Ethics and Social Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethics and Social Responsibility - Essay Example The company also owes the duty of care to every single person or region that it operates from thus bringing in the issue of corporate social responsibility. This paper aims at assessing the ethics and corporate social responsibility at Starbucks Corporation. Ethics and Social Responsibility: The Case of Starbucks Farmer Loans According to Washington (2010), Starbucks coffee processer understands the financial positions of its collaborate farmers, which at times lures the farmers into borrowing high interest loans to finance their activities. Starbucks also understand that financial shortage could make farmers opt for premature harvest of coffee that they sell at lower prices thereby cutting their profit margins (Washington, 2010). To cushion the collaborate farmers from the effects of financial depravity, Starbucks has established pioneering programs designed to provide access to credit to help farmers in managing risks and stabilize business. In 2008, Starbucks offered $12.5 million as loans to collaborate farmers. In 2009, Starbucks coffee company launched Small farmer Sustainability Initiative (SFSI) in collaboration with the TransFair USA and Fair-trade Labeling Organization International with projections to help in thriving of small scale farmers (Washington, 2010). ... Starbucks relies on water for making coffee beverages and washing of containers. In that line, Starbucks coffee processors have prioritized measures to introduce new water conservation strategies. Starbucks have set strategies of sanitizing the coffee handling equipments to reduce excessive wastage of water (Washington, 2010). In 2008, Starbucks made clear their intentions to reduce water consumption in their operations. Starbucks coffee processors have set targets of reducing water consumption by 25% by the end of 2015. So far, Starbucks have made commendable achievements after having managed to reduce its rate of water consumption by 4.1% during its financial year 2008 to 2009 (Washington, 2010). Statement and codes of ethical responsibilities of Starbucks Company The operation of Starbucks coffee company recognizes and embraces diversity as an essential component o its business activities. Starbucks Company also operates under the vigils of providing ample working environment by s howing abundant respect of personal dignity to all of its employees (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2007). In addition, Starbucks Company operates with the basic missions of providing high quality coffee under fair prices. Starbucks coffee company operates towards all time satisfaction of its customers’ expectations. Moreover, Starbucks missions and objectives entail positive contribution to community and environmental protection. Starbucks also recognizes the purpose of operation as basic profitability for future survival. Starbucks accountability on ethical and social responsibilities Starbucks have an established Business Ethics and Compliance program that provide guidelines that help partners in ensuring the business operates

Finance Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Finance Principles - Essay Example An investor will thus, take care of the rate of return to expect and the risk level exposed in the capital market in making a decision on stock and bond allocation. Equity and bond portfolio investment in U.S capital market: Equity investment; An equity investment is supposed to provide long term value growth and the possibility of dividend income. The value of shares can at some time become volatile by being either declining or a rising trend in the overall market period. The stock market index in U.S has being declining in the recent past due to the financial wrangles being witnessed in Europe. The future economic growth of the country is promising to be positive which is a clear picture that in future the prices of the stock will raise. Thus, as a fund manager the current stock prices are in the best lowest prices when I should consider buying for future profit making from sale of the shares in the future. Also, with an economic growth prospects the shares are likely to generate d ividends which will be of benefit to the investor’s economic potential. Bond investment; A bond investment represents a fixed income investment because it attracts a fixed rate of interest and a known maturity time4. The value of a bond investment is determined by the movement of the market interest rates. If the interest rates are high, the price of the bond is low and at the time when the rates of interest are low, the bond price will be high. The interest level of a bond represents the risk level of a bond. The bond market in U.S assessment shows a challenge to fixed income investors because of the way it is associated to the European market which is facing a debt crisis5. This is because the performance of the bond in U.S capital market in the time to approach is likely to be determined by how the events will unfold in Europe6. There has being development of discouraging news from the European market of possible government default in paying back loans, bank crisis and the possibility of euro break up. This has lead to investors demanding a flight to quality on U.S treasury bonds and a poor performance on high yield bonds and emerging debt