Ethical dilemma about the same sex marriage Research Paper

Ethical dilemma about the same sex marriage - Research Paper Example text, the â€Å"Firm Balk at Gay Wedding† can be viewed as demonstrative of both ethical dilemmas raised by gay marriages and the way it can make interests of people clash. To start with, the gist of the article is a controversy concerning the human rights and religious views of a person as far as gay marriages often make these considerations collide. For instance, as it was explained in the article â€Å"Firms Balk on Gay Weddings† by Nathan Koppel and Ashby Johnes, people refused to serve wedding ceremonies of gay couples as it would insult their religious convictions. (Koppel & Johnes) Subsequently, there raises the dilemma of whether it is ethically right to deny gay couples services due to personal views. Obviously, there could be various opinions on this question, depending on the approach one uses. From the duty-based ethics, a person who denies services to a gay couple is right as far as he/she does it due to believing in immorality of such relationships. The basics of the given theory are found in the works of Immanuel Kant, one of the most influential proponents of deontology. According to it, a person is morally obliged to act accordingly to a set of principle and rules, regardless of whether an outcome would be good or bad. (Shakil) Putting it in other words, the only criterion to evaluate the ethics or morality of a decision or action is this action or decision itself. Subsequently, applying this theory to the situation described in the article, it is right to allow people to deny serving a gay couple if they act in accordance with their religious beliefs. In contrast, the given situation can be regarded as wrong when appealing to the outcome-based ethics that obliges to evaluate the degree of morality of an action or intention on the basis of the consequences it will bring. ("Consequentialism," 2014) Subsequently, the fact that business owners denied gay people an access to the services, such as â€Å"baking cakes for the ceremonies† is wrong

The concept of Trinity Essay Example for Free

The concept of Trinity Essay The concept of Trinity describes that God exists as a single being yet lives as three persons, consisting of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are believed to be discrete and eternal persons, all belong to one Divine being. The doctrine that supports the concept of Trinity is Trinitarianism. This doctrine also describes that the Son, the second person of the Trinity, is comprised of two well-defined characters, the fully divine and the fully human characters. The concept of the Trinity is the consequence of incessant investigations conducted by the church on the information contained in the bible, as well as debates held with regards to the bible, and expositions on the concept. The dogma of a universal trinity was instituted in 325 AD, which then received enormous denials from religious sects. The most accepted theory of the Trinity is found in the Gospel of John in the Bible. Hence the Trinity explains the nature of God, as well as the spiritual circumstance of man (McGrath, 1990). This concept also rationalizes God’s design for grace and salvation, and the principle of the church. The Trinity also explains through the concept of the Trinity other issues such as evangelism, Christian education, social interactions, religious freedom and the family. The concept of Trinity describes that the existing creeds were produced as a result of heresies to their beliefs. This happened during the era of the apostles, which used the events of heresy as an optimal time to respond through the creation the creeds to attest to their beliefs. Reference McGrath AE (1990): Understanding the Trinity. Zondervan, ISBN 0310296811.

