Markowitz Portfolio Optimization Essay

Introduction Markowitz (1952, 1956) pioneered the development of a quantitative method that takes the diversification benefits of portfolio allocation into account. Modern portfolio theory is the result of his work on portfolio optimization. Ideally, in a mean-variance optimization model, the complete investment opportunity set, i.e. all assets, should be considered simultaneously. However, in practice, most investors distinguish between different asset classes within their portfolio-allocation frameworks. In our analysis, we view the process of asset allocation as a four-step exercise like Bodie, Kane and Marcus (2005). It consists of choosing the asset classes under consideration, moving forward to establishing capital market expectations, followed by deriving the efficient frontier until finding the optimal asset mix. We take the perspective of an asset-only investor in search of the optimal portfolio. An asset-only investor does not take liabilities into account. The investment horizon is 5 – 10 years and the opportunity set consists of twelve asset classes. The investor pursues wealth maximization and no other particular investment goals are considered. We solve the asset-allocation problem using a mean-variance optimization based on excess returns. The goal is to maximize the Sharpe ratio (risk-adjusted return) of the portfolio, bounded by the restriction that the exposure to any risky asset class is greater than or equal to zero and that the sum of the weights adds up to one. The focus is on the relative allocation to risky assets in the optimal portfolio. In the mean-variance analysis, we use arithmetic excess returns. Geometric returns are not suitable in a mean-variance framework. The weighted average of geometric returns does not equal the geometric return of a simulated portfolio with the same composition. The observed difference can be explained by the diversification benefits of the portfolio allocation. We derive the arithmetic returns from the geometric returns and the volatility. a) The CIO has sent some of the results you have done above to the IPC. After the members of the IPC perused the results, some of them asked the CIO to explain why the equal-weighted portfolio underperformed the mean-variance optimal portfolio for the periods studied. Explain to the CIO using only the whole period results. First, let’s quickly look at some of the values of the fields that are used to draw the capital allocation line. As an example to my explanation let’s go through 2 possible capital allocation lines from the risk-free rate (rf = 3.5%). The first possible CAL is drawn for naively diversified portfolio for the whole period with rf = 3.5%. The expected return for this portfolio is 0.006224053, and its standard deviation is 0.025002148, the reward-to-volatility ratio, which is the slope of the CAL is 0.132284095. The second CAL is drawn for the Optimal portfolio for the whole period with rf = 3.5%. The expected return for this portfolio is 0.009508282, and its standard deviation is 0.00734826, the re- reward-to-volatility ratio is 0.897030832. We can see from the numbers that the optimal portfolio does better than the naively diversified portfolio because the RTV is higher for the optimal portfolio. The reason for that is that we’ve identified the optimal portfolio of risky assets by finding the portfolio weights that result in steepest CAL. The CAL that is supported by the optimal portfolio is tangent to the efficient frontier. The bottom line is that we have chosen the optimal portfolio that has the portfolio weights that lie on the capital allocation line that is tangent to the efficient frontier. Which means a portfolio of risky assets that provides the lowest risk for the expected return and thus this selected portfolio is bound to outperform the naively diversified. b) The IPC has noticed that the optimal allocations of sub-period 1 and sub-period 2 are very different (based on different scenarios of target returns and investment limits). They asked why. Would you please explain (using the set of results for 3.5% risk free rate)? This entails an analysis of the economic conditions for different periods. The most important insight we get is that in a diversified portfolio, the contribution to portfolio risk of a particular security will depend on the covariance of that security’s return with those of other securities. If you see the correlation matrix for the 2 sub periods, we can see that the economic-wide risk factors have imparted positive correlations among the stock returns for Sub Period 2 (03 – 10). This was the time of economic crisis (08-10) and since most of the risk was economic, the optimal portfolio incorporates less risky assets. While the sub period 1 (95 – 03) went through a healthy growth period, had mostly firm specific risk and lesser economic risk. c) The CIO wants to propose investment limits on certain asset classes to the IPC for consideration, but the CIO may not be aware of the likely impact on the performance of the Fund. Since you have run some analysis above based on the proposed limits, present your analysis and make a recommendation regarding investment limits for the historical arithmetic average (target) return and the 6% p.a. target return. The fundamental concept behind MPT is that the assets in an investment portfolio should not be selected individually, each on their own merits. Rather, it is important to consider how each asset changes in price relative to how every other asset in the portfolio changes in price. The optimal portfolios derived from the analysis are tangency portfolios and represents the combination offering the best possible expected return for given risk level. If we change the investment limits it could result in sub-optimal portfolios. This can be easily from the tables from (comparing naà ¯ve allocation to optimal allocation): Optimal Portfolio: When we draw the CAL and the efficient frontier using the above values, we see that the weights in the optimal portfolio result in the highest slope of the CAL. We can see this with the improved reward-to-volatility ratio of the portfolios. We also saw from the analysis where we constrained the portfolio return to 6% pa, the weights of the optimal portfolio changed and the RTV was lower than the un constrained optimal portfolio. Constrained:Unconstrained: d) The CIO would like to test the sensitivity of the mean-variance optimization to a change in the portfolio target return. Since you have done some runs using the historical arithmetic average return and 6% p.a. target return, present what you’ve learned from your analysis to the CIO using your results. We have tested the sensitivity of the mean-variance analysis to the input parameters. Table below shows the impact on the optimal portfolio of an increase and a decrease in the expected volatility of an asset, all other things being equal. Note that a change in volatility affects both the arithmetic return and the covariance matrix. Again, this table demonstrates the sensitivity of a mean-variance analysis to the input parameters. An increase in expected volatility leads to a lower allocation to that asset class. High yield even vanishes completely from the optimal portfolio. It is noteworthy that commodities are hardly affected by a higher standard deviation. A decrease in volatility mostly leads to a higher allocation. Government bonds, despite their expected zero risk premium, add value due to the strong diversification benefit. In this analysis, they appear to be insensitive to a change in their expected volatility. Credits and bonds are quite similar asset classes and, in a mean-variance context, the optimal portfolio tends to incline towards one or the other. In short, the mean-variance analysis suggests that adding real estate, stocks and high yield to the traditional asset mix of stocks and bonds creates most value for investors. Assets| Optimal Portfolio| Optimal Portfolio (6%)| SPTR Index| 0| 0| RTY Index| 0| 0| MXEA Index| 0| 0.747626014| MXEU Index| 0| 0| MXEF Index| 0| 0| SPGSCITR Index| 0| 0| FNCOTR Index| 0.862665445| 0.179140105| H15T3M Index| 0| 0.05| WOG1| 0| 0| C0A0| 0| 0| H0A0| 0| 0| G0Q0| 0.137334555| 0.023233881| e) Could we use the optimal weights from a previous period, say sub-period 1 or sub-period 2 or the whole period, as the recommended asset allocation for the next 5 or 10 years? Explain your answer with the out-of-sample test results you have done. No, we cannot recommend asset allocation based on the out-of-sample test results. The in-sample MV efficient frontiers overestimate the return associated with portfolio optimization not only with respect to resampled efficiency but importantly with respect to out-of-sample investment performance. Even with good inputs, MV efficiency error maximizes the risk and returns inputs, creates upward biased estimates of future performance, and substantially underperforms resampled efficiency. f) Based on the above analyses, what lessons and implications can be learned from your analysis on the mean-variance portfolio optimization? Key lessons: The fundamental goal of portfolio theory is to optimally allocate your investments between different assets. Mean variance optimization (MVO) is a quantitative tool which allows you to make this allocation by considering the trade-off between risk and return. Markowitz Portfolio Optimization The single period Markowitz algorithm solves the following problem: Single Period Problem * Inputs: * The expected return for each asset * The standard deviation of each asset (a measure of risk) * The correlation matrix between these assets * Output: * The efficient frontier, i.e. the set of portfolios with expected return greater than any other with the same or lesser risk, and lesser risk than any other with the same or greater return. The Markowitz algorithm is intended as a single period analysis tool in which the inputs provided by the user represent his/her probability beliefs about the upcoming period. The expected return, standard deviation, and correlation matrix are computed using standard statistical formulae. The expected return represents the simple (probability weighted) average of the possible returns for each asset, and the standard deviation represents the uncertainty about the outcome. The correlation matrix is a symmetric matrix, with unity on the diagonal, and all other elements between -1 and +1. A positive correlation between two assets A and B indicates that when the return of asset A turns out to be above (below) its expected value, then the return of asset B is likely also to be above (below) its expected value. A negative correlation suggests that when A’s return is above its expected value, and then B’s will be below its expected value, and vice versa. Input Data Issues A major issue for the methodology is the selection of input data. The use of historical data provides a very convenient means of providing the inputs to the MVO algorithm, but there are a number of reasons why this may not be the optimal way to proceed. All these reasons have to do with the question of whether this method really provides a valid statistical picture of the upcoming period. The most serious problem concerns the expected returns, because these control the actual return which is assigned to each portfolio. Failure of underlying hypothesis When you use historical data to provide the MVO inputs, you are implicitly assuming that * The returns in the different periods are independent. * The returns in the different periods are drawn from the same statistical distribution. * The N periods of available data provide a sample of this distribution. These hypotheses may simply not be true. The most serious inaccuracies arise from a phenomenon called mean reversion, in which a period, or periods, of superior (inferior) performance of a particular asset tend to be followed by a period, or periods, of inferior (superior) performance. Suppose, for example, you have used 5 years of historical data as MVO inputs for the upcoming year. The outputs of the algorithm will favor those assets with high expected return, which are those which have performed well over the past 5 years. Yet if mean reversion is in effect, these assets may well turn out to be those that perform most poorly in the upcoming year. Error in the estimated mean Even if you believe that the returns in the different periods are independent and identically distributed, you are of necessity using the available data to estimate the properties of this statistical distribution. In particular, you will take the expected return for a given asset to be the simple average R of the N historical values, and the standard deviation to be the root mean square deviation from this average value. Then elementary statistics tells us that the one standard deviation error in the value R as an estimate of the mean is the standard deviation divided by the square root of N. If N is not very large, then this error can distort the results of the MVO analysis considerably. Summary The above discussion does not mean to imply that the Markowitz algorithm is incorrect, but simply to point out the dangers of using historical data as inputs to a optimization strategy. If you make your own estimates of the MVO inputs, based on your own beliefs about the upcoming period, single period MVO can be an entirely appropriate means of balancing the risk and return in your portfolio.

