Save Ganga Movement

Save Ganga Movement Save Ganga Movement is a widespread Gandhian non-violent movement supported by saints and popular social activists across the Indian States Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in support of a free Ganga. The movement is supported by Ganga Seva Abhiyanam, Pune-based National Women's Organisation (NWO) besides those of many other like-minded organizations and with the moral support from many religious leaders, spiritual and political, scientists, environmentalists, writers and social activists.Ganga Calling – Save Ganga is another such campaign supported by Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action (ICELA) Ganges is the largest and the most sacred river of India with enormous spiritual, cultural, and physical influence. It provides water to about 40% of India's population in 11 states. It is estimated that the livelihoods of over 500 million people in India are dependant upon the river, and that one-third of India's population lives within the Ganges Basin.Despite this magn itude of influence and control by the river over present and future of the country, it is allegedly under direct threat from various man made and natural environmental issues. Pollution River Ganges flows through the most densely populated regions of India passing 29 cities with population over 100,000, 23 cities with population between 50,000 and 100,000, and about 48 towns. A sizable proportion of the effluents in Ganges are caused by this population through domestic usage like bathing, laundry and public defecation.Countless tanneries, chemical plants, textile mills, distilleries, slaughterhouses, and hospitals contribute to the pollution of the Ganges by dumping untreated toxic and non-biodegradable waste into it. It is this sheer volume of pollutants released into the river every day that are causing irreparable damage to the ecosystem and contributing to significant sanitation issues. Dams Built in 1854 during the British colonization of India, the Haridwar dam has led to deca y of the Ganges by greatly diminishing the flow of the river.The Farakka Barrage was built originally to divert fresh water into the Bhagirathi River but has since caused an increase of salinity in the Ganges, having a damaging effect on the ground water and soil along the river. [4] Apart from this, Bangladesh and India faced major tensions due to this barrage. The government of India planned about 300 dams on the Ganges in the near future and the tributaries despite a government-commissioned green panel report that has recommended scrapping 34 of the dams citing environmental concerns.

Representation of Women in Action Movies

If a man can fight, he’s a hero. If a woman can fight, she’s a b**ch! Representation of women in action films The film industry never seems to lack action films and there always plenty for the market to choose from however how many of those have women in a leading role? A handful. There aren’t that many films that feature women in lead roles within action films. But the question is why? Why haven’t a majority of these women been given a chance? Are actresses like Uma Thurman and Angelina Jolie one-woman-wonders or have they just been given a lucky break?I’ll be exploring the representation of women in action films through a semiotic analysis. David Gauntlett argues that â€Å"in contemporary society, gender roles are more complex and the media reflects this. The female roles today are often glamorous as well as successful in a way that they were previously not. Much of this is due to the rise of ‘girl power’ in the media, through ident ities constructed by music artists and contemporary actresses, for example, who are demanding less passive roles† which explains how films like Charlie’s Angels have made it to the forefront.Unfortunately, women have repeatedly suffered from a narrow set of representations in the media. They are regularly linked to the domestic situation i. e. housewives, or as sexual objects represented to entertain men. Furthermore, â€Å"the number of roles for leading women is far below that of men. † Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle is the film I’ve chosen explore and there several reasons behind this. I’ve chosen this text because it portrays women within dominant roles. Furthermore, the concept behind it breaks the pre-existing norm of women being the sexual object that entertains the male hero/spy.This isn’t the case in this film, they’re heroes fighting crime and saving the day. Not only are they stunning and beautiful but they also poss ess skills that crush and challenge existing stereotypes about women which is exactly why I chose this film. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle is an action comedy film that was released on the 27 June 2003. The film was directed by McG and produced on a budget of $120 million. It was the sequel to the 2000’s Charlie’s Angels and it was number one at the box office for its opening weekend and produced a worldwide gross of $259. 2 million. The film was a success.It stars an ensemble cast including Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu. It also features notable actors and actresses such as Demi Moore, Shia LaBeouf and Matt LeBlanc. Diaz, Barrymore and Liu or the â€Å"Angels†, are three extremely talented, strong, sexy women who work as private investigators for unseen millionaire named Charlie. Prior to this film, they had starred in more passive roles in the romantic comedy genre. In most action films, â€Å"men were more likely to be adventurous, activ e and vicarious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimised, supportive, laughable or ‘merely token females† (Gunter, 1995).A film such as this allowed their fans to view them in a more dominant, powerful light. This immediately challenges the pre-existing stereotype of women because they are illustrated as superior to their male counterpart. The angels are independent women who aren’t tied down or held back by men. On-the-other-hand, the fact that they work for a male, wealthy character who controls their every move is ironic because in reality, many women are in similar situations and living in a patriarchal society. The opening scene of the film is a brilliant example of the female representation shown throughout the plot.It’s set in a filthy, hostile bar in the Himalayas in Mongolia. The bar is packed with lots of men drinking and jeering. The use of an establishing long shot works well to familiarise the audience with the initial setting and atmosphere. I believe the director did this in order to show the contrast between all of the men and the Angels. A dolly shot is used to track two men carrying a box so the audience become intrigued to learn the contents as they descend into the basement. To the surprise of the audience, Alex Munday (Lucy Liu) was inside the box; contortioned and tucked away.A high angle shot is used and the camera tilts in order to display the actresses’ flexibility. As she rises out of the box the camera zooms into a close up of Liu as she does a symbolic swipe of her long, dark hair; an iconic move for any female superpower. She’s dressed in a black leather ensemble which connotes mystery and obscurity. Perhaps out of the three angels, Liu is the dark horse. As she stands against the wall, a medium shot is used cleverly because not only can we see Liu against the wall but we can also see the hostage and his capturers in the room behind the actress.The connotatio n is accurate as she then saves the hostage by taking out the guards with some impressive combat. Her character is almost portrayed to be a female equivalent to Jet Li; she appears to be unstoppable and fierce. As she drags the hostage up the stairs, the lighting changes dramatically. The basement was very dark and low-key lighting was used which made the action stealthy and hostile. Whereas, the lighting used in the bar is high-key; very bright and there are few shadows.This is symbolic because it’s as if Alex has taken the hostage from hell (dark, unpleasant) and to heaven (bright, hope) which is essentially the purpose of an angel both contexts. Meanwhile upstairs, the atmosphere is volatile as a new character emerges dressed in a red, sleek kimono. Her costume connotes love, passion and warmth however in this scenario it connotes danger, sin and aggression. This is the 2nd angel; Dylan Saunders. The camera tilts over her shoulder and shows the male opponent smirking at he r and then it pans around the table to eventually show her face.As she throws back a shot of alcohol, she comes across as the bad angel, the bad girl of the trio. The use of red with Dylan in this scene is symbolic because it displays a wide contrast between her and Alex. She’s more masculine in her body language but the director has tried to mask this behind the sexy outfit and red lipstick. As she walks away she clasps one of the guards by the waist, grabs his keys and tucks them away subtly. The focus then turns to the doors of the bar and the audience anticipates the worst. As the doors fling open, a medium shot shows a tanned, petite and blonde angelic woman.This is the third and final angel, Natalie Cook. She’s dressed in a white, fluffy coat and a revealing white mini skirt. This connotes purity, happiness and honesty which would be fitting for a normal angel. However, Natalie is no ordinary angel. As she stands at the door, she looks lost and dazed and a close- up of her face supports this further. As the men stare at her beauty in awe, she jeers at them and they erupt with excitement. The men are so amazed they form a guard of honour for Natalie as she walks over to the mechanical bull.Whereas, when Dylan wanted to move through the men they simply didn’t move and didn’t even know she was there. The use of white dumbs the men and amplifies Natalie’s angelic nature. Furthermore, her body language also plays a part in stunning the men. She giggles excessively and winks at a few of the men. Also, Diaz flicks her pigtails every two seconds and is also chewing gum. She hardly challenges the existing stereotype of blonde women but adds fuel to the fire. This is supported further by the fact that her skirt is so short, the audience can see clearly underneath it.Perhaps Natalie is the ‘bimbo’ of the group. The director has clearly added to the stereotype of blonde’s being stupid through Natalie’s cha racter however this could be challenged throughout the plot. I believe this opening scene and in fact the entire plot supports Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory. It states that â€Å"media texts are created through the eyes of a heterosexual male and that women are viewed for the pleasure of men. † (Smith, 2009) She also claimed that â€Å"women are turned into sex objects through how they are shot in the media (Cinematography). (Smith, 2009) Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle demonstrates this. The plot should challenge the norm and allow women to break free however the body language and costumes used throughout diverges the male audience from the plot and to the women being sexualised. In a review by the BBC, Nev Pierce argued â€Å"some call it girl power, others demeaning. † Furthermore, â€Å"When female protagonists, for example, have to function as law enforcers and confront criminal behaviour – both associated with male authority and action – gendered conflict inevitably follows. † (Hall, 1997, p. 364)However, this film could mislead women into thinking they have to become successful and independent by wearing tight, revealing clothes and caking up their faces with make-up but of course this isn’t true. â€Å"It really makes me more and more angry. The aim is to rake in money, loads of money and people try to do that by all means of all these things – sex, beautiful people, wealth and you always have people who fall for it. † (Ang, 1997, p. 347) This opening scene shows three very different women with different talents however what they all have in common is their characters have been onstructed to appeal to different types of men but collectively appeal to all men. Although this action film had 3 women in lead roles, it failed to truly challenge the existing stereotypes of women having to be objects and requiring sex appeal to become successful. In reality, â€Å"a woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine conduct from a masculine point of view. † References Websites Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle blog (non-official) http://c-angels. blogspot. co. uk/ Pierce, Nev. (2003). BBC film review. http://www. bbc. co. uk/films/2003/06/27/charlies_angels_full_throttle_2003_review. shtml Smith, Mr (2009). Representation Theory – http://www. slideshare. net/fleckneymike/representation-theory-2458490 Smcmediastudies, (2011). The Representation of Women in the Media http://www. slideshare. net/smcmediastudies/the-representation-of-women-in-the-media Books Ang, Ien. (2006). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, in association with Sage. Ang, I. (1985) Watching Dallas: soap opera and the melodramatic imagination, New York, Methuen. Ibsen, Henrik (1917). Ibsen’s Workshop.

