Monday, December 30, 2019

The Crab Nebula Supernova Remnant

Theres a ghostly remnant of star death out there in the night-time sky. It cant be seen with the naked eye. However, stargazers can glimpse it through a  telescope. It looks like a faint wisp of light, and astronomers have long  called it the Crab Nebula. The Ghostly Remains of a Dead Star This faint, fuzzy-looking object is all that remains of a massive star that died in a supernova explosion thousands of years ago. The most famous recent image of this cloud of hot gas and dust was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope  and shows amazing detail of the expanding cloud. Thats not quite how it looks from a backyard-type telescope, but its still worth searching out from November through March each year. The Crab Nebula lies about 6,500 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Taurus. The debris cloud has been expanding ever since the original explosion, and now it covers an area of space about 10 light-years across. People often ask if the Sun will explode like this. Thankfully, the answer is no.  Its not massive enough to create such a sight. Our star will end its days as a planetary nebula.   The Crab Through History For anyone alive in the year 1054, the Crab would have been so bright they could see it in the daytime.  It was easily the brightest object in the sky, besides the Sun and Moon, for several months. Then, as all supernova explosions do, it began to fade. Chinese astronomers noted its presence in the sky as a guest star, and its thought that the Anasazi people who lived in the U.S. desert southwest also noted its presence. Weirdly enough, there are NO mentions of it in European histories of the time, which is somewhat odd, since there WERE people observing the sky.  Some historians have suggested that perhaps wars and famines kept people from paying much attention to celestial sights. Whatever, the reasons, the historical mentions of this awesome sight were pretty limited.   The Crab Nebula got its name in 1840 when William Parsons, the Third Earl of Rosse, using a 36-inch telescope, created a drawing of a nebula he spotted that he thought looked like a crab. With the 36-inch telescope, he was not able to fully resolve the colored web of hot gas around the pulsar. But, he tried again a few years later with a bigger telescope and then he could see greater detail. He noted that his earlier drawings were not representative of the true structure of the nebula, but the name Crab Nebula was already popular.   What Made the Crab What It Is Today? The Crab belongs to a class of objects called supernova remnants (which astronomers shorten down to SNR). They are created when a star many times the mass of the Sun collapses in on itself and then rebounds out in a catastrophic explosion. This is called a supernova. Why does the star do this?  Massive stars eventually run out of fuel in their cores at the same time they are losing their outer layers to space. That expansion of the stellar material is called mass loss, and it actually begins long before the star dies. It gets more intense as the star ages, and so astronomers recognize mass loss as a hallmark of a star that is aging and dying, particularly if theres a LOT of it happening. At some point, the outward pressure from the core cant hold back the massive weight of the outer layers, They collapse in and then everything blasts back out in a violent burst of energy. That sends huge amounts of stellar material out to space. This forms the â€Å"remnant† that we see today. The leftover core of the star keeps contracting under its own gravity. Eventually, it forms a new type  of object called a neutron star. The Crab Pulsar The neutron star  at the heart of the Crab is very small, probably just a few miles across. But it is extremely dense. If someone had a can of soup filled with neutron star material, it would have about the same mass as Earths Moon!   The pulsar itself is roughly in the center of the nebula and spins very fast,  about 30 times a second. Rotating neutron stars like this are called pulsars (derived from the words PULSating stARS). The pulsar inside the Crab  is one of the most powerful ever observed. It injects so much energy into the nebula that astronomers can detect light streaming away from the cloud in virtually every wavelength, from low-energy radio photons to the highest energy  gamma rays. The Pulsar Wind Nebula The Crab Nebula is also referred to as a pulsar wind nebula or PWN. A PWN is a nebula that is created by the material that is ejected by a pulsar interacting with random interstellar gas and the pulsar’s own magnetic field. PWNs are often difficult to distinguish from SNRs, since they often look very similar. In some cases, objects will appear with a PWN but no SNR. The Crab Nebula contains a PWN inside the SNR, and it appears as a sort of cloudy area in the middle of the HST image. Astronomers continue to study the Crab and chart the outward motion of its remnant clouds. The pulsar remains an object of great interest, as well as the material its lighting up as it swings its searchlight-like beam around during its rapid spin.      Edited by  Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Poverty Of South Africa - 1509 Words

The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty eight poorest nations. Just like how most money is in the hands of the few, during apartheid most power was in the minority leaving others to suffer without a chance to truly achieve their potential. In South Africa it became extreme to the point where certain races could only live in certain areas; clearly it lasted much too long.The main reasons why it lasted so long was because of the segregational laws, failed rallies; and lack of a leader. First we need a basic understanding of the apartheid system in South Africa. Apartheid was the structure of government in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. It was Established by the National Party which was the government at the time. The term â€Å"apartheid† literally means apartment and was used to keep the white minority in power. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the segregational system didn’t exist before 1948, it just means that it became official then. One of the most distinguishing things about apartheid is its degrading laws. These laws were one of the main reasons why apartheid lasted so long. One of these laws was the Race classification act.This basically meant that everyone was classified according to race. It involved lots testing and continuously change between the races for example in 1984; 518 coloured people were defined as white; 2 whites were called chinese; 1 white was reclassified indian; 1 white becameShow MoreRelatedRacism And Poverty : South Africa1640 Words   |  7 PagesSince it’s foundation, South Africa has faced significant issues with racism and poverty. From the times of colonialism, to the era of apartheid, South Africans have been segregated in discriminatory contexts that have left a large proportion of the population living in desperate conditions. This segregation by race and socioeconomic status still exists today and is extremely prevalent in modern South African society. Townships that are prone to violence and extreme poverty surround every major cityRead MorePoverty in South Africa Essay475 Words   |  2 PagesPoverty is one of the greatest problems facing South Africa. South African families live in very unsatisfactory conditions. The South African government works hard to bring down the rate of poverty but it also seems to increase as they try. The majority of the South African people are unemployed or else the breadwinner of the family looses the job or dies. In that situation the family has nobody to provide them with the basic needs of life. The children have no money to go to school and that aloneRead MoreExtremes of Riches and Poverty in Cape Town, South Africa1129 Words   |  4 PagesBig cities of the rich American world comprise great extremes of wealth and poverty. The same is true of the cities of the poor world, if not more true. South Africa’s Cape Town could easily be said to straddle both the rich and the poor worlds in one city. Specifically, Cape Town experienced racial segregation during and after apartheid, which contributed to the making of rigid class systems. Also, globalization and economic aspects forced segregation of this urban space. With all of these factorsRead MoreThe Gretest Poverty of All: Bieng Unwanted, Unloved and Uncared For 1042 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"We think sometimes tha t poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.† (Mother Teresa) South Africa’s poverty affects the country in numerous ways; however and the most vulnerable margin in the country is the most effected. Children are the most vulnerable aspect in any country, as they are still developing, and don’t have the resources to be independent; they are also only able to take what they are given withoutRead MoreGender Roles And Gender Inequality1576 Words   |  7 Pagesgender roles and gender inequality that persists in South Africa help not only to explain their unbelievably difficult daily burdens but it also aids in the understanding of the lack of economic and political representation of women in the region (Bentley, 2004). Within South Africa there is a significant gap in the lack of opportunity and representation of women within the economic and political sphere, which directly correlates to their poverty. Often times the universal equality and importanceRead MoreThe Multifaceted State Of South Africa Underwent Vast Reconstruction1518 Words   |  7 PagesThe multifaceted state of South Africa underwent vast reconstruction after the end of the apartheid in 1994 and experienced transformative changes in the racial, economic and societal relations of the region. Aside from the divisions and devastations the country faced as a result of apartheid the country also opened its economy to international business, deregulating major sectors of its economy and engaging in trade liberalization policies in an attempt to spur economic growth and internationalRead MoreCase Study : South Africa Essay1498 Words   |  6 PagesCase study: South Africa South Africa is an upper-middle income country with a population of 52 million people and a GDP of 312.80 billion US dollars (â€Å"Statistics South Africa | The South Africa I Know, The Home I Understand†, n.d.). The country has the second largest economy in Africa; it plays a prominent role in sub-Saharan Africa and in the continent as a whole. South Africa was hugely shaped by the apartheid legacy, a system of racial segregation that began during the colonial rule and was officiallyRead MoreThe Effects of Globalization1678 Words   |  7 Pageswhich is commonly referred to as a global village (Egnatz, 2011). South Africa is integrated highly into the world economy. South Africa is the strongest African economy and has attained positions like being a member of G8 .All these are as a result of globalization. Globalization has had an impact on the economy, the government and social nature resulting to some effects. The paper will look at how globalization has affected South Africa under several categories. It will also give an explanation onRead MoreFreedom Of Choice : South Africa1241 Words   |  5 PagesLibertaria seeks to create absolute freedom for its people. In South Africa, people are free in numerous ways for instance South Africans are free to express themselves, go wherever they want, and follow any religion. Furthermore, Libertarians believe in freedom of choice which is the same belief occurring in South Africa. Freedom plays a major role in South Africa’s Bill of Rights, and is a reoccuring theme throughout South African laws and politics. The economic issue in Libetaria is that theRead MoreTo what extent is reducing the number of people living in absolute poverty sufficient to achieve economic growth and development?1222 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿To what extent is reducing the number of people living in absolute poverty sufficient to achieve economic growth and development? Absolute poverty measures the number of people living below a certain income threshold or the number of households unable to afford certain basic goods and services. Much of the poverty in developing countries, such as South Africa, tends to be absolute poverty. Economic growth can be defined as steady growth in the productive capacity of the economy. Short term growth

