Review Of The Of The Castle Corridor - 1833 Words

Worn out from spending ages getting Gawain settled into his bedchamber, Perceval lumbered down the castle corridor and made it to his door. Carefully, he entered his quarters and took a quick glance around the room; it was empty. His wife and their baby might be visiting with Carina, or Joan might have taken Percy along on a patient visit. Joan was an apprentice to Pawl, the Court Healer, and she had just started seeing a few patients again here and there eight weeks after Percy’s birth. Perceval would never stand in the way of his wife’s ambition to be a healer, but he worried about her returning to her duties so soon after having the baby, even with an abbreviated schedule. She did not have to work, as Perceval had amassed a†¦show more content†¦But finally, one night, he summoned the courage to ask her for a walk. He still winced when he recalled how they accidentally butted heads, but somehow, through all the trails they’d faced, they were married, desperately in love, and had their little son, Percy. It seemed hard to believe any man had a right to be so blessed. Relaxed, Perceval’s thoughts drifted to the last time he and Joan had sex, which had been right before Percy’s birth. Other knights complained to him sex with a pregnant spouse was awkward and some did not care for it, and went so far as to visit the bawdy house instead, but Perceval thought they were all mad. Pregnant, Joan had been more gorgeous than ever, with her breasts full and that beautifully rounded belly carrying the baby he’d put there. There was something so alluring and sexy about it that was hard to define. Now, she lamented she looked like a â€Å"deflated pig’s bladder† after birth, but Perceval declared that was madness. There was a slight softness to her lower belly, but she had carried his child and given birth; he saw that as beautiful and a badge of honor, though she disagreed. Though he did chuckle with her about how her breasts had grown to twice their normal size since she was nursing. She told him to enjoy them while he could, because they would not always be liked this His Joan was a gorgeous woman with long, dark locksShow MoreRelatedJane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte1203 Words   |  5 PagesBronte. The strong description of horror, abuse, and gruesomeness in Gothic novels reveals truths to readers through realistic fear. The main characteristics of Gothic literature include: being set in medieval times, dream-states, setting of dark castles and chambers, doubling, and mysterious appearances and disappearances. All of these elements play a major role in the novel Jane Eyre. 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Movie Review Get Out, A Film By Jordan Peele - 707 Words

On Monday, April 10th, 2017, I attended the Courageous conversations that was held by the Center for Diversity and inclusion. We talked about the movie Get Out, a film by Jordan Peele. The plot of the film is that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), an African American man is invited to a weekend getaway by his girlfriend to meet her parents. His girlfriend is Rose (Allison William), a white American. At first, Chris is reluctant of going to his girlfriend’s house and worries that Rose’s parents will not accept him, he asks Rose whether she has told them that he is black. He later agrees to go. At Rose’s parents’ house, Chris is skeptical about how Rose’s family reacts since they are overly accepting and accommodating and seem not to have a problem†¦show more content†¦From an interview with Jordan Peele, he mentions that he thinks there is a demon in the human DNA that affects how humans behave among each other. In relation to racism, I agree that hu man beings have a demon in their DNA because this is the only explanation for the police brutality and the Lynching/killings of black people. The courageous conversation also reminded me of a conversation I had with a white person when I asked them whether they would ever consider dating a black person and she responded that she did not find black people attractive at all. By saying this statement, she was acting on her prejudice toward black people. How it relates to the class The courageous conversation on â€Å"Get Out† relates to the class discussion on racism, prejudice, prejudice, stereotypes, and micro aggressions. The stereotypes and macroaggressions we discussed are very evident in the movie â€Å"Get Out†, especially when Rose’s parents make slight, ignorant comments that indirectly insults Chris such as about meeting Tyga woods. These are experiences that occur to some black people every day when interacting with white people. In our discussions, students gave examples of how they have experienced racism/macroaggressions here at Xavier. In relation to our racism and prejudice class discussion, we concluded that Rose’s family and neighborhood were acting out the prejudice toward black people and that their actions prove that they were racist.Show MoreRelatedGet Out Movie Analysis989 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish 1A 15 December 2017 Get Out by Jordan Peele - Feeling Out of the Bubble Get Out is a mysterious movie that captures your attention right from the beginning. From the instant the movie commenced, I was left with many questions in my head. Why is this person walking alone into the pitch black night in a lonely neighborhood? More importantly, why is an unknown car following his every step? Giving you different perspectives from the starting point of the movie making you wonder what may occurRead MoreWarning : The Following Review1052 Words   |  5 Pagesfollowing review contains spoilers, I’m telling you now so you don’t pretend to be outraged later. I have to be honest here, when I first saw the trailer for Get Out, I legitimately thought it was a joke, like seriously. It looked so ridiculous that when I saw Jordan Peele’s name on it, I thought â€Å"ok good one, you got me†. To my surprise, it wasn’t a joke and suddenly I went â€Å"That’s a funny trailer†¦it s serious Oh dear God†¦Ã¢â‚¬  If you can imagine my shock of this being a real film, you canRead MoreThe Black, Liberal, Racist Of America, By Jordan Peele1650 Words   |  7 PagesOn February 24,2017, director and writer, Jordan Peele, released the movie that would unknowingly liberate African Americans, while revealing the white, liberal, racist of America. Get Out is centered around Chris, an African American male, played by Daniel Kaluuya, who has reached the peak of his relationship with his white girlfriend, Rose, played by Allison Williams. When Chris is invited to meet Rose’s â€Å"liberal† family, he is consci ously trapped into the â€Å"sunken place† by hypnosis so that hisRead MoreEssay On Racism In America1904 Words   |  8 Pagesresolved in the modern days; however, it was only neglected from being spoken by the people. Famous black comedian, Jordan Peele, produced his newest and first movie Get Out to inflame discussion about racism in United States. Through his movie, he wanted his audience to think about how racism has always been in our lives, how it affected black’s lives, and how it should be resolved. His movie was successful of re-inciting the issue of racism and sparks one to think about what he or she can do for next

Garbage Can Theory of Decision Making free essay sample

Organizational Behavior November 17, 2011 Professor: Arlene McConville Module 6 Journal Entry 1 Decision-Making Process The theory of the garbage can model as a decision making vehicle according to the original authors is based upon the assumption that â€Å"decision opportunities are fundamentally ambiguous stimuli† (Cohen, March Olsen, 2001). This concept lends itself well to the organized anarchies that are associated with educational institutions where the authors appear to have formed their theory. They examine concepts such as solutions looking for problems and outcomes being streams of interrelations between problems, Solutions, Participants and Choice opportunities. These concepts are then mapped to a simulation model using a set of processing assumptions based on a set of variables to create a mathematical model. The garbage can concept comes from all these streams of input going into the decision process at different times and seeing what sticks to what at any given time. Hence the decision process is the garbage can and the input going into that process is the garbage. We will write a custom essay sample on Garbage Can Theory of Decision Making or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In my personal experience I can see this model come into play when politics are involved. I have worked in the Information Technology field for thirty plus years and can unequivocally state that in the case of technical problems a rational process must be and is used to arrive at a solution or a set of solutions. The Garbage Can theory becomes a factor when you present the various technical solutions to leadership for a decision on which of the proposed solutions to implement. Depending upon which person or persons really understands the problem/solution, when that person or persons choose to look into the problem, where they sit in the command structure, and how important the problem appears to them at the time is how that decision will be arrived at. This is usually not the best decision from a technical standpoint but the one we have to live with. References Cohen, M. , March, J. , Olsen, J. (2001)

No one knows me like Me free essay sample

Have you ever glanced at somebody and notice something unfamiliar about them? Their appearance, style, accent, or maybe the way they behave. We’ve all been raised to tell a different story. My whole life has been about doing my best and trying to impress people around me. Not everybody will make it to the mountain with you, but knowing nothing worth having comes easy, I never give up. There’s always that one person who will never have something positive to say bout you, but strength is about holding it together when everyone else thinks that you’re falling apart. â€Å"Hide not your talents. They for use were made. Whats a sundial in the shade?† Benjamin Franklin once said. I’ve always been proud of my work and not afraid to show it off. Its not that I don’t have any weaknesses, its knowing that no one is perfect and live like tomorrow will never come. We will write a custom essay sample on No one knows me like Me or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Four years ago, my family moved to the United States. I was a 13-year old girl who found herself in the strangest place ever. It was like a nightmare and I wasn’t expecting to wake up anytime soon. Being in a new environment, all I saw was new faces of people that spoke different languages. I was left with no other choice but trying to fit in because I wasn’t going anywhere. I lacked the language but that didn’t stop me from trying. My mother always told me â€Å"hide your weaknesses when creating a team routine† anonymous. I talked like the whole world, understood me, and assumed every person was lost like me. Life didn’t seem as interesting to me as it did to other people but everyday, it got better. My speech wasn’t good enough to put me in a debate class, but I qualified for journalism. It gave me a chance to communicate what I couldn’t get out of my mouth. Writing helped me raise my voice and express my point of view to the public. Finally! I felt like I belong. I think of life as trying to solve a word puzzle. Some answers just come right away; some just don’t fit because they too short or too long and other require a lot of thinking and sometimes leaving the puzzle incomplete. But at the end, all the words count because without them, the puzzle will never make sense. I can be in a small club that’s never noticed, be in a club that is average or be in a famous club that always stands out, but at the end of the day, I’m a Rutgers student and important like everyone else. I try not to let anybody bring me down just because they think they know better. I’ve watched people lose something they love so much. A track star breaks his foot and loses his carrier. A basketball star’s kidney fails and he’s not strong enough to get in the field knowing his teammates depend on him. These incidents affect people’s lives so much, his coaches, family, fans, team and the whole world. But what about the people who have the potential to be such stars but have low self-esteem. They afraid to use their talents because they think nobody cares. People are so much concerned about people who have already found them ignoring the ones who desperately need their hands. I’d love to be a student counselor someday to help my peers find themselves. People who don’t know me have always misjudged me. She talks too much, she’s immature, she can’t do it, and she’s too young to understand. I’m not saying I’m perfect but sometimes it’s about trust. Even though I’m not an adult yet, I’m no longer a child, I’m just a teenage girl fighting my own battles. I’ve always given positive attitude and chances to victims who need them. I enjoy being the center of attention because I love to be heard just like everyone else. It satisfies me to know that there’s somebody out there who benefits from my words.

Law and Informal Institutions free essay sample

International Business Chapter 2 Review Questions 1. Name the one pillar that supports formal institutions and the two additional pillars that support informal institutions. Answer: Regulatory Pillar that supports formal institutions and other two additional pillars name are Normative Pillar and Cognitive Pillar. Normative pillar refers to how to values, beliefs, and actions- collectively known as norms of other relevant players influence the behavior of focal individuals and firms. Cognitive pillar is the school support for informal institutions. It refers to the internalized values and beliefs that guide individual and firm behavior. 2. How does political risk affect global business? Answer: Managers and firms rationally pursue their interests and make choices within the formal and informal constraints in a given institutional frame work. While formal and informal institutions combine to govern firm behavior, in situations where formal constrains are unclear or fail, informal constrains will play a larger role in reducing uncertainty and providing constancy to managers and firms. We will write a custom essay sample on Law and Informal Institutions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 3. Describe the differences among the three types of legal systems. Answer: Three types of legal systems are Civil law, Common Law, and Theocratic Law. Civil Law is a tradition that uses comprehensive statutes and codes as a primary means to form legal judgments. Common law is A legal tradition that is shaped by precedents from previous judicial decisions. Theocratic law is a legal system based on religious teachings. 4. Name and describe the three economic systems. Which economic system is the most common and why? Answer: Three economic systems are Market economy, command economy and Mixed  economy. Market economy is an economy that is characterized by the â€Å"invisible hand† of market forces. Command Economy is an economy in which theoretically all factors of production are state owned and state controlled, and all supply, demand, and pricing are planned by the government. Mixed economy is an economy that has elements of both a market economy and a command economy. 5. In what ways do institutions influence individuals’ and firms’ behaviors? Explain your answer. Answer: Institutions influence the decision-making process of both individuals and firms by signaling what conduct is legitimate and acceptable and what is not. Basically, institutions constrain the range of acceptable actions. 6. What fundamental aspect of democracy is relevant to the effective conduct of global business? Answer: Democracy is a political system in which citizens elect representatives to govern the country on their behalf. Usually the political party with the majority of votes wins and forms a government. Fundamental aspect of democracy that is relevant to global business is an individual’s right to freedom of expression and organization. 7. Name and describe the four types of totalitarianism. Answer: Communist Totalitarianism centers on a communist party. This system was embraced throughout central and eastern Europe and the former soviet union until the late 1980’s. It is still practiced in China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. 8. Give an example of how theocratic law affects daily business operations. Answer: Theocratic law is based on religious techniques. In Saudi Arabia, McDonald’s operates â€Å"ladies only† restaurants in order to comply with the  Koran’s ban on direct, face to face contact between unrelated men and women in public. 9. Name three types of intellectual property, and explain how they could be used in business. Answer: Patents are legal rights awarded by government authorities to inventors of new products or processes. The inventors are given exclusive (monopoly) rights to derive income from such inventions through activities such as manufacturing, licensing, or selling. Copyrights are the exclusive legal rights of authors and publish and disseminate their work, for example the book you are reading now is protected by copyright. Trademarks are the exclusive legal rights of firms to use specific names, brands, and designs to differentiate their products from others. 10. Our current system of intellectual property protection stems from what early patent law? Answer: Couldn’t find it in the book but guessing, most probably it is a civil law?

