Louis Vuitton Introduction

LVMH Company Overview Louis Vuitton, a French fashion house, is now a brand of the LVMH group. It was first set up in 1854 by a young trunk-maker named Louis Vuitton. He started out by designing and manufacturing innovative stackable trunks. Products were sold through a company-owned sales outlet located in Paris. Then, in 1876, the company introduced luxury trunks with detachable frames. This is the first and initial success of Louis Vuitton, which enabled the firm to set up a new store in London in 1885.Sales kept increasing and the company was gaining more and more in popularity and reputation of a luxury brand. In 1987, Louis Vuitton – Moet Hennessy, better known as LMVH was formed, as a French multinational luxury goods  conglomerate, headquartered in  Paris. LVMH rapidly expanded to become the world leader in luxury goods. Bernard Arnault, the CEO of the company, took less than 12 years to build up LVMH through the acquisition of numerous luxury brands, expansion int o retailing and an aggressive globalization strategy.LVMH was named after the first two companies that were merged in 1987 to create the company: the luggage and leather-goods maker Louis Vuitton and the Champagne and Cognac producer Moet-Hennessy. In subsequent years, many more famous luxury goods producers were taken over and added to the conglomerate’s brand portfolio. In 2005, LVMH owned over 50 well-known brands operating in five main sectors: Wines & Spirits (which accounted for 19% of sales), Fashion & Leather goods (35% of sales), Perfumes & Cosmetics (16% of sales), Watches & Jewellery (4% of sales) and Selective Retailing (26% of sales).The mission of the LVMH group is to represent the most refined qualities of Western â€Å"Art de Vivre† around the world. LVMH must continue to be synonymous with both elegance and creativity. The products, and the cultural values they embody, blend tradition and innovation, and kindle dream and fantasy. In view of this missio n, five priorities reflect the fundamental values shared by all Group stakeholders: * Be creative and innovate * Aim for product excellence * Bolster the image of our brands with passionate determination * Act as entrepreneurs Strive to be the best in all we do However, Louis Vuitton brand has been facing many issues, especially in their logistic and supply chain management. In spite of the rapid increase of demand, Louis Vuitton doesn’t manage to respond appropriately to the growing demand. The question is the probability of default in the products. Thus, products must be resent to the warehouse and so on. It leads to a waste of time and money and an appropriate management of the logistics and supply chain.Louis Vuitton also faces different and many issues such as the lack of numbers of warehouse, the distance which separate it from the stores, the problem of inventory and so on†¦ What we are going to discuss in this report is to find out from where are these issues com ing from? Does Louis Vuitton have enough flexibility and responsiveness from the supply chain management of the firm? Is the firm developing too many new products while no customers are ready to buy them?

Advantages and Disadvantages of Globalization on South Africa

Globalization is the â€Å"shrinking† of the world and the increased consciousness of the world as a whole. It is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that is a result of dramatically increased cross-border trade, investment, and cultural exchange. Globalization has been dominated by the nation-state, national economies, and national cultural identities. The new form of globalization is an interconnected world and global mass culture, often referred to as a â€Å"global village. â€Å"(Bhagwati,2004). Globalization is perhaps the central concept of our age (Bhagwati, 2004). Developing country refers to the countries which are economicaly and technologically undeveloped. South Africa stands as a semi-sephere nation making it differ from the rest of the developing world although it has party some charectateristics of a deceloping world. For South Africa to be the strongest African economy and attenting positions such as being a member of the g8 as been a clearl work of globalization making it at the center of the Africa. Globalization has managed to have an impact on the economy ,politics and social nature bringing about positive results for South Africa. In this essay;The situation during economicec sunctions and its leberisation is clear evidance to economic libirazation I am going to illustrate how this process has had a positive impact in South Africa as a whole. primarly focusing on the positive impact globalization has had on South Africas economy . Through the broad and economic lebarization with other counties. The phenomeanall of globalization states that The integration of South Africa into an increasingly integrated world economy has encouraged closer economic, political, and social interaction. In South Africa it has given companies access to wider markets and consumers access to a greater variety of goods and services. It has manifests itself in various forms such as an increase in international trade, financial flows, and foreign direct investment (Smith,2001). This has resulted in South African economy managing to emerge its market status. Its economy has been the centre of Africa and one of the strongest in the world and its economic realisation has been due to its effective and successfully eco integration with other parts of the world. The economic growth has been due to the global economy (Smith,2001). Politically, globalization has resulted in the affluent and efficient government system adapted through integration of political systems party which holds fair economies making the government of South Africa, accountable and durable to stable economies . For instance, ANC leaders chucked decades of rhetoric and opened the South African economy to the rest of the world (Smith,2001). From my own personal perspective and experience in a â€Å"global village†. Globalization has had positive impact in South Africa’s production of goods and services. For instance, the franchise of MacDonald’s has led to production aiming to maintain the global standard of the franchise producing standard global quality of production in South Africa (Ritzer,2000). Globalization has had a positive impact on the South African society . Myopic mindedness has been dealt away with and they have been set a more affluent and integration of ideas from different parts of the world which has helped the society in general. For instance the AIDS awareness has become a global theme and has encouraged South Africa to get more involved in its Aids awareness which has primarily not been as successful in the past and due to the integration this has been possible. Different cultural ideas and tradition have also been interlinked and have asses to explore the world they leave in improving knowledge (Ritzer,200) In conclusion to my argument, globalization has had a more positive impact on South Africa. They has been economic, political, technology and social integration (Bhagwati,2004) . They have been open trade improving the economy of the South Africa. Influence in the politics and technology helping develop new innovations helping the county. The global perspective of the society has since grown to be smaller, allowing different cultural integration and eliminating isolation and living the society prom to more knowledge.

Analysis of protocol for Management of Hypertension in Adults Research Paper

Analysis of protocol for Management of Hypertension in Adults - Research Paper Example A decision to embark upon antihypertensive therapy effectively commits the patient to life-long treatment, hence it is vital that blood pressure (BP) monitoring and management be taken seriously by pursuing the set norms and protocols to safeguard individuals from numerous predicaments (High Blood Pressure). The present article is an analysis of the Protocol For Management Of Hypertension in Adults to have a deeper understanding for hypertension measurement. Blood Pressure Measurement "Protocol For Management Of Hypertension In Adults" is based on the guidelines of National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) for the hypertension management in adults in primary care. The protocol lays emphasis on the accuracy and precision of the blood pressure management, appropriate training of the health care provider and periodic review of the individual suspected or confirmed with the condition of hypertension. This holds true because precision is imperative in measurement of blood pressure. Any inaccuracy in the measurement of blood pressure may turn out to be overwhelming. Measurement of blood pressure is the most prevalent assessment in clinics, interpretation or analysis of the results or outcomes procured are responsible for future implications, an imperative step for the individual whose BP is measured. Any error in the reading or ignorance in taking the exact reading or taking a low reading than actual, may deprive the individual from taking medication at the right time and thereby enhances the susceptibility of the person for stroke or heart attack. Alternatively, if the person is normal and the measurement of the blood pressure is taken high the individual may be exposed to the BP lowering medication without any basis. These may result in serious implications, therefore, it is highly imperative to get an accurate measurement of blood pressure (O’Brien, et al, 2010; Hypertensive Crises: Recognition and Management). The current protocol emphasizes on the appropriate servicing and calibration of the equipment. As blood pressure is a hemodynamic variable, to get an accurate reading of blood pressure it is highly essential to have a validated measuring device in clinical settings in order to prevent erroneous outcomes. As per the protocol routine blood pressure measurement must be performed at least every 5 years until the age of 80 years, under normal circumstances, every individual who is around 40 years of age or above must get the BP checkup as a routine in 5 years to avert morbidity and mortality caused due to hypertension (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, 2011). However, the current protocol does not mention that treatment and care should consider individual requirement, i.e. care should be person-centred care, which is well explained in the protocol of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, (2011). The current protocol does not lay emphasis on development of excellent communication skill, wh ich is essential for better compliance and prognosis and is also encouraged by evidence- based research studies. The protocol provided by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, (2011) on the other hand, facilitates individuals to accomplish learned decisions about their care all. The current protocol further emphasize the fact that individuals with above normal values with the range of 135-139/85-89

Music in Arts Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Music in Arts Education - Research Paper Example Everywhere you look, someone is listening to music. In today’s day and age, children starting at the young ripe age of six, all the way to nineteen have ear buds permanently glued to their ears. Parents can hardly get a word in because they know their son or daughter is lost in their own world of music. Music varies, and it varies because children have different tastes. Each child has its own perception of what music should look, feel, sound, taste, and even smell like. For many, music brings back memories. Some of them are good, but much too often, bad. Without music, children feel that their world is being invaded. So they may use music as a safety net; a way to connect with their inner souls, and with people around them. Music is a window into the next dimension. Each child adapts to their own style, genre, and even musical essence. A lot of music is used to depict feeling, sensory connection, and telling of a story. Without music today, young children, preteens, and adoles cents feel disconnected from the world. We educators and adults may not understand why students are hooked on music, but if we take time to reflect, we too will remember the importance of our own quiet times we spent being enthralled with the newest album, CD, or cassette tape featuring our favorite group; boy, girl or singles band. All we must do is reminisce and we too will be transported back to what we now may see is â€Å"foreign† and not as important. When music is taught in the classroom, it can at times be considered boring, redundant and trite. Students lose heart because teachers are lacking the connection. Many times students are told what instrument they will play, when they will play it or how. But, when does the creativity begin to flow? When can students create their own rules when learning about music? Music is often taught via a textbook. Students learn about the baroque time, the neo-classical time, and the more prominent times that seem to be less pertinent to students today. Teachers stay away from time periods they are unfamiliar with mainly because they were not taught it in â€Å"teacher† college. But they are missing the connection with students. They fail to bridge the gap between music from the past and music today. If we want our students to appreciate music for what it is worth, it is important for us to start becoming more relevant for the students. Instead of focusing so much on standards and benchmarks required, maybe think about branching out and having a little bit of fun. National testing and school performance tables have been focusing so much on the core subjects that they have left out other subjects that seem less important such a music and the arts. Just because students are not tested on these things, does not mean they are less important. Unless of course a school is only focused on scores. When students study music, they learn about many different cultures. An appreciation for diversity comes to the foref ront and students learn to get along in a more harmonious manner. Students don’t only learn to get along but they learn self-discipline which is a very hard thing to do today because of the amount of overly stimulating activities students are involved in on a daily basis. Take T.V. for example. When kids watch TV, they do just that; watch. They do not interact with the television; they become complacent and are fed information. They are