markets. The flight to quality response by the investors has resulted to the fall of 10- year note to record lows of 2011 with its price rising. This mean of seeking safety has outweighed prospects of earning meaningful long term returns7. Investing in U.S treasury is thus, pegged on a deteriorating of the European market. The expected economic growth in 2012 poses a risk to treasury bonds due to the inflation uptick that may rise which has a negative effect on bond prices. Investing in high yield bonds currently has an unknown future interest earning due to the debt crisis in Europe which can only get better if the crisis are solved to the fullest. Asset allocation; As an investor deciding to invest in the equity and bond market in the American market, the return level and risks associated with two assets due to t he global economic events needs to be allocated with care. From the assessment of the two assets investment opportunities, investing in the stock market is more favorable to an investor than in the bond market for future returns of the investment8. Market performance of any asset has usually being uncertain towards how in future the returns from the assets investment will perform9. This means that an investor has to come up with a portfolio arrangement that will try to caution massive losses from investing in only one asset that seem to have positive future returns. The portfolio investment need to allocate much percentage to an asset that has

Rural Development In India Construction Essay

Rural Development In India Construction Essay India is a country of villages and about 50% of the villages have very poor socio-economic conditions. Since the dawn of independence, concerted efforts have been made to ameliorate the living standard of rural masses. So, rural development is an integrated concept of growth and poverty elimination has been of paramount concern in all the consequent five year plans. Rural Development (RD) programmes comprise of following: Provision of basic infrastructure facilities in the rural areas e.g. schools, health facilities, roads, drinking water, electrification etc. Improving agricultural productivity in the rural areas. Provision of social services like health and education for socio-economic development. Implementing schemes for the promotion of rural industry increasing agriculture productivity, providing rural employment etc. Assistance to individual families and Self Help Groups (SHG) living below poverty line by providing productive resources through credit and subsidy. Rural employment schemes National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development External website that opens in a new window, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) External website that opens in a new window is the flagship programme of the Government that directly touches lives of the poor and promotes inclusive growth. The Act aims at enhancing livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojna The Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) was launched on 25 September, 2001 by merging the on-going schemes of EAS and the JGSY with the objective of providing additional wage employment and food security, alongside creation of durable community assets in rural areas. The programme is self-targeting in nature with provisions for special emphasis on women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and parents of children withdrawn from hazardous occupations. While preference is given to BPL families for providing wage employment under SGRY, poor families above the poverty line can also be offered employment whenever NREGA has been launched. The Gram Panchayats can take up any work with the approval of the gram sabha as per their felt need and within available funds. Fifty per cent of the funds earmarked for the gram panchayats are to be utilised for infrastructure development works in SC/ST localities. 22.5 per cent resources must be spent on individual beneficiary schemes meant for SCs/STs out of the resource share of District Panchayat and Intermediate Panchayats. Contractors are not permitted to be engaged for execution of any of the works and no middlemen/intermediate agencies can be engaged for executing works under the scheme. The programme is regularly monitored. The programme is being evaluated through impact studies conducted by reputed institutions and organisations sponsored by the Central/State governments. National Food for Work Programme The National Food for Work ProgrammeHYPERLINK http://india.gov.in/outerwin.php?id=http://rural.nic.in/nffwpguidelines.htm was launched in November, 2004 in 150 most backward districts of the country, identified by the Planning Commission in consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development and the State governments. The objective of the programme was to provide additional resources apart from the resources available under the (SGRY)HYPERLINK http://india.gov.in/outerwin.php?id=http://rural.nic.in/book01-02/ch-2.pdf to 150 most backward districts of the country so that generation of supplementary wage employment and providing of food-security through creation of need based economic, social and community assets in these districts are further intensified. The scheme was 100 per cent centrally sponsored. The programme has since been subsumed in National Rural Employment Guarantee Act which has come