Immanuel Kant †Ethics Essay

Immanuel Kant was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia in 1724. He attended the Collegium Fridiricianum at eight years old where he was taught classicism. Then he went to the University of Konigsberg where he spent his career focusing on philosophy, mathematics, and physics. When his is father past away, Kant left the university and earned his living as a private tutor. In 1755 he returned to the University to receive his doctorate in 1756. Immanuel Kant remained at the University teaching for 15 years. He received his tenure at the University in 1770, where he stayed for the next 27 years. In 1792 he was barred from teaching or writing on religious subjects do to his unorthodox approach in his teaching by King Fredrick William II. He returned to teaching after the king had passed away five years later. In his retirement he published a summary of his views on religion. Immanuel Kant passed away in 1804. Immanuel Kant was widely known for his categorical imperative theory. Categorical imperative is how one determines one’s duty, what principles are proper, and which are not. Doing one’s duty for the sake of duty itself is better than simply acting in agreement with one’s duty. Telling the truth in order to benefit yourself is acting in accordance with duty and not acting for the sake of duty. The categorical imperative states, â€Å"Act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will it should become universal law(Keele, 2008). † Maxim in this sentence is the moral part of your action. Categorical imperative tells us it is immoral to make an exception of our self. Just like my mother would say treat and act as you would want others to treat and act towards you. In the news I view an article about â€Å"School knife attack poses ethical dilemma for daily. † In this article they talk about the Worcester New identifying a schoolboy as a suspect. The news published the boy’s name and picture on Facebook putting the boy’s life at risk. After the boy was found the news took down the boy’s picture at once. Everyone was perplexed by this situation asking why they put picture up and then took it down. According to the Worcester News, the situation change, where they were trying to find the boy to stop him from hurting himself or others and then to protecting the child. Would the newspapers actions have been ethical according to Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative? First let’s take a look at the reasons why they did it. The newspaper stated they put his picture up to protect him and other, then took down to protect him. I believe they were acting in the best of society myself by putting the information up. According to Immanuel Kant’s theory they were acting in accordance with their duty. They had a duty to let the public know what was going on to protect other students and teachers If they didn’t act with such speed would the boy have been found so soon? I think not! This boy could have went on a killing spree and if the Worcester News didn’t report it they would not have been acting in the best of society and would not have been doing their duty. But then to take down the information I feel is unethical. They don’t take down any information when it comes to any other person involved in a crime. Immanuel Kant stated that it is immoral to make an exception of yourself. The Worcester News should hold to the same standards as any other crime they report. I understand that they are trying to protect the boy, but if you are going to report any other crime and not take it down this should happen in the same way. In conclusion, based on my research I feel that Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative theory is important to our society today. It holds everyone to the same standards! He has help to maintain a set of standards for our society that requires everyone to be treated the same. The study of ethics is important in today’s business and government world because it sets standard for all to abide. From John Locke’s right theory to Kohlberg’s moral development stages. They all 1 / 2 set standards in which business need to stay within. If there were no standards there would be more scandals in the news than there is. References Britannica. (2014). Immanuel Kant. Retrieved from http://www. philosophypages. com/ph/kant. htm. Keele, Lisa. (2008, The Categorical Imperative of Immanuel Kant. Retrieved from https://www. suite. io/lisa-keele/ypd2fk. Linfold, Paul. (2014, September 28). School Knife Attack Poses Ethical Dilemma For Daily. Retrieved from http://www. holdthefrontpage. co. uk/2014/news/school-knife-attack-poses-ethical- dilemma-for-daily/ POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Amazons Marketing Strategies

It also uses existing communication systems. Lastly it utilizes behaviors and mentalities. Combined, all of these aspects ensure that Amazon can grow a very successful company it also keeps it as strong as possible. Without some of these marketing strategies Amazon would not be what it is today. Throughout Amazons entire time, these have been some of the things that they have always looked for, in terms of trying to provide a great experience and market their company.Analysis: Starting off with freely proffers products and services. I think this is very important for Amazon to always have since there company relies on other companies selling on there site. Without the products and services that are sold on there site, think they would not be as successful as they are today. Amazons friendly interface provides the customers to feel like they are buying from a reliable source as well as feeling at ease while searching through the site.This is very important for Amazon, because many peo ple use it because It is so easy to buy produces from the site. Amazon as a whole scales extremely easily from large to small. This can make the company better in many different aspect. Not very many companies have this ability. Amazon exploits many products and recourses and it helps everyone. It helps the customers find what they need, it helps the companies gain popularity and helps Amazon to create a much better site as a whole.

The Fukushina Disaster Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Fukushina Disaster - Research Paper Example The disaster happened in Japan which has one of the worlds most sophisticated nuclear engineers, technicians and scientist and despite this expertise, the disaster still happened. My gut is nagging me that if this could happen in Japan with all that expertise about Nuclear Power, it could be worst elsewhere in the world. I really would like to know because the coverage last year was limited where employees and the company involved (TEPCO) did not publicly talked about what really happened inside the plant that left many questions unanswered. The assignment and the video provided an excellent opportunity for me to satisfy that curiosity. Perhaps the essense of the video is best encapsulated by Fukushim Daichi’s nuclear engineer â€Å"that they could not imagine that a nuclear plant would lose all its power† in the same manner that they did not expect that a nuclear power plant could be vulnerable to tsunami. But it did anyway and their options became restricted. The tsun ami that hit the Fukushima Daichi plant was twice high its tsunami walls and so it flooded the plant. In effect, it destroyed the generators that were located in the basement who were supposed to provide power to cool the nuclear reactor when the regular power shut down due to the earthquake. In sum, everything that happened in Fukushima that led to the disaster was unexpected; from the tsunami that got twice as high their protective walls (TEPCO was warned by government commissioned scientists in 2009 that their protective walls were inaduate from tsunami) to the breaking down of the generators that were supposed to cool down the reactor. In the end, they were left The account was dramatic and very engaging because the information that were presented were not from secondary sources. The people behind the documentary can be lauded because it was able to interview the people who manually vent out the radiation. It also included the Prime Minister who provided candid answers to the qu estions. Also, the documentary was able to present the ugly dilemma that the Prime Minister had to decide on, to give permission to release or vent radiation in the atmosphere. Everybody knew that the vent out has to be done to ease the pressure in the nuclear containment to avoid explosion that will have a far more damaging effect that could last up to decades. Only that the Prime Minister has to decide and even has to go to the plant himself to give the order when he suspected that the executives of TEPCO were hiding the truth from him. It is an ugly decision that he has to make but he has to because the safety, health and future of his country is at stake. Still, even when the nuclear pressure was released, plant 1 of the Nakaigichi plant still exploded which sent chills to everybody’s spine (plant 3 also exploded laer). The relief only came when the containment was still intact that the explosion was caused by a hydrogen leak and not from a nuclear meltdown. The drama and dilemma that the video has more than adequately presented led me to think about the option of using nuclear plant as a source of energy. It led me to think about many things that is connected not only with the plant, but also on the various sources of energy, on how can we limit our dependency to

Cultural theory and images Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cultural theory and images - Essay Example This view is all the more plausible considering the visibility of only four fingers and the lack of symmetry between the two sides of the face – features that are characteristic of leprosy. The cultural background of the viewer will also bear on the impression gathered, for leprosy as a deadly disease is more common in tropical and sub-tropical climes. So, for a European-Caucasian viewer, the painting might speak of acute and terminal stages of tuberculosis. Equally credible is the interpretation that the depiction is that of a survivor in war, with his countenance damaged by a bomb blast. The picture titled Duck/Rabbit, 1899 is quite interesting. For those now aware of the title, the first impression might be either that of a duck or a rabbit but not both. The observer, upon identifying the duck, might go on to study the finer details of the image, in terms of the size and shape of the brush strokes used. He/she might also look at the black and white contrast effectively employed by the painter. The same is applicable to the viewer who sees the rabbit first. But only upon disclosure of the title Duck/Rabbit would the viewer be pressed to find the other animal embedded within. The cultural background of the viewer is bound to have a negligible effect on perception, for the subject is relatively simple and straightforward. The genius of the painter lay not so much in cultural sensibilities as in the clever imaginative conception of the mirror effect between the two animals. The image Weegee, Their First Murder, 1941 is quite complex, in that, each individual in the photo gives a different expression. Some flinch as if in pain, while other show a hint of a smile, and some others just show curiosity, making singular interpretation a arduous task. The only adult in the image is the elegantly dressed lady, other are boys and girls of varying ages. But based on the dressing and

Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Business Plan - Essay Example That is the reason why the â€Å"Business Plan† report should contain some fundamental parameters like the overall market and the financial analysis of the business. In this particular case of opening franchise business a detailed company summery and ownership structure is also needed to be included. This is because the strength and weaknesses of the original company is being reflected in the respective franchise. The basic marketing strategy and product offering remains same throughout all the franchises. Here in this particular case a franchise is being opened in an international location. Thus a detailed market analysis of the company is required prior to any financial assumptions. This business plan will distinctly contain three sections. The first section will contain the company background (PinkBerry), the second section will give an overview of the general marketing strategy of PinkBerry and the third section will give an estimate of the financial estimates of the propo sed franchise. The Company started its operation in the year 2005 and it has originated mainly from the two cities of Los Angeles and New York and within five years of their operation the company PinkBerry has successfully established its leadership in the frozen yogurt segment. (â€Å"The leading, enduring, frozen yogurt brand for franchising†, 2009). Operating in a very concentrated segment the company has concentrated more on developing a cult-like following in its customer base. Though the company has originated locally, its prime focus is to expand both in the local and the global market simultaneously. Its local growth had hit a landmark as PinkBerry opened its first airport store in the month of September of the year 2009. (â€Å"The leading, enduring, frozen yogurt brand for franchising†, 2009) The other local expansion plans are going on in Northern California, Texas, Washington D.C and Florida. (â€Å"The leading, enduring, frozen yogurt brand for

Coursework Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Coursework - Assignment Example Highly technology driven companies, both Nintendo and Sony have invested heavily in e-commerce activities which is quite apparent from their websites. Through their websites, both the companies facilitate their user relating to the placing new orders, acquiring customer’s feedbacks in order to enhance their services and also using it as a plat form for releasing new products and features. The report presents an analysis of both the companies in terms of operational and marketing strategy, what models they have adopted in order to generate revenue, striking marketing tactics and methods as portrayed in the websites of the both the companies. Competitor Analysis The method used in the competitor analysis of the Nintendo (Wii and Nintendo 3DS) and Sony (Playstation) is the Michael Porter’s five forces model. According to the model, there are five forces prevailing in the market which affects the competitive rivalry between the components. The analysis assists the companies in identifying the factors keeping which into consideration the company can devise its marketing and operational strategy. This model gives importance to the financial as well operational aspects of a business and sets criteria according to which the company can assess the activities of its competitors and counter them through effective and efficient management. The five forces according to the Porter’s model are as follows [2] The bargaining power of the customer can be regarded as the influence that the consumer base has on the pricing strategy of the company. Currently the Playstation and Nintendo 3DS are sold at prices $399 and $249 respectively. Since Playstation offers a more advanced and high tech gaming experience thus its prices are steeper as compared to its competitor. The fact that bargaining power of customer can cast significant impact on the profitability of the company can be corroborated from the fact that initially the Playstation was sold considerably belo w its per unit cost, causing a significant decline in the profitability of the company. In order to justify their demand prices, both the companies must communicate with their consumer base and make them aware the latest add-ons the product comes with and assuring them that the prices are justified. This requires innovation and smart marketing tactics. Suppliers of both the companies are the companies providing raw material for the manufacturing of the product. Software houses can also come under this category as they provide important technical expertise in devising interactive user interface. Bargaining power of supplier means that the supplier wants to obtain benefits through increased prices of raw material, reduction in the credit terms etc. This can also affect the financial outlook of the company with increased cost of goods sold and reduced profit margin. Other factors which the model takes into account are the threat of new entrants into the market and threats of the substi tute products. The biggest competitor of Playstation in the console gaming market is the Microsoft’s product ‘X-box 360’ which also offers high tech gaming experience. As per the Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that the battle with Sony is over — referring to that the Wii has won over the PS3 — and that the new enemy is Apple, with its ever expanding mobile lineup. [3] Both the

Warfare in the Napoleon era is similar to warfare practiced today Essay

Warfare in the Napoleon era is similar to warfare practiced today - Essay Example Indeed, weapon systems and technology have changed over the years with increased sophistication ; however, warlords of today still embrace and practice the fundamentals of warfare upon which the Napoleonic era thrived. The Napoleonic era inspired changes in warfare and created organizational changes in the army that increased their lethality and ignited military reform, tactics, and strategies that are currently being used today. Napoleon created corps and divisions in order to have unity of command for his large troops, which allowed him to have better command and control, and flexibility over his units; Napoleon gave his orders through established channels of command to each division. The organizational changes that were made to the French army increased their flexibility, lethality, and maneuverability in warfare, thus, making it possible for Napoleon to trounce his opponents in combat with ease. Additionally, the Army developed Brigade Combat Teams, which enhanced the organizations ability to be flexible, and agile in warfare, thus, being able to move swiftly into combat zones and taking on the opponents with remarkable success. Similarly, armies of this era are divided into divisions to facilitate unity of command and control of troops, in addition to, enhancing flexibility, lethality, and maneuverability in warfare; combat teams that are thoroughly grounded in tactics and weapon systems to undertake tec hnical missions exist today as well. Napoleon era warfare thrived on the skills and competence of the armies, thus, warlords like Napoleon ensured that their combat teams were well trained in warfare tactics and weapon technologies of their time. Additionally, warfare in this era involved logistics trains, and combined arms that were self-sustaining and dominated enemy forces throughout Europe. For instance, the 1809 Vienna campaigns was successful because the French used combined arms simultaneously, which allowed them to achieve greater impact than if each element was used separately. The French developed the logistics regiment and strictly dedicated it to supplying, and transporting equipment to units on the battlefield2, thus, ensuring the smooth undertaking of missions and operations. Armies today are highly trained in weapons and tactics of combat to be able to handle sophisticated artillery and to execute highly delicate operations with success, and warfare still relies on logistics carriages, which ensure a ste ady supply of equipment to armies in war zones, besides the simultaneous use of combined arms, like in the Napoleonic era. Napoleon’s strategy involved maintaining battles all over Europe in all the volatile areas, where enemy forces had dominated, and this ensured that the enemy forces had no time to regroup or reorganize themselves for counter attacks, thus, they were thoroughly paralyzed and defeated. Nonetheless, the French army fought on several fronts simultaneously, thereby maintaining the territory borders from all angles against the enemy forces; for instance, they fought Britain and Spain on the western front, but at the same time, they also fought Russia, Prussia, and Austria on the eastern front. In the same manner, countries today engage in and maintain battles in their enemy areas where their vulnerability lies in the attempt to neutralize enemy forces; in this regard, warfare still involves invasion and occupation of enemy territory, and such domination of