Dance Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dance Paper - Assignment Example Therefore, according to the narrator in the video, respect for other people’s ideas is paramount to encourage tolerance. He adds that silence is the worst form of decision because it stifles opinion on important matters. LaLaLa Human Steps: LaLaLa Human Sex duo no. is video by Edourd Lock and it runs for 1.6 minutes. It involves a gestural dance characterized by fast and difficult partnering during movements while using the horizontal plane. However, there are contrasting views concerning the male dancer’s energy including the body language to that of the female dancer. First, both dancers are vigorous in their undertaking to depict the gestures of sex when done without the necessary precaution (Minton 167). Second, the dominance on stage by the dances is demonstration of the unifying belief of the dangers posed by irresponsible sex. However, issues of gender stereotypes are being pushed in the choreography worth noting. For example, women are cast in the video as passive and, thus, direct recipients of the sexual innuendos. Likewise, the choreography assumes that only men are the stronger sexual beings as opposed to their counterparts. Smoke is a video by Mats Ek and it lasts for 20 minutes demonstrating the relationship between a man and woman namely Niklas Ek and Slyvie Guillem. The use of the wall, hence, is a vital platform to convey the tension between the dancers because it reveals the barrier in sexuality. It also displays the essence of continuation from a neutral background. On the other hand, the camera tricks such as retrograde and close-ups enable the telling of the story to assume authenticity because it makes both dancers in real in the choreography. In that perspective, the dancers mostly use their arms and bellies as surfaces for partnering to send a clear message of sexuality and its undertones. Ms Guillem’s character, however, during her sole takes the form of

Gerardus Mercator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gerardus Mercator - Essay Example As stated by the author (Van Cauwenberghe, C., 2005), Gerardus Mercator's personal self-governing map-making only started when he created a map of Palestine in 1537 and this was pursued by an additional map of the world in 1538 and a map of Flanders in 1540. In 1541, Mercator made a globe of chips of wood, wrapped with linen and plaster. On top of it he stuck twelve parts of paper which was colored by him. Throughout this stage, he learned Italic handwriting as it was the most appropriate kind of handwriting for copper engraving of maps. He wrote down his first tutoring book of Italic handwriting which was published in northern Europe. (Van Cauwenberghe, C., 2005). In 1544, Mercator was accused with unorthodoxy due to his kindness for Protestant thinking and doubts about his regular travels. He was in prison for seven months before the blames were plunged, perhaps because of interference from the university authorities. However, in 1552, he went towards Duisburg, one of the main cities in the German Duchy of Cleves. He opened a cartographic workshop, where he finished a six-panel map of Europe in 1554. In the mean while, he began to teach mathematics at the academic college of Duisburg. After generating quite a few maps, he was chosen as a Court Cosmographer to Wilhelm, Duke of Jlich Cleves Berg in 1564. Before Mercator, seafarers had a problem, there weren't any reliable carts. The signals of the compass didn't agree with the signs of the carts. As a result, the seafarers ran aground hundreds of kilometers from their target. But Mercator had a solution as he wanted to give the seafarers a dependable cart. He created a new chart and used it fi rst in 1569. He projected the world on a cylinder having the parallels and meridians cross each other vertically and extending the distances on the corresponding lines with the same reason as the distances on the meridians. When Mercator presented his latest world map in 1569, he right away resolved one of the most imperative problems of map-reading which was to sketch a map on which a rhumb can be symbolized as a straight line.He used the word atlas to illustrate the collection of maps and encouraged Abraham Ortelius to assemble the first modern world atlas namely, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum in 1570. He formed his own atlas in numerous parts, the first of which was published in 1578 and consisted of accurate versions of the maps of Ptolemy. Maps of France, Germany and the Netherlands were added in 1585 and of the Balkans and Greece in 1588. More maps were published in 1595 after his death by his son Rumold Mercator. It took a while before the maps of Mercator were launched for navigation because Mercator kept his mathematical backdrop as a secret. As a result, other mathematicians struggled on other way to solve the problem. Michiel Coignet, a mathematician of Antwerp, attempted to give it a way out by calculating the length of the rhumb piece by piece for some given paths. These statistics didn't mean anything for seafarers only if they couldn't mark them out on their maps. Simon Stevin had similar thoughts and he recommended the usage moulds, shaped like a loxodrome and appropriating to each map. The real mathematical approach came from Edward Wright in 1599 using the basic idea for a Mercator map

Critical Communication Event on Radio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Critical Communication Event on Radio - Essay Example Media covered the event as the lack of communication between the Airline personal and the Orto but some people believed that Airline personal must let the Orto to board the plane, however, Airline personal have the idea that a person with such size may be a problem for the neighbor passenger. In fact, the rude attitude of Orto led him to be refused to board the plane. The event caught the attention of many newspaper and news agencies, where most of the reporters have the view that it was the impolite attitude of Orto that made the authorities to deny him from boarding the plane. As the communication event, the event sounds a communication gap between Orto and the Airline personnel but history is full of the events that made people to think in the manner that a authority wants. It could be beneficent for the people to have knowledge about the rules of the Southwest Airline. However, it could be worse for the people who are targeted to spend extra money to buy extra seat as per their size. As the radio communication lacks to target certain audience, the messages are conveyed to all the people irrespective that the messages could harm the mind of a person or a group of people. eTurboNews Inc. (2010). Passenger not allowed to board the plane because hes "too large to fly†. eTN. Retrieved October 28, 2011, from

Working towards Six Sigma would definitely be of great benefit to Essay

Working towards Six Sigma would definitely be of great benefit to Achiffa - Essay Example They include both hard and soft problems. The soft problems are the ones which are unstructured and therefore require further analysis before they can be resolved. Checkland (1981) Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) in terms of the seven stage approach was utilised to obtain important information and later to facilitate improvements to the existing system of operations. Based on the root definitions a conceptual model was put forward indicating the areas that need immediate improvements. It was recommended that Deming’s Plan, Do, Check, Act modelled be considered. It was also recommended that quality management be a key aspect of improving the system and that the implementation of Six Sigma be considered in future. Introduction Achiffa operations is affected by a number of problems, most of which are related. Some of these problems cannot be solved using traditional or hard approaches to problem solving. It therefore means that another approach has to be found. These problems are more related to human activities and should be carefully dealt with. SSM is a framework that has developed to deal with problems of this nature (Checkland 1981; Checkland and Scholes 1990; Checkland 1999). The role of SSM is to investigate, gain understanding and identify problems. SSM is based on system thinking in that it views the problem domain in a holistic way with the recognition that all parts of the organisation are connected. This suggests that when changes are made to one part other parts of the system will be affected (Checkland 1999). Operations at Achiffa Snack Foods Achiffa Snack Foods purchases potatoes from various suppliers for it operations. These supplies are transformed during the production process into a total of six products including fries, potato wedges and hash browns. Achiffa customers are restaurants, supermarkets. However, waste products and rejects are sold to farmers. After production the goods are transported to regional distribution centres from whi ch logistic providers - in this case FreshDist takes the products directly to the customers. The diagram below is an input-output model which provides a basic illustration of the operations at Achiffa. Input-output Model of Operations at Achiffa Snack Foods Adapted from: Kumar and Suresh (2009, p. 9) Customers are concerned about prices and so Achiffa has to ensure that the supply chain is managed in such a way that the company’s products are competitive. In order for this to be possible production has to be managed in an efficient and effective manner. Therefore the layout of the production area is very important as it helps to facilitate the smooth flow of operations. Additionally, Achiffa needs to ensure that production is planned in such a way that time is not taken up with setting up machines for processing several items in one day. The scheduling of production should also be linked to demand as well as the space available for storing the products – this is termed capacity management. It therefore means that the logistics provider would be required to work in accordance with the schedule provided for delivery. Correcting these problems would help reduce lean time by improving on time delivery, eliminate waste and reduce cost (McCreary 2009). It is important that management consistently examine as well as monitor the quality of service it provides to customers with a view to enhancing it. Achiffa should also ensure that the jobs of all persons involved in the production of its products encourage contribution to the success of the business. Arrangements should therefore be made to have enough supplies on hand so that products are replenished without undue delay. The Use of SSM to Resolve Problems at Achiffa SSM may be used to

Critically examine the role of international credit in contemporary Essay

Critically examine the role of international credit in contemporary economies - Essay Example 2 Since September 24, 2001 ineligible due to overdue financial obligations to the PRGF Trust. Table 1. Country Coverage of the MDRI Eligible under the "MDRI-I Trust" (per-capita income at or below US$380) Eligible under the "MDRI-II Trust" (per-capita income above US$380) Countries that have benefited from MDRI as of end-September, 2008 "Completion point" HIPCs: 23 countries that have reached the completion point under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, So Tom and Prncipe, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon,Guyana, Honduras, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Senegal, Zambia Non-HIPC countries (2) with per capita income below US$380 and outstanding debt to the IMF Cambodia, Tajikistan Countries that will be eligible once they reach the completion point under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative "Decision point" HIPCs: 10 countries that have reached the decision point under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau Guinea, Haiti, Republic of Congo Liberia 1 8 additional countries may wish to be considered for HIPC debt relief. They met the income and indebtedness criteria based on end-2004 data. Eritrea, Nepal, Togo Comoros, Cte d'Ivoire, Kyrgyz Republic, Sudan Precise data on the per capita income of Somalia are not available at this juncture. 1 Liberia has no MDRI-eligible debt to the IMF but is expected to receive additional beyond-HIPC debt relief from the IMF to fully cover its remaining eligible debt outstanding at the... "Decision point" HIPCs: 10 countries that have reached the decision point under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau Guinea, Haiti, Republic of Congo 1 Liberia has no MDRI-eligible debt to the IMF but is expected to receive additional beyond-HIPC debt relief from the IMF to fully cover its remaining eligible debt outstanding at the completion point.

