 20, 2008, from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=336  Ã‚  Ã‚     

A Study on Work Life Balance Essay

For fresh graduates, getting in the big four firms have long been considered as one of the ideal places where everyone aims for. This is because there are significant benefits from working at a Big 4 Firm. For instance, every Big 4 firm offer superior training to staffs, networking opportunities with professionals across different industries, and possibility to be hired at one of the client companies. Hence, many young accountants and fresh graduates are willing to take on lower pay to work in these firms. However, working in a Big 4 firm is never an easy task, especially during peak season from January to April. Typically, an employee has to work ten to twelve hours a day during weekdays and weekends. Heavy work hours has greatly affected employees in maintaining work life balance and brought challenges to both employees and employers. The current study identifies the factors that could affect employees’ work life balance in one of the Big Four accounting firms – Deloitte Macau. Both questionnaire surveys (n=30) and interviews (across two management level) have been conducted and reveal convergent outcomes. Recommendations have been provided to further improve the work-life balance in Deloitte Macau. Introduction of Deloitte Macau Deloitte Macau is an accounting firm that provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to national, multinational and enterprise clients in Macau. The firm is a member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), a UK private company limited by guarantee. Each DTTL firm is structured differently in accordance with national or local laws, regulations, customary practice, and other factors, and may secure the provision of provision of professional services in its territory through subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other entities. Currently, there are fifty-nine professionals working inside the company, ranging from junior (A1 and A2), senior, manager and senior manager. Besides, Employee may also have the opportunity to become partner, who receives a share in the profits of the company and have a say in management. Furthermore, The increase in pay is substantial. An audit partner at Deloitte reported an annual salary range of USD $387,000 to $416,000. However, it also means additional responsibilities for bringing in new business and managing employees. Definition of Work-life balance The social structure and complexity has changed rapidly in the past decades, the society is facing massive confrontation of different responsibilities and commitments, these changes were formed as a result in increased global competition, renewed interest in personal lives and family values, aging workforce (Lockwood, 2003), as well as the blurring of work-non-work boundaries (Humbert and Lewis, 2008), work-life balance has become a predominant issue in the workplace. Extensive researches have been conducted about work-life balance; however, the context of work-life balance is very broad and will have different meaning towards different situation and interpretation. Researchers gave different definition of work-life balance, Wise (2003) states that â€Å"work-life balance is about helping employees better manage their work and non-work time. † According to Business dictionary, work-life balance is a comfortable state of equilibrium achieved between an employee’s primary priorities of their employment position and their private lifestyle. It is a stability of body or mind† (Guest, 2001). Thus, different people may have their â€Å"right† combination of paid work and other aspects of their lives. Most psychologists would agree that the demands of an employee’s career should not overwhelm the individual’s ability to enjoy a satisfying personal life outside of the business environment. In this sense, balance is the result of collective actions, not an action in itself. Whereas researchers also define meaning of â€Å"life† in three senses, they define life as unpaid work obligations, leisure in general and ultimately anything that is not employment. Maclnnes, 2008). Focus among the different definition of work-life balance As work-life balance has such broad term of definition, its implication and application to real world situation as a result is comprehensive. According to Lockwood (2003), the working definitions of terms used regarding work-life balance covering different aspects, including work-family, which refers to the work-life balance in specific areas such as quality of life, flexible work , option, life balance etc. ; work-family conflicts, which efers to the push and pull between work and family responsibilities; work-life balance from the employee viewpoint, which refers to the dilemma of managing work obligations and personal or family responsibilities; work-life balance from the employer viewpoint, which refers to the challenge of creating a supportive company culture where employees can focus on their job while at work; others such family-friendly benefits, work-life programs, work-life initiatives and work-family culture etc. ave been evolved as research areas of defining work-life balance. In the current study, we are going to focus on work-life conflict from the employees’ viewpoint, to explore the problems they encounter and what they could do for managing work and non-work obligations. Objectives and methodology of the study After focusing the definition of work-life balance for the study, we have set objectives in line with information collected from employees of Deloitte Macau to come up with several purposes: to find out the causes that led to employee’s non-work-life balance in the work context, to investigate ways that employer can do to tackle the causes for improving the situation, to observe how employees could do to prevent from getting imbalance between work and non-work context, and finally give out recommendation on application for tackling the problems from both employer and employee viewpoint. Methodology of the study  The study is conducted with a combination of pragmatism approach together with the support of literature review for inductive results. By using pragmatism approach, it is believed that causes that negatively affect the work life balance of employees of Deloitte Macau could be found out in a systematic and more comprehensive way, and with the identification of the causes, employer could help enhancing employee’s work-life balance with appropriate strategies. In this case, both questionnaire and interview were used as the research strategies for the appropriateness and applicableness of this paper. Sampling and participants Questionnaires were distributed across the three operational departments of Deloitte Macau, the auditing department, compliance department and tax department for the freedom of choice staff made to complete the questionnaire. On the other hand, a manager from auditing department and an assistant manager who is in charge of supervising both tax and compliance department were selected to participate in this study. Data collection Primary data is collected from questionnaire and interview. As mentioned earlier, pragmatism and inductive approach was used for the research methodology. Both questionnaire and interviews were applied for data collection tool. Target participants of questionnaires were employees from junior to middle management level across the three operational department of Deloitte Macau. The questionnaire sampling was based on the random sampling approach while interview with mangers belongs to purposive sampling. Interpretation of data received will be outlined and elaborated in the findings session. Findings From Questionnaire A survey was carried out from 6th Feb to 9th March 2013 by asking Deloitte audit, tax and compliance staffs to fill a questionnaire. The aim of the survey is to evaluate the work and non-work balance of the staffs and find out the causes of this imbalance. A total 31 questionnaires (sample size) were completed among total 59 staffs (population size). In order to have a better understanding of the causes that lead to imbalance work and non-work life, literature review is carried out in advance and we find that the causes are mainly: Technology boom Lacking appropriate skill Overtime and limiting budget Multi-tasking. Thus, we also set them as the choices in our questionnaire (question 13 in Appendix A) for asking the causes.

