Questions and Applications Essay Example for Free

Questions and Applications Essay The current financial crisis has many parallels with what happened to Enron in the early part of the decade. Although the hazards associated with overpaid executives, unethical practices and lack of accountability were clearly illustrated by the Enron Crisis; little was done to prevent the repetition of such behaviors. As a result, similar malfeasance, hubris and incompetence, coupled with the lack of political will for regulation has resulted in yet another financial crisis. The U. S. and overseas stock markets were still adjusting to the psychological and economic impact of the terrorist attacks in New York City in the two months prior to the announcement of the bankruptcy of Enron. (Weller, Miller, Zhang, 2001) The markets had just stabilized, and reassumed their moderate growth owing, in large part, to the assurances by Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan that the underpinnings of the economy were strong, and large economic entities, such as Enron, were economically stable and fundamentally secure. (Weller, Miller, Zhang, 2001) These assurances came despite the consistent deregulation of trade practices in both federal financial markets, and California energy markets. (Weller, Miller, Zhang, 2001) Such deregulation was the bailiwick of not only Greenspan, but the Republican congress and White House. (Weller, Miller, Zhang, 2001) The assumption on the part of those who supported deregulation and limited scrutiny of practices, was that enlightened self-interest of the heads of corporations would prevent destabilizing acts of stock manipulation and other actions that would serve to destroy the underlying equity in the corporation. (Weller, Miller, Zhang, 2001) Clearly, this was not the case, as a small number of executives pillaged the assets of Enron without regard to the economic fallout of their actions. These people reaped their individual fortunes, largely by dumping corporate stock, valued in billions of dollars, just prior to affecting the economic ruin of the company. (Weller, Miller, Zhang, 2001) Had this episode had a salutatory effect on the perceived need for closer oversight and regulation of economic practices, it may have been worth the cost, but the lessons of Enron went unlearned, and the same behavior of corporate executives derailed the economy once again by destabilizing financial institutions and undermining economic development. Congressional hearings regarding the current collapses of financial institution are ongoing at the time of this writing, but it is unclear at this point whether any laws were actually broken. As the lengthy prison sentences handed out to Enron executives illustrate, the actions of this group outpaced ethical considerations and proceeded to securities fraud, concealing evidence and other illegal acts. As of now, none of the executives involved in the collapse of the financial institutions are yet facing criminal charges. This fact illustrates a key point regarding these activities. If executives can run decades-old financial institutions into the ground, bankrupt them, destroy their lending capabilities (which paralyzes corporate growth) and leave with multi-million dollar compensation packages without having broke the law, then clearly the law as it stands is inadequate. In the case of Enron, the executives knowingly engaged in fraudulent activities to the detriment to the company and its shareholders. The drive to maximize profits cannot outstrip ethical obligations of full and correct disclosure and fair trade practices. These standards are not only ethical in nature, but legal as well. The law sets reasonable guidelines for practices that compel executives to act in the interest of their shareholders to the best of their ability, and in the case of Enron, they did not do so. The fact that these executives were knowingly breaking the law was illustrated clearly by their destruction of relevant records. This clearly illustrated the mindset of guilt that the people responsible had, and proved the likelihood of a significant cover-up effort. It is unclear at this point whether the same holds true for the authors of the current financial debacle. However, there are some key differences in the situations. For one, unlike the Enron executives, the bank executives were inflating values of securities in a manner that benefitted their shareholders and borrowers as well as themselves. The second key difference is that these banks gained SEC exemptions that made what they were doing technically legal, if not particularly smart. The regulations governing energy sale in California contributed significantly in Enron’s ability to commits fraud and force a false energy crisis upon the state. (Griffin, 2006) Once prices were deregulated for energy in 1996, Enron determined a market plan that was predicated on short-term contract bidding for energy. (Griffin, 2006) Essentially, Enron was maximizing profits by selling their commodity to the highest bidder. (Griffin, 2006) The problem with this system is it is not regulated, and executives at Enron decided to take advantage of the lack. (Griffin, 2006) Enron took advantage of the rules in three significant ways. (Griffin, 2006) First, they would shut down plants in certain areas forcing energy to come from marginal plants located nearby, and charged premium prices, that were additionally padded so that executives could skim off of the income. (Griffin, 2006) Enron also conducted â€Å"wash trades†. (Griffin, 2006) These recorded sales and purchases of energy that never occurred. These trades are revenue-neutral for both parties, but the activity drives up index prices by creating a false demand for the energy. (Griffin, 2006) Finally, Enron itself place bids to occupy energy on the grid, creating artificial shortages, which they, in turn, would alleviate at premium prices. (Griffin, 2006) These practices, combined with an increase in demand coupled with a stable, but not increasing reserve volume of natural gas, helped cause the California Energy Crisis. (Griffin, 2006) Then-Governor Grey Davis absorbed a significant amount of blame for the perceived energy crunch in California that followed from these practices, but he was in no way to blame. (Griffin, 2006) The policies that were manipulated were enacted by the legislature, not the Governor. (Griffin, 2006) Davis was also fighting the public perception that not only was he complicit in the crisis, but he was in contact with Kenneth Lay of Enron over the issue. (Griffin, 2006) Davis never denied this, but claimed it was a prerequisite to asking the federal government for aid. When the Bush administration declined to offer aid, Davis, a Democrat, was recalled and replaced by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Griffin, 2006) The Stanly Milgrim experiments were invoked in the film, â€Å"The Smartest Guys in the Room† to explain why energy traders for Enron, who were aware of the damage caused by their activities, continued to act in the manner that they did. Milgram set up an experimental