'Discuss with reference to academic sources, case law, the Law Essay

'Discuss with reference to academic sources, case law, the Law Commission's proposals in the Law Commission Consultation Paper 1 - Essay Example This means that such evidence carries a considerable weight in jury decisions, especially if it goes in accordance with circumstantial evidence4. Indeed, the â€Å"aura of infallibility†5 regarding the scientific evidence is sometimes enough to polarise the court and sway it heavily in favour of one party6. Whereas the inclusion of expert evidence in criminal trials has proven to be very helpful in jury decisions, especially when it is as straightforward as DNA results7, there have been many disturbing miscarriages of justice in regard to either too much or very unreliable expert evidence, which has led to a growing skepticism8 among the legal bodies about the involvement of such information. This paper relays some of those problems and their causes, and proposes a solution in the form of a screening panel for the analysis of such evidence as a solution to these problems. Expert evidence, owing to its nature, is complex and technical, and is often beyond the intellectual capac ity and understanding of the legal body, including the judge, jurors, and lawyers, because they have not been trained for such disciplines. This leads to the basic controversy that the judge and the jurors tend to side with the expert readily, given the â€Å"aura of infallibility†(No 5)9, as stated before. This trend alone can lead to grave miscarriages of justice, as it stems from two further issues. Firstly, it is not necessary that the expert opinion is based on reliable and authentic sources, and that the methodology of data collection and analysis is standardised and authentic. Often the scientific techniques for gathering evidence do not reach up to the mark10, or are not fully developed or researched in that region. This means that the legal body would be basing their decisions on unreliable and flawed information_ an inexcusable error in the legal discourse11. Secondly, the objectivity of the expert can be questionable. By law, the expert is expected to be an â€Å" independent† witness12, that is, unbiased and basing his statements only on the factual evidence. However, this might not be the case. The expert witness is, more often that not, also the expert adviser to one of the parties13, and as an adviser, by law, he is expected to abide by non-disclosure and loyalty to his party, aiming, at no time during the legal proceedings, to harm the image or motives of his party14. The same adviser, when presenting as a witness in court and submitting expert evidence, is expected, by law, to be impartial and adhere to complete disclosure of all the information on which he is basing his opinions, such that those facts should be the same on which the judge or the jurors would base their decisions15. As can be clearly seen, these two roles of the expert witness contradict each other and are paradoxical in nature, leading to many wrongful decisions by the court16, or at the least, eliciting a lot of controversies. Expert witnesses cost money, and th e employment of multiple expert witnesses by the different parties means the legal proceedings become quite an expensive affair17. This problem exacerbates when the parties involved have different economic standings, leading to a disparity between the parties in relation to the accessibility of resources. This means that those who can afford it will be able to call more expert witnesses

Middle Eastern Comparative Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Middle Eastern Comparative Law - Essay Example The clear path is what most refers to as the philosophy of sharia, and one of the basics of sharia. It is a core foundation on which the faith is based on; that God created the souls of every individual and â€Å"appointed a divine law for each.† The only path that is clear and straight is the Sharia (BBC). Throughout Islamic history, God has sent out messages to different people across the world to guide them to the clear and straight path. All the messengers have reminded mankind that they exist in the divine guidance of their creator. The Sharia clusters all human actions into five categories; obligatory, permitted, recommended, disliked and forbidden. Obligatory actions must be executed, and God rewards people who perform them with good intentions. The opposite of these actions are the forbidden ones. Recommended actions are those that should be done, and the opposite of them is the disliked actions. Permitted actions are neither encouraged nor discouraged. Another core principle to the Sharia is that it covers all aspects of human life. Four key parts make up the classical Sharia Manuals; laws regarding individual acts of worship, laws relating to commercial activities, laws relating to the issues of marriage and divorce, and penal laws (BBC). Sacred law is very distinctive from secular law although there are notable similarities such as the reference to a mutually consented set of laws. One of the most notable differences is that sacred law is very rigid to changes as compared to the secular law. Those adhering to sacred law are guaranteed of a rigid set of laws that is well understood by the population and also faces little opposition. Although some of the systems that utilise sacred law are a bit oppressive, a large portion of the public respects the law (Dien 56). Secular law on the other hand is a bit adaptive and changes from time to time to accommodate emergent issues. Since it is prone to changes, the public is not always of the

Diffusion and Osmosis Essay Example for Free

Diffusion and Osmosis Essay Diffusion and osmosis are very important in biological process. Diffusion is the movement of molecules or ions from a region of their high concentration to a region of their low concentration. Osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules across a semipermeable membrane. To gain a better understanding of diffusion and osmosis, we examine multiple experiments to show diffusion and osmosis in animal cell, plant cell and synthetic cell. In our first experiment, we weight a decalcified chicken egg and place 10% NaCl concentration. At every fifteen minutes intervals, we weight the egg and record that the weight decreases. In our second experiment, we use three slices of aquatic plant Elodea and add pond water one leaf, distilled water for the second and 20% NaCl for the third, then observe the cells of each leaf with a compound microscope. Under microscope, chloroplasts (green organelles) in Elodea tend to bound to the cell wall in pond water, spread all over the cell in distilled water, pull away from cell wall in 20% NaCl. In our last experiment, we use a dialysis bag that contains 30% glucose and starch solution then place into a beaker of water and iodine solution. We then remove the bag out of the beaker, and use two test tube which label BAG, BEAKER to perform a Benedict’s test. We place solution in the bag in the BAG tube, and solution in the beaker in the BEAKER tube and add a drop of Benedict’s reagent to each tube, then heat each test tube and observe a color change in each tube. These experiments show that movement of water of chicken egg cell and Elodea cell is â€Å"osmosis† and movement of molecules in dialysis bag and beaker is â€Å"diffusion†. INTRODUCTION Diffusion is involved in many biological processes occurring in single-celled to complex organism (cite this). It is a part in life that we need to know and understand how it works. Diffusion is the process by which molecules move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration (cite this). A branch of diffusion process is osmosis, which is the movement of water across a membrane which is selectively permeable (cite this). We are going to learn and get more information about diffusion osmosis by perform three experiments. We place a shell-less chicken egg in salt solution. We predict that water in the egg will move out the cell because this is a hypertonic solution, a greater concentration of osmotically active substance than the solution on the other side of membrane. Next, we are going have three slices of Elodea in each different solution: hypotonic, isotonic, hypertonic then we observe these reactions in the microscope. We predict that one will have chloroplasts (green organelles) bound to cell wall in hypotonic, one will have chloroplasts move in the cytoplasm, one will have cell wall remain intact and chloroplasts move away from cell wall. Third, we’re going to use a dialysis bag contains starch and glucose and place in water and iodine solution. After a Benedict test, we predict that there will be color change in these solutions. These experiments are easy to perform and they also give people enough information to gain better concepts of how diffusion works in animal cell, plant cell, and synthetic cell. METHODS First, we performed an experiment to show osmosis in animal cell. Our materials in this experiment were a decalcified egg, a 350mL beaker, 10% of NaCl solution, a triple beam balance, and a timer. We used the triple beam balance to weigh the egg. The weight of the egg was 77.3g at this time. Next, we placed the egg in the beaker that was filled with 250mL of 10% NaCl. We waited about fifteen minutes and then remove the egg out of the beaker. We dried off the water from the egg and placed the egg on the triple beam balance. The weight of the egg after fifteen minutes was 76.6g. We then placed the egg back in the beaker and repeated these steps every fifteen minutes intervals. At thirty minutes, the egg’s weight was 76.3g. At forty-five minutes, the weight was 76.2g. At sixty minutes, the weight was 76.1g. We recorded the data and calculated the percent change in egg weight by using the weight at the present time minus the previous weight all over the previous time and all multi ply to one hundred. We then graphed our data to show percent changes in weight of the egg. Next, we performed another experiment to show osmosis in a plant cell. We used leaf of the aquatic plant Elodea, pond water, distilled water, 20% NaCl solution, a compound microscope, a pair of forceps. First, we cut three small pieces from Elodea plant with forceps. We then carefully placed each piece onto the microscope slide glass. We added a small drop of pond water to one piece and labeled it â€Å"pond water†. We added a small drop of distilled water to another piece and labeled it â€Å"distilled water†. Last we added 20% NaCl to the last piece and labeled it â€Å"20% NaCl†. We waited for ten minutes and then we observed the cells of each piece of leaf under the microscope. We then sketched the cells of each piece as seen in the microscope. In our last experiment of diffusion of synthetic cell, we used a 30-cm strip of moist dialysis tubing, a string, 30 % glucose solution, starch solution, iodine solution, Benedict’s reagent, hot plate, 500-mL bea ker one-third filled with water, handled test tube holder, 3 standard test tubes, disposable transfer pipettes, two of 400-mL beakers to hold dialysis bag. First, we soaked the dialysis tubing in water and closed one end with a string, and let the other end open. Then we added four pipettesful of 30% glucose into the bag and four pipettesful of starch solution to the glucose in the bag. We gently mixed the contents and observed the color in the bag. Next, we add 300mL of water to 500mL beaker. We put some drops of iodine solution in the water and it turned into a brown color. After that, we placed the dialysis bag into the beaker and waited for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, we moved the bag and let it stand in a dry beaker. We then recorded the data. Next, we used two test tube which labeled â€Å"BEAKER† and â€Å"BAG† for the Benedict’s test. We put two pipettesful of the bag solution in the BAG tube and two pipettesful of the beaker solution in the BEAKER tube. We added a drop of benedict’s reagent to each tube and heat them up in hot water for three minutes. After three minutes, we observed the co lor change and recorded our data. RESULTS In our first experiment with decalcified egg in 10% NaCl, we find that the weight of the shell-less egg decreases after every fifteen minutes time interval. At time zero, the egg has 77.3g but after fifteen minutes, the egg has 76.6, a -0.9% change in weight. At thirty minutes, the egg has 76.3g, a -0.4% change in weight. At forty-five minutes, the egg has 76.2g, a -0.1% change in weight. At sixty minutes, the egg has 76.1g, a -0.1% change in weight. In our second experiment with Elodea plant, we find that chloroplasts(green organelles) of Elodea cell in pond water moves close to cell wall. In distilled water, we find that chloroplasts (green organelles) of Elodea cell move freely through out in the cytoplasm but block by cell wall. We also find that chloroplasts (green organelles) of Elodea cell of in 20% NaCl moving away from the cell wall and form tightly in the central of cytoplasm. In our last experiment with dialysis tubing, we observe some color change. The bag solution, which contains glucose and starch, has a transparent original color, turns to transparent with some black dots as final color. After using the Benedicts reagent, the tube which contains the bag solution turns into an orange color.