Indian Democracy at Crossroad

Avinash Shankar MAD12015 Politics Essay: 2 Topic Can post-colonial India's political experience be characterized as moving towards becoming more democratic Democracy, the form of government where supreme power is directly or indirectly vested in people, has become a global discourse that can be gauged from the fact that many post-colonial countries have adopted it with remarkable success.The dramatic global expansion of democracy in the last few decades in post-colonial countries speak volume of this most popular form of representative government. The ever fluctuating political dynamics coupled with changing socio-economic patterns since Independence has given new meanings to Indian democracy at each stage of its progression. India inherited a colonial state and kept much of its functioning architecture intact. Much of state practice, despite its massive quantitative expansion, is heavily governed by legislation passed somewhere between 1860 and 1947.During the 65-years of long journ ey, India as a nation has witnessed moments wherein democracy looked to find its true meaning, while moments like national emergency during Indira Gandhi’s regime qualify as the abysmal low that India touched as democratic nation. Adoption of socialist pattern, the middle path between capitalism and communism, at the early stage of our independence and a series of economic reforms that began in 1980s were primarily targeted at delivering the true essence of democracy in social, economic, and political spheres.This paper is an attempt to answer how Abraham Lincoln’s notion of democracy as a government of the people, by the people and for the people has been put to test in India on different social, political, and economic parameters at different stages of its progression since independence and whether ever changing political, social and economic dynamics have brought India closer to true democratic model. India retained a deep commitment to principles of parliamentary g overnment during the three decades after independence. Indian leaders described their approach planning nder a democratic pattern of socialism as a new model for Asian and African development. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who set the direction of India’s development during the first fifteen years of freedom, pointed to his country as an area of agreement between opposing ideologies of capitalism on the hand and the communism on the other. Under his leadership, the commitment to democratic social transformation was an integral part of India’s development strategy. Nehru also tried to incorporate Gandhian ideals of social reforms in his development programs.Nehru spoke of this mode of development as a third way which takes best from all existing systems—the Russian, the American, and sought to create something suited to one’s own history and philosophy. In the nascent stage of Independence, the Nehruvian socialist model of developmen t seemed to have worked well within the social and economic framework of India. But Nehru too had to face many challenges in the implementation of his development model. Nehru’s attempt to bring serious bourgeois land reforms was thwarted through a combination of feudal resistance, judicial conservatism, and connivance of state Congress leaderships.Although Congress was content to accept the continuance of semi-feudal rural power, it adopted massive plans for capitalist movement. Consistent with this general objective, the ruling elite adopted a plan for heavy industrialization and institutional control of capital goods industries through the state sector, a largely untried experiment at the time in the underdeveloped countries. Indira Gandhi who became Prime Minister after Nehru’s demise gave a new populist dimension to Indian politics.The shift of the Congress to populist politics quickly set up a new structure of political communication in which Indira could directl y appeal to electorates. While populist endeavors like Garibi Hatao (remove poverty) and nationalization of banks brought her good name, she has often been criticized for changing the Congress into a highly centralized and undemocratic party organization, from the earlier federal, democratic, and ideological formation that Nehru had led. Indira’s regime, in my opinion, was the beginning of the stage when India started to show its meaningful presence internationally.Creation of Bangladesh was the beginning of the India’s assertiveness at international level. Nuclear test conducted in 1974 was the extension of this assertiveness. Ironically Indira’s regime will also go down in history for bringing disrepute to democracy by imposing emergency in the most undemocratic manner. Perhaps it was the first blow to the essence of democratic model that India followed since independence. The manner in which rights and liberties, the two important tenets of democracy, were su spended during emergency reminds us how an authoritarian regime can play havoc in people’s minds.The emergency perhaps was the turning point in the Indian democratic history because it paved the way for major political and social shift. It was perhaps the trigger that led to the end of absolute majority era and ignited the undercurrent of regional politics played largely around caste and religious lines. Easwaran Sridharan and M. V. Rajeev Gowda however believe that the end of Congress’s dominance and fragmentation of the party system have stopped short of undermining the basic power-sharing characteristics of the system and have indeed contributed to democratic consolidation.While the seeds for the decline of one-power dominance were sown during Indira’s regime it became more apparent during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime Minister of India. Some scholars however believe that the decline of one-party dominance and the emergence of a large number of sm aller or regional parties which ensure that state-level elections are vigorously contested have had positive effects on competition. These developments represent political empowerment of historically marginalized groups and reflect favorably on the vibrancy of political