Soft Drinks Industry Porters 5 Forces Essay Example for Free

Soft Drinks Industry Porters 5 Forces Essay There is a wide array of substitutes that consumers may choose. These products are widely and easily available at low price. Hence the threat posed by these substitutes exist at a high level. However these risks can be mitigated through diversification and offering more products in the portfolio. Since the range and the number of suppliers far exceed the buyers in the market, the industry has a very bargaining power. Most of the inputs required are basically commodities and available on a global scale. Potential Entrants Brand awareness and loyalty of established brands Technical know how required is low Well established network with retail channels Highly capital intensive Regulation – Soft Drink Inter Brand Competition Act, 1980 Suppliers Leather manufacturers, textile companies, producers of glass and other accessories, †¦ Relationship with the buyers is established through distribution channels and since these channels varied their bargaining power also varied. While the buyers have a relative power in case of fountain drinks due to stocking of one brand, their power is limited in case of vending, where the products can be sold directly to consumers. Hence their overall power can be considered average. Buyers Distribution channels High end customers (very wealthy individuals) Industry / Competition Few players dominating the market with a very high brand loyalty. Industry characterized by slow grow rate. Hence there is intense competition amongst the players to gain a higher market share. Growing buying preferences for differentiated products amongst the consumers and hence companies resorting to growth through innovation and consolidation. Changing lifestyles, increasing health consciousness and societal concerns are causing firms to change their business strategy. Though the technical know how required to manufacture a soft drink is low, it requires continual and substantial investments to establish brand awareness and compete with established brands like Coke Pepsi Cola. Further the existing arrangement for distribution between these players and the retail channels makes it difficult for new players to gain a visibility in the market – a key determinant for success in the soft drink industry. Moreover the Soft Drink Inter Brand Competition Act of 1980 makes it nearly impossible for a new bottler to get started in the region where existing bottler operates. Thus the industry is characterized by very high entry barriers.

Misunderstanding Within The Group Social Work Essay

Misunderstanding Within The Group Social Work Essay Abstract: Free riders are those who take the same credit of you without exerting efforts. They are present in many groups, but it depends whether they are known early or not. Also many guys tolerate with free riders if they were their friends, but work and friendship are separated things. Every group should have a communication way, where all the group members agree on. And no one says that I did not know or I did not get the message. And this is something we suffered from. And because there are many members in the group and everyone has his own business, everyone should be on time for the meeting. When any group want to choose their topic, they should choose it wisely because wrong choosing will cost them time and effort. Working like a team is better than working like a group, but team work requires discipline, which we lacked. The abilities within the group differ, but you should try to get the maximum from everyone. Interpersonal relationship is the social connection between the group memb ers which grow with time. Positive interpersonal relationship between group members leads the organization forward and to employees satisfaction. Organizations know interpersonal relationship effects, so they try to provide the appropriate working climate for it. The managers have influence on employees interpersonal relationship and he tries to make it positive of the benefits he can get from it. Group members working together at all times and seeking a common goal is working like a team. To have an effective team you need to work hard and combine the right people together. Team effectiveness is measured by the final outcome and employees satisfaction. Introduction: Group assignments provide postgraduate students with opportunities to improve their capabilities and demonstrate a professional behaviour. Personally, the group assignment is considered to be a valuable experiment that led me to write this reflective essay. The group assignment had a great impact on my skills as it had lot of benefits. I learned lot required behaviours from working with a diverse group. Group work differs from working individually as it involves an interaction with others that might result in conflict occurrence, misunderstanding and so on. There may be difficult times during group work, but a group member should be wise and help the group to pass those difficult times. I have relied on my diary notes captured after group meetings to write this essay to reflect reality. Although there is a distinction between friendship and work, I prefer to work with friends rather than people that I do not know. Effective cooperation among group members would be required at all tim es, so they can complete assigned work and deliver it in the best way with highest level of satisfaction. Free Riding: Free Riding is the absence of contribution and getting the benefit of that good. This view has been supported in the work of Marwell, Ames (1981). Before the module starts we knew that we had a group assignment and it must contain 4-6 individuals, so we were four friends knowing that we can make a group of friends only, but we have been thinking that if we entered two more participants it will be easier for us as everyone will write less and concentrate more on his points, and that will help us to concentrate on our other assignments also, but what we have been afraid of is that we may have two free riders who will make the work harder. From the first day that we have decided to meet at, we found that 3 of the group members were not there, so we were thinking about free riders and will we accept those free riders in our group because of the friendship we have. I and the present group members decided that this is work and we do not like to work hard and the free riders get the same cr edit. A personal experiment of being in a group with free riders made us insist of our situation that we do not want free riders in our group, as before the submission date they came with no work in their hand saying that we did not know what to do, so we have decided to work together all the time and to divide the work and everyone do his part, but we have a weekly meeting to ensure that there will be no one free riders. Discovering free riding before the grading is important, but detecting the free riding early is much better for the group to take the corrective action and to work all together and get those free riders involve in the work again (Free riding in group work Mechanisms and countermeasures, n.d.). Therefore, we decided to meet often so we can ensure that we are all walking on the right side. And we have asked the professor about the grading system and she said if you were the manager and you have