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Meditation, attention and well-being of college students Free Essays

Ask any college student today and they would probably say that being in college is one of the most difficult and consuming endeavor that they have had in their lifetime. College life is not only about going to classes, meeting deadlines, writing papers and completing courses. College life is also about developing analytical and critical minds, learning life-skills, building knowledge and applying it to real-life situations. We will write a custom essay sample on Meditation, attention and well-being of college students or any similar topic only for you Order Now College students need all the help they could get to make their academic lives a little lighter or more manageable. Many self-help books have advocated changing one’s attitude, thinking positively, time-management, building relationships and other methods that one gets a feeling that they do not really provide solutions but just state the obvious. One that has received less attention is in the area of meditation. Literature has found that meditation has positive effects in reducing stress as a relaxation technique. However, meditation has been associated with new age thinking and referred to as spooky stuff that the present generation of college students may not be aware of. Meditation have existed since man first begun creative thinking, it is often referred in religious and spiritual practices. In the early years of psychological investigation, meditation became a popular subject in terms of the experiences that people have when they meditated as well as how it can be an effective relaxation technique. Meditation is being able to become more attuned with one’s inner self and this takes a great deal of directed attention. Attention refers to the ability of the mind or consciousness to attend to a specific area, event, information or thing. Studies on attention have highlighted the detrimental effects of not being able to hold one’s attention, and of how fleeting and short a person’s attention span can be especially in a very complex and stimulus overloaded  environment we have. Directing attention to a single object or thought can be relaxing since it allows the person to be present in the here and now, it was also espoused that training oneself to become more attentive can develop cognitive functioning and thus help in academic performance. College students can benefit in learning and being able to use meditation techniques to cope with the many stresses and anxiety of college life and developing attention skills to further enhance academic performance. It is therefore hypothesized that college students who practice meditation will have a longer attention span and will have higher grades and a more positive mental health and hence increased feelings of well-being. This study will determine if college students who practice meditation techniques on a regular basis have higher attention skills as measured by a behavioral experiment and whether they have more positive feelings of well-being as determined by a well-being inventory. A discussion of meditation and its application into the enhancement of attention, creativity and consciousness is presented to demonstrate the far reaching effects of meditation as a means of aiding college student’s performance in school and their mental health. Meditation Meditation has been defined as process wherein the person achieves an altered sate of consciousness by performing certain rituals and exercises. These exercises include controlling and regulating breathing, sharply restricting one’s field of attention, eliminating external stimuli,  assuming yogic body positions and forming mental images of an event or symbol. The result is a pleasant, mildly altered subjective state in which the individual feels mentally and physically relaxed. Some individuals after extensive meditation practice may have mystical experiences in which they lose self-awareness and gain a sense of being involved in a wider consciousness, however defined. That such meditative techniques may cause a change in consciousness goes back to the ancient times and is represented in every major world religion. Buddhists, Hindus, Sufis, Jews and Christians all have literature describing rituals that induce meditative states (Arambula, Kawakami, Gibney, 2001). Traditional forms of meditation follow the practices of yoga, a system of thought based on the Hindu religion, or Zen which is derived from Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. The two common techniques of meditation are an opening up meditation and concentrative meditation.  Ã‚   In opening-up meditation the subject clears his/her mind for receiving new experiences while in concentrative meditation the benefits are obtained through actively attending to some object, word, or idea. Experimental studies of meditation provide only limited insight into the alterations of consciousness that a person can achieve when meditative practice and training extend over many years. In his study of the Matramudra, a centuries old Tibetan Buddhist text, Brown (1977) has described the complex training required to master the technique. He has shown that cognitive changes can be expected at different meditative levels. A somewhat commercialized and popular form of meditation has been promoted as transcendental meditation or TM ( Hanley Spates, 1978) ). The technique is easily learned from a qualified teacher who gives the novice mediator a mantra and instructions on how to repeat it over and over to produce the deep rest and awareness  characteristic of TM. In TM a person develops a reduced state of physiological arousal; feelings such as peace of mind, a feeling of being at peace with the world and a sense of well-being are reported after engaging in TM. In a now classic study on the effect of TM to college students by Hanley Spates (1978), it was reported that those who were practicing meditation had more positive personalities. In this study, meditation in the form of transcendental meditation (TM) will be used as the meditative process which will be given to college students who will participate in this study. The TM is much easier to learn and practice than the traditional forms of mediation and since it produces feelings of peace and well-being that it suits the purpose of this study. Meditation is categorized under altered states of consciousness and since consciousness is the most basic cognitive function that is closely related to attention, the second part of this study is to determine if meditation enhances attention span and accuracy and in effect would lead to greater academic performance. Meditation and Attention Meditation and attention is unquestionably linked together, meditation is the process by which attention is narrowed and focused on one object or event, and without engaging one’s attention fully to the immediate task, and then nothing will come out of it. Attention must be acutely directed towards the mantra, the breathing of the individual and the experiences one will have during the meditative state. Meditation in effect enhances the ability of the person to direct attention and when attention is more keen and developed, a person can have better concentration  and can better attend to the critical thinking skills needed in college education (Shear Jevning, 1999). Attention has been the earliest subject of the study of psychology, cognitive science have provided evidence that attention is physiological, that it is limited but can be expanded to become more acute and enable the person to become more aware of his/her environment, more appreciative of nature and life and it causes a general feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction. Several studies have tried to find evidence that meditation and attention has a relationship. In a study of the effects of opening-up and concentrative mediation to attention in terms of ignoring distractions and focusing attention (Chan, 2003) found that meditation was positively correlated with the ability to direct attention but it was shown that meditation minutes per day was positively correlated with decreased distractions and mistakes, the form of mediation used or how may years a person has been meditating did not have any significant relationship with the owner. In a similar study, concentrative and mindfulness motivation was measured in terms of how effective it contributed to the task of sustained attention. The study compared the sustained attention of students who had meditation training to those who did not (Valentine Sweet, 1999). The study found that those who had meditation techniques scored better in the sustained attention task wherein those who practiced mindfulness meditation had better scores than the concentrative mediators. The practical applications of an enhanced attention that is not affected by distractions and sustained attention can be directed towards improved academic performance of students. Meditation, Attention and Well-being 7 Meditation and Creativity A new concept put forward by Sarath (2006) advocated the use of meditation techniques to mainstream classroom instruction as it enriches the learning process and enhances the creative process and consciousness of students. Creativity is highly related to the issue of meditation because the experience associated with meditation is similar to the second person approach wherein the student actually creates and produces an output that would enable him/her to have a deeper understanding of the concepts raised in class (Sarath, 2006). The author had argued that education and learning should be focused on providing actual experience of the lesson, not just learning something in books and not being able to work with it. Creative expression of one’s talent and interests should be the main thrust of the school. At the same time, a more sustained attention and inability to be distracted by external stimuli are necessary steps in the practice of creative thinking. Conclusion Meditation is not just for the spiritual and magical but it is also a positive process to develop attention and induce students to relax and communicate with their bodies and their surroundings. College students have to deal with pressures and expectations that they sometimes feel cranky, anxious and fed up. Meditation as evidenced by the studies conducted showed that it could positively affect attitudes, attention span and resistance to distractions. Meditation also has been found to be a medium that could enhance the learning process and encourage creativity. As such, this study has found evidence to support the hypothesis mentioned in the first part. Meditation, Attention and Well-being 8 References Arambula, P., Kawakami, M., Gibney, K.   (2001). The physiological correlates of Kundalini Yoga meditation: A study of a yoga master. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 26; 2, pp. 47-53. Brown, D.P. (1977). A model for the levels of concentrative meditation. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 25; 4: 236-273. Chan, D.P. (2003). Effects of meditation to attention, Unpublished dissertation. University of California. Hanley, C. Spates, J. (1978). Transcendental meditation and social psychological   attitudes. The Journal of Psychology, 99, p121-1127. Sarath, Ed. (2006). Meditation, Creativity and Consciousness: Charting Future Terrain with Higher Education. Teachers College Record, 108; 9, pp 1816-1841. Valentine, E. Sweet, P. (1989). Meditation and Attention: A comparison of the effects of concentrative and mindfulness meditation on sustained attention. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 2; 1, pp 59 to 70. Shear, J. Jevning, R. (1999). Pure consciousness: Scientific exploration of meditation techniques. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6; 2, p. 3) How to cite Meditation, attention and well-being of college students, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Social Work as a Career free essay sample

