Monday, September 30, 2019

Book Value, Liquidation Value and Market Value of Shares Essay

Book value: The book value of ordinary share is the net worth of a corporation less the par value of preference shares outstanding divided by the number of ordinary shares outstanding. Suppose the net worth of a company contains the following information viz; Preference shares (Rs. 100 per share): 1000000. 00 Ordinary share (Rs. 5 per share): 1500000. 00 Share premium: 1000000. 00 Retained earnings: 500000. 00 4000000. 00 Book value of ordinary share: 300000/30000 = 10 per share Theoretically, the book value of a share should correspond to the liquidating value of the company; however, in reality this situation never occurs. Only if the assets of a company can be liquidated for the book values shown on the financial statements, then book value per share is equal to the liquidating value per share. Even, then if liquidating costs are high, the liquidating value per share will be less than book value per share. For many companies, the liquidating value per share is less than book value per share because many of the assets can be liquidated only at reduced prices. However, some companies carry certain assets –notably, land mineral rights – at modest values on their books relative to the market value of the asset. For these companies, the liquidating value per share may be significantly higher than the book value. Sometimes, investors calculate the net working capital per share in order to obtain a more conservative estimate of the possible liquidating value of a company. Market value: The market value per share is the current price at which the stock is traded. For listed companies and the shares of a company which are actively traded in the stock markets, market price quotations are readily available. However, the market for the shares of many companies is thin and inactive, so that market price information about its shares is difficult to obtain. Even when obtainable, the information may reflect only the sale of a few shares and not specify the market value of the firms as a whole. For companies of this sort, care must be taken in interpreting market price information. The market value of ordinary share usually differs considerably from its book value and its liquidating value. Market value is a function of the current and expected future dividends of the company and the perceived risk of the shares on the part of investors. Because these factors bear only a partial relationship to the book value and the liquidating value of the company, the market value per share is not tied closely to these values.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Analysis of The Cool Web by Robert Graves Essay

Why is the title of the poem â€Å"The cool web†? Give a reason for your answer. The poem discusses an adult’s predisposition to use linguistic dexterity to avoid the consequences of extreme emotion. The title combines two words, â€Å"cool† and â€Å"web†, each of which evokes a strong impression, to create a third even more evocative image. There are many English expressions which use the word â€Å"cool† to convey repressing emotion. This usage is similar to using â€Å"calm†: â€Å"cool down†, â€Å"don’t lose your cool†, â€Å"go and cool off†, â€Å"cool it!† and so on. Even the slang interpretation of â€Å"cool† in the sense of fashionable or sophisticated conjures up the idea of a relaxed and casual attitude. In the context of the poem, â€Å"cool† can be seen as synonymous with a lack of passion and an increase of self-control. â€Å"Web† is used to convey the sense of being enveloped by a layer which inhibits freedom. Graves could have used â€Å"net† or â€Å"mesh†, however those words lack the sinister connotation of the most common use of â€Å"web†: that of a â€Å"spider’s web†. In this sense, there is an air of vulnerability and menace; the spider’s prey has not chosen to be caught in the web, but is ensnared nevertheless. The combination of â€Å"cool† and â€Å"web† creates an image of forced composure. The â€Å"cool web† is a linguistic lobotomy which life imposes on humankind. What is the effect of the repetition of ‘hot’ and ‘dreadful’ in the first stanza? The first stanza creates a threatening atmosphere. The adjectives used are  intense: the day is not warm, it is hot; the evening is not dark, but black; the soldiers are full of dread, not just alarming. (Although now used in the same way as frightening, â€Å"dreadful† really describes a greater level of terror.) This development of menace is further emphasised by the repetition of the â€Å"hot† and â€Å"dreadful†. The point is driven home to the reader. If Graves had used synonyms – blistering for â€Å"hot† and frightening for â€Å"dreadful† – in the second instances of each, the meaning would be essentially unchanged. However, the sound and rhythm of the stanza would be significantly affected. The effect is also assisted by repeating not only â€Å"hot†, but the assonance and alliteration of the phrase â€Å"how hot†. The repetition and emphasis of â€Å"hot† in lines 1 and 2 also provides contrast between the word â€Å"cool† in the title and â€Å"chill† in line 5. â€Å"Cool† and â€Å"coldly† are also used in the body of the poem in contrast to â€Å"hot†. (This emphasis through repetition is used a number of times: in the second stanza with â€Å"spell†; in line 10 with â€Å"too much† and in the last stanza with â€Å"facing†.) Who are ‘we’ in the second stanza (line 5)? The use of â€Å"but† at the beginning of line 5 contrasts â€Å"we† from the children of the first stanza and presumably Graves therefore means adults. Adults have a more sophisticated command of language with which to interpret events. Children are direct in their approach to the world and do not attempt to obscure reality for any reason. On meeting an overweight person, a young child will cheerfully ask them why they are so fat. An adult would be unlikely to broach the subject at all. Children simply state what they think; adults use euphemisms and oblique vocabulary to ward off unwelcome emotions. Comment on the use of: The adjectives ‘cruel’ to describe the rose’s scent and ‘overhanging’ to  describe the night (lines 6 and 7). The reader is jolted as these adjectives are associated with unfamiliar subjects. This is a form of foregrounding to draw attention to the language of the poem. The use of â€Å"cruel† to describe the scent of a rose is especially jarring. Almost without exception the rose is a symbol of romance and love, not one of cruelty. Graves seems to be implying that anything that intrudes – even something pleasant – is objectionable and to be â€Å"dulled†. By describing the night as â€Å"overhanging† Graves refers to the sense of intimidation, of something unexpected looming over us. The poet then tells us that this should – and can be – be spelled away as undesirable. The verb ‘spell’ in the phrase ‘we spell away’ (lines 7 and 8) Graves exploits a double meaning of â€Å"spell† to intertwine the ideas of language and trickery. In the linguistic context â€Å"spell† means to form a word by arranging its constituent letters in the correct order. ‘Spell† also means to influence someone or something by means of magical powers. In this way, the poet concentrates a number of images into a single word. An adult’s desire to misrepresent reality is a form of magical spell, but it requires the ability to spell words. (Graves also uses this technique in line 1 by describing children as â€Å"dumb†. This could mean that they are stupid and therefore unable to manipulate and distort the world. It could also mean that children have no linguistic faculty as in â€Å"deaf and dumb.† Of course, he means both.) Explain how, in your opinion, ‘the cool web’ may protect one against ‘too much joy or too much fear’ (lines 5 to 11). â€Å"The cool web† of language is used to rationalise extreme emotions. Instead of reacting instinctively to a situation, we can drown it in verbose explanations. From pulpit to parliament, and from lawyer to liar, we use language to distort reality to suit ourselves. It is through language that we can persuade ourselves that the noise we hear in the night is just the  cat and not a violent burglar. This is the basis for Graves’s reference to retreating from â€Å"too much fear.† Less obvious is the desire to protect ourselves from â€Å"too much joy†, a condition that would appear to be desirable. Perhaps the poet believes that we are unable to cope adequately with either extreme of fortune. There are a number of superstitions in this regard such as labelling something as being â€Å"too good to be true†. It may be that Graves is suggesting that we subconsciously know that we can’t sustain a state of delight for long and that the pain of the ensuing disappointment is not worth the moment of joy. It reflects a low-risk paradigm where we would forego the highs to avoid the subsequent inevitable lows. What indications are there in stanza 4 to show us what the speaker’s attitude is towards such protection? The phrases â€Å"self-possession† and â€Å"throwing off† show us that the speaker believes that the protection which language offers is an imposition and not a natural state of affairs. He notes that this enforced situation controls us for our whole life until we die. While implying that this protection is a burden, Graves also tells us that without it we would go mad. In other words, this protection is a necessary evil. Why do references to the day, the rose, the night and the soldiers recur throughout the poem? These words occur in the first, second and fourth (last) stanzas. The repetition in the second stanza and the fourth stanza fulfil different purposes. The reference in the second stanza forms the basis for a contrast with the initial reference in the first stanza. In the first stanza these objects are described via a child’s simple outlook: hot and dreadful. In the second stanza the same words are described via an adult’s more complex, language-distorted view. The last stanza has a different form than the first three; it breaks a  pattern of 4-line stanzas and, by doing so, demands extra attention from the reader. In this last stanza the words â€Å"day†, â€Å"rose†, â€Å"night† and â€Å"drums† are listed simply without adjectives. This neatly reminds the reader of the beginning of the poem and completes the comparison between children and adults, and their differing use of language. Briefly state the speaker’s conclusion about the role of language in our lives (lines 13 to 18). The speaker concludes that we need language to protect ourselves from the reality of life. Graves states that without the capacity for persuading ourselves that situations are not what they appear, we would find it impossible to cope and would go mad. The diction (choice of words), structure, rhythm and tone of the first and last stanzas are markedly different. What do you think the purpose of these differences is? The first three stanzas have a relatively simple rhyme scheme of A B C C. The effect of lines 3 and 4 of each of these stanzas rhyming is that each stanza is concluded firmly. Three stanzas with the same structure creates a pattern and an expectation that the next stanza will be the same. The fact that it is not is a surprise and a type of foregrounding. The last stanza has a rhyme of A B C D C D and this difference in structure alerts the reader and demands additional attention. This warning is welcome as the message in the last stanza is far more direct than previously where metaphor and allusion are used. The last line states unequivocally â€Å"we shall go mad no doubt.† It is in this last stanza that Graves delivers his judgement on our use of language.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Arabian Nights Proposal