entrepreneurship.I feel that mushrooming of small regional parties can also be attributed to effect of anti-defection law enacted during Rajiv’s regime. Emergence of regional parties has also led to political instability due to opportunist attitude shown by these parties time and again. Rajiv attempted to bring party reforms and rebuild Congress as an organized party. He also played a vital role in tackling Punjab problem that assumed alarming proportion during Indira’s regime. Rajiv can also be credited for bringing constitutional status to Panchayati Raj, one of most important tenets of Indian democracy.During Rajiv’s regime too the essence of democracy looked dismantled characterized by high-s cale violence against the Sikh community in the aftermath of Indira’s assassination. Coalition politics gained momentum after Rajiv’s assassination in 1991. Caste and religion became the driver and determinants of Indian politics thereafter. Anti-reservation protest in the aftermath of the implementation of Mandal Commission is the stark reminder of the despair that results when the advocates for meritocracy lose their battle against the saviors of petty caste politics.Hindu nationalist forces too jumped the bandwagon soon and tried to establish their presence in the Indian political arena through much talked about Ram Janmabhumi agenda. We are also witnessing a paradigm shift in the redistributive politics wherein leftist forces are happy with a kind of statism that protects the state sector even if it means stifling the rest of economy. On the other hand the proponents of Mandal fear that rolling back the state on economic reform issues at the moment when Backward Ca stes (BCs) are getting access to its resources would be exercise in bad faith.Of late, globalization and economic reforms have given a new dimension to Indian politics, and for that matter to Indian democracy. Development has become the main political agenda pushing caste and religion gimmicks on the backburner. Political results in two successive elections in Bihar mark the paradigm shift in people’s voting pattern. It shows how voters are trumping the populist agenda in favor of developmental agenda. It augurs well for Indian democracy. The ensuing paragraphs discuss at length achievements, challenges and issues that India faces as democratic nation.Despite the considerable success of the Indian state in holding free and fair elections, sustaining a free press, and dramatically expanding the franschise, the abuse of coercive state power remains one of the major problems. Frequently such power is used arbitrarily against the poor, minorities, and those who dare to challenge the state’s writ. Furthermore, police abuses are more pronounced in poorer states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where standards of accountability are sorely lacking. The evidence from such states of rampant deaths in police custody underscores the gravity of this ill.India as a democratic nation has underachieved when it comes to protecting human rights. Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1990 was aimed at containing ethno-religious insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. It allows armed forces to conduct counter-insurgency operations. Under the garb of this act, security forces often resort to extrajudicial killings. The 2002 Prevention of Terrorism Activities Act (POTA), that came into existence in the aftermath of a series of terror acts, was sometimes used against political opponents and also infringed upon the individual rights and civil liberties of Indian citizen.The secular structure of Indian democracy also looked threatened on many occasions. The project of secularism has inc reasingly been under threat as communal ideology and political forces have come to enjoy greater purchase in society and the polity. The demolition of Babri Masjid engineered by Hindu nationalist forces like Bajrang Dal, RSS, and VHP, doesn’t augur well for the secular structure of the country.The Hindu nationalists’ hostility to secularism became evident in a number of different arenas, ranging from a systematic attempt to alter history and socio-science science textbooks to party leaders’ willingness to countenance widespread state-sanctioned violence against Muslims, especially during bloody disturbances that rocked the western state of Gujrat. On the positive side, the growth of a plethora of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) focused on development, along with the growing participation of hitherto quiescent groups, are gradually resulting in a political system that is more accountable to the citizenry.The roles NGOs are playing have the potential to reshap e the much needed developmental path. In times to come, NGOs will play much meaningful role by representing face of common people largely ignored by political entities. However politicization and financial irregularities rampant at these rapidly multiplying NGOs could act as a deterrent to the primary objectives that these nonprofits stand for. At Independence, the imperative for welfare mechanism was obvious due to widespread poverty and lack of food security, specially in the rural areas.Even after sixty five years of Independence, a large percentage of Indian population officially are still subsisting below poverty line and incidents of acute food insecurity continue to occur. Since 1985 Kalahandi has been more or less uninterruptedly suffering from food crisis of alarming dimensions and proportions, officially and disarmingly described as drought, but unofficially, by critics, as famine. The politics of nomenclature apart, Kalahandi has become a metaphor for hunger in several ot her districts in the more backward hill areas of south-western Orissa.The most ugly part of the Kalahandi starvation issue was highlighted by the Baidyanath Mishra Commission Report that attributed starvation deaths in the region to a set of issues including corruption, fraud, misuse, wastefulness, and mismanagement of development. Enhancing food security at the household level is an issue of great importance for developing country like India where millions of poor suffer from lack of