Career Goals According to the National Association of Social Workers website, Social Justice is the foundation of Social Work’s unique purpose and perspective representing one of its core values. (www. socialworkers. org) Embedded in social justice is economic justice and the two existing without one another is the fundamental attention Social Workers promote on behalf of clients surrounding environmental forces that create and contribute problems in living beginning the process of equal economic, political and social rights with opportunity. Social Workers open the door to those greatest in need conveying the message of person in their environment developing personal and social responsibilities using institutions as a tool. Institutions that provide wages from work; institutions for exchanging goods and services; along with those institutions that are void of economic gain such as schools, hospitals and detention centers increasing the need for experienced professionals. (www. socialworkers. org) Becoming a School Social Worker I can address what I view as an imbalance of social and economic justice in the school system. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Work as a Career or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Like special education labels, inferior educational tools and resources, limited extracurricular activities, lack of empathy, and an environment where parents relinquish parental power to school administrators; resulting in students lacking self-motivation and parents lacking a support system on motivating their children who may be experiencing social, emotional, and behavioral problems that impede learning. I would like to develop a program that teach parents adaptation skills learning that parenting does not have to be one size fits all. There needs to be a paradigm shift in the roles and expectations of the school, the parent and the student to eradicate some of the social and economic justice inequities that exist. The United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment of social workers is expected to grow by 25 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. Growth will be due to an increase in demand for health care and social services but will vary by specialty. (www. bls. gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers. tm) Comparing those statistics to other professional fields of study gives me comfort and confirmation that my choice to pursue this professional degree is a decision in the right direction. Positively impacting the community I’ll serve. Â  Bureau of Labor Statistics

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Austrlia in Vietnam essays

Austrlia in Vietnam essays On the 3rd of August 1962, 29 Australian soldiers were flown to Saigon from Singapore. This marked the beginning of Australias in involvement in the Vietnam War. Australians served for ten and a half years in Vietnam, which was the longest war effort ever served by Australians. At its height Australian presence numbered 8,600 people. In all 50,000 Australian personnel served in the Vietnam War, of these 520 died and 2,400 were wounded. This war was the cause of the greatest social and political disturbance since the conscription referendum in World War One. The most commonly asked questions about this war are why was Australia involved in such a far off war, that seemed to have little to so with us, and how did the various groups respond within Australia. This report will confront the issues of the Vietnam War and answer these to vital questions in Australias history. Why Was Australia Involved in the Vietnam War? There are two main reasons why Australia fought in the Vietnam War, they are the so-called Domino Theory and the ANZUS treaty with the United States of- America. In 1954 US President Eisenhower coined this well-known theory. The Domino Theory stated that once one nation fell to communism it would almost definitely cause its neighboring countries to fall to the deadly clutches of communism. It was thought that this would continue causing a chain reaction, a reaction that mimics the falling of dominoes. As can be seen on the map to the left Australias proximity was very close to Vietnam so Australians believed that the only way to stop communism spreading to us was to fight against it in Vietnam. It was thought that the end point of this reaction was to be the southern countries such as Australia and New Zealand. This thought struck fear in the hearts and minds of the western world. In September of 1954 the minister for defence, ...