Leading Strategic Program Management Essay Example for Free

Leading Strategic Program Management Essay Some people might say a good leaders is born that way. It is true that some individuals have a natural instinct to lead people, but they also have tools to help them in their success. In watching the movie Twelve O’clock High we see different types of leadership. Why is Colonel Keith Davenport’s leadership ineffective in comparison to General Frank Savage’s leadership? With all the men of the 918th Bomb Group loyal to Colonel Davenport, what steps does Gen Savage take to not only win their loyalty but make them an effective team? While working on a project is a lot different than fighting a war, we see how good leadership techniques, trust, good communication, developing leaders, and instilling a sense of pride can turn around the poorest of teams. If you have an ineffective leader, chances are the team will be ineffective. There were many deficiencies in Colonel Davenport’s leadership style. Colonel Davenport was more focused on each individual in his group than he was on the mission at hand. He had the loyalty of his men but failed to lead them. When one of his men failed to accomplish their mission or messed up, Colonel Davenport assumed responsibility and failed to discipline them. When Colonel Davenport received orders to push his men to the maximum potential, he wouldn’t, for fear of burning them out. While Colonel Davenport could not see his deficiencies in his leadership, it could be seen by the commanding General of the VIII Bomber Command, Eighth Air Force. General Pritchard brought Brigadier General Frank Savage in to see if he could fix not only the leadership problem but the productivity of the men in the 918th Bomb Group. When Brigadier Frank Savage arrived at the 918th Bomb Group he went right to work. One of the first items on his agenda was restoring the military standards that had become very laidback. We see this in a couple of scenes. He reprimands the gate guard for not checking his identification card upon entering the base. When he walks into his new office he catches Sergeant Mclllheny typing without his uniform top on. Brigadier General Savage immediately reduces him in rank and tells him why. Word soon travels around the base that they must adhere to the military standards and rules. Once Brigadier General Savage has made it clear that he will restore accountability and standards he calls a meeting to set his expectations clear. In this meeting Brigadier General Savage lets everyone know that they have a job to do and they need to stop feeling sorry for themselves. He tells everyone that from this point on they will be held accountable for their mistakes. Brigadier General Savage then informs everyone that since they are performing poorly, they will practice over and over again until they get it right. This infuriates the pilots and they immediately put in for a transfer. Once Brigadier General Savage has made his expectations clear, he begins gathering support from others. Major Stovall is the group Adjutant who works directly for Brigadier General Savage. Brigadier General Savage begins asking Major Stovall’s opinions on individuals in the unit. He takes the advice given to him by Major Stovall. Major Stovall begins to see that Brigadier General Savage is a great leader and he has a plan to get the 918th Bomb Group back on track. Major Stovall becomes a loyal hard working member of the 918th Bomb Group. He can see that Brigadier General Savage is committed to his job. A trust is built between the two men. â€Å"Trust is at the core of all meaningful relationships. Without trust there can be no giving, no bonding, no risk-taking† (Berkun, 2008, p. 242). He then begins to talk to the other men and gather support and trust for Brigadier General Savage. The next item on Brigadier General Savage’s agenda is to develop leaders in the 918th Bomb Group. When Brigadier General Savage is reviewing everyone’s personnel records he  notices that the second in charge is underperforming. Lt Colonel Ben Gately is immediately fired from his position and place in charge of a plane full of underachievers. He informs Lt Colonel Gately that he will receive every lazy nonperforming person who comes into the 918th Bomb Group. If Lt Colonel Gately wants to survive he needs to step up to the plate and become a good leader. The plane that Lt Colonel Gately is in charge of is called the Leper Colony. By doing this, Brigadier General Savage is giving Lt Colonel Gately a way to prove his leadership. This method of leadership works very well on Lt Colonel Gately, because he begins to perform exceptionally well. Lt Colonel Gately even flies with an injured spine. Brigadier General Savage can see the 918th Bomb Group is turning around into an effective unit. He then sets out to develop a sense of pride in the group. Savage praises them for their performance and what they have achieved as a group. He begins promoting excellence in everything they do. On days where there is no mission they practice to get it perfect. Individuals who show outstanding performance in the Leper Colony get promoted out and those who make mistakes move to the Leper Colony. Results from all their hard team work began to pay off. When the 918th Bomb Group goes on a dangerous mission they return with everyone. The whole unit is put in for a commendation. While Savage has turned the unit around he still has trouble communicating to his people. Communication is a major part of being an effective leader. While Savage has begun communicating very well with Major Stovall, he still had trouble communicating with his pilots and ground crew. Only when he finally sits down and communicates with a young pilot named Bishop, do the other pilots removed their request to be transferred to another unit. Savage was trying to keep his distance from his pilots. He felt that not becoming emotionally involved with his pilots would help create a barrier. Savage cared about every single person in his unit, but he kept his emotions inside which was the cause of his breakdown. Looking at a project manager or leader of a company, it is easy to see why you would want someone like Brigadier General Savage in charge. He arrived  at the 918th Bomb Group with a clear and direct sense of responsibility. He knew what he had to do and he knew it was not going to be a popularity contest. While Brigadier General Savage had trouble communicating to everyone, he understood his people, their motivations, and the emotions they were feeling. It is important when you are in charge of a project to know the people you will be working with. There needs to be trust between you and your employees. As the project manager when you say you will do something, you must ensure you follow through. Brigadier General Savage demanded that the members of the 918th Bomb Group give him loyalty, respect, integrity, and selfless service. He in turn not only gave the same right back, he gave them leadership, direction, and a sense of self-worth. By the time Brigadier General Savage left the 918th Bomb Group, they were able to continue their mission under any good leader who took over. As a leader, you have to take responsibility for the decisions you make. You must inspire your people and establish teamwork. Sometimes being a leader is not an easy job, but with the right set of tools you can be an effective leader. â€Å"Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in the abundance of counselors there is a victory† (Proverbs 11: 14). Reference Berkun, S. (2008). Making Things Happen. Sebastopol, CA: OReilly Media, Inc. New International Version. (1970). Thomas Nelson Inc.

The Importance Of Sexual Intimacy In Marriage

The Importance Of Sexual Intimacy In Marriage From the very beginning martial union and physical union were intertwined together. Genesis 2:24 (King James Version) states Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Marriage is a one flesh relationship. Sex is not peripheral to marriage but is delicately woven into its very fabric (Weiner-Davis, 2008). Sexual intimacy in marriage is Gods gift to mankind. Gods gift of sexual intimacy in marriage serves four purposes: consummation of marriage, procreation, love, and pleasure (Hollinger, 2009). Human imperfection is the result of sin entering the world. Different sex drives and unresolved marital conflicts are human imperfections that cause dissatisfaction and diminished sexual intimacy in a marriage that can trigger emotional disconnect, infidelity, or divorce. In order for a couple to revive sexual intimacy in their marriage they have to be willing to understand their differences and forgive past mistakes. God , the creator of sexual intimacy chose to relate to mankind through sexual intimacy in a marriage. The four purposes of Gods gift of sexual intimacy in marriage are: consummation of marriage, procreation, love, and pleasure. The first purpose of sexual intimacy is for the consummation of marriage. Consummation of marriage happens when a married couple has sexual intercourse for the first time. The biblical term to know means that a couple becomes literally one flesh at the moment of intercourse (Janssen, 2001). At that moment, something dynamic transpires between the two when they become one flesh their relationship is now different, set apart and made distinct (Hollinger). The second purpose of sexual intimacy is procreation. In Genesis 1:28 God reveals his plan for procreation when he blessed Adam and Eve and said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it (KJV). Sexual intercourse is the means by which human life on earth continues and the means by which every human life begins (Hollinger). Procreation was Gods plan for mankind to populate the earth. The third purpose of sexual intimacy is love. Covenantal love is found in a marriage. Covenantal love is forever and accepts the responsibility to bear children from sexual intercourse (Hollinger). Love is so exquisitely defined in I Corinthians chapter 13. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails (New International Version). Sexual intimacy in a marriage is sacred and creates a love bond between husband and wife that is not easily broken. The fourth purpose of sexual intimacy is pleasure. C.S. Lewis rightfully connects legitimate pleasure with God when he penned the following words: God gives good gifts to human beings for their enjoyment. In our fallen state we often turn these good gifts in to gods, demanding more of them than they can yield and replacing God, the ultimate good with created goodsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The very fact that the psalmist can speak of eternal pleasures at Gods right hand shows that he is a God of pleasure (Lewis, 2001). God created sexual intimacy that was pure and undefiled for marital pleasure but sin when it was conceived defiled sexual intimacy and took it outside the confines of marriage. As long as sexual intimacy is kept in the confines of marriage it can be pleasurable and still remain pure and undefiled. According to sex therapists, Rosenau and Sytsma it has been our clinical experience that couples who desire deep connections and fantastic sexual intimacy, must learn to laugh and play in a way the Creator designed as part of the experience of intimacy (Rosenau, 2004). God created sexual intimacy for marital pleasure and he intended for husbands and wives to enjoy each other sexually. Sexual intimacy is vital in a marriage and that is how God created marriage. Unfortunately, with the fall of man came human imperfection. Human imperfection causes flaws in all of Gods creation and marriage is not exempt from this demise. Human imperfection in a marriage manifests itself through various venues that results in dissatisfaction and a decline of sexual intimacy in a marriage. One venue is differences in sex drives and another venue is unresolved marital conflicts. Differences in sex drives can have a negative effect on sexual intimacy in a marriage. In a lot of marriages one spouse will have a high sex drive and the other spouse will have a low sex drive. The spouse with the lower sex drive controls the sexual relationship. They dictate the frequency of sex, the time for sex, and the type of sexual activities and techniques that will be used during sex. The spouse with the higher sex drive begins to feel powerless, rejected, hurt, lonely and unloved. As a result sexual intimacy diminishes and dissatisfaction manifests itself in the marriage (Weiner-Davis, 2008). Unresolved marital conflicts can also cause dissatisfaction and diminished sexual intimacy in a marriage. Conflicts over finances, parenting issues, a controlling spouse, infidelity, individual preferences, unintended emotional injury, flaws and weaknesses are typical marital conflicts. Conflicts when they arise need to be confronted and a compromise reached. Ephesians 4:26 admonishes man let not the sun go down upon your wrath (KJV). Couples should make it a priority in their marriage to resolve conflicts. Unresolved conflicts in a marriage begin to build barriers between the husband and the wife. If unresolved martial conflicts persist in a marriage, the marriage is headed for failure. Differences in sex drive and unresolved marital conflicts have the ability to spawn emotional disconnect, infidelity, or divorce in a marriage. Emotional disconnect occurs when a couple is no longer emotionally intimate with each other. Emotional disconnect is caused by feelings of resentment and rejection. Infidelity is when one spouse is physically or mentally unfaithful to the other spouse. Lust and pornography are types of mental infidelity that usually precede physical infidelity. Divorce is inevitable if emotional disconnect and infidelity are not resolved in the marriage. Sins curse to marriage is divorce. God hates divorce and he did not intend for marriage to end in divorce but he understands that sometimes divorce is the only viable option (Christian Marriage Today, 2012). Rekindling the spark of sexual intimacy in a marriage requires learning to understand each others differences and the ability to forgive past mistakes. There has to be an understanding that God made every individual different and the willingness to accept those differences. Past mistakes that still linger in the marriage need to be relinquished and forgiven (Christian Marriage Today). Marriages are not perfect and sometimes outside intervention such as prayer, counseling and marriage seminars are necessary. Counseling and marriage seminars can strengthen or reconnect marital relationships. Most importantly, seeking God for guidance and understanding through prayer will help build, maintain, or renew intimacy in a marriage (Weiner-Davis). God created man in his own image and he desired to be close to man. God chose sexual intimacy in marriage as a way relate to man. Sex is his self-disclosing picture window into the Almighty ­Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ­Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ­-His grand metaphor to teach the value he places on intimate relationships. God is love and sexuality gives us ways to understand this (Rosenau). Sin mars, distorts or even erases evidence of our creator in sex acts. Often sex bears no resemblance to Gods image as was his original design and intent. Sexual intimacy gives man insights into Gods character and the way he interacts with man (Rosenau). Research on the topic of the importance of sexual intimacy in marriage revealed the importance that God places on sexual intimacy. If God believes that sexual intimacy in a marriage is important then man should make sexual intimacy in marriage a priority. If man would make it a priority there would be less divorce in the world. God desires his children to live happy and fulfilled lives. It is his good pleasure for couples to experience sexual intimacy. Sexual intimacy does not create marriage, but sexual intimacy cannot be divorced from marriage. God, the creator of marriage would have it no other way (Weiner-Davis).