purchasing power and malnutrition. Right to food is a part of an overall goal of achieving the right to development.Attainment of self-sufficiency of foodgrains at the national level is one of the big achievements in post-independence period. After remaining a food deficit country for about two decades after independence, India has not only become self-sufficient in foodgrains but now has a surplus of foodgrains. Despite many poverty alleviation programs initiated since the time of Indira Gandhi, pover ty still remains one of the concerns and state and central governments need to look into it. Employment guarantee schemes like NREGA bring some hope even though effective implementation remains largely unaddressed.India has made significant progress in fostering high levels of economic and industrial development. But when it comes to ethnic conflict in India, four sets of causal conditions have usually combined in different ways in different areas to produce conflict and violence. First is the fear of assimilation or cultural dilution and unfulfilled national aspiration. Second is the process of modernization by inducing large-scale migrations and by raising standards of literacy and aspirations.This process of modernization has not only forced ethnic groups to live closely together and to compete for rewards and resources, but has also sharpened their sociopolitical awareness and increased their capacity to mobilize for collective action. The third reason is unequal development, po verty, exploitation, lack of opportunity, and threats to existing group privileges. Finally, political factors such as endemic bad governance, the growth of anti-secular forces, institutional decay, and vote-bank politics have also contributed to large scale ethnic conflicts.The role of mass media has become more important in today’s context. Mass media has played a positive role in highlighting issues of public concern such as corruption, electoral malpractices, and economic instability. Anti-corruption movement launched by social crusader Anna Hazare could become successful due to large scale involvement of mass media. On the flipside politicization and commercialization of mediums of mass media don’t paint rosy picture for the fourth pillar of Indian democracy. Another area where we need to work is the social security for unorganized workers.The social security problems for unorganized workers in India can be divided into two sets of problems. The first is the capab ility deprivation in terms of inadequate employment, low earnings, poor health, and educational status which are related to general deprivation of poorer sections of the population. The second is the adversity in the sense of absence of adequate fall back mechanisms to meet contingencies such as ill health, accident, death, and old age. Central and state governments also need to focus on social sector by ensuring larger allocation for such expenditure.On human development index India is not comfortably placed either. Infant mortality rate remains one of the major issues. The incidence of child labor is among the highest in the world. Women have significantly higher morbidity and mortality rates than men. Though we have made significant inroads in achieving greater literacy, the numbers don’t sound adequate. Human development conditions are particularly egregious in four northern states, Bihar, Rajasthan, UP, and Madhya Pradesh. It becomes apparent that our democratic aspirati ons are only partly realized.Large scale corruption, communalism, electoral malpractices, perverted forms of Muslim and Hindu radicalism, sponsored terrorism, regional separatist insurgencies, corporate-political nexus, apart from many other things, have been obstructing the India’s journey along the path of democracy. Through a series of economic reforms India has made its presence at international stage, but marginalized sections of Indian society are yet to reap substantial benefits from it. Strong political will is needed to put us in the forefront of successful democratic nations.We also need to get rid of the corrupt hierarchy of bureaucratic structure because it acts as a deterrent to the implementation of welfare programs. As the citizen of a democratic nation what hurts me most is the deep rooted corruption, not only because it has become an exercise of power and impunity for many, but also because it has made its locus in the minds of people where it has become stan dardized. We spent enough time passing the bucks as to which apparatus/ apparatuses of our social, economic and political systems has/have failed us as the democratic nation.It is not the time to retrospect what we achieved as a democratic nation in the long journey so far, rather it is introspection time for each actor of democracy including politicians, bureaucrats, and off course the most powerful people. This introspection will surely bring the urgency among actors to realize the accountability they owe to the democratic edifice of India that is standing tall after having weathered challenging times since independence. Spread of education and emergence of political, social, and economic consciousness among citizens give me hope that India will slowly inch closer to aligning herself ith the essence of true democratic values and ideals. I will choose to finish this manuscript on a positive note by going back to the famous quote of Harry Emerson Fosdick †¦ â€Å"Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people. † Bibliography 1. Mehta, P. B. , The Burden of Democracy . Penguin Books, New Delhi, 2003 2. Frankrel, F. R. , India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution. London: Oxford University Press, 2005 3. ibid 4. Karanjia, R. K. , Mind of Mr. Nehru,London: Allen & Unwin, 1961 5.Kaviraj, Sudipta, â€Å"A critique of the Passive Revolution,† Economics and Political Weekly 23 (Nov 1988): 2433 6. Chandra, Bipin, Mukherjee, Aditya, Mukherjee, Mridula. India after Independence, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1999 7. Ganguly, Sumit, Diamond, Larry and Plattner, Marc F. , The State of India’s Democracy , Oxford University Press, 2009 8. Yadav, Yogendra, â€Å"Electoral Politics in