free riders in your group, what you would do? And I was thinking of leav ing them behind as they will delay our work and make it harder, but if I must have them in my group I will give them specified tasks and ask them often about their progress with an evidence to ensure that they are really working and contributing with the group. Misunderstanding within the group: There was a misunderstanding regarding the time at the first meeting, as we have decided to meet at 11 am and then some of the group members changed the meeting time till 3 pm and they have said that we have sent a message on Facebook, but not all of the group members actually got the message, so we ended up blaming each other. I think that happened because we did not have that person who could take the responsibility to tell everyone about the exact time and if the time changed or there was any kind of change in plan, he would tell all the group members. Also, I think the existence of that kind of person in every group is important and will lead to a better performance and satisfaction from all the group members. Because of the misunderstanding, we have delayed our work for one more day as the members who came early had other plans to do at the time of the new group meeting appointment. Consequently, we have decided to have one communication channel for the group and it is doing a g roup chat on Facebook and everyone contributing in deciding the meeting time, so no one can have any kind of excuse of not attending the meeting. Meeting time: When we wanted to choose our meetings time, we were asking all the group members if that time was appropriate for them, because we wanted our meetings to be on time. The thing that happened was that I am there on time, but I had to wait at least an hour and half for the group meeting to start, because the members were always late. I waited and we did our meeting, but I was frustrated because of the late start. I have told them many times to choose the right time that they will be there and they have apologized for their lateness and promised to be on time for the next time. The same lateness behaviour had reoccurred as usual in which late members were acting normal, but the other group members were frustrated and complaining. The other group members had cool nerves and sometimes they have just waited others for an hour and a half to let us complete the work. I think this has affected our group performance, as if we were committed to the meeting time we would have done better in the g roup assignment. Improper Subject Selection: At the first we have choose Bloomberg as our subject because there was a Bloomberg guy who came and talked well about Bloomberg and we all found that the subject is very interesting, so we have decided to write about it. Therefore, we have decided on the points that we are going to talk about and that everyone would come back after 3 days with the information about Bloomberg. Apparently, no one has written a thing when the meeting day came and we were all complaining that there was not much available information. Therefore, our improper selection of the subject has led us to a waste some time. Team or Group?: I knew the difference between the team and the group from prof. Sally Sambrook, as she told us that working as group is discussing the points together, distributing the tasks and then everyone do the work individually. In the other hand, working as a team is doing everything together from discussing the points till the end of work. We tried to work as a team because it is more effective and creative than working individually, but the continuous absenteeism and lack of commitment of members in the meetings made it difficult, so we decided to work as a group. In addition, we decided to distribute the tasks in a way that please and satisfy everyone, so we wrote down the tasks and every one chose his favourite task that he would be interested to write about. Individual differences: There were individual differences in the abilities of the group members, as when we met to see and assess everyoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s work we found that some members of the group have covered their tasks perfectly while other group members made it difficult because we had to modify their work. My point of view is that I do not consider them free riders because they have tried and I could feel that they made an effort on their tasks, but the abilities within the group are different. Moreover, I suppose that their aim is just to pass while other group members who wanted to have a good grade in the assignment. We found the module is interesting and easy, so there is nothing to prevent us from having A* while others saw it impossible, so there were different aims within the group. Members with high ambitions did not get disappointed from others and have worked very hard. These members with all honesty have gained my respect and gave me a lesson for life that I can do everything even if t he group members are reflecting discouragement and laziness. If you want anything and you work for it very hard, you will achieve it. Interpersonal relationship and team effectiveness: What is an interpersonal relationship? Interpersonal relationship is a strong social connection between two or more people. There are many types of interpersonal relationships, but what we care about is the organizational interpersonal relationship which is the relationship between individuals working together in the work place. They spend a lot of time in the work and for sure they want to talk and discuss their issues with others rather than working alone all the time and that is a natural part of the working environment. Also, there may be a previous relationship between the individuals before working together and this helps the relationship to expand. We as students knew each other before the group assignment, but within the group work we came closer and worked together for longer hours. I think that I have a stronger relationship with them now, after the group work. I would prefer working with them again rather than working with a new group members that I do not have any kind of relationship with them (Management stu dy guide, [online], n.d.). Do interpersonal relationships affect the performance of the individuals? There are many beneficial outcomes for individuals and organizations because of the positive interpersonal relationship at work. Employees can feel job satisfaction and commit to their work because of their positive interpersonal relationship within their workplace. In the other hand, a negative interpersonal relationship could affect the employees and make them upset, and that will lead to lack of commitment towards their work. Obviously, it depends on the individual himself whether he was a social person and like to communicate and interact with the others or he likes to work individually and isolated from the others. A positive interpersonal relationship within the organization will build a supportive and innovative working climate for the employees, which will lead to an increase in the organizational productivity and institutional participation, and that will lead to employees satisfaction (Dachner, 2011, Abstract). In our group work there was a positive interpersonal relationsh ip which have made the work easier and more interesting. Furthermore, we