in force in 200 identified districts of the country including 150 NFFWP districts. The Act provides 100 days of work guarantee to every rural household whose members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Rural infrastructure development Bharat Nirman Bharat Nirman is a time-bound business plan for action in rural infrastructure. Under Bharat Nirman, action is proposed in the areas of irrigation, rural housing, rural water supply, rural electrification and rural telecommunication connectivity. Rural Roads To upgrade rural infrastructure, the Government has formulated a proposal for providing the road connections to more than 38,484 villages above 1000 population and all 20,867 habitations above 500 populations in hilly and tribal areas. To achieve the targets of Bharat Nirman, 1,46,185 kms. of road length is proposed to be constructed by 2009. This will benefit 66,802 unconnected eligible habitations in the country. To ensure full farm to market connectivity, it is also proposed to upgrade 1,94,132 kms. of the existing Associated Through Routes. A sum of approximately Rs. 48,000 crore is proposed to be invested to achieve this. The main thrust of research and development (RD) in the roads sector is to build a sustainable road infrastructure comparable to the best roads in the world. The various components of this strategy are improvement in design, modernization of construction techniques, introduction of improved material conforming to latest trends, evolving better and appropriate specifications, encouraging development and use of new technologies etc. The dissemination of these matters is done through the publication of new guidelines, code of practices, instructions/circulars, compilation of state-of-the-art reports and seminars/presentations etc. The research schemes sponsored by the Department are generally applied in nature, which, once completed, would enable them to be adopted by user agencies/departments in their work in the field. The areas covered are roads, road transport, bridges, traffic and transportation techniques etc. The Department takes the help of various research institutions, academi c institutions and universities to implement the schemes. An outlay of Rs 600.00 lakhs has been provided for RD in 2007-08. Some of the ongoing major schemes are as follows: Roads: Development of GIS based National Highways information system; Guidelines for soil nailing techniques in highway engineering; Pilot study on effect of overloading on road infrastructure; Investigation on field performance of bituminous mixes with modified binders; Bridges: Creation of complete range of independent testing facility at Central Road Research Institute (CRRI ), New Delhi. Rural Housing Housing is one of basic requirements for human survival. For a shelterless person, possession of a house brings about a profound social change in his existence, endowing him with an identity, thus integrating him with his immediate social milieu. The Ministry of Rural Development is implementing Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) with a view to providing financial assistance to the rural poor living below poverty line for construction of pucca house. The details of the scheme along with its performance are given below: Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) The Government of India is implementing Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) since the year 1985-86 to provide financial assistance for construction / upgradation of dwelling units to the below poverty line (BPL) rural households belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled Tribes and freed bonded labourers categories. From the year 1993-94, the scope of the scheme was extended to cover non-Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes rural BPL poor, subject to the condition that the benefits to non-SC/ST would not be more than 40% of the total IAY allocation. The benefits of the Scheme have also been extended to the families of ex-servicemen of the armed and paramilitary forces killed in action, 3% of the Houses are reserved for the rural Below Poverty Line physically and mentally challenged persons, from 2006-07 onward, funds and physical targets under IAY are also being earmarked for BPL minorities in each state. Under the scheme, financial resources are shared between the centre and the states on a 75:25 basis. Since, reduction of shelterlessness is the primary objective, 75% weightage is given to housing shortage and 25% to the poverty ratios prescribed by Planning Commission for state level allocation. For district level allocation, 75% weightage is given again to housing shortage and 25% to SC/ST population of the concerned districts. On the basis of allocations made and targets fixed, district Rural development Agency (DRDAs)/Zilla Parishada (ZPs) decide Panchayat-wise number of houses to be constructed under IAY and intimate the same to the concerned Gram Panchayat. Thereafter, the Gram Sabha selects the beneficiaries, restricting its number to the target allotted, from the list of eligible households from the Permanent IAY Waitlists. No further approval of the higher authority is required. The ceiling on construction assistance under the IAY has been enhanced w.e.f. 1.4.2008, Rs. 25, 000/- to Rs. 35,000/- per unit in the plain areas and from Rs. 27,500/- to Rs. 38,500/- in hilly/difficult areas. For