the Time of Change: India’s Third Electoral System, 1998-99,† Economics and Political Weekly, August 21-28, 1999 9. Mehta, P. B. , The Burden of Democracy , Penguin Books, New Delhi, 20 03 10.Genteman, Amelia, Killings in Delhi Slum Expose: Unequal Justice for India’s Poor,† International Herald Tribune, January 6, 2007 11. See the National Human Rights Commission Report for 2004-2005, available at www. nhrc. nic. in 12. Jayal, NirajaGopal, ed. , Democracy in India Oxford University Press, New Delhi 13 Ganguly, Sumit â€Å"The Crisis of Indian Secularism,† Journal of Democracy 14, October 2003 14. see Ganguly, Diamond, Plattner 15. see Jayal 16. see Jayal 17. see Jayal 18. Dev, S. Mahendra, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2011 19. ee Ganguly, Diamond, Plattner 20. See Dev 21. Atul Kohli, ed. , â€Å"The Success of India’s Democracy,† Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2011 ——————————————– [ 1 ]. P. B. Mehta, The Burden of Democracy (Penguin Books, New Delh i, 2003), 106-107 [ 2 ]. F. R. Frankel, India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution (London: Oxford University Press, 2005), 4 [ 3 ]. F. R. Frankel, India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution (London: Oxford University Press, 2005), 25 [ 4 ]. R. K. Karanjia, Mind of Mr. Nehru (London: Allen & Unwin, 1961), 100-101 [ 5 ]. Sudipta kaviraj. A critique of the Passive Revolution,† Economics and Political Weekly 23 (Nov 1988): 2433 [ 6 ]. Bipan Chandra, Aditya Mukherjee, Mridula Mukherjee. India after Independence (Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1999), Chapters 11, 13 [ 7 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009), xviii-xix [ 8 ]. Yogendra yadav, â€Å"Electoral Politics in the Time of Change: India’s Third Electoral System, 1998-99,† Economics and Political Weekly (August 21-28, 1999): 2393-99 [ 9 ]. P. B. Mehta, The Burden of Democracy (Penguin Books , New Delhi, 2003), 168-169 [ 10 ].Amelia Genteman, Killings in Delhi Slum Expose: Unequal Justice for India’s Poor,† International Herald Tribune (January 6, 2007) [ 11 ]. See the National Human Rights Commission Report for 2004-2005, available at www. nhrc. nic. in [ 12 ]. NirajaGopal Jayal, ed. , Democracy in India (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 170 [ 13 ]. Sumit Ganguly, â€Å"The Crisis of Indian Secularism,† Journal of Democracy 14 (October 2003): 11-25 [ 14 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009), xxi-xxii [ 15 ]. Jayal, 198 [ 16 ]. Jayal, 199 [ 17 ].NirajaGopal Jayal, ed. , Democracy in India (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 200 [ 18 ]. S. Mahendra Dev, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 201), 101-103 [ 19 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democra cy (Oxford University Press, 2009), 49 [ 20 ]. S. Mahendra Dev, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2011), 201-202 [ 21 ]. Atul Kohli, ed. , â€Å"The Success of India’s Democracy (Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2011), 211 Indian Democracy at Crossroad Avinash Shankar MAD12015 Politics Essay: 2 Topic Can post-colonial India's political experience be characterized as moving towards becoming more democratic Democracy, the form of government where supreme power is directly or indirectly vested in people, has become a global discourse that can be gauged from the fact that many post-colonial countries have adopted it with remarkable success.The dramatic global expansion of democracy in the last few decades in post-colonial countries speak volume of this most popular form of representative government. The ever fluctuating political dynamics coupled with changing socio-economic patterns since Independence has given new meanings to Indian democracy at each stage of its progression. India inherited a colonial state and kept much of its functioning architecture intact. Much of state practice, despite its massive quantitative expansion, is heavily governed by legislation passed somewhere between 1860 and 1947.During the 65-years of long journ ey, India as a nation has witnessed moments wherein democracy looked to find its true meaning, while moments like national emergency during Indira Gandhi’s regime qualify as the abysmal low that India touched as democratic nation. Adoption of socialist pattern, the middle path between capitalism and communism, at the early stage of our independence and a series of economic reforms that began in 1980s were primarily targeted at delivering the true essence of democracy in social, economic, and political spheres.This paper is an attempt to answer how Abraham Lincoln’s notion of democracy as a government of the people, by the people and for the people has been put to test in India on different social, political, and economic parameters at different stages of its progression since independence and whether ever changing political, social and economic dynamics have brought India closer to true democratic model. India retained a deep commitment to principles of parliamentary g overnment during the three decades after independence. Indian leaders described their approach planning nder a democratic pattern of socialism as a new model for Asian and African development. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who set the direction of India’s development during the first fifteen years of freedom, pointed to his country as an area of agreement between opposing ideologies of capitalism on the hand and the communism on the other. Under his leadership, the commitment to democratic social transformation was an integral part of India’s development strategy. Nehru also tried to incorporate Gandhian ideals of social reforms in his development programs.Nehru spoke of this mode of development as a third way which takes best from all existing systems—the Russian, the American, and sought to create something suited to one’s own history and philosophy. In the nascent stage of Independence, the Nehruvian socialist model of developmen t seemed to have worked well within the social and economic framework of India. But Nehru too had to face many challenges in the implementation of his development