National Health Care Spending Essay

Introduction Health care in the United States is provided by many distinct organizations. Accordingly, the US Census Bureau (2010) reported that health care facilities are largely owned and operated by private sector businesses. While sixty-two percent of hospitals are non-profit, 20% are government owned, and 18% are for-profit. Furthermore, 60–65% of healthcare provision and spending comes from programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Veterans Health Administration. Most of the population under 67 is either insured by themselves or a family member’s employer, buy health insurance on their own, and the remainder are uninsured. Health insurance for public sector employees is primarily provided by the government. Still, the United States has a life expectancy of 78.4 years at birth, up from 75.2 years in 1990, and is ranked 50th among 221 nations, and 27th out of the 34 industrialized countries, down from 20th in 1990. Of 17 high-income countries studied by the National Institutes of Health in 2013, the United States had the highest or near-highest prevalence of infant mortality, heart and lung disease, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent pregnancies, injuries, homicides, and disability. Together, such issues place the U.S. at the bottom of the list for life expectancy. On average, a U.S. male can be expected to live almost four fewer years than those in the top-ranked country (NIH, 2013). Thesis Statement As dismal as the statistics are, in recent years, policy makers as well as leading economists have focused a considerable amount of attention on  aggregate spending increases in health care and how health care spending impacts the United States economy. Thereby, specific emphasis has been given to identifying and examining distinctive factors that have contributed to spending growth, and proposing solutions for reduction. Seemingly, factors that have contributed to spending growth encompass changes in health care utilization, population demographics, price inflation, and advances in medical technology. Thus, as more and more advanced scientific technology is developed the costs associated with providing quality health care increases. With that said, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States spent more on health care per capita ($8,608), and more on health care as percentage of its GDP (17.2%), than any other nation in 2011. Yet, the United States ranked last in the quality of health care among similar countries, and notes United States care costs the most. Similarly, in a 2013 Bloomberg ranking of nations with the most efficient health care systems, the United States ranks 46th among the 48 countries included in the study. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 49.9 million residents, 16.3% of the population, were uninsured in 2010 (up from 49.0 million residents, 16.1% of the population, in 2009). In addition, a 2004 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report said: â€Å"The United States is among the few industrialized nations in the world that does not guarantee access to health care for its population.† Further, â€Å"with the exception of Mexico, Turkey, and the United States, all of the other countries had achieved universal or near-universal (at least 98.4% insured) coverage of their populations by 1990;† and recent evidence demonstrates that lack of health insurance causes some 45,000 to 48,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States. In 2007, 62.1% of filers for bankruptcies claimed high medical expenses, and 25% of all senior citizens declare bankruptcy due to medical expenses, and 43% are forced to mortgage or sell their primary residence. On March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) became law, providing for major changes in health insurance. The medical system has been forced to change normal procedures to meet federal regulations. The law includes a large number of health-related provisions  to take effect over the next four years, including expanding Medicaid eligibility for people making up to 133% of FPL, subsidizing insurance premiums for peoples making up to 400% of FPL ($88,000 for family of 4) so their maximum â€Å"out-of-pocket† pay will be from 2% to 9.8% of income for annual premium, providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits, prohibiting denial of coverage and denial of claims based on pre-existing conditions, establishing health insurance exchanges, prohibiting insurers from establishing annual spending caps and support for medical research. The costs of these provisions are offset by a variety of taxes, fees, and cost-saving measures, such as new Medicare taxes for high-income brackets, taxes on indoor tanning, cuts to the Medicare Advantage program in favor of traditional Medicare, and fees on medical devices and pharmaceutical companies; there is also a tax penalty for citizens who do not obtain health insurance (unless they are exempt due to low income or other reasons). The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the net effect (including the reconciliation act) will be a reduction in the federal deficit by $143 billion over the first decade. Conclusion In conclusion, in contrast to the argument that rising health care spending at the Federal and State level decreases economic growth, and employee health care costs decreases job growth, a reasonable argument, could also be made that rising health care spending has important benefits, often outweighing the increased costs. I submit that improvements in quality may produce a cause and effect whereby, the cost of medical care is decreased. Subsequently, increased health care spending improves increases in access to new technologies, providing both new options of treatment and treatment for a greater number of individuals; which provides for healthier employees. Moreover, health care spending growth is more likely to create health care jobs, increases wages for health care workers, expands local tax revenues, and increases demand for related goods and services. We, as Americans, profess to be the richest, strongest, and greatest country, yet we stand by and watch homeless citizens sleeping on the streets, children going to bed at night hungry, and citizens dying because they lack health insurance. The Affordable Care Act is a good start, however we must keep legislators who oppose the bill from chipping away at it. Health care should be a human  right, not a privilege. For example, in May 2011, the state of Vermont became the first state to pass legislation establishing a Single-Payer health care system. The legislation, known as Act 48, establishes health care in the state as a â€Å"human right† and lays the responsibility on the state to provide a health care system which best meets the needs of the citizens of Vermont. The state is currently in the studying phase of how best to implement this system. Of the 26.2 million foreign immigrants living in the US in 1998, 62.9% were non-U.S. citizens. In 1997, 34.3% of non-U.S. citizens living in America did not have health insurance coverage as opposed to the 14.2% of native-born Americans who do not have health insurance coverage. Among those immigrants who became citizens, 18.5% were uninsured, as opposed to noncitizens, who are 43.6% uninsured. In each age and income group, immigrants are less likely to have health insurance. With the recent healthcare changes, many legal immigrants with various immigration statuses now are able to qualify for affordable health insurance. We need to push for more. The cost for individuals that use emergency rooms as port of entry to medical care far exceeds obtaining a primary care provider. References Institute of Medicine (2004). Retrieved from http://.www.institutesofmedicine, May 09, 2014. National Institute of Health (2013). Retrieved from http://.www.nationalinstituteofhealth, May 10, 2014. U. S. Census Bureau (2010). Retrieved from http://.www.uscensusbureau, May 10, 2014. World Health Organization (2014). Retrieved from http://.www.worldhealthorganization, May 10, 2014. www.healthcare.gov (2014). Retrieved from http://.www.healthcare.gov. May 10, 2014