Analysis of Indias Mutual Fund Industry

Analysis of Indias Mutual Fund Industry Executive Summary The report titled â€Å"Mutual Fund† has been prepared to give an in-depth analysis of mutual fund industry in India and also a brief study of Mutual fund structure outside India. The report starts with the introduction of Mutual Fund, giving details about what Mutual Fund is all about. This has been done so to make even a layman understand what a mutual fund is. After the introduction part, there is a mention of the parties involved in mutual fund business, namely the AMC, Fund Managers, Dealers of Mutual Fund, Distributors, Investors of Mutual Fund, and the Regulators and so on. Later on, in the report, the inclusion of types of Mutual fund, gives a good knowledge of different categories of mutual fund. The categorization has been made on different measures. Almost all the measures have been included in this report. This part of report has great details of the types of mutual funds. Later part of the report contains the Mutual Fund history in India. The developments that have taken place since the start of Mutual Fund in India have been discussed in this part of the report. The history of Mutual Fund has been discussed in here under different phases. After the history part, the report discusses about the different fund performance. One of the important parts of the part is the NAV part. In this section of report, a detailed study has been done on Net Asset Value (NAV) of Mutual Fund. How the NAV is calculated, its misconception in the minds of investors, how important it is for the parties of Mutual Fund has been explained in this section of the report. Just after this section, there is a mention of Taxation in Mutual Fund. How Mutual Funds are taxed and what are the tax-free Mutual Funds available in the market has been discussed. This part has been discussed with examples, so as to make the investors understand, how they can be benefited with the buying of Mutual Funds. The different terminologies in Mutual Fund namely, SIP, SWP, ARP, AWP, etc has been discussed in this report. The last section of the report discussed about the risks involved in the mutual fund. The different methods through which the risks involved in mutual fund, has been discussed in this section. Also discussed are the advantages and disadvantages of buying a mutual fund. There has also been a comparison made between the returns that can be earned from mutual fund as compared with fixed deposit in banks, in post offices and investment in stock markets. MUTUAL FUNDS What is a Mutual Fund? A mutual fund is a vehicle to pool money from investors with a promise that the money would be invested in a particular manner, by professional managers who are expected to owner the promise. In India mutual funds are governed by the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The basic idea behind a mutual fund is that individual investors generally lack the time, the inclination or the skills to manage their own investments. Thus, mutual funds hire professional managers to manage the investment for the benefit of their investors in return for a management fee. Then Mutual Funds came as a solution to benefit investors who had little or no idea about the working of stock market but were eager to create some money out of it. It was created for the benefit of investors who were not able to understand the complicated functioning of the stock market but had money to invest in it. The basic purpose of any mutual fund is to put the money of the investors into various scrip in the stock market by creating a portfolio (a collection of various shares) and making investors understand the benefits and drawbacks of each and every scheme. The benefit to the customers is that they can invest in various stocks, can get help from professional people and that their money is being managed by professional who have clear understanding of the market. The organization that manages the investment is the Asset Management Company (AMC). Employees of the AMC who perform this role of managing investments are the fund managers. Professional Managements Main idea behind mutual fund is that individual investors lack time and technical skills to research their choice of stock and invest in them so mutual fund hire skilled professional to manage investment of investors in return of management fee. The organization which mange this mutual funds are called Asset Management Company (AMC) And employees who perform this task are called Fund Mangers SCHEMES Portfolio Management Schemes Investors have their own preference on how they want to invest their money and how much risk they want to take. Personal treatment with which an individual investor manages their investment and how much risk they want to be decided is done by professional managers is referred as Portfolio Managements Schemes (PMS). This is normally done for investment under Rs 10 lakhs. Money in trust A mutual fund manages investment of the schemes for the benefits of the investors. Every schemes has an Investment Portfolio (portfolio statement) Account of income and expenditure (revenue Account) Account of asset and liabilities (Balance Sheet) To insure fairness in investment, SEBI regulates the expenditure that can be charged to a scheme. Who are the Parties Involved? Investors Every investor according to their financial position takes risk that is called risk profile or risk appetite. So hypothesis tells that by taking risk of loosing whole or partial money it is possible that investor would gain profit out of investment. Trustees These are the people within the mutual fund organization who are responsible ensuring that investors interest in a scheme is taken care properly. Asset Management Company AMCs manages the investment portfolio of schemes. An AMCs income come from the management fee it charges for the schemes it manages. Every AMC asset under management because cost can not be reduced below some fixed level after that it becomes viable. Distributors Distributors bring investors in mutual fund and it earns commission on each investors. It is AMC decision whether to bear cost fully on distributors or partially. On financial and physical resources distributors could be: Tier 1 who have their own franchised network reaching out to the investors all across the country. Tier 2- who are generally regional players with some reach within their region. Tier3 who are small and marginal players with limited reach. Registrar An investors holding in mutual fund schemes is typically tracked by schemes Registrar and Transfer agent. Some manages it own house and some appoint it outside. Request to invest more money or to redeem money against existing investment is done by RT. Custodian/Depository The custodian maintain the securities in which the scheme invest this ensure an outgoing independent record of the investment of the schemes Schemes and units:- Investment in company is normally represented by certain number of shares People invest in a company by acquiring its share and disinvest by selling its shares. The total outstanding shares of a company multiplied by the face value of each share, Constitute the share capital of a company. Shares are represented in a company and units are represented in a mutual fund scheme. Types of schemes Mutual fund schemes can be offered with any of a range of investment objectives each corresponding to a certain point in the risk return matrix. It can be categorized based on tenor, asset, class, position philosophy geography. Open End Schemes These are the schemes which do not have the fixed maturity. The mutual fund ensures the liquidity by announcing sale and repurchases prices for the units of an open end schemes on an ongoing basis. Investors who wish to exit from an open end scheme can offer their unit to the mutual for redemption, generally called repurchase. Similarly mutual fund can sell new units to investors who want to participate in schemes generally called sale. Additionally a mutual fund can choose to provide liquidity by listing in stock exchange, in that case investor can either trade schemes or opt for above mentioned route. Closed End Schemes These are schemes which have fixed maturity Liquidity in such case is available through listing in stock market. Trade alters change in ownership but dont change in schemes unit capital. Occasionally closed end schemes provide a re purchase option to investors. Either by a specified period or after a specified period normally up to a total limit for all investors together, or limit per investors. Such repurchase would reduce the unit capital of the schemes. Asset Class Equity schemes invest in shares. Depending upon the schemes objective investment could be, Growth stock where earning growth is expected to be attractive Momentum stock that can go up and down with line market Value stock where the fund manager is of the view that current valuation in the stock market does not reflect intrinsic value Income stock that can earn high returns through dividends. Debt or income schemes GILT schemes These invest in government securities. Apart from being the most liquid schemes in the debt market, government securities are eligible for liquidity support. Bond Schemes These schemes invest in bond securities issued by the government or any other issuer. BondSchemes can help people overcome some of the barriers to private renting posed by the requirement to pay a bond to a landlord. Bondschemes are usually set up by the local authority, a voluntary organization or by the Probation Service. All BondSchemes have the same goal: to help people who could not otherwise do so to access private rented accommodation. In achieving this goal a successful scheme will be contributing to the confidence and efficiency of the private rented sector and helping to combat homelessness by assisting homeless and potentially homeless people. Features of the 8% Savings (Taxable) Bond Scheme 2003 Junk Bond Schemes Junk bond schemes in securities that are below investment grade. High yield bonds are politically correct way of referring to junk bonds. Junk bonds can be identified through the lower grades assigned by rating services (e.g., BBB instead of AAA for the highest quality bonds). Because the possibility of default is great, junk bonds are usually considered too risky for investment by the large institutional investors (mutual funds) that provide U.S. corporations with much of their investment capital. Junk bonds are often issued by smaller, newer companies. Money Market and Liquid Schemes These schemes invest in short term debt instrument. Money Markets Instruments include: Commercial papers Commercial bills Treasury bills Government securities having an unexpired maturity up to one year Call or notice money Certificate of deposit Usance bills Permitted securities under a repo / reverse repo agreement Any other like instruments as may be permitted by RBI / SEBI from time to time. Liquid/Money market schemes: These are designed for corporate and small businessmen to use for cash or treasury management. These schemes allow them to park short-term surplus funds in the money market, so that they earn some return before they find end uses. They invest in money market instruments like call money, inter-corporate deposits and commercial paper. Their returns range from 8 to 11 per cent, depending on money market conditions. Even salaried individuals can use them in the short term, since they offer better returns than savings accounts. Some funds even offer cheque-writing facilities. Risk comes from money market volatility which also creates the possibility of gain due to a sudden increase in rates. Balanced Schemes Balanced schemes invest in both equity and debt. The debt investment ensures a basic interest income. Which fund managers hope to top up with capital gains on the investment portfolio. However loses can eat into the basic interest and the income. Big advantage of these schemes is that market risk is more palatable Capital Protected Schemes It is a kind of balanced schemes, where a part of the initial issue proceeds is invested in gilts that would mature to a value equivalent to the unit capital of the schemes. Thus the investors capital is protected. Physical Asset Technically said that mutual fund can invest in any asset whether it can be real asset, precious metals, other metals (aluminium, steel) oil and commodities. In India regulatory framework does permit investment in real asset. Schemes by Position Philosophy. Sector Funds Regulator equity funds invest in a mix of equities that are spread across different sectors so they are called diversified equity funds. Sectors funds on other hands invest in a particular sector, Like energy funds. Index Funds These funds create and replicate according to the specified index such as BSE, NSE, etc. and such position can be created by two methods It can be done by maintaining an investment portfolio that replicates the composition of a chosen index. Weight is same according to the index weight. This replicating style is called the passive investing. Investment fund are called passive funds. And funds that are not passive are called managed funds. Index schemes are also called as unmanaged schemes(since they are passive) or tracker schemes(since they track index) Another is by doing research and identifying a basket of securities and derivatives whose movement is similar to that of index. Schemes that invest in such basket are called as active index funds. Enhanced Index Funds This is a managed index funds that can beat the performance of a bench mark index by at least 0.1 % but no more than the 2% if it crosses 2.5 it is called equity mutual fund. Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) These are open end funds that trade on the exchange. ETF different from index funds in following respect A single NAV in case of open end and in case of ETF is traded in the market place. so its price keeps changing during day The AMC of an ETF does not offer sale and re purchase price of the units. Unique feature is that beside secondary market it also has primary market. Fixed Maturity Plans This eliminates the risk of capital loss by investing in a pre specified debt securities. When a series of FMP are issued for different maturities they are called serial funds. These funds can chose exclusively to invest in government securities and called Serial gilts, alternatively they can invest in non government securities in which case they become Serial Bond Schemes. Non government securities have risk of default (credit risk) which does not exist in case government securities. Schemes by Geography Country or region funds These invest in securities from a specified country or region. This is based on the fact that a particular country or region will show a higher growth or returns on the equity market. Offshore funds- these mobilize the money from investors for investment outside their country. The principle of time diversification has given rise to the concept of Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) It refers of investing constant fund regularly generally every month. When market goes up then the money invested in that period gets translated into fewer numbers units for investors and vise versa. Thus it is clear that SIP tempers with the gain or loss from the investment SIP does not offer protection from losses. If the market turns adverse then you can lose money even in SIP. SIP ensures that your acquisition cost approximate the average NAV. Therefore this investment style is also called rupee cost averaging. Value averaging ensures that investors book profit in rising market and invest in loosing market. For e.g. for ICICI bank (Open ended equity fund), monthly: Minimum Rs. 1000 + 5 post-dated cheques for a minimum of Rs. 1000 each. Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) It is mirror image of SIP, under SWP investor would withdrawal constant amount periodically. The benefits are the same namely that through SWP the investor can temper gains though it does not prevent losses. For e.g . in case of ICICI bank (Open ended equity fund) SWP is a Minimum of Rs.500/- and Multiples thereof. Systematic Transfer Plan (STP) Investors exposure to different type of securities whether debt or equity should flow from their risk profile or appetite which the function of their financial position and personal disposition. It occurs in two situations On investment or disinvestment (here SIP and SWP is useful) On change in value of securities in market. In case of mutual funds such rebalancing can be achieved by systematically moving money between schemes. Mid-Cap Fund Mid cap funds are those mutual funds, which invest in small / medium sized companies. As there is no standard definition classifying companies as small or medium, each mutual fund has its own classification for small and medium sized companies. Generally, companies with a market capitalization of up to Rs 500 crore are classified as small. Those companies that have a market capitalization between Rs 500 crore and Rs 1,000 crore are classified as medium sized. Big investors like mutual funds and Foreign Institutional Investors are increasingly investing in mid caps now a day because the price of large caps has increased substantially. Small / mid sized companies tend to be under researched thus they present an opportunity to invest in a company that is yet to be identified by the market. Such companies offer higher growth potential going forward and therefore an opportunity to benefit from higher than average valuations. But mid cap funds are very volatile and tend to fall like a pack of cards in bad times. So, caution should be exercised while investing in mid cap mutual funds. Growth Option The Scheme will not declare any dividends under this option. The income earned by the scheme will remain invested in the scheme and will be reflected in the NAV. This option is suitable for investors who are not looking for current income (but who have invested with the intention of capital appreciation). Moreover, if units under this option are held as capital asset for a period of at least one year, from the date of acquisition, unit holders should get the benefit of long term capital gains tax. Dividend Option This option is suited for investors seeking income through dividend declared by the scheme. Only unit holders opting for the dividend option will receive dividends. An investor on record for the purpose of dividend distributions is an investor who is an unit holder, as of the record date. In order to be a unit holder, an investor has to be allocated units representing receipt of clear funds by the scheme. The scheme may be at the discretion of the trustee, declare annual dividends in its dividend plan subject to availability of distributable profits. Dividends will be declared on the last business day of March. If March 31st is a non business day, the previous business day will serve as the record date. Interim dividends may be declared at the discretion of the trustee. Unit holders also have the option to reinvest their dividend at the ex-dividend NAV. The trustee, in its sole discretion, may also declare interim dividends. It should be noted that actual distribution of dividends and the frequency of distribution indicated above, are provisional and will be entirely at the discretion of the trustee and depend, inter alia on the availability of distributable surplus to the extent the entire net income and realized gains are not distributed, the same will remain invested in the scheme and be reflected in the NAV. Payout Dividend As per the regulations, the fund shall dispatch to the unit holders, the dividend proceeds within 30 days of declaration of the dividend. Dividends will be payable to those unit holders whose names appear in the register of the unit holders on the date (record date). Dividends will be paid by cheque; net of taxes may be applicable. Unit holders will also have the option of direct payment of dividend to the bank account. The cheques will be drawn in the name of the sole/first holder and will be posted to the registered address of the sole/first holder as indicated in the original application form. The fund will endeavor to dispatch the dividend cheques within 30 days of the record date. To safeguard the interest of the unit holders from loss or theft of dividend cheques, investor should provide the name of their bank, branch and account number in the application form. Dividend cheques will be sent to the unit holder after incorporating such information. Reinvest Dividend Under this sub-option, unit holders may chose to reinvest all of their dividends by way of additional units of the scheme instead of receiving dividends in cash. Such additional units by way of reinvestment of dividends will be at the applicable NAV on the next day (excluding Saturday) after the record date. The dividend so reinvested shall be constructive payment of dividend to unit holders and constructive receipt of the same amount from each unit holder for reinvestment in units. Any such investment will be made by indicating in the investors original application or by providing the fund with written notice signed by all the registered holder(s) of the units and also sent to the registrar. Revocation of any such decision also must be made in writing and signed by all the registered holder(s) of the units and also sent to the registrar. The additional units issued under the sub-option â€Å"Reinvest Dividend† under option B and held as capital asset would get benefit of long-term capital gains tax if sold after being held for one year. For this purpose one year will be computed from the date when such additional units are issued. Effect of Dividend: The NAV of the unit holders in dividend option will stand reduced by the amount of dividend declared. The NAV of the growth option will remain unaffected. Mutual fund industry in India The origin of mutual fund industry in India is with the introduction of the concept of mutual fund by UTI in the year 1963. Though the growth was slow, but it accelerated from the year 1987 when non-UTI players entered the industry. In the past decade, Indian mutual fund industry had seen a dramatic improvement, both qualities wise as well as quantity wise. Before, the monopoly of the market had seen an ending phase; the Assets under Management (AUM) were Rs. 67bn. The private sector entry to the fund family raised the AUM to Rs. 470 bn in March 1993 and till April 2004; it reached the height of 1,540 bn. Putting the AUM of the Indian Mutual Funds Industry into comparison, the total of it is less than the deposits of SBI alone, constitute less than 11% of the total deposits held by the Indian banking industry. The main reason of its poor growth is that the mutual fund industry in India is new in the country. Large sections of Indian investors are yet to be intellectuated with the concept. Hence, it is the prime responsibility of all mutual fund companies, to market the product correctly abreast of selling. The mutual fund industry can be broadly put into four phases according to the development of the sector. Each phase is briefly described as under. First Phase -1964-87 Unit Trust of India (UTI) was established on 1963 by an Act of Parliament. It was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and functioned under the Regulatory and administrative control of the Reserve Bank of India. In 1978 UTI was de-linked from the RBI and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) took over the regulatory and administrative control in place of RBI. The first scheme launched by UTI was Unit Scheme 1964. Second phase1987_1993 (Entry of Public Sector Funds) Entry of non-UTI mutual funds. SBI Mutual Fund was the first followed by Canara bank Mutual Fund (Dec 87), Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund (Aug 89), Indian Bank Mutual Fund (Nov 89), Bank of India (Jun 90), Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (Oct 92). LIC in 1989 and GIC in 1990. The end of 1993 marked Rs.47, 004 as assets under management. Third Phase- 1993-2003 (Entry of Private Sector Funds) With the entry of private sector funds in 1993, a new era started in the Indian mutual fund industry, giving the Indian investors a wider choice of fund families. Also, 1993 was the year in which the first Mutual Fund Regulations came into being, under which all mutual funds, except UTI were to be registered and governed. The erstwhile Kothari Pioneer (now merged with Franklin Templeton) was the first private sector mutual fund registered in July 1993. The 1993 SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations were substituted by a more comprehensive and revised Mutual Fund Regulations in 1996. The industry now functions under the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996. The number of mutual fund houses went on increasing, with many foreign mutual funds setting up funds in India and also the industry has witnessed several mergers and acquisitions. As at the end of January 2003, there were 33 mutual funds with total assets of Rs. 1, 21,805 crores. The Unit Trust of India with Rs.44,541 crores of assets under management was way ahead of other mutual funds. Fourth Phase- since February 2003 This phase had bitter experience for UTI. It was bifurcated into two separate entities. One is the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India with AUM of Rs.29, 835 crores (as on January 2003). The Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India, functioning under an administrator and under the rules framed by Government of India and does not come under the purview of the Mutual Fund Regulations. The second is the UTI Mutual Fund Ltd, sponsored by SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC. It is registered with SEBI and functions under the Mutual Fund Regulations. With the bifurcation of the erstwhile UTI which had in March 2000 more than Rs.76, 000 crores of AUM and with the setting up of a UTI Mutual Fund, conforming to the SEBI Mutual Fund Regulations, and with recent mergers taking place among different private sector funds, the mutual fund industry has entered its current phase of consolidation and growth. As at the end of September, 2004, there were 29 funds, which manage assets of Rs.153108 crores under 421 schemes. Performance of Mutual Funds in India Let us start the discussion of the performance of mutual funds in India from the day the concept of mutual fund took birth in India. The year was 1963. Unit Trust of India invited investors or rather to those who believed in savings, to park their money in UTI Mutual Fund. For 30 years it goaled without a single second player. Though the 1988 year saw some new mutual fund companies, but UTI remained in a monopoly position. The performance of mutual funds in India in the initial phase was not even closer to satisfactory level. People rarely understood, and of course investing was out of question. But yes, some 24 million shareholders were accustomed with guaranteed high returns by the beginning of liberalization of the industry in 1992. This good record of UTI became marketing tool for new entrants. The expectations of investors touched the sky in profitability factor. However, people were miles away from the preparedness of risks factor after the liberalization. The Assets under Management of UTI was Rs. 67bn. by the end of 1987. Let me concentrate about the performance of mutual funds in India through figures. From Rs. 67bn. the Assets Under Management rose to Rs. 470 bn. in March 1993 and the figure had a three times higher performance by April 2004. It rose as high as Rs. 1,540bn. The net asset value (NAV) of mutual funds in India declined when stock prices started falling in the year 1992. Those days, the market regulations did not allow portfolio shifts into alternative investments. There were rather no choices apart from holding the cash or to further continue investing in shares. One more thing to be noted, since only closed-end funds were floated in the market, the investors disinvested by selling at a loss in the secondary market. The performance of mutual funds in India suffered qualitatively. The 1992 stock market scandal, the losses by disinvestments and of course the lack of transparent rules in the whereabouts rocked confidence among the investors. Partly owing to a relatively weak stock market performance, mutual funds have not yet recovered, with funds trading at an average discount of 10 ­20 percent of their net asset value. The supervisory authority adopted a set of measures to create a transparent and competitive environment in mutual funds. Some of them were like relaxing investment restrictions into the market, introduction of open-ended funds, and paving the gateway for mutual funds to launch pension schemes. The measure was taken to make mutual funds the key instrument for long-term saving. The more the variety offered, the quantitative will be investors. At last to mention, as long as mutual fund companies are performing with lower risks and higher profitability within a short span of time, more and more people will be inclined to invest until and unless they are fully educated with the dos and donts of mutual funds. Drawbacks of Mutual Funds Mutual funds have their drawbacks and may not be for everyone: No Guarantees: No investment is risk free. If the entire stock market declines in value, the value of mutual fund shares will go down as well, no matter how balanced the portfolio. Investors encounter fewer risks when they invest in mutual funds than when they buy and sell stocks on their own. However, anyone who invests through a mutual fund runs the risk of losing money. Fees and commissions: All funds charge administrative fees to cover their day-to-day expenses. Some funds also charge sales commissions or loads to compensate brokers, financial consultants, or financial planners. Even if you dont use a broker or other financial adviser, you will pay a sales commission if you buy shares in a Load Fund. Taxes: During a typical year, most actively managed mutual funds sell anywhere from 20 to 70 percent of the securities in their portfolios. If your fund makes a profit on its sales, you will pay taxes on the income you receive, even if you reinvest the money you made. Management risk: When you invest in a mutual fund, you depend on the funds manager to make the right decisions regarding the fun