were friends and knew each other before the group work, so it helped us a lot. It is interesting to have friends working together and it would form a comfortable working climate which can help to improve the performance and encourage the members to work hard. In the other hand, friendship in the group can make the members lazy; as they know that if they do not do their work; their friends will not leave them behind and will do their work. Our group had agreed from the beginning to isolate friendship from group work because we did not want the group members to keep depending on the others to do their own work. In my opinion, working with group members that I have a positive interpersonal relationship with them is much easier than working with new groups. Also, from my previous experiment of working with members that I do not know, I can say that there is a risk of being in a group with members who do not care ab out the grades they get, so you find yourself obligated to do their work. How could the organization build a positive interpersonal relationship? The variety of the advantages of the positive interpersonal relationship within the organization has encouraged organizations to build, support, and try to form a strong positive interpersonal relationship. The organization attempts to make the coworkers to become friends, because coworkers with friendship help each other more than normal coworkers. Besides, the organization helps the workers to communicate and work together in groups or teams to build a positive interpersonal relationship in order to provide the appropriate working climate for the workers to communicate and interact with each other. Moreover, the theories propose that demographic characteristics affect social relationship between individuals (Dachner, 2011, Antecedents of Interpersonal Relationships at Work). Consequently, organization could form group works with individuals who share the same demographic characteristics. Our assignment group consists of people from India, China, and I am from Kuwait, but it was eas y to work with them because we all shared the same goal and were working for the same purpose. I think that it depends on the person himself if he wants to make friends with his group and try to help them with their work or he just want to do his part and leave. How the management could affect the interpersonal relationship? Managers want the employees to be friends, help each other, and work together so they can get the most of their performance. Managers could give them the opportunity to socialize and encourage them to be friendly with each other and become friends. There are two influences that managers could have on employees interpersonal relationship. The first is direct and it is forming groups and giving them the chance to work together and compete with other groups which can provide a healthy competition for the organization. The second is indirect and it is giving them appropriate working condition, and not to give them a lot of work that they do not have the time to interact with others (Department of Public Health Sciences, 2010) 2.1 interpersonal relationship at work. A Team in an organizational point of view: A team in an organizational setting is a group of individuals whose tasks are done by working together, who share outcomes responsibility, who consider themselves and are considered by others as a unit inside the organization, who work together at all the times, help each other, and correct each others mistakes to increase the efficiency and improve the quality of the teams outcome, because they are all sharing the responsibility of the final outcome (Cohen, Bailey, 1997). As individuals who worked together for the assignment, although we shared the responsibility for the final outcome, we were not working together at all the time. If we worked as a team, it would have been better than working as a group but the conditions hindered us from working together as a team. Team effectiveness: Teams with high performance need to be developed and nurtured, as they do not just appear without working hard on them. The development of these teams cannot be guaranteed even with visionary leaders. Because if you want to have a high performance team, you should combine visionary leaders and motivated team members. There are many characteristics that help to build a high performance team such as, having a clear plan and a common goal, utilizing teams resources, valuing the differences in the team and trying to get the best from each member, the willingness of the members to give their best for their teams, managing the meetings in the perfect way, and exerting the efforts to achieve the goals. Also there are other things that affect the high performance teams and it is the teams size, the abilities and the skills within the team, the way of communication, and the conflict resolution (Cliffs Notes, n.d.). I agree that high performance teams needs co-operative and hardworking members . Also it requires the commitment from the team members, especially in the meetings time, because we suffered a lot from the members who were always late on our meetings. Measuring the teams effectiveness: As the team members work together all the time with shared responsibility of the final outcome, it is hard to evaluate each members contribution to the work. The manager wants and sees the final outcome only regardless whoever contributed more to the work. The effectiveness of the team is measured by performance and personal outcomes. Measuring the final product, customer satisfaction, items sold, etc. are all kind of performance outcome measurement. While measuring team members commitment and satisfaction and their desire to work with the same team members again is kind of personal outcome measurement. Hence, the grade that we will get in the group essay is the performance outcome, while if I wish to work with the guys that I have worked with again is the personal outcome. In my opinion, our group works both the performance outcome and the personal outcome was excellent. Conclusion: In conclusion working in a group assignment has many advantages and make you learn a lot of things, but everyone should try to get the maximum benefits that he could get. I can say that the group work made me better prepared for the real practical world. Although I had many hard times during the group work, it was interesting and earned me some good friends for lifetime. It was exciting to work with my friends in a group assignment and to help each other trying to get the maximum grade. After reading a lot about the interpersonal relationship and team effectiveness, I realized its importance in the work place and it really affects any organisation, and that is why every organisation is keen on it. Working in a group is totally different from working individually, as working in a group imposes you to respect the group members and their opinions even if these opinions conflict your own opinions, but if you are working alone you are the decision maker. That is the difference that I knew from working in the group assignment and the individual assignment. Finally, working in a group has many benefits that contribute in refining the personality of the participants and often better than the individual work and this is what I had concluded from my personal experiment in the group work.