Social venture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Social venture - Essay Example To this end, stand for children (2011) notes that they â€Å"train ordinary people to be effective citizen leaders capable of solving problems facing children, both locally and state-wide, by convincing elected officials and voters to invest in and reform vital children’s programs.† With such an organization that has the ultimate aim of investing in people, it is worth investing every little bit of time and resource in it, analyzing its mode of operation, its strengths and weaknesses and how its future can be brightened. Social Problems and Challenges addressed by Stand for Children Leadership Center Stand for Children Leadership Center can best be described as the official mouthpiece of children. This judgment is given from their mode of operation and their social impact agenda. The primary social impact focus of the organization is to influence policy makers and other stakeholders on children issues to champion courses and legislations that seeks the total well-being of the child. The major reason behind the organization’s quest to take up such social responsibility sterns from the fact that according to the statutes of the United States Constitution, children do not have the right undertake such advocacy responsibilities in voicing out what their needs should be. To this end, the Stand for Children Leadership Center (2011) states that â€Å"Stand for Children Leadership Center exists because children in communities across America have no power to influence our democratic system to meet their fundamental needs.† The organization continues to say that for this reason, it has poised its mission to â€Å"teach everyday people how to join together in an effective grassroots voice in order to win concrete, long-lasting improvements for children, at both state and local levels.† This means that the duties of the organization does not target or deal with children directly but then it speaks on behave of children through people whos e voices are recognized by the democratic dispensation of the law. Strategies used in addressing social problems The core word that can be used to describe the strategy used by Stand for Children Leadership Centre is ‘grassroots action.’ To this end, Stand for Children (2011) states that they â€Å"use the power of grassroots action to help all children get the excellent public education and strong support they need to thrive† Stand for Children (2011). This grassroots action involves helping â€Å"ordinary people become effective citizen leaders who use our democratic process to improve the lives of children† (Stand of Children, 2011). Again, in its grassroots actions, the organisation â€Å"Recruit people with similar values; Identify effective, achievable solutions to problems facing their community's children; Educate decision makers and voters to achieve these solutions† (Stand for Children, 2011). Scrutiny of Stand for Children Leadership Cent er’s Strategies in addressing Social Problems – including Projected Social Impact Stand for Children Leadership Center is one of the most respected non-governmental organizations in the United States. Its activities and operations have generally been rated by Charity Navigator to be standard and competitive. This certainly means that social problem intervention adopted by the organization is appropriate and workable. The major strength of the strategy for addressing its social interventions is the fact that it

Leadership theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leadership theories - Research Paper Example Leadership is ever green immortal and probably the most talked about topic. Perhaps the reason of its immortality is its relevance to our lives not only professional or business but personal and social life as well.It will not be an overstatement to say that leadership is that life-enriching and vital experiences which is crucial for our existence. Its scope is very vast which cannot be restricted to a single task, job, role or a certain organizational level. In this paper I will discuss in detail what is leadership? Different accepted styles of leadership, theories of leadership their merits and demerits and what was the need for the new theory to evaluate. It will basically be a comparative study of the two theories of leadership. What is leadership? Leadership is very vital and its importance is widely accepted. In order to understand fully different theories of leadership we first need to have a clear picture of what leadership is all about. It may sound simple but in fact leader ship is a very complex and complicated social process which depends not only the ways of thinking, vision, creativity, knowledge, skills characteristics and values of the leader but also the followers. Leadership is not all about aura and charisma of a person but a good leader is one who can see the clear picture of the present understands it’s various aspects and through his vision can guide its followers to the bright future. Good leadership (V.Gallos, 2008)is emotional; it compels drives and motivates you to achieve something. It is a continuous process of building and maintaining the relationship between the follower and the leader. In its spirit it is multidimensional which encompasses different skills, vision, process, map, issues, organization levels, cultures, policies, practices and issues. A good leader has to pass the test of time banking on the strengths and minimizing weaknesses while materializing the opportunities and avoiding the threats in the environment wit hout overreliance on any single person or process. Leadership Theories In the twentieth century theories about leadership started to evolve. Classical theories of leadership were based on traits of the leaders such remained the case for about thirty years and then it evolved to behavioral theory of leadership. There are basically six types of theories of leadership. Trait based leadership Contingency leadership Behavioral leadership Participative leadership Transactional leadership Transformational leadership All these theories concentrate only on the leader and do not take into account followers. It was observed that all these theories actually led to a prototypical leader. All the leaders were supposed to have a typical defined set of qualities, characteristics and a set of accepted and laudable behavior. This stereo type leader was a male white. These theories ignored diversity both in the gender and racial sense. According to different studies conducted these leadership theories had many biases. This will be discussed in detail below. Leader Categorization First of all we have to determine what we exactly mean by leader Categorization. Leader categorization theory (George R. Geothals, 2006) says that there are widely accepted and shared beliefs and perceptions about leaders their traits their behavior. Followers have specific and fixed views about general and specific task based upon preconceived ideas and notions about how a leader should be. It includes personal traits such as openness, active, initiator, visionary, focused, determined, interested,

Assignment- Drowning in a Sea of Information Essay

Assignment- Drowning in a Sea of Information - Essay Example computers. While information overload is certainly a reality, artificial intelligence and other mechanisms which allow the sorting and prioritization of information can help in reducing this burden. In essence, the problem is to develop such systems which are as intelligent or perhaps more intelligent than human beings. The business side of the problem of information overload can be handled through data mining and the application of relevance which allow companies and business professional to decide which information is important and which is not. At the present time in the field of artificial intelligence, it is reasonable to say that while some AI systems mimic human intelligence, there is no system in the world which surpasses a human in all aspects of thought, intelligence or even social interaction. However, it is also plausible to say that the rate of development of current machines means that at some point the future, there will certainly be a time when AI based systems become more intelligent than the humans who created them in the first place. Kurzweil’s The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999) presents a very detailed look at the future of artificial intelligence in terms of where they are going and what can be expected of them in coming decades. He focuses on machine intelligence and shows that the evolution of machines has taken a similar path to the evolution of biological creatures but at a much more accelerated pace. Kurzweil describes how computational and processing power has grown exponentially in the past and records were broken as expectations were shattered. For instance, it was once thought that no computer would ever be able to beat a grand master champion at chess but the best human player in the world has been defeated by a computer specifically created for that purpose. For machines which are specifically created to handle

California public policy on Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

California public policy on Abortion - Essay Example This issue is fascinating and imperative because it touches on moral, ethical, religious and legal issues of the subject person. For instance, although the law my define abortion as legal and within woman’s right, some religions would not approve it as well as different ethical issues interconnected on the same. It is interesting because whichever the perspective one looks at it or argues the case, there seems not to be a consensus since all facts of every aspect of it turns out to be accurate. Nevertheless, the application of utilitarianism theory can be argued to have played a critical part in the development of the abortion law in California since the law still remains controversial with some people not agreeable to it (Riley 2). With the current trend on the issue, it is apparent that the law can only be amended to give room for restrictions or the basis under which abortion can be allowed. This is arguably true because, according to public policy institute of California (Para 3), current survey indicate that they are still in favour of the law and actually want the Supreme Court not to interfere with the

Gas Price Warning as Cold March that Leads to Short Supplies Essay

Gas Price Warning as Cold March that Leads to Short Supplies - Essay Example This has generated a decrease in the supply of the gas in the UK resulting in an increased demand for gas. This increase in demand is mostly expected during March, the coldest seasons in Britain. Due to an increase in demand, prices of inputs also go up which leads to the increase in the production cost. Secondly, the electricity blackout is the other key point where the supply and demand cost of production concepts are applicable. The article illustrates â€Å"there was a very real risk of the lights going out within the next three years† (Harvey, 2013, p.1). This was so because SSE intends to shut down its power plants due to high operation cost making the stations uneconomical, which would result in electricity shortage. This will reduce the supply of electricity to the nearest 2million homes that are being supplied by SSE. The shortage in power supply will lead to a rise in demand for alternatives such as gas leading to increase their prices. Due to this increase, input prices will also go up, which will, in the long run, create a foundation for a rise in the cost of production of goods and services in Britain. Thirdly, another issue is the outsourcing or importation of gas from the outside UK. With the encroachment of the cold season in March in the UK, The demand for the gas increases, but due to low supply from UK suppliers, the prices will go up making the country import gas from other countries like Russia and Norway. As illustrated by Spulber (2009), this will increase the cost of the production as the importation of the gas will lead to increase in the cost of inputs, which will further lead to increase in the input prices hence higher cost of production. Lastly, the cold snap, which is expected in the month of March, is a key point in the article with two economic concepts applicable to it. During this cold season, most people keep their houses warm  throughout the day by using various heating mechanisms. This cold season always leads to increasing the demand for various heating mechanisms.  