Monday, November 25, 2019

Definition and Examples of Drawl

Definition and Examples of Drawl Definition A drawl is  speech that is characterized by drawn-out vowels and syllables. This informal term is often used by non-linguists in a pejorative way. Contrary to popular belief, Americans in the southern states dont pronounce words more slowly than other speakers of American English. The phenomenon perceived as  a drawl is  a result of adding glides to vowels to create diphthongs and triphthongs. Words may seem slower because they contain more sounds (World Englishes Vol. 2: North America, 2012).   See Examples and Observations below. Also see: AccentAccent PrejudiceBrogueDiphthongLinguicism Voice (Phonetics) Examples and Observations [The mission of Trident submarines] is to launch a massive and final lethal blow in the event that the worst has happened: nuclear combat toe-to-toe with the Ruskies, in the memorable drawl of Major T. J. King Kong, the Slim Pickens character in Dr. Strangelove.(Timothy Egan, Run Silent. Run Deep. Run Obsolete. The New York Times, July 14, 2010)All of the children of the Fox say feerst for first, beerst for burst, theerst for thirst. Why, no one knows. It seems to be a tribal accent, not only among all of Foxs children, but among all of their young cousins on the Foxs side. It is almost as if they were creatures of some isolated family, immured for generations on some lonely island, cut off from the world, and speaking some lost accent that their ancestors spoke three hundred years ago. Moreover, their tone is characterized by a kind of drawlnot the languorous drawl of the deep South, but a protesting drawl, a wearied-out, exasperated drawl, as if they have almost given up hope of ma king Foxor someoneunderstand what ought to be obvious without any explanation whatsoever.(Thomas Wolfe, You Cant Go Home Again, 1940) When it started kicking off, someone said to me, This is your time in the sunshine, [John] Bishop explains in a warm Liverpudlian drawl so thick it’s as if his words are forming in a cement-mixer. That sentence hit home because it really feels like that.(Dominic Cavendish, John Bishop: Ordinary Bloke, Comedy Star. The Daily Telegraph, August 6, 2010)Xiaowei had mastered those tricky English irregular verbs, perfected a convincing American drawl and could rattle off the 10 biggest U.S. cities by heart.(Hannah Beech Shanghai, High Hopes. Time magazine, December 17, 2001) The Southern DrawlThere are two distinct interpretations of the term southern drawl: the common or folk notion and the linguistic definition (Montgomery 1989a: 761). In common parlance, the southern drawl is a synonym for southern accent or southern speech and refers to the putative slowness of southern speech, often attributed to the heat or to the laziness of its speakers. It is thus often used derogatively, a s is the term brogue or even the term dialect itself. In contrast, linguists use the term to refer to the lengthening and raising of accented vowels, normally accompanied by a change in voice pitch. It involves the addition of a second or even a third vowel but does not necessarily entail a slower overall speech tempo (Montgomery 1989a: 761).(George Dorrill, The Phonology of English in the South. English in the Southern United States, ed. by Stephen J. Nagle and Sara L. Sanders. Cambridge University Press, 2003) Tom Wolfe on the Drawl of the Airline PilotAnyone who travels very much on airlines in the United States soon gets to know the voice of the airline pilot . . . coming over the intercom . . . with a particular drawl, a particular folksiness, a particular down-home calmness that is so exaggerated it begins to parody itself (nevertheless!its reassuring) . . . the voice that tells you, as the airliner is caught in thunderheads and goes bolting up and down a thousand feet at a single gulp, to check your seat belts because it might get a little choppy . . ..Well!who doesnt know that voice! And who can forget it,even after he is proved right and the emergency is over.That particular voice may sound vaguely Southern or Southwestern, but it is specifically Appalachian in origin. It originated in the mountains of West Virginia, in the coal country, in Lincoln County, so far up in the hollows that, as the saying went, they had to pipe in daylight. In the late 1940s and early 1950s this up-holl ow voice drifted down from on high, from over the high desert of California, down, down, down, from the upper reaches of the Brotherhood into all phases of American aviation. It was amazing. It was Pygmalion in reverse. Military pilots and then, soon, airline pilots, pilots from Maine and Massachusetts and the Dakotas and Oregon and everywhere else, began to talk in that poker-hollow West Virginia drawl, or as close to it as they could bend their native accents. It was the drawl of the most righteous of all the possessors of the right stuff: Chuck Yeager.(Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff, 1979)

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Complaint Letter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Complaint Letter - Assignment Example James Adams put me on hold for several minutes, almost 45 minutes, and then returned to say he could not help me. Needless to say, I was quite frustrated and annoyed as I have expected a much higher level of service from your company, and this experience has disappointed me. This is the second time that I have not been treated very rudely and with no assistance. I let go of the previous situation as I did not want to cause troubles for anyone and the young lady at the store seemed overly stressed and overworked. However this call has pushed me over the edge and I do not want to spend any more time on this problem, I am returning the blender to the local store immediately, and I expect a full refund. Please inform the local store [Your Local Store], that I will be back to return the blender and I do not want to be pushed around, as I do not have any more time to waste on this issue. I am including the details of my bill: This is a very saddening event as I am a regular customer at Wal Mart and I have always been treated well by all the staff at Wal Mart. However over the last two events, I have been spoken to very rudely and I do not think this is fair. I hope you do take some strict action against this and do recognise that I nothing against James Adams personally. It is the sheer lack of professionalism and courtesy that has upset me. I hope the level of professionalism and courtesy that is generally extended to all the customers is maintained and customer complaints are not overlooked. I will be informing my family and friends about this

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Analyse and evaluate the impact of volunteer tourism on host Essay - 2

Analyse and evaluate the impact of volunteer tourism on host communities - Essay Example In the first place, firms try to optimise everything and one subject of the optimisation process is the human resource. For this reason, the human resource department may be picky in dealing with finding the human resources that are truly competent or will have optimum contribution for the firm’s future success. There is a prevailing notion that the younger are the chosen employees, the better it will be for the company. However, there might also be substantial flaws in this argument because there are also prevailing young age discriminations in the workplace. In particular, young people might be less likely promoted because of their age (Sargeant, 2006, p.84). At the other end, old age discrimination is also prevalent, because older people are perceived to be somewhere in the portion of economic inactivity, leading to the firm’s likelihood of obtaining less possible output from them (Sargeant, 2006, p.91). Added to this, people belonging to senior age group are also un der the area of discrimination, especially on the ground of promotion, training opportunities and redundancy (Sargeant, 2006, p.90). On the other hand, the group that will be less likely to experience possible discrimination at the workplace is composed of the middle-age employees, but these are also the people who have most of their needs for feeding their children and some women in this group suffer a significant discrimination (Sergeant, 2006, p.88). In other words, in all possible ages of workers, discrimination might be remarkable in the workplace, because they are subjects to the firm’s prevailing requirement of optimising what seems to be substantial for the company’s welfare. In other words, not everyone of varying age has the chance to be given the optimum break in a firm. The work at hand tries to depict the actual probable problems linked to inequality through age discrimination in the workplace. According to the study of Roscigno et al. (2007,