Professor Burton Exploring Literature 29 September 2014 The Thousand-and-Third Night's Tale Proposal Main Idea Plants. Vegetation. Trees. Shrubs. Branches. Fruits. Blossoms. Sustenance. Nourishment. Floral serve as the main inspiration for what I wish to write about for this assignment. In The Arabian Nights most of the geography is set in Middle Eastern lands. I took it upon myself to research the green life that is geologically present there and became inspired by what these plants may metaphorically represent.As I studied the information of foliage, it was apparent that I was not the only person interested in utilizing these organisms for storytelling purposes. Many poets and authors have used the plants mentioned below in their works. I also wish to Join this literary group who has extracted inspiration from these terrestrial beings for what may – hopefully – be a decent tale I create. However, it is the plant below that serves as my muse: 1) The Halcyon Persecute a ) Halcyon persecute: A plant that â€Å"has a stout rugged stem and light grey bark, rowing up to 4. -5 meters in height. It lacks large foliage-type leaves; in fact, its leaves have retrogressed as succulent branches. The plant is found in sand hills, deserts and sand ridges, where it often forms pure stands, with an average density up to 400-500 trees a hectare. The white Saul is a hardy tree that can grow in nutritionally poor soil and can tolerate drought. The tree is in leaf all year, and flowers in May-June† (http://en. Wisped. Org/wick/Halcyon_persecute). ) The ententes I highlighted are what first brought my attention to this particular plant. It is not the most physically appealing shrub there is – but being an English student – I have learned to dig deeper beneath the surface of a given topic. In this case, I imagine a tale about a farming community that is facing the ever-growing problem of a growing population. This is not the only situation this mun icipal has to face but it is the most troubling. Their community leader takes it upon himself to make the journey to the Kings palace miles away.The leader instantly notices the major societal differences when he arrives at the Kings palace. The wealthy elite sneer at his agricultural occupation and rustic mannerisms. In total Arabian Nights fashion, the King and his posse learn a thing or two from an unsuspected â€Å"simpleton. † it) The picture to the left speaks of the plants' classifications. I wish to designate the scientific names as labels for the royal families, the kingdom, certain communities, etc. Maybe even for ranks in society†¦ Arabian Nights Proposal By electorate 7

Friday, September 27, 2019

Current Event Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current Event Article - Essay Example As of now, Wal-Mart is the biggest retail store chain in the United States and employs nearly 1.4 million workers in various positions. But most of the employed workers are store-assistants, who are not generally well-educated. This is the backdrop for Wal-Mart top management to collaborate with American Public University, which offers online higher education degrees. Workers of Wal-Mart, with reasonable work experience with the company and positive performance reviews from their managers, special college credits will be awarded, which will expedite the process of completing the degree. The author of the article Miguel Bustillo does not critically scrutinize the real intentions behind this program. The article can only be considered a ‘press release’ issued by the Wal-Mart top management on the occasion of the program’s initiation. Hence it is important to place this Wal-Mart initiative in the context of the company’s general reputation with respect to corporate philanthropy. Given the long list of employee grievances against Wal-Mart top management, this initiative should be viewed with skepticism. For example, it is a well-documented fact that Wal-Mart does not provide adequate medical insurance and reasonable wages for its employees. The cheap prices offered to the consumer are as a result of savings made through such means. Moreover, since most of the retail store assistants are employed on a part time basis, they are not eligible to get employer sponsored health insurance and other benefits. Further, a few years back, the exploitative nature of Wal-Mart manufacturing contracts with companies in the Third World came to light. For example, for every $20 shirt sold in a Wal-Mart store, the Bangladeshi worker who tailored it, gets paid only a fraction of that price. The conditions under which they work and the subsistence level wages they get can only be described as exploitative. Similarly, Wal-Mart’s shoddy record with

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Summarized article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Summarized - Article Example These events are mentioned by the author as an anecdotal introduction to understanding the potential changes in international finance in the near future. This paper will offer a summary of the article highlighting the main ideas presented by the author (Forsyth). The author of this article describes how quantitative bond easing is likely to affect the interest rates in different regions. The author mentions the outstanding roles of the federal reserves in creating a balance of situations and eliminating concerns on the fear gauge. China, for example, has declared a lowered bank reserve requirement while the bank of England will follow suit soon. This will happen after America announces its trimming of monthly purchases of bonds. The author places emphasis on the critical role held by the US in the global financial scene. This is specifically because of the dollar, which has been used as a reserve for global currencies since the 1920s. In the past, there has been evidence that the US makes use of its â€Å"exorbitant† privileges and eventually exploits other nations. This is because the dollar still remains the center of global currency. It is both a reserve in store houses that serve other central banks and the primary currency used i n finance and trade internationally (Forsyth). The globe also relies on the dollar as the effective media when indulging I transactions and investments. The dollar has also been described as having made America’s banking and financial system very liquid and deep. Therefore, since only the US can produce the much needed dollars that control the global finances, it enjoys an exorbitant privilege. As the author outlines, there are the implications of such a privilege. An evident one is the fact that, the US can print dollars and use such in exchange for goods produced in other regions. The US can also indulge in cheap borrowing because borrowing is done in the currency it produces. Other

Is police brutality still an issue in todays society Essay

Is police brutality still an issue in todays society - Essay Example This paper discusses the manifestation of police brutality in today’s society. During the civil rights movement of the 1960’s there were lots of protests and at times violent incidents which led to cases of police brutality. â€Å"The 1960’s civil rights movement in the United States was also accompanied with police brutality, especially in the cases of mixed race marches†¦.† (Wisegeek, 2009). During such marches the police utilized tactics such as pain holds, pepper spray, and batons to intimidate the protesters which many times resulted in physical injury. One of the most famous cases of policy brutality occurred in 1991. That year a black man named Rodney King was physically abused by a gang of cops who almost beat this man to death during a routine traffic stop. A citizen caught the hold incident on video tape and the person turned the evidence over to the justice department. The case went to trial and despite the clear evidence of police brutality the policemen were declared innocent. In the aftermath of the court decision the bl ack community was outraged and riots spread out through Los Angeles. The infamous incident is commonly referred to as the L.A. riots of 1991. The police claimed it would make changes to prevent police brutality from manifesting itself, but the results of their efforts to clean up the police departments across America have not been too effective. Police brutality is not only a problem in the United States it is also a problem in other parts of the world. In 1996 over 5,000 students from Yunsei University in Seoul were involved in a protest. The police intervened to stop the protesters. Their tactics were both abusive and illegal. â€Å"Two helicopters hovered over the two buildings, pouring liquidized and colored tear gas, and the 3,400 policemen blocking the entrance to the building fired tear gas grenades toward the students in

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Macro Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Macro Economics - Essay Example What where the policies adopted for combating their effects? Where these policies deemed appropriate or adequate? What role has OPEC played in the wide fluctuations of international oil? Seeking to address these questions and many more with respect to the role of geopolitical affairs on the international oil sector, this essay will explore the Oil Crises of the 20th century (1973 to 1974 and then 1979-81). With an emphasis on international events and the role that that they play in the international supply of oil, we will begin with a quick overview of OPEC and expand our analyses of these two major events (Aldeman 2003). What is OPEC? OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is an international trade cartel composed of 12 oil producing countries. These 12 countries account for two-thirds of the world’s total reserves and close to 40% of the world’s total oil production. Due their significant share of the world oil market, OPEC plays a huge role in global oil production and the determination of oil prices (Mouad 2006; BBC 2008). During the First Oil Crisis, the Arab countries of OPEC established OAPEC, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, an organization which played an important role in the oil shocks of the early 1970s. It is to this event that we now turn as we explore the geopolitical factors which precipitated this international crisis. A Jewish state in the Middle East remains a divisive and controversial subject and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains one of the most enduring and complex disputes of modern times. After two major wars, in 1948 and again in 1967, Israel and her neighbors entered into another armed conflict in 1973, this one however, had enormous geopolitical and economic ramifications. On Yom Kippur 1973 – the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish year - the concerted armies of Egypt and

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Government - Essay Example In spite of the deliberate effort to keep political parties out, the United States was the first nation to have formally recognized political parties as far back as in 1800. These political parties gained executive powers through elections, and in thirty years political parties were an indispensable part of the American political system. A political party has been defined as â€Å"an autonomous group of citizens having the purpose of making nominations and contesting elections in hope of gaining control over governmental power through the capture of public offices and the organization of the government† (Hukshorn, 1984). Presently, there are two main political parties in the United States -- the Republican and Democratic parties. All elected representatives, whether they be president, congressional representative, state governor or state legislator have to members of either of these two parties. There is no denying the fact that the two-party system in the United States has emerged as a result or reflection of the desire of the electorate that is the people. In other nations of the world which have a two-party system, each party represents conflicting ideological perspectives. In the United States, however, the two parties have tended not to adhere strictly to any one ideology or policy objectives. â€Å"Generally, Republicans have tended to support limiting federal powers and protecting the authority of state and local governments, to take a conservative approach to taxation and spending, and to oppose government interference with free enterprise. In contrast, Democrats have tended to take a more expansive view of the powers of the federal government, to support raising and spending money to address social ills on a national basis, and to favour federal regulation as a tool to improve business practices† (Bibby, 2004). The problem