Compare Three Stocks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Compare Three Stocks - Research Paper Example Its drug portfolio contains medicine of almost every discovered disease present on this earth. It is a renowned player in the drug industry and a benchmark for its practices as well. Abbot primarily serves retailers, wholesalers, hospitals and health care facilitators. As to date, Abbot’s market capitalization is 84.26B and its Enterprise Value is 93.96B. On December 31st, 2010 Abbot reported revenues of 38.44B and net income of 4.55B. It has 1.56B shares outstanding with a market price of $54.09/share. The quarterly growth of revenue calculated on a year-on-year basis is 13.20%. Amazon.com Inc is a service sector firm and belongs to catalog & mail order industry. The company was founded in 1994 and it is located in United States. The company is works as an online retailer in North America as well as internationally. The company focuses on selection, price and convenience of customers through its website. Moreover, it enables its customers to sell their product through Amazon and gives product developers a platform to market their products. As to date, Amazon.com’s market capitalization is 86.22B and its Enterprise Value is 85.50B. On December 31st, 2010 Amazon.com reported revenues of 43.59B and net income of 870.00 M. It has 454.75M shares outstanding with share price of $189.59/share. ... As to date, 3M Co.’s market capitalization is 56.34B and its Enterprise Value is 59.04B. On December 31st, 2010 Amazon.com reported revenues of 29.23B and net income of 4.26B. It has 700.84M shares outstanding with share price of $80.39/share. The quarterly growth of revenue calculated on a year-on-year basis is 9.60%. b. Calculate the average annual return for each stock. = Price at December 1st, 2010 = Price at December 1st, 2011 Abbot Laboratories (ABT): Amazon.com: 3M Co.: c. Which is the riskiest security and which is the least risky based on the SD? (Remember higher the standard deviation the riskier the stock will be). Standard deviation for the stock is calculated by taking stock price from Jan 1st,2011 to Dec 31st,2011. 3M Co.’s standard deviation is 6.61 Amazon.com’s standard deviation is 19.41 Abbot Laboratory’s standard deviation is 2.771 The riskiest security in terms of standard deviation is Amazon.com with 19.41. The stock price ranged from as low as $160.59 to as high as 246.71. The least risky security is Abbot Laboratory with more or less stable prices. The highest in year 2011 was price was $55.61 and lowest price was $45.07. 3M Co.’s stock had standard deviation of 6.61 with highest price of $98.19 and lowest price of 68.63. d. Please comment on the best performing stock and the worst performing stock and provide some justification. The best performing stock for a risk adverse investor would be Abbot Laboratories. The earnings have been stable over the year. However, for a risk taker it would be Amazon.com with quarterly revenue growth year-on-year of 43.90%. The standard deviation is high and the return associated with it is also high. For an investor who has held the stock for the whole year would enjoy a return of 10.58%.

Cultural Self-Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Cultural Self-Assessment - Assignment Example In this paper I will be looking at cultural self –awareness and the role it plays diversity competence. Every individual’s cultural background is very unique and important as it actually moulds our societal outlook. Various factors of cultural background come into play to influence the overall outcome of individuals in terms of cultural competence and outlook on society. The kind of setting out was brought up in is very influential in shaping their outlook on society. The environmental we grow up and live in, social-economic background, parental influence, culture and educational attainment are important factors within cultural background that roll into play to shape our outlook on society. Religion is another very important factor of cultural background shaping what we become in life as well as the outlook we take on society. The schools we go to, the neighbourhoods and the church we go to during childhood all influence what we became later in life. I personally was born and raised in Kuwait and indeed having left my home country to study abroad has actually taught me a lot in terms of cultural diversity. As a freshman in college I have to interact with fellow students from different parts of the world and a lot of cultural exchange takes place. I have learnt to appreciate the importance of cultural diversity and this is because I now realise that the world has a myriad of cultures and therefore expecting to live, work with or learn with just your own culture in the modern world is tantamount to cultural incompetence. Cultural competence training for me is therefore a very important aspect especially considering that I am a student in effect a future leader. Appreciating others, respecting their cultural identities, learning from them and embracing cultural diversity is what I want to achieve. I therefore value cultural competence and it is for the

Sociological Inquiry Asignment 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sociological Inquiry Asignment 1 - Essay Example There are many details of the problem which are rather unknown to general public: donors or wealthy sponsors themselves decide important questions related to school budgeting, types of testing, number of school’s personnel, etc. 3. The author of the article is religion reporter for The New York Times newspaper. He works for this newspaper not for so long since 2008. Vitello covers predominantly religion news from local perspective, New York City. Earlier the reporter used to work for such newspapers as Long Island’s Newsday, Kansas City Star, Knickerbocker News and some others. Paul Vitello has veteran experience as a reporter. He has written numerous articles on religious issues, for instance, â€Å"Clergy Urge Efforts to Lower the City’s Abortion Rate†, â€Å"Hepatitis Scare Hits Nassau Church after Wafers’ Exposure at Christmas Masses†, â€Å"N.Y. Parochial Schools Downcast After Archdiocesan Warning†, â€Å"Bitterness Follows End of a School† to name a few among many others. I believe that the author has enough experience and appropriate qualification to write about issues related to religion (church) and education like in the article under the analysis in this paper. 4. Vitello’s article presents a clear analysis of the issue. However, the author covers only schools and churches of New York City and nearby area.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Essay Example for Free

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Essay Diversity is about valuing individual difference, it can be visible and non-visible. Recognising everyone is unique and has individual differences such as: * Race * Gender * Age * Sex * Ethnicity * Religious beliefs * Sexual orientation * physical beliefs/ qualities * political beliefs * educational background * income * appearance see more:identify barriers to children and young people’s participation In a workplace environment it is very important to support people’s individual differences and to embrace on diversity with each individual. Diversity means more than just acknowledging or tolerating differences it’s about respecting them and understanding that we are all different in many ways. There are seven main forms of discrimination being: Direct discrimination occurs when someone is treated less favourably than another person because of a protected characteristic. Indirect discrimination occurs when a seemingly neutral provision, criterion or practice that applies to everyone places a group who share a characteristic e.g. type of disability at a particular disadvantage. Associative discrimination occurs when someone discriminates against someone because they associate with another person who possesses a protected characteristic. Discrimination by perception occurs when someone discriminates against an individual because they think they possess a particular protected characteristic. Dual discrimination occurs when someone is less favourably because of a combination of two protected characteristics. This means that it will be possible for an applicant to claim that they have been treated less favourably not just because of their race but also their gender. Detriment arising from a disability arises when you treat a person with a disability unfavourably because of something connected with their disability. This type of discrimination is unlawful where the employer or other person acting for employer knows, or could reasonably expected to know, that the person had a disability. Victimisation occurs when an employer is treated unfavourably, disadvantaged or subjected to a detriment because they have made or supported a complaint of discrimination or raised a grievance under the equality act, this policy or the harassment, bullying and discrimination policy or because they suspected of doing so. Third party harassment occurs when an employee is harassed by someone who does not work for the employing organisation such as a customer, visitor, client, contractor from another organisation. They employer will become legally responsible if the employer knows the employee has been harassed on two or more occasions and fails to take responsible steps to protect the employee. Equality Equality is the current term for â€Å"equal opportunities†. In October 2010 it was put in act to protect people from discrimination. Equality is not about treating everyone in the same way, it’s about recognising that there need s are met in different ways. We should aim to recognise, value and manage difference to enable all people contribute and realise their full potential. Inclusion Inclusion is about allowing everyone to join in group activities despite their differences. It’s about promoting equality of opportunities for all and encourages everyone to be treated fairly and valued equally.