Analysis Aqualisa Quartz Essay Example for Free

Analysis Aqualisa Quartz Essay Every company dreams that one day they can bring something unique and very competitive, and use it to dominate the market. But things might not be as easy as they thought. In Aqualisa case, Harry Rawlinson, managing director of Aqualisa, gives us an example that even with new significant shower product Quartz, which seems to be perfect in every aspect, they cannot make a relative progress in U.K. shower market. Quartz is designed to solve all the troubles that exist in U. K. showers. It provides efficient and reliable water pressure and temperature, needs less space in bathroom, has a stylish looking and is easy to use and install. Although Quartz leaps all other showers, the initial sales results turned to be gloomy, as Rawlinson said â€Å"For some reason, it simply wasn’t selling†. To reveal these â€Å"reasons†, we will first look at the general shower market status, and then we will analysis two main factors that cause Quart fail in initial Sales: Quart itself and Plumber. Finally, we will examine Aqualisa’s marketing strategy and find out what is the right thing to do. Shower market in U.K. The U.K. shower market has 3 distribution channels, 3 buyer segments, and 2 Special roles: Plumber and Developer. To give a brief summary, we will use some charts to demonstrate characteristics of these elements, and use it for latter discussions. As we can see, Quartz has 61% in Rate of return (manufacturer) and 47% in Rate of return (retailer), which is not the highest among other products. And we notice that Aquavalve Value, which is in value segment, and Aquaforce 1. 0/1. 5 Bar, which is in Standard segment, have higher Rate of return, but these product sold well in lower segments. Thus Quartz cannot be blamed for overprice, at least it was no more expensive than Aqualisa’s other product. Besides, if we consider the installation cost that saved by Quartz (2 days to half day, with 40-80/hour), Quartz is even cheaper. So either the price was not the reason, or the price was misunderstood. Consumer could be blinded by Quartz’s high retail price and ignore its relatively high produce cost. Besides, Aqualisa â€Å"was generally recognized as having top quality showers, a premium brand, and great service†, that reputation could make consumers form the idea that Quartz is just another premium product which is not cost-effective. This misjudgment of Quartz’s value is the true reason that Quartz was not accepted in lower market. Thus lower Quartz’s price would have less result if the misconception remains unchanged. To solve this problem, Aqualisa need more effort to spread the idea that Quartz is economical and practical. Quartz’s former advertisement plan shows most of its progressiveness, like the picture in Exhibit-9, they list all the priorities, make it even more like a premium product. They need to give some economy features such as the cost of installation, the durability of Quartz’s parts, Quartz’s life time budget etc, and compare Quartz’s features with traditional showers, to remind consumers that Quartz values for their money. Plumber, Friend or Foe? Plumber is an important role in shower market. Exhibit-4 shows that about 73% shower selection are influenced by Plumbers. Yet Plumbers are â€Å"wary of innovation, particularly any innovation involving electronics†, AKA Quartz. The negative impact of Plumber’s attitude is obvious, and even Aqualisa calling â€Å"face-to-face introduce and explain the new product† to their â€Å"very loyal† plumbers, nothing changed in short term. Rawlinson was so desperate to plumbers that he thought about abandon plumbers and target consumers directly. Considering the plumbers’ high clout in current market share, and Aqualisa already have high market share (70%) in Do-It-Yourself Sheds which target consumer directly, give up plumbers would be ineffective and useless. Rather than evade the issue, let’s face it straight: Why Plumbers oppose Quartz and how to change it. The main reason that plumbers reject innovation derived from risk aversion. Because â€Å"unfamiliar products could present unknown performance problems†, which will make plumbers pay money and time to adjust. Former failure case like â€Å"push-button† controls in 1980s had Strengthened plumbers’ stubborn. But Quartz has no substantive contradiction with plumbers, on the contrary, it’s easy to install and operate that could give plumbers substantial benefits. As a matter of fact, Plumbers who â€Å"puts one in†, becomes â€Å"convert†. Thus Plumbers’ prejudice will disappear by time. By saying â€Å"Adoption is a long, slow process† Pestell, Aqualisa national sales manager, did not realize that they do have some ways to speed up the process. In fact, it seems that Aqualisa did not consider plumbers as a distinct important part in their sales. They barely treat plumbers like consumers or retailers, told plumbers how excellent or advanced Quartz is. But what they should do is telling how good Quartz will do to the plumbers themselves. They could show plumbers the contradistinctions in installing Quartz and traditional showers, and emphasize that Quartz will make their daily two days work to half day, reduce both their work intensity and work time. With this advantage, plumbers can do more jobs and be better off in more income. Aqualisa can also give more samples to plumbers or pay non-loyal plumbers to install Quartz to clear former haze of electronics. With focused promotion plan, Aqualisa will make plumbers realize Quartz is favorable, and turn them into steady alliance. Strategy, Breakthrough or Mark time? Aqualisa’s former strategy is Steady and comprehensive. They joined every segments of market and provided their products in all distribution channels. Their current core product is Aquavalve 609, and they had been in the upper level in the market share (â€Å"number two in mixing valves and number three in the overall UK shower market†), only surpass by Triton and Mira (Exhibit-2). When Quartz joins the family, it did not have a clear position among other siblings. Actually, Aqualisa showed no clear expectations in Quartz’s performance. They just spread it to whole market and hope it can dominate. This pointless strategy makes them unconscious to the market response thus they make no effective action when sales encountered difficulties. Even if their final target is the whole market, they could build milestones and interim objectives like enter the high-end market then extend to lower market or simplify the product to catch the lower market with low price then release advance model to premium user. Either way, the company should have a more specific positioning and targeting plan to meet the company’s expectation. Despite the former marketing strategy, Aqualisa now need to decide their next move. Rawlinson showed his trepidation that Aqualisa, which is profitable with its current products, may not be willing to take the risk of promoting Quartz. The risk comes from two sides: first, the development of Quartz has already spent 5. 8 million and three years times, further promotion could cost 3-4 million more. It’s hard to stay profitable with this huge investment. Second, the Quartz has competition effect with company’s Cash Cow product: Aquavalve, which also put company’s stable market share and benefit in uncertainty. The risk of launching new products is inevitable, but is it possible that Aqualisa can sit back, relax and enjoy its current benefit? As we learn from Exhibit-2 (U. K. Market Share Data 2000), Aqualisa, had 18. 1% market share in total units sold, while Triton and Mira were 30. 3% and 21. 7%. In the Electric Showers category, which Aqualisa sold most, the market share was 16. 9% while Triton had 43. 5%. And in Mixer showers category, where core product Aquavalve 609 rest, the market share was 20. 8% while Mira had 36. 4%. With these figure, we cannot say Aqualisa is in a safe place. They did not have domination in any part of the market, and there were significant gap between Aqualisa and market leader. With more than one competitor, Aqualisa could easily be replaced and fall into masses. At this situation, even promoting new product could cost a fortune, Aqualisa still need a breakthrough and Quartz is just what the company need. On the other hand, the existing market structure gives Quartz sufficient space to outspread. If Quartz is good enough to assault Aquavalve 609’s sale, it could also shake the leader position of Triton and Mira’s products. If Quartz is, as Rawlinson said, â€Å"first significant product innovation in the U. K. shower market since forever†, it will beat down others company’s products and increase Aqualisa’s market share, and not only in U. K. market, it can move forward to European markets or global markets, then the current promotion cost would be unremarkable. But if Aqualisa give up Quartz, the opportunity cost would be too big to accept. Rawlinson’s worry will become true: â€Å"In five years’ time, someone else will have got the world market for this technology†. Then the Aqualisa’s experiences would be competitors’ field test and its former investment would contribute to other’s benefit. Conclusion People usually consider that finding the goose is the hard part, but in fact, make the goose laid golden eggs is also not easy. Aqualisa holds its goose named Quartz, and shows us such an example. This case also told us it’s not only about what we have, it’s more about how to connect everything together, including product (Quartz), customer, collaborator (plumber), market, make right decisions and build relationships.