upgradation of kutcha house, the financial assistance has also been enhanced from Rs. 12,500/- to Rs. 15,000/- per unit. In addition, The Reserve Bank of India has been requested by the Ministry of Finance to include IAY houses under the Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) scheme for lending upto Rs. 20,000 per unit at an interest rate of 4%. Further, the dwelling units should invariably be allotted in the name of a female member of the beneficiary household. Alternatively, it can be allotted in the name of both husband and wife. Only in case there is no eligible female member in the family, the house can be allotted in the name of an eligible male member. The Sanitary latrine and smokeless chullah and proper drainage are required for each IAY house. Latrine could be constructed separate for the IAY house on the site of beneficiary. The construction of the houses is the sole responsibility of the beneficiary. Engagement of contractors is strictly prohibited. No specific type design has been stipulated for an IAY house. Choice of design, technology and materials for construction of an IAY house is the sole discretion of the beneficiaries. About 181.51 lakh houses have been constructed under IAY since inception of the Scheme with an expenditure of Rs. 36900.41 crores (upto 31/5/2008). Performance during the year 2007-08 During 2007-08, the Central allocation for Rural Houseing was Rs. 40,322.70 crore. The target for construction/upgradation of IAY houses was 21.27 lakh. Against this target, 19.88 lakh houses were constructed/upgraded by incurring an amount of Rs. 5,458.01 crores (including State share). Performance during the year 2008-09 The Central allocation for 2008-09 under the IAY is Rs. 5,645.77 crore for the target of constructing/upgrading 21.27 lakh IAY houses. Out of this, an amount of Rs. 1,694.48 crore has been released as part of first instalment and 85,879 houses have been constructed so far, (upto 31/5/2008). Irrigation Under the Irrigation Component of Bharat Nirman, the target of creation of additional irrigation potential of 1 crore hectare in 4 years (2005-06 to 2008-09) is planned to be met largely through expeditious completion of identified ongoing major and medium irrigation projects. Irrigation potential of 42 lakh hectare is planned to be created by expeditiously completing such ongoing major and medium projects. There is a definite gap between irrigation potential created and the potential utilized. Under Bharat Nirman it is planned to restore and utilize irrigation potential of 10 lakh hectare through implementation of extension, renovation and modernization of schemes alongwith command area development and water management practices. There are considerable areas in the country with unutilised ground water resources. Irrigation potential of 28 lakh hectare is planned to be created through ground water development. The remaining target for creation of irrigation potential of 10 lakh hectare is planned to be created by way of minor irrigation schemes using surface flow. 10 lakh hectare of irrigation potential is also planned by way of repair, renovation and restoration of water bodies and extension, renovation and modernization of minor irrigation schemes. Telephone Connections Telecom connectivity constitutes an important part of the effort to upgrade the rural infrastructure. Under the Bharat Nirman Programme, it will be ensured that 66,822 revenue villages in the country, which have not yet been provided with a Village Public Telephone (VPT), shall be covered. Out of the above villages, connectivity in 14,183 remote and far flung villages will be provided through digital satellite phone terminals. Assistance for both capital as well as operational expenditure for these VPTs will be met out of the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF). Rural Water Supply To build rural infrastructure, Bharat Nirman has been launched by the Government of India in 2005 to be implemented in a period of four years from 2005-06 to 2008-09. Rural drinking water is one of the six components of Bharat Nirman. During Bharat Nirman period, 55,067 un-covered and about 3.31 lakh slipped-back habitations are to be covered with provisions of drinking water facilities and 2.17 lakh quality-affected habitations are to be addressed for water quality problem. While prioritising the addressal of the water quality problem, Arsenic and Fluoride affected habitations have been accorded priority followed by Iron, Salinity, Nitrate and other contaminants. To ensure that habitations once provided with drinking water supply infrastructure do not slip back and face drinking water problem, sustainability of drinking water sources and systems has been accorded high priority. To achieve drinking water security at village/ habitation level, conjunctive use of water i.e. judicious use of rainwater, surface water and ground water is promoted. To enable the rural community shoulder the responsibility in management, operation and maintenance of water supply systems at village level, decentralized, demand-driven, community-managed approach in the form of Swajaldhara have been adopted. To further strengthen community participation in the drinking water sector for sustainability, National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Surveillance programme has been launched in February, 2006 under which 5 persons in each