Short Duration Voltage Variations Engineering Essay

Short Duration Voltage Variations Engineering Essay For long time, the main concern of consumers in power system was the reliability of supply which means that the continuity of electricity. However, it is not only the reliability that consumers want these days, quality of electricity supply is also very important for consumers. The term, electric power quality, broadly refers to maintaining a nearly sinusoidal bus voltage at specified magnitude and frequency in an uninterrupted manner from the reliability point of view. For a well-designed generating plant, which generates voltages almost perfectly sinusoidal at rated magnitude and frequency, power quality problems start with transmission system and stay applicable until end users in distribution system. The power quality in power system are categorized as temporary phenomena and steady state phenomena The power qualities are characterized in the power system by different terms suggested by Padiyar, K.R.,(2007) under these two categorizes are summarized as follows: 1.2. TEMPORARY PHENOMENA Transients: Transients are short-duration, high-amplitude pulses superimposed on a normal voltage waveform. They can vary widely from twice the normal voltage to several thousand volts and last from less than a microsecond up to a few hundredths of a second. Transients can be classified as impulsive transients and oscillatory transients. Impulse transients are mainly caused by the impact of lightning strikes to the power system. The typical causes of oscillatory transients are capacitor or transformer energization and converter switching. While impulsive transient is a sudden and has non-power frequency change in voltage and current with a fast rise and decaying time, oscillatory transient has one or more sinusoidal components with frequencies in the range from power frequency (50Hz) to 500 kHz and decays in time. Short Duration Voltage Variations: Short Duration Voltage Variations are defined as the variations in the supply voltage for durations not exceeding one minute and caused by faults, energization of large loads that having large inrush currents or rapidly varying large reactive power demands of the loads. These are further classified as voltage sags, voltage swells and interruption. Long Duration Voltage Variations: Long Duration Voltage Variations are defined as the rms variations in the supply voltage at fundamental frequency for exceeding one minute, such as overvoltage, under voltage and sustained interruption. The causes of overvoltage (or under voltage) may be the switching off (or on) of a large load having poor power factor, or the energization of a large capacitor bank or reactors. Voltage Unbalance: Voltage Unbalance is the condition in which three phase voltages of the supply are not equal in magnitude and may not be equally displaced in time. The primary causes are the single phase loads, open circuit in any one phase of a balanced 3phase loads and unequal loads connected in each phase of a poly phase systems. Waveform Distortion: Waveform Distortion is defined as steady-state deviation in the voltage or current waveform from an ideal sine wave. These distortions are classified as dc-offset, harmonics and notching. The causes of dc offsets in power systems are geomagnetic disturbances, especially at higher altitudes and half-wave rectifications. These may increase the peak value of the flux in the transformer, pushing it into saturation and resulting in heating in the transformer. Power electronics equipments like UPS, adjustable speed drives injects harmonics in the power systems. Notching is a periodic voltage distortion due to the operation of power converters when current commutates from one phase to another. Voltage Fluctuations: Voltage Fluctuations are defined as the rapid, systematic and random variations in the supply voltage. This is also called as Voltage Flicker and is caused by rapid and large variations in current magnitude of loads having poor power factor such as arc furnaces. These large variations in load current causes severe dip in the supply voltage unless the supply bus is very stiff. Power Frequency Variations: Power Frequency Variations are the variations that are caused by rapid changes in the load connected to the system, such as the operation of draglines connected to a comparatively low inertia system. Since the frequency is directly related to rotational speeds of the generators, large variations in power frequency may reduce the life span of turbine blades on the shaft connected to the generator. Although these above terms are not new, customer awareness on power quality has increased. In recent times, power quality issues and custom solutions have generated tremendous amount of interest among power system authorities and engineers. International Electro technical Commission (IEC) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) have proposed various standards on power quality. This led to more stringent regulations and limits imposed by electricity authorities although they differ from one country to another in a limited extend. Although terms of power quality are valid for transmission and distribution systems, their approach to power quality has different concerns. An engineer of transmission system deals with the control of active and reactive power flow in order to maximize both the loading capability and stability limits of the transmission system. On the other hand, an engineer of distribution system deals with load compensation either by means of individua l or group compensation in order to maintain power quality for each load in the distribution system (Sankaran.C, 2002, John J.Paserba et al, 2000). The utilization of power electronic based power conditioning devices brought the solution for these power quality issues in distribution system. 1.2 FACTS CONTROLLERS In recent years, many multinational software companies and automobile industries established their units in India. In turn, it initiates many other small industries to supply their needs. The growth of these industries is found to be very fast and it pollutes the power system by injecting harmonics into it. These industries need electrical power for its operation. Establishing new power generation unit is not so easy in India due to the initial cost. In addition it has many constraints like fuel constraints, political constraints, economical constraints and technological constraints. This makes to think an alternate solution for the scarcity of power by improving the quality of existing power. Reducing the wastages and improving the quality of available power is equivalent to generation of power. To improve the reliability and deliver energy at the lowest possible cost with improved power quality, power supply industries require increased flexibility in the transmission and in the di stribution systems. The power industries are handling these challenges with the power electronics based technology of Flexible AC Transmission systems (FACTS). This term covers the whole family of power electronic controllers, some of which may have achieved maturity within the industries, while some others are yet in the design stage. As Higorani et al (1999) described the various VSC based FACTS controllers are available for power quality improvement. FACTs has been defined by the IEEE as follows. Power electronics based system and other static equipment that provide control of one or more AC transmission system parameters to enhance controllability and increase power transfer capability. In general, FACTs controllers can be classified as follows Series Controllers Shunt Controllers Combined series and shunt Controllers Combined shunt and series Controllers Based on the power electronic devices used in the controller, the FACTS controllers can be classified as: (A) Variable impedance type FACTS Controller (B) Voltage Source Converter (VSC) based FACTS Controller The variable impedance type controllers include: (i) Shunt connected- Static Var Compensator (SVC) (ii) Series Connected-Thyristors Controlled Series Capacitor or Compensator (TCSC) (iii) Combined shunt and series connected Thyristors Controlled Phase Shifting Transformer (TCPST) of Static PST The VSC based FACTS controllers are: (i) Static synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) (shunt connected) (ii) Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) (series connected) (iii) Interline Power Flow Controller (IPFC) (combined series-series) (iv) Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) (combined shunt-series) The VSC based FACTS controllers have several advantages over the variable impedance type. VSC based STATCOM response is much faster than a variable impedance type SVC. STATCOM requires less space than SVC for same rating. It can supply required reactive power even at low values of the bus voltage. In addition, a STATCOM can supply active power if it has an energy source or large energy storage at its DC terminals. It can also be designed to have in built, short-term overload capability. The only drawback with VSC based controllers is that it requires use of self-commutating power semiconductor switches such as Gate Turn-off (GTO) thyristors, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT), Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristors (IGCT). However, the VSC based controllers build with emerging power semiconductor devices using silicon carbide technology will lead to the wide spread use of VSC based controllers in future. Among FACTs controllers, the shunt controllers have shown feasibility in terms of cost effectiveness in a wide range of problem solving from transmission to distribution levels. For more than a decade, it has been recognized that the transmittable power through transmission lines could be increased and the voltage profile along the transmission line could be controlled by an appropriate amount of compensated reactive power. Moreover, the shunt controller can improve transient stability and can damp power oscillation during a post-fault event. Using a high speed power converter, the shunt controller can further alleviate the flicker problem caused by electrical arc furnaces. .1 SERIES CONTROLLERS Static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) is series reactive power compensation devices used in transmission level. The series compensation is obtained by controlling the equivalent impedance of a transmission line, to regulate the power flow through the line. The SSSC can be considered as a static synchronous generator that acts as a series compensator whose output voltage is fully controllable, independent of line current and kept in quadrature with it, with the aim of increasing or decreasing the voltage drop across the line, thus controlling the power flow. The basic structure of a SSSC connected with the network is shown in Figure 1.1. Line C VSC TF Figure.1.1 Series Connected SSSC The SSSC injects a voltage Vq in quadrature with line current. It can provide either capacitive compensation if Vq leads the line current by à Ã¢â€š ¬/2 rad or inductive compensation if Vq lags line current by à Ã¢â€š ¬/2 rad. A relatively small active power exchange is required to compensate for coupling transformer and switching losses, and maintain the required DC voltage. 