Free Essays on I Infect Your Soul

My darkness fades from view And enters deep into you I infect your soul Let my darkness swallow you whole You are part of my dreams I am the precursor to your screams I engulf your spirit And take you to the limit Taking you over the edge Leaving you dangling on the ledge To jump and die Go on, pretend you can fly Let me watch you fall to the ground I will watch with joy unbound Let me take away your life Let me hand you this sharpened knife End it all And beware the fall Deep down into my dark black hole I am the keeper of your poor lost soul Come join with me Embrace me Clutch me to your breast Let my dark magic do the rest We are the terrors that fly in the night There is no point in putting up a fight Let us entwine Your wretched soul is mine Let us again embrace And leave behind this damned human race Your body is nothing but an empty shell Your soul belongs with me in Hell I infect your soulLet my darkness swallow you whole... Free Essays on I Infect Your Soul Free Essays on I Infect Your Soul My darkness fades from view And enters deep into you I infect your soul Let my darkness swallow you whole You are part of my dreams I am the precursor to your screams I engulf your spirit And take you to the limit Taking you over the edge Leaving you dangling on the ledge To jump and die Go on, pretend you can fly Let me watch you fall to the ground I will watch with joy unbound Let me take away your life Let me hand you this sharpened knife End it all And beware the fall Deep down into my dark black hole I am the keeper of your poor lost soul Come join with me Embrace me Clutch me to your breast Let my dark magic do the rest We are the terrors that fly in the night There is no point in putting up a fight Let us entwine Your wretched soul is mine Let us again embrace And leave behind this damned human race Your body is nothing but an empty shell Your soul belongs with me in Hell I infect your soulLet my darkness swallow you whole...

Compare and Contrast Liberal and Realist Views of International Law Essay

Compare and Contrast Liberal and Realist Views of International Law - Essay Example This view led to creation of international law which provides a framework that guide international relationship. International relations theories address various concerns of countries. This paper intends to compare and contrast realist and liberalist views of international law. Political realists argue in favor of their nation in terms of its security, social reconstructions, and moral concern while political liberalists argue in favor of international cooperation (Claude & Weston, 2006:122). Security concern is a factor that affects national interests and international interests. It is apparent that political stability of a nation depends on the security measures in place. An instant of insecurity drag political gains and economic endeavors of a country. However, debate on security drags both realists and liberalists into explaining their views to international laws. Realists believe that a state has to strive to achieve state security through all possible means (Claude & Weston, 20 06:126). For instance, during the 9/11 bombing realists gave their response to international terrorism by arguing that the state should refocus on probable sources of its insecurity and that the state should handle non-state actors who are violent as proxies for national interest (Portmann, 2010:70). In this view, high state organs believed that non-state sponsors had a role in creating the infamous attack. In response to the attack, the realists focused their security actions to states they perceived as rogues i.e. nations that supported the actions of the insurgent groups (Portmann, 2010:69). Realists felt the threat posed by these countries and decided to wage war on terrorism in these countries. This justified the move made by United States to wage war on Iraq and Afghanistan. Liberalist contrasts the realist view of international law by favoring the interest of non-state actors (D’Aspremont, 2011:6). It is evident that liberals endow non-state players with agency and aut onomy. For instance, liberals believe that distribution of power does not only remain at state level, but also embeds it to entities such as NGO and international institutions (D’Aspremont, 2011:12). Liberals have taken a centre stage role in advocating for independent groups as forces that need recognition in the international politics. At the international scene, liberals argue that power is a multidimensional tool in which emphasis should be on soft power in addition to economic and military power. This argument makes the liberalist support international activities in contrasts to the interests of the realists. The use of soft power intends to eliminate conflicts, which drag international politics. For instance, the adoption of dialogue as a means of seeking a lasting solution to conflicts is a manifestation of using soft power in brokering interest of various countries. In the international politics, recognition of political realism is a concept of interest vested in term s of power (Neack, 2003:77). The motive behind each state behavior is power, which is either military power or potential power (assets). The means used by states to seek power vary because some states are weak while others are strong. However, power change from time to time. For instance, French military power dominated continent Europe in the early 1800s, but shifted in 1814 following the defeat of French military (Neack, 2003:78). Largely, realist perspective looks at state as

McDonalds Marketing Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

McDonalds Marketing Strategy - Case Study Example Shifting lifestyles, aging population and healthy food consumption trends hamper industry growth. Despite McDonald's many successes and long-standing position as a global industry leader, the golden arches are showing evidence of tarnish. Over the last years the company has shown signs of failure to identify with its customers and this has lead to retarded growth and unmet expectations. In this paper I will examine in greater detail latest industry trends and I will critically evaluate McDonald's marketing strategy. The final part of the paper discusses strategic alternatives and suggested strategies for McDonald's Corporation. The fast food market is dynamic and growing, it amounts to $99.6 billion and is expected to grow by 15% by 2009 (Datamonitor, Global Fast Food, 2005). To the west growth has been driven by changing consumer lifestyles. The restaurants segment benefits from the reduction of leisure time, accompanied by increasing trends away from preparing food at home (Datamonitor, Global Restaurants, 2005). The growth in the Far Eastern countries, on the other hand, is fuelled by growing population, economic development and rising purchasing power of local population (Datamonitor, Foodservice China, 2005). Still, the bright future of the fast food sector is not secur... The growth in the Far Eastern countries, on the other hand, is fuelled by growing population, economic development and rising purchasing power of local population (Datamonitor, Foodservice China, 2005). Still, the bright future of the fast food sector is not secured and it's again consumer trends that hamper its development. Aging population in US and Europe tends to favour more sophisticated food and service offers to fast-food restaurants (Datamonitor, Global Restaurants, 2005). A major threat to the fast-food industry is the trend towards healthy food that shifts consumption away from fast food market. Intense competition among fast food retailers has forced major chains to focus on value chain efficiencies in order to improve profits (Datamonitor, Global Restaurants, 2005). Additionally, local markets have put high legal and market-driven entry barriers for international retailers (Ball et al, 2005). Customer analysis All in all, the McDonald's fast food offer is attractive to people from all age groups. The company specifically targets children and middle-class households that are less demanding in their choice for sophisticated product offer. Rising incomes in developing markets make the McDonald's offer more feasible and better accepted even in places where the company has been regarded as rather expensive, one example is India. The American identity of fast food products in Japan and other countries in the Far East enhances their image. According to a survey by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, 50 % of teenagers prefer Western foods to traditional dishes. As a result, American companies in Japan account for half the business (Ball et

Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Employment Law - Essay Example The contract of employment is the cornerstone of the employment relationship. In Gascol Conversions Ltd., v Mercer1 Courts found that contracts of employment, like all other contracts, consist of express and implied terms and the written statement is only evidence of the various contractual terms and, unless the employee has agreed that it accurately represents those terms, it is not binding on the employee. Here the argument is that at the time of recruiting the employee, employer can impose these restrictive clauses. Restrictive covenants are terms in a contract of employment that limit the employees activities following termination of their employment. Now it need to consider the capacity of Balmoral to change or impose new restrict covenant. In RS Components v Irwin2, a case before the National Industrial Relations Court the employer decided that it needed to introduce restrictive covenants. The NIRC held that held that there was nothing in the section to preclude the tribunal from finding. The dismissal on the grounds of the needs to impose the new restriction fells within the some other substantial reason category. If employees refused to sign, the new contract could therefore be dismissed. Here the Court noted that the employer would have to devise covenants that were not void. It is a landmark case that decided in 1973 should demonstrate best practice, rather than Windsor Recruitment v Silverwood and others3, which decided in 2006. Employment law still has the capacity to spring a surprise. In Hanover Insurance Brokers Ltd v Schapiro4 the CA Dillon LJ argued that a restriction that seeks to prohibit a defendant from poaching any employee, irrespective of expertise or juniority and including those who entered employment after the defendant left, is invalid5. In Living Design (Home Improvements) Ltd. v Davidson6 the CA has recognized the possibility of a restrictive covenant sufficient to

Role of Kidney in Osmoregulation

Role of Kidney in Osmoregulation Water is a vital molecule for the human body. Approximately 98% of the human body is made up of water. Human beings cannot survive if their water content decreases below 12%; hence the homeostasis of water is an important mechanism. Water has many important functions in our body. Water acts as a transport medium in blood and secretion e.g. in digestive juices, tears. Water is a good lubricant and acts to reduce friction when combined with particular proteins e.g. mucus to aid external movement. Many chemical reactions take place in an aqueous medium (Jones M.et al.2000) The kidneys are highly specialised organs of the body and play an important role in homeostasis. Fig 1a shows the location of the kidney in the human body.The kidney maintains homeostasis by regulating water balance, waste removal and blood composition and pressure. The kidneys dispose of waste by-products of metabolism and hence prevent the build up of toxic products in the body and to regulate the chemical components of the bodys fluids by responding to any imbalances of body fluids. These functions are fulfilled by a process of filtration of blood, which mainly includes the movement of solutes between the internal fluid and external environment. The movement of solutes is normally through a transport epithelium, in the case of the kidney it is in the form of a tubular channel; this tubular channel gives the kidney a large surface area. As Fig 1b shows blood enters each kidney via the renal artery and leaves via the renal vein. The kidneys weigh less than 1% of the human body, they receive approximately 2 % of blood pumped with each heartbeat. Urine exits the kidney through a duct called the ureter. The ureters of both kidneys drain into a common urinary bladder. Urine leaves the body from the urinary bladder to the urethra which empties near the vagina in females or through the penis in males. (Campbell N. A. et al. 1999, Michael F. et al. 2001) At one end the nephron forms a cup-shaped structure called glomerulus. From the glomerulus a tube runs towards the centre of the kidney first forming a twisted region called the proximal convoluted tubule and then a long hair-pin loop in the medulla, it runs back upwards into the cortex where it forms another twisted region called the distal convoluted tubule, this then joins a collecting duct which leads down the medulla and into the renal pelvis The functional unit of the kidney is a nephron. Microscopic sections of the kidney show that the kidney is made up of thousands of nephrons. Fig1b shows the location of a nephron and Fig2 shows the detailed structure of a nephron. Each renal capsule is supplied with blood by the afferent arteriole a branch of the renal artery this splits into many capillaries in the capsule which then rejoin to form the afferent arteriole. The nephrons structure is closely related to its function of regulating solutes Osmoregulation is maintaining constant levels of water in the body. Cells cannot survive a huge deviation from its osmolality. Hence, cells have a continuous movement of water across their plasma membranes. A net gain of water will cause the cell to swell up and burst, while a net loss of water will cause the cell to shrivel up and die. Water is transported by osmosis around the body. Osmoregulation is accomplished by creating an osmotic gradient; this requires lots of energy and is done by maintaining solute concentrations in the body fluids. The osmolality of the body is fixed at a mean of 290 ±5 mosmos/g. The kidney is able to maintain a constant osmolality as its able to adjust the rate of water excretion over a wide range. The volume of the extra-cellular fluid is mainly determined by the concentration of sodium ions, hence slight adjustments to the renal excretion rate have a major impact on the extracellular fluid volume. Changes in tubular sodium transport is accompanied by parallel movements of water, this results in no net change in body fluid osmolality  (Campbell N. A. et al. 1999, Frederic H.M. 2006, Michael F. et al. 2001) The loop of Henle creates a longitudinal osmotic gradient across the medulla; this aids the reabsorption of water and other important solutes. Ascending and descending limb are parallel and adjacent to each other with a layer of tissue fluid in between. Fluid enters from the proximal convoluted tubules flows down the descending limb and then up the ascending limb. This is known as a counter-current flow. Thewalls of the descending limb are permeable to water, while the walls of the ascending limb are impermeable to water. The ascending limb of the Loop of Henle is made up of a thick walled tubule which is impermeable to the outward movement of water but not salt. The red arrows on fig3 show the movement of water amd solutes along the loop of Henle and the collecting duct. Also, the walls of the ascending limb contain pumps to remove sodium chloride from the lumen and add it to the surrounding interstitial fluid. Hence sodium and chloride ions are actively transported out of the ascen ding limb. This is the site of reabsorption in the kidney, here fluid from theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦enters and the kidney reabsorbs all the useful solutes and water. The permeability of the loop and the collecting duct depends on the osmolality of the blood and is controlled by a negative feedback mechanism by osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus A high concentration of salt builds up in the medullary tissue, this together with urea retention by these tissues, helps build up a high osmotic pressure in the medullary tissue. This creates a gradient of 200 mosm/g across the tubular wall at any point and causes a loss of water from the descending limb. The loss of water concentrates sodium and chloride ions in the descending limb. Salt concentration in the medullary tissue is highest at the apex of the loop, the tissue in the deeper layers of the medulla contain a very concentrated solution of sodium ions, chloride ions and urea. The fluid leaving the ascending limb is hypo-osmolar as compared to the fluid that enters and has a osmolality of approximately 100 mosm/g .Sodium and chloride ions diffuse out in the lower part of the ascending limb. Fluid passes down the collecting duct through the medullary tissue of increasing salt concentration, water can pass out of it by osmosis. The reabsorbed water is carried away by blood capil laries  (Campbell N. A. et al. 1999, Frederic H.M. 2006, Michael F. et al. 2001) Control of water regulation Osmoregulation by the kidney involves a negative feedback mechanism. The osmoreceptors are in the hypothalamus and the effectors are the pituitary gland and the walls of the distal convoluted tubules. Osmoreceptors detect alterations of water levels and send impulses to the pituitary gland which then increase or decrease the production of antidiuretic hormone (ADH). In the case of a low osmolality,when the nerve cells are stimulated by osmoreceptors action potentials travel down them, this causes ADH to be released from their endings into the blood capillaries in the posterior pituitary gland from here it is distributed throughout the body. ADH acts on the plasma membranes of the cells of the collecting ducts. ADH is picked up by a receptor on the plasma membrane which then activates an enzyme. This causes vesicles with water permeable channels to fuse with the plasma membrane hence ADH makes the membrane more permeable to water than usual. Hence more water will be reabsorbed by the collecting duct and more concentrated urine will be produced. On the other hand, when the blood water content rises the osmoreceptors are no longer stimulated and hence do not lead to the secretion of ADH. Hence, ADH secretion slows down and the collecting duct cells become less permeable to water, so less water is reabsorbed and more diluted urine is produced  (Campbell N. A. et al. 1999, Frederic H.M. 2006, Michael F. et al. 2001) In conclusion, the regulation of water is essential for the survival of human beings and is carried out by the kidneys and monitored by osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus and controlled by the pituitary gland. Each of these plays an equally important role in the regulation of water and without any one of them the body will not be able to function in a normal manner. [Words: 1328]