model. Nehru’s attempt to bring serious bourgeois land reforms was thwarted through a combination of feudal resistance, judicial conservatism, and connivance of state Congress leaderships.Although Congress was content to accept the continuance of semi-feudal rural power, it adopted massive plans for capitalist movement. Consistent with this general objective, the ruling elite adopted a plan for heavy industrialization and institutional control of capital goods industries through the state sector, a largely untried experiment at the time in the underdeveloped countries. Indira Gandhi who became Prime Minister after Nehru’s demise gave a new populist dimension to Indian politics.The shift of the Congress to populist politics quickly set up a new structure of political communication in which Indira could directl y appeal to electorates. While populist endeavors like Garibi Hatao (remove poverty) and nationalization of banks brought her good name, she has often been criticized for changing the Congress into a highly centralized and undemocratic party organization, from the earlier federal, democratic, and ideological formation that Nehru had led. Indira’s regime, in my opinion, was the beginning of the stage when India started to show its meaningful presence internationally.Creation of Bangladesh was the beginning of the India’s assertiveness at international level. Nuclear test conducted in 1974 was the extension of this assertiveness. Ironically Indira’s regime will also go down in history for bringing disrepute to democracy by imposing emergency in the most undemocratic manner. Perhaps it was the first blow to the essence of democratic model that India followed since independence. The manner in which rights and liberties, the two important tenets of democracy, were su spended during emergency reminds us how an authoritarian regime can play havoc in people’s minds.The emergency perhaps was the turning point in the Indian democratic history because it paved the way for major political and social shift. It was perhaps the trigger that led to the end of absolute majority era and ignited the undercurrent of regional politics played largely around caste and religious lines. Easwaran Sridharan and M. V. Rajeev Gowda however believe that the end of Congress’s dominance and fragmentation of the party system have stopped short of undermining the basic power-sharing characteristics of the system and have indeed contributed to democratic consolidation.While the seeds for the decline of one-power dominance were sown during Indira’s regime it became more apparent during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime Minister of India. Some scholars however believe that the decline of one-party dominance and the emergence of a large number of sm aller or regional parties which ensure that state-level elections are vigorously contested have had positive effects on competition. These developments represent political empowerment of historically marginalized groups and reflect favorably on the vibrancy of political entrepreneurship.I feel that mushrooming of small regional parties can also be attributed to effect of anti-defection law enacted during Rajiv’s regime. Emergence of regional parties has also led to political instability due to opportunist attitude shown by these parties time and again. Rajiv attempted to bring party reforms and rebuild Congress as an organized party. He also played a vital role in tackling Punjab problem that assumed alarming proportion during Indira’s regime. Rajiv can also be credited for bringing constitutional status to Panchayati Raj, one of most important tenets of Indian democracy.During Rajiv’s regime too the essence of democracy looked dismantled characterized by high-s cale violence against the Sikh community in the aftermath of Indira’s assassination. Coalition politics gained momentum after Rajiv’s assassination in 1991. Caste and religion became the driver and determinants of Indian politics thereafter. Anti-reservation protest in the aftermath of the implementation of Mandal Commission is the stark reminder of the despair that results when the advocates for meritocracy lose their battle against the saviors of petty caste politics.Hindu nationalist forces too jumped the bandwagon soon and tried to establish their presence in the Indian political arena through much talked about Ram Janmabhumi agenda. We are also witnessing a paradigm shift in the redistributive politics wherein leftist forces are happy with a kind of statism that protects the state sector even if it means stifling the rest of economy. On the other hand the proponents of Mandal fear that rolling back the state on economic reform issues at the moment when Backward Ca stes (BCs) are getting access to its resources would be exercise in bad faith.Of late, globalization and economic reforms have given a new dimension to Indian politics, and for that matter to Indian democracy. Development has become the main political agenda pushing caste and religion gimmicks on the backburner. Political results in two successive elections in Bihar mark the paradigm shift in people’s voting pattern. It shows how voters are trumping the populist agenda in favor of developmental agenda. It augurs well for Indian democracy. The ensuing paragraphs discuss at length achievements, challenges and issues that India faces as democratic nation.Despite the considerable success of the Indian state in holding free and fair elections, sustaining a free press, and dramatically expanding the franschise, the abuse of coercive state power remains one of the major problems. Frequently such power is used arbitrarily against the poor, minorities, and those who dare to challenge the state’s writ. Furthermore, police abuses are more pronounced in poorer states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where standards of accountability are sorely lacking. The evidence from such states of rampant deaths in police custody underscores the gravity of this ill.India as a democratic nation has underachieved when it comes to protecting human rights. Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1990 was aimed at containing ethno-religious insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. It allows armed forces to conduct counter-insurgency operations. Under the garb of this act, security forces often resort to extrajudicial killings. The 2002 Prevention of Terrorism Activities Act (POTA), that came into existence in the aftermath of a series of terror acts, was sometimes used against political opponents and also infringed upon the individual rights and civil liberties of Indian citizen.The secular structure of Indian democracy also looked threatened on many occasions. The project of secularism has inc reasingly been under threat as communal ideology and political forces have come to enjoy greater purchase in society and the polity. The demolition of Babri Masjid engineered by Hindu nationalist forces like Bajrang Dal, RSS, and VHP, doesn’t augur well for the secular structure of the country.The Hindu nationalists’ hostility to secularism became evident in a number of different arenas, ranging from a systematic attempt to alter history and socio-science science textbooks to party leaders’ willingness to countenance widespread state-sanctioned violence against Muslims, especially during bloody disturbances that rocked the western state of Gujrat. On the positive side, the growth of a plethora of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) focused on development, along with the growing participation of hitherto quiescent groups, are gradually resulting in a political system that is more accountable to the citizenry.The roles NGOs are playing have the potential to reshap e the much needed developmental path. In times to come, NGOs will play much meaningful role by representing face of common people largely ignored by political entities. However politicization and financial irregularities rampant at these rapidly multiplying NGOs could act as a deterrent to the primary objectives that these nonprofits stand for. At Independence, the imperative for welfare mechanism was obvious due to widespread poverty and lack of food security, specially in the rural areas.Even after sixty five years of Independence, a large percentage of Indian population officially are still subsisting below poverty line and incidents of acute food insecurity continue to occur. Since 1985 Kalahandi has been more or less uninterruptedly suffering from food crisis of alarming dimensions and proportions, officially and disarmingly described as drought, but unofficially, by critics, as famine. The politics of nomenclature apart, Kalahandi has become a metaphor for hunger in several ot her districts in the more backward hill areas of south-western Orissa.The most ugly part of the Kalahandi starvation issue was highlighted by the Baidyanath Mishra Commission Report that attributed starvation deaths in the region to a set of issues including corruption, fraud, misuse, wastefulness, and mismanagement of development. Enhancing food security at the household level is an issue of great importance for developing country like India where millions of poor suffer from lack of purchasing power and malnutrition. Right to food is a part of an overall goal of achieving the right to development.Attainment of self-sufficiency of foodgrains at the national level is one of the big achievements in post-independence period. After remaining a food deficit country for about two decades after independence, India has not only become self-sufficient in foodgrains but now has a surplus of foodgrains. Despite many poverty alleviation programs initiated since the time of Indira Gandhi, pover ty still remains one of the concerns and state and central governments need to look into it. Employment guarantee schemes like NREGA bring some hope even though effective implementation remains largely unaddressed.India has made significant progress in fostering high levels of economic and industrial development. But when it comes to ethnic conflict in India, four sets of causal conditions have usually combined in different ways in different areas to produce conflict and violence. First is the fear of assimilation or cultural dilution and unfulfilled national aspiration. Second is the process of modernization by inducing large-scale migrations and by raising standards of literacy and aspirations.This process of modernization has not only forced ethnic groups to live closely together and to compete for rewards and resources, but has also sharpened their sociopolitical awareness and increased their capacity to mobilize for collective action. The third reason is unequal development, po verty, exploitation, lack of opportunity, and threats to existing group privileges. Finally, political factors such as endemic bad governance, the growth of anti-secular forces, institutional decay, and vote-bank politics have also contributed to large scale ethnic conflicts.The role of mass media has become more important in today’s context. Mass media has played a positive role in highlighting issues of public concern such as corruption, electoral malpractices, and economic instability. Anti-corruption movement launched by social crusader Anna Hazare could become successful due to large scale involvement of mass media. On the flipside politicization and commercialization of mediums of mass media don’t paint rosy picture for the fourth pillar of Indian democracy. Another area where we need to work is the social security for unorganized workers.The social security problems for unorganized workers in India can be divided into two sets of problems. The first is the capab ility deprivation in terms of inadequate employment, low earnings, poor health, and educational status which are related to general deprivation of poorer sections of the population. The second is the adversity in the sense of absence of adequate fall back mechanisms to meet contingencies such as ill health, accident, death, and old age. Central and state governments also need to focus on social sector by ensuring larger allocation for such expenditure.On human development index India is not comfortably placed either. Infant mortality rate remains one of the major issues. The incidence of child labor is among the highest in the world. Women have significantly