Competitive Analysis Of Porters Five Forces Model

Competitive Analysis Of Porters Five Forces Model 1. Competitive Analysis of Porters Five-Forces Model Porters Five Forces model is a widely used approach to determine the strength of the competitive forces that will influence a company. (Exhibit1) The competitive pressures that Robert Mondavi faces in the U.S. domestic wine industry based on Porters Five-Forces Model are described below: 1.1. Bargaining Power of Suppliers RMC has used backward integration strategy to increased control of grape suppliers. He has successfully convinced many of Krugs top grape suppliers to sign long term contract with RMC for approximately 75% of its purchases. (Professor Roberto, 2002) He also worked closely with each grower to improve grape quality and the contract has been structured where the compensation was tied to the grape quality crop yields. This will improve the stability of the price as most of the growers depend on RMC for sustenance, thus give them very little bargaining power over RMC. Mondavi also convinced Krugs top two suppliers to take financial stake in his new winery. (Silverman, Gilinsky, Guy Baack, 2001) Since now they are the stakeholders have long term contractual relationship with Mondavi, it has reduced the likelihood that suppliers will increase price. Furthermore, RMC has invested more than $50mil over the past 10 years to replant vineyards after the phylloxera epidemic. For long-term plan, Mondavi also acquired additional vineyards to increase its internal grape sourcing to 25% by 2005 so that his wineries wont rely heavily on independent growers. (Professor Roberto, 2002) As such, threat of supplier bargaining power is low for RMC as they attempt to control the suppliers operations right from production to distribution. 1.2. Bargaining Power of Customers Sales of wine in U.S. are mainly controlled by three-tier distribution system. RMC sells wines to their customers who are the wholesalers/distributors, who then provided wines to local retails businesses which accounted for 78% of total sales volume in U.S. Supermarkets alone have contributed 52% of retails wine sales. (Silverman, Gilinsky, Guy Baack, 2001) However major changes had taken place in wholesale and retail wine business. Number of alcoholic beverage distributors had decreased by 75% in early 1960s and substantial market share are now controlled by top 5 distributors. (Exhibit 2) As a result, large distributors are enjoying economies of scales and prefer to distribute only top selling wine brands since the product can be replenished quickly. Bargaining power of distributors had increased significantly since they have a lot of wine brands to choose from. Furthermore, five new world countries Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand and U.S. have signed trade agreement in 2001 to keep markets open and reduce trade barriers. (Castaldi, Cholette, Hussain, 2006) With the globalization of wine industry, a lot of international wine brands are eyeing for space on the store shelves of these few powerful supermarkets. As a result, RMC faced increasing competition as they relied heavily on top distributors retails chain for domestic sales, which accounted for two-third of its revenue. (Professor Roberto, 2002) As a result, bargaining power of customers is high for RMC 1.3. Potential Entry of New Competitors Consolidation is occurring among wineries worldwide through merges and acquisitions in wine industry. In 1970s, several food and beverage conglomerates, like Nestle and Coca-Cola have entered premium market by acquiring premium to ultra-premium wineries. In 1980s, global alcoholic beverage companies, like Canandaigua and The Wine Group have acquired wineries to complement their beer distilled spirits businesses. In 1990s, there were some 200 new wineries in the Napa Valley competed with RMC in premium market. (Silverman, Gilinsky, Guy Baack, 2001) A growing number of these wineries were nearly owned by multinational companies which have free-flow of cash and able to gain economic of scales in wine industry through merger or requisition strategy. Furthermore, they have substantial investment in working capital and funding to acquire new vineyards or even pay higher prices for grape supplies. Although RMCs skills expertise are difficult to imitate, but the knowledge and experience of these new competitors in alcoholic beverage industry with the support of their existing distribution assets will be an added advantage for them to compete in wine industry. As a result, the new competitors with huge capital have dwindled capital resources of RMC, which ended in public listing to obtain more capital to compete and take advantage of future opportunities (Silverman, Gilinsky, Guy Baack, 2001) As such, threat of new competitors is high for RMC especially when the big companies treat mergers and acquisitions as attractive ways to grow. 1.4. Rivalry among Competing Firms Rivalry among competing firms is often the strongest of the five competitive forces especially in U.S. wine industry, which was composed of approximately 1,500 wineries with the top 10 accounting for 70% of U.S. production. (Silverman, Gilinsky, Guy Baack, 2001) RMC has experienced intense rivalry from few dominant large volume producers like EJ Gallo Winery and Canandaigua Wine which have controlled 40-50% of market share (Exhibit 3). Furthermore, EJ Gallo also start to enter the premium wine segment aggressively to capitalize on changes in consumer demand toward premium wines. This will affect RMC which is primarily competing for premium wine market. Besides, large volume producer like EJ Gallo also gained economies of scale and have been viewed as sales powerhouse by many industry observers. They adopted strategy of substantial vertical integration by owning glass container manufacturer, bottle cork operation, lime quarry, a fleet of trucks and network of distribution centres throughout the country. (Professor Roberto, 2002) This enabled Gallo to enjoy a significant cost advantage. In this situation, rivalry is more likely. Furthermore, most of the rivalries have focused on channels promotions strategy to increase brand awareness and broaden its customer base in the premium market. They employed a direct sales force, organize wine competitions, wine tourism as well as wine testing and education activities at their vineyard to build the publics awareness. To sustain the competitiveness, RMC has gone far with the launched of its first radio television advertising campaign nationwide. As such, rivalry among competing firms is high for RMC in premium wine segment. 1.5. Potential Development of Substitute Products There are a lot of categories in alcoholic beverage industry such as beer and distilled spirits. When considering substitute for wine, many people will always think the wine substitute is beer. Actually all these are more of a compliment than substitute as each product has its own characteristic, can be differentiated and used to accompany different occasion. However the threat of substitute products is moderately high for RMC within the wine category. For example, an incident happened in 1999 where all the distributors began to substitute competing Chardonnay brand on retailers shelves after RMC experienced shortfall in supplying Woodbridge Chardonnay brand. (Silverman, Gilinsky, Guy Baack, 2001) Furthermore, there are a lot of wines with similar price, taste quality are readily available from local or multinational brands. The wide selection of wines has confused the customers during the buying process and always have trouble to remember which wines they bought and liked. (Castaldi, Cholette, Hussain, 2006) As a result, the brand loyalty of customers is low and switching to an alternative product is more likely during the purchase process. Although RMC has presence in all premium categories and hold a competitive advantage in economic of scales and price, but the threat of substitute products is still possible as most of the distributors only prefer to buy the wines which gained most awards and acclaim from wine enthusiasts. Finally based on Porters Five Forces, it can be concluded that only threat of suppliers are favorable to RMC. Due to the high competitive and continuous threats from new entrance such as alcoholic beverage companies, it is important for RMC to be more innovative in developing world-class wines in order to sustain the domestic economic profits. 2. Key Success Factors of the Wine Industry 2.1. World Renowned Growing Area U.S., a new world producing country in wine industry was composed of approximately 1,500 wineries. The most famous growing area is California, which are the top wine producer in U.S. and fourth leading wine producer in the world behind the countries like France, Italy and Spain. (Wine Institute.org, 2007) The uniqueness of California is the ideal climate, topography, and soil condition which enable RMC to produce premium wines that are able to compete with the premium European brands. Besides, California also attracted a lot of tourists throughout the year. Hence, it continuously provides a constant source of customers to RMC. 2.2. Modern Winemaking Facilities Technologies Wine industry is a capital intensive industry and requires great winemaking techniques facilities to produce high quality wines. Based on the study by Professor Roberto (2002), RMC operated six wineries in California and each of these wineries employed modern technology to insure the gentle handling of grape and the high quality of fermentation and aging processes. Besides, RMC also built a state-of-art winemaking facility and assembling a team of experts in the area of viticulture and winemaking. All these new techniques and development of experts have been an added advantage for RMC in the production of world-class premium wines. 2.3. Domestic Market Growth Potential U.S has a very strong domestic market for wine industry due to its status of fourth largest producer of wine and third largest consumer in 1999. (Exhibit 4 5) Based on the study by Castaldi, Cholette, Hussain (2006), the highest concentration of table wine consumers was aged between 35 to 55 and 31.4% of consumption contributed by the adults in families earning over $75,000 annually. Normally this group of people has a very high disposable income and willing to pay more for premium wine. As a result, RMC is able to leverage on this favorable demographic to enjoy both economies of scale in the growing premium market. Those adults who are not regular wine consumers consist of teetotalers and beer or spirit supporters. (Castaldi, Cholette and Hussain, 2006) There are a lot of potential to convert this group of beer purchasers to become wine consumers. It can be done via innovative marketing strategy, e.g. health benefits related to moderate wine consumption. In conclusion, many project that U.S. will become the worlds largest wine market by 2008 with the steady rise of per-capita consumption in recent years. (Exhibit 5) 2.4. Focus in building Portfolio of Premium Wine Segment RMCs strategy is to focus on the premium wine segment. With the introduction of Woodbridge brand wine in the popular premium super-premium categories, it has become the best seller wine and contributed more than half of the RMCs revenue in 1999. To further broaden its customer base, RMC has introduced few new brands via domestic diversifications and global partnerships to fill various price points in the premium wine segment. RMC also further divided the ultra-premium category into two categories, which has not been adopted by the industry to-date. (Silverman, Gilinsky, Guy Baack, 2001) This strategy enables RMC to consistently produce premium wines to reach different group of customers and further differentiates their products from competitors, which focus more on jug wines. As a result, RMC able to sustain the competitiveness in U.S. wine industry. 2.5. Globalization of Wine Industry In 2001, U.S. wine industry has gone into globalization with the signing of Mutual Acceptance Agreement (MAA) on Oenological (winemaking) Practices with four new world countries, Canada, Australia, Chile and New Zealand. The main purpose is to promote greater international wine commerce and eases trade barriers for U.S. wine. (Wine Institute.org, 2007) This enables RMC to sell their product outside the region with lower tariffs, logistic cost and trade barriers. As a result, RMC has increasingly look abroad to increase sales, earnings and take advantage of certain macro-economic factors such as exchange rates. It also gives an opportunity for RMC to showcase other wines to enhance its reputation in international markets. 3.1 Steps to ensure the Success of Strategy Implementation Robert Mondavi future business strategy is to form global join ventures as a way to develop world-class wine and transform RMC to become a truly global company that grow, produce and sell wines in all the best wine-growing regions in the world. (Silverman, Gilinsky, Guy Baack, 2001) To ensure the success of strategy implementation, RMC need to focus on below few areas: 3.1.1. Positive Cash Flow Successful strategy implementation always requires additional capital. Based on the RMC Financial Statement (FY1997-1999), although the revenue has increased from $300.80 millions to $370.60 millions, but the net profit margin has reduced significantly from 9.4% in FY1997 to 8.3% in FY1999 (Exhibit 6). Therefore, it is very important for the company to recover its financial position by further pay down its debt in order to generate more free cash flow. In addition, it will provide more financial resource for RMC to grow its portfolio by taking advantage of future opportunities. 3.1.2. Market Segmentation Product Positioning With the plan to venture globally, it is very important for RMC to determine the characteristic and needs of consumers as well as analyze consumer similarities and differences in every new market. As consumers are different in every country, RMC needs to produce different wines to meet different country preference. With market segmentation, it will enable RMC to position each of its wines appropriately to meet consumer needs and expectation. As a result, RMC will have better control on production, distribution and advertising for each of its wine. Finally, it will help RMC to improve operation efficiency and hence maximizing the profits. 3.1.3. Traditional Online Advertising Campaign To conquer the global market, it is extremely important for RMC to build its brand and broaden its customer base. Based on the study by Professor Roberto (2002), most of the premium wineries in U.S. do not spend much on consumer advertising. They tended to focus more on channel promotion. As such, it poses a large opportunity for RMC to strengthen its brand appearance in advertising medium. For example, RMC can focus on TV and radio advertising to build trust and emotional connection with consumers. RMC can also advertise in selected premium magazines to strengthen its premium market penetration. Furthermore, with the emerging of new online medium, it will also help RMC to reach those consumers who are difficult to reach via traditional media. In conclusion, advertising is an important tool for brand building. 3.1.4. Management Operations Control Strategy implementation will never success without the strong management and operations control. RMC needs to establish clear, reasonable, measurable and achievable annual objectives which are well communicated throughout an organization. With clear annual objectives, all the employees will have the same understanding and moving towards the same direction in implementing the strategy. It will also help in allocating resources more efficiently according to annual objectives and provide relevant training for each employee to further enhance their skills. Besides, performance-linked rewards must be well placed to motivate and improve the productivity of all employees. Lastly, adequate and timely evaluation is needed to ensure the performance conform to the strategy. 3.2. Potential Problems during the Strategy Implementation 3.2.1 Conflict between Employees Conflict might occur between two or more parties in RMC. Normally misunderstanding disagreement occur during the implementation process as each party has their own commitments and expectations to achieve. Conflict is unavoidable for all organizations especially for RMC which has a large workforce to manage. For example, in 1999 Michael Mondavi was caught between the 2 camps due to an argument for RMCs future strategy. (Silverman, Gilinsky, Guy Baack, 2001) As such, conflict need to be solved before negative consequences affect the organizational performance and strategy implementation. 3.2.2. Resistance to Change Resistance to change is another potential problem that RMC might face during the strategy implementation. People fear to change because any changes in structure and strategies will affect or disrupt the current working environment. However, continuously adapt to changes is necessary for RMC to compete in the fast growing and increasingly competitive wine industry. Normally those organization best adapt to the changes will gain significant competitive advantage and strategy implementation can be relatively easy. 3.2.3 Challenge of Financial Management Monetary Systems RMC might face a challenge to maintain its financial stability over the next few years as strong financial budgets capital are required to sustain the business worldwide. Furthermore, RMC will also deal with two or more exchange rates which can complicate its global operation. The global profitability will also affected by the direct impact from dollar when the economy slowdown.

Essay On Hacking :: essays research papers

Essay On Hacking A topic that i know very well is computers and computer hacking. Computers seem very complicated and very hard to learn, but, if given time a computer can be very useful and very fun. Have you ever heard all of that weird computer terminology? for and example, Javascript. Javascript is basically a computer language used when programming internet web pages. Have you ever been on the internet and seen words go across the screen or moving images? This is all done by the Java language. If you don not see moving images then its because your web browser cannot read javascript. If you don't know what a web browser is then I will tell you, a web browser is simply a tool used to view the various websites on the internet. All web browsers are different, some only interpret html language, which is another programming language used to design web page and then there are some browsers that can play videos and sounds. Have you ever wondered why when you want to go to a website you have to type http://name of site.com? well I have been wondering for ages but still can't figure out, but sometimes you type ftp:// before the name of the site. This simply means File transfer protocol. You use this when download image files or any other files. Now, onto hacking. Most people stereotype people simply as "HACKERS," but what they don't know is that there are three different types of computer whizzes. First, there are hackers. Hackers simply make viruses and fool around on the internet and try to bug people. They make viruses so simple. The get a program called a virus creation kit. This program simply makes the virus of beholders choice. It can make viruses that simply put a constant beep in you computer speakers or it can be disastrous and ruin your computers hard-drive. Hackers also go onto chat rooms and cause trouble. Chat rooms are simply a service given by internet providers to allow people all over the world to talk. As I was saying, Hackers go into these rooms and basically try to take over because in chat rooms there is one person in control. This person has the ability to put you in control or simply ban you. These hackers use programs that allow them to take full control over any room and potentially, make the computers on the other side overload with commands which in end, makes their computer collapse. Another type of computer whiz is called a cracker, crackers are sort of malicious.

The Importance of Names in The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay

The Importance of Names in The Crucible by Arthur Miller What is the importance of names? In this essay I will be trying to answer the question â€Å"What is the importance of names.† Based on the play – The Crucible. Briefly I will explain what happened in the play. In Salem village, Massachusetts, in 1692, which hysteria swept the area? Salem village was a puritan society, you either loved God and did no wrong or you lived with a blackened name. A group of young girls were found dancing naked in a forest. Two of the girls then fell unconscious for a few days. Some of the residents of Salem village said it was witchcraft, from then onwards madness struck in Salem village. Hundreds of people were arrested because they were said to have done work for the devil. The play then goes on to focus on two people named John and Elizabeth Proctor, who were accused and it shows how they reacted throughout the witch hysteria. To set the scene, Betty is aged ten. She was one of the girls that fell unconscious in the forest. Reverend Parris is her father and Abigail Williams is her cousin, they are both very upset about Betty. Abigail was also found in the forest with Betty. Parris is obviously upset and he starts to question Abigail. â€Å"Your name is entirely white, is it not.† he asks her, Abigail answers â€Å"There be no blush about my name.† Already names are being questioned whether they are white or black? When witchcraft was cried in Salem village, Massachusetts, Abi...