Gram Panchayat are to be trained to carry out regular surveillance of drinking water sources for which 100% financial assistance including water testing kits, are provided. Rural Electrification Ministry of Power has introduced the scheme Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidhyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) in April 2005, which aims at providing electricity in all villages and habitations in four years and provides access to electricity to all rural households. This programme has been brought under the ambit of Bharat Nirman. Under RGGVY, electricity distribution infrastructure is envisaged to establish Rural Electricity Distribution Backbone (REDB) with at least a 33/11KV sub-station, Village Electrification Infrastructure (VEI) with at least a Distribution Transformer in a village or hamlet, and standalone grids with generation where grid supply is not feasible. This infrastructure would cater to the requirements of agriculture and other activities in rural areas including irrigation pump sets, small and medium industries, khadi and village industries, cold chains, healthcare and education and IT. This would facilitate overall rural development, employment generation and poverty alleviation. Subsidy towards capital expenditure to the tune of 90% will be provided, through Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC), which is a nodal agency for implementation of the scheme. Electrification of un-electrified Below Poverty Line (BPL) households will be financed with 100% capital subsidy @ Rs.1500/- per connection in all rural habitations. The Management of Rural Distribution is mandated through franchisees. The services of Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSU) are available to the States for assisting them in the execution of Rural Electrification projects. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) External website that opens in a new window was launched on 25 December 2000 as a fully funded Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The primary objective of the PMGSY is to provide connectivity to all the eligible unconnected habitations of more than 500 persons in the rural areas (250 persons in the hilly and desert areas) by good quality all-weather roads. Under Bharat Nirman, goal has been set to provide connectivity to all the habitations with population of more than 1000 in the plain areas and habitations with a population of 500 or more in hilly and tribal areas in a time-bound manner by 2009. The systematic upgradation of the existing rural road networks is also an integral component of the scheme. Accordingly, an Action Plan has been prepared for connecting 66,802 habitations with 1,46,185 km of all-weather roads. This Action Plan also envisages upgradation/renewal of 1,94,130 km of the existing rural road network. Subsequently, based on ground verification by States, 62,985 habitations were found eligible to be connected under the programme, out of which 3421 habitations have been connected under other schemes. Thus, the revised target is to connect 59,564 habitations. It is estimated that an investment of about Rs.48,000 crore would be required for achieving the targets under Bharat Nirman. The implementation strategy focuses o n quality, cost management and on time delivery. Up to July, 2008, project proposals amounting to Rs. 81,717 crore have been approved against which a sum of Rs. 38,499 crore has been released for 86,146 roads covering a length of 3,31,736 km. Against these, 52,218 road works having road length of 1,75629 km have been completed with a cumulative expenditure of Rs. 35,295 crore. Rural Housing Housing is one of basic requirements for human survival. For a shelterless person, possession of a house brings about a profound social change in his existence, endowing him with an identity, thus integrating him with his immediate social milieu. The Ministry of Rural Development is implementing Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) with a view to providing financial assistance to the rural poor living below poverty line for construction of pucca house. The details of the scheme along with its performance are given below: Indira Awaas Yojna (IAY) The Government of India is implementing Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) since the year 1985-86 to provide financial assistance for construction / upgradation of dwelling units to the below poverty line (BPL) rural households belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled Tribes and freed bonded labourers categories. From the year 1993-94, the scope of the scheme was extended to cover non-Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes rural BPL poor, subject to the condition that the benefits to non-SC/ST would not be more than 40% of the total IAY allocation. The benefits of the Scheme have also been extended to the families of ex-servicemen of the armed and paramilitary forces killed in action, 3% of the Houses are reserved for the rural Below Poverty Line physically and mentally challenged persons, From 2006-07 onward, funds and physical targets under IAY are also being earmarked for BPL minorities in each state. Under the scheme, financial resources are shared between the centre and the states on a 75 : 25 basis. Since, reduction of shelterlessness is the primary objective, 75% weightage is given to housing shortage