Biography of Stephen Hawking Essay -- Stephen Hawking Lou Gehrig’s Dis

Biography of Stephen Hawking Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942. He is the first child of Frank and Isabel Hawking. During the second World War, Isabel was sent from her husband’s home in Highgate, to Oxford. This was considered a much safer place to have children during the war. Soon after his birth, his family moved back in together in their north London home. Hawking began his schooling here at Hertfordshire School. Hawking moved only once during his childhood, to Saint Albans, a small town about 20 miles away from North London. His father, Frank, moved to the Institute for Medical Research in 1950. The rest of the family moved to St. Albans to make it easier to get to Mill Hill, where the Institute was located. When the family moved, Hawking began attending St. Albans High School for Girls. The school accepted boys that were ten years old or younger. When he became too old to go this school, he switched to St. Albans School. At the age of 11, his father wanted him to go to Westminster Public School. To go there, he had to take the scholarship exam. On the day of the exam, Hawking was too ill to take the exam so he stayed at St. Albans School. Hawking said that â€Å"I got an education there that was as good as, if not better than, that I would have received at Westminster.† As Hawking got older, he wanted to study mathematics. He had been inspired by his math teacher, but his father disagreed with his choice. His father persuaded him to switch his main course of study to Physics. Hawking’s father had gone to University College, Oxford and wanted Hawking to go there too. At the time, math was not a course there, and Hawking’s father used that as part of his argument in persuading Hawking not to take mathematics. In March 1959, Hawking took an exam to get into University College in Oxford. He felt that he had not done well on the test, but was still awarded a scholarship to go. Once he got in, his goal was to study Natural Sciences and ended up specializing in Physics. He was awarded a first class degree in 1962. He barely made the first class degree and said it was made hard for him because â€Å"The prevailing attitude at Oxford at that was very anti-Work. You were supposed to brilliant without effort, or accept your limitations and get a fourth class degree. To work hard to get a better class of degree was regarded as t... ...ventually be transmitted back out in a garbled form. Hawking has been portrayed on many tv shows. Cartoons he has been in include Dexter’s Laboratory, Futurama, Dilbert, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Pinky and the Brain. He also appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation and on Late Night With Conan O’Brian doing a skit with Jim Carrey. One website has a Hawking-like synthesizer voice who raps about physics called â€Å"MC Hawking† He lent his voice to â€Å"Keep Talking† by Pink Floyd for Division Bell. He was even once featured in a satirical newspaper called The Onion. The newspaper ran an article that said Hawking’s head was mounted on top of a super robotic cyborg body, which also had laser guided missiles and a jetpack. Hawking jokingly sent them a letter cursing them for exposing his evil plot to take over the world. Hawking is also a supporter of several major causes. He has agreed to take part in a protest against the war in Iraq. He appeared on a broadcast for the Labour Party. He is an active supporter of Children’s Charity. Overall, Hawking is a great man. He is an inspiration and genius. He is a great man in his family, in science, and in the community.

Its Time for More Bible and Less Welfare Essay -- Argumentative Persu

It's Time for More Bible and Less Welfare      Ã‚   Government has considered and tried many plans for dealing with poverty in the United States, from all different points of view-welfare, workfare, charities, economic interference, and the like. There is one method, however, which has fallen out of popularity in this age. This is the biblical method.    What God says about the poor The Christian, or biblical, view of poverty is liberal in some respects and conservative in others. For example, Paul gives this rule to the early church: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). At the same time, the leaders of the church placed great importance on providing food for the poor, and James says that pure and faultless religion is to "look after orphans and widows in their distress" (James 1:27). While the early church cared for the poor as a community, pooling together their resources and assigning deacons to oversee the distribution of food to the poor (Acts 6:1-6), in the Old Testament the welfare of the poor was not the responsibility of the church or any form of government, but of individuals: "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land" (Deuteronomy 15:11). Paul's rule, if a man will not work he shall not eat, is balance d by the God-given rights of the poor (Psalm 82:3). Proverbs indicates that poverty is often the result of laziness or foolishness (Proverbs 6:10-11, 10:4), yet makes it clear that the happiest people may be poor through no fault of their own (Proverbs 13:7, 15:17, 19:1). Proverbs also declares it a virtue to help the poor: "He who is kind to the poor l... ...inated while this world lasts. However, by following the guidelines in the Bible to establish a modern-day system of gleaning, we can do something about poverty. The gleaning system, although it is almost completely opposite of what U.S. policy has been for many years, is neither impossible nor improbable. Before government welfare was instituted, the poor relied on the charity of individuals and churches. A nationwide gleaning program, bringing back the values of charity and neighborliness that our modern society seems to have lost, would be more successful than welfare can ever be in this country.    Works Cited: Osborne, David and Gaebler, Ted (1993). Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming America (New York: Penguin Books).    The Holy Bible, New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press. 16 Feb. 2002. .

Comparing Cousin Kate and The Seduction Essay -- Christina Rossetti Ei

Comparing Cousin Kate and The Seduction In this coursework I will be comparing the two poems ‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti and ‘The Seduction’ by Eileen McAuley. The two poems have many similarities but there are also some differences between them. To begin I will give an introduction to both the poems. Cousin Kate is about a cottage maiden that is tricked into having an affair with a rich Lord. She is then betrayed by the Lord who decides to dump her. He then marries her Cousin Kate who is much more beautiful than her and who has not yet lost her virginity. The Lord completely forgets about the maid after abandoning her and leaves her all alone. The maiden later realises that she is pregnant with a baby boy who is the son of the lord. The poem ends with the cottage maiden being an outcast because she has got pregnant before getting married but also with her feeling triumphant because here son will one day be the heir to the Lord’s lands. The Seduction is about a 16 year old girl who has a one night stand with a boy whom she meets at a party. The boy is into bad habits like drinking and taking drugs. He offers the girls some drinks and once she is very drunk he takes her to the docks near a river where he sleeps with her. After that night the girl never sees the boy again and realises 3 months later that she is pregnant. Her life is completely destroyed by her pregnancy. She has no more friends and nobody will ever speak to her again. She feels very bitter as to how her life has been ruined due to one mistake and how she has become an outcast. She ends the poem extremely disillusioned with life and how it has treated her. There are many differences between the two poems. The two poems took ... ...drinks and fallen into the boys trap. I prefer the poem Cousin Kate because in this poem the maiden has some hope for her future in the end because her son will be the heir to the lord’s estates. She has something to look forward too. She can also feel triumphant because her Cousin Kate will not have nay children. The ending of the seduction though is much bleaker with the girl having no hope for her future and even feeling like committing suicide. I think the attitude to teenage pregnancy was almost the same in both these poems even though they were set in different times. Even today the attitude to teenage pregnancy is very bad and girls who get pregnant in their teen years are treated as outcasts by society which is very wrong. Even if a girl does get pregnant society has to accept the fact that she has made a mistake and give her another chance.