Gender Variation of Health Awareness of Adolescents in India

Gender Variation of Health Awareness of Adolescents in India Evaluation of gender variation in health awareness of Adolescent age groups in rural India Introduction World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescence as the period between 10 and 19 years of age. During this period, they have to face a lot of changes which may include physical, mental, emotional or psychological changes. Yet they are the once whose health is neglected the most, especially that of female adolescent group. [1] Health awareness not only includes the awareness for infections, diseases or disorders but also health related topics like physiological changes, psychological changes, hormonal changes, importance of exercise to stay fit, time for entertainment to stay active and happy etc. Adolescents in rural areas are often devoid of health care facilities and tends to fall sick more often. Both genders faces different types of problems. They even get addicted to un-healthy activities due to lack of awareness and peer pressure.   Government of India has implemented many schemes for the spread of health awareness, but due to unknown reasons, it is not yet uniform among both the genders. If they are aware of health issues surrounding them, they can fight or prevent them and can improve their lives. Females health has been always neglected in rural India and now as to be prioritised because not only they support family by sharing the economic burden but they also take care of the entire family. In order to share all responsibilities both males and females have to be fit and that should start from the very beginning, right after birth. With implementation of new schemes and involvement of latest technology like internet; health awareness is improving[2] The teachers also teach them the benefits of health exercise and the requirement of time for recreational activities so that they can live a happy life. Various studies and survey have been conducted before but none showed the difference of health awareness between males and females of adolescent group. So we conducted this study to access the gender variation in health awareness in adolescent age group [15-19 years]. Their answers to the questionnaire can help us to understand the awareness of health in rural areas and we could bring further changes or implement new plans for spreading health awareness especially if one of the gender is lacking behind in one area. Material and Methods The present study was conducted as a cross-sectional study in September, 2014 at a local school in Nhava village, Raigad District in Maharashtra State, India. A well-structured questionnaire was distributed randomly to 102 high school students which included 60 males and 42 females between 15 to 19 to evaluate gender variation in health awareness and attitude towards awareness of side effects of tobacco consumption leading to oral or lung cancer, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) and its transmission route, reaction on stress situations, knowledge of body mass index and ill effects of being malnourished, importance of having breakfast and in between meals with time for exercise and recreational activities, evaluating depression by asking mood changes. Their family type, number of members and average family income, per capita income were also found out. They were asked if they suffered from any other disorders or diseases. The required official permission to select and collect the relevant data from selected subjects was solicited and obtained from the Principal of the respective school. There were 13 questions and the questionnaire was collected on the spot from participants after explaining them the importance of study and obtaining their oral consent. Writing names on the form was optional and was informed that their identity will be kept hidden in all ways possible if they chose to write their names. The survey was carried out in their school timings and free periods. Inclusion Criteria All Students between 15-19 years Exclusion Criteria Students out of target i.e. above 20 years of age and below 15 years Who did not wanted to be a part of the survey Statistical analysis The data were entered into the computer (Microsoft Office, Excel) and were subjected to statistical analysis using the statistical package SPSS version 19. Results In the present study, we got 102 samples out of which 60 were males and 42 were females having 41.18 percentage of females and 58.82% of males. Also the ages ranged from 15-19. Most number of the students were in 17th year. Breakfast Everyday In between meals 2-3 hours (Table 1) Here we noticed that only 69% Females said that they were able to have breakfast as compared to 81.7% Males. Values are given in Table 1. n=Number, %= percentage Sex Breakfast everyday In between meals every 2-3 hours Yes Not able to have Total N % N % n % F 29 69.0 13 31.0 42 100.0 M 49 81.7 11 18.3 60 100.0 Total 78 76.5 24 23.5 102 100.0 Table 1 Time for Exercise Recreation ( Table 2) We noticed that 57.1% females here just said that they are able to do exercise and spare some time for recreation as compared to 80% approval from the males regarding the same. Sex Time for exercise and recreation Yes No Total N % n % n % F 24 57.1 18 42.9 42 100.0 M 48 80.0 12 20.0 60 100.0 Total 72 70.6 30 29.4 102 100.0 (Table 2) Consume Tobacco in any form or any other substance abuse (Table 3) It is interesting to see that only 5 males used to consume tobacco in cigarettes form which is 4.90%. Females denied taking any tobacco in any form. The values are depicted in table 3 Sex Consume tobacco in any form or any other substance abuse Yes No Total N % n % n % F 0 .0 42 100.0 42 100.0 M 5 8.3 55 91.7 60 100.0 Total 5 4.90 97 85.10 102 100.0 Table 3 Awareness of the side effects of taking Tobacco in any form (Table 4) Here we noticed that Females are more aware of the side effects of taking tobacco. Their awareness rate is 95.2% as compared to 78.3% of Males. The values are depicted in table 4. Sex Awareness of side effects regarding tobacco Substance abuse Yes (Aware) No Total N % n % n % F 40 95.2 2 4.8 42 100.0 M 47 78.3 13 21.7 60 100.0 Total 87 85.3 15 14.7 102 100.0 Table 4 Awareness of STDs at least one route of spread (Table 5) Mostly everyone knows about STD and its of route of spread. More details are depicted in table 5. Sex Awareness of STD Yes No Total N % n % n % F 42 100.0 0 .0 42 100.0 M 58 98.04 2 1.96 60 100.0 Total 100 98.04 2 1.96 102 100.0 Table 5 BMI Status Awareness to ill effects of malnourishment (Table 6-8) BMI of the study subject was calculated by using the formula weight (kg)/ height2 (m2). For grading proposed criteria of BMI for Asians (Choo V 2002) and CDC (2010) was adopted. We noticed that females tend to be more underweight as compared to males. Males being more prone to obesity at this age. The mean BMI for females was 20.41 Sex BMI Status Normal Obese Over Weight Underweight Total N % N % n % n % n % F 29 69.0 0 .0 1 2.4 12 28.6 42 100.0 M 42 70.0 1 1.7 2 3.3 15 25.0 60 100.0 Total 71 69.6 1 0.98 3 2.94 27 26.47 102 100.0 Table 6 Sex Statistic Std. Error BMI F Mean 20.417341 .4574878 95% Confidence Interval for Mean Lower Bound 19.493425 Upper Bound 21.341256 Std. Deviation 2.9648599 Minimum 15.0597 Maximum 26.3146 M Mean 21.016615 .4933969 95% Confidence Interval for Mean Lower Bound 20.029330 Upper Bound 22.003900 Std. Deviation 3.8218361 Minimum 16.0231 Maximum 40.4281 Table 7 BMI values are depicted in Table 7 We also asked them if they knew the ill-effects of being malnourished? Almost 90% males knew the ill effects. Whereas 78.6% Females knew about the ill effects. The details are in  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   table 8. Sex Aware of ill-effects of being malnourished? Yes No Total N % n % N % F 33 78.6 9 21.4 42 100 M 54 90.0 6 10.0 60 100 Total 87 85.29 15 14.70 102 100 Table 8 Mood Study duration in a day (Table 9 10) We also asked whether they stay happy content always or unhappy and grumpy or scared or always angry. Most of them answered that they stay happy always. Most also mentioned that they study for 1-2 hours daily. Sex Mood Always Happy Content Always unhappy Always Scared Alway angry Total n % n % n % n % n % F 37 88.1 4 9.5 1 2.4 0 .0 42 100.0 M 55 91.7 2 3.3 2 3.3 1 1.7 60 100.0 Total 92 90.19 6 5.88 3 2.94 1 .98 102 100.0 Table 9 Sex Average hours of study per day 1-2 hours 2-4 hours 4-6 hours Total n % n % n % n % F 25 59.5% 14 33.3% 3 7.1% 42 100.0% M 41 68.3% 17 28.3% 2 3.3% 60 100.0% Total 66 64.70% 31 30.39% 5 4.90% 102 100.0% Table 10 Reaction on Stress or Depression (Table 11) We noticed that almost half of them prefer to talk to their friends when they are depressed. Few females do cry or starve as well. Sex Reaction on being stressed / depression Be alone / lock yourself Cry / Starve Call your friend Talk to your elders Total n % n % N % n % n % F 8 19.0 7 16.7 18 42.9 9 21.4 42 100.0% M 15 25.0 5 8.3 28 46.7 12 20.0 60 100.0% Total 23 22.54 12 11.76 46 45.09 21 20.58 102 100.0% Table 11 We also asked for any other diseases or disorder which they may be suffering from. 2 of males said that they are suffering from Diabetes and 1 female had ulcers.   We also took family history which included number of family members, earning members, total family income per month and level of education. Discussion Adolescents are the future of the country. As they reach puberty, they face a lot of changes in many ways which includes physiological, hormonal, emotional and mental. Females tends to receive more challenges because of the physiological and hormonal changes occurring with the start of their puberty. [3] With the rise of menstrual cycle they often tend to get more depressed before getting adjusting to it. BMI Importance Awareness of malnourishment Females may face malnourishment due to male children being given priority to eat first [4] or may be due to body weight consciousness leading to disorders like bullaemia or Anorexia nervosa   or depression. [5] Dr. Shah had conducted a study on nutrional assessment of adolescent girls in karamsad and had found out that only 8% girls were overweight while 63.2% were of normal weight and 28.5% were underweight. While 23.4% boys were overweight and only 21.2 % were underweight.[6] The present study showed that 28.6% females were underweight as compared to 25% males. 2.4% females were overweight whereas we did not find any obese female during the study. 4% males were above normal stage which includes overweight and obese. Almost 90% males knew the ill effects. Whereas 78.6% Females knew about the ill effects. STD Awarness its route of transmission In later years of adolescent age, teenagers especially males tends to get physically attracted and intimated with the opposite sex and the risk of contacting STDs rises if proper protection not used.7]   Dr. Kotecha had conducted two studies in urban and rural areas respectively, amongst school going students regarding reproductive health awareness and found out that in both rural and urban areas; about one-third of the boys and one-fourth of the girls knew about contraception. Two-thirds of boys and girls had information of HIV/AIDS, and about half of them correctly knew various modes of transmission of HIV in both urban and rural areas. Majority of the adolescent were even ready to visit the Adolescent Friendly clinic if there was any in near-by areas. [8,9] The awareness regarding modes of transmission of HIV/AIDS was found to be higher among boys as compared to girls which contradicts the present study. [10] The present study showed that all females knew about STDs and at least one route of spread as compared to 98.04% males. The contradiction might be due to improvement of health awareness in recent times. Tobacco Consumption Along with rise in STDs prevalence and incidence there is a rise in increase of cigarette smoking among adolescent age [11] andstudents are vulnerable to tobacco addiction, especially males.[12]This can have harmful effect. A study conducted in state of Gujarat, India, showed that there has been increasing trend of smoking cigarettes at younger which is a matter of great concern13]. Early use of tobacco smoking may lead to many harmful effects like hypertension, lung cancer and may even lead to end stage organ in later years of life[14]. A study conducted by Sharma Et Al showed 18.4% males have tried cigarettes or bidis at least once in life time compared to 11% females in adolescent age group. Tobacco use was much higher among the adolescent aged 16-19 group than those in the age group of 14-15 years. Tobacco use was appreciably higher among the males (23.8%) than the females adolescent age group (14.9%), (P=0.016).The prevalence rate of current smoking is 7.1%[15]. The present study showed that 4.9% males has consumed tobacco in any form in a rural area which leads to a conclusion that the tobacco consumption might be at a larger scale in urban areas. All females denied taking tobacco in form. It also noticed that females are more aware of the side effects of taking tobacco. Their awareness rate was 95.2% as compared to 78.3% of Males. Also adolescents are at increased risk of getting stress related depression. [16]They are easily influenced by changes around them which affects their biological, emotional, cognitive, and