Insanity in The Yellow Wallpaper by Gillman and Fruit at the Bottom of

Describe an important experience that happened to a person or character in each text. Explain how this experience affected each person or character. Imagine being kept in a room for months on end, with nothing to do but stare at the wallpaper. Or cleaning a house till it is entirely spotless, in order to eliminate your prints from a murder scene. These events are experienced by the female narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and Mr William Acton, in "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl", by Ray Bradbury. Both characters descend into complete madness after experiencing these predicaments. The narrator of ?The Yellow Wallpaper? is a woman who has just given birth and has developed post-natal depression. Because of this, her husband John who is a ?physician of high standing? tells her she must stay in a room in a colonial mansion and is ?forbidden to ?work? until she is well again.? The woman has a feeling the house is haunted even though she is impressed that they are going to stay in such a place for their summer holiday. Once in the room, she notices the wallpaper, which is a horrible yellow colour. Day by day she becomes more obsessed about this wallpaper and begins to see women in the pattern. After asking her husband for consent to leave the room, he refuses and she becomes engulfed by the wallpaper, spending every moment inspecting it. On the day she is due to leave she locks herself in the room and tears the wallpaper off, in order to free the woman inside. This leads her to believe that she is one of the women who has escaped the wallpaper and circles the room claiming ?I?ve got out at last!? The experience of being locked in a room, against her desire drove her to complete and utter mad... ...Acton both begin completely sane but become worse as a result of circumstance. They are driven to behaving the way they do because of the way they are treated by other people. The two characters hallucinate and visualise objects that aren?t actually real. One difference is Acton becomes crazy as a result of his own actions but the narrator becomes crazy as a result of actions by others who take control of her fate. In the two texts ?The Yellow Wallpaper? and ?The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl?, two lives are destroyed by circumstance and the relationships they have with others. By the end of the stories the reader is left knowing that the woman could not escape her husband?s control and Acton could not escape the fact that he had murdered somebody. Such insignificant things, a fingerprint and wallpaper, can have the capacity to drive people towards insanity. Insanity in The Yellow Wallpaper by Gillman and Fruit at the Bottom of Describe an important experience that happened to a person or character in each text. Explain how this experience affected each person or character. Imagine being kept in a room for months on end, with nothing to do but stare at the wallpaper. Or cleaning a house till it is entirely spotless, in order to eliminate your prints from a murder scene. These events are experienced by the female narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and Mr William Acton, in "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl", by Ray Bradbury. Both characters descend into complete madness after experiencing these predicaments. The narrator of ?The Yellow Wallpaper? is a woman who has just given birth and has developed post-natal depression. Because of this, her husband John who is a ?physician of high standing? tells her she must stay in a room in a colonial mansion and is ?forbidden to ?work? until she is well again.? The woman has a feeling the house is haunted even though she is impressed that they are going to stay in such a place for their summer holiday. Once in the room, she notices the wallpaper, which is a horrible yellow colour. Day by day she becomes more obsessed about this wallpaper and begins to see women in the pattern. After asking her husband for consent to leave the room, he refuses and she becomes engulfed by the wallpaper, spending every moment inspecting it. On the day she is due to leave she locks herself in the room and tears the wallpaper off, in order to free the woman inside. This leads her to believe that she is one of the women who has escaped the wallpaper and circles the room claiming ?I?ve got out at last!? The experience of being locked in a room, against her desire drove her to complete and utter mad... ...Acton both begin completely sane but become worse as a result of circumstance. They are driven to behaving the way they do because of the way they are treated by other people. The two characters hallucinate and visualise objects that aren?t actually real. One difference is Acton becomes crazy as a result of his own actions but the narrator becomes crazy as a result of actions by others who take control of her fate. In the two texts ?The Yellow Wallpaper? and ?The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl?, two lives are destroyed by circumstance and the relationships they have with others. By the end of the stories the reader is left knowing that the woman could not escape her husband?s control and Acton could not escape the fact that he had murdered somebody. Such insignificant things, a fingerprint and wallpaper, can have the capacity to drive people towards insanity.

Original Writing Coursework

I always knew I was different, but it wasn't until I hit the 4 or 5 mark, when I first started interacting with other children my age, that I realised I wasn't normal, and in this culture, not being normal, was bad. I started to realise I was unique in lots of small situations, such as in class the teachers would ask us if we knew the answer, the other children would comply and quite often get it wrong. How often I lay awake wondering, if they could do what I do, would there be any need for this? Is it all a sham? That was when the paranoia set in, the endless tumbling or random thoughts in my mind as they swirled around questioning every flicker in another persons eye, every dodgy look sent my way was examined analysed and pondered. At such a young age of course this had a negative impact on me, and I was very much alone in that place, as the other children avoided me because in my own way I shunned them, alienated them, to afraid to get to close to them, to insecure really, all bec ause of this, this ‘gift' I had. If I was a second rate charlatan, in some country fete that sat in the back of a dark tent with a scrap of cloth across my eyes, I would claim I could read minds, and then it would be a case of off I go to the mental hospital; â€Å"Hello miss, I can read your mind, and I know just how much you despise us and if you had your way you would hang us from the third floor window.† No. This is not what people want to know, just imagine how much they would spurn you, if they knew just how deeply into them you could travel, just how closely you could experience their emotions, like a rollercoaster, a back seat passenger in the ride of their life. So I kept quiet, and eventually over the years I have learned how to use my gift to my own advantage, and yes, I call it my gift because, as I like to imagine, it was given to me for some higher reason. Why? You ask, wondering why such an amazing thing would be bestowed upon some middle-class girl with no real experiences under her belt except the ones she has felt through leaching the minds of others. Maybe that is the answer to your question, give a girl, exactly the same as me in every way, apart from she has grown up in a starving family of seven, their every day, week, month is a struggle for ample food and warmth. How overwhelming would my gift be to that poor girl? Not only is she experiencing her own torrid state, but sevenfold from her extensive, suffering family. Do you think she could handle this? Would she be able to explore it? Question it? Try to understand it to the extent I have? I often like to think there was a reason I was chosen, not just a freak clash of genetics in the womb and hey-presto she's a mutant. Every day I wonder how and why I will use it, and I hope one day it will become clear, that my mind will suddenly expand and I will just know, like in those films you see and everything is so blurry and out of focus to them and some divine intervention occurs and it all becomes razor sharp and resolute. Until then I continue as normal, living every day as easily as I can, learning always the extend and limitations of my abilities, such as I can't send thoughts, I seem to be more like a receiver than a transmitter. However on one very unusual day it seemed that I linked the minds of two people, I've never really understood how, or why, or even if it really took place, but deep down I know that I did, and it has perplexed me ever since . The two subjects were a boy and a girl, they had only one class with me, and in this class they were forever holding hands, continuously whispering and having those shared ‘moments' which they find so special but the rest of the room find nauseating. Anyway, I was on something I like to call ‘open mode' where I allow the shallow superficial thoughts of the people in the room to wash over me, meaning it needs little or no concentration from me, and I found it very soothing. However a sharp spike of emotion punctured the noise, which in a metaphorical sense is very much like screaming into a noisy room, everything went silent as my gift zoomed in on this one particular mind. It turned out to be the boy, who was sat at the back with this girl, his arm casually slung across the back of her chair, his face lit up with easy laughter, but his thoughts were like dirt, they had an aura of a bad smell which left me nauseated. As it turned out the boy was sleeping with his girlfriends so called best friend and my god did he revel in it! It wasn't just the smug masculine thought of it, he was actually proud of himself, of the thought he could break this girls heart to pieces if he wanted, he loved the control and had absolutely no compassion for this girl he was cruelly playing. How angry I was, that this boy even dared to do something like this, and then so nonchalantly continue, be so happy about what he was doing, in some small way I pitied him, but only very briefly, and this small shred was overwhelmed and converted to anger as quickly as it had occurred. How I wished the girl could know, that she could see this cess pit lurking behind this pretty boy faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade, and I think that's what did it, my pure raw emotion connected the two, only briefly, but it was enough. The girl must of seen something in the boy, a glimpse of what I had encountered, and it scared her, so much so that she distanced he rself from him, she never did fully realise why she ran away from him, but ultimately I think she knew she had done the right thing, she had spared herself. See is this what I'm here for? To protect girls from their unfaithful other halves? I like to think not, but at the same time I was just happy I was accomplishing something with my gift, at a time when I was still to naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve to know what I could really accomplish, just how far I could go. For years I wondered what I was to become, I did well in all my exams, as the questions I didn't know I could glean from the minds of others, and yes it is cheating, but no-where in the rules is mind reading prohibited, so I used it to my advantage. Even when my education was over I was still perplexed, every day was a constant annoyance as I tried to figure out how best to use my gift, to what mundane earthly job was it suited for? I quizzed myself non-stop, losing sleep and growing more irritable, and at this point I lived alone in a small shabby flat in Sheffield, so I was allowed no reprieve from my thoughts. I was working a full time job in the local supermarket, taking a gap year to save some money before I finally got my act together and applied at a university, finally figured my sorry state out. And yes eventually it did happen, like I had hoped it would a blinding flash of illumination came over me, it wasn't anywhere special, there was no earth-shattering clash of thunder, the heavens didn't suddenly open, no. I was sat talking on my phone, my frozen hands clutching the small thing to my ear and my entire body shook continuously to warm itself up. We were talking about mindless girl stuff if I remember, she was telling me about some show she had been watching, and oh it was so exciting and I just had to see it, well me being an ice block I just murmured back an unintelligible response. Suddenly she stopped her babbling and started tutting and sighing theatrically. ‘I honestly don't know who writes all this, but it's all lies anyway.' Being quite used to her vague tangents I inquired further, ‘Well these bloody Politicians' came back her heated answer, ‘They just get someone else to write their speeches and cart out the same old promises year after year, and how much of it is ever actually put into practice? None' However I had stopped listening to her, because this was what I had been waiting for, babbling excitedly into the phone I apologised profusely to her and promised to call her back later. No longer cold from my excitement I keyed in my parents home number from memory, almost falling over in my tension as it rang. ‘Hello?' My Dad. Breathless I gabbled into the phone ‘Dad, I want to be a Politician.'