Censorship of the Internet for Children Essay -- Computers Technology

Censorship of the Internet for Children The Internet is one of the most profound and important technological advancements of this era. It has touched the lives of hundreds of millions of people all over the world. The Internet has become so embedded into our everyday life that for many, life would almost be unbearable without an internet connection. The Internet has enabled so many people who are so far away from each other a means of communication. It eased the burden of contacting loved ones across the world from each other. Not only does the Internet provide a digital communication playground for users, it also provides them with a sea of invaluable resources. The wealth of information that is available on the Internet is both overwhelming and incredible. Almost everything imaginable to the human mind can be found on the Internet. Whether or not some of this information is legitimate, it still exists and is available to anyone who wants to access it. The Internet has empowered the individuals who are connected t o it with an abundance of resources and information. The Internet has brought about a new means of doing business. It seems that all business models today include the Internet some how. On the surface, the Internet may seem great, wonderful and ingenious however, the ability for everyone to access the Internet is both a blessing and also a curse. It is beautiful that the Internet and its contents are available to everyone, but that â€Å"everyone† includes children who are under the age of 18. The implications of this type of access are extremely problematic both socially and ethically. According to Internet World Stats, the estimated population of the world is about 6.45 billion people with approximately... ...itehouse.com/ â€Å"Whitehouse.com† [11] http://www.craiglist.com â€Å"Visit the Best in Adult Sites† [12] http://www.snapshotspy.com/stats.htm â€Å"Child Computer Usage Statistics† [13] http://www.utilitarianism.com/utilitarian.htm â€Å"Utilitarianism† [14] http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031025-1.html â€Å"Protection From Pornography Week, 2003†, President of the U.S, Oct. 25, 2003 [15] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58610-2002Nov15.html â€Å"Congress Approves ‘Dot-Kids’ Measure†, David Maguire, Nov. 12, 2002 [16] http://www.kids.us/sitelist.html â€Å"Current Site List† [17] http://www.icra.org/ â€Å"Internet Content Rating Association† [18] http://www.icra.org/_en/about/ â€Å"ICRA At A Glance† [19] http://www.isc.meiji.ac.jp/~sumwel_h/links/linkJ04.htm â€Å"Laws of Japan† [20] http://www.ageofconsent.com/japan.htm â€Å"Age of Consent for Japan†