Monday, September 23, 2019

Reflecting my English Understanding in a rhetoric concept Essay

Reflecting my English Understanding in a rhetoric concept - Essay Example vironment and subsequently form hypothetical reasoning about these occurrences. Within various societal spheres people usually have different meanings with regard to information presented in piece of writing which most interestingly the author had not included or intended in his/her material. Without denial, I have been a thinker, but my interaction and exposure to the English 102 class has further improved my skills to be used analytically in any literary material. My enthusiasm have been shaped more as I constantly look into ‘why’ aspect of an author’s point of view rather than mere focusing on author’s meaning as portrayed in any material. A consistent quest for knowledge has therefore created in me as I look for more intended purposes of any material by placing myself in the author’s world. ... Moving from the past form of basic literary writing, I have developed throughout the various paradigms of this course from writing and presenting simple facts to building a sustained paper argument that examines a variety of paper complexities and adequate paper organization which since then played a critical role opening up and expanding my mental faculties. My earlier wrings during the process of this course has so been influenced by environmental degradation and related concerns from wider societal perspective. During this earlier period I presented the concept of rhetoric writing as I analyzed paintings by Mathias Duwel and his intentional messages. I had played my big part of analysis in presenting Duwel’s bibliography and dedicated my entire discussions on Duwel’s theoretical standpoint and its implications for the wider society. As I advanced from this stage during my course work, I still chose to look at environmental degradation concerns. Quite familiar with th is approach, I used this as an opportunity to look at the various subject matter complexities as presented by another piece of writing this time focusing on a Hawaii’s economic ambitions and balance with the sustainable manageable of the delicate environment. While registering the improvement I have so far gained in this class, I objectively look at the needs for economic development and environmental demands as opposed to my earlier writing where I would stick to biased sided argument in a paper. It has also become very easy for me to locate numerous authoritative journals and refer from various books has also significantly sharpened my skills in research. In the final

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Financial Markets Essay Example for Free

The Financial Markets Essay The development of the regional markets to global level and innovative developments in the technology field has greatly boosted growth and expansion of financial markets. Capital markets in the emerging economies are quite evident and this is a direct result of global links in financial development policies. The rapid economic growth and industrialization process in the emerging economies is also attributed to the globalization of the financial markets which significantly promote capital inflows (Agtmael 2007). On the other hand, economic problems and financial crises in other nations could easily be transferred to other countries as a result of these interactions. This was evident with the Asian currency crisis of 1997 that affected the major economies of the Asian region; the Russian financial crisis that saw countries of former Soviet Union suffer an economic depression and the disintegration of the long-term capital management in 1998 (Kahn 1979). Many countries have now undertaken a process of finding a solution to such occurrences in future and the most notable research is that conducted by the Japanese central bank. The World Disinflation Trend Structural changes in the global financial market have influenced the international, market environment in terms of prices of products. In 1990s the world experienced a change in disinflation rates reflected by a notable increase in the supply of products to the world market as a result of the rapid industrialization in the emerging market economies. Development and innovative technology plus anti-inflation policies adopted by many nations also played a significant role in the disinflation development. The inflation rates in the Group of eight (G-8) countries declined by about 3-4%, these countries are the greatest economies in the World of all nations and they include; United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, Britain, Russia and France (Drori et,al 2006). Significant of them all is Japan which has experienced a faster deflation rate resulting in prices of consumer goods ranging from less than one to about zero percent. The European countries and the United States are the great beneficiaries of the disinflation phenomenon that resulted from the economic polices in the early 1990s. These nations has earned real economic base for their financial and commercial activities leading to a steady expansion of economy and consumer price stability (Kahn 1979). The European monetary union is a great success due to reduced inflation in the member countries. The great economic depression was an eye opener to most of the countries and this lead to change in economic policies of many central banks in different nations. Most of the nations that are in the developing stage are currently mare concerned about the threat of price decline which has not occurred for quite some time now since the great economic depression. These economic development have lead to better financial services in the US and European nations. The federal reserve reduced its rated from 6. 5 % to 1. 25% between 2001 and 2002, the European central bank on the other hand reduced refinancing rates by half and by the year 2003 it was about 2. 0 % from 4. 75% in the year 2001 (Drori et,al 2006). Central banks in the group of eight countries are concerned about calls by other economies to reduce short-term interest rates. Such conventional monetary policy is intended to stimulate economic activities that target the lower zero bound short term interest rates. Such policies are borrowed from the bank of Japan which established the trend in 2001 (IFM 2003).

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Indian Banking Industry Competitiveness and Market Structure

Indian Banking Industry Competitiveness and Market Structure Introduction After 1991 crisis, Indias liberalisation journey was multi-faceted. One of the major areas of liberalization was the banking sector which was highly regulated and controlled by government. Most importantly for banking industry, as per the M. Narasimhan committee recommendations, the liberalization came in the right areas namely interest rate, reduction of reserve requirements, entry deregulation, credit policies and prudential supervision. Incase of interest rates, they could now be determined by the banks based on their cost of funds rather then government fixing them for banks. The administered regime for interest rate came to an end except for interest rate on savings account. The reduction of reserve requirement for banks made huge capital available for banks which could be deployed in the business. The entry of new players was de-regulated. The government empowered the Reserve Bank of India to issue licenses to the new players, if they met the set criteria jointly set by RBI and Finance Ministry. The credit rationing was completely done away with. Although there is still credit rationing for priority sector, the banks are free to deploy their capital on the sectors which they feel profitable. Excessive supervision regime came to an end. The Reserve Bank of India made several changes in prudential supervision and gave autonomy to banks in their day-to-day operation. The total asset size of Indian Banking industry is over US$ 270 billion. The total deposit amount is US$ 200 billion. Its branch network is one of the largest in the world with more than 66,000 branches and over 17,000 ATM spread across the country. The bank assets are expected to grow at 13.4% CAGR and it is predicted that India could become the 3rd largest banking hub in the world by 2040. Currently India has 80 Scheduled commercial banks out of which 28 are public sector banks, 24 private banks and 28 foreign banks (Annual Report, RBI). As Indian economy is growing at an average rate of over 7% since a decade, more and more foreign banks are thinking to foray into the Indian market. As per McKinseys report on Indian Banking (2010), total loans-to-percentage of GDP, could grow from its current level of around 30% to ~45% in years to come. Such huge opportunities also  prompts several questions: Who is/ are the dominant players in the market? What is/are their share in the banking industry? What is the market structure of Indian banking industry; is it a monopoly or a perfect competition? Objectives and Motivation: The objective of this dissertation is to understand the Indian banking industry, its composition (nationalised banks, private bank and foreign banks) and knowing the players of the industry. Further the study will find out how much concentrated the Indian banking industry is and provide knowledge regarding top 3 as well as top 5 major banks. Such a concentration ratio would give a fair idea of how decision of the top players as an implication on the other industry players. The study will include the determination of the market structure of Indian banking industry. Its imperative to know whether the industry is a perfect competition, a monopoly or a monopolistic competition. This would lead to understanding of the cohesive behaviour of the market players. My motivation for choosing this topic came from the complexity of the Indian banking industry. The number of players, entry of new players, consolidation among the existing players, ever-changing economic scenario of India etc and its impact on the banking industry always fascinated me to do a study on the Indian Banking industry. I also feel that such study would be useful not only for the policymakers within the central bank and the government but also for the existing players, the potential entrants and for other stakeholders of the banking industry. Literature Review As per the neoclassical theory, the spectrum of market structure can be defined by the number of firms and size of those firms in the market [Goddard, Molyneux Wilson (2001)]. Various numerical measures of concentration have been used by empirical researchers in order to find the concentration of industry players. But at the same time, there is no single perfect measure for concentration [Goddard, Molyneux Wilson (2001)]. Nevertheless all these measure are subject to the idiosyncracies and limitation; they usually tend to correlate highly with each other [Curry and George (1983); Scherer and Ross (1990)]. Hall and Tideman (1967) have provided the desirable properties which are required for these measures of concentration to be acceptable. Concentration measures like k-bank concentration ratio, Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) are extensively used to measure the banking sector performance as a function of market structure [Barth et al., 2004, Beck at el, 2006)]. k-bank concentration ratio For measuring the concentration of firms, the most frequently used ratio is k-bank concentration ratio (Bikker 2004). The reason this ratio is so frequently used is because of its simplicity and limited data requirement. The index gives equal emphasis to the k leading banks, but neglects the many small banks in the market. It is a one dimensional measure ranging between zero and unity [Al-Muharrami S.,Matthews k., Khabari Y (2006)]. In a review of 73 US Structure-Conduct-Performance studies in banking from 1961 to 1991, in 37 studies the k-bank deposit concentration measure was used (Molyneux et al. 1996) Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI) HHI is another benchmark measure for measuring the bank concentration and gives more weight to larger banks. It was developed by A.O.Hirschman. It expands to all the banks in the system, thereby avoiding the arbitrary cut offs [Alegria, C and Schaeck K (2006)]. Bikker (2004) highlights the importance of HHI in the theoretical research. In practice, the HHI plays a pivotal role in the US for the approval of bank mergers where the post mergers market HHI cannot exceed 0.18 and that the change in the index should be less than 0.02 (Cetorelli, 1999). This index is also used to measure the bank concentration in Arab GCC banking system [Al-Muharrami S.,Matthews k., Khabari Y (2006)] and in measuring the competition and market structure in the Saudi Arabia [Al-Muharrami (2009)] Panzer and Rosse H statistics The measure of market structure helps in determining whether the market enjoys perfect competition, monopoly or monopolistic competition. This is also known measuring the monopoly power hypothesis. It means that in more concentrated markets the bigger players tend to be collusive and try to dominate the market. Also their actions have considerable impact on the other market players. There are several models for determining the market structure. The models are divided into two parts: 1) Structural Models and 2) Non Structural Models. This study will employ the non-structural model approach suggested by Rosse and Panzer (1977) and Panzer and Rosse (1982, 1987), popularly known as the H-statistics. It is widely used in determining the competitive structure of the banking industry in various countries. In the banking industry, there is extensive use of Rosse and Panzer method and has got a wide practical applicability. In his study on New York banks, Shaffer (1982) had observed that banks had monopolistic competition. Similar study for Canadian banks by Nathan and Neave (1989) found a perfect competition for 1982 but monopolistic competition for 1983-84. Japan revealed perfect competition [Molyneux et al (1996)]. Molyneux et al. (1994) also tested the P-R statistics for French, German, Italian, Spanish and British banks for the period of 1986-1989 in order to determine the competitive conditions of major European countries. Methodology The study involves the use of k-bank concentration ratio and HHI ratio for gauging the competition and Panzer and Rosse for determining the monopoly power of the players of Indian Banking industry. These ratios have been extensively used in the different studies mentioned above. K-bank concentration ratio measures the market share of the top k-firms in the industry. The equation is n CRn = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœSi i=1 Where Si is the market share of the i-th firm when firms are ranked in descending order of the market share. Market share is measured in terms of sales, assets or number of employees. Commonly used values of n include 3, 4, 5 or 8. The researchers have also found that there is high correlation between concentration ratios defined using alternative values of n [Bailey and Boyle (1971)]. The advantage of k-bank concentration ratio is that it is easily measurable; one needs to know only the total size of the industry and the individual sizes of firms. But it lacks in taking the size distribution of remaining firms. In this study, the market share would be measured on the basis of the loan size (assets) and the deposit size (liability) of the banks. The value of n would be 3 and 5 i.e. CR3 and CR5. HHI uses information about all points in the firm size distribution. It is defined as the sum of the squares of the markets share of all firms: N HHI = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœSi2 i=1 Where Si is the market shares of the firm i and N is the total number of firms in the industry. In the calculation of HHI, the larger firms get a heavier weightage than their smaller counterparts which reflects their relative importance in the market. This study uses P-R h-statistics, a non-structural model, measuring competition and emphasizes the analysis of the competitive conduct of banks without explicit information about the structure of the market. The P-R determines the competitive behaviour of banks on the basis of the comparative static properties of reduced-form revenue equation based on cross-section data [Panzer and Rosse (1987)]. The equation is Ln(TREV) = ÃŽÂ ±0 + ÃŽÂ ±1 ln PL + ÃŽÂ ±2 ln PK + ÃŽÂ ±3 ln PF + ÃŽÂ ±4 ln RISKASS + ÃŽÂ ±5 ln ASSET + ÃŽÂ ±6 ln BR The variables are defined as follows: TREV : the ratio of total revenue to total assets PL : ratio of personnel expense to employees PK : ratio of capital expense to fixed assets PF : ratio of annual interest expense to total loanable funds RISKASS : ratio of provisions to total assets ASSET : bank total assets BR : ratio of number of branches to total number of branches in the country. The H-statistic value is the sum of factor price elasticity: PL, PK and PF. The value H à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 0 implies monopoly equilibrium. A value of 0 Data The data for all the calculations of k-bank concentration ratio, HHI and P-R H-statistics will be obtained from Orbis database. Further, the data would also be taken from the Reserve Bank of India(RBI)s profile of banks 2004-2005 2008-2009. Incase any data is not available from the two main sources (Orbis and RBI), the data would be extracted from financial statements of banks, from their websites and from reports published on the Indian Stock exchanges namely Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE). The sample period covers 2002-2008. Conclusion The conclusion would include the interpretation of the results obtained by usage of E-view and MS- Excel software. In summation, the study would help in knowing the concentration ratio through k-bank ratio as well as HHI and help in understanding the monopoly power of large banks in India. Such a study would be helpful to determine the cohesive behaviour of the players of industry and how their decision would affect the entire industry as well as the Indian economy. With a lots consolidation happening in the industry, such a study would help in understanding the shifts in the concentration and market powers if any. Last but not the least; an attempt would be made to give some recommendations based on the results.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Man is a Social Animal Essay