circumstance where subjects believed that they were causing bodily harm to another participant (actually, a confederate of the experimentor). The variable being measured was how much pain (measured by voltage of electrical shock) would a subject be willing to administer under no compulsion other than being told by a person in a lab coat that they â€Å"must continue†. It was demonstrated through this experiment that up to 50% of subjects would give what they believed would be fatal shocks to others under virtually no duress, and with no promise of reward. It was suggested that Milgrim’s experiments proved that individuals would do things (such as shock a person to death) with nothing more than a verbal instruction from a perceived authority figure to prompt them. From this, Milgrim concluded that unquestioned obedience to authority is a reaction that is very strong in most individuals. It should be noted that this argument had earlier failed to sway judges of the Nazis at Nuremburg, and later those who judged Callay guilty for the Mi Lay massacre. While this experiment does illustrate some insights regarding human nature and obedience, it does not explain, or really relate significantly to the situation regarding the energy traders at Enron. For one thing, the Energy Traders, as evinced by their own recorded conversations, stood to gain significantly from their activity themselves. Their motivations clearly went well beyond â€Å"following orders† as they expected to be â€Å"able to retire at 30. † The common element between the two circumstances (Milgrim’s Experiment and the Enron Traders) appears to be a perceived locus of responsibility. That is, the subjects/traders felt that whatever the consequences of their actions, blame and responsibility would fall solely upon the persons who issued the orders.In the case of the Enron Traders, this turned out to be true to a great extent. ? References Griffin, L. (2006) â€Å"California Energy Crisis Meets Enrons Ethical Catastrophe†. Retrieved December 8th, 2008 from McCombs School of Business Website: http://www. mccombs. utexas. edu/news/pressreleases/spence06. asp Weller, M. Miller, P. Zhang L. (2001) â€Å"Moral Hazard and the US Stock Market: Analysing the ‘Greenspan put’† The Center for the Study of Globalization and Regionalization Working paper No. 83/01, November, 2001.

The Kerala Model Of Development Economics Essay

The Kerala Model Of Development Economics Essay Sustainable development is a pattern of resourses use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for the future generation (WCED, 1987, p.43). Introduction Kerala has become a model for social development with limiting improvement in an industrialisation sector. Furthermore, Kerala has undermined the broadly accepted idea that the improvement in the standard of living of people can only be achieved after the successful, rapid and steady economic development. Kerala Model of Development took on the theory that economic growth is the only way to meet basic needs of people in poverty, to raise them above poverty, and generate employment. (World development vol.29, no  ², pp.601-617,2001 The new kerala model: lessons for sustainable development rene veron). Whats more, Kerala Model of Development improved and extended basic education, introduced better health care and land reform, as well as access to better social security in terms of pension and employment rights. These achievements come without huge investments in economic growth. Kerala has 33 millions populations and is consider as one of the poorest countries in the world. The gross domestic product per capita is just $1,000 a year -some $200 less than the Indian average. Yet life expectancy in Kerala is 72 years, which is closer to the American average of 76 and above the Indian average of 61. Keralas infant-mortality rate is among the lowest in the developing world. It is estimates that the infant mortality rate in 1999 was 17 per thousand against an Indian average of 79 per thousand, and around half of in China, and lowers than that in far richer countries such as Argentina. Population is too under control in Kerala. The fertility rate is just 1.7 births per woman lower than in Sweden. The fact is that Kerala is also socially and politically different from the rest of India. While the other states in India refashioning itself in the image of western lifestyle and economy, Kerala remains a communist state with very strong influence of trade unions, and more or less centralize politics. Also Muslim and Christian minorities co-exist peacefully with Hindus, wh ich make this state outstanding of all India. On the other hand despite large capacity of natural resources, Kerala suffers from lack of the industrial investment from international and Indian companies, mostly for fear of the states difficult trade unions, pro-union courts, and high minimum wages. As a consequence Kerala has the highest unemployment rates among Indians state. It is estimates that in 2003 unemployment were as high as 25 percent ( K. C Zachriah 2005 p.21). In addition, Kerala has large budget deficits. According to Karalas budget report from 2005 country debt was Rs.41, 878 crore, which was 39.1 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) One of the main successful stories of Keralas development is education. Kerala has been able to reduce the regional and gender gaps in education, literacy and enrolment at all level of education. More than 94 percent of the rural population has access to primary schools within a distance of one kilometre, while 98 per cent of population has got one school within a distance of two kilometres. Furthermore 96 percent of the population is served by an upper primary school within a travel distance of 3 kilometres and one-fourth by a secondary school within 2 kilometers. Nearly 98 percent of the rural population has the facility for secondary education within 6 to 8 km (Najith Kumar, K.K. George, 2009, p. 55). Also facilities of higher education and technical education are accessible to rural students in reasonable distance. Another aspect of Keralas education system is presents of the non-formal education institutions, which are offering courses. Interesting fact is that Keralas students counts on one- fifth of the whole population. Also the education system employs 18 percent of the population. The number of teachers is equivalent to about 50 per cent of the total number of workers in the registered factories. The reasons laid on the government no- fees policy for primary and secondary education, as well as low fees for the higher education and technical education institutions. Additionally, easy and highly subsidised transport system for students, especially from rural areas, makes the education more affordable. In addition Kerala has been able to achieve gender equity in education system. Nearly half of the students in lower primary classes are girls. The female literacy in Kerala at 86 per cent is far above the all-India rate of 39 percent, and as high as in many developed countries. For example in China the female literacy is 93 percent placing Kerala in close position considering the country population. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2103.html On the other hand, rural female literacy rate in Kerala is higher than every individual province in China (Amartya Sen, 1994T 2.pdf). Furthermore, the number of girls entering education, except technical and professional education, is much higher than the boys (p.38 2pdf). Education contributes in many ways to Kerala development. Particularly womens education has played important role in declining the mortality rates. Educated women are better able to take charge of their lives. For example, the typical Keralas woman gets married at the 22 age, compared to 18 in the rest of India. On an average, women with at least an elementary education give a birth to two children less than uneducated women. Whats more, they also want a good education for their children, particularly their daughters. On the other hand, despite progress in gender equality in education, violence against women increases particularly domestic violence. A study conducted by INCLEN and ICRW on domestic violence in Kerala found that as high as 62.,3 percent of the women in Kerala are subjected to physical torture and mental harassment as compared to 37 percent and 35.5 percent at the national India level. (ICRW 2002). There are increasing reports of dowry related violence, rape and other abuse against women in Kerala (Womens Commission, 1999). This is fallow by reports of poor mental health with increase of the cases of depression found among the women. The other notable aspect of Keralas gender equality is little participation and representation women in politics, political parties and the trade union. Out of 144 seats in the State assembly, the number of women has never been more than 13, what is 10 percent of the all sates. (Sakhi women resource centre, The situation of women in the state: the gender paradox). Questions are being raised whether public and private expenditure to sustain educational activity on such a massive scale has really generated returns in terms of economic development and employment generation. Definitely it generated in human development. The fact is that service sector including education is the fastest growing sector in Kerala economy. Its share improved steadily from 36.4 percent in 1980- 81 to 40.1 percent in 1990-91 and further to 45.4 percent 1997-98 (EPW Research Foundation, 2003). Second, the biggest achievement of Kerala Model of Development is control of the population growth. In the seventies, the growth rate in population declined from 2.33 percent in the sixties to 1.76 percent. In the eighties the growth rate in population comes down to 1.34 percent. In the nineties it was just 0.91 percent. Birth rate had come down from 25.0 during 1974-80 to 20.3 during 1984-90 and to 17.1 during 1994-2001. S Irudaya accented that the Total Fertility Rate declined from 2.9 to 2.0 and to 1.7 during this period (S.Irudaya Rajan and Sabu Aliyar, 2004). It had impact on family transition, the number of children in a household. The two-child family is the social norm here now, said M.N. Sivaram, the Trivandrumcapital of Keralarepresentative of the International Family Planning Association. Even among illiterate women we find its true. When we send our surveyors out, people are embarrassed to say if they have more than two kids. Seven or eight years ago, the norm was three c hildren and we thought we were doing pretty well. Now its two, and among the most educated people, its one. (Dynamics of Change in Keralas Education System:The Socio-economic and Political Dimensions K.K.George Parvathy Sunaina Working paper No.12 ). Also according to current data, the expectation of life at birth of males is 71.2 years, against an Indian average of 59.1 years, and the expectation of life at birth of females is 73.7 years, against an Indian average of 60.4 years. Keralas access to affordable health care and education has huge impact on birth and mortality rate of the population. Birth control is wildly accessible. There is a dispensary every few kilometres where IUDs and other forms of birth control are freely available. The health clinics provide cheap health care for children, programs for mothers like breast-feeding, and a state-supported nutrition program for pregnant and new mothers. For example, more than 95% of Keralite births are hospital-delivered what place Kerala among developed countries. Kearla Model of Development shows also improvement in living conditions. According to K. R Nayar 47 per cent of the rural population and 74 per cent of the urban population are covered by protected water supply. The dependence on surface water for drinking is less than one per cent in the state. More than four- fifth of the people have access to water supply within their own premises. The share of people who have to travel for more than half a kilometre for drinking water is just 1.7 per cent in the rural areas and 0.4 per cent in the urban areas (K.R.Nayar, 1997). Important factor to Keralas social development was land reform, which completely transformed landownership system, and ended janmi system. It also protected tenants, and ended system of rack-renting. It shifted house and land ownership to poor families. Furthermore, in 1989 the government initiated the group-farming program, which provides families with financial and technical assistance. The program was expected to be a key to reduction of production costs and raise efficiency of paddy cultivation. But despite this it seems that Keralas agriculture is today neither a life activity of the families nor a important economic activity, except for a limited number of plantation crops, and rubber. The radical changes in Keralas agrarian economy have also led to transformations in the nature of agricultural activities, employment, and lifestyles. Firstly, today the average farmer in Kerala is not engaged personally in most agricultural activities. Secondly, a substantial number of farming f amilies have non-agricultural sources of income. Instead the income comes mainly from abroad remittance or employment in Keralas highly occupied service sector, like education, public sector, etc. Secondly, agricultural, traditional economic activities, like small fishing businesses, are no longer seen as an economically virtual provider of income, an adequate return of investment. Thirdly, the existence of labour shortages together with high unemployment raised the perception that these jobs are economically worthless. Final and probably more important aspect is the low status of irksome jobs, which it seems to be no longer culturally desirable option for a young and educated generation. As a consequence land in Kerala doesnt have value for an agricultural use, but only for residential needs and as an indicator of social position, as well as a resource of the safe investment. It seems Kerala agriculture does not contributing in major way to the country economy. The share of agricul ture in NSDP has come down from 39.1percent in 1980-81 to 35.7 percent in 1990-91. It came down further to 30.6 percent in 1997-98 and still