Causes And Effects Of Land Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay

The object of this undertaking is to derive a more a holistic and deep apprehension of the Legal and Regulatory model regulating Land Pollution in India By looking into the beginning of Environment we understand how the society boulder clay day of the month has shaped and what is the Causes and Effects of Land Pollution and what contribution the Law has given. Another really of import object of this undertaking is to understand what the demand of Environmental Law in the society was. The method of research adopted is doctrinal in nature. I have referred beginnings on the net every bit good as a few books on Environmental Law available in the university library besides adding my personal positions and cognition of the subject. Land pollution is the taint of the Earth ‘s land surface through abuse of the dirt by hapless agricultural patterns, mineral development, industrial waste dumping, and indiscriminate disposal of urban wastes. It includes seeable waste and litter every bit good as pollution of the dirt itself. Soil pollution is caused by chemicals in weedkillers and pesticides for agricultural activities every bit good as littering of waste stuffs in public topographic points such as streets, Parkss and roads. The accretion of waste is a menace to the wellness of people in residential countries and waste decays besides encourages family plagues and turns urban countries into unsightly, dirty and unhealthy topographic points to populate in. These jobs result in the loss of 6 million hectares of land each twelvemonth. It besides consequences in the loss of 24 billion dozenss of surface soil each twelvemonth and a loss of at least 15 million estates of premier agricultural land to overdrive and mismanagement every twelvemonth. Some steps of land pollution are through the instruction of people through runs, recycling to cut down wastes. Laws have besides been passed by authoritiess to cover with land pollution. When we hear a individual describe a topographic point as ‘dirty ‘ , what normally comes to our heads is the bad status of the topographic point. The topographic point, which could be your sleeping room, is imagined to hold apparels scattered on the floor and books unarranged on the shelf. However, I define the word ‘dirty ‘ in a more specific mode. ‘Dirty ‘ in my definition, means that there are rubbish or litter on the floor. This makes the ambiance of that certain topographic point unpleasant non merely to the oculus, but besides to the head. Land pollution is hence the soiling of the land. It comes approximately due to inconsiderate dumping of waste, littering and uneffective waste disposal methods. Mix of harmful substances with dirt is called land pollution. When the natural dirt gets assorted with the harmful and toxic elements due to assorted agencies, it pollutes the dirt and alters its original physical and chemical features. Animals waste excessively pollutes land. The consequence of such dirt pollution is rather harmful and unsafe on human life every bit good as on workss and animate beings. Soil pollution easy and steadily causes environment and air pollution as good by vaporisation of assorted harmful chemicals from the contaminated land. Polluted land consequences into farther pollution of workss and land H2O resources which finally leads to fouling full web of nutrient concatenation in the ecosystem.Chapter 1 Causes and Effects of Land PollutionPeoples across the Earth have been confronting a figure of wellness jobs caused due to the pollution of land, H2O and air. Talking about land pollution, it has some of the most annihilating effects on both nature and living existences. Land pollution is characterized by the taint of Earth ‘s surface, where worlds and other animals live. One of the major causes of land pollution is human activities. Given below is complete information about the chief causes and harmful effects of land pollution . AA1.1 Causes of Land PollutionThe disposal of non-biodegradable wastes, including containers, bottles and tins made of plastic, used autos and electronic goods, leads to the pollution of land. The procedure of mining leads to the formation of hemorrhoids of coal and scoria. When these wastes are non disposed through proper channel, they are accumulated and pollute the land. Industrial wastes are major subscribers of land pollution. Dumping of toxic stuffs such as chemicals and pigments makes the countries environing the industries, look really foul. Improper intervention of sewerage leads to the accretion of solids, such as biomass sludge. These solid wastes overflow through the sewerage, doing the full country expression dirty.[ 1 ] Population India is the 2nd most thickly settled state in the universe with more than 1 billion people.A This big population is besides an environmental challenge for the universe. Soil Erosion This is the biggest job. Wind besides aids in spread outing the ever-increasing desert conditions of the Rajasthan desert.A Similarly, many ports are now covered in sand for the same grounds. Deforestation Although the British started deforestation in India, the force per unit areas to overhaul since the divider of 1947 have merely increased the rates of deforestation.A The erratic growing of metropoliss and the rapid building of mills to assist feed the thirst for economic growing have come at the cost of India ‘s woodlands.A These policies non merely harmed the trees but the autochthonal peoples that had long thrived among the trees throughout India.A2. Effectss of Land PollutionAMetric tons and metric tons of domestic wastes are dumped every twenty-four hours. Since people do non follow proper methods for the disposal of such wastes, it leaves the topographic points look soiled and makes them unhealthy. Land pollution indirectly affects the respiratory system of human existences. Breathing in contaminated dust or atom can ensue in a figure of wellness jobs related to the respiratory system.[ 2 ] Skin jobs are frequently diagnosed due to set down pollution. It is said that the improper disposal of family wastes leads to allergic reactions on the tegument. Land pollution has been found as one of the prima causes for birth defects. Pregnant adult females populating in unhealthy and soiled environment can incur take a breathing jobs and a figure of diseases, which may impact the wellness of the babe every bit good. Land pollution has serious consequence on wildlife. Flora, which provides nutrient and shelter to wildlife, are destroyed. Land pollution frequently disrupts the balance of Nature, doing human human deaths.Chapter 2 Legal model regulating Land Pollution in India2.1 Policy under the Five-Year Plan. India ‘s development programs balance economic development and environmental concerns. The planning procedure is guided by the rules of sustainable development. There has been an evolutionary procedure for mainstreaming environmental protection in India ‘s planning procedure. The first formal acknowledgment of the demand for incorporate environmental planning was made when the Union Government constituted the National Committee on Environmental Planning and Coordination ( NCEPC ) in 1972. The concern for environmental injury came to the bow particularly during the Sixth Five-Year Plan ( 1980-85 ) , which contained a separate proviso for environmental debasement. Stairss were besides taken for H2O, air, noise, and land pollution.[ 3 ] 2.2 Fundamental law of India a ) The State ‘s duty with respect to environmental protection has been laid down under Article 48-A of our Constitution, which reads as follows: â€Å" The State shall endeavor to protect and better the environment and to safeguard the woods and wildlife of the state † . B ) Environmental protection is a cardinal responsibility of every citizen of this state under Article 51-A ( g ) of our Constitution which reads as follows: â€Å" It shall be the responsibility of every citizen of India to protect and better the natural environment including woods, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to hold compassion for life animals. † degree Celsius ) Article 21 of the Constitution is a cardinal right which reads as follows: â€Å" No individual shall be deprived of his life or personal autonomy except harmonizing to process established by jurisprudence. † vitamin D ) Article 48-A of the Constitution comes under Directing Principles of State Policy and Article 51 A ( g ) of the Constitution comes under Cardinal Duties. vitamin E ) The State ‘s duty with respect to raising the degree of nutrition and the criterion of life and to better public wellness has been laid down under Article 47 of the Constitution which reads as follows: â€Å" The State shall see the elevation of the degree of nutrition and the criterion of life of its people and the betterment of public wellness as among its primary responsibilities and, in peculiar, the State shall endeavour to convey about prohibition of the ingestion except for medicative intents of elating drinks and of drugs which are deleterious to wellness. † H ) The 42nd amendment to the Constitution was brought approximately in the twelvemonth 1974 makes it the duty of the State Government to protect and better the environment and to safeguard the woods and wildlife of the state. The latter, under Cardinal Duties, makes it the cardinal responsibility of every citizen to protect and better the natural environment including woods, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to hold compassion for life animals. 2.3 The Environment ( Protection ) Act, 1986 The Environment ( Protection ) Act, 1986 was introduced as an umbrella statute law that provides a holistic model for the protection and betterment to the environment. In footings of duties, the Act and the associated Rules requires for obtaining environmental clearances for specific types of new / enlargement undertakings ( addressed under Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 1994 ) and for entry of an environmental statement to the State Pollution Control Board yearly. 2.4 Hazardous Wastes ( Management and Handling ) Rules, 1989, as amended in 2000 Waste refers to a stuff that has no public-service corporation for a individual. Although natural waste can be disposed away and recycled or composted, it is the toxic, non-degradable waste of plastic and electronic goods that is going a climb job for India and other developing states. Besides the part of families, refuse is besides generated by industries, agribusiness and excavation.[ 4 ] The Hazardous Waste Rules applied to Management and Handling of 18 classs of wast like: Cyanide wastes Metal coating wastes Waste incorporating H2O soluble chemicals compounds of lead, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ba, and Sb Mercury, arsenic, Tl, and Cd and Sb Non-halogenated hydro Cs including dissolvers Halogenated hydro Cs including dissolvers Wastes from pigments, pigments, gum, varnish and printing ink Wastes from dyes and dye-intermediates incorporating inorganic chemical compounds Wastes from dyes and dye-intermediates incorporating organic chemical compounds Waste oil and oil emulsions Tarry wastes from polishing and pitch residue from distillment or pyro lytic intervention Sludge originating from intervention of waste H2O incorporating heavy metals, toxic organic, oils, emulsion and exhausted chemical and incineration ash Phenols Asbestos Wastes from fabrication of pesticides and weedkillers and residues from pesticides and weedkillers preparations units Acid wastes Off specification and discarded merchandises Discarded container line drives of risky and toxic chemicals and wastes.[ 5 ] The Problem of Disposal of Hazardous Waste and its Dangers The crisp addition in waste coevals is non matched by installations for disposal of risky waste. In India, waste is either burned or merely buried at a topographic point. The crisp addition in the quantum of generated waste and the unequal infinite for its disposal has led to improper methods of disposal. Consequently, jobs like taint of land H2O and increased air pollution have emerged as serious menaces to general wellness and life. The municipal workers are most affected people by the occupational danger ( jeopardy ) of waste managing ; they suffer from unwellness like oculus jobs respiratory jobs, gastro and tegument jobs.[ 6 ] While the improper disposal of solid waste can ensue in environmental and wellness jobs, the turning quantum of electronic waste poses a monolithic hazard to our ecological system.A Electronic equipment waste runing from personal computing machines, optical phonograph record participants and nomadic phones contains toxic stuffs like lead, Cd, quicksilver, fire retardents and leaching plastics. If this waste is left untreated in landfills or mopess ( as is the instance in India ) , it will ensue in irreparable loss to the life in the dirt, H2O and the ambiance, therefore adversely impacting human wellness and ecology. Peoples working in countries near to these landfill countries or countries where electronic waste is stored are in danger of terrible wellness jobs like harm to the kidneys, swelling of the encephalon, intervention with regulative endocrines, tegument jobs, malignant neoplastic disease and neurological and respiratory upsets. Indian Laws associating to Disposal of Hazardous Waste In India, the Environment Protection Act, 1986, authorizes the cardinal authorities to take all steps deemed necessary or expedient to protect the quality of environment and forestall any type of pollution. Hence, the Government of India has framed the Hazardous Waste ( Management and Handling ) Rules, 1989 and Hazardous Waste ( Storage Export and Import ) Rules, 1989 to modulate the disposal of risky waste in India.[ 7 ]These regulations make it compulsory for any organisation to seek the permission of the local province pollution control board for grant of mandate for transporting risky substances in the signifier of aggregation, response, intervention, conveyance, storage and disposal of such wastes. In recent opinion of Rajasthan High tribunal in the Suo Motu action taken against the disposal of Jaipur metropolis, Justice D. V. Singh held that right to life includes the right to nutrient, vesture, shelter, right to sensible adjustment to populate in, right to descent environment and besides right to populate in clean metropolis. Even in the instance of Municipal Council, Ratlam V. Vardichand[ 8 ], the instance which was the get downing point of environment law in India in which justness Krishna Iyer attributed the pollution free environment and public wellness with that of Human right facet. Judgment and determinations of the bench have proved that pollution free environment and clean metropolis is facet of Right to life. The Basel Convention Which was signed by India on 22 September, 1992, sought to modulate the â€Å" refuse imperialism † or â€Å" toxic terrorist act † , as it was called, indulged in by the Organisation for the Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) states towards Non-OECD Countries. The Basel Convention envisaged that in the beginning of twelvemonth 1998, there will be complete prohibition on exports of risky waste but it could non happen for obvious grounds. Besides so many of import clauses in the Basel Convention, the most of import one is that the state which is importing risky waste should hold installations to dispose of the waste in an environmentally sound mode. Concluding Legal Take Away Tip The authorities of India has proposed a new set of regulations called the E-waste ( Management and Handling ) Rules 2010. This provides for doing the manufacturer of electrical and electronic equipment responsible for the aggregation and appropriate disposal of e-waste generated at the terminal of the merchandise life.[ 9 ]Besides censoring the import of used electrical and electronic equipment for charity in the state, these new regulations besides aim to modulate non merely the manufacturers, but besides the recyclers and mediators. 