Monday, November 18, 2019

Thematic Concerns in the Open Boat Research Paper

Thematic Concerns in the Open Boat - Research Paper Example Crane’s story provides the readers with a perfect blend of human suffering, their various behaviors and natures as well as the desolation that surrounds human beings. Although the dialect is simple and smooth flowing yet he captures essence of meaning and gives a close observation of the brutalities of the Mother Nature and human suffering. As Turchi and Baxter also states, â€Å"â€Å"The Open Boat† insists on moral truths. They are confounding moral truths and many readers will be frustrated that the wisdom of the work cannot be distilled, the themes stated plainly†. Some of the major thematic concerns that Stephen Crane incorporates in the story includeshuman bonding and relations,Man vs. Nature, unavailability of God and communication gaps. A common theme that recurs in most of Crane’s works is human bonding or relationships. It appears that the writer believes that in this world an individual cannot survive on his own as this world is an unfriendly place and human beings require some sort of weapon against the brutalities of nature and that weapon is an individual’s bonding with his fellow beings. This theme is excessively apparent from not only the setting of the story but also from the gradual plot progression. Crane creates a microcosm of mankind on the dinghy. Although initially the four survivors had nothing in common and there is a certain awkwardness that is observed amongst their behaviors yet it is observed that when they realize the unpredictability and the helplessness of their dire situation they form an unannounced brotherhood to survive the brutalities of Mother Nature. As it is also stated in the text as well, It would be difficult to describe the subtle brotherhood of men that was here est ablished on the seas.... there was this comradeship that the correspondent, for instance, who had been taught to be cynical of men, knew even at the time was the best experience of his life (61). Dersch effectively encapsulates the situation of these characters by quoting Ross Muffin’s words when he says, â€Å"‘the characters are determined by forces beyond their control’ humans are presented as ‘higher-order animals fully subject to the forces of heredity and environment and life in general is an inescapable trap’† (4). Hence the characters find solace in one another and even though earlier they had communication barriers yet they overcome them and act as one another’s support and right hand in the hour of need. For example it is clear from the manner in which the captain, the cook, Billie and correspondent take turns at rowing the boat. Then again when the correspondent is up alone and he say his desire for someone else to be awake a nd find solace in another individual’s company is a proof that Crane believes that human bonding is essential for survival. Communication gap that engulfs human race is another important thematic concern that Crane reiterates in the story to further highlight the disjunct and chaos that surround human beings. The fact that the people on the shore believed the people on dinghy were mere fishermen and the hope in the four survivors that they will be rescued yet their constant observation saying that, â€Å"Funny they don’t see us† (Crane 64) creates an ironic situation. It is as if human beings exist in their individual bubbles where they tend to keep to themselves. However when finally they do realize that their fellow beings are in need they do stand up to help one another. This theme further stresses the lonely existence of man in this