Man is a Social Animal Essay Man is a social animal, said Aristotle years ago, human races proved and realized the importance of his statement by the passage of time. Individuals live in groups and can not separate themselves from being part of a group. Individuals have their own importance, their behaviours and performance can not be ignored as these influence the behaviours and production of groups they belong to. Groups exist every where, and we are a part of it whether we realize this or not. This does not mean that individuals do not give better results when performing alone, they do, but man is dependent on others to fulfil different kinds of need. Working in groups is beneficial for an individual as he gets more exposure and leaning takes place in many ways, and he also learns to survive in group which is the basic necessity for an individual. In order explain individuals behaviour in a group it is important to understand different types of groups, their norms and values and possible causes of the conflicts. There have been researches and experiments conducted by several scientists in order to explain unique behavioural pattern of each individual in working environment. Individual and Group: Groups are of vital importance in all fields of life whether its work situation, personal or social life, these are either formal or informal. Some people may prefer to work alone as they perform better and some might want to be a part of a group in various situations. I want to put myself as an example here, when this assignment was given I was worried to work individually on it and the reason behind this was that firstly I feel more comfortable to discuss ideas with people and second, as I write simple and straight I feel better working as a group where I can use other persons words to flourish and talk about my ideas more clearly. Critical Analysis with Examples: Formal groups are formed by organisations to achieve certain goals or tasks (Bowditch and Buono, 1994). In these groups goals, tasks, roles and norms are defined by the management (Brooks, 2009). Working in a formal group is of great benefit for an individual as this develops different skills and abilities in a person. One gets a chance to see how others behave and respond to different situations and learn to work in a group effectively. I worked as a teacher for 2 years in Pakistan and learnt many things working in a group of teachers. I feel working in a group influenced my attitude and behaviour as individual, I gained more confidence of doing tasks or projects I have never done before. It also helped in developing decision power and managing multi tasks in given array of time. Working in a competitive environment changed my attitude when I started getting positive feedback from management and parents. Children respond me very well as I worked hard on each child, tried to develop skills and work on their weaknesses. There I got chance to study behaviours of children and parents as well. I tried to bring positive changes in children showing them my own example, as I was a role model for them, so in this way got a chance to study and observe own behaviours and attitudes in detail.. People join informal groups to satisfy their social, psychological and personal needs. These groups fulfil the individuals needs of social interaction that lack working in formal groups. These groups not only exist out side work place but also at work places and people of same thinking and values become a part or make themselves a part of a particular group. When I joined University of Salford in January as an international postgraduate student, I was a part of a formal group that was defined by university comprising almost thirty five students. Later students split into informal groups in order to satisfy their social needs depending on culture, language, race, age and gender. According to Maslows Hierarchy of need theory, individual try to satisfy his basic needs which differ in importance. He identifies eight innate needs ranging from physiological and safety needs to self-actualization needs (Mullins, 2005). This theory answers one of the questions why informal groups are formed also why individuals are attracted towards each other to become part informal groups. According to Hunsaker and Cook (1986) informal groups have strong influence on an individual than formal. Individuals are open to join a group of homogeneous thoughts; this gives psychological satisfaction and helps them to perform better in formal groups. All groups have some norms as a proof of their existence or value. Norms are guidelines set by organisations or groups and are considered as code of conduct for its members. According to Kreitner, Kinicki Buelens (1999) norms are unwritten and are seldom discussed. It is an attitude, mind-set and feeling shared by people, which bounds them to follow these as to continue with their membership with the group. I would like to state an example here from the school where I was teaching, it was a norm for children to come to school in proper uniform and those who deviate from this norm were considered to be violating the rule. There were some discipline rules as well which all children had to follow as part of their training and personality development, like they were not allowed to talk loud or shout in the class, had to leave the room in queue if going some where together, ask for permission before they enter in class, raise hand before they speak in class. Such norms are advantageous for students in order to discipline and organise them. According to a research group norms have strong influences on new members and they adopt the same behaviour as a result of group pressure. It gives example of a boy who indulges in violent activities after joining a gang involved in such brutal activities (Yablonsky, cited in McKenna, 2000). Roles are behavioural aspects which are expected from a person or group in a particular position. According to a research, attitude change is driven by roles (Bowditch and Buono, 1994), and the performance of an individual is enhanced if the role he is into suits his personality (Belbin, cited in Davies and Kanaki, 2006). An individual performs many roles in a group, like a teacher plays many roles in order to satisfy management and own personal need or others social needs. For children she is a teacher and a mother, who cares for them gives them sense of protection and security, trims them to face realities of life; also achieves set targets utilizing her own potentials to satisfy management; fulfils colleagues social, psychological needs. She plays more roles in her personal life like, of a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend with various expectations from her which are not communicated formally but understood. Boulden (1983) says this tradition of very high level of expectations in work situation was set in sixties, which has brought decline to the businesses as it is very difficult for a person to match that level of expectation. When individuals share same targets, thinking and work closely together with commitment to achieve certain tasks, shows a good level of cohesiveness in a group. Cohesiveness of small groups increases when they are less diverse and more interactive, where as larger groups are less cohesive when they are more diverse and have competition (Capon, 2004).Cohesive groups share same attitudes, likings, performance and better in dealing with deviants than less cohesive groups (Bowditch and Buono, 1994). Mullins (2005) states a cohesiveness in groups is beneficial for organisations, it also leaves the members with rewarding experiences. The best example of cohesiveness can be of military, where changes in level of coordination can change the situation in battle field. It is therefore necessary for them to co-ordinate well for achieving better results. I remember the time in school when we were preparing for annual function and a few programmes were included in schedule. Teachers had to prepare children for stage performances and there was an art exhibition on the same day. Annual sports day was following this event, due to which schedule was too tight for teachers as well as for children, who had to manage themselves for so many activities though at lower level and under teachers supervision. Such situations require high level of cohesiveness to achieve targets, which is not easy as outsiders are involved in observations who also critically evaluate the organisations performance. Such situations in work experience give its members to learn from observations like other individuals or groups behaviours, and dealing techniques with groups and individuals. Good cohesiveness in a group influences an individuals behaviour, also gives high level of job satisfaction. The member follows the norms of the group which have either positive or negative impact on his attitude and behaviour both. If the group norms are good and polish his creativities and skills, that helps developing his personality, but if the norms are negative like, to produce less than ability lefts negative impact on his behaviour. According to Hawthornes experiment of fourteen men working in a wiring room formed their own informal group and the norm which everyone strongly followed was to produce less then their ability. That is how norms can be disadvantageous, if they are negative in nature (Mullins, 2005). High level of cohesiveness is not necessarily always favourable as it stops creativity, thinking, decision power and problem solving skills in a group which results in Groupthink. According to a research previously it was thought that high cohesiveness is necessary for high performance, but it was Janis, who gave a concept that high group cohesiveness leads to group think an ultimate disaster fiasco for groups decision making ability (Eaton, 2001). I want to quote Vietnam War here which was a consequence of high cohesiveness that lead to group think and America attacked Vietnam without considering the after effects they had face. Bowditch and Buono (1994) quote Janiss work saying groupthink leads to overoptimism and high risk taking by group members; there is rationalisation of groups decisions so other members are not allowed to question the decisions made. Leadership is a necessity which cannot be avoided in order to manage activities, conflicts and decision making. According to Mullins (2005 p.282) Leadership is a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people. It is the leadership which moulds the behaviour of ordinary group members to competitive group, which enhances the competency level of members of that group. Great man theory explains well the qualities of good leaders, according to which the leaders influence the behaviour of people by force of their personality (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). The best example of leadership I think is Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of my country, Pakistan. It was because of his strong leadership qualities that he united the Muslims of sub-continent on one plate form, as a nation. Different style of leadership have different affects on individuals personality, like, Autocratic leadership style suppresses the abilities of the group members. On the other hand if the leader tries to involve the member in making decisions, he wins their confidence, able to take better decisions, this also have very positive effects on the attitudes of members. I want to share my own experience of working with SLM Connexions, a call centre located in Manchester, UK. The company started business with a good deal of investment, and recruitment of talented staff. The autocratic style of leadership was adopted by the directors who use to tell the staff what they want them to do or sell. Sometimes suggestions were welcomed but no one was allowed to question their decisions, and as a result the company bear much loss in last few months for making many wrong decisions. Whenever individuals interact with each other, there is always a possibility of conflict between them depending on multidimensional thinking, perception and behaviour. Conflict my arise due to several reasons ranging from improperly defined roles to ambiguity in norms. Whatever reason of conflict is, it affects its member both positively and negatively. Role conflict mainly arises due to unethical behaviour of a member (Johns and Saks, 2005). Conflicts may also arise from cultural, demographic and value differences (Vodosek, 2007). I want to quote an example from my own experience in school where teachers were provided with pick and drop facility. These group of teachers were from different level, like some were from pre-school and some from primary and their finishing time was different from each other. Pre-school teachers finished an hour before the primary level teacher and had enough time to wind-up before going home, but primary teachers use to finish at 2oclock. Conflict arouse when pre-school teachers demanded van to leave school as they get free early without considering the teachers who finish at 2oclock. This conflict leads to many other conflicts in school regarding duty timings and some others. Then our academic co-ordinator decided to have consensus and time was fixed for the school van to leave after school. Conflict brings success to an organisation and groups in many ways. Conflicts are a sign of healthy mental approach; bring new ideas, innovations which individuals should learn to take positively as it is beneficial for them as well. On other hand conflict has adverse affects on personality behaviour of an individual that can result in stress and frustration. Conclusion: The subject discussed above reflects the positive and negative aspects of group behaviours on individual. Individuals and groups work parallel to each other in every sphere of life and study of an individuals behaviour in a group is as important as organizations. An individual interacts with other people in perspectives of behaviours and attitudes throughout life and learn to polish, enhance and develops his personality, through learning from different experiences. Management should take the responsibility to resolve the conflicts related to roles, status leadership, norms, and develops good cohesiveness so that individuals can get maximum benefit from it. Generally problems are taken as hurdles but these are there to teach us. We should take them as opportunity which gives a new horizon to perception of an individual.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