and 25% to the poverty ratios prescribed by Planning Commission for state level allocation. For district level allocation, 75% weightage is given again to housing shortage and 25% to SC/ST population of the concerned districts. On the basis of allocations made and targets fixed, district Rural development Agency (DRDAs)/Zilla Parishada (ZPs) decide Panchayat-wise number of houses to be constructed under IAY and intimate the same to the concerned Gram Panchayat. Thereafter, the Gram Sabha selects the beneficiaries, restricting its number to the target allotted, from the list of eligible households from the Permanent IAY Waitlists. No further approval of the higher authority is required. The ceiling on construction assistance under the IAY has been enhanced w.e.f. 1.4.2008, Rs. 25, 000/- to Rs. 35,000/- per unit in the plain areas and from Rs. 27,500/ to Rs. 38,500/- in hilly/difficult areas. For upgradation of kutcha house, the financial assistance has also been enhanced from Rs. 12,500/- to Rs. 15,000/- per unit. In addition, The Reserve Bank of India has been requested by the Ministry of Finance to include IAY houses under the Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) scheme for lending upto Rs. 20,000 per unit at an interest rate of 4%. Further, the dwelling units should invariably be allotted in the name of a female member of the beneficiary household. Alternatively, it can be allotted in the name of both husband and wife. Only in case there is no eligible female member in the family, the house can be allotted in the name of an eligible male member. The Sanitary latrine and smokeless chullah and proper drainage are required for each IAY house. Latrine could be constructed separate for the IAY house on the site of beneficiary. The construction of the houses is the sole responsibility of the beneficiary. Engagement of contractors is strictly prohibited. No specific type design has been stipulated for an IAY house. Choice of design, technology and materials for construction of an IAY house is the sole discretion of the beneficiaries. About 181.51 lakh houses have been constructed under IAY since inception of the Scheme with an expenditure of Rs. 36900.41 crores (upto 31/5/2008) Performance during the year 2007-08 During 2007-08, the Central allocation for Rural Housing was Rs. 40322.70 crore. The target for construction/upgradation of IAY houses was 21.27 lakh. Against this target, 19.88 lakh houses were constructed/upgraded by incurring an amount of Rs. 5458.01 crores (including State share). Performance during the year 2008-09 The Central allocation for 2008-09 under the IAY is Rs. 56.45.77 crore for the target of constructing/upgrading 21.27 lakh IAY houses. Out of this, an amount of Rs. 1694.48 crore has been released as part of first installment and 85879 houses have been constructed so far, (upto 31/5/2008). Source: National Portal Content Management Team, Reviewed on:05-05-2010 Eleventh plan (2007-2012) The eleventh plan has the following objectives: Income Poverty Accelerate GDP growth from 8% to 10% and then maintain at 10% in the 12th Plan in order to double per capita income by 2016-17 Increase agricultural GDP growth rate to 4% per year to ensure a broader spread of benefits Create 70 million new work opportunities. Reduce educated unemployment to below 5%. Raise real wage rate of unskilled workers by 20 percent. Reduce the headcount ratio of consumption poverty by 10 percentage points. Education Reduce dropout rates of children from elementary school from 52.2% in 2003-04 to 20% by 2011-12 Develop minimum standards of educational attainment in elementary school, and by regular testing monitor effectiveness of education to ensure quality Increase literacy rate for persons of age 7 years or above to 85% Lower gender gap in literacy to 10 percentage point Increase the percentage of each cohort going to higher education from the present 10% to 15% by the end of the plan Health Reduce infant mortality rate to 28 and maternal mortality ratio to 1 per 1000 live births Reduce Total Fertility Rate to 2.1 Provide clean drinking water for all by 2009 and ensure that there are no slip-backs Reduce malnutrition among children of age group 0-3 to half its present level Reduce anaemia among women and girls by 50% by the end of the plan women and Children Raise the sex ratio for age group 0-6 to 935 by 2011-12 and to 950 by 2016-17 Ensure that at least 33 percent of the direct and indirect beneficiaries of all government schemes are women and girl children Ensure that all children enjoy a safe childhood, without any compulsion to work Infrastructure Ensure electricity connection to all villages and BPL households by 2009 and round-the-clock power. Ensure all-weather road connection to all habitation with population 1000 and above (500 in hilly and tribal areas) by 2009, and ensure coverage of all significant habitation by 2015 Connect every village by telephone by November 2007 and provide broadband connectivity to all villages by 2012 Provide homestead sites to all by 2012 and step up the pace of house construction for rural poor to cover all the poor by 2016-17 Environment Increase forest and tree cover by 5 percentage points. Attain WHO standards of air quality in all major cities by 2011-12. Treat all urban waste water by 2011-12 to clean river waters. Increase energy efficiency by 20 percentage points by 2016-17.