Organic foods

Organic foods are defined as foods without pesticides, antibiotics,or gefetically altered organisms. Organic farming began in the late 1940’s in the united states, and in recents years it has grown into a multi-billion dollaer industry. Sales for organis foods in the past decade have increased annually by 20%. Its 20% growth is ten times as much as non-organic food’s growth. Organic food makes up only a fraction of the food market even though there are over ten million consumers. The sales of organic foods are expected to climb to over 6 billion dollars within the upcoming years. Soil is also a crucial component of the organic process. Soil is said to be organic when it has been deemed ‘clean’ for three years. Making a commitment to healthy eating is a great start towards a healthier life. Beyond eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and good fats, however, there is the question of food safety, nutrition, and sustainability. How foods are grown or raised can impact both your health and the environment. This brings up the questions: What is the difference between organic foods and conventionally grown foods? Is â€Å"organic† always best? What about locally grown foods? Organic food, natural cleaners, green businesses, even organic clothing; natural and organic products continue to be the centre of attention for those seeking a healthier lifestyle, but just what is organic food, is this organic trend long-lasting, and what organic food facts provide compelling reasons to grow, shop, cook and eat organic food. Today, organic food accounts for 2% of global food sales and is growing at an average rate of 20% each year. Today, you can have your organic food delivered, buy it online, at your local grocery store, grow it yourself and order organic food at many restaurants. This continuing rise in demand creates a need for regulations to protect both consumers and farmers. Organic food is not the same thing as natural food. Natural refers to the way a food is processed rather than the ingredients. A food that is free of additives and preservatives, but contains commercially-produced ingredients, is considered natural. Organic food contains primarily organic ingredients, while natural foods may be made with items grown with the aid of chemicals as well as genetically modified ingredient and it is not just apples and bananas. Nearly every food available also has an organic version in today’s market. Organic milk, chicken, and even pasta can be found right on the shelves of your neighbourhood supermarket. Many leading food manufacturers are creating organic food in convenience packaging to fit into modern lifestyles. Canned organic tomatoes and frozen organic peas are among many options. Organic food is not bland and tasteless. In fact, most people claim organic ingredients are fresher and more flavourful than conventionally grown foods. Chemical residues, added ingredients, and hurried, mass production detract from the natural juices within fruits and vegetables. Organic food is free of chemicals, leaving nothing but pure, fresh flavour. Regulations and procedures for organic certification are still relatively new but organic farming and cultivation are not. Farmers were using natural, chemical-free methods of growing long before pesticides and fertilizers were available. As more research continues to reveal the dangers of these chemicals to both humans and the planet, consumers continue to explore the benefits of organic food. The advantages of arganic food are that you can choose to grow and/or buy food that is healthier for you, and the environment; cooking and eating organically also often offers more flavor and better tasting foods. Use organic farming methods and organic gardening tactics such as organic garden fertilizer and compost to grow your food; the organic food advantages and organic food benefits are significant for you, your family and the planet. Organic food benefits have been a hot topic for more than a decade now but it wasn't until relatively recently that these advantages were supported by more than just hearsay. Extensive research conducted over a number of years has proven that organic food not only tastes better than commercial foods, but it is also better for us and our children, as well as our animals, wildlife, and the environment as a whole. Care and maintenance of soil, and preventive farming methods like crop rotation create fruits and vegetables that contain up to 50% more vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients than intensively farmed foods. Encouraging natural and organic farming methods and gardening practices, will allow organic soil to rebuild and contribute healthy vitamins and minerals to feed the crops, and you. Organic foods have higher levels of many disease-fighting antioxidants and essential vitamins, including Vitamin C. Industrial pesticides and fertilizers used in intensive farming contain synthetic, toxic chemicals, residues of which remain in the food they are involved in producing. Organic farming uses natural, synthetic-chemical-free methods that produce foods much safer for the humans, as well as the animals, that consume them. And if you grow your own fruits and vegetables, using organic garden fertilizer, natural pesticide methods, and organic soil Such chemicals are responsible for a number of common allergies and have also been linked to serious diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. An organic diet significantly lowers these risks. Organic foods Organic foods are defined as foods without pesticides, antibiotics,or gefetically altered organisms. Organic farming began in the late 1940’s in the united states, and in recents years it has grown into a multi-billion dollaer industry. Sales for organis foods in the past decade have increased annually by 20%. Its 20% growth is ten times as much as non-organic food’s growth. Organic food makes up only a fraction of the food market even though there are over ten million consumers. The sales of organic foods are expected to climb to over 6 billion dollars within the upcoming years. Soil is also a crucial component of the organic process. Soil is said to be organic when it has been deemed ‘clean’ for three years. Making a commitment to healthy eating is a great start towards a healthier life. Beyond eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and good fats, however, there is the question of food safety, nutrition, and sustainability. How foods are grown or raised can impact both your health and the environment. This brings up the questions: What is the difference between organic foods and conventionally grown foods? Is â€Å"organic† always best? What about locally grown foods? Organic food, natural cleaners, green businesses, even organic clothing; natural and organic products continue to be the centre of attention for those seeking a healthier lifestyle, but just what is organic food, is this organic trend long-lasting, and what organic food facts provide compelling reasons to grow, shop, cook and eat organic food. Today, organic food accounts for 2% of global food sales and is growing at an average rate of 20% each year. Today, you can have your organic food delivered, buy it online, at your local grocery store, grow it yourself and order organic food at many restaurants. This continuing rise in demand creates a need for regulations to protect both consumers and farmers. Organic food is not the same thing as natural food. Natural refers to the way a food is processed rather than the ingredients. A food that is free of additives and preservatives, but contains commercially-produced ingredients, is considered natural. Organic food contains primarily organic ingredients, while natural foods may be made with items grown with the aid of chemicals as well as genetically modified ingredient and it is not just apples and bananas. Nearly every food available also has an organic version in today’s market. Organic milk, chicken, and even pasta can be found right on the shelves of your neighbourhood supermarket. Many leading food manufacturers are creating organic food in convenience packaging to fit into modern lifestyles. Canned organic tomatoes and frozen organic peas are among many options. Organic food is not bland and tasteless. In fact, most people claim organic ingredients are fresher and more flavourful than conventionally grown foods. Chemical residues, added ingredients, and hurried, mass production detract from the natural juices within fruits and vegetables. Organic food is free of chemicals, leaving nothing but pure, fresh flavour. Regulations and procedures for organic certification are still relatively new but organic farming and cultivation are not. Farmers were using natural, chemical-free methods of growing long before pesticides and fertilizers were available. As more research continues to reveal the dangers of these chemicals to both humans and the planet, consumers continue to explore the benefits of organic food. The advantages of arganic food are that you can choose to grow and/or buy food that is healthier for you, and the environment; cooking and eating organically also often offers more flavor and better tasting foods. Use organic farming methods and organic gardening tactics such as organic garden fertilizer and compost to grow your food; the organic food advantages and organic food benefits are significant for you, your family and the planet. Organic food benefits have been a hot topic for more than a decade now but it wasn't until relatively recently that these advantages were supported by more than just hearsay. Extensive research conducted over a number of years has proven that organic food not only tastes better than commercial foods, but it is also better for us and our children, as well as our animals, wildlife, and the environment as a whole. Care and maintenance of soil, and preventive farming methods like crop rotation create fruits and vegetables that contain up to 50% more vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients than intensively farmed foods. Encouraging natural and organic farming methods and gardening practices, will allow organic soil to rebuild and contribute healthy vitamins and minerals to feed the crops, and you. Organic foods have higher levels of many disease-fighting antioxidants and essential vitamins, including Vitamin C. Industrial pesticides and fertilizers used in intensive farming contain synthetic, toxic chemicals, residues of which remain in the food they are involved in producing. Organic farming uses natural, synthetic-chemical-free methods that produce foods much safer for the humans, as well as the animals, that consume them. And if you grow your own fruits and vegetables, using organic garden fertilizer, natural pesticide methods, and organic soil Such chemicals are responsible for a number of common allergies and have also been linked to serious diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. An organic diet significantly lowers these risks.

Analysis of “Al Gore on Climate Crisis and Global Power”

Former Vice President Al Gore was the featured â€Å"My Turn† opinion writer for the December 18, 2006 issue of Newsweek Magazine. This opinion article was a part of Gore’s environmental awareness campaign which began with the publication of his book An Inconvenient Truth.  Gore presents a very well written argument advocating the necessity for massive change in the use of energy. According to Gore, â€Å"we are now faced with an urgent crisis—a crisis that is altering the very nature of the earth’s climate.†Gore makes his compelling argument without preaching, scolding, or frightening. This is extremely rare, and valuable, given the highly volatile nature of any debate involving energy sources and environmental concern. The article is interesting for what is said as well as for what is omitted.The piece is devoid of the usual â€Å"doomsday† statistics and anecdotes projecting a critical problem without a solution. Instead, Gore portrays t he world at a crossroads, the beginning of â€Å"a new age† where â€Å"crisis† should be defined as the Chinese write it: â€Å"danger† and â€Å"opportunity†. He does not need to elaborate on the well-known and documented dangers facing the world regarding climate change. Instead, he illustrates several of the opportunities he visualizes in the future.His first example is the development of an â€Å"electranet† distribution network for electrical power. Instead of massive coal, oil, or nuclear fuel power plants, smaller suppliers, including wind and solar power generators, will be widespread.Additionally, anyone on the â€Å"electranet† who can generate electricity, from small home solar units to larger industrial generators, will be able to sell their surplus power to the grid. Other changes envisioned include â€Å"smart† buildings â€Å"constructed with breakthrough solar and nanotechnologies† and super-high mileage vehicl es.Gore is optimistic because â€Å"market forces that are now in motion— driven by visionaries at companies as diverse as Wal-Mart, British Petroleum and General Electric†   are having an effect. But, more must be done: governments must â€Å"exert real leadership† in agreement to the Kyoto treaty and then beyond in order to meet the crisis. With optimism Gore closes by stating it is â€Å"a rare opportunity for our generation to unite behind a historic mission.†I share Gore’s attitude and opinions regarding energy and the environment; however, I believe I am not alone in feeling very apprehensive. A day does not pass without more evidence documenting incredible damage and change in the global environment.It is easy to fear that the world of our children and grandchildren will be terribly damaged. It is difficult to focus on what one individual can do when there is a fear of it being â€Å"too little too late.† As Gore believes market for ces will cause the beneficial change, I believe we must examine how â€Å"we the people† can be a significant part of that force.To paraphrase Gore, the immediate future will be incredibly challenging. I believe he frames the issue perfectly as â€Å"a historic mission† in which we must all play a significant role. In unity there will be success; the environment does not have the luxury of time for divisiveness or finger-pointing.Although it is very likely we will be able to see the reward of collective action, if not, it is certain future generations will see the result of our action or inaction.

Business IS essays

Business IS essays Information System - A set of interrelated components that collect, retrieve, process, store and distribute information for the purpose of facilitating planning, control, coordination, analysis and decision making in organisations. Input - the capture or collection of raw data resources from within an organisation or from its external environment. Processing - The conversion of raw input into a more appropriate and useful form. Output - The transfer of processed information to the people or activities that will use it. Feedback - Output that is returned to appropriate members of the organisation to help them refine or correct the input phase. Formal Systems - Information Systems that rely on mutually accepted and relatively fixed definitions of data and procedures for collecting, storing, processing and distributing information. Manual Systems - An information system that uses only paper and pencil technology and does not rely on computers. Computer Hardware - the physical equipment used for the input, processing and output work in an information system. Computer Software - Preprogrammed instructions that coordinate the work of computer hardware components to perform the processes required by each information system. Storage Technology - physical media for storing data and the software governing the organisation of data on these media. Communications technology - Physical media and software that support communication by electronic means, usually over some distance. Network - Physical media and software that link two or more computers together to transmit voice, data, images, sound and/or video or to share resources such as a printer. Internet - A vast interconnected network of networks linking business, governmental, scientific and educational organisations as well as individuals around the world. World Wide Web - a set of standards for storing, organising and displaying information in a networked environment....