A Tale of Two Cities Essay :: essays papers

A Tale of Two Cities Essay Throughout history, the powers of love and hate have constantly been engaged in a battle for superiority. Time and time again, love has proven to be stronger than hate, and has been able to overcome all of the obstacles that have stood in the way from it reaching its goal. On certain occasions, though, hate has been a viable foe and defeated love when they have clashed. In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents several different power struggles between love and hate. One of the more famous power struggles takes place between Miss Pross and Madame Defarge, towards the end of the novel. When Madame Defarge, who because of her evil nature and devilish appearance is compared to "the wife of Lucifer", appears at the Manettes' residence to accuse the remaining members of the household of ridiculous crimes, she is confronted by Miss Pross. The result is a struggle between these two magnificent women, who are complete opposites of each other: "It was in vain for Madame Defarge to struggle and to strike; Miss Pross, with the vigorous tenacity of love, always so much stronger than hate, clasped her tight†¦" (p. 360). Miss Pross loves Lucie with all her heart and would never allow any harm to come to her. Madame Defarge, on the other hand, does not just hate Lucie, but she hates the Manettes and all Evremondes. One would think that such a strongly fueled hatred would permit Madame Defarge to overpower Miss Pross, but, as the reader finds out, Miss Pross' determination to keep her darling "Ladybird" safe, from any harm that might come to her or her family, allows her to overpower and kill her enemy. This time, the power of good overcomes the power of evil due to Miss Pross' true love and dedication for Lucie. Another struggle between love and hate can be found within Monsieur Defarge. In this particular case, it is evil that eventually triumphs. Monsieur Defarge can be considered a true revolutionary, as his actions prove throughout the novel: "†¦ and still Defarge of the wine - shop at his gun, grown doubly hot by the service of four fierce hours" (p. 215). Monsieur Defarge tirelessly works alongside his fellow revolutionaries to defeat the aristocracy that has treated his countrymen so harshly. A Tale of Two Cities Essay :: essays papers A Tale of Two Cities Essay Throughout history, the powers of love and hate have constantly been engaged in a battle for superiority. Time and time again, love has proven to be stronger than hate, and has been able to overcome all of the obstacles that have stood in the way from it reaching its goal. On certain occasions, though, hate has been a viable foe and defeated love when they have clashed. In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens presents several different power struggles between love and hate. One of the more famous power struggles takes place between Miss Pross and Madame Defarge, towards the end of the novel. When Madame Defarge, who because of her evil nature and devilish appearance is compared to "the wife of Lucifer", appears at the Manettes' residence to accuse the remaining members of the household of ridiculous crimes, she is confronted by Miss Pross. The result is a struggle between these two magnificent women, who are complete opposites of each other: "It was in vain for Madame Defarge to struggle and to strike; Miss Pross, with the vigorous tenacity of love, always so much stronger than hate, clasped her tight†¦" (p. 360). Miss Pross loves Lucie with all her heart and would never allow any harm to come to her. Madame Defarge, on the other hand, does not just hate Lucie, but she hates the Manettes and all Evremondes. One would think that such a strongly fueled hatred would permit Madame Defarge to overpower Miss Pross, but, as the reader finds out, Miss Pross' determination to keep her darling "Ladybird" safe, from any harm that might come to her or her family, allows her to overpower and kill her enemy. This time, the power of good overcomes the power of evil due to Miss Pross' true love and dedication for Lucie. Another struggle between love and hate can be found within Monsieur Defarge. In this particular case, it is evil that eventually triumphs. Monsieur Defarge can be considered a true revolutionary, as his actions prove throughout the novel: "†¦ and still Defarge of the wine - shop at his gun, grown doubly hot by the service of four fierce hours" (p. 215). Monsieur Defarge tirelessly works alongside his fellow revolutionaries to defeat the aristocracy that has treated his countrymen so harshly.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Students and School Uniforms Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Students and School Uniforms   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The implication of school uniforms on the public school system would make a dramatic positive change for the students now and in the future. Currently the public school system allows casual dress code attire throughout the United States. Differing from private school institutions, where uniforms are mandatory. School uniforms are beneficial to the students and to the parents of these students. Secondly, uniforms provide structure and unity within the schools. Lastly, school uniforms make the environment in which the students conduct in for approximately 6 – 7 hrs. of their day a safer place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How much does it cost to dress for school? The prices in the fashion market targeted to school age children are on the rise yearly. â€Å"The $28 billion children's apparel market experienced continuous growth from 1998 to 2003 up 32%† (Key note publications, 2003), this statistic showing the growth in spending on fashion clothing for young children. The clothing market now being a large expense for parents of these children. The purchasing of school uniforms is proven to be less expensive than the competitive fashion market at this time. School uniforms are typically purchased yearly, with the growing child. This lessening the amount of money spent on uniforms and attention paid to the fashion market’s competiti...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Essay on Microeconomic Reform in Australia