Friday, November 15, 2019

Impact of foreign institutional investors on Indian stock market

Impact of foreign institutional investors on Indian stock market CHAPTER 1 Generalities of Study Introduction In the initial period the economic growth of all the countries were started by government planning and action by developing the agricultural, manufacturing and the infrastructure facilities of the country. Though these facilities were adequate for the economy but it didnt boost the domestic growth of the country as it did not lead to much saving or any further investment. Since these domestic savings were inadequate, countries had to depend on the loans from different countries for the development of their country through different public organisations. This led to growth of economies by increased foreign investments which came in the form of overseas loans. Foreign capital plays a significant role in the development of any economy. It fills the gap between domestic savings and its required investment for growth. But this investment limited the scope of growth as loans were not easily available. So countries induced foreign investments by allowing them to invest in the companies list ed on stock markets to a major extent. This led to development of stock markets. Stock Markets initially were just a way for people to invest their money into different companies and they were not that big. But as of today they have become an important part in the growth process of any country. Due to development of stock markets, economies are getting globalised and world is getting smaller. Hence the significance of stock markets has grown above leaps and bounds. As of today the Gross Domestic Production of a country largely depends on stock markets. As a result each country is trying to enhance its stock markets in order to attract foreign investments and to boost the growth process of their own country. The best decision of the century has been the financial liberalisation of the equity markets all over the world which gave opportunity for foreign investors to invest in domestic markets especially of the emerging economies. According to Lalitha, S (1992), the main reason for opening stock market for FIIs was to attract foreign investments and stop country from raising more debts. According to Cerny (2004), the behaviour of stock market is affected by the globalisation of the world economy. The Foreign Investors are eyeing these days on the Asian markets specially India due to many obvious reasons. First of all growth potential in Asian Markets is higher, secondly its cheaper in countries like India to invest as the costs are low, thirdly there is a higher investor base and fourthly mostly the Asian economies are developing and hence the Governments are welcoming to Foreign investors as they play a major role in boosting the growth of the country. Now the question that arises is who are Foreign Institutional Investors? According to SEBI, FII means an entity which is established or incorporated outside India and which proposes to make investments in India. According to Sehgal and Tripathi (2009) FIIs are speculators instead of investors as they tend to invest in stock for short term and after attaining short term gains they tend to move away to different company and this might lead to volatility in stock prices and may lead to financial crisis. FIIs investments in stock market increases volatility in market due to excessive liquidity but it also leads improvement in value of stocks. According to Choe et al., (1999) Froot et al., (2001) Griffins et al., (2002), Foreign Investors run after returns from stocks, in a way they will buy shares in those companies whose returns they expect to be high. According to Syste et al. (2003), Foreign Investors invest in large liquid companies which enable them to exit quickly at lower cost. Another research by Prasana (2008) Foreign Institutional Investors have been eyeing on Indian Markets because of the positive fundamentals of the economy and potential to grow fast. Since foreign investors are freely available and are unpredictable, therefore FIIs are always on look out for profit. FIIs move their investments regularly and because of these swings there is a tendency to be fluctuations in prices and hence increased volatility in the market. Another study by Clark and Berko (1997) finds that stock prices rises due to increase in capital flows by foreign institutional investors but they could not conclude that the rise in pri ces are for short term or for long term. Another finding which indicates positivity of presence of FIIs was produced by Banaji (2000). According to him, due to presence of FIIs in Indian market there has been improved transparency in the procedures, automation and regulations regarding disclosure and reporting standards were initiated. So it becomes the necessity to study the Impact Foreign Institutional Investors have on Indian Stock Market. Background of Indian Economy India was ruled for nearly 200 years by British rule and in 1947 it gained its independence.( http://www.iloveindia.com/history/modern-history/british-india.html) So the growth of India has come in the last 60 years in which Indian economy has been thriving to set its foothold in the world. Under the British rule India was mainly dependent on its agricultural production and few basic industries were in existence as in textile industry which was basically for the benefit of the British colony to support them in their trade for European goods by exporting Indian basic agricultural goods and textile manufactures. After Independence, India carried on with its policy of attaining self sufficiency and closed the doors for the foreign investors. But this policy of government limited the growth of economy. So in order to finance the needs to economy of providing basic necessities to its citizens and for getting over with the burden of loans as the foreign reserves were at their all time low, Government of India took support from World Bank and International Monetary Fund to get the country on to revival path. These organisations agreed to help Indian economy on the condition that they will allow foreign investors to enter India. So basically a reform process was initiated in India after balance of payment crisis of 1991 which was recommended by M. Narsimham, chairman of committee of financial system. This became starting point of deregulation of financial sector and development of various sectors of financial markets. This resulted in significant changes in Indian market from dull to highly buoyant stock market. As a result Indian markets were opened to foreign institutional investors in September 1992 and this event led to effective globalising of the financial services and since then the Foreign Institutional Investments have been rising positively year on year. These investments helped India in developing infrastructural facilities which were necessary for the growth of the country. These investments were led due to increasing confidence in Indian stock markets which were based on strong macro-economic fundamentals of the economy, abolition of long term capital gain tax, improved performance of Indian com panies and transparency in the regulatory system. The opening up of markets for foreign investors had its own pros and cons. Pros of financial liberalisation are that firstly stock markets had to improve its trading mechanism and match up to world standards and secondly with the presence of foreign investors, information system saw a drastic change. Con of financial liberalisation was that it brought destabilisation in the economy and increased more volatility in stock movements. But overall it increased confidence of foreign investors in Indian stock market. The last two decades has led to growing participation of Institutional Investors which includes not only the foreign Institutional investments but also investments by domestic institutional investors. Indian economy has been an attractive avenue for foreign investors as nearly 16% of the world population lives in India and also India has joined the elite club of 12 countries to cross trillion dollar economy. Other countries which have in past breached this trillion dollar economy mark in the past includes countries like U.S, Japan, Germany, China, France, U.K, Italy, Spain, Canada, Brazil and Russia. Besides this countrys stock Market capitalisation has also risen to $944 billion which is close to trillion dollar level. As per Credit Suisse Report, stock markets have risen in eight out of ten countries after reaching this mark. Foreign Institutions have played a major role in Foreign Investments in India which resulted in changing the face of Indian Stock Market. According to M Puri, ICICI Securities Chief, ( 2009) India has been looked upon as the safest destination for foreign investors. Foreign Institutional Investors are the companies which are registered outside India. They are registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India and they are guided by SEBI in participating in stock market through limits placed by it. The major source of their investment in Indian Stock market is through Participatory notes which are almost 50% of the money invested in markets. The disadvantage of participatory notes is that the investor is anonymous and hence it could be an investment by any organisation including terrorist organisations. Foreign Institutional Investors have invested more than $41trillion of funds in India in the past four years which resulted in bull market witnessing unprecedented growth with BSE Sensex rising in absolute terms. India has witnessed over a decade of FIIs portfolio flows and these flows have gained significance and have played a key role in the overall Indian Economy. The impact of foreign investments in India is significant. The increasing role of Institutional investors led to both qualitative and quantitative developments in Indian Stock Markets. The Foreign institutional investors has also impacted the domestic investors to a large extent in the sense that if FIIs sell the stocks then there is a situation of panic created among the domestic investors and they tend to sell as well. Hence there is a need to study its impact on Indian companies and economy in general taking into consideration all the factors affecting movement of stocks on Indian Stock Market. Significance of Study Indian economy is growing at a very fast pace. Most of the FIIs are investing in India due to its significant growth. These FIIs though they are investing in the country, they not only invest for profit they also are affecting the movement of stocks in stock markets. Hence they are impacting the stock market in a large way which is an important perimeter of the Indian economy as it contributes to the growth process of Indian Economy. So it is significant to study the impact of Foreign Institutional Investments on Indian Stock Market. Objectives of Study The main objectives of study are: To analyse the impact of FIIs investments on the shareholding pattern of Stock exchange companies. To find way to reduce risk associated with investing in stock market and to know when to exit. To look for investment opportunities CHAPTER 2 Review of Literature and Studies Determinants of FIIs Foreign Institutional Investors play a major role in the economic growth of India. Their impact is significant even though their market capitalisation is not much and is improving year on year. Several attempts have been made to understand the impact FIIs have on Indian Stock markets. According to Aggarwal 1997, Chakrabarti 2001 and Trivedi and Nair 2003(cited in Rai and Bhanumurthy) equity returns have positive impact on FIIs. But Gordon and Gupta,2003 ( as citied in Rai and Bhanumurthy) contradict by saying that foreign investors are here for earning profits, they invest in a company and make the price go up as other investors follow and then book their profits and leave. So it can be said that there is a bidirectional relationship between FIIs and equity return. After the bursting of infotech bubble in 1998 and Asian crisis, Chakrabarti (2001) analysed and found a shift in regime in the determinants of FIIs. He analysed that before the Asian crisis, any change in investment pattern by FIIs had a positive impact on equity returns but after Asian Crisis he found that if there is a change in equity return then the behaviour of FIIs change. But Trivedi and Nair (2003) are of a different view point, they feel that any investments made depend a lot on the risk associated with it. They further divide realised risk into two factors, ex-ante and unexpected risk. According to them, ex-ante risk is negatively related to FIIs whereas the relation of FII with unexpected risk is not certain. This is because uncertain activities can bring unimaginable loss or gain depending on the situation. Take for example U.S subprime crisis. Those crises were unexpected and they led to unexpected movement in stock markets and FIIs activity. Studies in the past have concluded that the return in source country and inflation in that country doesnt exert pressure on FII. But this theory has been contradicted by the recent subprime recession in US which led to most of FIIs withdrawing their investments in order to cope up with crisis in their own country. Hence if stock markets of foreign investors home country are doing well and there is stability in their economy then it leads to a positive impact on the investments by FIIs. According to Aggarwal 1997 (as cited in Rai and Bhanumurthy 2004) world stock market capitalisation has a positive impact on growth of FIIs in India. According to literature survey shows that most of the existing studies do not reflect the effect of stock volatility and also they do not account for realised risks in foreign and domestic markets. Another observation by Ahmadjian and Robbins (2005) after analysing firms in Japanese economy showed that foreign investors are more inclined towards profit making than going in for long term ownership. They tend to make money and move away towards other company. Investment Preferences of FIIs According to Douma, Pallathiatta and Kabir (2006) there is a positive impact of foreign ownership on firm performance and especially on the emerging economies. They also found the impact on business group affiliations of FIIs But FIIs dont invest in any firm, they invest in those firms which have good corporate governance as the firms with poor corporate governance are least protective about the investors and instead they are concerned about their own interest only, this was observed by Aggarwal, Klapper and Wysocki (2005). According to them companies which are controlled by block of shareholders they find it difficult to find external investors as they are derived by private benefits and may manipulate things accordingly. This was already concluded by Cho and Padmanabhan 2001 (as cited in Prasana 2008) that block shareholders influence firm performance. They also said that corporate governance of listed companies play an important role in attracting foreign investments. They also cl arified that block shareholders mean basically businesses run by family groups and distinguished them from times when government acts as block shareholders; they act quiet differently from private investors. Bhanumurthy and Rai (2003) made an attempt to examine the determinants of FIIs by using the monthly data from January 1994- November 2002 by analyzing the effect of return, risk and inflation in domestic and foreign economy. They firstly calculate the domestic and foreign returns from daily returns on BSE Sensex and SP 500. After the analyses they find out that FIIs inflow depend on stock market returns, inflation rate and Ex-ante risk. According to Yin-Hua and Woidtke 