dropping down (Pillai N. India 05 p. 28 -31). The state is heavily dependent on imports for meeting its food requirements in addition some traditional occupation in agriculture is disappearing due to lack of interest and market competition. For example an occupation of coconut-picking is abounded from agriculture. Rashied, whose family was living from this profession from generation, said Not one of my sons or my brothers sons or my sisters sons has taken up the occupation of coconut-picking. In fact, there is not a single family in our community (caste) which has a son in this occupation. After all, climbing trees and picking coconuts requires hard physical work, not the game of tricking and hoodwinking, to which the new generation in Kerala has now become accustomed. An elderly coconut picker and a life-long activist in the Communist Party of India commenting on the severe shortage of coconut pickers. (Interview with the author, 1994). The Perils of Social Development without Economic Growth: The Development Debacle of Kerala, India By Joseph Tharamangalam In termes of development infrastructure like transport, telephone line banking system Kerala made the leading place among Indian states. The banking system, particularly growths study mostly thanks to Gulf remittance. Between 2000 and 2001 Kerala had 9,8 banks per 100-sq km of area, much above all India 2.1 per 100-sq km. Investment in communication system brought Kerala to the leading state in India. In 2002, Keralas telephone concentration was 85 per 1000 population, within 71 in the rural areas. In addition, Keralas transport, which has huge impact on population accessibility to education and health care, shows impressive growth. On the other hand, power sector suffers on improvement. For egzample, in 2001 only 70,2 percent of rural household had complete electrification (Pillai N. India 05 p. 28 -31). The fact is that Kerala Model of Development have not improvement or little in others development indicators. For example, Keralas Model is failing in creating job Market. Unemployment is very high. Though there was growth in NSDP during the nineties, it was actually a jobless growth. The employment stretch for Kerala for the period 1993-94 to 1999-00 was the lowest among the major states in India. While the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of the State grew by 5.5 percent per annum during this period, employment grew by just 0.7 percent. As a result, unemployment rate of Kerala increased from 15.5 percent in 1993-94 to 21.0 percent in 1999-2000. The rate of unemployment in Kerala was almost three times the all India rate. (The Economic Survey, 2003-04). Unemployment problem in Kerala is largely a problem of the educated population More than one-fourth of the rural educated and one-fifth of the urban educated were unemployed in the State. Unemployment rate among the educated perso ns above fifteen years was much higher than the rate for the general population in this age group. The problem was much more acute among educated women. Nearly half of the educated women in the rural areas were unemployed. In the urban areas, more than 40 percent of the educated women were unemployed (B.A.Prakash and M.P.Abraham, 2004). Also work seekers in 80 percent had qualifications of SSLC and above. The proportion of this category of work seekers was increasing in the nineties (Economic Review, 2003). Among the professional and technical work seekers, the largest group was that of ITI certificate holders (68.5 percent). The next significant group was that of diploma holders in engineering and technology (23.9 percent). The growth in unemployment among the educated is not surprising as the employment in the organized sector grew only by 7.7 percent between 1990 and 2002. The public sector employment showed only marginal increase during the above period (1.6 percent). Though gro wth in private sector employment (15.3 percent) was relatively high, it was inadequate to offset the near stagnation in public sector employment The increasing unemployment of the educated group rises the question if is any point in government spending more funds on education, which leads only to higher unemployment. Instead Kerala government should spend more investment on creating for them job market and create education structure according to the market needs. On the other hand, despite large scale unemployment particularly among the educated population, the private demand for higher education has been increasing. It seems that high unemployment and competition among qualified population looking for jobs has led to the upgrading qualifications standards. Higher skills and qualifications, or even escalation of qualifications, are see as a securing future job. Easy access to the higher educational institutions, affordable school fee and the low transportation cost made it possible. Another factor that increases the demand for higher education, despite low rate of employment among educated people, is the relatively lower waiting period and higher compensation for better-qualified candidates (E.T.Mathew, 1995). Even though Kerala has a large unemployment, this region is still an economic migration for many unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labours, mostly from neighbouring states like Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, Orissa or West Bengal. The migrants are replacing Keralas own leaving population on a hunt for work abroad. The way, which Kerala deals with the unemployment and lack of industrialisation is economical migration it population. According to K, C.Zachariah Migration has provided the single most dynamic factor in the other wise dismal scenario of Kerala in the last quarter of the 20th Century. It is one of the positive outcomes of the Kerala Model of Development. In Kerala, migration must have contributed more to poverty alleviation than any other factor including agrarian reforms, trade union activities and social welfare legislation (K.C.Zachariah, E.T.Mathew and S.Irudaya Rajan, 2000). The number of Kerala emigrants to other countries looking for a job increased from 230,740 in 1982 to 637,103 in 1992 and to 1844,023 in 2003. The annual remittances from the emigrants increased from Rs.13, 652 crores in 1999 to Rs.18, 465 crores in 2003 and still reasing. the remittances to Kerala from its emigrants to other countries alone were equivalent to 22-25 percent of NSDP (K.C.Zachariah and S.Iruda ya Rajan, 2004).The remittances had made tremendous impact on income distribution among regions, communities and religious groups, as well as made impact on poverty reduction. Today Keralas economy is linked more to countries outside particularly to the Gulf countries than to some of the regions within the country. Both the labor markets abroad and the remittances of the emigrants have influenced on Kerala income. Average annual remittances ranged from Rs. 536 crores during 1980-85 to Rs. 10,835 crores during 1995-2000. As a percentage of the State Domestic Product (SDP) remittances constituted, on an average, around 11 percent since early eighties to the early nineties (till the end of the fixed exchange rate system). During the nineties it increased to around 21 per cent (K P Kannan, K S Hari 2000). Today Kerala economy structure relay mostly on remintence. The share of agriculture in NSDP has come down from 39.1percent in 1980-81 to 35.7 percent in 1990-91. It came down further to 30.6 percent in 1997-98. The share of industry also came down, though only marginally. Its share came down from 24.5 percent to 24.2 percent and further to 24.0 percent during the period. Service sector was the fastest growing sector in Kerala economy. Its share improved steadily from 36.4 percent in 1980- 81 to 40.1 percent in 1990-91 and further to 45.4 percent 1997-98 (EPW Research Foundation, 2003). Conclusion Keralas development Achived majore success in human developmen like mnimum social security, food security, minimum gender differences in education, as well as easy and affordable access to health care. Also significantly, Kerala distributed all the achievements relatively equally across urban-rural areas, between man and women, and low caste-high caste populations. In this respect Kerala does better than the rest of India, and some of developed countries. The existence of subsidised education has provided a fair degree for all social groups. On the economic front too, there has been great achievements in laying out transport and communication, banking system. On the other hand, Kerala Model is failing in providing equality between women and man in terms of jobs and wage rate. But the biggest flaw in this model is creating high unemployment, especially among educated population. Investing only in education sector without creating job market placed Kerala among country of great risk of floating high skills population out of the country. The increasing unemployment of the educated rises the question if is any point in government spending more funds on education, which leads only to higher unemployment. Instead Karalla government should spend more on investment at economy, agriculture, and industrialisation. Especially that economic migration to Gulf, high source of the state romances, facing the major competition from much cheaper labour from others poor Asian countries. Until now the remittances contribute to inflation, but do not help to resolve the fiscal problems. Furthermore it seems the human development could raise duo to Keralas history, and also mainly staying on the communist road of the politics. Communist government put more investments on social sectors like education and health neglecting mostly industry, and except land reform, agriculture. Another aspect of the success of the model is the Kerala economy exists and functions as an integral part of t he Indian economy and politics. Next aspect which should Karalla government deal with is that in a changing India, doing business is increasingly important and strong union and lack of flexibility makes impossible to invest by international corporation. As economic liberalization takes place in other states of India and tariffs are being lowered, as well as subsidized economy ended by turning to free-market enterprise and wooing multinational industries Kerala seems to be less attractive for potential investors. Kaerala does suffer from great fiscal deficitperhaps the problem laid down to a generous minimum wage; one of the best distribution systems in the country, leading to a network of shops that sell everything from rice to batteries at subsidized prices; and a land-reform program. Definitely Karela has been transforming itself from extremely poor state, ridden with caste and class conflicts and burdened by high birth, infant-mortality, and population grow rates into social- democratic state with low birth, and high leve of litratucy. But in terms of present economical situation the social development could be challenging to sustain steady. . There is a high road of development where it is possible to have growth with poverty reduction through job creation, reduced in-equality including gender in-equality and sustainable social development. The possibility of success of this growth depends on the kinds of jobs one creates. It also depends upon making, strengthening and improving policies based on gender equality for social developments. Sri Lanka has not done very well in this path, by way of growth. It is seen that in this path there is growing inequality, worsening gender indicators, and the potential for worsening social development. if social development does not generate growth and employment opportunities, what will be the major implication of such a situation which can even create an explosive situation. The development experience of Kerala poses many challenges for the development of Kerala in the new millennium. (jacket) http://www.vedamsbooks.com/no55611.htm That social development becomes un- sustainable with out economic growth, and over time can limits whatever further improvements may be possible. Strong social development by itself does not lead to high economic growth. Poor economic growth may limit whatever social development Kerala have achieved and whatever future social development could be necessary T high social development can actually limit the further capacity for poverty eradication and growth. This is because the focus is on social development with out adequate attention to the issues of economic growth and there is the inability to use the resources effectively by paying sufficient attention to the requirements- inability because you are not paying attention to the requirements and possibilities of economic growth itself. There is no attention being paid to the possibilities created by the social development itself and the resources thus created. For example, Kerala is relatively slow in recognizing the potentials of a relatively highly educated labor force beyond sending them out as migrants. Another example may be really to recognize or to take advantage of the fact that Kerala is one of Indias major places of Ayurveda, which is becoming a major global industry in the context of biotechnology. So the inability to see Keralas own resources, potentials, possibilities as w ell as the risks of not paying attention to the situations comes from an approach which does not sufficiently pay attention to the problems of economic growth. Bibliografia (http://www.cds.edu/download_files/374.pdf Unemployment in Kerala at the turn of the century insights from CDS gulf migration studies K. C. Zachariah S. Irudaya Rajan August 2005 working paper 374 p. 21). http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/98sep/kerala.htm S E P T E M B E R  Ã‚  1 9 9 8 Development and quality of life cant always be measured purely in economic terms. The Indian state of Kerala is a case in point Akash Kapur September 1998 Poor but Prosperous 324 pdf) (http://www.cds.edu/download_files/374.pdf Unemployment in Kerala at the turn of the century insights from CDS gulf migration studies K. C. Zachariah S. Irudaya Rajan August 2005 working paper 374 p. 21) ) Keralas education system: from inclusion to exclusion, Economic and Political Weekly, 10 October 