Write an essay on Microeconomic reform in Australia including discussion on: * The meaning of the term ‘Microeconomic reform†. * Examples of recent microeconomic reform * Possible effects of microeconomic reform in the Australian economy. Microeconomic reforms (MER) are the actions to reform particular product and factor markets with the aim of raising the economy†s long term growth rate and increasing its flexibility. It also refers to the set of policy initiatives aimed at prompting structural change in the Australian economy so that resources can flow freely from one use to another. Any barrier to the free flow of resources in response to price signals creates inefficiencies in the economy, adding to cost. MER has many aims. Firstly it is used to improve resource allocation by maximising output of scarce resources. It is also to encourage efficient operations of markets (adoption of world†s best practice) and encourage efficiencies-allocative (limited resources allocated to the most uses for its output to be maximised), technical (aims to produce at the scale where costs per unit are the lowest) and dynamic ( how firms achieve and maintain efficiency over time). Micro reforms refer to individual sectors within the economy. They work to improve inputs and outputs, and are tools of control in conjunction with macro policies (fiscal and monetary). MER works on supply side economics to improve productivity. This is done through govt. deregulation which improves efficiency, lowers tariffs, increases international competitiveness and through the reforms of the GBEs which lowers costs and increases competition (Hilmer report). In recent years there have been many examples of developments in MER. The last fifteen years of MER has been the crucial factor in improvements of the status of the economy on Australia especially the return to low inflation. In the product markets, MER has been reducing protection, and improving the competition policy through the introduction of the Trade Practices act (1974) and the Hilmer report in 1993, as a decrease in regulations mean increased competition. This led to privatisation and corporatisation of GBEs and deregulation. In Factor markets, such as the capital markets, deregulation occurred from the early 80s which included the deregulation of financial markets and float of the dollar (â€Å"83). Labour markets also went under some structural changes with the decentralisation of wage-fixing with the introduction of enterprise bargaining instead of arbitration and the end of National Wage cases in the early 90s as well as restructuring of awards. Under the Howard govt. the introduction of the WRA has brought on AWAs (individual contracts), simplification of awards and measures to reduce union power. Some deregulation has occurred through some reduction of the role of the IRC in wage fixing and industrial relations. In the public sector, the most important MER of the decade are the corporatisation and privatisation of former GBEs such as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Qantas, Telstra (partial)(end of monopoly in 1991 and full competition in 1997) and corporatisation of Australia Post. Taxation has gone under some changes with the introduction of capital gains tax, fringe benefits tax and the possible introduction of a GST and tax indexation (linking tax brackets to inflation rates so that individuals would not be under the influence of bracket creep due to inflation. Also income tax cuts-from 60% to 47%-provide incentives to work and increase output. Welfare has also been under the influence of MERs through tightening of old age pensions and benefits through the incomes and assets test as well as the introduction of the ‘Work for the Dole† scheme. The main reason for MER is to improve the over all performance of economic activity. MER must help to achieve govt. objectives as the failure of macroeconomic policy means it cannot do the job alone. It attempts to override and supplement macro by improving dynamism of productivity, efficiency and raising national income. It aims to improve the ability to absorb displaced workers and make the economy less inflation prone. Another reason for MER is to ensure efficiency for sustainable economic growth and improved living standards. The three main types of efficiency are allocative, technical and dynamic and are prerequisites for possible economic growth. Allocative efficiency is when prices reflect costs. It is the production of combination of goods and services which yields maximum efficiency. Technical efficiency involves the production of g+s at minimum average costs. This is done through the acquisition of capital and the right number of labour employed to produce at maximum efficiency without the Law of Diminishing returns kicking in, or excessive RULC. Another reason for MER is to improve competition. It puts pressure on firms to increase technical efficiency and to pass on the benefits of the improved technical efficiency in the form of lower prices to consumers. In turn, competition will improve allocative efficiency, which means resources will be allocated only to the areas which reflect consumer demand and push price down to long run average costs. The pattern is like a set of dominos, reduced allocation of resources will increase competition which puts pressure to lower prices and improve resource allocation, which in turn will increase national income and living standards. A proof of its success is the dramatic decrease of inflation in Australia from the 70s (10%) to the 80s (8%) to the 90s (

Monday, September 16, 2019

Adult-Incarceration

When young people commit crimes, there are usually reasons behind their behavior and these reasons need to be addressed with care and thoughtfulness and not the severest form of punishment. During the 1990s, several states decided to try juveniles as young as 17 years old as adults, and to use adult-incarceration facilities for those who were convicted. I think that was a negative trend.Young people have a lot happening inside their bodies and minds, this is not to excuse them but it’s a fact. A lot of internal changes are taking place and by that I mean, hormonal changes, bodily changes and mood swings.Apart from major internal physical changes taking place, they also have to deal with peer pressure and behave in a certain way so that they fit in with their friends’ idea of being cool and normal.Researches and studies on the juvenile brain show that teens sent to adult court result in being worse than those who are not. They have a tendency to get in to trouble more of ten and the offenses are more severe. (Patrick, 2005)An Example of the Law Being Too Harsh:Reginald Dwayne Betts was executed at the age of 16 and spent more than eight years in prison, in Virginia for an armed carjacking. He was an honors student who had never been in trouble with the police before; he thought he would either be sent to a juvenile detention center or in an extreme case would receive a suspended sentence. But astonishingly, he was tried as an adult and was originally sentenced to 23 years of imprisonment. (Sharon, 2007)Locked up at the young and tender age of 16, Betts spent 8 years in adult prisons. At such a young and impressionable age, he wasn’t prepared to deal with the horrors and harsh realities of an adult prison. He was quite vulnerable to the happenings around him both physically and emotionally.It was hard for him to get used to being away from home and at the same time to deal with the isolation and stress that comes from being in an adult prison. To make matters worse, violence haunted him day and night; he witnessed other prisoners having their heads split open and getting stabbed. He was exposed to disturbing conditions at a very young age whereas most people would never have to face such incidents in their entire life.Even though Betts served 8 years in prison, he now has a fulfilling career as a writer but he knows that he is an exception and he believes that youngsters who end up in prison usually don’t make it as successful human beings.Another example of a juvenile being tried is Zack, who was recently released after serving 27 months for being involved in the robbery of an Oregon convenience store. His mother says Zack (then 15) was struggling with a bipolar disorder at that time. At present, he’s 17 and although his school was hesitant to welcome him back, he is once again a student there.His mother says that Zack will always be a criminal in the eyes of the society and he still finds it hard to put th e past behind him and it was exceptionally hard for him to find work as a lot of people did not want anything to do with him.Zack’s mother admits that he deserved punishment but probation and counseling would have been better for him rather than serving time in jail (Sharon, 2007)Why Passing Harsher Laws Against Juveniles Is Wrong?An assumption made by legislators in passing harsher laws in order to make it easier to try juveniles as adults, has been that juveniles would be less likely to become involved in criminal behavior if there were tough laws and hence a message would be sent to offenders that crime would not be tolerated. (Brian, 2006)Though, research has proven this assumption wrong. Numerous prominent studies have proved that juveniles tried as adults tend to engage in criminal activities more often, more quickly and more seriously than those tried as juveniles.Fagan (1996) looked at the relapsing to criminal activities rate of eight hundred juveniles. The 15 to 16 year olds were convicted of first degree robbery, second degree robbery or first degree burglary. Half of the cases came from two counties in New York and the other half were from two counties in New Jersey. (Brian, 2006)  Due to New York’s Juvenile Offender Law, all the New York based cases were automatically handled by the criminal court, whereas New Jersey based cases were handled by the juvenile court. A comparison of the cases of both states showed that there were significant differences found in the re-arrest rates of those convicted of robbery.A higher number of robbers from New York were rearrested as compared to the robbers from New Jersey. Furthermore, robbers from New York who were sentenced to incarceration in a criminal court tended to re-offend considerably sooner than those from New Jersey who were sentenced to incarceration in juvenile court.A research, Podkopacz & Feld (1996); carried out a comparison of recidivism rates for offenders from Hennepin County, Minnesota that had had their cases referred for possible transfer to criminal court from 1986 to 1992. They finding outs were that those offenders who were tried as adults had a considerably higher recidivism rate (58 %) than those offenders who were tried in a juvenile court (42 percent). (Brian, 2006)Therefore, this shows that if juveniles are convicted as adults and face adult punishments, then they feel alienated from the society and their connection with the community over all weakens and this leads them to relapse to criminal activities once they have served their time in prison Also possible juveniles tried as adults are more likely to view criminal court proceedings as unfair and unjust and hence they relapse to criminal activities to rebel or avenge the unfairness.Researches have also found that those tried as juveniles generally had a positive view of the juvenile court. They were happy with the overall treatment of the judges towards them since they sincerely seemed to ca re about their well being.In addition, the majority of the people interviewed for the research   saw the juvenile court proceedings as fair and only a very few saw the juvenile court proceeding as unjust.Majority of the offenders who were tried for the criminal court believed that the judges they faced didn’t seem to care much about them nor about their problems.They complained that the court proceedings were formal and rushed and quite a lot of them reported difficulty in understanding the legal terminology that was used in the court proceedings. Many that were tried for the criminal court thought that the criminal court’s process sent a strong message that the offenders were of very little importance.Research has also shown that juveniles held in adult prisons were one and a half times as likely to be assaulted with a weapon and five times more likely to be sexually assaulted as compared to the inmates held in juvenile facilities.An earlier research by Flaherty (19 80) showed that the suicide rate of juveniles held in adult jails was 7.7 times higher than the suicide rate of juveniles held in juvenile detention centers and if you compare it with the normal youth population than its 4.6 times higher. (Brian, 2006)Effective Ways of Dealing with Juvenile Offenders:To combat juvenile crimes/offences, judges and courts need to understand what provoked the juveniles to commit such offences in the first place.The best way to deal with them is gently and in order to improve their over all behavior gentler punishments should be given and not harsh, adult punishments, as the juveniles are in the process of growing up and aren’t full grown adults hence they need to be dealt with gently but firmly to eradicate their wrong habits for once and all.Judges like Michael Corriero, who is based in New York, are well aware of how adult treatment of juvenile offences affects most of the juveniles. He supervises a special court by the name of Manhattan Youth Part and resolves cases of juveniles that belong to the ages 13-15 and have been tried as adults for serious crimes. He tries to steer as many as possible away from the criminal court. (Sharon 2007)According to his ideology, a youth’s character is flexible. Kids in their early teens (13-15) are supposed to learn from their mistakes. If we lock them up, what will they become in 10 years time? They won’t possess any special skills. And nothing can be expected of kids that have been put in to adult prisons therefore have been criminalized before their time.65% of the cases he handles are either sent for counseling or other such alternative programs, most of those programs are private and if the kids succeed, their records are sealed. Only the kids that commit major offences are tried in criminal courts (Sharon 2007)Although these treatment programs are very expensive, but they are worth every penny as if you correct a juvenile in a juvenile justice program then the socie ty will have less adult criminals.Therefore it’s essential to see what kind of crimes or mistakes the youth are committing and to treat them accordingly. In cases such as minor shoplifting or joy riding the juvenile should be counseled and should not be given the same punishment as an adult. Since the youth may have committed that particular crime due to immense peer pressure.Although juvenile crimes make most of us think of gangs, rape and murder; violent teens are the exception. Whereas in reality, according to various studies, violent teens only makeup 5% of all juvenile arrests.The more common reasons for prosecuting juveniles in adult courts are drugs, burglary, theft, taking cars for joy ride (Sharon Cohen, N.D. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-01-tryingkids_N.htm).Being in an adult jail increases a child's risk of being exposed to sexual abuse and assault. Educational opportunities are usually very limited and inadequate.Juveniles that Commit Major Offences: The other side of the picture is that some prosecutors argue about kids that are too dangerous to be considered juveniles as if tried as a juvenile, they maybe freed of all sorts of charges and imprisonment as soon as they turn 21. (Sharon 2007)An example of such dangerous juveniles will be Matthew Niedere and Clayton Keister, who murdered Niedere's parents in cold blood.The murder was planned carefully by the 17 year olds. Niedere’s father was shot five times and his mother four times by him. Keister shot Patricia Niedere, when she ran outside the family store, calling out for help. The two 17 years olds were prosecuted as adults and rightly so. In such extreme cases, where youth nearing adulthood have committed cold blooded murders, they should be punished severely. (Sharon 2007)Conclusion:To conclude, I’d like to say that juveniles for mild and petty crimes should not be prosecuted as adults. As in the case of being convicted, they suffer from poor conditions, horre ndous health care to inappropriate lock-ups and very few efforts to help them (youth) re-enter society.Furthermore they are exposed to sexual abuse and forced to grow up before their time and may face psychological problems later on their life, due to exposure to brutal activities such as stabbings, or even murders taking place in the prisons.Once these juveniles serve their time in the jail and are released, it’s also hard for them to re-enter the society and be acceptable by the rest of the society. They would always have that tag attached with them that they once committed a crime and went to prison for it.Therefore for minor crimes, its better to have them counseled or to assign them certain hours of community service, as their minds and personalities are still being shaped and hence its better to correct them by allowing them to ponder over their mistakes and to make them serve the society through community service in order to have them realize their mistakes.ReferencesB rian E. Oliver, ‘Does Trying Juveniles as Adults Work?’ An Analysis of the Evidence, June 2006 http://www.aicharleston.com/JuvenileJustice1.htm Accessed March 14, 2008Juvenile crime statistics, http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/criminal_law/juvenile/statistics.html Accessed March 14, 2008 Juvenile justice system,http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2142/Juvenile-Justice-System-JUVENILE-CRIME-VIOLENCE.html Accessed March 14, 2008Patrick Boyle (2005). Articles Section of Perspectives on Youth, http://www.perspectivesonyouth.org/Pages-Archive/CurEditionsPerspectives-Summer-Fall2005.htm Accessed March 14, 2008Sharon Cohen (2007). Prosecuting kids as adults: Some states ponder changeshttp://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-01-tryingkids_N.htm Accessed March 14, 2008