GREENEST CAMPUSES essays

GREENEST CAMPUSES essays Role of campuses in Environmental protection Environment protection is one of the most burning issues these days with people complaining about the negative effects of various business and social activities on ecology. In this connection, green movement activities and environmentalists around the globe are urging people to pay closer attention to the consequences of many activities with may even appear harmless on the surface. Urban areas are the special victims of environmental destruction. Orr (19991) writes: "It is becoming increasingly apparent that our present environmental crisis is evidence of a prior failure of mind and perception- which is to say, a failure of education. The loss of species, topsoil, rain forests, and impending climate change are not primarily technological problems or even economic ones. They are first and foremost about how we think about the world we inhabit". However while we do know how cities are contributing to destruction of ecology, we simply fail to understand how colleges and universities could also be playing an influential role in this connection. Louisiana Tech or any other institution needs to understand that role educational institutions can play in saving the environment. Tech must therefore closely follow the example of other institutions in this connection. Noel Perrin in his article on the issue clearly describes the green programs of various universities and colleges thereby showing their contribution to ecology preservation. Some people may argue that Louisiana Tech doesn't need to participate in such programs for it is not contributing to environment destruction. However this is a completely illogical viewpoint because only there are many different ways in which colleges and universities contribute to environmental problems. for one we must keep in mind that tech would certainly be a better place if it implements some sound green progra...

Reconstruction and Race Relations Paper Research

Reconstruction and Race Relations - Research Paper Example Another law was also passed which is the Disenfranchisement Law that deprived Afro Americans of their right to vote. The passage of the segregation law and disenfranchisement law meant the white and the black cannot be together on public places and public transportation. These oppressive laws were then implemented in various states and municipality mandating the segregation of the blacks and the whites not only on public transportation but also in other aspects of public life that include, schools, hospitals, parks, movie houses, hotels and even restrooms. The Disfranchisement Law as the name implies, remove the right of the Negro to exercise his civil liberty to vote by despite the guarantee of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. This was evident with the exclusion of the blacks from the list of those who can vote in 1870 and made it more difficult for blacks to vote (if they can) by passing the poll tax law. Ridiculous as it may sound but a literacy requirement was also enacte d in 1890 that if a black person is allowed to vote, he or she must satisfy the â€Å"understanding clause† that they understood the constitution before the state registrar. Naturally, the determination of the black person’s fitness to vote became arbitrary that deprived many of them of their right to vote. Voting restrictions were also imposed to make it difficult for black people by stating deadlines of poll tax payment and voter registration unannounced. All of these were designed to make it difficult, if not impossible for a black person to vote. The Reconstruction and beyond The end of the civil war marked the reconstruction period in the South. There are many accounts and interpretation why the Reconstruction became a splendid failure but it converged on the idea that it did not achieve what it intended to achieve. One its failure was failure was the attempt to provide some civil rights such as the right to vote for African Americans (Fitzgerald, 2008). This was evident in the Dred Scott decision which the Supreme Court ruled that blacks â€Å"had no rights which a white man was bound to respect; and that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit† (Freerepublic.com). In 1876 however, a change in political tide was seen when the Republicans gained control in Congress. From the repressive regime of the Democrats, the Republicans passed the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution where several civil rights bills were introduced which will give every Americans equal protection before the law (Cornell University Law School, nd). One of the laws that were also passed was the granting of the right to vote among African Americans. In effect, this would have also given the African Americans some civil rights and the benefit of equal protection before the law except that it was blocked in every way of its application. One particular right, of the four civil rights that was passed in Congress that was circumvented in its application was the protection of right to vote as expressed in the Fourteenth Amendment. The Democrats device several political implements to block the application of the African American right to vote which included imposition of poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses and Gerrymandering. The imposition of

Data Mining and Big Data Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Data Mining and Big Data - Assignment Example It is very essential to note that a deep scrutiny of real world commercial implementation of data, makes the International Business Machines (IBM) come out as one of organizations with a high quality ‘Big data’ hub. At this company’s ‘Big data’ hub, large volumes of information are handled, which are actually very hard to process in a traditional database. The data hub is composed is of data mining engines integrated to aid in easy handling of data. The integration of data mining in IBM has made very easy and fast for the company to manage and process data in its globally placed (using cloud technology) immense data warehouses. Thus, this makes it clear that although the data is large, it is realistically the simplest and easily tolerable data volumes in data mining. In this sense, I hereby agree that the term ‘Big data’ is actually an over-hyped buzzword for data mining. Microsoft Incorporation is one of the most successful software companies globally. Due to the large data volumes handled at the company, the subject of ‘Big data’ in the company has also been a subject of concern. At this company, issues related to ‘Big data’ have usually been experienced in scenarios where the organization’s traditional database system is exhausted with the ever-increasing data volumes. This includes operating system files, cache files, customer data and management information system data. However, through the adoption of data mining engines, Microsoft Incorporation has smoothly been handling all the large amounts of data that it shares globally with clients and partners. Therefore, this case study further makes me agree with the statement. Thirdly, Facebook Incorporation is a social network website that manages online communication for over a billion global users a month. These users share messages, photos, poking, placing status and storing personal data. In essence, the company handles very immense and

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 7

Project management - Essay Example Quality assurance includes two major elements; the first is quality control examination which comprises the examination of the physical characteristics of the structure, system, material, component, part, and subsequent comparison with the acceptable standards associated with those examinations (Arditi & Gunaydin, 1997). The second element of quality assurance is termed as quality administration. This is defined as the management and documentation which assures that the specified quality control examinations were carried out. In general, the contractor’s definition is preferred by the project organization since it defines the vehicles by which all project requirements are to be determined and identified. The word quality has different meanings in different circumstance; the quality of a product may have greater or lesser significance depending on the need and requirement of the user. Thus, quality is the degree to which a product meets the requirement of the customer. On the o ther hand, Quality control includes all the efforts to manage quality and maintain assurance of continued high quality of a product or service. Thus quality control conveys an idea about determining and maintaining that quality of product or service which will satisfy the consumer by its performance, cost and delivery. It is important to understand the difference between quality assurance and quality control. Quality control is used to prove that deliverables are of recognized quality, and that they are complete and right. Quality assurance, however, refers to the procedure used to create deliverables and can be done by a manager, client or even a third party. Also, Quality assurance is based on the process approach. Quality monitoring and assurance ensures that processes and systems are developed in a manner that deliverables are of superior quality. This process is intended to

Rise of E Vehicle Essay Example for Free

Rise of E Vehicle Essay MANILA, Philippines? There? s something about electric vehicles. They don? t use gasoline or diesel and therefore don? t pollute the air. They run without noise and are cost-efficient. If Filipinos are educated about the benefits of using these ? plug-in? modes of transportation, they would be wondering why we haven? t caught up with the craze yet. Going ? green? is all the rage right now because of climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Global warming threatens not only the survival of the human species, but also of other living things big and small that call Earth home. Serious efforts have been made to counter or at least minimize the adverse effects of global warming. Because emissions like carbon dioxide from fossil fuels are a major source of global warming, people have sought alternative sources of energy like solar, hydro and wind power. They have also come up with electric vehicles. Four different kinds of electric vehicles now on the market were showcased at PowerTrends 2009, a renewable energy exhibition held on Sept. 9-10 at World Trade Center in Pasay City. The e-vehicles displayed at PowerTrends? the e-jeep, e-car, e-bike and e-quad? are generally priced higher than their gasoline-powered counterparts. E-vehicle makers, however, are after advocacy, not profits, says Karl Magsuci, business planning and development manager for EVnnovations Inc. , distributor of the first Land Transportation Office-registered e-car in the Philippines. ?What we? re doing right now is education and raising awareness,? he says. All four e-vehicles have zero carbon emission. Their batteries could be charged via a simple household electric socket. Plans to build a biogas-powered recharging station are in the works. In some areas, like Puerto Princesa City and Boracay, plans to phase out gasoline-powered jeepneys are underway, with e-vehicles gradually being incorporated into their transportation system. e-car The Reva e-car, popularly known in London as G-Wiz, was first launched in Bangalore, India, in June 2001. EVnnovations Inc. wants to introduce Reva to the Philippines as a viable mode of transportation. This two-seater uses eight 48-volt deep-cycle-lead-acid batteries, which charge in eight hours at a cost of P84. Charging for two hours already powers 80 percent of Reva? s batteries, says Magsuci. Fully charged, Reva has a maximum range of 80 kilometers, 60 km when the air-con is used, and a top speed of 80 kph. By contrast, a gasoline-powered car would require about P350-worth of gas to travel 80 km. No change oil There? s virtually no maintenance involved when using the e-car, says Magsuci. ?No change oil, for instance.? The batteries have an average life span of two to three years. Changing batteries would cost around P50,000, says Magsuci. The only drawback to the e-car is the price, says Magsuci. ?There? s apprehension in the market due to the prohibitive price,? he says. The e-car is considered a luxury vehicle here, says Magsuci, thus, the cost almost doubles upon reaching our shores. Costing around $10,000 in India or around P500,000, plus import tax, Reva? s cost could reach close to a million pesos, he says. He explains, however, that Reva is initially not meant for everyone, but only for a very specific market? the ? high-end,? and environmentally conscious individuals and companies. ?Walk the talk,? he says. ?It? s time for us to introduce green alternatives, mitigate climate change, and make people ? green? in their motoring habits.? Leasing program. Selling Reva in the Philippines may not be that easy, says Magsuci. That? s why EVnnovation is looking at the possibility of a renting or leasing program. Introducing the e-car through public transportation, he adds, is also another way to make its presence known. The e-car, however, cannot compete with one? s existing car at this time, Magsuci says. ?It? s only meant to supplement your current fleet as an alternative vehicle,? he says. ?Think about the future, long-term effects.? At the moment, there? s still no tangible support from the government for the promotion of Reva, according to Magsuci. He hopes that trade shows such as PowerTrends will help promote ? green? alternatives. For more information on Reva electric car, contact Karl Pietrus Magsuci of EVnnovations at 3701314, fax No. 3741671-72, e-mail [emailprotected] com, or visit http://www. evnnovations. com/. Their office address is 8F Ramcar Center 80-82 Roces Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. e-jeep The e-jeep was first launched in 2007 in the cities of Makati, Puerto Princesa and Bacolod as part of the Climate Friendly Cities project of Green Renewable Independent Power Producers Inc. (GRIPP). It started its commercial run last year. GRIPP is a local consortium of environmental groups, including Greenpeace. Tapped by GRIPP to produce the electric vehicle, the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines now assembles e-jeepneys through its business arm, Philippine Utility Vehicles Inc. (PhUV). The first prototypes were imported from China. The e-jeep costs P650,000. It uses 12 6V 220AH batteries, which charge for eight hours at a cost of P150, says John Marasigan, PhUV assistant sales manager for electric vehicles. A fully charged e-jeep has a maximum range of 55 km and a top speed of 35 kph. Thirty-five units of this 14-seater have so far been sold to a number of government and private institutions in the Philippines, 20 of which are in Makati, says Marasigan. They include De La Salle University in Dasmarinas, Cavite; Plantation Bay Resort in Cebu; the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in Manila; the House of Representatives in Quezon City; and Embarcadero waterfront development in Legazpi City. e-quad The e-quad, or e-tuktuk, marks its launching at PowerTrends 2009. With a seating capacity of six, the vehicle is designed as an alternative to tricycles in subdivisions, according to Marasigan. ?It is ideal in subdivisions because there? s less noise,? he said. ?Plus it can run in floods.? The e-quad sells for P300,000. For inquiries about the e-jeep, e-bike and e-quad, contact John Marasigan of Philippine Utility Vehicles Inc. at 9365022 or 9308012, e-mail [emailprotected] com, or visit www. gripp. org. ph and www. ejeep. org. The office address is 2 Susano Road in Bo. Deparo, Novaliches, Caloocan City e-bike. Twenty-five units of e-bikes have so far been sold by Philippine Utility Vehicles Inc. Ideal for use in beach resorts and other recreational spots, most e-bikes can now be seen running in Boracay. Selling for P27,000, the e-bike has a maximum range of 25 km and top speed of 20 kph. Its batteries require only four hours to fully charge, costing around P100. What? s good about the e-bike is that once the battery runs out of power, the bike can still be used in the traditional way. By pedaling the e-bike, one does not only get good exercise, but also charges the batteries.