1.2.2 SHUNT CONTROLLERS STATCOM The schematic diagram of a STATCOM is shown in Figure.1.2. In principle, all shunt type controllers inject additional current into the system at the point of common coupling (PCC). VSC that uses charged capacitors as the input dc source and produces a 3à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ ac voltage output in synchronism and in phase with the ac systems. The converter is connected in shunt to a bus by means of the impedance of a coupling transformer. A control on the output voltage of this converter is either lower or higher than the connecting bus voltage, controls the reactive power drawn from or supplied to the connected bus. The impedance of the shunt controller, which is connected to the line causes a variable current to flow and hence represents an injection of current into the line. As long as the injected current is in phase quadrature with the line voltage, the shunt controller can either supply or consume variable reactive power. Line C VSC TF Figure.1.2 Shunt Connected STATCOM A six pulse Voltage Source Converter (VSC) with suitable controller, the phase angle and the magnitude of the AC voltage injected by the VSC can be controlled. The Phase Lock Loop (PLL) ensures that the sinusoidal component of the injected voltage is synchronized (matching in frequency and required phase angle) with the AC bus voltage to which VSC is connected through a coupling inductor. Often, the leakage impedance of the interconnecting transformer serves as the coupling inductor. It also serves as harmonic filter for the voltage injected by the VSC. The injection of harmonic voltages can also be minimized by multi-pulse (12, 24 or 48), and/or multilevel convertors. At low power levels, the pulse width modulation (PWM) technique is sufficient to control the magnitude of the fundamental component of the injected voltage. The high voltage IGBT devices can be switched at high frequency (2 kHz and above) of sinusoidal modulation enables the use of simple LC-low pass filters to reduce harmonic components. 1.2.3 COMBINED SHUNT AND SERIES CONTROLLERS (a). Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC): The Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is the most versatile FACTS controller for the regulation of voltage and power flow in a transmission line. It consists of two-voltage source converters (VSC) in which one connected in shunt and the other one connected in series. The DC capacitors of the two converters are connected as shown in Figure.1.3. the shunt connected converters work as STATCOM and controls the reactive current injected in to the line. Series connected converter work as SSSC and control reactive voltage injected series with the line. The combination of these two converters enables to exchange active power flow between the two converters. The series connected converter can supply or absorb the active power. VSC Line VSC C STATCOM SSSC Figure 1.3 Schematic of UPFC The controllable power source on the DC side of the series connected converter, results in the control of both real and reactive power flow in the line at the receiving end of the line. The shunt-connected converter provides the required reactive power and injects the reactive current at the converter bus. Thus, a UPFC has 3 degrees of freedom whereas other FACTS controllers have only one degree of freedom or control variable. The concept of combining two or more converters can be extended to provide flexibility and additional degrees of freedom. A Generalized UPFC refers to the use of three or more converters out of which one shunt connected while the remaining converters are series connected (b). Interline Power Flow Controller (IPFC): An Interline Power Flow Controller (IPFC) refers to the configuration of two or more series connected voltage source converters sharing a common DC bus as shown in Figure 1.4. The Interline Power Flow Controller (IPFC) is used reactive (series) compensation of each individual line. In addition to this, the IPFC is capable of exchanging real power between the two or more compensated lines. To achieve this AC side of the series connected VSCs are connected in different lines and on the DC side, all the DC capacitors of individual converters are connected in parallel. This is possible because all the series converters are located inside the substation in close proximity. VSC1 Line-1 VSC2 C SSSC1 SSSC-2 Line-2 Figure 1.4 Schematic of IPFC for two transmission line using two VSC An IPFC is similar to a UPFC in that the magnitude and phase angle of the injected voltage in the line (main system) can be controlled by exchanging real power with the second line (support system) in which a series converter is connected. The basic difference with a UPFC is that the support system in the UPFC is the shunt converter instead of a series converter. The series converter associated with the main system of one IPFC is termed as the master converter while the series converter associated with the support system is termed as the slave converter. The master converter controls both active and reactive voltage within limits while the slave converter controls the DC voltage across the capacitor and the reactive voltage magnitude. 1.3 APPLICATION FACTS CONTROLLERS IN DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS Although the concept of FACTS was developed originally for transmission network, later on this has been extended since last decade for improvement of Power Quality (PQ) in distribution systems operating at low or medium voltages. In the early days, the power quality referred primarily to the uninterrupted power supply at acceptable voltage and frequency. In the modern context, power quality problem is defined as any problem manifested in voltage, current or frequency deviations that result in failure or malfunctioning of customer equipment. However, the increase in the use of computers, microprocessors and power electronic systems has resulted in power quality issues involving transient disturbances in voltage magnitude, waveform and frequency. The nonlinear loads not only cause power quality (PQ) problems but also very sensitive to the voltage deviations. The unbalanced load in the distribution system like single-phase railway loading creates power quality problem at the distributio n level. The highly inductive load like arc furnace is a major source of creating power quality problems in distribution network. Hingorani et al (1999), was the first to propose FACTS controllers for improving power quality in distribution systems. They have called it as Custom Power Devices. These are based on VSC with appropriate controller. Based on the types of connection with the distribution network the custom power devices classifications are given below; 1. Series connected Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) 2. Shunt connected Distribution STATCOM (DSTATCOM) 3. Combined shunt and series connected Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC). The Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) is a series connected custom power device in the distribution systems. The DVR is analogous to a SSSC in the transmission system. The main function of a DVR is to reduce voltage sags seen by sensitive loads such as semiconductor manufacturing plant or a paper mill. They have been designed to compensate three phase voltage sags up to 35% for duration of time less than half a second (depending on the requirement). If the voltage sag occurs only in one phase as in the case of Single Line to Ground (SLG) faults then the DVR may be designed to provide compensation for sags exceeding 50%. The capacitor is designed to store energy in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 MJ per MW of load served. A DVR is connected in series with the distribution feeder through a transformer. The low voltage winding of the transformer is connected to the converter. If a DVR is used mainly to regulate the voltage at the load bus, it injects a series voltage of the required magnitude if i t detects a voltage sag else remains in stand-by mode during which the converter is bypassed or it is not injecting voltage. It is necessary to protect the DVR against the fault currents as in the case of a SSSC. A DVR with IGBT/IGCT devices can be controlled to act as a series active filter to reduce the voltage harmonics on the source side. It is also possible to balance the voltage on the load side by injecting negative and/or zero sequence voltages in addition to harmonic voltages. The distribution STATCOM (DSTATCOM) is similar to a STATCOM in transmission system that it uses a VSC of the required rating. However, the VSC used in a DSTATCOM is a 6-pulse converter with SPWM or Space Vector Modulated PWM (SVPWM) control over the magnitude of the injected AC voltage while maintaining a constant DC voltage across the capacitor. In DSTATCOM, faster power semiconductor devices such as IGBT or IGCT are used instead of GTO as in STATCOM. The rapid switching capability provided by IGBT (or IGCT) switches enables the use of DSTATCOM for balancing, active filtering and flicker mitigation. The unbalanced system is balanced by injecting negative sequence current to the system. The active filtering is done by injecting harmonic currents in the system. A DSTATCOM can be viewed as a controlled variable current source. If more power that is reactive is required for compensation in distribution system, dynamic capacitor rating is increased. To increase the dynamic rating in the capacitive range, a fixed capacitor can be connected in parallel with DSTATCOM. By connecting energy storage device such as a Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) or a battery charged by a separate