2005 (cited in Prasana 2008) investors protection is weak when company board is dominated by members of controlling family and it gets difficult to separate the ownership from management then firm value is inversely related to family ownership firms. Their view was supported by Choe, Kho, Stulz (2005) who analysed US investors and concluded that they hold fewer shares in companies where ownership structure is more conducive to insiders. Another observation by LI (2005) was that if there was poor corporate governance then foreign investors tend to prefer other route of Foreign Direct Investment instead as Foreign Institutional Investors. Going further in accessing the information on firm ownership, Leuz, Nanda and Wyoscki (2003) assessed the firm level characteristics and found family control increases insider trading which gives less benefit to foreign investors. They were supported by Haw, Hu, Hwang and Wu (2004) who concluded that firm level charact eristics cause information asymmetry problems for FIIs. In order to analyse the investment preferences of FIIs, Dahlquist et al (2003) analysed the foreign ownership and firm characteristics of Swedish Stock Market and they concluded that FIIs prefer firms which are large, pay low dividends and have a huge cash holdings. Whereas Covirg et al (2007) were of the view that foreign managers have comparatively less information than domestic managers and hence they concern FIIs preference to be based on size of sales and stocks which are listed on foreign soil. According to Li and Jeong-Bon 2004 (as cited in Prasana 2008), FIIs are in a better position to analyse the public information and hence they tend to avoid stocks with high cross-corporate holdings whereas according to Morin 2000 (as cited in Prasana 2008) as they analysed the French model of shareholding and management of FII pattern concluded that France has undergone a rapid change and has gone away with the traditional system of FII holding and facilitated with new techniques which demands corporate management. Stock Market Volatility Research by Forbes and Rigobon (2002), Bekaert, Harvey and Lumsdaine (2002a,b) , Edwards (2000) and others focussed on stock market volatility concentrating on moving of volatilities among different economies and also of the financial crisis which happened thereafter. Bakaert and Harvey 2000 (as cited in Batra 2004) analysed equity returns of a group of emerging markets before and after financial reforms. According to Aggarwal, Inclan and Leal 1999 (as cited in Batra 2004) local events and happenings make the stock markets to turn volatile in emerging economies. In order to draw this conclusion they analysed emerging stock markets for volatility for period of 1985-95 and by using ICSS algorithm they identified points of sudden change when some event occurred or when there was large movement in stock market volatility. They calculated the variance at each point. According to De Santis and Imrohoroglu 1997 (cited in Ranjan Kumar Dash and Sumanjeet Singh) studied the behaviour of volati lity in emerging markets and the effect of liberalisation on financial markets and concluded that volatility decreased after liberalisation. Their study was contradicted by Singh (1993), Grabel (1995), Levine and Zervous (1998), Kamminsky and Schmickler (2001 and 2003), Nission (2002) and Edwards et al. 2003 (cited in Ranjan Kumar Dash and Sumanjeet Singh) by saying that financial liberalisation increases stock market volatility. In Indian context, Samal 1997 and Pal 1998 (cited in Ranjan Kumar Dash and Sumanjeet Singh) found that FIIs investment is the major source of volatility whereas stock market volatility was lower in liberalized economy. This view was supported by Richards 1996 who took three different methodologies and two different sets of data to calculate the volatility in emerging markets and came with the conclusion that there was no empirical evidence which supports that liberalization of economy increases volatility in stock markets. Hamao and Mei 2001(as cited in Batra 2004) examined Japanese market at a time when foreign portfolio investments in Japan were small and found no proper evidence to prove that foreign investments tend to increase volatility more than increase in volatility due to domestic investors. Folkerts Landau and Ito 1995 (as cited in Batra 2004) computed market volatility in emerging economies at different periods in which there was a difference in flow of portfolio and found in case of Mexico that stock prices were less volatile when Foreign flows were more volatile and vice versa for Hong Kong. According to Nilsson (2002) by using Markov regime switching model in Nordic Stock markets, liberalisation in stock markets leads to increase in volatility. Nilsson also evidenced that higher volatility and higher expected returns have strong links with international stock markets. Considerable attention has been paid these days to stock market volatility and especially after global recession. Stock Markets had been highly volatile in emerging markets like India and its study becomes important. Investment strategies of FIIs There has been a considerable amount of research done on the investment strategies of FIIs which show the Positive feedback and herding strategies being followed by FIIs. Research done by Lakonishok, Shleifer and Vishny (LSV) 1992(cited in Sehgal and Tripathi 2009) looked at the investment behaviour of 769 US tax exempt equity funds managed by 341 money managers for the period of 1985 to 1989. They concluded that there was no herding by money managers but it was prevailing in the behaviour of stock prices of small companies than in large companies. The reason given by LSV is that information on large stocks is easily available whereas small companies do not provide much information to public, so money managers look at the investments by other big investors into small stock and follow them. According to LSV, it is difficult to find the effect of herding as at times a small amount of herding can bring significant movement in stock prices. An argument was put forward by Dornbusch and P ark (1995) that foreign investors follow positive feedback strategy which leads to stock unusual movement in stock prices. Wermers 1998 (cited in Sehgal and Tripathi 2009) used LSV measures to check the presence of herding among mutual funds. He took the quarterly data of mutual funds from 1975 till 1994 and concluded that mutual funds showed existence of herding. He also analysed stocks and concluded that herding among those stocks tend to be higher which had reported higher amounts stock returns in the previous quarter. He concluded that investors buy those stocks which had good returns in the previous quarter and sell those stocks which had poor quarterly results. After computing average level of herding by Wermers model it was concluded that herding is more in mutual funds than in stocks. But after analysis of trading behaviour of large pool of mutual funds it was found that the herding behaviour in fact reduces in mutual funds and it was justified as large pool of mutual funds carry stock which have large amount of capitalisation and companies with large capitalisation tend not to do any herding. A nother analysis by Bonser- Neal et al 2002 (cited in Sehgal and Tripathi 2009) analysed the foreign trading behaviour on Jakarta Stock exchange between 1995 and 2000 and found positive feedback trading and herding by foreign investors but they didnt find any evidence indicating destabilising of markets due to foreign investors during Asian crisis. Richards 2002 (cited in Sehgal and Tripathi 2009) used data pertaining to net purchases by foreign investors in six Asian emerging markets over 1999-2001 and found an evidence of positive feedback trading. According to Kim and Wei (2002) foreign investors who live outside Korea are more likely to indulge in positive feedback trading and herding strategies as compared to their branches and subsidiaries who are living in Korea or any foreign national staying in Korea. According to them this difference in trading behaviour arises due to different kind of processing of information by those living outside Korea than those living inside. CHAPTER 3 Data and Methodology Research Methodology and Design According to Collis and Hussey (2003), Methodology refers to overall approach to research process which includes underpinning of theory, collection of data and analysing it. However the research process adopted depends to a great extent on the approach taken by the researcher. Research design is the general plan of how to go about answering the research question. It gives the logic behind every interpretation. Due to nature of research carried out the prime focus has been on gathering the secondary data which is relevant to analysis being carried out. According to Collis and Hussey (2003), there are two main paradigms of research that is qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research is followed by those people who have phenomenological bent as it deals with understanding the behaviour of human beings. Therefore it is also known as Phenomenological Paradigm. On the other hand Quantitative research refers to those who relate to positive view of the world and therefore this kind of research is also called as Positivistic Paradigm. Positivistic paradigm is used basically in natural sciences as this approach gathers facts with subjectivity of the nature of research and individual bias. For the purpose of research both qualitative and quantitative data will form part. Qualitative Data: this data has been collected by: Studying into the certain days on which markets fluctuated in upside or downside direction to a great extent Studying the changes in regulations by the Securities and Exchange Board of India in relation to foreign institutional investors. Studying the behavior of domestic investors and other factors affecting the market. Studying the basis on which the foreign institutional investors entered Indian Stock Market and there enter and exit strategy and its impact on Indian economy. Quantitative Data: this data has been collected by: Studying the market capitalization of foreign institutional investors and their cumulative effect on stock market Looking in the growth of number of institutional investors and the share of their investments year on year. The research onion below in the diagram gives an overview, how to achieve the objectives by using the techniques in each layer of the onion. In order to carry on with the research each onion of the Research Onion has been peeled systematically so as to get in the right direction. The philosophy adopted for the purpose of research is Positivism philosophy as research has been undertaken mostly from the data already published in journals, articles, previous researches etc. Approach taken by the researcher is mainly inductive as maximum data is qualitative and it has been of utmost importance to cover every aspect of research. Researcher has taken the case study strategy to analyse the data. The Researcher has used Mixed Method research choice in the sense the data collected comprises of both qualitative and quantitative data. The time horizon for research has been longitudinal as this research has been carried on after observing the behaviour of stock markets over a long period of time and on happening of any event. While carrying out the research it has been kept in mind that the research objectives and the characteristics of the information collected match. In order to analyse the Impact of FIIs on Indian Stock market, a thorough research has been done from different sources which includes RBI and SEBI publications, newspaper articles, journals, previous research done on the topic and also from internet. For the purpose of our research study we are looking into the data till financial year 2008-09. Limitations of Study: This study has been taken during the time when impact of recession has not been fully analysed and its exact nature and impact on the movement of stock markets and Financial Institutional Investors cannot be justified as it is a global recession. So research may miss out some of the implications of recession and may not correlate to impact which FIIs may have during the normal market conditions. Data has been collected mostly through online source. It was not possible to conduct personnel interviews with top brokers in India due to distance barriers. Hence the findings and analysis has been derived on the basis of data available online. Summary of Research: The majority of this research is conducted by making use of secondary sources of data which includes journals, articles, books, magazines, newspapers, Internet and other electronic sources. The research in this area has already been conducted but the purpose of this research is to generate new ideas and to gain further understanding into the subject by looking into each and every detail of it. This research is conducted at the time of recession, the condition which was not prevalent earlier, so it is expected to bring new concepts and theories into existent and it will also over rule some of the studies that have already been conducted. CHAPTER 4 Analysis of Indian Stock Market Overview of Indian Stock Market Stock markets were first introduced to India in 1875 as a non profit making organisation. Bombay Stock exchange is the oldest stock market in whole Asia. Stocks in India are traded on the stock exchanges which are around 23 which includes Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. Stock exchange is a corporation which provides its brokers to trade stocks of companies which are listed with them. The organisation of Stock Exchange, its systems and practices are regulated by Securities Contract, (Regulation) Act (SC(R) ACT), 1956.They are highly efficient organisations which have led to growth of securities market. Stock exchanges trade securities which include shares, unit trust, pooled investments and also bonds which are listed on them. Members of the stock exchange act as its agents as they are only allowed to trade on behalf of their customers who pay brokerage to them for the services provided by them. Stock exchanges also provide plenty of services as in issuing and redee ming shares and also in payment of dividends to its shareholders through its participants or members. Stock exchanges are important even though it is not necessary to issue shares via stock exchange. Shares are normally issued through Initial Public Offering (IPO). Stock exchanges play a major role in the economy as of today as they help with expansion plans of the country by mobilising the savings to investments and also by redistributing wealth among the economy. Stock exchanges maintains the records of all the shareholders at one central location but shares that are traded on stock exchange they are not dependent on that central location as the computerisation has made it easier to trade stocks. All stock exchanges have become an important part of world market for securities as global investors can invest in any market from anywhere. Importance of Stock Markets in India: Stock markets play an important role in the economy as they are now the financial indicators of growth in any country. They represent the crux of functioning of all the sectors of country. NSE NIFTY comprises of 50 top Indian companies from each sector and BSE SENSEX comprises of 30 companies from all the sectors. The following points describe the role stock markets play in India: Improving Corporate Governance: Since Stock markets are regulated by SEBI, companies are bound to follow the rules and regulations in order to have a good market value of their stocks on stock markets. This is possible only if they keep their shareholders satisfied. So they