higher morbidity and mortality rates than men. Though we have made significant inroads in achieving greater literacy, the numbers don’t sound adequate. Human development conditions are particularly egregious in four northern states, Bihar, Rajasthan, UP, and Madhya Pradesh. It becomes apparent that our democratic aspirati ons are only partly realized.Large scale corruption, communalism, electoral malpractices, perverted forms of Muslim and Hindu radicalism, sponsored terrorism, regional separatist insurgencies, corporate-political nexus, apart from many other things, have been obstructing the India’s journey along the path of democracy. Through a series of economic reforms India has made its presence at international stage, but marginalized sections of Indian society are yet to reap substantial benefits from it. Strong political will is needed to put us in the forefront of successful democratic nations.We also need to get rid of the corrupt hierarchy of bureaucratic structure because it acts as a deterrent to the implementation of welfare programs. As the citizen of a democratic nation what hurts me most is the deep rooted corruption, not only because it has become an exercise of power and impunity for many, but also because it has made its locus in the minds of people where it has become stan dardized. We spent enough time passing the bucks as to which apparatus/ apparatuses of our social, economic and political systems has/have failed us as the democratic nation.It is not the time to retrospect what we achieved as a democratic nation in the long journey so far, rather it is introspection time for each actor of democracy including politicians, bureaucrats, and off course the most powerful people. This introspection will surely bring the urgency among actors to realize the accountability they owe to the democratic edifice of India that is standing tall after having weathered challenging times since independence. Spread of education and emergence of political, social, and economic consciousness among citizens give me hope that India will slowly inch closer to aligning herself ith the essence of true democratic values and ideals. I will choose to finish this manuscript on a positive note by going back to the famous quote of Harry Emerson Fosdick †¦ â€Å"Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people. † Bibliography 1. Mehta, P. B. , The Burden of Democracy . Penguin Books, New Delhi, 2003 2. Frankrel, F. R. , India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution. London: Oxford University Press, 2005 3. ibid 4. Karanjia, R. K. , Mind of Mr. Nehru,London: Allen & Unwin, 1961 5.Kaviraj, Sudipta, â€Å"A critique of the Passive Revolution,† Economics and Political Weekly 23 (Nov 1988): 2433 6. Chandra, Bipin, Mukherjee, Aditya, Mukherjee, Mridula. India after Independence, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1999 7. Ganguly, Sumit, Diamond, Larry and Plattner, Marc F. , The State of India’s Democracy , Oxford University Press, 2009 8. Yadav, Yogendra, â€Å"Electoral Politics in the Time of Change: India’s Third Electoral System, 1998-99,† Economics and Political Weekly, August 21-28, 1999 9. Mehta, P. B. , The Burden of Democracy , Penguin Books, New Delhi, 20 03 10.Genteman, Amelia, Killings in Delhi Slum Expose: Unequal Justice for India’s Poor,† International Herald Tribune, January 6, 2007 11. See the National Human Rights Commission Report for 2004-2005, available at www. nhrc. nic. in 12. Jayal, NirajaGopal, ed. , Democracy in India Oxford University Press, New Delhi 13 Ganguly, Sumit â€Å"The Crisis of Indian Secularism,† Journal of Democracy 14, October 2003 14. see Ganguly, Diamond, Plattner 15. see Jayal 16. see Jayal 17. see Jayal 18. Dev, S. Mahendra, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2011 19. ee Ganguly, Diamond, Plattner 20. See Dev 21. Atul Kohli, ed. , â€Å"The Success of India’s Democracy,† Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2011 ——————————————– [ 1 ]. P. B. Mehta, The Burden of Democracy (Penguin Books, New Delh i, 2003), 106-107 [ 2 ]. F. R. Frankel, India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution (London: Oxford University Press, 2005), 4 [ 3 ]. F. R. Frankel, India's political economy, 1947-2004:  The Gradual Revolution (London: Oxford University Press, 2005), 25 [ 4 ]. R. K. Karanjia, Mind of Mr. Nehru (London: Allen & Unwin, 1961), 100-101 [ 5 ]. Sudipta kaviraj. A critique of the Passive Revolution,† Economics and Political Weekly 23 (Nov 1988): 2433 [ 6 ]. Bipan Chandra, Aditya Mukherjee, Mridula Mukherjee. India after Independence (Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1999), Chapters 11, 13 [ 7 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009), xviii-xix [ 8 ]. Yogendra yadav, â€Å"Electoral Politics in the Time of Change: India’s Third Electoral System, 1998-99,† Economics and Political Weekly (August 21-28, 1999): 2393-99 [ 9 ]. P. B. Mehta, The Burden of Democracy (Penguin Books , New Delhi, 2003), 168-169 [ 10 ].Amelia Genteman, Killings in Delhi Slum Expose: Unequal Justice for India’s Poor,† International Herald Tribune (January 6, 2007) [ 11 ]. See the National Human Rights Commission Report for 2004-2005, available at www. nhrc. nic. in [ 12 ]. NirajaGopal Jayal, ed. , Democracy in India (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 170 [ 13 ]. Sumit Ganguly, â€Å"The Crisis of Indian Secularism,† Journal of Democracy 14 (October 2003): 11-25 [ 14 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009), xxi-xxii [ 15 ]. Jayal, 198 [ 16 ]. Jayal, 199 [ 17 ].NirajaGopal Jayal, ed. , Democracy in India (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 200 [ 18 ]. S. Mahendra Dev, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 201), 101-103 [ 19 ]. Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, The State of India’s Democra cy (Oxford University Press, 2009), 49 [ 20 ]. S. Mahendra Dev, Inclusive Growth in India: Agriculture, Poverty, and Developoment (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2011), 201-202 [ 21 ]. Atul Kohli, ed. , â€Å"The Success of India’s Democracy (Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2011), 211