social functions. Unhealthy and anti-social behaviours are manufactured in these years but if stopped, can be moulded back or may change permanently. [17]These anti-social changes are common in males as compared to females Conclusion: There are many differences in health awareness between males and females of the adolescent age group. We need to decrease the bridge between them and for that we need to change some of our health policies. In some areas females have better health awareness like awareness in STD spread and side effects of taking tobacco in any form, whereas males have better knowledge in understanding the importance of taking proper breakfast and in taking some time off for entertainment. Along with that they also know the ill effects of  Ã‚   malnourishment. If we need our youth to progress at a faster rate, we need them to be healthy at mind, body and free from diseases. For that, we need to inculcate health awareness in both genders and should decrease the bridge between the awareness. Limitation future perspective: Sample size of study was small due to limited number of students in the school. In future, we want to study on more than 500 students of multi-schools in more than 5 districts involving rural areas. References Mahajan P, Sharma N. Awareness level of Adolescent Girls Regarding HIV/AIDS (A comparative study of rural and urban areas of Jammu) J Hum Ecol. 2004;17:313-4. Gray NJ, Klein JD. Adolescents and the internet: health and sexuality information. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2006;18(5):519-24. doi: 10.1097/01.gco.0000242954.32867.76. Goldenring J. A Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network, Medline plus. 2004 Borooah VK. Gender bias among children in India in their diet and immunization against disease. Soc Sci Med. 2004;59:1719-31. Reijone JH, Pratt HD, Patel DR, Greydanus DE. Eating disorders in the adolescent population: An overview. J Adolesc Res. 2003;18:209-22. Hasmukh, S., Wasim, S., Singh, S. K. (2012). Are Indian adolescent girl students more conscious about their body image than their colleague boys? National Journal of Community Medicine, 3(2), 344-347. Weinstock H, Berman S, Cates W. Sexually transmitted diseases in American youth: Incidence and prevalence estimates. Perspect Sex Reprod Health 2004366-10.10 Kotecha PV, Patel SV, Mazumdar VS, et al. Reproductive health awareness among urban school going adolescents in Vadodara city. Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2012;54(4):344-348. doi:10.4103/0019-5545.104821. Kotecha PV, Patel S, Baxi RK, et al. Reproductive health awareness among rural school going adolescents of Vadodara district. Indian Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 2009;30(2):94-99. doi:10.4103/0253-7184.62765.

Aldous Huxleys Brave New World :: Social Stability Brave New World Essays

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley deftly creates a society that is indeed quite stable. Although they are being mentally manipulated, the members of this world are content with their lives, and the presence of serious conflict is minimal, if not nonexistent. For the most part, the members of this society have complete respect and trust in their superiors, and those who don’t are dealt with in a peaceful manner as to keep both society and the heretic happy. Maintained by cultural values, mental conditioning, and segregation, the idea of social stability as demonstrated in Brave New World is, in my opinion, both insightful and intriguing. The story is set hundreds of years in the future in a world with completely separate values and beliefs from those of today’s society. Birth has become an outdated and even disgusting thing. Instead of being born, humans are mass-produced through very elaborate cloning methods. Children are raised in a society that promotes both sexual promiscuity and drug use. They are brainwashed in their sleep to enjoy everything about their lives and to accept every aspect of society. Each person is predestined to fall under a specific social class that determines what they will do for a living, who they must take orders from, and even what they look like. Every aspect of every person’s life is manipulated, yet everyone feels free. One major issue that helps maintain social stability in Brave New World is sex. It is thought of as normal for people to be completely open with their sexual nature. It is typical for children to run around naked during recess playing games that are sexual and sometimes homosexual in nature. Every adult is encouraged to sleep with as many different partners as possible. This outlook on sexual nature is quite different from actual accepted views. Today, sex is most widely accepted as a private, romantic event that should take place between monogamous couples. Because sex is a natural need of the human body, people of Huxley’s society feel pleased by being open with their sexuality. Indulging in their sexual pleasures eases their minds and keeps them from questioning the level of freedom they have. Another cultural value that helps maintain social stability is drug use. Soma is a euphoric, hallucinogenic drug that the government freely gives to citizens.

Terrorism Essay -- essays research papers

A gunshot, an explosion, and screaming heard. That is what is generally thought of when one hears the word "Terrorism". In most cases it is true, but there are many other types of terrorism. Most terrorist incidents in the United States have been bombing attacks, involving explosive devices, tear gas and pipe bombs. (Collins, B. 1)The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) categorizes terrorism in the U.S. as either; domestic or international terrorism. Terrorism is the use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of the criminal laws of the United States for purposes of intimidation, coercion or ransom. Terrorists often use threats to create fear among the public, to try to convince citizens that their government is powerless to prevent terrorism, and to get major publicity for their causes. (Hancock, L. 1) Terrorism has been around for many years. A recent mass act of violent terror occurred during WWII. Terror was released on Germany and many neighboring countries because of one mans belief in how people should be and how they should live. Hitler was elected chairman for the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) party in 1920. Adolf climbed his way to power over Germany. An Enabling Act passed by giving legislature, allowed him to "Nazify" the bureau, and replace all labor unions with one Nazi-controlled German labor front, and not allow any political parties except his ...