The Congressional Medal of Honour

The Medal of Honour is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is given to a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself â€Å"conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States†. Because of the nature of its criteria, the medal is often awarded posthumously. Members of all branches of the U. S. military are eligible to receive the medal, and each service has a unique design with the exception of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard, which both use the Navy's medal. The Medal of Honour is often presented personally to the recipient or, in the case of posthumous awards, to next of kin, by the President of the United States. Due to its high status, the medal has special protection under U. S. law. The Medal of Honour is one of two military neck order awards issued by the United States Armed Forces, but is the sole neck order awarded to its members. The other is the Commander's Degree of the Legion of Merit and is only authorized for issue to foreign dignitaries comparable to a US military chief of staff. While American service members are eligible for the Legion of Merit, they are awarded the lowest degree, â€Å"Legionnaire†, which is a standard suspended medal. The medal is frequently, albeit incorrectly, called the Congressional Medal of Honour, stemming from its award by the Department of Defence in the name of Congress. The first formal system for rewarding acts of individual gallantry by American soldiers was established by George Washington on August 7, 1782, when he created the Badge of Military Merit, designed to recognize any singularly meritorious action. This decoration is America's first combat award and the second oldest American military decoration of any type, after the Fidelity Medallion. Although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary War, the concept of a military award for individual gallantry by members of the U. S. armed forces had been established. In 1847, after the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, a Certificate of Merit was established for soldiers who distinguished themselves in action. The certificate was later granted medal status as the Certificate of Merit Medal. Early in the Civil War, a medal for individual valour was proposed by Iowa Senator James W. Grimes to Winfield Scott, the Commanding General of the United States Army. Scott did not approve the proposal, but the medal did come into use in the Navy. Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy Medal of Valour, was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on December 21, 1861. The medal was â€Å"to be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen, and Marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry and other seamanlike qualities during the present war. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the new decoration. Shortly afterward, a resolution of similar wording was introduced on behalf of the Army and was signed into law on July 12, 1862. This measure provided for awarding a Medal of Honour, as the Navy version also came to be called to such non-commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities, during the present insurrection. The Medal of Honour has evolved in appearance since its creation in 1862. The present Army medal consists of a gold star surrounded by a wreath, topped by an eagle on a bar inscribed with the word â€Å"Valour. † The medal is attached by a hook to a light blue moire. There is a version of the medal for each branch of the U. S. armed forces: the Army, Navy and Air Force. Since the U. S. Marine Corps is administratively a part of the Department of the Navy, Marines receive the Navy medal. Before 1965, when the U. S. Air Force design was adopted, members of the U. S. Army Air Corps, U. S. Army Air Forces, and Air Force received the Army version of the medal. The Coast Guard Medal of Honour, which was distinguished from the Navy medal in 1963, has never been awarded, partly because the U. S. Coast Guard is subsumed into the U. S. Navy in time of declared war. No design yet exists for it. Only one member of the Coast Guard has received a Medal of Honour, Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro, who was awarded the Navy version for action during the Battle of Guadalcanal. In the rare cases, 19 so far, where a service member has been awarded more than one Medal of Honour, current regulations specify that an appropriate award device be cantered on the Medal of Honour ribbon and neck medal. To indicate multiple presentations of the Medal of Honour, the U. S. Army and Air Force bestow oak leaf clusters, while the Navy Medal of Honour is worn with gold award stars. A ribbon which is the same shade of light blue as the neckband, and includes five white stars, pointed upwards, in the shape of an â€Å"M† is worn for situations other than full dress uniform. When the ribbon is worn, it is placed alone above the centre of the other ribbons. For wear with civilian clothing, a rosette is issued instead of a miniature lapel pin (which usually shows the ribbon bar). The rosette is the same shade of blue as the neck ribbon and includes white stars. The ribbon and rosette are presented at the same time as the medal. On October 23, 2003 a Medal of Honour flag was to be presented to recipients of the decoration. The flag was based on a concept by retired Army Special Forces 1SG. Bill Kendall of Jefferson, Iowa, who designed a flag to honour Medal of Honour recipient Captain Darrell Lindsey. Kendall's design of a light blue field emblazoned with thirteen white five-pointed stars was nearly identical to that of Sarah LeClerc's of the Institute of Heraldry. LeClerc's design, ultimately accepted as the official flag, does not include the words â€Å"Medal of Honour† and is fringed in gold. The colour of the field and the 13 white stars, arranged in the form of a three bar chevron, consisting of two chevrons of 5 stars and one chevron of 3 stars, replicate the Medal of Honour ribbon. The flag has no set proportions. The first Medal of Honour recipient to receive the official flag was Paul R. Smith. The flag was cased and presented to his family along with his medal. A special ceremony presenting this flag to 60 Medal of Honour recipients was held onboard the USS Constitution Template:WP Ships USS instances on September 30, 2006. There are two distinct protocols for awarding the Medal of Honour. The first and most common is nomination by a service member in the chain of command, followed by approval at each level of command. The other method is nomination by a member of Congress and approval by a special act of Congress. In either case, the Medal of Honour is presented by the President on behalf of the Congress. Several months after President Abraham Lincoln signed Public Resolution 82 into law on December 21, 1861, a similar resolution for the Army was passed. Six Union soldiers who hijacked the General, a Confederate locomotive were the first recipients. Raid leader James J. Andrews, a civilian hanged as a Union spy, did not receive the medal. Many Medals of Honour awarded in the 19th century were associated with saving the flag, not just for patriotic reasons, but because the flag was a primary means of battlefield communication. During the time of the Civil War, no other military award was authorized, and to many this explains why some seemingly less notable actions were recognized by the Medal of Honour during that war. The criteria for the award tightened after World War I. In the post-World War II era, many eligible recipients might instead have been awarded a Silver Star, Navy Cross or similar award. During the Civil War, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton promised a Medal of Honour to every man in the 27th Regiment, Maine Infantry who extended his enlistment beyond the agreed upon date. Many stayed four days extra, and then were discharged. Due to confusion, Stanton awarded a Medal of Honour to all 864 men in the regiment. In 1916, a board of five Army generals convened by law to review every Army Medal of Honour awarded. The commission, led by Nelson Miles, recommended that the Army rescind 911 medals. This included the 864 medals awarded to members of the 27th Maine, 29 who served as Abraham Lincoln's funeral guard, six civilians (including Dr Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to have been awarded the medal), Buffalo Bill Cody, and 12 others whose awards were judged frivolous. Dr. Walker's medal was restored posthumously by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Cody's award was restored in 1989. Early in the 20th century, the Navy awarded many Medals of Honour for peacetime bravery. For instance, seven sailors aboard the USS Iowa received the medal when a boiler exploded on January 25, 1904. Aboard the USS Chicago in 1901, John Henry Helms received the medal for saving Ishi Tomizi, the ship's cook, from drowning. Even after World War I, Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett received the medal for exploration of the North Pole. Thomas J. Ryan received it for saving a woman from the burning Grand Hotel in Yokohama, Japan following the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake. Between 1919 and 1942, the Navy issued two separate versions of the Medal of Honour, one for non-combat bravery and the other for combat-related acts. Official accounts vary, but generally the non-combat Medal of Honour was known as the Tiffany Cross, after the company that manufactured the medal. The Tiffany Cross was first issued in 1919 but was rare and unpopular, partly because it was presented both for combat and non-combat events. As a result, in 1942, the United States Navy reverted to a single Medal of Honour, awarded only for heroism. Since the beginning of World War II, the medal has been awarded for extreme bravery beyond the call of duty while engaged in action against an enemy. Arising from these criteria, approximately 60% of the medals earned during and after World War II have been awarded posthumously. Capt. William McGonagle is an exception to the enemy action rule, earning his medal during the USS Liberty incident. A 1993 study commissioned by the Army described systematic racial and religious discrimination in the criteria for awarding medals during World War II. At the time, no Medals of Honour had been awarded to black soldiers who served in World War II. After an exhaustive review of files, the study recommended that several black Distinguished Service Cross recipients be upgraded to the Medal of Honour. On January 13, 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded the medal to seven African American World War II veterans. Of these, only Vernon Baker was still alive. A similar study of Asian Americans in 1998 resulted in President Bill Clinton awarding 21 new Medals of Honour in 2000, including 20 to Japanese American members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, among them Senator Daniel Inouye. In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded the Medal of Honour to Jewish veteran and Holocaust survivor Tibor Rubin, whom many believed to have been overlooked because of his religion. This medal’s history stretches back into our bloody war history, it has seen its own trials and tribulations and like America is has grown and melded itself into the prestigious award that it is today. I believe the medal has been properly issued to service members and at the same time given away freely, but that does not take away from the honour and respect each recipient deserves. These recipients are text book example of perfect military stature and then some. All of them go above and beyond anyone’s expectations that even they themselves had. The most surprising thing is that all of them did these marvellous and mind blowing deeds of service at such a young military age, the same and even younger age of my own. It not only blows my mind at how they accomplish or even began to go through with what they did but they did it without an order or a self doubt, to me they got in the perfect mindset of selfless service and their one goal was to help other and complete the mission. My first pick of recipients is Private First Class Willy F. James, U. S. Army, Company G, 413th Infantry near Lippoldsberg, Germany, 7 April 1945. Private First Class Willy F. James, Jr. distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism at the risk of his own life on 7 April 1945 in the Weser River Valley, in the vicinity of Lippoldsberg, Germany. On 7 April 1945, Company G, 413th Infantry, fought its way across the Weser River in order to establish a crucial bridgehead. The company then launched a fierce attack against the town of Lippoldsberg, possession of which was vital to securing and expanding the important bridgehead. Private First Class James was first scout of the lead squad in the assault platoon. The mission of the unit was to seize and secure a group of houses on the edge of town, a foothold from which the unit could launch an attack on the rest of the town. Far out in the front, Private First Class James was the first to draw enemy fire. His platoon leader came forward to investigate, but poor visibility made it difficult for Private First Class James to point out enemy positions with any accuracy. Private First Class James volunteered to go forward to fully reconnoiter the enemy situation. Furious crossfire from enemy snipers and machine guns finally pinned down Private First Class James after he had made his way forward approximately 200 yards across open terrain. Lying in an exposed position for more than an hour, Private First Class James intrepidly observed the enemy’s positions, which were given away by the fire he was daringly drawing upon himself. Then, with utter indifference to his personal safety, in a storm of enemy small arms fire, Private First Class James made his way back more than 300 yards across open terrain under enemy observation to his platoon positions, and gave a full detailed report on the enemy disposition. The unit worked out a new plan of maneuver based on Private First Class James’s information. The gallant soldier volunteered to lead a squad in an assault on the key house in the group that formed the platoon objective. He made his way forward, leading his squad in an assault on the strongly-held enemy positions in the building and designating targets accurately and continuously as he moved along. While doing so, Private First Class James saw his platoon leader shot down by enemy snipers. Hastily designating and coolly orienting a leader in his place, Private First Class James instantly went to the aid of his platoon leader, exposing himself recklessly to the incessant enemy fire. As he was making his way across open ground, Private First Class James was killed by a burst from an enemy machine gun. Private First Class James’s extraordinarily heroic action in the face of withering enemy fire provided the disposition of enemy troops to his platoon. Inspired to the utmost by Private First Class James’s self sacrifice, the platoon sustained the momentum of the assault and successfully accomplished its mission with a minimum of casualties. Private First Class James contributed very definitely to the success of his battalion in the vitally important combat operation of establishing and expanding a bridgehead over the Weser River. His fearless, self-assigned actions far above and beyond the normal call of duty exemplify the finest traditions of the American combat soldier and reflect the highest credit upon Private First Class James and the Armed Forces of the United States. Private First Class James is a prime example of what a man should be. He ran through enemy fire, and then while in the midst of the fire still had the discipline and the bravery to observe fire positions and any other useful information that he could see from his position. On top of that he still was able to fall back to his platoon 300 meters behind him.