charging system on the DC side, it is possible to exchange real power with the network for momentary interruptions or large voltage sags for a limited time. The combination of shunt and series active filters which are connected on the common DC side as shown in Figure.1.5 used as Unified Power Quality Conditioner. This configuration is inspired by the UPFC in the transmission system. Akagi.H (1996), suggest the possibility of a centralized UPQC at the distribution substation that will provide harmonic isolation between the sub-transmission system and distribution system. The series branch of UPQC provides this harmonic isolation in addition to voltage regulation and imbalance compensation. The shunt branch provides for harmonic and negative sequence current compensation in addition to DC link voltage regulation. A UPQC can be considered as the combination of DSTATCOM and DVR. A DSTATCOM is utilized to eliminate the harmonics from the source currents and balance them in addition to providing reactive power compensation to improve power factor or regulate the load bus voltage (Padiyar.K.R. 2007). DVR DSTATCOM Load VSC1 Line VSC2 C Vs PCC I_AF VL +VAF Figure 1.5 Schematic of a Unified Power Quality Controller (UPQC) The terminology is yet to be standardized. The term `active filters or `power conditioners is also employed to describe the custom power devices. Irrespective of the name, the trend is to increasingly apply VSC based compensators for power quality improvement. LITERATURE REVIEW Development of gate turn off capability of semiconductor switches opened a way to second-generation FACTs controller using voltage source converter (VSC). This VSC can be operated at high switching frequency to provide a faster response. The STATCOM is a shunt connected power converter based compensating device. Van Zyl. A, et.al proposed an idea for Converter based solution to power quality problems on radial distribution lines (1996). This is a first power converter based shunt compensator. The concept of STATCOM was disclosed by Gyuayi,.L (1988). The concept gives the characteristics of VSC that are suitable for grid connected FACTS controller application. In the older version of reactive power compensation device, the reactive power is drawn from energy storage devices such as capacitor in the case of Static Var Compensator (SVC), but in STATCOM power is circulated within the connected network. The energy storage components used in the STATCOM is much smaller in capacity than tho se used in the SVC. In 1995, the first +100MVA STATCOM was installed at the Sullivan substation of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in northeastern Tennessee. This device is mainly used to regulate 161kV bus during the daily load variation to reduce the operation of the tap changer of a 1.2GVA 161kV/500kV transformer. The VSC used in this STATCOM is made up of eight two level VSC resulting a 48 pulse VSC. The output of each VSC is integrated by a complex interface zigzag connected interfacing transformers, because this is a two-level VSC, a series connection of five of gate-turn-off (GTO) thyristor is used as a main switch. The staircase type switching scheme at fundamental frequency (60Hz) was used as a control scheme for this STATCOM. Due to slow switching speed of the GTOs; the firing angles of the output wave form are fixed. Therefore, the amplitude of each output waveform is controlled by exchanging real power of the DC-link capacitor with the power grid. The power quality problem at distribution level like voltage regulation, harmonics reduction, power factor correction, reactive power compensation and unbalance compensations need to be carried out at distribution level. The DSTATCOM, connected to the grid through the coupling inductor at the point of common coupling (PCC) is controlled in such a way that it exchanges only reactive power with the grid. This is achieved by injecting current in quadrature with the grid voltage. The DSTATCOM is developed from the STATCOM used in transmission system for voltage regulation. Hingorani, N.G,. et al (1999) explored the concept and technology of Flexible AC Transmission Systems. The detailed modeling and average modeling of DSTATCOM and its performance for voltage regulation application is studied by Pierre Giroux et al (2000). This gives the concept of PWM controlled DSTATCOM in dq coordinate system. Sen Sarma. P.S., et al (2001) Analyzed and evaluated the performance of a distribution STATCOM for compensating voltage Fluctuations. Sao, C.K et al (2002) proposed the application of DSTATCOM from voltage regulation to reactive power compensation, power factor correction, mitigation of voltage sag and swell in distribution system and created a benchmark system to test all these performance. This DSTATCOM is controlled by PI controller in dq coordinate using parks transformation matrix. This work reduced the computation time of the controller by avoiding Inverse Parks transformation. The application of DSTATCOM is extended to compensate the reactive power for isolated induction generator by Bhim Singh et al (2003). This gave the mathematical modeling of induction generator and DSTATCOM. As the DSTATCOM is suitable for distribution system and stand alone system researcher focused to increase the performance of the controller. The concept of using DSTATCOM as a shunt active filter to reduce the current harmonics in the industrial application and gradually extended to power systems application by Georges, S. et al (2006) and Kannan, H.Y. et al (2008). The concept of Generalized Instantaneous Reactive Power Theory for Three-phase Power Systems is exploited by Akagi, P., et al (1984) and Fang Z heng Peng et al (1996). The concept of instantaneous reactive and real power is brought by them in to the design of controller for closed loop operation of VSC. A Survey of Current Control Techniques for Three-Phase Voltage-Source PWM Converters is brought by Marian P., et al (1998). These current control techniques provided a path way for direct control of VSC output current. Design and Implementation of DSTATCOM for fast load compensation of unbalanced loads was implemented by Wei-Neng Chang et al (2009). The controller for unbalanced system was built by phase sequence method and pulses are generated by current regulated PWM method. The Space Vector Modulation (SVM) PWM technique was an emerging control technique used in Voltage Source Converter (VSC) for controlling its output voltage by Atif Iqbal et al (2010). A New Vector-Based Hysteresis Current Control Scheme for Three-Phase PWM Voltage-Source Inverters was developed by Mansour Mohseni et al (2010). This thesis tries to appl y Vector-Based Hysteresis Current Control Scheme for DSTATCOM for power factor improvement. This research is focusing to use the SVM based PWM technique for DSTATCOM operation in addition to PI controlled SPWM in dq coordinate systems. This also extends the application SVM based HCC from inverter to DSTATCOM. 1.5 PROBLEM STATEMENT The voltage at distribution systems need to be maintained at 1pu at all conditions. The reactive power control plays an important role in maintaining the bus voltage at 1pu in the distribution bus.Classical reactive power controllers like fixed capacitors, switched capacitors, TCR, SVC etc have slow response and bulky. A DSTATCOM, though a costlier device it has faster response. Hence it is preferred when faster correction of voltages is required. It is required to design specific controllers for voltage regulation, power factor correction and unbalanced system compensations. All the above problems can be solved by installing a DSTATCOM with proper controllers. 1.6 OBJECTIVES The main aim of this thesis is to design and implement the controller for DSTATCOM to improve the power quality namely voltage regulation, voltage sag or swell, reactive power compensation, power factor improvement and unbalance compensation. The controllers presented in this work will aid the design engineers to develop an integrated controller with multiple control objectives. The main objectives of this thesis include To study the concepts of DSTATCOM and bring out the design procedure of it. To understand the controller principle for various applications and explore it for novel controller design. To design the new control algorithm namely PI controlled Space Vector Pulse Width modulation method and Study the performance of DSTATCOM for this controller to improve the power quality issues such as voltage regulation, power factor improvement and reactive power compensation. To compare this SVPWM controller performance with the performance of existing Sine Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) method. To modify the basic SVPWM method so as to extend its controller to directly control the flow of current of DSTATCOM. This method of controller is called SVPWM based Hysteris Current Controller (HCC) method. To suggest a new control techniques for unbalanced system compensations using sequence analyzing method and validate its performance for power quality improve improvement. To explore the design of DSTATCOM components. To identify the controller for compensating balanced and unbalanced systems. 1.7 THESIS ORGANISATION This thesis contains seven chapters summarized as follows: In Chapter 1 need for improving the quality of power is discussed the power quality issues and various Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) controllers available for the power quality improvements in the transmission systems and distribution systems. This chapter also includes the review of the literature, outlines the research objectives and the organization of the thesis. Chapter 2 describes the general method for designing a DSTATCOM for power quality improvement. The DSTATCOM consists of a DC capacitor, a VSC, a coupling inductor and the controller. This chapter gives a method of designing the coupling inductor, the DC capacitor and selecting the power electronic switches for the VSC. It also focuses on analyzing the controllers of DSTATCOM for power quality improvements. In Chapter 3, the mathematical modeling of a two-level VSC based DSTATCOM is described. This Chapter also presents the PI controlled Sine Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) and Space Vector PWM (SVPWM) switching techniques for voltage regulation applications. The comparative performance of these switching techniques is carried out. The control logic is developed from the power invariant property of the Parks transformation of