Alicia My Story, Book Summary Essay -- essays research papers

The main character in this story is a Jewish girl named Alicia. When the book starts she is ten years old, she lives in the Polish town of Buczacz with her four brothers, Moshe, Zachary, Bunio, and Herzl, and her mother and father . The holocaust experience began subtly at first when the Russians began to occupy Buczacz. When her brother Moshe was killed at a â€Å" Boys School† in Russia and her father was gathered up by German authorities, the reality of the whole situation quickly became very real. Her father was taken away shortly after the Russians had moved out and the Germans began to occupy Buczacz. Once the Germans occupied, they moved the Jewish population of Buczacz into mass ghettos. Alicia and the rest of her family had to share a house with several other families which had also been driven out of there homes. The only source of income in this situation was to sell things at the marketplace, and even there, Jews were forbidden. Alicia went anyway and sold what she could for food and money.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One day her brother Bunio disappeared from the ghetto. Alicia and her family found out later that he had been taken to a work camp, but that they could send food packages to him. Shortly after this, Alicia was taken into custody by German officials and put on a train to another work camp. Alicia managed to escape from this train by jumping through a small window. She found her way to a river which led her back to the ghetto. By this time several people in the ghetto had been feeling the effects of the impoverished conditions. Starvation, Typhoid, and other diseases, were beginning to take its toll on the people who lived in the ghetto. Then one day, Alicia found out that her brother Bunio had been killed in the work camp. A boy had escaped so they lined up all the boys and shot every fourth one .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As time progressed, Alicia began assuming more responsibility for the daily tasks of the family such as going out and trading for more food in places other than the marketplace. While this was going on, Zachary and a few other boys from the ghetto had been forming a sort of resistance. One day Alicia was informed that her brother had been hanged. After Zachary’s death, Alicia was befriended by a woman named Bella. She met many good friends in the ghetto including a future friend as well as savior, Milek  ... ...and the police wanted to find out who was buying things from her. Over a span of 8 months they were kept but finally they were released. They received a lot of money from people that had been saved by their withholding of evidence. Alicia and her friend took this money and bought a train ticket to Lodz. They were stopped in Lvov because they went to get some tea while stopped at a station, but the train took off without them and they left all of their belongings on the train. Next they boarded a train to Krakow, and parted ways there. In Krakow, Alicia was staying at a rather large house with another family. She built a sort of orphanage by gathering up homeless children from the neighborhood. She lived with this family for a long time, and during this time she learned about a way that she could go to Eretz Island, Israel where she could be safe. She left her orphanage and went on a long journey where she met many people that were like her, in that she didn’t like to see people suffer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alicia made it to Israel but was taken by British border patrol officers to a jail on Cypress for coming into the country illegally. She was then released from Cyprus.

Panel Discussion

Eulene Albert F. Geronimo SPEECOM EG Reflection Paper for Panel Discussion To be honest, we felt a little disappointed when Ms. Jeanne Purpura told us minutes before our panel discussion that the projector was not available for use. In addition, we also sort of panicked because almost half of what we would deliver that day was only based and could only be delivered effectively by our powerpoint presentation. The graphs and statistics we have researched about were included in that visual aid; the audience might have enjoyed and understood the discussion more if the projector was functioning well.All the same, we still managed to get through. In fact, in my opinion, we have achieved our objective of informing the audience about mobile nuclear drive, its advantages, disadvantages and consequences to the health and welfare of the society. However, no panel discussion is perfect. In fact, no speech is flawless; everyone has his/her own strengths and weaknesses. And in this paper, I am goi ng to discuss the strong and weak points of our panel discussion. Let me begin with the â€Å"Speaker† aspects in the rubric for panel discussion.I admit that one of the weak spots of our group was the lack of enthusiasm in our facial expressions and voice projection. We, the panel members, also failed to establish rapport with one another. However, in my opinion, my groupmates and I tried our best to be as knowledgeable as possible with regards to our assigned topic. Without a doubt, I can tell that we looked prepared and credible, not just because we are engineering students and are expected to really have some grasp of these kind of topics but because we have really researched and internalized the issue in depth.We also wore appropriate formal attire and took our respective roles as different kinds of engineers seriously. As a result of these, we had some convincing power towards the audience that I felt their eagerness to listen and learn more about our subject matter. Th ey even asked a handful of questions and this serves as proof that they were really into our discussion. On the other hand, I confess that the flow of our discussion was not that organized. The ideas did not come in a smooth flow and I think, this was one of the consequences of not having a visual aid.In effect, the panel discussion lacked spontaneity. However, we should have adjusted with regards to that aspect for the reason that technical difficulties are inevitable and a good speaker should have seen that and have prepared for that beforehand. In the rubric, we scored relatively high in the â€Å"Message Content† part. I think it is because our arguments are supported with adequate evidence and well–researched facts and information. We failed to