Battered Wife Syndrome: Definition and Stages

BWS recognized as important in providing legal defense to victims and as basis for diagnosis and treatment. However, there has been confusion as to the definition of BWS such as the use of violence committed against the woman as the defining characteristic. The study introduced by Walker (1984) demonstrates cycle of violence and learned helplessness to battered women. (Seligman, 1993) In addition, studies found out that BWS, manifested in a form of depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, physical symptoms, is evident in some abused women putting them at risk of suicide and homicide.Symptoms attributed to battering may also be a result of stress from a troubled relationship. The Learned Helplessness and Grief Theory (Campbell, 1989) explains the depression in battered women. Moreover, researchers are in disagreement of the factors that affect the level of trauma such as frequency of abuse, educational status and severity of sexual and emotional abuse. The issue on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and learned helplessness in BWS remained unresolved.Some researchers view battered women in the context of â€Å"survivors rather than victims†. Furthermore, studies prove that battered women experience stages of abuse where the manifestations of BWS are part of the steps to conflict resolution. Based on these descriptions and findings, it is clear that not all battered women experience BWS. Although widely misunderstood even among legal professionals, â€Å"battered woman syndrome† is not a legal defense. It is one approach to explaining battered women’s experiences.Like other â€Å"social framework testimony,† ( Vidmar & Schuller, in press ), expert testimony concerning battering and its effects is used in the legal system to help a judge or jury better understand a battered woman’s experience ( Federal Rules of Evidence 702 ). Battered Women’s Syndrome considered a form of Post-Traumatic Stress. Battered Women’s Syndrome i s a recognized psychological condition used to describe someone who has been the victim of consistent or severe domestic violence. To classify as a battered woman, a woman has to have been through two cycles of abuse.A Cycle of abuse is abuse that occurs in a repeating pattern. Abuse is identifiable as being cyclical in two ways: it is both generational and episodic. Generational cycles of abuse passed down, by example and exposure, from parents to children. Episodic abuse occurs in a repeating pattern within the context of at least two individuals within a family system. It may involve spousal abuse, child abuse, or even elder abuse. There are generally four stages in the battered women’s syndrome. Stage One–Denial Stage one of battered women’s syndromes occurs when the battered woman denies to others, and to herself, that there is a problem.Most battered women will make up excuses for why their partners have an abusive incident. Battered women will generally b elieve that the abuse will never happen again. Stage Two–Guilt Stage two of battered women’s syndrome occurs when a battered woman truly recognizes or acknowledges that there is a problem in her relationship. She recognizes she has been the victim of abuse and that she may be beaten again. During this stage, most battered women will take on the blame or responsibility of any beatings they may receive.Battered women will begin to question their own characters and try harder to live up their partners â€Å"expectations. † Stage Three-Enlightenment Stage three of battered women’s syndrome occurs when a battered woman starts to understand that no one deserves to be beaten. A battered woman comes to see that the beatings she receives from her partner are not justified. She also recognizes that her partner has a serious problem. However, she stays with her abuser in an attempt to keep the relationship in tact with hopes of future change.Stage Four–Respon sibility Stage four of battered women’s syndrome occurs when a battered woman recognizes that her abuser has a problem that only he can fix. Battered women in this stage come to understand that nothing they can do or say can help their abusers. Battered women in this stage choose to take the necessary steps to leave their abusers and begin to start new lives. BWS is a psychological reaction that occurs in normal people who are exposed to repeated trauma such as family or domestic violence. It includes three groups of symptoms that assist the mind and body in preparing to defend against threats.Psychologists call it the â€Å"fight or flight† response. The â€Å"Fight† Response Mode: In the â€Å"fight† mode, the body and mind prepare to deal with danger by becoming hyper vigilant to cues of potential violence, resulting in an exaggerated startle response. The automatic nervous system becomes operational and the individual becomes more focused on the singl e task of self-defense. This impairs concentration and causes physiological responses usually associated with high anxiety. In serious cases, fearfulness and panic disorders are present and phobic disorders may result.Irritability and crying are typical symptoms of this stage. The â€Å"Flight† Response Mode: The â€Å"flight† response mode often alternates with the fight pattern. Most individuals would run away from danger if they could do so safely. When physical escape is actually or perceived as impossible, then mental escape occurs. This is the avoidance or emotional numbing stage where denial, minimization, rationalization and disassociation subconsciously used as ways to psychologically escape from the threat or presence of violence.Cognitive Ability and Memory Loss: The third major impact of BWS is to the cognitive and memory areas where the victim begins to have intrusive memories of the abuse or may actually develop psychogenic amnesia and not always remember important details or events. The victim has trouble following his or her thoughts in a logical way, distracted by intrusive memories that may be flashbacks to previous battering incidents. The victim disassociates himself or herself when faced with painful events, memories, reoccurring nightmares or other associations not readily apparent to the observer.American feminist and psychologist Lenore Walker coined the term â€Å"Battered woman syndrome†. It is based on two fundamental premises a cycle model of ‘violence’ and ‘learned helplessness’. In 1978 to 1981, she interviewed 435 female victims of domestic violence. Walker (1984) concluded that the violence goes in cycles. Each cycle consists of three stages: Tension building stage, when a victim suffers verbal abuse or minor physical violence, like slaps. At this stage, the victim may attempt to pacify the abuser. However, the victim’s passivity may reinforce the abuser’s violent tend encies.Acute battering incident At this stage, both perceived and real danger of being killed or seriously injured is maximal. Loving contrition After the abuser discharged his tension by battering the victim, his attitude changes. He may apologize for the incident and promise to change his behavior in the future. The repetition of this cycle over time, linked to the undermining of women’s self-belief create a situation of ‘learned helplessness’ whereby the woman feels â€Å"trapped in a deadly situation† in which she may fight back with lethal consequences.Early formulation of battered woman syndrome referred to the cycle of violence (Walker, 1984), a theory that describes the dynamics of the batterer’s behavior. The cycle of violence theory used to explain how battered victims are drawn back into the relationship when the abuser is contrite and attentive following the violence. More recently, battered woman syndrome has been defined as post-trauma tic stress disorder (PTSD) (Walker, 1992), a psychological condition that results from exposure to severe trauma.Among other things, PTSD can explain why a battered victim may react, because of flashbacks and other intrusive experiences resulting from prior victimization, to a new situation as dangerous, even when it is not. There are a number of criticisms directed at the use of battered woman syndrome, both in a legal context and in clinical environments. BWS as defined by Walker (1984) may be set apart from the majority of recognized disorders in that it describes the behavioral and psychological characteristics of not only the victim, but also the perpetrator.By working her analysis of the psychology of the perpetrator into her cycle of violence, it is arguable Walker purports to draw both victim and perpetrator into her ‘diagnosis’ (McMahon 1999). Critics claim that Walker’s theory (1984) does not explain the killing of abusive partners. If a battered female suffers from learned helplessness, she would, by definition, behave passively (Griffith, 1995) with the suggestion that the model of a battered spouse as a â€Å"survivor† proposed by Gondolf (1988) might be more realistic. Killing abusive partners is not passive behavior, so it contradicts, rather than supports, Walker’s theory.Nor is the killing of abusing partners consistent with Walker’s theory of â€Å"cyclical violence†. Wilson and Daly (1992) have calculated the sex ratio for spouse killing using data from England and Wales 1977-86. For every 100 men who kill wives 23 women kill husbands. 120 women were killed by male partners in 1992 40% of all female homicides in England and Wales are women killed by partners the figure for men is 6%. Wilson and Daly’s (1994) Canadian data show that 26% of women killed were divorced or separated at the time, Australian data (Wallace 1986) as many as 45% in New South Wales had left or were in the process o f leaving.Accurate official data on women who kill is, as Celia Wells (1994) has pointed out, difficult to access and incomplete. She presents information on 200 women charged during 1984-92. 46 were acquitted 14 on self-defense, a further 98 were found guilty of manslaughter 38 were found guilty of murder and the outcomes were unknown in 55 cases. She notes that more women acquitted or receive a manslaughter verdict than men, but that this does not mean that are no gendered injustices in the legal process. Cynthia Gillespie (1989) cites a study 29 US cases where BWS was used, only 9 resulted in acquittals.The language in many of the US cases shows that courts understand BWS as a new and excusable form of female irrationality (Gillespie, 1989). A conviction for murder means two things – a label and a mandatory life sentence. The promoted abolition of the life sentence would only address the second point, and would not necessarily create justice for women convicted of murder, since the tariffs given by judges for many women have been at the higher end of the scale. Studies of women who kill (Browne, 1987) in the US have found that they have experienced repeated and life threatening violence, with a greater frequency of coerced sex.Almost all the women had also attempted to leave and elicit the support of other agencies in their struggles to end violence. Nothing they have attempted has stopped the violence, and many talk of reaching a point where they believe only one of them can survive. The leading case in Canada is that of RV Lavallee that the Supreme Court heard in 1989. The woman shot her husband in the back during a violent incident, and her plea of self-defense accepted on appeal, BWS evidence presented to the point that she was â€Å"one who could not escape and saw no options for survival†.(Martha Shaffer, 1990) Judge Wilson made some telling and important points in her judgment that women’s actions judged in the context of her rea lity. â€Å"It is not for the jury to decide to pass judgment on the fact that the accused stayed in the relationship. Still less is it entitled to conclude that she forfeited her right to self-defense for having done so†. The courts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States have accepted the extensive and growing body of research showing that battered partners can use force to defend themselves.In addition, sometimes kill their abusers because of the abusive and sometimes life-threatening situation in which they find themselves, acting in the firm belief that there is no other way than to kill for self-preservation. The courts have recognized that this evidence may support a variety of defenses to a charge of murder or to mitigate the sentence if convicted of lesser offences (Faigman, David L1986) Self-defense when using a reasonable and proportionate degree of violence in response to the abuse might appear the most appropriate defense but, until re cently, it almost never succeeded.Maguigan (1991) argues that self-defense is genders biased both in its nature and in the way trial judges apply it. BWS focuses on women’s responses to violence, rather the context of violence in the relationship. It thus diverts attention from the previous behavior of the man, and the danger he represented. The case thus turns on women’s personality defects rather than the man’s behavior.The central question becomes why women stay, which she is not on trial for, whilst the more important questions of why men continue to use violence, refuse to let women leave and the failure of agencies to intervene to control violence and protect women are lost. These issues are the ones current international research highlights as central to the contexts in which battered women kill and are killed. The battering â€Å"cycle† is by no means universal Walker (1984) herself failed to find it in a third of her interviews – some men for example are never contrite, never apologies and rule the household through a reign of terror.BWS emphasizes damaged women, rather than women who perceive themselves to be, and in fact be, acting competently, assertively and rationally in the light of alternatives. The legal focus becomes trying to find an ‘excuse’ rather than a justification linked to a reasonable act. Conclusion: Women’s resistance to violence and control is minimized, if not made logically impossible. Research now suggests that in some relationships violence continues precisely because women resist men’s controlling behavior (Kelly 1988, Lundgren 1986).The deaths of men and women are preventable if domestic violence is taken seriously, and that ought to be our primary goal. Creating appropriate defenses for women who kill in desperation is a damage limitation rather than a prevention strategy. It is more than obvious that judges, lawyers and juries need access to the most up to date knowledge about domestic violence in order to counteract the stereotypes and misinformation that has predominated to date. However, are most psychologists and psychiatrists familiar with state of the knowledge?REFERENCESBrowne, A. (1987) When Battered Women Kill, The Free Press, New York. Campbell, Jacquelyn C ( 1995).â€Å"Prediction of Homicide of and by Battered Women. † In Jacquelyn C. Campbell (ed. ) Assessing Dangerousness: Violence by Sexual Offenders, Batterers, and Child Abusers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Daly, Kathleen (1994).â€Å"Feminism and Criminology. † Justice Quarterly 5:499-535 Gillespie, Cynthia K. (1990).Justifiable Homicide: Battered Women, Self Defense, and the Law Ohio: Ohio State University Press. Gondolf, E. F. (1988).Battered Women as Survivors: An Alternative to Treating Learned Helplessness. Lexington, Mass. : Lexington Books. Griffith, M. (1995).â€Å"Battered woman syndrome: a tool for batterers?† Fordham Law Review. Vol. 64(1): pp14 1-198. Faigman, David L. (1986).â€Å"Battered Woman Syndrome and Self Defense: A Legal and Empirical Dissent. † Virginia Law Review, vol. 72, no. 3 619-647. Federal Rules of Evidence 702 Kelly,Liz, Lundgren, Eva (1988).â€Å"How Women Define Their Experiences of Violence. † In Kersti Yllo and Michele Bograd (eds. ) Feminist Perspectives on Wife Abuse. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Martha Shaffer, (1990).‘Rv. Lavallee: A Review Essay’ 22 Ottawa L. Rev. 607 Maguigan, H. (1991).â€Å"Battered Women and Self-Defense: Myths and Misconceptions in Current Reform Proposals†, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 140(2): 379-486. McMahon, M. (1999).â€Å"Battered women and bad science: the limited validity and utility of battered woman syndrome†. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, Vol. 6(1): pp 23-49 Seligman, Martin. (1993).Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the Age of Personal Control, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Vidmar, N. and Schuller, R. A. (1989).J uries and expert evidence. Social framework testimony. Law and Contemporary Problems , 133. Walker, Lenore E. (1984).The Battered Woman. New York: Harper and Row. Walker, L. E. (1977-78). Battered women and learned helplessness. Victimology: an International Journal. 2(3/4), 525-534. Walker, L. E. (1992).Battered women syndrome and self-defense. Symposium on Women and the Law, Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy, 6(2), 321-334. Wallace, H. (1994).â€Å"Battered Women Syndrome: Self-Defence and Duress as Mandatory Defences? † Police Journal, vol. 67, no. 2 133-139 Wells, Celia (1993).â€Å"Battered Woman Syndrome and Defences to Homicide† Journal of Law and Society 24 (1993), 427-437 Wilson, Nanci Koser. (1993).â€Å"Gendered Interaction in Criminal Homicide. † In Anna Victoria Wilson (ed. ) Homicide: The Victim-Offender Connection Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.