Sunday, September 15, 2019

What Is Practical Work In Science Education Essay

Practical work is viewed by the huge bulk of scientific discipline instructors, as an indispensable and built-in portion of scientific discipline instruction. In fact, many regard it as an indispensable facet of being a ‘science instructor ‘ ( Donnolly 1998 from reappraisal Practical work effectivity in primary/sec schools Abraham ) . Practical work can embrace many different constituents, which can be divided into two chief groups as described in Woodley E, ( 2009 ) , as follows: 1 ) Core activities: These include ‘hands-on ‘ activities such as different probes, research lab techniques and processs, every bit good as fieldwork. These types of activities can assist heighten the development of pupils ‘ practical research lab accomplishments, every bit good as assisting them to understand cardinal scientific constructs and phenomena. 2 ) Directly related activities: These are closely connected to the above nucleus activities, and include practical presentations performed by the instructor, planning and planing scientific probes and analysis of informations. In add-on, some argue that other activities such as usage of computing machine simulations, modeling, usage of studies, presentations, group treatment and function dramas can besides represent what is meant by the term practical activity ( SCORE, 2008 ) . However, others would differ, and believe these activities would non come under the practical activity ‘umbrella ‘ , and instead that they should be used complementarily alongside other practical activities, instead than be a replacement for them ( Woodley, E ) . Millar described a practical activity as ‘Any scientific discipline instruction and acquisition activity which at some point involves the pupils, working separately or in little groups, in detecting or pull stringsing objects to develop understanding ‘ . ( Millar ( 2009 ) ) . It is described in The National Strategies as: ‘Any activity that enables students to hold direct, frequently hands-on, experience of the phenomena they are analyzing ‘ . ( The National Strategies ( 2008 ) ) . In fact the undermentioned citation from SCORE underpins what many believe about the importance of practical work in scientific discipline: ‘Science without practical is like swimming without H2O ‘ . ( SCORE, 2008 ) . Therefore, irrespective of how practical work is defined, or what activities are thought to represent it, it can be seen as a cardinal portion of how scientific discipline should be taught in schoolsWhat is the Purpose of Practical Work?The chief intents of practical work are to prosecute pupils, helping them to develop many of import accomplishments. In fact, practical work can back up larning in a battalion of ways runing from ‘Personal acquisition and believing accomplishments ‘ to ‘How scientific discipline plants ‘ ( E Woodley ) -See Figure 1. The overruling rule, nevertheless is ‘to make links between the concrete and abstract universes ‘ . ( Reflecting on practical work ) . Figure 1. Different ways practical work can back up acquisition: Figure taken from E.Woodley ( original = Figure 1 How practical work supports scientific discipline ( From Geting practical: a model for practical scientific discipline in schools ( SCORE, 2009a ) p. 7 )From reading the literature, it is clear that the different grounds and principles for transporting out practical work in scientific discipline can be classified into three chief countries ( see below ) , as discussed in ( Practical Work in School Science: Which Way Now? Jerry Wellington ) :Arguments for and against the usage of practical work in scientific discipline:1 ) . Cognitive statements: It is thought that practical activities can associate to knowledge and understanding ( the cognitive sphere ) by assisting to beef up pupils ‘ conceptual apprehension of scientific discipline by enabling them to visualize and do sense of different scientific Torahs and theories, frequently back uping learnt theory work.2 ) . Affectional spheres: This relates to the enjoyment and motivational facets of practical work. Practical work is frequently used to bring forth involvement and enthusiasm amongst pupils, and is thought to help pupils in retrieving thing s ; ‘making things stick ‘ . In fact, reports show that in footings of how pupils rate the enjoyability of school scientific discipline activities, the three top rated were: ‘going on a scientific discipline trip ( 85 % ) , looking at pictures ( 75 % ) and making a scientific discipline experiment ( 71 % ) , back uping the position that practical work is so extremely motivational ( Dillion J ) . 3 ) . Skills statement: The last of the three chief principles for practical work is that it can assist develop many movable accomplishments, as illustrated in Figure 1 above. However, characterizing the existent value and intent of practical work is a really hard undertaking and divides sentiment across the scientific discipline instruction profession. In fact there are many statements and counter statements for and against practical work in scientific discipline. Counter responses to the cognitive statement include the thought that practical work can frequently confound instead than better pupils ‘ apprehension ( particularly if the practical does non travel to program ) . In add-on Scott and Leach propose that practical work is non a good attack to learn theory, proposing that theories comprise abstract thoughts which can non be demonstrated physically: ‘ In the context of the school research lab it is clear that pupils can non develop an apprehension through their ain observations, as the theoretical entities of scientific discipline are non at that place to be seen ‘ . ( Taken from Wellington book- Leach and Scott 1995:48 ) Arguments against the affectional statement include the impression that many pupils are merely turned off at the thought and chance of making practicals. There is besides grounds bespeaking that boys bask practical work more so than misss, and therefore misss can frequently be less enthusiastic and motivated compared to boys making the same practical undertaking. ( Wellington ) . Counter statements to the proposal that practical work can develop many movable accomplishments besides exist. These include the statement that group work within practical scientific discipline frequently does non better cardinal accomplishments such as communicating and interaction, as widely believed, but when studied more closely, frequently consequences in more forceful pupils ‘ ruling the undertaking, ensuing in deficiency of enjoyment and battle for some and the demotion of some pupils to simple median undertakings, such as pulling out tabular arraies or entering consequences without any existent engagement in the practical activity themselves. ( Wellington ) . Many other scientific discipline instruction professionals make claims of the ‘overselling ‘ of the scientific discipline instruction in footings of construct that scientific discipline practical work can develop many movable accomplishments. The thought that these accomplishments can add value to pupils and help them on their chosen calling waies have been discredited by some. In fact, Ausubel in the 1960 ‘s argued that any practical undertaking that can give rise to the application of accomplishments required for many subjects, is merely non specific plenty to turn to the peculiar scientific probe being addressed: ‘Grand schemes of find do non look to be movable across disciplines..it barely seems plausible that a scheme of enquiry, which must needfully be wide adequate to be applicable to a broad scope of subjects and jobs, can of all time hold sufficient peculiar relevancy to be helpful in the solution of the particular job at manus ‘ . ( Wellington, Ausubel 1964:298 ) . Therefore, there is much argument sing the usage of practical work within the instruction and acquisition of scientific discipline in schools. The cardinal inquiry here truly is to make with knowledge and how we get cognition. i.e. : How do we understand the universe and do sense of it in our caputs? ( Miller R, 2004 ) . One important reply to this came from Jean Piaget, who is credited as the innovator of the constructivist theory of cognizing. He argued that we construct of all time more complicated and sophisticated representations of the universe. This is through modifying our bing apprehensions ( or scheme ; a structured bunch of constructs ) through our actions on the universe around us. If Piaget is right, so the usage of practical work in detecting and step ining in the universe must be critical for our apprehension of scientific discipline ( R Miller 2004 ) .The effectivity of practical work in scientific disciplineAs discussed above, many scientific discipline instructors a nd other scientific discipline instruction professionals believe that practical work in the instruction of scientific discipline in schools is critical for assisting pupils learn and retrieve things more clearly. However, as besides noted there are statements proposing that practical work is really non all that effectual at accomplishing these purposes. A outstanding citation from Osborne ( 1998 ) inquiries the effectivity of practical work in the acquisition of scientific discipline, stating that practical work: ‘ has merely a limited function to play in larning scientific discipline and that much of it is of small educational value ‘ ( p. 156. from Miller 2004 reappraisal ) . Much of the decisions of research into the effectivity of practical work remain slightly equivocal. Research carried out in the 1980 ‘s by Hewson and Hewson ( 1983 ) , in which In add-on, others have argued that the manner in which practical work is practised is frequently the cause of its ineffectualness, and possibly, therefore the type of practical work used, and the manner it is used should be analysed, instead than merely stating that all practical work is uneffective. Hence if we are interested in looking at the effectivity of practical work in scientific discipline, the specific practical work used, or planning to be used need to be really carefully planned and thought out. A cardinal consideration here is really what is meant by the term ‘effectiveness ‘ .A model for judging the effectivity of practical workTheobald in the 1960 ‘s argued that scientific theory must ever be taught first and is required in order to visualize: ‘Experience does non give constructs intending, if anything constructs give experience significance ‘ ( J Wellington ) .