Culture: Sindhi People

JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION ASSIGNMENT ON â€Å"SINDHI CULTURE AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA† COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL SCIENCES COURSE CODE: 4161/603 SUBMISSION DATE:28-02-2013 SUBMITTED TO: MISS TOOBA ZAHEER SHAIKH SUBMITTED BY: HIRA KHAN ANUM NAEEM ANUM AKHTER HUMA TARIQ SHUMAILA AMJAD RIMSHA JAWAID MINAL MOHSIN TABLE OF CONTENT Cultural traits of Sindh3 Clothing3 Autaaq3 Language and its uses 4 Arts and Crafts4 Sindhi cuisine6 Lifestyle8 Sufism in music8 Music8 Dance9 Festivals of Sindh 9 Marriages rituals9Funeral10 Cultural day10 Projection of Sindhi culture in television programs11 Dramas11 Morning shows12 Talk shows and news channels 13 Cooking shows13 Songs13 Advertisements14 Pakistani Sindhi TV channels 14 Projection16 References17 CULTURAL TRAITS OD SINDH CLOTHING: * Sindhi dresses Shalwarkameez, Dupatta, Sherwani, Achkan, and Karakul (hat) one of the most familiar sights in Pakistan, is that traditionally, Pakistani men wear Shalwa rKameez. They come in many different styles, fabrics, colors and patterns that make them look really stylish.Pakistani women also wear Shalwarkameez no matter what province they are from. However, many women from the Sindh province wear ghagra varying from different styles and colors. Pakistani women wear an elaborate and heavily embroidered dress known as gharara on their wedding days. The Sherwani or Achkan with Karakuli hat is the national dress of Pakistan for men, as it is not specifically associated with any of the provinces. Most government officials wear the formal black Sherwani on state occasions. AUTAAQ: Otaq is mardana (drawing room) in Sindh.As far as, , the word used in outside Sindhi origin. The man daily sits there and does gossips called ‘punchait’ and ‘jirga’, and solve problems there. LANGUAGE: Sindhi language evolved over a period of 2400 years. The language of the people of Sindh, after coming in contact with the Aryan, became Indo-Arya n (Prakrit). Sindhi language, therefore, has a solid base of Prakrit as well as Sanskrit, the language of India, with vocabulary from Arabic, Persian, and some Dravidian – descendants from Mediterranean sub-continent.Initially, Sindhi had close contacts with Arabic- speaking Muslims. Therefore the language adopted many of the Arabic words. There are 52 alphabets in sindhi language. Sindhi language is an ancient language spoken in Pakistan and many other parts of the world. It is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 41 million people in Pakistan, and 12 million people in India; it is the second most spoken language of Pakistan, mostly spoken in the Sindh province. It is a recognized official language in Pakistan, and also an official language in India.Government of Pakistan issues National Identity Cards to its citizens only in two languages; Sindhi and Urdu. Sindhi language is also greatly influenced by Sanskrit and about 70% of the words in Sindhi are of Sanskrit o rigin. Sindhi is a very rich language with a vast vocabulary; this has made it a favorite of many writers and so a lot of literature and poetry has been written in Sindhi. It has been the inspiration for Sindhi art, music, literature, culture and the way of life. The language can be written using the Devanagri or Arabic scrip. Uses of Sindhi:It is used in conversations, as well as, government, education, media, and literacy. Sindhi is spoken by a variety of religious groups including Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs in 19Southeast Pakistan. Sindhi is taught as a first language in all levels of school. Most Hindus speak Sindhi as a second language the majority of Sindhi speakers in India are women and older adults. ARTS AND CRAFTS The traditions of Sindhi craftwork reflect the cumulative influence of 5000 years of invaders and settlers, whose various modes of art were eventually assimilated into the culture.The elegant floral and geometrical designs that decorate everyday objec ts—whether of clay, metal, wood, stone or fabric can be traced to Muslim influence. Though chiefly an agricultural and pastoral province, Sindh has a reputation for ajraks, pottery, leatherwork, carpets, textiles, and silk cloths which, in design and finish, are matchless. The chief articles produced are blankets, coarse cotton cloth (soosi), camel fittings, metalwork, and lacquered work, and enamel, gold and silver embroidery.Hala is famous for pottery and tiles; Boobak for carpets; Nasirpur, Gambat and Thatta for cotton lungees and khes. Other popular crafts include the earthenware of Johi, the metal vessels of Shikarpur, the ralli quilt, embroidery and leather articles of Tharparkar, and the lacquered work of Kandhkot. Prehistoric finds from archaeological sites like Mohenjo-daro, engravings in various graveyards, and the architectural designs of Makli and other tombs have provided ample evidence of the people's literary and musical traditions. Modern painting and calligra phy have also developed in recent times.Some young trained men have taken up commercial art. Mirror work is also highlighted through Sindhi culture which is called GAJJ and aplic work and it is also very popular nowadays. Sindh has a rich heritage of traditional handicraft that has evolved over the centuries. Perhaps the most professed exposition of Sindhi culture is in the handicrafts of Hala, a town some 30 kilometers from Hyderabad. Hala's artisans manufacture high-quality and impressively priced wooden handicrafts, textiles, paintings, handmade paper products, and blue pottery.Lacquered wood works known as Jandi, painting on wood, tiles, and pottery known as Kashi, hand woven textiles including khadi, susi, and ajraks are synonymous with Sindhi culture preserved in Hala's handicrafts. SINDHI CUISINE Sindhi cuisine refers to the cuisine of the Sindhi people. The daily food in most Sindhi households consists of wheat – based flat – bread (phulka) and rice accompanied by two dishes, one, gravy and one dry. Sindhi food is characterized by deep frying and some of the popular Sindhi dishes are Sindhi Curry, Sai Bhaji, Seyal Machi etc. Food is very important in Sindhi culture.A lot of attention is given to how the food is prepared and what combinations of dishes are best. Over the years these combinations have become established and today when one mentions the combination, for example: Saibhaji Pulao, all the side dishes that go with it automatically come to mind. In this instance, fried potatoes or fried bhindi, dahi. Dodo chutney Millet-flour kneaded with spices cooked unleavened on a skillet and eaten with garlic-based mint chutney. SeyalPallo Sea-bass cooked in a base of onions and tomatoes, eaten with chapati. Very few people know how to cook it to perfection.As this fish is rich in oil the secret of how much oil to put in the cooking of the gravy becomes important. Also, there is no gravy as such, but a well cooked and blended base. SeyalDabro ti Bread or chapati cooked in a base of coriander, garlic and tomatoes. This is a breakfast food. The same can be cooked in onions and tomato as well. SeeroPuri Another breakfast, Seero is semolina cooked in butter or oil, fried on a slow fire till it turns light, golden brown, the aroma filling the house. Then, proportions of water and sugar are added, just enough to cook and sweeten the seero.Eaten with fried puri, it is as close to heaven as one can get. That is why perhaps seero is also served as an offering in temples. Loli and yoghurt or Loli and Indian milk tea made with cardamom, this is thick unleavened bread cooked on the skillet. The wheat dough is kneaded with onions, hot green pepper, and garlic and coriander/cilantro leaves, all finely chopped. Along with salt and oil the flour is kneaded slowly into fairly stiff dough. Then rolled out to one eighth inch thickness and cooked on the skillet on a low flame.When the loli is half done, a little oil is added to make it cris p. Lolo is the sweet version of loli. In this wheat dough only a little salt is added, but a proportion of sugar syrup is added and the flour is kneaded with ghee or butter. Then cooked on the skillet slowly, Lolos are almost a quarter or more inches thick. MalpuraChurhi? dal. Malpuras are a kind of deep fried pancakes. Milk or yoghurt, black pepper corns and sugar are added to white flour and a thick batter is made. A circular pancake is then dropped into a flat frying pan which should contain about half an inch of oil to fry in.This sweet bread is eaten with boiled yellow mung dal in which only salt, a drop or so of oil and turmeric is added. MeethiAloo. Garlic, hot chili peppers and fresh or dry fennel leaves combine to transform the simple potato into a curry which can be eaten with chapati, puri, rice or regular bread. MutturPaneer can be made in different gravies, the chief ingredients are the peas and homemade cottage cheese. Thaynri is sweet rice, usually made on special occ asions. Kheerni Thickened (by boiling) milk with Cardamoms, Saffron and a number of rich mild spices. LIFESTYLEPeople of Sindh are more inclined towards an agricultural based lifestyle. The fertile Indus Plains provide a valuable source of income for the local people who practice farming on these lands. Inland fishing is also practiced along the Indus River in Upper Sind providing further opportunities for local people. Nomadic way of lifestyle is commonly seen in the deserted regions of Thar where people move from place to place in search for drinking water sources along with their animals. SUFISM IN MUSIC Sindhi society is dominated by great Sufis, the mystics and the martyrs.It has always been the land of peace, love, romance, and great cultural and artistic values. There were the great theologians of the Naqshbandi order in Thatta who translated the fundamentals of the religion of Islam into their mother tongue. There were the great Sufi (mystic) poets like Shah Abdul LatifBhita i who was the cherisher of truth and spent all his life in its propagation, pursuit and quest. Bhitai was also an excellent musician. He invented a new type of musical instrument, Tambura (drone instrument), which till today, is a primary source of music in rural Sindh.The beauty of Shah's verses is enhanced by his blending of traditional Indian rag with the Sindhi folk songs and music. MUSIC * Lada: Lada songs are sung before the actual weddings, the very lilt of which suggests careless abandon and gaiety that mark a wedding. Sindhi are very famous for showmanship, and on the occasion of the marriage of the son, they will not hesitate to spend thousands of rupees only on decorations, music dance and photographs, movie and on video shootings, They call a Lada party of famous singers and enjoy the music one day before the marriage and even on Janiya (Thread ceremony) etc.The famous Laado SONU BAJUBAND, LADO PANHIJEE KUNWAR LAI AANEDO AND DHIKH JE RAAT LADE MUNDIYOON GHARAYOON, MOOML MANA NA KAR MARUN SA, ALLA SON JO RUPAYA etc. Many other Ladas are so famous among the Sindhi that on the occasion of the marriage, specially ladies and relatives are invited on Lada ceremony where they offer the GHOR of rupees on the bride-groom whose marriage is to be performed. DANCE * CHHEJ: Chhej is performed only by men. It is somewhat similar to DoklaRas of Kathiawar, but considerably more intricate in pattern & steps and rhythmic beats. The instruments used are the SHARNAI and the DUDUL i. e. Shehnai and the drum.Another dance which is performed only by men is DHAMAL, performed by Fakirs and disciples of a particular shrine at the time when the flag of the shrine goes up. This is a dance which is characterized by a sort of religious frenzy and has, therefore, a very fast tempo. Nagharo (a big drum) instrument provides both the rhythmic beat and the tempo for the Dhamal. FESTIVALS OF SINDH The people of Sind love their religion and the two festivals of Eid-ul-Adha and Eid-ul- Fitr are celebrated with zeal and enthusiasm. Different domestic festivals are arranged by the local people to provide people with new things they buy on Eid’s occasion.On different occasions, the Folk dance of Bhagat is also performed by professionals to entertain the visiting people. Hence, a Sindhi Cultural Festival is a compound of folk dances, music and entertainment for local people. Marriages rituals There are several martial rituals in Sindh. These rituals are described as follows: WANWAAH: In this ritual the bride is made to sit seven days in veil wearing yellow dress. A thread is tied on the palm of the bride in which some sort of grain is placed and it is hanged on the hand of the bride. The rite of applying Henna on the groom’s palm and feet.Wearing traditional dress that is white cotton, Ajrak, Sindhi topi. The Sindhi women used to wear heavy jewelry calledDURRI which is a necklace of seven strides. DAAWAIN: it is a martial ritual in which the sister in la w tied a thread on groom from his finger of feet to the finger of his hand and receives some cash for this ritual. Another social value is to touch the feet of elders and old people to honor them this ritual is commonly followed by every Sindhi. LAOON: It is a martial ritual in which the head of the bride and groom are hit together. Funeral Rituals After death the dead body is covered by Sindhi Ajrak.Sindhi Cultural Day (Ekta Day) Sindhi celebrate Sindh Cultural day worldwide every year during the month of December by wearing Ajrak&Sindhi Topi on that occasion. The musical programs and rallies are held in many cities to mark the day with