Currency Movement

Executive summary The  Indian rupee  (? ) is the official  currency  of the  Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the  Reserve Bank of India. The modern rupee is subdivided into 100 paisa  (singular  paisa), although this division is now theoretical; as of 30 June 2011, coin denominations of less than 50 paise ceased to be  legal tender. Banknotes are available in nominal values of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 rupees.Rupee coins are available in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 100 and 1000; of these, the  [pic]  100 and  [pic]  1000 coins are for commemorative purposes only; the only other rupee coin has a nominal value of 50 paisa, since lower denominations have been officially withdrawn. The  Indian rupee symbol  [pic]  (officially adopted in 2010) is derived from the  Devanagari  consonant â€Å"? † (Ra) with an added horizontal bar. The symbol can also be derived from the Latin consonant â€Å"R† by r emoving the vertical line, and adding two horizontal bars (like the symbols for the  Japanese yen  and the  euro).The first series of coins with the rupee symbol was launched on 8 July 2011. The Mahatma Gandhi series of banknotes are issued by the Reserve Bank of India as legal tender. The series is so named because the obverse of each note features a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Since its introduction in 1996, this series has replaced all issued banknotes. The RBI introduced the series in 1996 with [pic]10 and [pic]500 banknotes. At present, the RBI issues banknotes in denominations from [pic]5 to [pic]1,000. The printing of [pic]5 notes (which had stopped earlier) resumed in 2009.As of January 2012, the new Indian rupee sign has been incorporated into banknotes in denominations of [pic]10, [pic]100, [pic]500 and [pic]1,000. INTRODUCTION The Indian Economy is the eleventh largest economy in the world with a nominal GDP of US$1,235,975 million (IMF list). The Indian market has been booming in leaps & bounds. By 2008, India had established itself as the world's  second-fastest growing major economy after China, with a growth rate of 9. 4%. However, the year 2009 saw a significant slowdown in India's GDP growth rate to 6. 8%.The Rupee hit a record low during early 2009 on account of the global recession. However, due to a strong domestic market, India managed to bounce back sooner than the western countries. Since September 2009 there has been a constant appreciation in Rupee versus most Tier 1 currencies. The exchange rate as on 30thOctober, 2010 is  [pic]44. 345 to the USD. A rising rupee prompted Government of India to buy 200 tonnes of Gold for $6. 7 billion from IMF in 2009 as a total role reversal from 1991. Indian forex reserves stands at  $294. 01 billion (Oct, 2010). What is Currency?A generally accepted form of money, including coins and paper notes, which is issued by a government and circulated within an economy. Used as a medium of exchan ge for goods and services, currency is the basis for trade. Any form of money that is in public circulation. Currency includes both hard money (coins) and soft money (paper money). Typically currency refers to money that is legally designated as such by the governing body, but in some cultures currency can refer to any object that has aperceived value and can be exchanged for other objects. What is currency fluctuation?Currency fluctuations are simply the ongoing changes between the relative values of the currency issued by one country when compared to a different currency. The process of currency fluctuation is something that occurs every day and impacts the relative rate of exchange between various currencies on a continual basis. HISTORY BRITISH INDIAN ONE RUPEE NOTE: In 1861, the government of India introduced its first paper money: 10-rupee notes in 1864, 5-rupee notes in 1872, 10,000-rupee notes in 1899, 100-rupee notes in 1900, 50-rupee notes in 1905, 500-rupee notes in 1907 and 1000-rupee notes in 1909. In 1917, 1- and 21? -rupee notes were introduced. The Reserve Bank of India began banknote production in 1938, issuing 2-, 5-, 10-, 50-, 100-, 1,000- and 10,000-rupee notes while the government continued issuing 1-rupee notes. INDEPENDENT ISSUES SINCE 1949 After independence, new designs were introduced to replace the portrait of the king. The government continued issuing the 1-rupee note, while the Reserve Bank issued other denominations (including the 5,000- and 10,000-rupee notes introduced in 1949). During the 1970s, 20- and 50-rupee notes were introduced; denominations higher than 100 rupees were demonetized in 1978.In 1987 the 500-rupee note was introduced, followed by the 1,000-rupee note in 2000. One- and two-rupee notes were discontinued in 1995. OBJECTIVE OF STUDY To get idea about fluctuations of Indian currency in last 10 years To gain knowledge about the factors affecting currency fluctuations To analyze effect of currency fluctuations on e conomy Impact of currency fluctuation on consumption, investment, exports and imports Factors Affecting Currency Fluctuation [pic] ECONOMIC POSITION: 1. Internal Factors 2. External Factors Internal Factors includes: Industrial Deficit of the country. †¢ Fiscal Deficit of the country. †¢ GDP and GNP of the country. †¢ Foreign Exchange Reserves. †¢ Inflation Rate of the Country. †¢ Agricultural growth and production. †¢ Different types of policies like EXIM Policy, Credit Policy of the country as well reforms undertaken in the yearly Budget. †¢ Infrastructure of the Country External Factors includes: †¢ Export trade and Import trade with the foreign country. †¢ Loan sanction by World Bank and IMF †¢ Relationship with the foreign country. †¢ Internationally OIL Price and Gold Price.FOREIGN DEBT: Foreign debt, also known as external debt, is a term used to classify the amount of money a country owes to other countries or external b anking organizations such as the World Bank. There are many reasons a country may choose to go into foreign debt, including infrastructure development or economic stimulation. As of 2009, the estimated foreign debt for all world countries combined hovered at about $56. 9 trillion US Dollars (USD). One term that comes up often when considering foreign debt is sustainability.For external debt to be sustainable, a country must have a high enough gross domestic product (GDP) in order to pay down and eventually pay off the debt while continuing its own economic function. Therefore, a country with a high GDP or large employed population may be able to sustain much more debt than a small or poor country. POLITICAL FACTOR: In India election held every five years mean thereby one party has rule for the five years. But from the 1996 India was facing political instability and this type of political instability has created hefty problem in the different market especially in Forex market, which is highly volatile.In fact in the year 1999 due to political uncertainty in the BJP Government the rupee has depreciated by 30 paise in the month of April. So we can say that political can become important factor to determine foreign exchange in India. INFLATION RATE: It is widely held that exchange rates move in the direction required to compensate for relative inflation rates. For instance, if a currency is already overvalued, i. e. stronger than what is warranted by relative inflation rates, depreciation sufficient enough to correct that position can be expected and vice versa.It is necessary to note that an exchange rate is a relative price and hence the market weighs all the relative factors in relative terms (in relation to the counterpart countries). The underlying reasoning behind this conviction is that a relatively high rate of inflation reduces a country’s competitiveness and weakens its ability to sell in international markets. This situation, in turn, will weaken the domestic currency by reducing the demand or expected demand for it and increasing the demand or expected demand for the oreign currency (increase in the supply of domestic currency and decrease in the supply of foreign currency). INTEREST RATE: An important factor for movement in exchange rates in recent years is interest rates, i. e. interest differential between major currencies. In this respect the growing integration of financial markets of major countries, the revolution in telecommunication facilities, the growth of specialised asset managing agencies, the deregulation of financial markets by major countries, he emergence of foreign trading as profit centres per se and the tremendous scope for bandwagon and squaring effects on the rates, etc. have accelerated the potential for exchange rate volatility. BALANCE OF PAYMENTS: As mentioned earlier, a net inflow of foreign currency tends to strengthen the home currency vis-a-vis other currencies. This is because the supply of the foreign currency will be in excess of demand. A good way of ascertaining this would be to check the balance of payments. If the balance of payments is positive and foreign exchange reserves are increasing, the home currency will become strong.LAST 10 YEARS GRAPH |Year |Rupees | |2000 |45 | |2001 |47. 23 | |2002 |48. 62 | |2003 |46. | |2004 |45. 28 | |2005 |44. 01 | |2006 |45. 17 | |2007 |41. 2 | |2008 |43. 1 | |2009 |48. 32 | |2010 |45. 61 | |2011 |46. 61 | Last 10 Years Fluctuation With U. S. $ Rs/$ exchange rate for last 10 years [pic] Major Fluctuations The major reason which draws attention towards this rupee appreciation has been a flood of foreign-exchange inflows, especially US dollars.The surge of capital inflows into India has taken variety of forms ranging from foreign direct investment (FDI) to remittances sent back home by Indian expatriates. The main impact of these flows is as follows: 1. FDI: India’s starring economic growth has created a larg e domestic market that offers promising opportunities for foreign companies. Moreover many companies rising competitiveness in many sectors has made it an attractive export base. 2. ECB (EXTERNAL COMMERCIAL BORROWINGS): Indian companies have borrowed enormous amounts of money overseas to finance investments and acquisitions at home and abroad.This borrowed money has returned to India, boosting capital inflows. In 2007-08 (april-september) external assistance (net) was placed at US $ 729 million as against US $ 386 million for the corresponding period in 2006-07 indicating a growth of 88. 9%. 3. FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INFLOWS (FII’S): India’s booming stock market embodies the confidence of the investors in the country’s corporate sector. Foreign portfolio inflows have played a key role in fuming this boom. Looking at the period of 2003-04 and 2006-07, the net annual inflow of funds by foreign institutional investors averaged US $ 8. bn. Trends during first five months of 2007 indicate that this flood is continuing with net FII inflows amounting to US $4. 6 bn. Another major source of portfolio capital inflows has been overseas equity issues of Indian companies via global depository receipts (GDR’s) & American depository receipts (ADR’s). Moreover FII’s registered in India has doubled to 1050 between March 2001 –march 2007 and now around 3,336 FII subaccounts also exist. . FII equity flow has increased from $9. 8 billion in 2004, $ 11 billion in 2005 to over 16 billion in 2007. these inflows have risen to 43% in 2007.However in mid-October RBI banned foreign investment via off shore derivatives called participatory notes (PN). These derivatives were used by foreign investors not registered in India (say hedge funds) to indirectly invest through registered investors. Between Mar 2004 – Aug 2007 the number of FII sub accounts that issued PNs rose from 14 to 34. Many believed that motive behind such RBI measure was to improve transparency of capital inflows and that restricting inflows via PN would have little or no impact on overall inflows coming into the country. 