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Microsoft And Windows Competitors :: essays research papers

A lot of people today, mostly microsofties, argue that Microsoft should not be split up since it isn’t really a monopoly; Windows has a lot of competitors out there and some of the companies that make them are even bigger than Microsoft. And that is actually quite true: Microsoft has only about 6% of the global software market and only 3% of the global computer market overall. There are several computer companies that make more than Microsoft, like Sun Microsystems and Compaq and there are at least nine other operating systems besides Windows, some of which you could even get for free. After three decades of use, the UNIX computer operating system from Bell Labs is still regarded as one of the most powerful, versatile, and flexible operating systems (OS) in the computer world. Its popularity is due to many factors, including its ability to run a wide variety of machines, from micros to supercomputers, and its portability -- all of which led to its adoption by many manufacturers. The UNIX operating system was designed to let a number of programmers access the computer at the same time and share its resources. While initially meant for medium-sized computers, the system was soon moved to larger, more powerful mainframe computers. As personal computers grew in popularity, versions of UNIX found their way into these boxes, and a number of companies produce UNIX-based machines for the scientific and programming communities. A major contribution of the UNIX system was its portability, permitting it to move from one brand of computer to another with a minimum of code changes. At a time when different computer lines of the same vendor didn't talk to each other -- yet alone machines of multiple vendors -- that meant a great savings in both hardware and software upgrades. It also meant that the operating system could be upgraded without having all the customer's data inputted again. And new versions of UNIX were backward compatible with older versions, making it easier for companies to upgrade in an orderly manner. UNIX comes with hundreds of programs that can be divided into two classes: integral utilities that are absolutely necessary for the operation of the computer, such as the command interpreter, and tools that aren't necessary for the operation of UNIX but provide the user with additional capabilities, such as typesetting capabilities and e-mail; the tools can be added or removed from a UNIX system, depending upon the applications required. Microsoft And Windows Competitors :: essays research papers A lot of people today, mostly microsofties, argue that Microsoft should not be split up since it isn’t really a monopoly; Windows has a lot of competitors out there and some of the companies that make them are even bigger than Microsoft. And that is actually quite true: Microsoft has only about 6% of the global software market and only 3% of the global computer market overall. There are several computer companies that make more than Microsoft, like Sun Microsystems and Compaq and there are at least nine other operating systems besides Windows, some of which you could even get for free. After three decades of use, the UNIX computer operating system from Bell Labs is still regarded as one of the most powerful, versatile, and flexible operating systems (OS) in the computer world. Its popularity is due to many factors, including its ability to run a wide variety of machines, from micros to supercomputers, and its portability -- all of which led to its adoption by many manufacturers. The UNIX operating system was designed to let a number of programmers access the computer at the same time and share its resources. While initially meant for medium-sized computers, the system was soon moved to larger, more powerful mainframe computers. As personal computers grew in popularity, versions of UNIX found their way into these boxes, and a number of companies produce UNIX-based machines for the scientific and programming communities. A major contribution of the UNIX system was its portability, permitting it to move from one brand of computer to another with a minimum of code changes. At a time when different computer lines of the same vendor didn't talk to each other -- yet alone machines of multiple vendors -- that meant a great savings in both hardware and software upgrades. It also meant that the operating system could be upgraded without having all the customer's data inputted again. And new versions of UNIX were backward compatible with older versions, making it easier for companies to upgrade in an orderly manner. UNIX comes with hundreds of programs that can be divided into two classes: integral utilities that are absolutely necessary for the operation of the computer, such as the command interpreter, and tools that aren't necessary for the operation of UNIX but provide the user with additional capabilities, such as typesetting capabilities and e-mail; the tools can be added or removed from a UNIX system, depending upon the applications required.