The Clash of Civilizations Essay -- Analysis, Samuel P. Huntington

Ernest Hemingway stated that, â€Å"In modern war †¦ you will die like a dog for no good reason†! Even though that is true, experts have gone further by trying to find the â€Å"roots† and explain why conflicts emerge in the first place. Two experts, Samuel P. Huntington and John R. Bowen, present two different approaches towards the cause of conflicts in 21st century. Although there is a difference between their approaches, both of them share the common believe that a conflict may occur when one puts pressure on the other; but the reason why this pressure takes place, varies among the two theories. In his article, â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations†, Huntington points out that in the 21st century, conflicts will not occur based on ideology of a state or civilization, neither on economic power; but they will take place because the differences in cultural and religious identity between civilizations. As the first key point that lies under this theory, is the Western civilization approach towards the Eastern civilization. According to him, the Western Civilization promotes their â€Å"political and economic values, maintain their predominance and protect their interest† through economic and political pressure via Western Institution such as UN and IMF. This Western approach increases the cultural division between Western and Eastern civilization, but also within Western Civilization; between Western Christianity and Orthodox Christianity. This approach can be easily understandable if we take a look at the historical events where Western and Eastern civilization confron ted each other such as in the Gulf War and Bosnian war, where Western used their power to protect countries from a same culture, same civilization. This leads to a reaction from Eastern cou... ...up and swap a part of the region, thus creating Western vs. Eastern conflicts which apparently will lead to war between two complete different ideologies. To conclude, wars have been and will be part of our lives. In some regions, people yet have lack of knowledge, therefore tend to separate people based on language, culture, religion, region and historical background. Yet we didn’t manage to overpass these obstacles that we create towards the minorities, and live in the same land together. Although some countries try to get rid of those issues and live beyond ethnicity borders, there are countries that point the figure at you and remind you that you are â€Å"you†, and because you are who you are â€Å"We hate you†! When we overpass the hate, the ethnic borders, there won’t be any conflicts, wars and articles that are trying to find the way how the conflict occurred!

Research on adolescent girls who attend different schools Essay

The study consists of research on adolescent girls who attend four different schools. These researchers emphasis on social behavior would be reflected in both quantitative and qualitative measures. The research question ‘Is social experiences are central to the adolescent experience in girls. The hypothesis is social experiences are central to the adolescent experience in girls. The methods the study consists of are orientation session at school that day for the girls who participate in the study. Then they were told that via email to go to study’s website and complete the forms. The girls were given instructions to complete the activities questionnaire and the writing sample online. They are given till 8:00pm that night to complete the online forms after school. There were two measurements or instruments that were used in the study, Activity assessment online and writing sample online. The activity assessment online was revised of Passmore and French’s (1998)Less ure questionnaire/revised for their age group. Example from the article was leisure turned into activities less common modified to tell or describe their activities for that particular day (Feyberg, 2009). The activity assessment consisted of three domains, sense of accomplishment often through competition or a personal challenge (achievement activities). The second domain is those that are social in nature (social activities). Lastly, the third domain is that promotes relaxation and is often solitary (relaxation activities) (Feyberg, 2009). The participants were allowed to report up to ten activities for each domain. Then they had to tell the three they spent the most time doing, most enjoyed, most meaningful, and how much they engaged in the activity. Then they were to rate them from 1 to 5. This scale that was used is known as the five point Likert Scale from 1 is being less than 30 minutes and 5 being more than four hours (Feyberg, 2009). Then they were added up to a maximum points of 15 per domain. Participants reported their enjoyment of up to three achievement, social, relaxation activities on a 4 point Liker Scale from 1 (not enjoyable) and four (very enjoyable) for a maximum of 12 points per domain. The next one is degree of meaningful based points of Likert Scale 1 (not meaningful) and 4 (very meaningful). The last one is to choose if they are engaged in certain activities. They would mark 1 if they were engaged in it and 0 if they are not engaged in it for a maximum of three points (Feyberg, 2009). The second  activity is a writing assessment written online. Previous research proves that words use convey extensive information about social and emotional processes. The writing samples would provide meaningful information about personal experience and not to be captured by self- report scales. Writing examples is to be written on a website by the author for the study. They were to think about a personal experience that you participated and have a good recollection of (Feyberg, 2009). The written sample is was needed to be a descriptive of the experience include feelings and could write as much as they wanted. The written sample examines different in affiliation, achievement, or power themes. Each theme was composed of four subcategories and if the written sample contained at least one of them, it was awarded one point and if all three was in the sample then four points were awarded (Feyberg, 2009). The three themes were afflication, achievement, and narratives. Afflication consisted of four subcategories, positive effect, dialogue, commitments, and surrender of code. Achievement theme consisted of achievement imagery, anticipating success, world block, and negative feelings. Narratives theme consisted of general power imagery, increased prestige, lower prestige, and effect. Particapants consisted of 57 adolescent girls who attended four different schools. They ranged from ages 11 to 19 years of age and in grades from 6th to 12th. The girls age ranged from 12 girls; 11 to 13 (early adolescent), 22 girls; 14-16 (middle adolescent), 23; 17 to 19 (late adolescent). 49 describe themselves as white, 4 as African American, 2 as other, and 1 as Hispanic (Feyberg, 2009). The results were evualted by ANOVA. ANOVA showed significant differences for reported time, enjoyment, meaningfulness, and choice in achievement, social, and relaxation activities. Follow up contrast demonstrated spent more time in achievement then relaxation. The trend for spending more time in social then relaxation. No significant different in achievement and social. Employment results showed significant main effect found. Follow up reported greater enjoyment in relaxation then achievement. Reports show higher levels of enjoyment in social than in achievement. No significant differences in the amount of enjoyment reports for social and relaxation. Meaningfulness results show higher levels of achievement than social activities. No reports for meaningfulness for social and relaxation. Significance of social behavior in adolescent girls by the use of two  methods, self-reports, and narrative analysis. Recalling social behavior for adolescent girls, the two methods, which were diffe rent in their approaches to understanding adolescent experiences. Although it was predicted that both methods would provide similar information about adolescent social experience. According to the narrative analysis demonstration that participated used more afflication themes than achievement or power theme. the strengths of the experiment was too asked to describe a personal experience, so researches could identify their narratives. The weakness is that they only test this on girls. The limitations of the study were that they examine one gender due to likelihood of an invalid across-group comparison.† Study demonstrated that quantities and qualitative methods were not significantly correlated with one another (Feyberg, 2009). One suggestion I could say would benefit is examine this same study on boys. Reference Freyberg, R. (2009). Quantitive and Qualitive Measures of Behavior in Adolescent Girls. Adolescene, 44(173),33-54.