2.5 A Law Associating to Bio-Medical Waste Management The infirmary wastes attracted the attending of the Supreme Court every bit early as in 1994 when a writ request was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution against the concerned governments to supply clean and wellness environment. Issue of improper infirmary waste direction was the Southern Cross of the instance in B.L. Wadhera v. Union of India[ 10 ] The tribunal gave series of waies. The most of import among them are: 1. All infirmaries with 50 beds and above should put in incinerators or any of effectual alternate method under their ain administrative control. 2. The incinerator or alternate methods should be fitted with necessary pollution control mechanism, approved and corroborating to the criterions laid down by the Central Pollution control Board. 3. The Central Pollution control Board and the State Pollution Control Boards should regularity direct its review squads in different countries to determine that the aggregation, transit and disposal garbage/wastes is carried out satisfactorily. Under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 a defiler of the environment can besides be punished if he does an act which causes any common hurt, danger of irritation to the populace or to the people in general so the act may be treated every bit public as defined under Section 268 and the wrongdoer may be treated punished under Section 290 or 291 of the Code, There are besides penal proviso under a state of affairs which either causes, or destroys, or diminishes the value or public-service corporation of any belongings, of affects the belongings injuriously as provided under the Section 426, 230, 231, and 432 of the Indian Penal Code. This otherwise means that if any individual who generates, collects, receives, shops, conveyance, treated, disposes or handles bio-medical wastes in any signifier shall be treated as a contravener of the above penal commissariats.[ 11 ] There should be concerted attempts of authorities for distributing the consciousness among the people about the importance of cleanliness and protection of environment through the communicating media every bit good as forming consciousness cantonments at local degrees.[ 12 ] Bio Medical ( Management and Handling ) Rules, 1998 The Bio-medical Rules came into being in 1998 through a presentment in exercising of the powers conferred by Sections 6, 8 and 25 of the Environment ( Protection ) Act, 1986. Bio-medical Rules is the first of its sort of national jurisprudence in whole South- East Asiatic Region in relation to bio-medical waste direction. The definition of Bio-medical waste is really comprehensive and extended 1. National statute law is the footing for bettering wellness attention waste patterns in any state. There should be a clear appellation of duties before the jurisprudence is enacted. Unfortunately, Indian jurisprudence fails to come up to the criterion prescribed by the World Health Organization. The Committee on Solid Management[ 13 ]recommends that bio-medical waste should be refrained from throwing on the streets or unfastened topographic points every bit good as into municipal dust bins or the domestic waste aggregation sites. This means bulk of the establishments still managed to throw the bio-medical waste municipal bins near to their premises. So it can be said that arrant failure of the jurisprudence in implementing it. The Rules is really broad and includes the resident who generates bio-medical waste. The Rules which speak about puting up of incinerator or any other alternate mechanism in a infirmary. Let us assume that the all the infirmaries have set up the incinerator. Has the Pollution Control Board equipped with adequate substructures to look into and each and every incinerator of a infirmary in relation its operation and emanation criterions?[ 14 ] Merely by enforcing deadline sing puting up of incinerator even after it has been discarded by western states or any other methods. The incinerator should be used at it optimal flat otherwise the waste may non be treated decently. In a infirmary environment, engineerings like incineration fail because untrained janitor staff runs them. Most of the studies incinerators run at temperatures lower than those specified in the regulations. Due to hapless operation and care, these incinerators do non destruct the waste, need a batch of fuel to run, and are frequently out of order. If every infirmary has an incinerator ; decidedly it can non be used its optimal degree as the sum infective waste is less. This leads improper intervention of bio-medical waste. The consequence is obvious doing danger to human wellness and the environment By and large waste is disposed through incineration by heating minimal 1000 O C. Due to failure of continue supply of electricity the heat will non raise up to order degree. The consequence is non completion of disposal of waste harmonizing to the regulations. 2.6 The Municipal Solid Wastes ( Management and Handling ) Rules, 2000 This defined ‘municipal solid waste ‘ as ‘commercial and residential wastes generated in a municipal or notified countries in either solid or semi-solid signifier excepting industrial risky wastes but includes treated bio-medical wastes. ‘ Harmonizing to Purden & A ; Anderson, ‘refuse and solid waste are about the same thing, Garbage is nutrient waste, Trash and Rubbish are approximately tantamount footings ; they contain small or no refuse. Trash often refers to grass and shrubbery cuttings, documents, glass, tins and other family wastes.[ 15 ]Rubbis is besides likely to include destruction stuffs like brick, broken concrete, and discarded roofing and timber. ‘ It has farther been clarified that solid waste includes discarded and abandoned contraptions armored combat vehicle car, mine and industry waste, agricultural, lumbering, infirmary, research research labs and industries. Some industrial wastes are toxic or risky. It is of import to determine the nature of waste whether it is biodegradable or combustible in managing and disposal of solid waste. Combustion and landfill method of disposal farther gives rise to jobs like air, H2O and land pollution, impacting adversely the wellness of the adult male, and vegetations and zoologies. Apart from family, office waste, the waste from industries within the metropolis precincts have become a baleful job now-a-days. Waste from industries utilizing chemicals and synthetics, biomedical waste are risky or unsafe waste excessively. The Indian Penal Code and Solid Waste Management The Indian Penal Code of 1860 has dealt with solid waste direction under Chapter XIV ‘of offenses impacting the public wellness, safety, convenience, decency and ethical motives ‘ . Since, solid waste gives rise to assorted type of diseases and is unsafe to public wellness, it has been treated as ‘public nuisance ‘ and has been made punishable. But there is no direct subdivision in the Code which deals with the job of solid waste. Commissariats under the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 Section 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 trades with ‘removal of nuisance ‘ and empowers the Sub-Divisional Magistrate or any executive Magistrate, on having report/information, to do order to take the public nuisance and desist from transporting any trade, concern which is doing public nuisance. The Court have made usage of Section 133 of the Code widely to cover with the job of solid waste direction. In the celebrated instance of Municipal Corporation, Ratlam v. Shri Vardhichand[ 16 ]Justice Krishna Iyer declared that ‘aˆÂ ¦the guns of Section 133 spell into action wherever there is public nuisance. The public power of the Magistrate under the Code is a public responsibility to the members of the populace who are victims of the nuisance. ‘ If the order is defied or ignored, Section 188, I.P.C. comes into penal drama. It was further, observed that ‘imperative tone of S.A 133, Cr.P.C. read with the punitory pique of S.A 188 I.P.C. makes the prohibitive act a compulsory responsibility. ‘ The Court besides pointed out that Article 47 of the Indian Constitute makes it a overriding rule of administration that ‘steps are taken for the betterment of public wellness as amongst its primary responsibilities. ‘ Right to sanitation, decent and dignified life The tribunals on assorted occasions have declared in univocal footings that care of wellness, saving of sanitation falls within the horizon of Article 21 of the Constitution as it adversely affects the life of the citizen and it amounts to decelerate toxic condition and cut downing the life of the citizen because of the jeopardies created, if non checked. The tribunal have besides declared that it is a primary, compulsory and obligatory responsibility of the municipal corporations/ councils to take trash, crud, dark dirt or any noxious or violative affair.[ 17 ]The Pollution Boards and its officers have a basic responsibility under the Environment ( Protection ) Act, 1986 to halt unauthorized motion and/or disposal of the waste. They are besides empowered to take action against mistaking industries and individuals. In Virendar Gaur v. State of Haryana and in many other instances, the Supreme Court has clip and once more declared that right to life under Article 21 encompasses right t o populate with human self-respect, quality of life, and nice environment. Therefore, pollution free environment and proper healthful status in metropoliss and towns, without which life can non be enjoyed, is a built-in aspect of right to life. A Landmark Case The Supreme Court of India in Dr. B.L. Wadehra v. Union of India[ 18 ], decidedly dictum that the ‘resident of Delhi have a statutory right to populate in a clean metropolis. ‘ Therefore, Municipal Corporation of Delhi ( MCD ) and New Delhi Municipal Council ( NMCD ) are under a statutory duty to scavenge and clean the metropolis and ‘it is compulsory for these governments to roll up and dispose of the garbage/waste generated from assorted beginnings in the metropolis. ‘ It was further observed that ‘non-availability O financess insufficiency or inefficiency of the staff, inadequacy of machinery etc. can non be pleaded as land for non-performance of their statutory duties. ‘ 2.7 The new Plastic Waste ( Management and Handling ) Rules 2011 New regulations in India have banned the usage of fictile sachets for hive awaying and selling nutrient and baccy merchandises, and both recycled and compostable bags used for transporting groceries have besides been banned. The new Plastic Waste ( Management and Handling ) Rules 2011 have non wholly banned recycled plastic bags, but in add-on to their limitations on transporting nutrient points, they must conform to a figure of other regulations laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards, one of which provinces: ‘The plastic carrying bags shall either be white or merely with those pigments and colourants which are in conformance with the saloon prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards ‘ . Bags should besides be no less than 40 micrometers in thickness, duplicate the thickness required under old regulations. Officials hope the new regulations will accomplish thickness uniformity throughout the state.[ 19 ] Chapter 3 Suggestions In such instances one has to follow `cradle to sculpt ‘ solutions from coevals to concluding disposal of the wastes. This is peculiarly indispensable with the waste including toxic and risky wastes. To incorporate and command the job, there must be `awareness plan ‘ to cut down solid waste, to recycle the things if possible and to recycle the wastes like paper waste. Therefore, it deals attitudinal alteration amongst the people before we venture to beef up the bing Torahs and implement them efficaciously and expeditiously Recycle the wastes to retrieve energy and stuff. Separate risky waste from other beginning stuff for efficient handling. Incinerate or otherwise convert risky wastes to non-hazardous wastes. To promote recycling of stuff, some motive be given. Efficient Torahs entirely can non work out the job, unless we have efficient mechanism to implement, will of the authorities to implement and attitudinal alteration among the multitudes is needed Multiplicity of Torahs and countless governments can non get the better of such job unless people are made cognizant of the inauspicious effects of this job and they abide by Torahs with an purpose to safeguard the present and future coevals. Municipal corporation is a local authorization within the significance of `State ‘ under Article 12 of the Constitution and it is Statutory responsibility to roll up, shop, conveyance, procedure and dispose of the municipal dirty wastes and see the wellness & A ; hygiene of the populace is maintained. Report anyone who actively dumps waste to the appropriate governments. Reduce, re-use and recycle. Glass Bottles or jars can be reused or taken to a bottle bank for recycling. Metallic elements: Used aluminium and steel tins can be collected as bit and smelted for re-use. Avoid batteries. They contain a scope of metals but are hard to recycle. Plastics: Many drink bottles are made from a plastic called PET, which can be re-used. Vegetable Waste: A pail with a lid makes a good container for vegetable waste that can be on a regular basis added to the compost pile for usage in the garden. Attempts at single degrees should be promoted. Peoples should organize the wont of hive awaying waste at beginning in their ain houses and sedimentation such waste into the municipal system merely.[ 20 ] Decision A The apathetic Governmental attitude towards the disposal of waste is a job that has led to troubles in execution of â€Å" The Municipal Solid Waste ( Management & A ; Handling ) Rules, 2000 † as it has led to ignorance towards uncollected domestic waste. The waste processing and disposal installation has to be set up by the Municipal Authority on their ain or through the operator of installation, every bit good as they have to follow the criterions as specified under the Rules of 2000. The improper and apathetic attitude towards direction of Domestic Solid Waste has inauspicious effects on the society every bit good as environment. It is one of the biggest beginning of environment pollution. Land is polluted with the waste dumped upon it, makes the dirt infertile. contaminates the H2O organic structures, affect the aquatic life which through nutrient concatenation reaches the human being every bit good as in organic compounds. Due to the discarded plastics carry bags and ungathered waste there is drain choke offing which leads to stagnant H2O and becomes engendering land for mosquitoes and insects. All this happens because there is no proper direction and aggregation of solid waste which finally causes sedate menace to the human existences and animate beings life. With the turning population the immense waste is being generated twenty-four hours by twenty-four hours. There is broad usage of plastics, advanced engineering and other mercenary things. This resulted in different features of waste which became complicated job for direction of Domestic Waste and disposal techniques. It is imperative that pressing stairss in this way should be taken up — non for treatment but as unusual pattern. The authorities and societal organisations should work hand-in-hand, round the clock and guarantee that the delicate balance in nature is non destroyed. Awareness programmes and engagement of the layperson in the cleansing procedure are really of import. Every individual should be made responsible for the harm to the Earth. Rather than speaking tall on the unfairness being done to earth, and poems being written on the earnestness of the issue, people all over the universe should fall in custodies for the interest of the Earth. Global engagement and action is needed.