4.INVESTMENT AND REMITTANCES: Another major source of capital inflows has been non-resident Indians (NRI’s) investing large amounts in special bank accounts. While NRI’s emotional connection to the country of origin is part of explanation to this, the attractive interest rate offered on such deposits also provide a powerful incentive. In 2006-07 NRI deposits amounted to US$ 3. 8 bn. another large source of foreign exchange inflows has been remittances from huge number of Indians working overseas temporarily. Such remittances amounted to a colossal of US $ 19. bn in April-December 2006, a 15% year on year increase. CHANGING SCENARIO OF 2008 The current year 2008 has started with sudden tide of depreciation of rupee. The rupee has lost its glory of invincibility that surrounded it over past one year. Between January an d second week of February rupee depreciated against greenback by atleast 3%. The demand and supply theory The current year 2008 has started with sudden tide of depreciation of rupee. The rupee has lost its glory of invincibility that surrounded it over past one year. Between January and second week of February rupee depreciated gainst greenback by atleast 3%. The recent spell of depreciation of rupee is the outcome of surging demand for greenback from oil importers. Oil prices have globally hit anew record of $135 per barrel on 22may 2008. Since oil is prices in dollar in global market and most of our crude oil requirements being met from imports from overseas, rising prices of crude oil meant that domestic oil companies will need more dollars to fund their purchases. This triggers rupee sales and dollar purchases thus leading to weakening of rupee. ADVANTAGES OF RUPEE APPRECIATION DAMPENING OF INFLATION: Normally, currencies appreciate when the economies are doing well and the rise in their value is a cause for celebration especially for consumers. A higher value of rupee will result in cheaper imports which, in turn has a dampening  effect on inflation. Thus, rupee appreciation helps control inflation. †¢   FOREIGN DEBT SERVICING: Appreciation of the rupee helps in easing the pressure, related to foreign debt servicing (interest payments on debt raised in foreign currency), on India and Indian companies.With Indian companies taking advantage of the United States soft interest rate regime and raising foreign currency loans, known as external commercial borrowings (ECBs), this is a welcome phenomenon from the point of view of their interest commitments on the loans raised. This will help them avoid taking a bigger hit on their bottom-line, which is beneficial for its shareholders. Indian companies which have Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) like Reliance Communications, Bharat Forge, Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy  benefit from the appreciation of rupee.   OUTBOUND TOURISTS/STUDENT BONANZA: The appreciating rupee is a big positive for tourists traveling or wanting to travel abroad. Considering that the rupee has appreciated by over 10% against the US dollar since mid-2002, traveling to the US is now cheaper by a similar quantum in rupee terms. The same applies to students who are still in the process of finalizing their study plans abroad. For example, a student's enrollment for a $1,000 course abroad would now cost only  [pic]44,000 instead of the earlier  [pic]49,000! †¢   GOVERNMENT RESERVES:Considering that the government has been selling its stake aggressively in major public sector units in the recent past, and with a substantial chunk of this being subscribed by FIIs, the latter will have to invest more dollars to pick up a stake in the company being divested, thus aiding the governments build up of reserves. DISADVANTAGES OF RUPEE APPRECIATION †¢Ã‚   EXPORTERS' disadvantage:  The exporters are at a disadvantage owing to the currency appreciation as this renders their produce expensive in the international markets as compared to other competing nations whose currencies haven't appreciated on a similar scale.Small exporters are hit badly by rupee appreciation as they have limited access to hedging products. This tends to take away a part of the advantage from Indian companies, which they enjoy due to their cost competitiveness. However, it must be noted that despite the sharp currency appreciation in recent times, Indian exports have continued to grow. †¢ DOLLAR DENOMINATED EARNINGS HURT: the strengthening rupee has an adverse impact on various companies/sectors, which derive a substantial portion of their revenues from the us markets (or in dollar denominations).Software and BPO are typical examples of the sectors adversely impacted by the appreciation of rupee. RUPEE APPRECIATION FROM THE EXPORTER’S POINT OF VEIW Most developing countries have economies based lar gely on exports that are competitive in global markets because of low prices. When those countries' currency gains value, they are no longer able to offer exports to the global market at the same low prices that they planned to. This may cause importers to look elsewhere to country's with lower valued currency and thus prices or to order less than they would have otherwise.Thus, the share of exports in economy will be affected, if the currency appreciates. The main effect on the exporters is that an appreciated currency  makes the exporter’s products more expensive in overseas markets and it thus erodes their international competitiveness. In the Indian scenario today, the  IT industry is growing by 31% YOY and major operations (around 80-85%) are outsourced from the US-based companies. Hotels like ITC, Taj etc. have about 50% of their revenues in terms of dollars. Thus, these industries will stand to lose when rupee appreciates.Similiarly, silk industry had to bear the b runt as it was  71% sensitive to the  hardening of the currency. Cotton and jute were less sensitive to the rising rupee at  23% and 18% respectively. The  IT sector companies were  upto  90% sensitive to  rupee appreciation. RUPEE APPRECIATION FROM THE IMPORTER’S POINT OF VEIW The reverse phenomenon happens when you look at rupee appreciation from the importer’s point of view. Oil companies are highly benefitted, more than  80% crude oil is imported from the gulf and  other counties. Acc to an Indian Oil Corporation manager, for every Rs1 appreciation, crude oil price dips by  2%.Another major beneficiary of rupee appreciation are the  Indian companies who have gone for recent acquisitions using foreign debt-leverage. Indian companies who have International borrowings in their account are also benefitted. An appreciating rupee is beneficial for the country’s external debts as well. Consumer electronic goods, imported apparels etc become av ailable at cheaper prices as a result of a higher valued rupee. Industries which import raw materials get these at a  cheaper price. LITERATURE REVIEW 1. In the year, December 2010 Dr.Gaurav Agrawal, Aniruddh Kumar Srivastav & Ankita Srivastava had done A Study of Exchange Rates Movement and Stock Market Volatility. This research empirically examines the dynamics between the volatility of stock returns and movement of Rupee-Dollar exchange rates, in terms of the extent of interdependency and causality. 2. In the year, March 2011 RBI had done study on an empirical analysis of relation between currency future and exchange rates volatility in India. In this paper they have find a relationship between the exchange rate volatility and the trading activity in the currency futures.Trading in currency futures in USD-INR rates was permitted at the time when the financial crisis had hit the advanced economies. MONETARY POLICY UNDER FLEXIBLE EXCHANGE RATES If exchange rates are fixed, then t he capital flow affects the stock of foreign exchange assets and the money supply. If the exchange rate is allowed to vary, then the exchange rate will change in response to the capital flow. Similarly, the policy change affects the level of economic activity. A change in income results in a changed demand for imports and net exports . he change in demand for imports affects the demand for foreign exchange and also has an impact on foreign exchange market. The third party of analysis accordingly identifies the impact of the change in the interest rate in the money market on the foreign exchange market-foreign exchange reserves or the exchange rate. As the exchange rate depreciates, the competitiveness of domestic economy improves and exports increases. The increase in money supply in a floating exchange rate regime with imperfect capital mobility thus resulting: A depreciation of the exchange rate. †¢ An increase in income †¢ A decline in interest rate †¢ An improveme nt in the current account balance BIBLIOGRAPHY †¢http://www. investopedia. com/terms/c/currency. asp#ixzz28ttvjLVD †¢http://www. mbaknol. com/managerial-economics/factors-affecting-the-exchange-rate-of-indian-rupee/ †¢http://www. marketoracle. co. uk/Article28468. html †¢www. ccsenet. org/ijbm †¢http://www. sapphireconsultinggroup. in/Rupee_appreciation. html#Executive http://www. investorwords. com/2186/GNP. html#ixzz2CsUdLeaQ APPENDICES BPOBPO is distinct from information technology (IT) outsourcing, which focuses on hiring a third-party company or service provider to do IT-related activities, such as application management and application development, data center operations, or testing and quality assurance. BOP A record of all transactions made between one particular country and all other countries during a specified period of time. BOP compares the dollar difference of the amount of exports and imports, including all financial exports and imports. A neg ative balance of payments means that more money is flowing out of the country than coming in, and vice versa.EXCHANGE RATE the exchange rate is the quantity of one currency required to buy or sell one unit of the other currency. FISCAL DEFICIT The difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government is termed as fiscal deficit. It is an indication of the total borrowings needed by the government. While calculating the total revenue, borrowings are not included. FDI FDI refers more specifically to the investment of foreign assets into domestic goods and services. FOREIGN DEBT An outstanding loan that one country owes to another country or institutions within that country.Foreign debt also includes due payments to international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The debt may be comprised of fees for goods and services or outstanding credit due to a negative balance of trade. GNI The Gross national income (GNI) consists of: the personal con sumption expenditures, the gross private investment, the government consumption expenditures, the net income from assets abroad (net income receipts), and the gross exports of goods and services, after deducting two components: the gross imports of goods and services, and the indirect business taxes.GDP Gross Domestic Product, is a primary indicator used to assess the strength of a country’s economy representing the total value of all the goods and services produced over a particular time frame. GDP = C + G + I + NX Where, â€Å"C† is equal to all private consumption, or consumer spending, in a nation's economy â€Å"G† is the sum of government spending â€Å"I† is the sum of all the country's businesses spending on capital†NX† is the nation's total net exports, calculated as total exports minus total imports. (NX = Exports – Imports) GNPGross National Product. GNP is the total value of all final goods and services produced within a nat ion in a particular year, plus income earned by its citizens (including income of those located abroad), minus income of non-residents located in that country. IMF The IMF plays three major roles in the global monetary system. The Fund surveys and monitors economic and financial developments, lends funds to countries with balance-of-payment difficulties, and provides technical assistance and training for countries requesting it.