zeal. Major hallmarks of cities and towns are decorated with Sindhi Ajrak to highlight the cultural values of Sindh. The people across Sindh exchange gifts of Ajrak and Topi at various ceremonies. Even, the children and women are dressed up in Ajrak, assembling at the grand gathering, where famous Sindhi singers sing Sindhi songs, which depicts love and progress of Sindh.The musical performances of the artists compel the participants to dance on Sindhi tunes and ‘Jeay Sindh Jeay-Sindh Wara Jean’. All Political, social and religious organizations of Sindh, besides the Sindh culture department and administrations of various schools, colleges and universities, organize variety of events including seminars, debates, folk music programmes, drama and theatrics performances, tableau and literary sittings to mark this annual festivity. Sindhi culture, history and heritage are highlighted at the events.Ekta (Unity) day is observed to display solidarity among the Sindhi-speaking masses, the event is celebrated not only in Karachi, but throughout Sindh. The province’s culture and unity day was celebrated for the first time on December 6, 2009 (as the Sindhi Topi Day) as a backlash to the comments of anchorman DrShahidMasood who had criticised President Asif Ali Zardari for wearing a Sindhi cap on his foreign tours. Pe ople across the Sindh province condemned Masood’s comments via SMS, which ultimately resulted in the announcement of celebrating the Sindhi Topi Day.FEUDALISM IN SINDH The feudal archetype in Pakistan consists of landlords with large joint families possessing hundreds or even thousands of acres of land. They seldom make any direct contribution to agricultural production. Instead, all work is done by peasants or tenants who live at subsistence level. In Pakistan's remote areas of Sind and Baluchistan province, one â€Å"periodically run[s] into vast estates sometimes even operates a private prison in which enemies are placed, and sometimes makes local people dependent through debt bondage, generation after generation. â€Å"The landlord, by virtue of his ownership and control of such vast amounts of land and human resources, is powerful enough to influence the distribution of water, fertilizers, tractor permits and agricultural credit and, consequently exercises considerable influence over the revenue, police and judicial administration of the area. But this is not the scene all over the Pakistan. Most urban Sind there no longer exists the agricultural feudal as harsh as it is described in the earlier lines this situation only exists in rural Sindh. PROJECTION OF SINDHI CULTURE ON TELEVISION PROGRAMMESDRAMAS A telefilm is broadcasted on the channel HUM TV named as SACHAL AUR SABRINA. The name of the telefilm is also reflecting that it is a Sindhi drama, because these names are commonly used in Sindh. The Sindhi cultural traits which are highlighted in this drama is the usage of Sindhi language by the cast of the drama, dresses in this drama are usually TOPI, AJRAK, womenwearing aplicand mirror work dresses and covered their heads. This drama also focuses on highlighting social values of Sindhi culture that is to touch the feet of the elders and old people to honor them.The drama also stress towards the marriage rituals of Sindhi culture like using JHUL A for the sitting of bride and groom, bride and other women prone heavy jewelry like DURRI a heavy necklace and the traditions of full white color bangles, the rite of applying Henna on the groom’s palm and feet, a thread is tied on the palm of the bride in which some sort of grain is placed and it is hanged on the hand of the bride, the sister in law tied a thread on groom from his finger of feet to the finger of his hand and receives some cash for this ritual it is called DAAWAN and the head of the bride and groom are hit together which is called LAOON.The drama is totally based on the culture of Sindh. Another drama is also broadcasted on ARY DIGITAL named as MERA SAEEN, SAEEN is basically a Sindhi word usually used to respect their feudal lords. Feudalism is very much common in lower Sindh and now it is becoming the part of Sindhi culture. The tagline of the drama is Evil Never Truly Dies It Is Simply Born Again. This drama reflects the concept of feudal lords and their w orships and story revolves around the power or authority and the control of the political party. HATHE GULA MEHANDI Sindhi culture has been shown in this drama, Sindhi marriages and customs has also shown.First put the ubtan on bride by her in laws. Both the groom and bride offers nafil at their wedding and both are tied up with dupatta which is hanged on groom's shoulders. NATAK RANG This is comedy play in which Sindhi bethak has shown, and the people of the area share their problems, issues and humor with each other. Bethak (otak) is an important part of Sindhi culture. HASAR-E-ISHQ Married women have been prominent in the serial which is called Wadairan. According to Sindhi culture they use to wear gold jewelry and she oppressed on their lowers. According to their culture Wadairy gets first marriage in family and others from out of family.All these things are shown in this drama. MORNING SHOWS A cultural week is celebrated on the morning show UTHO JAAGO PAKISTAN at HUM TV in whic h they focuses on the cultural traits of all the provinces of Pakistan. On the first day of the show they highlighted the cultural traits of Sindh. The set of the show is designed to highlight the culture of Sindh. Handicrafts like rallies, aplic work and mirror work hangings are dangled on the walls of the set. The host and guests were wearing Sindhi TOPI and AJRAK. The host of the program was speaking Sindhi language.Sindhi songs and music were also playing as background music. There were also stalls on the set in which the cook was making Sindhi cuisine. The motive is to highlight the culture and qualities of Sindhi people. AbidaPerveen is the guest of the program who is also an asset of Sufism in Sindhi culture. Different Sindhi Qalaams and folk songs also sang on the program by the guest. The overall culture is presented on that program. Maham Amir is hosting the very famous Sindhi Morning show program Salam Sindh on Sindh TV news. The Show is divided in to many interesting seg ments in which food and other segments features.Many of the Sindhi Celebs, actors, singer, actors and artist have been already invited in the Show in which they have discussed their life experiences etc. NaziaJaved is the famous host of the Sindhi morning show RoshanSubho. She is hosting this program for about a year. This program is although in Sindhi but this is famous in all the urban area of Pakistan. The show has featured many celebs actors, singers, politicians and people from different walks of life but most of them were Sindhi who were invited in the show. The target of audience of the show is Sindhi people.Unlike other morning show uthojago Pakistan of geo, good morning Pakistan, SubahSaveraySamaaKeSaath with SanamBaloch, This show is low profile among the morning shows but it is liked and viewed by Sindhi people. TALK SHOWS AND NEWS CHANNELS BNN Where Sindhi culture is seen in dramas and songs, it also exhibits in a show Banana News Network. BNN is one of the most liking s atire shows. Matku is a character in this show that interviews celebrities in a Sindhi get up. He wears long most aches and Sindhi topi. Although he dressed himself in suit but his accent and topi clearly exhibit the Sindhi culture.Matku does not imitate someone, he just represent himself as Sindhi in interviews. NEWS CHANNELS Sindhi cultural which was recently celebrated on 22nd march, 2012, have been broadcasted in news channels. Every year Sindhi cultural day is widely seen in news channels which report cultural shows, from every corner of the country. On this day we can see in news almost all the cultural shows being celebrated in educational institutes and exhibitions in the country. The news channels also play a part in promoting important cultural events and festivals of Sindh and make special packages and coverage to such events.COOKING SHOWS The culture of Sindh is also highlighting on the cooking shows on specific episodes at MASALA TV and ARY ZAUQ. Their motive is to pres ent the cuisine of Sindhi culture and the sets are designed in such a way that reflects Sindhi dresses and promote the culture. Such sort of program includes HANDI, [email  protected], TARKA and BILLO DA DHABA etc. SONGS Nowadays Sindhi language and Sindhi words are very much used in songs. For instance the song SAEEN TO SAEEN by ALI GUL PIR, in which he highlighted the feudal lords and the concept of feudalism in Sindh. Sindhi culture and dressing is shown in his song .Boys wearing shalwarkameez with â€Å"ajrak† and â€Å"sindhitopi â€Å"and girls wearing â€Å"Sindhi embroidery dresses. His song TAARO MAARO is also consists of Sindhi words like MAARO which is used in Sindhi language for calling a person or wise man. ADVERTISMENTS This advertisement highlights Sindhi language. And the dresses of Sindhi culture like AJRAK. Through this advertisement the Sindhi culture also promotes. This advertisement promotes Sindhi language and dresses. Men wear AJRAKand Sindhi TOPI with SHALWAR KAMEEZ and women wear AJRAK they show people sitting on CHAARPAYIS which is fully covered with Sindhi RAILLI.Both advertisements broadcast on KTN, AWAAZ TV and SINDH NEWS. PAKISTANI SINDHI TV CHANNELS AWAZ TV: Awaz TV is a Sindhi Language Television channel with headquarters based in Karachi, Pakistan. It was launched in 2009 and broadcasts entertainment and infotainment programs in Sindhi. Awaz TV is available via satellite on Asia Sat 3S as well as on cable operators all around the country. KASHISH TV: Kashish  Television  Network (K TV) is the first private  Sindhi  Music  TV channel. This is the second channel of Kawish group. The channel was founded by  Ali Kazi  who is the owner of the most popular Sindhi newspaper  Daily Kawish.Kashish is very popular among  Sindhis  by means of Sindhi music. KTN AND KTN NEWS ————————————————- â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- Kawish Television Network (KTN)  is the first private  Sindhi  TV channel of  Pakistan. It is the most watched private Sindhi-language channel based general entertainment television channel worldwide. The channel is part of the Kawish Television Network's bouquet of channels. ————————————————- KTN was established in 2002 and started with 6 hours of transmission.It has now grown from a small regional-language channel to the leading Satellite Channel of Pakistan, broadcasting 24 hours a day to areas of South Asia, Middle and Far East Asia. It also started the first ever music channel in Sindhi language KASHISH TV, after that in October 2007  KTN News  was also aired, covering news, current affair programs, talk show, documentaries and report s. KTN is a family channel with and major programming primarily consists of family dramas and other shows targeted to the entire family. KTN has shown for every member of the family with subjects like music, games, films etc.KTN also runs news bulletins every hour. KTN is amongst Pakistan's top 3 cable channels and is in the league of other biggies like ARY and GEO TV. MEHRAN TV: is the first  Sindhi-language TV channel which is broadcasting from  Hyderabad. MTN broadcasts variety of entertainment programs, music, dramas, news, and movies in the Sindhi Language. SINDH TV: Sindh  Television  (STV) is a leading private television channel of  Sindhi  language in  Sindh,  Pakistan. Sindh TV is owned by Dolphin Media House, which also owns another channel in Sindhi language called Sindh TV News SINDH TV NEWSSindh TV News channel  covers news and current affairs, airs 24 hours round the clock news and current affair programs. PROJECTION: Basically all Sindhi channels ha ve the motive to promote their culture and traditions and these channels are highly liked by the Sindhi people. They promote Sindhi language, Sindhi dresses, their martial rituals, custom and traditions. The policies of these channels are set to highlight and promote all the cultural traits of Sindh. Sindhi media groups have started to celebrate the day as ‘Sindhi Cultural Day’ or ‘Ekta day'.The Sindhi language TV channels including KTN, Sindh TV, Awaz TV and Mehran TV broadcast special programs on the culture of Sindh , besides these media outlets separately arrange the mega musical events, which also attract large audience to celebrate the Culture Day every year. REFERENCES http://pakistanthinktank. org/component/k2/item/714-pakistans-cultural-diversity-sindhi-culture-sindh-history 12 www. jhulelal. com http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=SbKvb9WR1KE http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=b0hWvct1FNE – Sindhi Lada http://www. newgirlsdresses. com/summer-dresses/ sindhi-embroidery-dresses. tm – Website to purchase http://www. lmp. ucla. edu/Profile. aspx? LangID=201&menu=004http://www. sindh. gov. pk/dpt/history%20of%20sindh/culture. htm htt://pwww. dramasonline. com/jago-pakistan-jago-12th-february-2013-abida-parveen/ http://www. tvkahani. com/reviews-mera-saaein-2-ary-full-drama-review/ http://www. aiou. edu. pk/gmj/artical4. asp http://www. vidjin. com/ali-gul-pir-taroo-maroo. html http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sindh#Arts_and_crafts http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Feudalism_in_Pakistan http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Culture_of_Sindh#Sindhi_Cultural_Day_. 28Ekta_Day. 29