2009, VOL XLIV, NO 41, page 55 ) (Amartya Sen, 1994T 2.pdf http://www.csesindia.org/admin/modules/cms/docs/publication/2.pdf Sakhi women resource centre, The situation of women in the state: the gender paradox. http://sakhikerala.org/Status%20of%20Women%20in%20Kerala%20.html Dynamics of Change in Keralas Education System:The Socio-economic and Political Dimensions K.K.George Parvathy Sunaina Working paper No.12 http://csesindia.org/admin/modules/cms/docs/publication/12.pdf (K.R.Nayar, 1997 Nayar K.R, Housing Amenities and Health Improvement: SomeFindings, Economic and Political Weekly, May 31- June 6, ). KERALA THE LAND OF DEVELOPMENT PARADOXES K.K.George and N.Ajith Kumar Working Paper No.2 November 1997 http://www.csesindia.org/admin/modules/cms/docs/publication/2.pdf (INFRASTRUCTURE, GROWTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN KERALA Pillai N., Vijayamohanan Centre for Development Studies, Prasanth Nagar, Ulloor, Trivandrum, Kerala, India 05 p. 28 -31). KERALAS GULF CONNECTION Emigration, Remittances and their Macroeconomic Impact 1972-2000 K. P. Kannan K. S. Hari Working Paper No. 328

Awareness Of Culture And Language Teaching Cultural Studies Essay

Awareness Of Culture And Language Teaching Cultural Studies Essay This project aims to outline the main principles of cultural awareness like also its potential advantages and disadvantages in the language teaching. There are many definitions of culture, because culture means different things to different people. The well known definitions include one made by Hofstede, who said that culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another, like also stated by Wederspahn, culture is the set of shared assumptions, values and beliefs of a group of people by which they organize their common life. Literature Review and Principles of Culture Awareness This project will focus on Cultural Awareness, although it is worth mentioning that Language Awareness is used for language teaching as well. In fact, according to Byram (1989), Cultural Awareness and Language Awareness have in common a dual purpose which aims at supporting language learning and extending general understanding of the nature of culture. Cultural and Language Awareness are both connected with specific and general learning. According to Hymes, language plays an important role in the social life of the community and lack of cultural understanding among members of some communities leads to social inequality that has been recognized. In order to communicate well with the second language speakers, students need to establish a good connection with the target language and its culture. Cultural Awareness helps learners broaden the mind, increase tolerance and achieve cultural empathy and sensitivity. According to Tomalin and Stempleski (1993), Cultural Awareness contains three qualities, such as awareness of ones own culturally-induced behaviour, awareness of the culturally-induced behaviour of others, and ability to explain ones own cultural standpoint. Culture takes a crucial part in teaching and learning foreign language. Every culture has its own cultural norms, for instance, when speaking to somebody the person can use formal or informal styles which differ from one culture to another. Some of the norms might be completely different, such as in many countries when you nod it means yes and while you shake your head it means no while Bulgarians do it the opposite way. It is very important that the learner while learning a foreign language needs to become aware of such norms within the target culture in order to avoid the communication problems. Cultural awareness teaching should involve both points of view, from the learners point of view, like also from the point of view of the other culture. It should allow learners to gain a perspective through comparison which is neither entirely one nor the other.(Byram, 1989). According to Hinkel(1999), developing cultural awareness means being aware of members of another cultural group. Factors, such as their behaviour, expectations, values, beliefs and perspectives should have been taken into account. Help and encouragement from teachers is needed in order to realize how to learn about cultures. In order to achieve it learning skills might also include learning how to learn from one to another, especially in multicultural groups (Nelson, 1995). Teaching a language can be seen as imposing elements of another culture into the students own life space. For example, in order to learn Polish, students need to develop a Polish identity, in other words they need to learn to think Polish and although only partially and temporarily become a bit like Polish person. As cited in Dà ¶rnyei(2001) , according to Douglas (1989) every person is part of a culture and everyone uses a language to express that culture, in order to operate within that tradition. Therefore, in order to carry on some sort of communication with people who speak or write a target language, the person needs to understand the culture out of which the language emerges. According to Sapir (1920), a language and a culture of its speakers cannot be analyzed in isolation. Barth(1969) as cited in Byram( 1989)stated that treating cultures as if they were isolated from each other is to miss a significant dimension. Kramch(1993) stated that second language learners become learners of the second culture because a language cannot be learned without an understanding of the cultural context in which it is used. These statements support the situations in which students for some reasons do not like the second language community and refuse to incorporate elements of their culture into their own behavioural repertoire. For instance, when some Polish people were forced to learn Russian in the time of communism and now they even cannot recall the basic sentences. It leads to conclusion, that language belongs to a persons whole social being :it is part of ones identity and it is used to convey this identity to other people. The learning of a second language involves apart from learning grammar and vocabulary the adoption of new social and cultural behaviours and ways of being , and has an important impact on the social nature of the learner ( Williams, ( 1994) as cited in Dà ¶rnyei, (2001). On the other hand, Byram and Morgan (1994) claimed that learners cannot easily forget their own culture and step into another, because their culture is part of their identities and created them as social beings. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Learners are committed to their culture and to deny any part of it is to deny something within their own being. Culture Awareness in published materials There exist different criteria for textbook evaluation. One of the lists of criteria belongs to Byram(1993), which focuses on the cultural context, such as social identity and social groups. Other involve social interaction and national history; social interaction; belief and behaviour; social and political institutions; socialization and the life cycle, stereotypes and national identity. Byram(1989) cites Huhns criteria (1978) for evaluating the treatment of cultural content of textbooks. These criteria involve avoiding stereotypes by raising awareness like also presenting a realistic picture; presenting phenomena in context rather than as isolated facts. Unfortunately, very few published materials include these criteria. Advantages and disadvantages of Culture Awareness in language teaching Developing Cultural Awareness in English language classes in not native countries of English may be influenced by a number of constraints, such as the teachers cultural knowledge. The second language learners will depend on teachers own cultural knowledge as the main source of learning about the target culture. The availability of native English speakers, and the system of education in a particular country could be other constraints. On the other hand, students are now able to get access to many cultural resources and explore the target culture themselves. Native English speakers are also available in many countries to come and teach English. There should have been made some changes to the educational system, for example, in Poland there is a strong emphasis on examinations, which should be changed so people would be more interested in gaining new experiences by speaking another language and perhaps not so much obsessed with the assessment of their language proficiency. Conclusion and Suggestions for further research Development of peoples cultural awareness leads them to more critical thinking. Teachers can try to raise cross-cultural awareness by focusing on cross-cultural similarities and not just differences. Supplementing the course book with authentic materials and encouraging learners to discover interesting information about the countries where the second language is spoken on the Internet and to tell them to prepare the presentation might be a great idea as well. In the future research the assessment of students acquisition of cultural knowledge could be interesting. Potential ways of assessment may include interviews in other to measure the extent of effect of intercultural language learning on their second language learning.

Religion :: essays research papers

Religion "Religion" is a simple word that divides humanity in several groups. It is the claim of many influential Christian and Jewish theologians that the only genuine basis for morality is in religion(Nielsen 13). The morals and beliefs of children are greatly influenced by their home life. It is sad how children grow up, not able to research into their beliefs, but conform to the beliefs that have run in their families for generations. Not many children break away from the traditional religion in their family because it has been practiced and influenced for many years. If one should participate in breaking tradition, he could be challenged by the family to show reasoning behind the change(Kaplan 258). In doing this, society still will be diverse, but at least that is one more person trying to express an opinion. The Old Testament is an accurate and valid resource to use when trying to explain Christianity and faith. For example, it is amazing how one can justify his faith to a strong Catholic family whentrying to prove that salvation is a free gift and not a time card for "good works." There is much difference between the religion of Catholicism and non- denominational Christianity. Though both groups believe in one God, the same God, growing up in the midst of the bickering of the two groups can confuse a child and bring bitterness toward this God that Christians believe is all-loving. School is an area where temptations are thrown in people's faces each day. Many people are challenged each day in these situations; children may be challenged in their home or in school because of the issue of salvation and trying to maintain a strong-willed mind as a young Christian. Catholic children are taught their religion in CCD classes, and the result is the children learning to be good in order to go to heaven. Many of the the things they are taught come from the Old Testament. The Christian Bible includes the Old Testament unlike Judaism where their bible is the Old Testament. Children learn Christian virtues such as faith, obedience, piety, chastity, love, mercy, and humility(Garner 272). Catholic children are also taught that if they do sin, than they simply can go confess their sins to a priest and then they are forgiven. According to the Old Testament, salvation is free gift and forgiveness is given straight from God, not through some high standing official in the Church. Catholics are given a bad name, and their religion is considered to be hostile towards others and unethical at times(Hudnut 22).

A Comparison of Thomas Grays Elegy (Eulogy) Written in a Country Churc

A Comparison of Thomas Gray's Elegy (Eulogy) Written in a Country Churchyard and Bryant's Thanatopsis  Ã‚     Ã‚   Thomas Gray and William Cullen Bryant both chose to write about nature and death being intertwined. Since Thomas Gray lived in a time of social injustice, he chose to use death to illustrate the problems inherent in a socially stratified society. William Cullen Bryant, on the other hand, lived in a rapidly expanding young nation that cherished the vast amounts of untouched nature and he used death to illustrate how man fits into the universal truth of the earth. However, both men believed that death rendered all men equal in that all went to their final resting place in Mother Nature's bosom. While Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" comes across as a social commentary on the English peasants and Bryant's "Thanatopsis" serves as a catalog of American Romantic beliefs, both believe that one must listen to nature, that death makes all men equal, and that man returns to nature after death. To compare how the poems minor themes are similar, one must first understand their major themes' differences. "Elegy" differs so greatly from "Thanatopsis" because they came from vastly different times and countries. Gray wrote "Elegy" in eighteenth century England after the death of one of his friends. Influenced by the English Romantics like Gray, Bryant, who spent much of his time out in the wild, wrote "Thanatopsis" in praise of nature's splendor. "Elegy" appears at first to be solely about death but emerges as a social commentary on the plight of the poor. Gray first explains how the commoners delight in the simple life of working in the fields and enjoying their families while "Chill Penury" held them back from gr... ...    Brady, Frank. "Structure and Meaning in Gray's Elegy" Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 7-17.    Carper, Thomas. "Gray's Personal Elegy" Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 39-50.    Lonsdale, Roger. "Poetry of Thomas Gray: Versions of the Self" Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 19-38.    McLean, Albert. William Cullen Bryant. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc, 1964. 65-81.    Smith, Eric. "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 51-67.    Peckham, Harry Houston. Gotham Yankee. New York: Russell and Russell, 1971. 31-35.   