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Save Girl Child

NuclearMain articles: Nuclear explosion and Effects of nuclear explosions In addition to stellar nuclear explosions, a man-made nuclear weapon is a type of explosive weapon that derives its destructive force from nuclear fission or from a combination of fission and fusion. As a result, even a nuclear weapon with a small yield is significantly more powerful than the largest conventional explosives available, with a single weapon capable of completely destroying an entire city. Properties of explosionsForceExplosive force is released in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the explosive. If the surface is cut or shaped, the explosive forces can be focused to produce a greater local effect; this is known as a shaped charge.VelocityThis article is written like a personal reflection or opinion essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Pleasehelp improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (May 2013) The speed of the reaction is what distinguishes the ex plosive reaction from an ordinary combustion reaction . Unless the reaction occurs rapidly, the thermally expanded gases will be dissipated in the medium, and there will be no explosion. Again, consider a wood or coal fire. As the fire burns, there is the evolution of heat and the formation of gases, but neither is liberated rapidly enough to cause an explosion. This can be likened to the difference between the energy discharge of a battery, which is slow, and that of a flash capacitor like that in a camera flash, which releases its energy all at once.Evolution of heatThe generation of heat in large quantities accompanies most explosive chemical reactions. The exceptions are called entropic explosives and include organic peroxides such as acetone peroxide[2] It is the rapid liberation of heat that causes the gaseous products of most explosive reactions to expand and generate high pressures. This rapid generation of high pressures of the released gas constitutes the explosion. The li beration of heat with insufficient rapidity will not cause an explosion. For example,  although a unit mass of coal yields five times as much heat as a unit mass of nitroglycerin, the coal cannot be used as an explosive because the rate at which it yields this heat is quite slow. In fact, a substance which burns less rapidly (i.e. slowcombustion) may actually evolve more total heat than an explosive which detonates rapidly (i.e. fast combustion).In the former, slow combustion converts more of the internal energy (i.e.chemical potential) of the burning substance into heat released to the surroundings, while in the latter, fast combustion (i.e. detonation) instead converts more internal energy into work on the surroundings (i.e. less internal energy converted into heat); c.f. heat and work (thermodynamics) are equivalent forms of energy. See Heat of Combustion for a more thorough treatment of this topic. When a chemical compound is formed from its constituents, heat may either be ab sorbed or released. The quantity of heat absorbed or given off during transformation is called the heat of formation.Heats of formations for solids and gases found in explosive reactions have been determined for a temperature of 25  °C and atmospheric pressure, and are normally given in units of kilojoules per gram-molecule. A negative value indicates that heat is absorbed during the formation of the compound from its elements; such a reaction is called an endothermic reaction. In explosive technology only materials that are exothermic—that have a net liberation of heat—are of interest. Reaction heat is measured under conditions either of constant pressure or constant volume. It is this heat of reaction that may be properly expressed as the â€Å"heat of explosion.†Initiation of reactionA chemical explosive is a compound or mixture which, upon the application of heat or shock, decomposes or rearranges with extreme rapidity, yielding much gas and heat. Many sub stances not ordinarily classed as explosives may do one, or even two, of these things. A reaction must be capable of being initiated by the application of shock, heat, or a catalyst (in the case of some explosive chemical reactions) to a small portion of the mass of the explosive material. A material in which the first three factors exist cannot be accepted as an explosive unless the reaction can be made to occur when needed.FragmentationFragmentation is the accumulation and projection of particles as the result of a high explosives detonation. Fragments could be part of a structure such as a magazine. High velocity, low angle fragments can travel hundreds or thousands of feet with enough energy to initiate other surrounding high explosive items, injure or kill personnel and damage vehicles or structures. Notable explosions Save Girl Child NuclearMain articles: Nuclear explosion and Effects of nuclear explosions In addition to stellar nuclear explosions, a man-made nuclear weapon is a type of explosive weapon that derives its destructive force from nuclear fission or from a combination of fission and fusion. As a result, even a nuclear weapon with a small yield is significantly more powerful than the largest conventional explosives available, with a single weapon capable of completely destroying an entire city. Properties of explosionsForceExplosive force is released in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the explosive. If the surface is cut or shaped, the explosive forces can be focused to produce a greater local effect; this is known as a shaped charge.VelocityThis article is written like a personal reflection or opinion essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Pleasehelp improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (May 2013) The speed of the reaction is what distinguishes the ex plosive reaction from an ordinary combustion reaction . Unless the reaction occurs rapidly, the thermally expanded gases will be dissipated in the medium, and there will be no explosion. Again, consider a wood or coal fire. As the fire burns, there is the evolution of heat and the formation of gases, but neither is liberated rapidly enough to cause an explosion. This can be likened to the difference between the energy discharge of a battery, which is slow, and that of a flash capacitor like that in a camera flash, which releases its energy all at once.Evolution of heatThe generation of heat in large quantities accompanies most explosive chemical reactions. The exceptions are called entropic explosives and include organic peroxides such as acetone peroxide[2] It is the rapid liberation of heat that causes the gaseous products of most explosive reactions to expand and generate high pressures. This rapid generation of high pressures of the released gas constitutes the explosion. The li beration of heat with insufficient rapidity will not cause an explosion. For example, although a unit mass of coal yields five times as much heat as a unit mass of nitroglycerin, the coal cannot be used as an explosive because the rate at which it yields this heat is quite slow.In fact, a substance which burns less rapidly (i.e. slowcombustion) may actually evolve more total heat than an explosive which detonates rapidly (i.e. fast combustion). In the former, slow combustion converts more of the internal energy (i.e.chemical potential) of the burning substance into heat released to the surroundings, while in the latter, fast combustion (i.e. detonation) instead converts more internal energy into work on the surroundings (i.e. less internal energy converted into heat); c.f. heat and work (thermodynamics) are equivalent forms of energy. See Heat of Combustion for a more thorough treatment of this topic. When a chemical compound is formed from its constituents, heat may either be absor bed or released.The quantity of heat absorbed or given off during transformation is called the heat of formation. Heats of formations for solids and gases found in explosive reactions have been determined for a temperature of 25  °C and atmospheric pressure, and are normally given in units of kilojoules per gram-molecule. A negative value indicates that heat is absorbed during the formation of the compound from its elements; such a reaction is called an endothermic reaction. In explosive technology only materials that are exothermic—that have a net liberation of heat—are of interest. Reaction heat is measured under conditions either of constant pressure or constant volume. It is this heat of reaction that may be properly expressed as the â€Å"heat of explosion.† Initiation of reactionA chemical explosive is a compound or mixture which, upon the application of heat or shock, decomposes or rearranges with extreme rapidity, yielding much gas and heat. Many subst ances not ordinarily classed as explosives may do one, or even two, of these things. A reaction must be capable of being initiated by the application of shock, heat, or a catalyst (in the case of some explosive chemical reactions) to a small portion of the mass of the explosive material. A material in which the first three factors exist cannot be accepted as an explosive unless the reaction can be made to occur when needed.FragmentationFragmentation is the accumulation and projection of particles as the result of a high explosives detonation. Fragments could be part of a structure such as a magazine. High velocity, low angle fragments can travel hundreds or thousands of feet with enough energy to initiate other surrounding high explosive items, injure or kill personnel and damage vehicles or structures.