Consumer Behavior Research Paper

Consumer Behavior Research Paper Part 1: Executive Summary This research paper explains the decision making process , the internal and external factors that have influences a high involvement purchase of Steve Wang that was made recently. At the beginning of this research paper, introducing the demographic detail about Steve Wang and his lifestyle information. Then the product information like price, distribution and competitive position. In the part of analysis of the decision process, mainly give the theories of the process, using some tables and diagrams to make clear and understandable, in this part, the every stages of the process are discussed, include the internal and external factors that impact. Part five gives the explanation of process and factors, the facts of the actual situations compare with the theories. An interview transcript is given in appendix of this report, the biggest limitation is the lack of the experiences of analysis although everyone is a consumer. Part 2: Overview of the person interviewed and the product purchased. 2.1 Demographic and life style information Demographic characteristic such as age, income, family size, and employment status are objective descriptors of individual consumers and householders. The markets for most products are influenced by consumer demographic characteristics. A demographic characteristic such as age is relevant for both coffee and detergents. When marketers ask who their customers are, they frequency refer to the age, income, and regional make up of customer buying their product. Nevertheless, demographics are important as consumer descriptors because they want to buy (age, education, marital status, household composition) Steve Wang as a full-time college student, he has no income right now. All kinds of payment from his parents. Therefore, he has limited budget and sometimes has to shorten on the other parts to satisfy a particular purchasing like to purchase a pair Timberland shoes that is priced at RM599. this definitely is a high involvement purchase to him as well as almost all college students. Age is a powerful determinant of consumer behavior. A personÐ ±Ã ¿s age affects his/her interests, tastes, purchasing ability, political preferences, and investment behavior. At 21 years old, people usually put more attention on whether himself/herself appearance looks good or not other than to care about him-/herself whether lack of Vitamin C or B. And they will shift to more qualitative than quantitative on choosing things. Like other guys, Steve does care about how people feel about his looks especially the girls, the well-known brands and mid-to high priced products become the most popular alternati ves from his point of view even though there is not enough money budget. He is a second-year college student, it is the different level in ones life, therefore he wants to be identified from the teens like high school graduates or first year college students and be a mature man is the reason why does he choose brands like Timberland. His family has a very simple composition-father, mother and son, his father is a busy business man and mother just because a part time housewife due to fathers business is getting better than before. And his budget is getting better too. There is more budget for him to use to purchase things that he likes, but he mentioned that a pair of Timberland still a big purchasing item for him. Life style variables as factors that more closely reflect the consumerÐ ±Ã ¿s day to day interests and therefore are more likely to explain consumer purchases. Life-style is measured by the attitudes, interests and opinions of consumers. Steve has a positive attitude about life, although he worries about some common problems and situations that people worry at the same age. He always tells people do not buy things depend on the price cheap or not, but to concern whether that product has the extent value for future and long term. Products that he wants to buy all depends on such a belief. He is some in principle oriented type, these individuals are guided in their choice by their beliefs and principles rather than by feeling, events or a desire for approval. He loves the outdoor activities, whether new products about outdoor activities, hell try at the first time. So he is some in the action oriented (experience ) type. 2.2 Price, distribution and competitive position about the product purchased The shoes ( Timberland ) is priced at RM599, that is a high priced product but acceptable. If the company has selected its target market and position carefully, then its marketing mix strategy, including price, will be fairly straight forward. The objective of timberland is product quality leadership. They decide the products have to achieve product quality leadership. This normally calls for charging a high price to over higher performance quality and the high cost of RD. Timberland focus on the high quality, high price end of the leather athlete series, they set the price almost 35% higher than the competitors but there are still lot of Timberland lover all over the world. Timberland targets their athlete series mainly on the people aged 20-35 years. Due to this group of peoples attitude, lifestyle and they want the high quality shoes for their activities. And the most important thing is this group of people they are easy to learn about the new information or to accept the new feat ures about the product, that means, easy to change to the new product that the company introduce, they are also willing to pay such a high price compares with other brands. Usually, when people mentions about Timberland, the good quality comes first and then the high price. Therefore, the information about the timberland that people ready kept in mind a certain point. If I want high quality shoes. I pay for it because it worth. Steve bought the shoes in a franchised store of a big shopping center and he mentioned that the previous purchasing was in KLIA franchised store. The reason why Timberland put the stores in big shopping center and airports still because of its targeting and product positioning. They identify and analysis the segment of the market, the targeting customers are those who are in the higher standard level of living class the places they normally go for shopping things are also in the higher standard place. They use the exclusive distribution, giving a limited number of dealers the exclusive right to distribute the companyÐ ±Ã ¿s products in their territories. There are a few of competitors in the marketer, but Timberland stands on several competitive advantages. At the first, it has the much higher quality than its competitors compare under the pricing, then they give the very good and comfortable environment to their customer in every store, this is a important inference; they also give the excellent services after the buying like you can bring your Timberland shoes to any of the Timberland store to clean them for free and if something wrong with the shoes they will repair it for free, in some situation the customer may get a new pair of shoes for replacement. After all this through a longtime period, people will remember timberland as a trusted brand. Part 3 Consumer decision process As usual, the customer decision process begins with the problem recognition. A difference between an existing state and a desired one become a consumer problem, a consumer begins with a particular state of mind that represents his or her perceptions of and attitudes forward known brands. For example, consider a business school student who is thinking of purchasing a personal computer. Once the problem has been recognized, an information search is undertaken to isolate an effective solution. After the information has been gathered, allowing the consumer to determine and compare the relevant and feasible alternatives, the decision can be made. The attributes that influence store choice are examined, and related to the needs of particular consumer groups. The actual acquisition of the product is analysis, with particular attention given to retailers efforts attract and satisfy consumers in the exchange process. Post purchase processes are examined by marketing managers and she/he has to make necessary decisions on that both external and internal influences affects the consumer decision making. 3.1 Situational influences A situation ( Neal 1998) is a set of factors outside of and removed from the individual consumer or the stimulus object to which the consumer is reacting. The consumption process occurs within 3 categories: the communication situation, the purchase situation and the usage situation. ( Refer to table 1) The first class of situational influence provides a system that managers can use in determine whether a situation has an effect can a consumers purchase behavior. ( Refer to table 2) 3.2 Problem recognition As the consumer mores from a very low level of involvement with the purchase situation to a high level of involvement , decision making becomes increasingly complex. Purchase involvement is a continuum, and it is also useful to consider habitual, limited and extended decision making as general decryptions of the types of process that occur along various points on the continuum. A consumer is committed to a certain brand (Timberland) because he/she believes it best meets overall wells, and because an emotional attachment has been fit, formed. Therefore, he/she is brand loyal. It will be very difficult for a competitor to gain his/her patronage. Extended decision making is the response to a very high level of purchase involvement (shopping product). The recognition of a problem is the result of a discrepancy between a desired state and an actual state, without if there is no need for a consumer decision. Both active and inactive problem occurs in the consumer problems. There are several factors influence the consumers actual state meet past decisions, normal depletion, product brand performance, individual development, emotions, the efforts of consumer groups and government departments the availability of products, and the current situation. 3.3 Information search Consumers are continually recognizing problems an opportunities, so internal and external searches for information to solve these problems are on going processes. Information search involves mental as well as physical activity on the part of consumers. The use of information from memory is referred to as internal search. And, the search process is focused on external stimuli relevant to soloing problem is called external search. A consumer decision requires the appropriate evaluative criteria for the solution of a problem. The existence of various alternative solutions the performance level or characteristic of each alternative solution on each evaluative criteria. As consumers move into more extended decision making, the relative importance of external information search tends to increase. External information can include: the opinions, attitudes , behaviors and feelings of friends, neighbors and relatives; professional information; direct experiences and marketer generated informat ion. The information sources are from memory; personal sources, independent sources marketing sources and experiential sources. Usually different measures of external information search have been used: number of stores visited; number of alternatives considered; number of personal. Sources used, overall or combination measures. Market characteristics include the number of alternatives, price, and age. Store distribution and information availability. It is the consumers perception of, or belief about, the market characteristics influence shopping behavior. Product characteristics like price level and differentiation tend to influence external search. The consumer and situational characteristics also influence the external search. 3.4 Evaluating and Selecting alternative While consumers are gathering information about various alternative solutions to a recognized problem, and after they have done so, they evaluate the alternatives and select the course of action that seems most likely to solve the problem. Evaluative criteria are the various features a consumer looks for in response to a particular problem. They are the performance levels or characteristics consumers use to compare different brands in light of their particular consumption problem. The number type and importance of evaluative criteria used differ from consumer to consumer and across product categories. When consumers judge alternative brands or several evaluative criteria, they must have some methods for selecting one brand from the various choices. Decision rules are used by them. A decision rule specifies how a consumer compares two or more brands. Five commonly used decision rule are the disjunctive, conjunctive, lexicographic, elimination-by-aspects, and compensatory rules. 3.5 Outlet Selection product purchase The decision used by, consumers to select a retail outlet is the same as the selecting a brand. The store is image and the type and amount of retail advertising often exert important influences as evaluative criteria. The major dimensions of store image include merchandise, service, clientele, and physical facilities, convenience. Promotion and store atmosphere. Outlet location is an important attribute for many consumers. Larger outlets are general preferred over small outlets. Shopping orientation refers to the general approach a consumer takes to acquiring both brands and non-purchase satisfaction from various types of retail outlets. While in a store, consumers may often purchase a brand or product that differs from their plans made before entering the store. Such purchase is referred to as impulse or unplanned purchase, and the decisions can be the result of additional information processing induced by in store stimuli. Once the outlet and brand have been selected, the consumer must acquire the rights to the item. 3.6 Post Purchase Processes Following some purchases, consumers experience doubts or anxiety about the wisdom of the purchase. Whether or not the consumer experiences dissonance, most purchases are followed by product use. That consumers use a product to fulfil certain needs. If the product does not fulfil these needs, a negative evaluation may result. Monitoring product usage can indicate new uses for existing products, needed product modifications, appropriate advertising themes, and opportunities for new products. Disposal of the product or its packaging may occur before, during or after product use. socially-conscious consumers, are an important market segment not only because of their purchases but because of their social and political influence. Postpurchase dissonance, product usage disposal are potential influences on the purchase evaluation process. Basically, consumers develop certain expectations about the ability of the product to fulfil instrumental and symbolic needs. Taking no action, switching b rands, products, or stores, and warning friends are all common reactions to a negative purchase evaluation. After the evaluation process and, where applicable, the complaint process, consumers have some degree of repurchase motivation. There may be a strong motive to avoid the brand, a willingness to repurchase it some of the time, or some level of brand loyalty, which is a willingness to repurchase coupled with a psychological commitment to the brand. 3.7 Influences 3.7.1 Internal influences In this report , focusing just on several relevant area about internal influences. Perception consists of those activities by which an individual acquires and assign meaning to stimuli, begins with exposure, usually the result of self-selection. Attention occurs when the stimulus activities one or more of the sensory receptors, and the resulting sensations go into the brain for processing. Interpretation is the assignment of meaning to stimuli that have been attended to consumers must learn almost everything related to being a consumer: product existence, performance, availability, values, preference so on. Learning is defined as any change in the content or organization of long-term memory. Conditioning cognition learning are used by consumers reinforcement plays a much larger role in operant conditioning than it does in classical conditioning. The strength of learning depends on: importance, reinforcement, repetition and imagery. Consumer motivations are the energizing forces tha t activate behavior provide purpose for and direction to that behavior. Maslows needs hierarchy states that basic motives must be minimally satisfied before more advanced motives are activated. It proposes five levels of motivation: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization. Consumers are often aware of and will admit t the motives causing their behavior. Because of the large number of motives and the many different situations that consumers face. Motivational conflict can occur, in approach-approach conflict, approach-avoidance conflict and avoidance-avoidance conflict. The personality of a consumer guides and directs the behavior chosen for accomplishing goals in different situations. The relatively long-lasting personal quality that allows individuals to respond to the world around them. Emotions are strong, relatively uncontrollable feelings that affect behavior, occur when environmental events or mental processes trigger physiological changes. Attitud e-change strategies can focus on affect, behavior, cognition or some combination of these. 3.7.2 External influences There are a lot of external influences on consumer decision making process, but here the relative influences will be discussed. The reference group is a group whose presumed perspectives or values are being used by an individual as the basis for his or her current behavior. Marketers have found three classification criteria-membership, degree of contact and attraction to be particular useful. Groups that have frequent personal contact are primary groups, while those with limited interpersonal contact are called secondary groups. Group influence varies across situations. Informational influence occurs when individual conforms to group expectations to gain approval or avoid disapproval. Identification conformity is still stronger since an individual uses the group norms identifies with them as apart of his/her self-concept and identity. Part 4: Explanations in actual case Steve first walked in the Timberland store in One Utama shopping center, he immediately felt that very comfortable, the layout display made him easily choosing a pair pretty good shoes, that he bought as the first pair of Timberland shoes. The physical surrounding there is absolutely good as well as every its franchise stores. As people walk in the store the first display table is displaying the newest clothing and shoes, very comfortable seats for people to try the shoes just opposite the shoes displaying shelf and the every corner for a certain kind of product like classical shoes, jackets, shirts and pants, and athlete series, mountain clamber series. They have very high quality staff work in every store that makes consumers feel really good. Social surroundings are also involves in here, Steve said that he would rather buy if the stores are in the big shopping center. A pair of Timberland shoes is considering as the shopping product in the problem recognition also a extended decision making. There is several factors influence SteveÐ ±Ã ¿s actual state; at first, the most important one is the very good performance of the shoes, comfortable and durable, and a pretty high class design. That attracts peopleÐ ±Ã ¿s attention; then, the shoes gives him a good feeling of wearing it, he said that the emotion is the important component when he makes a purchase; and last is individual development, he is now a 21 years old guy and a second year college student, not only the knowledge but also the mental have developed, he wants to make himself more mature that is the reason he chooses the brand like Timberland. He did some compares ion works before he actually bought that RM599 shoes. Actually, he wanted to choose from 4 brands at the first time: Nike, Adidas, Converse all stars and Timberland. But after he tried the Timberland he decided to buy it immediately, and several friends of him are wearing Timberland boots as well. He likes all kinds of timberland ads, he even feels those are the rest ads make him feel good. The disjunctive decision rule is used by him in the evaluation and selection of alternatives. He would first consider the design and quality of the salesmans introduction. Steve always follow the brand first, outlet second in store influences that alter brand choices, Steve said he will never buy things that his eyes can not contact, therefore the timberlandÐ ±Ã ¿s layout just satisfies him. The timberland shoes completely meet his expectation and performance quite well, he is very satisfied with it. As a result, he said if his budget permits he will buy an other pair of sam e brand shoes, and he has the big interest in Timberland shoes that are newly introduced. Therefore, until here he has no dissatisfy with the shoes, and he has a kind of loyalty to the Timberland brand. And another thing has to mention here is the group influences also play an important part in his decision making, both from friends and family. Steve belongs to a group of people they have the similar life quality lifestyle, habits, even the quite similar budget, and the same or higher education level. He wants himself to be a mature man, in other words, he wants to be the same with others. there is an identification influence occurring.