Banking Concepts and Practices

XITE, Gamharia Banking Concepts & Practice [Paper 11: Elective II, Academic Session 2011-12] 1. Evolution of Banking: Bank-Meaning, Definition, Features & Classification, Concept of Different Types of Banking System, Overview of Indian Banking System 2. Commercial Bank: Basic Concept of Commercial bank, Role of Commercial bank in Financial System, Credit Control by Central Bank 3. Central Bank: Meaning, Functions, Methods of Credit Control 4. Monetary Policy: Meaning, Objectives and Instruments 5. Customer Relationship: Definition, Features of Contractual Customer Relation, Customer Orientation, Retail Banking 6. E-Banking: Concept, ATM, Core Banking, Virtual Banking, Electronic Payment System Reference Books: 1. Banking Law and Practice- P. N. Varshney 2. Indian Banking- P. Parameswaran & S. Natarajan 3. Money, Banking & International Trade- M. C. Vaish 4. Banking Concepts & Practices- Shekhar & Shekhar 5. Banking Concepts & Practices- Canon Notes prepared by: Fr. Alex Mascarenhas SJ, Loyola Nivas, H-15, St Mile Road, Sakchi, Jamshedpur 831 001 INDEX | | |EVOLUTION OF BANKING |NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENT | |MEANING OF BANKING |BILL OF EXCHANGE | |CLASSIFICATION OF BANKS |PROMISSORY NOTE | |SYSTEMS OF BANKING |CHEQUE | | |CROSSING & ENDORSEMENT | |INDIAN BANKING: PROFILE | | |INDIGENOUS SYSTEM |BANKING PRACTICE | |MODERN FINANCIAL SYSTEMS |BANK ACCOUNTS | |CHANGING PROFILE |TIME DEPOSITS | |CHALLENGES AHEAD |LOANS & ADVANCES | | |CHARGE CREATION | |COMMERCIAL BANK |TYPES OF SECURITIES | |FEATURES |BILLS COLLECTION | |ROLE IN FINANCIAL SYSTEM |PAYING BANK | |MULTIPLE CREDIT CREATION |COLLECTING BANK | | |GRIVANCE REDRESSAL | |CENTRAL BANK | | |CONCEPT & MEANING RETAIL BANKING | |FUNCTIONS | | |RESERVE BANK OF INDIA |BANKING SERVICES | |NEW TRENDS IN CENTRAL BANKING | | | |ANCILLARY SERVICES | |MONETARY POLICY | | |MEANING |E-BANKING | |OBJECTIVES | | |INSTRUMENTS |CONCEPT EVOLUTION | |TYPES OF MONETARY POLICIES |CORE BANKING | |RBI MONETARY POLICY |VIRTUAL BANKING | |LIMITATIONS |E-PAYMENTS | | |MERITS & DEMERITS | |CUSTOMER RELATION | | |MEANING |APPENDIX | |NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP |MUTUAL FUNDS | |FEATURES |BANK NATIONALIZATION | |CUSTOMER ORIENTATION | | EVOLUTION OF BANKING A. MEANING OF BANKING: Banking was first associated only with the lending activity. The idea of accepting deposits from the public in order to lend it to others on credit developed much later. Modern banks have gone way beyond traditional banking and have added fee based financial as well as ancillary services to banking which are very much within the limits of their expertise. A1. DEFINITION: Dictionary gives multiple meanings of a BANK- †¢ It is a heap or storage of goods. †¢ It is the shallow edge of the sea. †¢ It is the raised edge of a river or a road. †¢ It is a blockage of sandbags to a flow of water. Though none of these explanations speak directly about financial dealings, all of them give a common meaning that it is a sort of CUSHION provided to PROTECT something. Hence, there can be a grain bank, a blood bank, a sperm bank, a question bank, a river bank, money bank, etc. The exact origin of the word bank is not certain. Some trace its origin to German word ‘Banck’ which means heap or mound, others trace it to Italian word ‘Banco’ which means heap of money while some others trace it to the French word ‘Banque’ which means a bench for keeping things. Jewish bankers and money changers transacted their business of lending and exchanging money on benches in the marketplace in Lombardy and so the bench became the banking counter. Bible has a reference to money changers who were transacting business on their benches inside the Jewish temple and Jesus throws their benches and scatters them. If a banker failed by losing all his money, his bench was broken up by the people which gave birth to the word ‘bankrupt’ Monetary banks derive their meaning from all the above concepts. They provide facility to the customers to ‘store’ their wealth and give ‘protection’ to it and in the mean time they lend it to others to ‘gain’ some returns. †¢ According to Kent, â€Å"bank is an organization whose principal operations are concerned with the accumulation of the temporarily idle money of the general public for the purpose of advancing to others for expenditure. †¢ According to Crowther, â€Å"bank is one that collects money from those who have it to spare or who are saving it out of their incomes and lends the money so collected to those who require it. † †¢ According to Hart, â€Å"banker is one who in the ordinary course of business honors cheques drawn upon him by persons from and for whom he receives money on current accounts. † †¢ According to John Paget, â€Å"no person or body corporate otherwise can be a banker who does not take deposit, does not take current accounts, does not issue and pay cheques and does not collect cheques for his customers. † All these definitions have described the meaning of a bank but have not given a precise definition. Banking Regulation Act of 1949 u/s 5(1) has given the meaning of banking as follows- â€Å"Banking means accepting for the purpose of lending or investment, of deposits of money from the public, repayable on demand or otherwise and withdrawable by cheque. † Hence, bank in the technical sense can be defined as â€Å"an institution that accepts refundable deposits for lending or investing. † The concept of offering fee based services has no direct connection to traditional banking; it evolved much later due to the financial expertise available with the banks. A2. HISTORY OF BANKING: The concept of banking is as old as the authentic history of humanity. ANCIENT WORLD: The system was started by the Babylonians before 2000 BC. The practice of granting credit was widely prevalent in ancient Greece and Rome. Credit by compensation and by transfer orders is traced to Assyria, Phoenicia and Egypt even before its development in Greece and Rome. EUROPE: Many European countries established public banks either for facilitating commerce or to serve the government. Begun as an office for transfer of public debt, The Bank of Venice [1157] is the most ancient bank. The Bank of Amsterdam was established in 1609 to meet the needs of the merchants of the city. It accepted all kinds of specie deposits to be withdrawn or transferred to another account later using a certificate valid for six months. These written orders in the course of time got transformed into modern day cheques. ENGLAND: English banking began with the London Goldsmiths who accepted customer’s valuables for safe custody and issued ‘payable to bearer’ receipts which in course of time enjoyed considerable circulation. Actual growth of private commercial banking began with the establishment of Bank of England in 1694. INDIA: The first reference to banking in India is found in the book ‘Arthashastra’ by Chanakya in the year 300 BC. He mentions about guilds of merchant bankers who received deposits and advanced loans. The traditional indigenous bankers and money lenders were active in India since time immemorial. The first bank in today’s understanding to be established in India was Bank of Hindustan in 1770. Unfortunately it failed subsequently. Presidency Bank established in 1806 which then became Imperial Bank and finally State Bank of India is the first successful bank in India. Co-operative credit banks started playing significant role since II world war. A3. FEATURES OF A BANK: Features of a bank are the services they offer to their customers. Traditional banks have just two features: accepting deposits and lending money on credit. Modern banks have introduced a third feature of fee based services. A3a. DEPOSITS are basically of two types- Demand deposits & Time Deposits. Demand deposits are in the form of running accounts like Savings Bank A/c, NRE A/c, Current A/c and Overdraft A/c depositing or withdrawing money without any advance notice. On Savings Bank A/c and NRE a/c banks offer interest on the balance amount where as for an overdraft a/c they charge interest on the money overdrawn. Current A/c and the credit balance in Overdraft A/c fetch no interest to the account holders. All these accounts will have cheque book and passbook facility. Now one can do banking transactions from the comforts of ones own office or room or while traveling even without entering the bank premises, pay bills anywhere and anytime and draw cash from ATM day and night and even during holidays through e-banking. Time deposits are always accepted to mature on a due date. Banks give interest on time deposit. Longer time deposits usually [but not necessarily] fetch higher interest. All banks allow pre-maturity withdrawals of time deposits and give whatever interest is applicable for the duration the deposit was with the bank with or without a penalty interest for pre-maturity withdrawal. A3b. CREDITS can be further sub-grouped duration-wise or security-wise: Duration-wise credits can be short term for less than a year or medium term for one to three years or long term for beyond three years. Banks usually prefer short term credits as they give better liquidity. Long term credits are usually given for capital requirements. Customers are charged interest on credit which is little higher than the interest banks give on deposit. Security-wise credit may be secured, partially secured or clean. When credit is given against a collateral tradable security of at least equal value it is termed as secured credit. If the securities offered against the credit do not cover the credit amount completely then it is partially secured credit. If personal guarantees are offered instead of any tradable securities, it is a clean credit. Banks usually prefer secured credit to ensure the capital safety. A3c. FEE BASED SERVICES may or may not be linked directly to banking activities. These features are unique to commercial banks and are on offer because of the expertise they have and also because their primary aim is profit. Cooperative banks usually do not offer such services except cheque book and bill collection facility. Some of the fee based services offered by them are- Financial Services are those involving money through the customer’s accounts like Cheque, Bill Pay, Bill Collection, Debit Card, Fund Transfer, etc. Free availability of sufficient funds in the account is pre-condition for these services. †¢ Utility Services are those financial services which are provided by the bank to th e general public even without having an account in the bank like Foreign exchange, Bank Pay Order, Bank Drafts, Traveler Cheque, etc. Funds and the bank charges have to be provided at the time of availing these services. †¢ Agency/Fiduciary Services are those services in which the bank acts like an agent/trustee on behalf of its customers like Letter of Credit, Bank Guarantee, Originator/ Underwriter of Capital Issues, Safe Deposit Locker, Safe Custody, etc. Investment Services are those agency services where bank guides the customers in making investments outside the bank for higher returns like D-Mat A/c, Brokerage and Advisory Service. B. CLASSIFICATION OF BANKS: There are various types of banks depending on the purposes of their businesses. But such a classification may or may not be exclusive since some overlapping is always possible- B1. COMMERCIAL BANKS by their very name mean business and so perform all kinds of banking functions such as accepting deposits, advancing cr edits, offering fee based ancillary services including foreign exchange and foreign currency remittances. They are organized in the manner of joint stock companies. Their main aim is to maximize profit from their banking business. Hence, they have expanded their network through branches wherever there is a possibility of better banking business. In many developing countries like India, commercial banks are obliged to contribute to the economic growth of the country through various regulations of the regulatory authorities. These banks may be govt. owned, public sector or private sector or even foreign banks. Private sector and foreign banks vie with each other in providing personalized services in order to expand business. B2. FOREIGN EXCHANGE BANKS are specialized in foreign exchange and financing foreign trade in addition to the normal banking services. They also offer other information collecting services to their customers on foreign trade prospects, foreign agents, and foreign collaborators and provide foreign currency remittance facilities. Foreign exchange banks usually have their head offices outside the country. Their branch network is usually bare minimum; restricted only to big urban centers with great potential for foreign exchange business. B3. INDUSTRIAL BANKS are also known as development banks and are specialized in providing long term loans to industries for the purchase of assets. They are usually not into ordinary banking services; they basically underwrite shares and debentures of industries and also subscribe to them. Some of the industrial banks are- Industrial Finance Corporation of India-IFCI, Industrial Development bank of India-IDBI, Industrial Credit & Investment Corporation of India-ICICI [now merged with ICICI Bank Ltd. ] and Small Industries Development Bank of India-SIDBI. These are more of finance companies set up by government than banks. B4. AGRICULTURAL BANKS like State Cooperative Banks-SCB, District Central Cooperative Banks-DCCB, State Cooperative Agricultural & Rural Development Banks-SCARDB, Primary Cooperative Agricultural & Rural Development Banks-PCARDB and Regional Rural Banks-RRB provide all types of agricultural credits to the farmers for their short term, medium term and long term agricultural needs. They also offer limited ordinary banking services that are required by the farmers. Land Development Bank of India-LDBI gives long term loans on mortgage of agricultural land and National Bank of Agriculture & Rural Development-NABARD gives refinance to other institutions which give direct agricultural loans to the farmers. Both these banks do not provide retail banking services. B5. COOPERATIVE BANKS work on the principle of cooperation among a group of shareholding members usually confined to a small geographical locality and the purpose of their cooperation. Their activities are largely restricted to their own members. They do not come under the strict regulatory controls of Central Bank since they are separately covered under Cooperative Societies Act. But they do have regulatory norms to satisfy, though not of the same level as that of the commercial banks. Cooperative banks are basically of two types- Urban Cooperative Banks that cater to the needs of urban population and †¢ Rural Cooperative Banks which cater to the needs of the rural population. B6. SAV INGS BANKS promote small savings and mobilization of resources. They may not lend on credit; they may invest the entire sum to produce returns enough to pay good interest to their deposit holders. They are very successful in Japan, Germany and India. Post Office Savings Bank, Employee Provident Fund and Public Provident Fund are some examples of Savings Banks. B7. INVESTMENT BANKS are financial organizations which assist business houses to raise funds for their long term capital requirements from the market hrough the sale of their shares and bonds. Hence, they certainly conduct other ordinary banking business in order to collect funds for their business. These banks act basically as middlemen or agents. They function in two ways- †¢ Originator- They act as originators of the capital issue by bringing out the new issue and managing it until the shares are finally allotted for a fee for the services provided by them. They have nothing to do with the gain or loss of the capital i ssue which goes directly to the company. †¢ Underwriter- They under-write the entire capital issue for a mutually agreed price and re-issue the shares to the public for the market price. The entire gain or loss made in the process is the gain or loss of the bank and not of the issuing company. Commercial Banks are also eager to provide investment banking facilities since these are basically wholesale banking activities with definite sources of large gain in a short span of time with or without committing one’s own funds. B8. MERCHANT BANK is a loosely used term. Some merchant banks may neither be a merchant nor a bank. Merchant banks mainly deal with corporate financial advice such as share issue, capital re-construction, mergers and acquisitions. Merchant banks also accept deposits and are involved both in money market operations and foreign exchange dealings. They also manage funds on behalf of their clients. B9. CENTRAL BANK is not a commercial bank; it is the apex bank of a country which controls nation’s monetary and banking structures, like Reserve Bank of India. It is owned by the central government in most of the countries but not necessarily always. For example, in USA it is owned collectively by the member banks. Central banks work in the national interest in developing the nation’s economy. Central bank does not deal with ordinary banking activities. It issues and regulates currency, provides banking services only to the central government, the state governments and the member banks, keeps cash reserves of the member banks, holds gold reserves of the country and nation’s forex reserves, acts as clearing house and acts as a lender of last resort. C. SYSTEMS OF BANKING: There is no uniform system in commercial banking. They have evolved based on the needs of a particular place. Philosophically there are two banking systems- Capital based Western Banking System and Service based Islamic Banking System. Islamic banking system is the only banking system in the world that is totally fee based and does not pay or give interest. Islamic banks collect fees for all the services offered by them since giving or receiving interest is against the Islamic Law- Shariat. Most commercial banks follow capital based banking systems: they accept deposits from the public at lower interest rate and give out credit on higher interest. The difference in interest rate is their profit which is gained by from their capital. They also charge a fee for all the value added services rendered by them. In practical sense we come across three major western banking systems worldwide- C1. GROUP BANKING is commonly found in USA. It is a federal system favored mostly by banks in USA. Under this system, a group of banks come under a centralized management of a holding company may or may not be affiliated to a larger bank or any government controlled agency. Holding company exerts control over all the subsidiary banks though each subsidiary bank maintains its own distinctive identity. The group may also include non banking financial corporations. In some cases instead of a holding company, individuals or a group of individuals take the control over administration of the member banks through ownership of their stocks. Such a system is known as CHAIN BANKING. For all practical purposes, both mean the same except for their ownership pattern. MERITS- 1. Parent bank pools the resources and helps the member banks. 2. Large credits more than a member’s capital can be handled through consortium basis. 3. CRR, SLR and capital requirement is centrally maintained by the parent bank. 4. Parent bank provides service on research, legal matters and investments, reducing individual member bank’s cost. DEMERITS- 1. It is a step towards monopoly, not healthy from economic point of view. 2. Decline in business of one member in the group affects the entire group. 