The Canterbury Essay -- Canterbury Tales Literature Essays

The Canterbury The Canterbury Tales begins with the introduction of each of the pilgrims making their journey to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas a Becket. These pilgrims include a Knight, his son the Squire, the Knight's Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself. These travelers, who stop at the Tabard Inn, decide to tell stories to pass their time on the way to Canterbury. The Host of the Tabard Inn sets the rules for the tales. Each of the pilgrims will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two stories on the return trip. The Host will decide the best of the tales. They decide to draw lots to see who will tell the first tale, and the Knight receives the honor. The Knight's Tale is a tale about two knights, Arcite and Palamon, who are captured in battle and imprisoned in Athens under the order of King Theseus. While imprisoned in a tower, both see Emelye, the sister of Queen Hippolyta, and fall instantly in love with her. Both knights eventually leave prison separately: a friend of Arcite begs Theseus to release him, while Palamon later escapes. Arcite returns to the Athenian court disguised as a servant, and when Palamon escapes he suddenly finds Arcite. They fight over Emelye, but their fight is stopped when Theseus finds them. Theseus sets the rules for a duel between the two knights for Emelye's affection, and each raise an army for a battle a year from that date. Before the battle, Arcite prays to Mars for victory in battle, Emelye prays to Diana that ... ...ld speak the language of humans and could sing beautiful. When the white crow learns that Phoebus' wife was unfaithful, Phoebus plucks him and curses the crow. According to the Manciple, this explains why crows are black and can only sing in an unpleasant tone. The Parson tells the final tale. The Parson's Tale is not a narrative tale at all, however, but rather an extended sermon on the nature of sin and the three parts necessary for forgiveness: contrition, confession, and satisfaction. The tale gives examples of the seven deadly sins and explains them, and also details what is necessary for redemption. Chaucer ends the tales with a retraction, asking those who were offended by the tales to blame his rough manner and lack of education, for his intentions were not immoral, while asking those who found something redeemable in the tales to give credit to Christ.

Agent Banking for Bangladesh

| | VOL 20 NO 157 REGD NO DA 1589 | Dhaka, Thursday, March 28 2013| http://www. fe-bd. com/index. php? ref=MjBfMDNfMjhfMTNfMV85Ml8xNjQ1NzA= | Bangladesh Bank mulls agent banking for financial inclusionM S Siddiqui Agent banking is a financial service offered to customers by a third party on behalf of a financial institution (FI). An agent is an entity that is engaged by an FI to provide specific financial services on its behalf using the agent's premises.It is an additional delivery channel that can enhance the convenience, the outreach of quality and affordable financial services, particularly to the underserved, in a more cost-efficient manner. Such an arrangement is a cheaper way for FIs to reach out to the underserved population. The use of the term ‘agent' is not necessarily a reference to an agent in the traditional legal sense of a party authorised by a principal to act on the principal's behalf and for whom the principal is liable with respect to activities taken by the agent within the scope of its agency relationship or contract.An agent is any third party acting on behalf of a bank, whether pursuant to an agency agreement, service agreement, or other similar arrangement. In most countries, the principal banker is liable under a law for the actions of its agents, whether such actions are explicitly or implicitly authorised. Liability for the actions of a non-agent entity acting on behalf of the bank may be different and will often depend on the contractual agreement.However, a bank's liability (whether by law or contract) for third-party actors will likely impact the bank's policies and procedures, which will in turn impact the superviser's oversight of the bank. The Bangladesh Bank has many recent projects for inclusive financial packages to reach out to non-bankable citizens. Achieving financial inclusion therefore requires innovative business models that dramatically reduce costs for everyone and thus pave the way for profitable extension of financial services to the poor citizens. A major obstacle to financial inclusion is he cost-not only the cost incurred by banks in servicing low value accounts and extending banking infrastructure to underserved, low-income areas, but also the cost incurred by poor customers, in terms of time and expense in reaching bank branches. The banking agent method emphasises greater efforts towards achieving the vision of an inclusive financial system that best serves all members of society, including the underserved, to have access and usage of quality and affordable essential financial services. FIs can reach an additional client segment or a geographical area.Reaching poor clients in rural areas is often prohibitively expensive for financial institutions, since transaction numbers and volumes do not cover the cost of a branch. In such environments banking agents use their existing retail infrastructure. Lower set-up and running cost can play a vital role in offering many low income people their first time access to a range of financial services. Also, low income clients often feel more comfortable banking at their local store than walking into a marble branch. The clients benefit from the agents' banks with lower transaction cost and service, but closer to the client's home.Bankable persons visit stores anyway for groceries all the day, enjoy services with a smaller crowd than in branches. Globally, retailers and post offices are increasingly utilised as important distribution channels for financial institutions. The points of service range from post offices in the outback of Australia where clients from all banks can conduct their transactions, to rural France where the bank Credit Agricole uses corner stores to provide financial services, to small lottery outlets in Brazil at which clients can receive their social payments and access their bank accounts.It has been used very well in Latin America and Asia. There are few African countries that have taken up agency banking. Cheaper to operate: It has been found in research that agent banking systems are up to three times cheaper to operate than branches for two reasons. First, agent banking minimises fixed costs by leveraging existing retail outlets and reducing the need for financial agent banks to invest in their own infrastructure. Second, acquisition costs are lower for bank-enabled agents and bank wallets.The advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) has brought with it the tremendous innovation in the banking industry. Currently, agent banking is an integral part of modern banking in many countries. Banks in Bangladesh are offering services for transfer of money from overseas to any remote area of the country. The payment of different utility bills through mobile bank outlets is very common. The agent