cite our references though, for the reason that our list of references was embedded in our powerpoint presentation.Lastly, based on the feedback we have received from our blockmates, I believe that our group has answered th e questions of the audience credibly and convincingly. Next aspect would be the organization. Thanks to our moderator, Mr. Doolittle, who started and ended our panel discussion with a bang. On the other side of the coin, we failed to use transitions and the details we discussed were not that logically organized, like what I said in one of the paragraphs above. In other words, a smooth flow of ideas was not observed.Apologies. In the aspect of transmission, we also scored relatively high. There was a varied intonation and a conversational tone while we delivered the information. There was also a controlled speed delivery; we went not too fast but not too slow. In simpler words, we went at a moderate pace, so as not to hurry or lose the eagerness of the audience. When it comes to nonverbal aspects of speech delivery, our group did not fail to apply what we have learned. I noticed some simple but effective gestures while watching our video.Even the effortless movements of hands while d iscussing could help in transmitting what we are trying to express or say. Our group also explained the technicalities and the mechanics of nuclear power in layman’s terms so as to be understood by our blockmates who are not that familiar with our subject matter. For this reason, I think it is valid to say that we used clear language to benefit everyone. Still, we fell trap to using fillers like uhm’s and ah’s and unavoidable pauses. Sorry for those. On the bright side, there was no code-switching in our discussion.In linguistics,  code-switching  is the switching between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation. In our discussion, we really tried our very best to explain the topic to our audience through he use of only one language, English. This is for the reason that English will be used when we communicate with our fellow engineers and with other professionals less than five years from now. Last would be the a udience rapport. At the beginning of the discussion, our moderator formally acknowledged the presence of the audience, especially of Ms.Jeanne. Also, our group made it a point to include audience participation in our discussion. In truth, according to them, we have addressed and answered their questions and clarifications properly. Also, a big â€Å"thank you† to our moderator, Mr. Doolittle, who did well in maintaining the balance of our discussion and for adding some humor when the topic becomes serious and very technical; without him, the audience might have been bored with the endless scientific terms being bombarded to them. With this, the audience paid attention and rapport with them was established.What’s more, the fact that our topic, Mobile Nuclear Drive, was new, interesting, appealing and environment-related adds to the list of our strengths of our panel discussion. Conversely, one weak point in this aspect would be the failure of establishing and maintainin g eye contact with the audience. To sum up, for the reason that we received more good comments than bad ones from our blockmates, I can say that our panel discussion was not much of a disaster even though we did not have a powerpoint presentation to aid us.Just like the previous activity, the Informative Speech, I also learned lots of lessons in this Panel Discussion activity. First, be prepared just in case a technical difficulty comes in and ruins your original plan. Always have plan B. Second, rapport is very essential when it comes to almost everything. But to be specific, audience rapport in speeches is a â€Å"must† because without it, your whole speech would be wasted because no one will listen to you. Third, know your topic from the heart. Who knows?You could be asked with heaps of questions and you should be able to answer if not all, most of them. Plus, five years from now, we might be working in a company and when it comes to project or business proposals, we shoul d master every detail, may it be big or small, so as to gain the credibility and trust of other, even higher professionals. Lastly, there must be a logical organization of the details or the parts of your speech so as not to confuse your audience and for them to continue listening with eagerness and full attention.

Effective Education Web Site Essay

The rapid development of the internet has made it into one of the greatest tools of learning for many individuals in the academic environment. Even students still in primary and secondary education have become highly dependent on the services provided over the World Wide Web. What libraries and tutorial programs used to be for the older generation, the computer and on-line sites have become for the younger generation. The qualities of an effective education web site for primary and secondary schools thus needs to be assessed. Cook & Dupras (2004) state that an educational websites effectiveness lie in its ability to answer specific needs and goals for the student. This means that the website needs not only to be user-friendly and easily navigable but it also needs to be content-oriented. There should be a specific task for the website and all possible media that can fulfill this task should be incorporated in the site’s design. For example, if the site aims to teach the basic principles of arithmetic, different elements can be mixed together to reach this aim – a step-by-step tutorial, examples, sample problems, quizzes, and even games. An effective education website needs to encourage active learning especially if it is for primary and secondary schools. (Cook & Dupras, 2004) This can be done by allowing self-assessment, learner interaction, feedback and even self-directed learning. The website itself should be made accessible, user-friendly, and should have templates that encourage the student to study. Colorful pages, interactive images, and regularly updated content all perform the said task. Educational websites may well be the classrooms of the future. As such, more research need to be conducted in order to better understand the dynamics that would allow optimum learning from the sites. Reference Cook, D. A. , and Dupras, D. M. (2004). A practical guide to developing effective web-based learning. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 19(6), 698-707.