3. If the parent body is not a bank, it may divert funds to further its own interest. C2. UNIT BANKING system is an individualistic system also favored largely in USA. In this system each bank is a centralized unit without branches; it may have service centers like ATM at multiple convenient places or even a few branches within a strictly limited area. All functions of the bank are performed at one centralized place. For remittances they are linked through correspondent banks. MERITS- 1. Every type of banking service is available under one umbrella 2. It is competitive and highly efficient. It can take prompt decisions. 3. Continuity in personal relation helps in customer care. 4. Even unique local needs are addressed by this system. DEMERITS- 1. Being localized, it can not spread risk and its resources are limited. 2. They can not diversify services, can not have large scale operations 3. Mobilization of funds is limited to their own area and so fear of failure exists. 4. They have to depend upon their correspondent bank for remittances, increasing cost. 5. Very difficult to run unit banking in rural areas since rural resources are limited. C3. BRANCH BANKING system is followed almost universally. In this system banks will have their head office at one place and branches at multiple convenient places. Each branch functions like any other full fledged bank and yet is fully controlled by the head office. They even have specialized branches to take care of specific requirements of customers, like NRI branch, SSI branch etc. This is very convenient to the customers. In some branches even the weekly holiday is changed to suit the people of the area. MERITS- 1. This system can spread risk, diversify services, can have large scale operations. 2. It can have specialized branches for exclusive purposes. 3. They can move cash reserve from less required branch to more required branch. 4. Remittance through branch system is easy, cheap and efficient. 5. Brings uniformity in the functioning supported by centralized system. 6. There will be an efficient head office control and less fear of failure due to its size. DEMERITS- 1. Centralization of command delays decision making process. 2. Every branch may not be in a position to offer all banking services 3. Administration tends to be bureaucratic, sticking to the rules at the cost of the need. 4. More the branches, difficult will be monitoring and supervision 5. Unique local needs may not be well taken care of From the above analysis we can safely conclude that branch banking system is the best system and so is favored world over. NOTE: State Bank of India is planning to bring itself and its subsidiary banks with all their branches under one Holding Bank which will be like a Central Bank with full policy control over its member banks and yet with administrative freedom given to each of the member bank to maintain their unique identity. This will also be a group banking system with an important change that the holding company is a bank whose majority stake is held by the government. Hence, this system is going to combine the advantages of all the three systems discussed above. INDIAN BANKING: PROFILE In India, ancient scripts as old as ‘Manu Smriti’ deal with regulations on credit like- credit instruments, judicial proceedings on credits, renewal of commercial papers, interest on loans, etc. Chanakya’s Arthashastra refers to accepting deposits for lending. This was mainly money lending where as the modern concept of banking came to India with the colonial rulers. Though Chanakya’s Arthashastra speaks both about deposit and credit, it is basically money lending. INDIAN BANKING SYSTEM – AN OVERVIEW v v v INDIGENOUS SYSTEM BANKING SYSTEM NBFI v v v Indig. Banker Money Lender. ____ _v______ DFI NFFC MF. v Cooperative Scheduled v v Rural, Urban, LTCCS Coop Commercial v v v SCB, DCCB, PACS SCARDB, PCARDB Public, Private, Foreign, RRB v Nationalized Banks, SBI, SBI Group A. INDIGENOUS SYSTEM is the oldest system of banking in India. It is basically a business for profit controlled by a few upper caste communities. Hence, it got degenerated into highly exploitative system against the lower castes and accepted by the masses out of helplessness. A1. INDIGENOUS BANKERS are individuals or firms who lend money against securities- hundis, promissory notes and legal bonds which state the amount of loan, due date, rate of interest and penalty interest beyond due date. They may or may not accept deposits from the public. It is a monopoly of certain castes among Multanis and Marwaris, in the West, Gujratis and Bengalis in the East and Chettis and Brahmins in the South. The interest rates of these bankers range from 6% to 150% depending on the nature of the security. Many of them have trading interests and control the marketing of the borrower’s products. They operate mainly in big trading centers with their offices and branches. A2. MONEY LENDERS are individuals usually from Mahajan, Sowcar and Pathan communities. They do not accept deposits and their methods of business are not uniform. Others with surplus funds too are involved in money lending occasionally. Money lenders usually lend small amounts on personal security without any written agreement with prohibitive interest ranging from 75% to 300%, invariably quoted and collected on a monthly basis. They operate mainly among peasants and urban labor class. The lenders in both these categories are not interested in increasing productivity through credit. They are not even bothered about the principal amount as long as the interest keeps coming on time. Most of their credit goes for non-productive consumption activities. They are willing to give fresh credit to pay off the old credit with interest as it enhances their earning. There are enough cases where illiterates get cheated by them. Money lending now requires a govt. license and has a cap on interest rates. In spite of such restrictions, money lending business it still continues illegally among the low income groups because of easy access, absence of paper work and familiarity with the lenders. B. NON BANKING FIN. INSTITUTIONS or NBFI consist of development finance institutions, non-banking finance companies and mutual funds governed under SEBI. They do not come under direct RBI control like the commercial banks. B1. DEVELOPMENT FINANCE INSTITUTIONS: established by the central government for specific priority sector developmental activities. They are EXIM Bank, NABARD, NHB & SIDBI. EXIM Bank derives its name from Export-Import and its main activity is direct lending by way of long term loans and investments in export and import activities. †¢ NABARD is abbreviation for National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development and is involved in refinancing banks and non banking financial institutions for agricultur al and rural developmental activities. †¢ NHB stands for National Housing Bank refinancing banks and non banking finance institutions on housing credits. †¢ SIDBI is short form for Small Industries Development Bank of India and it extends refinance to banks and non banking finance institutions for small scale industries. B2. NON-BANKING FINANCE COMPANIES: come under the regulations and supervision of RBI since 1998 but not under the II schedule like the scheduled banks. They are private or public limited companies and are allowed by RBI to accept deposits and offer 1% higher interest than the banks. They give credit only for the specific activities for which they are established like- equipment leasing companies, hire purchase finance companies, investment companies, loan companies, housing finance companies, etc. B3. MUTUAL FUNDS: are trusts that accept funds from the investors and redeploy them both in equity market as well as non-equity securities in a pre-determined pattern made available to the investor in advance and fully share the accrued profits with the investors after deducting their legitimate expenses. Hence, gain from mutual funds depends on the types of securities purchased by them. Broadly speaking there are three types of Mutual Funds. Equity Funds invest at least 65% of their funds in various equities and may give superlative returns or make one lose one’s own money depending on the market situation. Debt Funds invest in non equity securities and give low but steady returns. Balanced Funds are combination of both equity & debt funds. For a detailed discussion on Mutual Funds please see appendix at the end. C. BANKING SYSTEM consists of both cooperative and scheduled banks. C1. COOPERATIVE BANKS received momentum after the 2nd World War. They are formed by the cooperation of any group under the Co-op Societies Act. Such groups are largely localized and the success depends on their own expertise. Urban Co-op Banks catering to the needs of the urban population and Rural Co-op Banks such as State Co-op Banks and District Central Co-op Banks catering to the needs of the rural population fall in this category. Co-op Banks are not listed under the second schedule of RBI Act, 1934 but they come under RBI supervision separately. They are required to allocate 40% of their credit to the priority sector of the government like any other commercial bank, work within the jurisdiction of their state and are primarily into short term credit to its members. They are allowed to offer cheque book facility and interest 1% higher than commercial banks on deposits, but they do not offer all the banking and other ancillary facilities of a full fledged bank. All co-op banks/ credit societies have to be registered under Cooperative Societies Act of the respective states. They work on the basis of cooperation and can be established by any group of people by forming a co-op society and subscribing for their shares. The main difference between a co-op bank and a co-op credit society is that the former can receive deposit from general public and give cheque book facility but give credit only to the members where as the latter provides its services and benefits only to its members. Besides these, there are also Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, Primary Cooperative Agriculture & Rural Development Banks and State Cooperative Agriculture & Rural Development Banks in the cooperative sector. Cooperative banking structure, particularly the rural sector cooperative banking is quite complex in India. It can be broadly classified as follows- Urban Cooperative Banks alone have a single tier structure catering to all types of needs of the urban population through their branches in major cities spread all over the state, just like any other bank. Rural Cooperative Banks have three tier structures of delivery- State Cooperative Bank at the Apex level, District Central Cooperative Bank at the Intermediary level and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies at the Base level. Long Term Cooperative Credit Societies usually have two tier system- Primary Cooperative Agriculture & Rural Development Banks at the base level and State Cooperative Agriculture & Rural Development Banks at the state level. Some states have unitary system with State level banks working through their own branches and some other states have a mixture of both systems. C2. SCHEDULED BANKS are those which are registered as joint stock companies under Indian Companies Act and are also listed under 2nd schedule of the RBI Act, 1934. They are licensed by RBI to have branches all over India or even abroad and perform all banking activities including foreign exchange. They are required to lend 40% of their credit to the priority sectors of the government. They directly come under RBI regulations and supervision. RBI control over the scheduled banks is so efficient that we do not have any example where a scheduled bank has ever applied for liquidation since the inception of RBI. Scheduled banks are basically of two types- a. SCHEDULED COOPERATIVE BANKS are those cooperative banks with a large capital base and listed under the 2nd schedule of RBI Act of 1934. They can offer all banking facilities just like any other commercial bank. b. SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS are those private or public limited joint stock companies listed under the 2nd schedule of RBI Act of. They are further classified into 4 groups: Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks and Regional Rural Banks. b1. PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS are public limited companies whose majority shares are held by the government. Hence, their board of directors is fully controlled by the govt. and they come directly under govt. regulations. They are further classified into State Bank of India, Subsidiary Banks of SBI and Nationalized Banks. †¢ STATE BANK OF INDIA: The East India Company established three banks- Presidency Bank of Bengal in 1809, Presidency Bank of Bombay in 1840 and Presidency Bank of Madras in 1843 as bankers to the respective Presidency Governments. In 1921 they were amalgamated into Imperial Bank of India which also functioned as the central bank till RBI was formed in 1935. In 1955 it was nationalized and re-named as State Bank of India, popularly known as SBI. It also acts as the banker to the government wherever RBI does not have its offices. †¢ SUBSIDIARY BANKS OF SBI or SBI Group was formed by SBI with majority shareholding in them. State Banks of Saurashtra / Indore have merged with SBI in 2008 & 2010 respectively. State Banks of Mysore / Travancore / Hyderabad / Patiala / Bikaner & Jaipur are in the process of merger. SBI European Bank is their foreign subsidiary bank. †¢ NATIONALIZED BANKS: 14 commercial banks were nationalized in 1969. They are- Allahabad Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Dena Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank, United Commercial Bank, United Bank of India and Union Bank of India. 6 more were nationalized in 1980. They are Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank, New Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab & Sind Bank and Vijaya Bank. b2. PRVIATE SECTOR BANKS do not have any govt. stake in their share holdings. Most of them are owned and controlled by business groups and follow aggressive corporate culture in their functioning to maximize their profits. The promotion prospects of their employees are directly linked to the business they promote unlike in public sector. Hence, they are far ahead of public sector banks in value added services, customer care and at the same time they also charge a host of hidden costs unlike the public sector banks. b3. FOREIGN BANKS are those banks whose head offices are located outside India and are allowed to do banking business under certain conditions. Prominent among them is lending 32% of their credit to the priority sector including export credit. Financing foreign trade remains their main business in India. They can fulfill their priority sector lending requirement by lending to priority sector export business and investing in priority sector government financial institutions. b4. REGIONAL RURAL BANKS were created to provide institutional credit and other facilities to the small and marginal farmers, agricultural laborers, artisans and small entrepreneurs in rural areas under 20 point Economic Program of the central government. 19 such banks were established in 1976, one in each state. They were given a jurisdiction to work, freedom to have branches or agencies within their jurisdiction and were put under the sponsorship of a nationalized bank. Ownership pattern of the capital was 35% with sponsor bank, 50% with the central govt. and 15% with the state govt. D. CHANGING PROFILE: Indian economic policy has been founded on the philosophy of economic growth and social justice. Indian banking sector has undergone a dynamic change over the years based on the needs of its economy. Most important among them are- REACH- The branch network of Indian banking system in so extensive, it covers almost all remote corners of India. It is one of the largest networks in the wo rld. †¢ DEVT- The diversification and development of our economy and its rapid growth is all because of our banking system’s credit to various priority sectors. These achievements have become a reality because of the changing profile of our banking system over the years. We shall discuss the major changes in the profile as under- D1. CHANGE IN SECURITY ORIENTATION: Traditionally personal creditworthiness of the borrower mattered a lot for any credit to be released. It meant, safety of the credit alone mattered for the banks and this safety came from the wealth the customers possessed. It effectively meant that only moneyed people could borrow from the bank. Now, banks have now changed their orientation from safety to purpose. Credit is now made available to make them creditworthy. Hence, technical competence of the borrower, operational flexibility and economic viability of the project has become more important than the security offered by the borrower. D2. CHANGE IN REGIONAL IMBALANCES: Private Banks opened their branches in urban locations because of the business potential. As a result Rural India remained unconnected by the banks. For example, pre-nationalization of banks there were only 12555 branches of banks in the entire country and they were located mainly in the urban centers. Post nationalization of banks number of branches has rapidly risen and as of Mar-09 it stands at 82408 branches. It is important to note that over 49% of these branches are now in the rural areas. It gives evidence that banking network has now spread uniformly to cover the entire nation without rural-urban bias. D3. CHANGE IN BANKING HABIT: As a natural corollary to the development in the field of branch banking, development of baking habits in India have grown at an unparalleled pace. Banks have successfully induced the customers to save a part of their earning in banks for the future. Some banks even sent their agents door to door to collect the savings. This helped the banks to diversify their lending portfolio considerably. If the deposits & advances counted for 13% & 10% of GDP respectively in 1969 they shot up to a whopping 50% & 25% respectively in 2002. D4. CHANGE IN BANKERS ATTITUDE: A welcome change is the change in the attitude of the bankers. Earlier lending had a wholesale character coupled with the security of the credit. This attitude of the bankers made the banking facilities almost the exclusive prerogative of the elite classes. With the branches reaching the rural areas banking went retail and for the ordinary masses. Grant of credit no more became a matter of privilege; it became available for genuine production need based purely on technical norms. D5. CHANGE IN BANKING PRODUCTS: As the focus got shifted from wholesale to retail banking, private banks in particular came up with novel products to suit the needs of the retail customers, like- home loan, auto loan, credit card, etc. Pigmy deposit introduced by Syndicate Bank and imitated by others in its various forms for example aimed at pooling idle money and inculcate saving habits among people. Banks sent their agents door to door to collect the deposit money on a daily basis and without setting a minimum. Bank deposits grew substantially because of this scheme. Such innovative products were considered a tough proposition earlier by the banks due to the volume of operations involved. Now, computerization of banking system has removed this difficulty. Some of the banks have started offering even auto FD where amounts above a pre set limit gets converted automatically into FD to fetch higher interest and gets redeemed automatically when cheques are presented and the account runs short of balance. D6. CHANGE IN MODE OF BANKING: When the banking system was manually operated, almost all services were time consuming except depositing money into the account in the base branch where the account is maintained. Computerization of banking has made service faster; the entire country is made to appear like one branch and even the necessity to go to the bank during banking hours for transactions is becoming redundant. Cash can be drawn from ATM anytime, even during holidays and bills can be paid directly to the account from one’s own office. D7. CHANGE IN NON-BANKING ACTIVITIES: Many banks have diversified their activities beyond traditional banking activities like equipment leasing, hire purchase financing and factoring [acting as agents for the customers. ] A major step in this direction is the merger of ICICI with ICICI Bank D8. CHANGE IN APPROACH TO CREDIT: As a corollary to the shift from security orientation to purpose orientation, bank’s approach to credit also changed from lending to development in the recent past. Banks started lending for the purpose of industrial development, providing access to capital market and long term savings of the economy. They even started specialized branches to cater to the specific needs of the customers, like- NRI Branch, Overseas Branch, SSI Branch, Recovery Branch, etc. D9. CHANGE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE: Private Banks started giving more focus to customer care in order to win more business. They even gave free collection and delivery facilities to HNI customers. To cope with the increasing banking habit, RBI too came up with a Banking Ombudsman scheme to redress the customers’ complaints. E. CHALLENGES AHEAD: Banks have sacrificed some qualitative aspects of growth while expanding the banking system to achieve development and increase its reach. Prudent regulations have no doubt helped to ensure systemic stability, but enhanced efficiency would necessitate institutional changes in the internal functioning of the banks in the following fields- E1. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE: Centralized structures work wonders under uniform conditions. As the banks diversify their business into the field of agriculture, rural development and other priority sectors they have to deal with different types of customers who need different kind of treatment. They can not afford to force the standard sophisticated practices on all the customers uniformly. For example, to finance rural development it is very much essential that banks evolve simple and meaningful procedures to the comfort of the rural folks. The most common complaint against banks is the under-financing and non-availability of timely credit to meet the borrowers’ need based requirements. Hence, banks must revamp their organizational structures by delegating power, decentralizing control and monitoring performance. E2. EXCELLENCE IN MANAGEMENT: Quality of management is another challenge in the face of fast expansion. Here are ten critical characteristics of a good bank management- 1. An open culture and extensive vertical and horizontal communication, 2. Strong shared values, 3. Profit performance as a value, 4. Customer focused business orientation, 5. Willingness to invest in new products, 6. Strong sense of direction and consistent leadership, 7. Commitment to recruit best persons, 8. Investment in training, 9. Product information system and 10. Strong credit risk management. E3. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: There are instances where the boards have shown reluctance to ratify and adopt RBI circulated covenants on professinalization of bank boards. Corporate governance can not be enforced through regulations, it must spring from within. E4. EMPLOYEE COMPETENCY: Together with the change in organizational structure there is a need to increase employee competency also. When new entrants into the market like Mutual Funds are cutting into the business of the banks, contemporary banking is becoming more and more skill sensitive and information technology is throwing new challenges to the banking systems, employee competency has become all the more important to retain the existing business of the banks and expand it. E5. APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY: Well established banks are facing stiff competition from the new entrant banks in terms of use of appropriate technology that makes banking convenient. The established banks do use modern technology but are way behind in maintaining pace and are challenged by these new entrants in order to remain in business. E6. NONPERFORMING ASSETS: These are popularly known as NPA, the loans that do not perform- loans under litigation or bad loans that are doubtful of recovery. 6. 2% of loans of scheduled commercial banks were NPA and the public sector banks had to write off 42. 5% of the NPA as on 31. 3. 2002. It reflects on the quality of the loan portfolio. At 5% NPA, 17 out of 21 major banks in Japan were on the red. As per developed country standards it has to be around 2%. Hence, banks have to bring down the NPA ratio drastically. E7. DIRECTED CREDIT: NPA as discussed above is a direct result of the quality of the loan portfolio of the banks. The system of directed credit to priority sector has no doubt brought impressive performance in quantitative terms but qualitatively it has brought more loan delinquencies since the relation between credit expansion and productivity has become weak. Political interference in credit decision-making is pointed out as a factor. The populist phenomenon of ‘loan mela’ is certainly contrary to the professional appraisal of bank credit needs. What is required to improve the quality of loan is- 1. Serious appraisal of credit need, 2. Potential productive activity and 3. Effective post credit supervision. E8. RISK MANAGEMENT: Risk is intrinsic to any business; all the more to banking. Risks encountered by banks have increased with the diversity of banking business and growing sophistication of banking operations. The major risks encountered by banks are credit risk, interest rate risk, operational risk, forex risk and liquidity risk. While deregulation has opened up new vistas for banks to shore up more revenue, it has entailed greater competition and greater risks too. Hence, greater attention needs to be iven in strengthening of internal controls of risk management. E9. SICK INDUSTRIAL UNITS: Funds locked up in industrial sickness has reached a staggering 2% of the entire credit of the banking system in March 2000. When sick units have to be nursed for ‘social objectives’ banks should not be forced to suffer; actual stakeholders must bear the burden of nursing them. When sick units are nationalized for protecting the employment or they are public sector entities, govt. must give adequate compensation to the banks to cover their dues which rarely happens in reality. It is neither legitimate nor practical for the banks to nurse sick units in all circumstances. E10. PROFIT PLANNING: Banking can not run like other profit making business since excessive and unjustified profits can only be at the cost of development of the society so far as the lending rates push up the production cost and ultimately is passed on to the customer. At the same time strong operating profits allow for allocations to capital and reserves which are very much essential for any bank to maintain its competitive viability. This setback was realized in the 90’s when the nationalized banks posted declining profits. Nevertheless, concerted efforts by these banks improved the situation by 2002. Stiff competition makes the banks to work on thin interest rate margins but to increase their profitability, they have to increase their fee based non-fund services substantially. E11. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Though entry of new private banks no doubt has increased the quality of customer service, it is by and large confined to urban areas and to wealthy customers. Only the educated and wealthy customers have access to detailed information on all the banking facilities available. Customer care is very much wanting in public sector banks where the unionized employees are sure of not losing their jobs on this count. Efforts must be made to collect customer feedback on regular basis and remedy the defects pointed out if any, at the earliest wherever possible. E12. GLOBAL STANDARDS: Computerization has revolutionized in banking in India. But it has not yet made much progress in expanding it beyond the ational boundaries. Not many branches of Indian banks are found outside India. Just like its progress in Information Technology and software, India has to make good progress in the banking sector internationally since allocation of capital can not be bound by geographical bound aries. COMMERCIAL BANK A. FEATURES: Commercial banks are private or public limited joint stock banking companies registered under Indian Companies Act. There are three distinct features of a commercial bank- they accept DEPOSITS on lower cost and give CREDIT on higher cost and the cost difference between deposit and credit is their GAIN. [For more details refer features of a bank] Its capacity to earn profits depends on its investment policy which in turn depends on the manner in which it manages its investment portfolio. Portfolio management refers to prudent management of a bank’s profit, liquidity and safety. But most commercial banks have gone way ahead of their basic functions introducing a host of fee based ancillary financial services in order to maximize their profits. Thus a commercial bank now may be defined as â€Å"an institution that accepts deposits from the public on lower cost and lends it on credit on higher cost as well as offers ancillary services for a fee in order to increase its profits. † B. ROLE IN FINANCIAL SYSTEM: Commercial banks strive to earn a profit. At the same time their entire business of credit depends on public money deposited with them. Hence, they can not afford to risk public money just to increase their own profits. It is common knowledge that national level bank strikes throttle the lifeline of the nation’s economy and inflict heavy losses on the GDP. The significance of banks’ role in the financial system must be understood in the words of Walter Leaf, who says â€Å"The banker is the universal arbiter of the world’s economy† Commercial banks have to play a major role in three distinct areas- †¢ Providing fiscal liquidity to the financial system, †¢ Giving capital protection to the economy and †¢ Speeding up economic growth of the nation. B1. FISCAL LIQUIDITY: By fiscal liquidity we mean the capacity to produce cash on demand. The most important role of any bank is to provide liquidity to the financial system. Banks pool around idle money in small pockets through their wide spread branches into a large capital and redeploy it wherever needed. For better management of credit, banks like to have as much funds in liquid as possible while maximization of gain is possible only by deploying maximum available funds on credit. Both are important for the bank. Hence, bank has to strike an effective balance between them so that neither its profitability suffers nor the liquidity of the market is affected. Liquidity of the assets of the bank is planned in three stages- a. CASH is the most liquid asset. But it is an idle asset earning no returns for the bank. Yet certain percent of deposits must be always kept in reserve with the Central Bank in addition to cash in hand to meet immediate withdrawal of deposit. This is known as Cash Reserve Ratio or CRR. It is decided by the Central Bank. b. CALL MONEY is the investment in Money Market, Bond Market and Reverse Repo. # Money Market securities include short term securities like Certificate of Deposit [CD] of banks, Commercial Papers [CP] of companies, treasury bills of the govt. which give stable but low returns and long term govt. securities whose yield depend on the interest scenario. Bond Market securities include Medium Term as well as Long Term bonds of any banks or companies tradable in the secondary bond market. They are bought and sold at discount or premium and hence, their yield also depends on interest scenario. # Reverse Repo is the system through which RBI borrows from commercial banks to abs orb excess liquidity at lower interest rate. These funds are made available to commercial banks through bills repurchase under repo system on a little higher interest. These securities are the next best liquid assets but the returns from these securities are low. But it is important to select only those securities which give a fairly stable return. These securities can easily be liquidated in the Market with short notice. RBI prescribes a Statutory Liquidity Ratio or SLR for banks by which banks have to maintain certain percent of their deposits as liquid assets. c. CREDIT and investments give maximum gain to the bank but they are the least liquid. Hence, these assets should be created only in required proportion, never as a priority. Among them, short term credits are preferred by banks over long term credits for the sake of liquidity. B2. CAPITAL SAFETY: Commercial banks strive to earn profit. But this must be done through prudent ways without risking the deposits of their customers. They have an important role to play in the capital protection. Hence, 1. Protection of deposits must be the top priority for the banks. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation set up by the govt. gives guarantee only up to Rupees one lakh per customer in case a bank fails and has to be closed down. 2. Banks must avoid investing in equity related instruments or giving loan for speculative business since equity market weakens capital safety to a large extent. This is required to increase stability of the capital. 3. Banks have to use self restraint in their credit to other volatile businesses like real estate, film industry, etc. Similarly they must be extra cautious while accepting volatile securities as surety for credit. 4. Banks must restrict long term credits and investments to a small percent since capital safety in short term credits is higher than the long term credits. 5. Before giving clean loans, banks must have a thorough reality check on the creditworthiness of the borrowers to repay the loan on time. 6. Banks must maintain a fair margin between their interest rates on deposits and credits. B3. ECONOMIC GROWTH: Banks have a greater role to play in the economic growth of the nation through economic development of all the sectors. Hence, they must provide more credit to developmental and productive activities than non-productive or consumption oriented activities. Basically there are three types of developmental activities- Large capital based corporate activities, medium or small capital based priority sector activities and export activity. a. CORPORATE SECTOR- While funding developmental activities, banks find it easy to provide credit to large capital based profit making corporates in industry & trade since timely repayment of credit received by them with interest is almost guaranteed. Funding is required not only for corporates but also for other sectors like industry, trade, service, infrastructure, transport, housing, power, finance, technology, etc and the banks can not overlook one sector at the expense of the other. Besides, corporate sector companies also have the capacity to increase its capital base or raise funds from the open market by issuing their own bonds. In other words they do not depend heavily on banks for their capital requirements where as others heavily depend on banks. Hence, banks must use their prudence while deciding percentages for corporate credit. Large capital companies, particularly industry contribute to the economic growth of the nation not only by increasing production but also by increasing job opportunities. But their main drawback is that they are basically profit oriented and development is a byproduct of their activity. They are reluctant to venture into non-profit sectors that are essential for a balanced growth of economy. b. PRIORITY SECTOR- For all-round and real development there are certain priority sectors of the nation that require funding assistance by the banks. They are- infrastructure development like housing, rail and road construction, power, transport, etc. as well as small scale industry, trade, technology, agriculture, etc. From the profit perspective these priority sectors may not be always lucrative. It will not be always easy for these sectors either to increase their capital or borrow from open market; they depend heavily on banks for their capital requirements. RBI has mandated 40% of the total credit of all cooperative & scheduled banks and 32% for foreign banks towards priority sector lending. Banks are allowed to invest in special bonds or investment instruments of these sectors to meet these requirements. c. AGRICULTURE SECTOR is surely a super priority sector. It must attract special attention of the banks since self sufficiency in agriculture has to be a top priority of any nation. Agricultural production is commercially unprofitable at least in Indian context. Small and medium farmers produce just enough to sustain since their personal labor in agricultural production gets them no returns. Any other production can wait, not food; it has to be produced proportional to the population irrespective of the cost. For the same reason, governments are providing subsidy and refinance facilities for agriculture. Banks must ensure that the government benefits really reach the medium and small farmers. d. EXPORT SECTOR is not an exclusive sector like corporate or priority sector. It can pervade both corporate as well as priority sectors. Economies of the world are so interdependent that each country must have enough reserves in the currencies of other countries to pay the bills for supplies received from those countries. In its absence they end up in raising foreign debt which in turn has a cost by way of interest; or else they end up in depleting nation’s gold reserves. If a country depends on foreign supplies, it must give high priority to exports to that country to strengthen their balance of payment. In such a situation banks must step in to provide credit to export activities in a preferred manner to increase county’s reserves in that currency. C. MULTIPLE CREDIT CREATION: There are two views on whether banks can create credit- †¢ One view held by Walter Leaf is that banks can not create money out of thin air. They can lend what they have in cash. †¢ Another view held by Hartley Withers is that banks can create credit by opening a deposit every time they advance a loan. It is interesting to know that in an effort to maintain lowest possible idle cash, banks end up in increasing the money in circulation without increasing tender cash currency while creating credit! In fact, credit creation is one of the most important functions of a commercial bank. They increase the purchasing power of people. Let us see how does this happen. C1. METHOD: When bank gives a loan it pre-supposes that bank has cash through deposits. From the deposit bank gives loan which in turn gets deposited in the bank account. It creates an asset as well as a deposit with the bank. The beneficiary customer can issue cheques for payments in addition to the existing customers who have originally deposited the money. Thus money available in circulation superficially becomes more than the actual tender cash currency. This is the view of practical bankers. Concrete Example: Let us presume that our country has only one bank B and all the citizens are heavily into banking making the cash requirement of B just 10%. B gets total demand deposit of R. 10000 and that is the only currency in circulation in our country. Balance sheet of B will read as follows: |LIABILITIES |ASSETS | |Deposits 10000 |Cash in Hand 10000 | |TOTAL 10000 |TOTAL 10000 | B has to maintain 10% of its deposit of 10000 which is 1000 as cash reserve. It implies that B can give 9000 as loan. It creates an additional deposit as it is released to the deposit account while creating a credit of 9000 and the new balance sheet will read thus: LIABILITIES |ASSETS | |Deposits 19000 |Cash in Hand 10000 | |