banking will provide much more services to the clients.Whether a client accesses his bank account at the agent's outlet or in a branch or at an ATM does not make any dif ference. Technology can enable banks and their customers to interact remotely in a trusted way through the existing local retail outlets. Customers can be issued bank cards with appropriate personal identification number (PIN)-based or biometric security features and the local store-the banking agent can be equipped with a point of service (POS) device controlled by and connected to the bank using a phone line or wireless or satellite technology.Infrastructure requirements can be further reduced by using mobile phones both to hold â€Å"virtual cards† for customers and as a POS device at the store. Responsibilities of agents: The agents have many responsibilities. Such responsibilities include – * apply diligence in validating a customer's identity and transactions to avoid entering into fraudulent transactions or dealing with fraudsters; * maintain a transaction record book, being evidence of every transaction undertaken in the specified format or in such a manner as required by the bank.The transaction record book should be the property of the bank and be returned to the bank by the agent upon termination of the contract or when it is fully completed before issuance of a new transaction record book; * comply with the bank's Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-money Laundering/Combating Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements and/or laws or other regulations in force; * keep details of customers or customer transactions confidential; * maintain their connectivity with the internet in order to gain access to the web agent portal; provide sufficient cash for the location offering cash load and payout services; * comply with the central bank regulations, where the online web portal is in use; * display merchandising materials provided at their location; * ensure employees are trained by the bank on agency operations. Banks also have to ensure that agents, as extensions of the banking system, are able to provide professional customer service, ke ep records, handle cash, and manage liquidity. As a result, one of the primary questions regulators grapple with is who can act as an agent.BB's initiatives: The ongoing global expansion of high-tech telecommunications infrastructure, coupled with the increased availability of advanced information technology services, is having an impact on almost every industry, including banking. The Bangladesh Bank (BB) plans allowing agent banking to gear up further its drive for financial inclusion aiming to help the government achieve sustainable economic growth. The BB has already laid the necessary foundation for agent banking by introducing mobile banking that has already got a good response, especially from rural people.Currently, eight banks are providing mobile banking services involving the country's major mobile phone operators. Many countries permit a wide range of individuals and legal entities to be agents for banks. Other countries limit the list of eligible agents on the basis of a legal form. For example, India permits a wide variety of eligible agents, such as certain nonprofits, post offices, some shop owners, retired teachers and most recently, profit companies including mobile network operators (MNOs).Explicitly excluded, however, are the largest microfinance institutions (MFIs) registered as non-bank finance companies (NBFCs). Kenya takes a different approach, requiring agents to be for-profit actors and disallowing non-profit entities (like non-governmental organisations (NGOs), educational institutions, and faith-based organisations). In another example, Brazil permits any legal entity to act as an agent, but prevents individuals from doing so. The issue of liability: There is the delicate issue of liability of any mistake or misappropriation.Imposing liability on banks for acts of their agents is often the key factor in giving bankers the comfort needed to permit the use of agents. There is a point of imposing liability on banks for agents' non-comp liance with bankers' requirements. Imposing liability on banks for acts of their agents is often the key factor in giving banks the comfort needed to permit the use of agents. The bank liability for agents' noncompliance forces the agents to ensure professional agent behaviour and agents' compliance with agreed norms and rules issued by central bank.All countries that permit bank agents also impose bank liability for these agents. Brazil, a country with perhaps the most widespread use of banking agents, requires banks to be â€Å"fully responsible for services rendered by its agents. † Similarly, India requires that â€Å"all agreements/contracts with the customer shall clearly specify that the bank is responsible to the customers for the agents' acts of omission and commission. Interestingly, Pakistan imposes bank liability but states that the bank may â€Å"take steps it deems necessary to safeguard itself against liabilities arising out of the actions of its agents?. Thi s clause suggests that banks should enter into indemnification agreements with their agents-a protection that could steer banks toward large and well-capitalised agents capable of indemnifying the bank while forgoing agent relationships with smaller retailers who may nevertheless be better positioned to serve the low-income population segments. However, despite the widespread imposition of liability for agents' acts, financial inclusion goals would benefit from limiting the provider liability to those actions or omissions related to the provision of financial services.A failure to do so potentially increases costs of the financial services provider who may have to pay damages for agents' actions unrelated to the purpose of the agency. These costs could have a market chilling effect, negatively impacting not only on the emergence of viable business models but also the ease and speed by which such models reach a certain scale. Some countries more clearly limit the extent of liability to the financial services provided. For example, Kenya's banking agent guidelines impose liability on banks for agents' actions, even if not authorised in the agency contract.The service charge of an agent is a matter of concern. Nearly all countries prohibit the agent from charging customers directly for agent services, and some countries even restrict how much a bank can charge customers for agent transactions. Such well meaning regulations, aimed at protecting customers from excessive fees, can endanger the spread of branchless banking models, if they leave participants unable to make an acceptable return in light of the unique challenges and costs of reaching the poor.According to the BB plan, the agent could be an employee of bank who would offer people banking services including deposit and withdrawal of cash, transfer of fund, bill payment and the receipt of remittance, salary and government benefits. We would wait with interest for the BB rules on bank agency, particularly t he list of eligible agents, the liability of errors and omission of agents. The writer is pursuing PhD at Open University, Malaysia [email  protected] com| | |