Stuff Essay Example

Stuff Essay Example Stuff Essay Stuff Essay Title: Let’s cut homework in half Doesn’t anyone else get tired of homework, staying up late at night till about 12 in the morning only to wake up at about 5:30 just to catch a bus and then you go to school struggling to stay awake in class? Then when you fall asleep in class from exhaustion your teacher wakes you up and everyone in your class stares at you and it’s embarrassing. But all of these problems can be resolved if there is a decent amount of homework given to students every day.Too much homework is a very important issue and topic because kids don’t have the opportunity to be kids anymore because of homework; kids can’t go to sports and do extracurricular activities. Nowadays, too much homework is over whelming and it has come to the point that when kids come home from school the first thing they do is homework and the last thing they do before they go to bed is homework. The National Education Association recommends that kids have a total of ten minutes per grade level of homework per night. Anything above that is excessive.From past times that I have done homework, on some occasions, the homework that I have done is something entirely different from what we have learned in class. Sometimes I spend about 5 hours doing home work for one teacher and the teacher doesn’t collect it, so I don’t even get a grade for all the time and hard work I put in doing my work and I ask myself why put us through all that homework and not even give us a grade for it? An excessive amount of homework given to a student can cause stress and exhaustion, kids need to have free time and rest so they can be ready to learn the next day.If a kid spends his entire day and night working on homework he/she will be too tired or stressed out to do any work at school, less homework will help a kid cope with stress, it will give kids the chance to get exercise instead of sitting in a chair writing for 5 hours. Many people can argue with me and say kids need more homework to help prepare them for college. I say no to that because if kids spend the majority of their childhoods in school then coming home to do work all day then what type of childhood will they remember. It is becoming to the point where we do over whelming amounts of work in school, and we do hat work so we can get into college and work some more then after college we find jobs and basically work for the rest of our lives. Being kids right now is the only point in our lives where we shouldn’t work to the point that we get stressed out or in some cases even depression. Shortening the amount of homework given can be a good thing because If teachers shorten the workload amount given to students. Students will be able have time for activities after school and won’t be as frustrated and exhausted when it comes to studying the subject that they are on.Also kids will enjoy the subject more because it gives the students a chance to see that the subject isn’t just all work it can also be enjoyable. So what exactly should we do about this homework problem? We should cut it in half, I don’t mean get rid of homework all together, but Im saying reduce the amount of homework given by adding more class work also by individualizing assignments to fit the study habits and needs of different students or allowing students to choose from a variety of assignments.The homework selected reveals important information about what might work for different students so that the kids can learn at their own pace In conclusion I believe that kids should want or plead for less homework, less homework benefits everyone even the teachers. Less homework will make it easier for the teachers to teach and students to learn because the teachers wouldn’t have to worry about grading endless papers and will be focusing more on the lessons. Also, the students won’t have to worry about homework and will actually enjoy the class be cause there is less work to be done.And if the students are more excited about the class they will be excited to learn and to study and then they will be scoring higher on test grades.

Free Essays on Whats Exsistence

Is it possible that nothing exists in the universe besides yourself? Is it possible that the people and things you see around you are all products of your own mind like a dream? How could you show that other things exist in the universe besides yourself and your ideas? It is very possible that we all are living in one big dream. Everything around us could just be an idea in our mind, which makes it seem like they exist. There is also the thought that things actually do exist. I feel that if it is actually in existence, then you can see, touch, hear, or smell them. Using our senses help with what is there and what is not. If you cannot see, touch, hear, or smell something, then it does not exist. The way you can show that other things exist in the universe is by using your senses. For example, if there’s a desk sitting in front of you and you reach out and can touch it, then it exists. Or if any kind of object is touchable, it exists. It truly is hard to explain the existence of things, but using our senses is the easiest way to prove anything. Another way of showing existence or proving existence is by proven facts or by word, or even by experimenting. Like when you sit down with your grandfather and he tells you a story of how something had happened twenty years ago, that actually happened and existed but you can’t see it, because it had happened before your time. That is just proof, because somebody else actually went through it. Also, if a scientist tries to prove the existence of say an atom, that kind of fact has already been proven through scientific experiments. With the experiments, they that something does exist even though you can’t see it with a human eye, but it is there with a microscope. By experimenting, you can prove existence of non-visible objects, and by being able to see them one way or another, then they’re actually there. Another way of experimenting, for example, is say you take a... Free Essays on Whats Exsistence Free Essays on Whats Exsistence Is it possible that nothing exists in the universe besides yourself? Is it possible that the people and things you see around you are all products of your own mind like a dream? How could you show that other things exist in the universe besides yourself and your ideas? It is very possible that we all are living in one big dream. Everything around us could just be an idea in our mind, which makes it seem like they exist. There is also the thought that things actually do exist. I feel that if it is actually in existence, then you can see, touch, hear, or smell them. Using our senses help with what is there and what is not. If you cannot see, touch, hear, or smell something, then it does not exist. The way you can show that other things exist in the universe is by using your senses. For example, if there’s a desk sitting in front of you and you reach out and can touch it, then it exists. Or if any kind of object is touchable, it exists. It truly is hard to explain the existence of things, but using our senses is the easiest way to prove anything. Another way of showing existence or proving existence is by proven facts or by word, or even by experimenting. Like when you sit down with your grandfather and he tells you a story of how something had happened twenty years ago, that actually happened and existed but you can’t see it, because it had happened before your time. That is just proof, because somebody else actually went through it. Also, if a scientist tries to prove the existence of say an atom, that kind of fact has already been proven through scientific experiments. With the experiments, they that something does exist even though you can’t see it with a human eye, but it is there with a microscope. By experimenting, you can prove existence of non-visible objects, and by being able to see them one way or another, then they’re actually there. Another way of experimenting, for example, is say you take a...

Personal statement for applying MBA programme and Master in Finance

For applying MBA programme and Master in Finance programme - Personal Statement Example In order to accomplish this goal, I have taken the opportunity to serve as an intern for a number of different businesses and organizations. Some of my most valuable intern experiences have been in surprising places. These internships have helped me to grow and mature. I can say that I know myself better now as a result of this work. I have always been highly motivated by money. I do not feel that this is something I need to apologize for. I love capitalism and feel that it is the very foundation of freedom throughout the world. Without capitalism, there is no real democracy. As a result, I have always measured my career goals and my level of success by the amount of income and investment potential each possible career could offer. Perks of the position mean very little to me. My career is going to be my life, so I do not care about time off, special parking spaces or the latest technological gadget. I want to earn money and I am willing to work hard to get it. My first internship was in a bank. I shadowed a loan officer for several weeks and thought I would lose my mind with boredom. I found the process to be fascinating but redundant. There seemed to be very little variety in the job. When my mentor shared the salary range, I knew that this was not the work for me. I was able to work then for a national financial services company that provided guidance to massive institutional investors. Working with vast sums of money was so exciting yet humbling. I couldn’t help but feel I was out of my league. The thing with this job was that everyone there seemed to make me want to feel like I was out of my league. The work environment was competitive and stressful. My final, and most powerful internship was with a moderately sized non-profit institution. Learning about non-profit financing and business administration was actually quite interesting. What made an unexpected impact on me was the amount of good that this non-profit

The History of Kuwait Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The History of Kuwait - Assignment Example The country is a constitutional monarchy but has a parliamentary system of governance. The constitutional emirate is a hereditary position and the emir is the chief of state while the head of government is the Prime Minister and deputy prime ministers who both are appointed by the emir. The legislature consists of 66 seats with 50 states elected by popular vote while appointed cabinet ministers occupy the rest. The judiciary is based on Sharia law and is impendent from government influence (Casey 19). Most of the Kuwaitis are Arabs and Islam is the dominant religion in the country with the majority being Sunni Muslims. Foreign groups include Iranians, South Asians, and expatriates and the official language is Arabic, but English is also spoken (O’Shea and Spilling 45). The religious minorities include Parsi, Hindu, and Christians and Native Kuwaitis do not pay any taxes. Kuwait’s foreign-policy making is based on quiet diplomacy, clarity, and straightforwardness and aim s at strengthening cooperation with other countries on the basis of non-intervention in the internal country affairs and mutual trust. Kuwait’s foreign policy is based on the ideals of sovereignty and freedom of political decision (O’Shea and Spilling 17). The Emir, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and government ministers occupy the executive branch and are key decision-makers. The chief of State is Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (since 2006) and Crown Prince is Nawafal – Ahmad. The decrees and pardons are executed by the Emir and have a lot of influence on the foreign policy decisions. The Emir is hereditary and is tasked with appointing the Prime Minister, and deputy prime ministers and approves the council of government ministers that is appointed by the Prime Minister (Casey 61). The parliament is a key decision-maker in foreign policy since it has the power to initiate legislation, remove the Emir and question actions of government ministers.

No Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

No - Essay Example This led to the development of electric vehicles from the middle of the 19th century as well as those that were propelled by internal combustion engines. This opened up business opportunities for inventors of battery and motor technology as well as those who traded in storage of electricity. However, internal combustion technology managed to get an early mass adoption after the assembly line was invented by Henry Ford (Etzion & Struben 2011, p. 3). In the case of Better Place, the timing was convenient as it was launched when most governments were concerned with the emission of greenhouse gases by vehicles that ran on the internal combustion technology. From the point of view of the five forces analysis developed by Porter, also known as P5F, it is evident that the advancement of electric vehicles by Better Place had the advantages associated with new market entrants. For example, one of its geographical targets was Hawaii, which imported 90 percent of its oil in order to meet its ga soline requirements. Further, the state had the highest prices for gasoline in the entire nation. Therefore, revival of the electric vehicle, whose production had temporarily stopped in the 1930s, was a direct threat to the internal combustion technology that had raised concerns among environmentalists. Suppliers in the industry also had the advantage of a high bargaining power because of their small number as compared to suppliers of vehicles that ran on internal combustion engines. The electric vehicles created a situation of threat of substitutes for the internal combustion vehicles since they served the same purpose but at a cheaper cost of maintenance and in more environmental-friendly ways. However, with the key challenge facing electric vehicles being the low mileage provided by the battery as well as the slow development of charging points, it was not clear how quickly the market’s demand side would develop. Further, according to a report prepared by Ernest and Young, consumers, especially in the United States, were not readily willing to consider electric vehicles as practical options to internal combustion (Etzion & Struben 2011, p. 14). This placed a limit on the number of units that would be released into the market at any given time. In light of this, the United State’s vehicle manufacturer, General Motors (GM), withdrew from the production of electric vehicles, resulting in a major setback for advocates of the technology. However, at the same time, this also paved way for many other smaller companies to venture into industry. This consequently reduced their bargaining power as suppliers, forcing them to shift focus from luxury vehicles to more affordable ones. Scenario Planning The business scenario at Better Place was planned to address the concept of making the world a better place by the year 2020. The founder’s vision was based on the idea of creating a link between customers, battery companies and vehicle companies in a way that would facilitate and maintain the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (Etzion & Struben 2011, p. 4). The link was aimed at overcoming limited mobility, which was the most significant downside of electric vehicles. This planning went beyond what had limited most companies in the industry. The companies believed that adoption of elect