Evaluating Automobile Fuel Essay

The alternatives to liquid fuels are compressed gases and electric power, however, both are viewed as inferior by the automotive industry. The gases are inferior in terms of energy content per unit volume. Electric power may be stored on board a vehicle in a battery or (for a short time) in capacitors. However, batteries are regarded within the automotive industry as substandard compared to liquid fuels in terms of energy stored by unit weight and volume. Furthermore their cost is high, and the manufacture of some battery types involves large quantities of scarce or environmentally-threatening materials including cadmium, lead, lithium, nickel, sodium, sulphur and zinc. According to the already mentioned just-auto report entitled The future of road vehicle fuels – forecasts to 2020 (January 2008), the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2007 found that around 230m barrels of oil equivalent are required to meet global demand each day. Of this total, liquids account for the largest share of the 230m barrels (37%) followed by coal (23%) and natural gas (21%), leaving a 19% contribution from nuclear and sustainable sources. Of the liquids, however, transport use accounts for more than half (51%), with the remainder going to industry (32%), residential and commercial (11%) and power generation (6%). The residential and commercial share is mainly accounted for by oil-fired central heating, and the small power generation share by gas turbines running to meet peak loads. It follows that the transport sector share of the world energy market is just over half of 37%, in other words some 19% or just under one-fifth of the total. It should also be borne in mind that the transport sector is itself divided into light-duty vehicles (privately-owned passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles), heavy-duty vehicles, and other transport applications (aircraft, ships and diesel railway engines). The light-duty and heavy-duty sub-sectors take about 40% each, and the other applications some 20%. The search for improved efficiency in the transport sector must therefore embrace both light-duty and heavy-duty road vehicles.

Importance of distinctive qualities of texts

Texts are written in a way for it to appeal to the responders. The Author uses many different techniques, themes and chooses a writing style so that it can appeal to the audience. This is evident In the novel We All Fall Down' In which the author, Robert Cornier, tries to appeal to the audience. This can be achieved also by making the text relatable for responders and certain concepts wealth the book. Crosier's use of themes In the book Is one of the things which appeals to readers. He focuses on relationships and especially family relationships.It is obvious that Cornier believes hat family and family values are very important and this theme is frequent throughout the novel. The theme of family defines the book as Cornier shows that holds together can withstand anything such as with the Jerome family, however with the Walker family, the members have fallen apart and have deteriorated. This is meant to appeal to responders as they can relate to the sense of family within the book, wh ether theirs has fallen apart or clung together as there are examples of both within the novel.The theme of relationships also can help the novel appeal to spenders as they can associate it with the relationships they share with others. The novel explores many examples of both barnacles and relationships between people and this appeals to responders and they can associate the novel with their own lives. The opening of a book Is an Important part of making a text appeal to responders. The first scene hooks the reader with suspense as we read of the trashing and makes them aware of the violence of the text. Violent verbs are used to reinforce this theme and begin the idea of trashing and violence.This theme reoccurs throughout the evolve. The theme is brought up again when the details of the trashing come up again and again and the trashing becomes a large part of the text and the actions of the characters as it is not only the house that has been trashed but the characters themselves . The way the text hooks the readers from the start is one of the ways it appeals to the readers and what keeps them reading on. The appearance of certain characters can help texts appear to more people. Without the addition of ‘The Avenger' or Mackey ‘Loony' as he Is later known, the novel would be more of a mantic novel than the thriller It became.The Avenger adds a sense of mystery and thrills to the book as we learn of his murderous way. This transition caused the book to not only appeal to those seeking a book with romance, but one with action too. Without the addition of several minor characters the story would be completely different and wouldn't appeal to as many responders or to such a variety of responders as it does. The use of language can change how a text appeals to readers or responders. Cornier does an excellent Job of using the right kind of language wrought the text We All Fall Down. The use of colloquial language as well as having the occasional use of vulgar language helps his novels appeal to responders, especially youths as they can relate the language used throughout the text. The text doesn't specify separate chapters, keeping text flowing between characters as It changes the first person. Narration and the use of the right language helps the book to be better understood by responders and the different points of view provide enough variety to keep the book interesting which in turn helps the text to be moreWe All Fall Down' Imagery is used to assist the reader in being able to picture everything in the book, proving to be a delightful experience for the responder. Rhetorical questions such as ‘but I didn't help the girl did l? Are used to make the reader think about situations and similes help further describe concepts and feelings in the text for example, when the way Buddy feels is ‘like a giant mallet hitting a gong inside him' and repetition provides emphasis, e. G. ‘l don't want you in the house, don't want you in my life'.And so in conclusion, qualities such as themes of family and relationships, addition of characters, techniques and language as well as a relatable text helps the text to appeal to responders. Cornier acknowledges this fact and integrates these into his works and so his works appeal to responders of many types. This is what makes the text We All Fall Down' appealing to responders as they feel a connection with the text and understand it and the motives behind the actions of the characters. These distinctive qualities of this text are what make it so appealing to responders.