Why Is Education So Important In Canada Education Essay

Why Is Education So Important In Canada Education Essay A large selection of Canadas universities and  colleges found in both urban and rural places in every region of the country. (Education System In Canada) Canadian universities are much known for the quality of the teaching. Degrees from Canada are actually equivalent to degrees from America or other commonwealth places. Many Canadian schools are largely funded publicly which means they are consistently high quality, no matter where the location is. In Nunavut there is also higher education, (Nunavut is the province in the north of Canada). In Nunavut higher education allows the residents of the Canadian Arctic territory to specialize in secondary institutes. Of course there will be some unique challenges which some students have to face wishing to perfect advanced training in Nunavut. The territory of Nunavut has approximately 32,000 people in it. But there has been a problem in Nunavut about language but now has been resolved. There are no universities in Nunavut.  Nunavut Arctic College  is the only institution of higher education. It offers a small number of degrees in conjunction with Dalhousie University (Wikipedia). The Canadian school system actually accepts Inuit languages due to cultural reasons. But the university in Nunavut is actually struggling quite hard to get the best quality education possible. One of the governor generals named Michelle Jean decided to build more Arctic universities. For Full-time student enrolments at some universities are from over 35,000 to less than 1,000. Also, most universities have a large number of part-time or continuing students who are being educated. They offer allot of courses and allot of degrees from undergraduate to doctorates, and can also offer certificates and professional degrees. Fees for universities differ, depending on the province, institution and program of the study. Private schools exist in every single province around the country, and private schools are very good for parents who seek an overseas education for their child. The most international schools are in Ontario and Alberta. Sasckachewan has enough international schools and Nunavut has quite a few. All international schools must be registered with the ministry of education In the province or territory. Some private schools even have religious faith and use particular moral teachings. Canada has two official languages which are English and French. A student can take their institutions in either English or French. Some universities will offer instructions in both languages. But you dont have to be fluent in English and French to attend schools in Canada. If English isnt your first language you will at least have to pass the English examination which is called the (TOEFL). The Canadian Skilled Worker immigration program was developed to encourage people with skills that would be useful to the country to move there. If you want to meet the qualifications, the program will serve only two purposes. First of the government wants to make sure that the program will become overwhelmed with immigrants who have a high skilled ability. Second, the government does not want you to move out of your country, only to find that there are limited amount of jobs left. You will need to have an extremely good score on your high school diploma to have this opportunity. (Why Your Education Is Important For Canada) If you also want to go as an immigrant you have to also pass something named a (Pass-Mark System). It is not very hard to achieve and potential immigrants should atleast get a score of 75 percent. But these days, most people got 64 percent and if an immigrant wants to go to Canada they should start thinking now how their going to pass. This is one of the factors assessed by the Canadian government in Education It was good to hear Saskatchewans Education Minister, Russ Marchuk, talking recently about the value of pre-kindergarten and other forms of early childhood development in generating better learners, and ultimately more successful citizens. (Better Education Integral To Canadas Economy) The ministry of education is the industry that ensures that the students of Ontario have a great quality of education and that Ontario has the best education, in terms of quality and teaching. The ministry of education can be in English or French and the Ministry of education has to: Make sure that all the schools and authorities are funded. Structuring provincial support for curriculums. Making sure that the teachers are well trained and ready for excellence. Making sure that a child has good health so they give children health cards. Search around to see that every child has got this health card. Managing child care programs, such as CMSMs. Investigating complaints regarding unlicensed child care providers. Making requirements such as student diplomas and certificates. In the governments vision, educators, students, parents, teachers, principals, schools, boards, child care providers, service system managers. First Nations and the wider community work together in a genuine partnership to ensure good outcomes for all children. (Ministry Of Education) There are a lot of Eskimos who are taught by their parents how to survive in the harsh weather and how to fish, how to hunt for animals such as seals. The Eskimos diet is mostly seals because most of the foods in the markets are very expensive. There is a school in The Eskimo region named Inkulit School. And the school is in the main city of Nunavut which is named Iqaluit. Iqaluit is the modern city of Nunavut. The second most modern city of Nunavut is Cambridge Bay and the city has a school where students have to attend. The ministry of education also has a place in Nunavut and the ministry of education makes sure that students of Nunavut have at least attended schools or programs. The Northwest Territories also has a lot of schools and in the Northwest Territories you have to attend schools, it is compulsory and if a student does not attend schools the parents will get a lawsuit by the ministry of education for not letting your child attend schools or programs. There are colleges named career colleges which will allow you to get prepared for a job in a short period of time, and instructions. The college will have a broad range of instructions and technical duties. There are a lot of Eskimos in these career colleges because it is not the type of colleges where you have to participate for at least 1 or 2 years, you can just attend the college for at least 9 months. Career colleges have a highly competitive fee structures. If an Eskimo can have a degree from college, it will be extremely good for the persons future. Dalhousie University is also a good university for the Eskimos because Dalhousie shares diplomas with Nunavut Arctic University. Dalhousie University is in Halifax, Nova Scotia. But Dalhousie University is a better choice for an Eskimo who is looking to attend a University. Nunavut Arctic University is also a good university, but there are a limited amount of diplomas in the university. In Dalhousie there are more courses, more programs and more diplomas available than Nunavut Arctic University. British Colombia has got 11 universities, 11 colleges, and 3 institutions. Approximately 433,000 people attended secondary institutions in 2006 to 2007 in the academic year. The number of students were 17,250 of them where From British Colombia and 10,500 where international students. In 2011 at least 151,774 applications took place in the British Colombian campus. But the problem was that in some schools, the grading system was harshly marked and most students didnt get the mark that they wanted or expected. That started causing cheating during 2008-2009. For Eskimos there is also a nursing program. The nursing program involves The University Of Regina. The nursing program is quite an intense course for male or females who want to learn how to become nurses or something else. The nursing program needs a lot of focus and concentration to become successful in the course. There is also a Nunavut teacher learning program which involves University Of Prince Edward Island, Master of education in leadership and learning program. And also the former Akitsiraq Law Program. But now unexpectedly it was disabled by the territorial government, even though it was very good, and acknowledged and successful. The government of Yukon was saying the Yukon University was hiring more and more teachers because more and more students were attending that particular University. In 2011 the students increased from 9,856 to 10,234. This affected some of the education in that college and made it harder to reach because theyre not use to many students in one class. There was also an art college that was sharing applications with Yukon University. There is also a man named Bartlett who was very pleased to attend SOVA. In the Northwest Territories there is a government community school where residences attend the school. The school focuses on carriers. Work cited list A large selection of Canadas universities and  colleges found in both urban and rural places in every region of the country 2012 (Education System In Canada) There are no universities in Nunavut.  Nunavut Arctic College  is the only institution of higher education. It offers a small number of degrees in conjunction with Dalhousie University 2012 (Wikipedia) You will need to have an extremely good score on your high school diploma to have this opportunity. (Why Your Education Is Important For Canada) 2003 It was good to hear Saskatchewans Education Minister, Russ Marchuk, talking recently about the value of pre-kindergarten and other forms of early childhood development in generating better learners, and ultimately more successful citizens. (Better Education Integral To Canadas Economy) 2012 First Nations and the wider community work together in a genuine partnership to ensure good outcomes for all children. (Ministry Of Education) 2012

The Jungle Essay -- Essays Papers

The Jungle In Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle not only symbolized an era where dirt and filth ran rampant in meat packing industry, but it also exposed people to the natural human desire of greed, power, and corruptions. This in turn was a socialist transformation itself. Sinclair also provides the meaning to the phrase â€Å"wage slavery† in different ways. In the novel Sinclair tells a story about a man name Jurgis, a Lithuanian immigrant who gets married to young lady named Ona Lukoszaite, who’s also a Lithuanian immigrant. At the wedding there are saloon-keepers who cheats the family on liquor and beer, claiming that the guests consumed more than they actually did. Since the family had enough sense not to argue with these powerful people they decided to do as they were told. Since Jurgis felt that he was strong enough to work off the money that was owed to these people he decided to work harder. Throughout the 1st two chapters of the novel Sinclair finds a way to talk about Socialism. Socialism is the belief that whoever controls the means of production holds the power to determine how well the people live. â€Å"The Socialists were organized in every civilized nation†(Sinclair 315). When Jurgis had made himself familiar with the Socialist literature, as he would very quickly he, would get glimpses of the Beef Trust from all sorts of aspects, and he would find it everywhere the same; it was the incarnation of blind and insensate Greed. In the Nove...

The Secret Diary of Lady Macbeth :: essays research papers

The Secret Diary of Lady Macbeth After receiving a letter from Macbeth Earlier today, I received a most urgent letter from Macbeth. He told me that he was accosted by three witches on the night of the battle between Scotland and Norway. They greeted him "All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!" Macbeth was "rapt" with what the witches had said and tried to question them further but they vanished into a haze of fog. I could see his enthusiasm from his vocabulary and could tell that he believed the witches, even though they are feared and many hundreds have been burned. He said he "burned in desire" to question them further, indicating that he was almost on fire with this knowledge that came from the "perfect'st report". Witches have metaphysical powers and "more in them than mortal knowledge". Later that day Macbeth received a message from the King saying he was to become Thane of Cawdor. He called me his "dearest partner of greatness" and plans to share the glory of the golden round with me. He sent the letter by messenger despite the danger of the contents being read by others, when it could have waited until he arrived here. Having seen Macbeth's enthusiasm, I will take my cue from him. His letters have "transported me beyond this ignorant present". I nearly told a messenger who brought news of the King coming to stay, of my thoughts and for one moment, I reacted as though Macbeth were already King, and I Queen, I must be more careful in the future. I have made the decision that Macbeth will be King, the only problem being that he is "too full of the milk of human kindness" and does not have it in him to do the unthinkable deed, at heart Macbeth is a giver and not a destroyer. I see my role as Macbeth's strengthener. I wish that I could persuade him to "catch the nearest way". To this end, I asked the evil spirits to take my womanly qualities away. I asked them to take my milk and replace it with gall. I am asking to become a poisoner instead of a nourisher. I asked for unnatural darkness so that heaven will not see and cry: "Hold, hold!" No one must see the murder, as killing the King is an unthinkable act; it is just like killing God.

Political Concepts Essay

1) Mass Media as the `Fifth Branch` of government Definition: Mass Media is the fifth branch of government because it can shape public opinion and influence the national agenda. Importance: It is important because today’s media is so assertive and liable to such adversarial, negative reporting that they can be downright obstructive of government policy 2) Agenda Setting Definition: On a national level, this is a role usually reserved for the President, such as when he makes his State of the Union Address. Importance: As the leader of the nation it is his duty to set the Agenda for the coming year. Without a clear vision the nation will drift aimlessly. 3) Electoral College (how does it work?) Definitions: A ‘vote’ that will be counted purposes of electing a president; each state has a set number of electoral colleges.   The term refers to a â€Å"collegium† or assembly of 538 President Electors who meet after the popular vote and cast their votes for President and Vice-President. Importance: A presidential candidate may have technically ‘won’ by getting more of the popular vote overall but if he loses in too many States with a high number of Electors, he can still lose the elections. 4) Who votes (what kind of person is MOST likely to vote)? Why has voter turnout in America declined since 1960? A person who is involved in the campaign of some one running for election is most likely to vote. A charter member of the Republicans or the Democrats because they owe it to their group.   Those at the extremes of political opinion, who feel strongly for or against the candidates in question. Importance of voting: Voting is an essential political right, a chance to speak and be counted and an opportunity to affirm or reject state policy. It is often the only political exercise that the average person will have a say in. 5) Congress: What do they do? The Congress makes laws for the President to sign as well as attend to the needs of their constituency. Importance of what they do: Congress also provides an important check-and-balance to the power of the Executive, the President and the line departments because the framers of our Constitution did not wish the President to act arbitrarily without enabling laws from Congress. For example, he cannot wage war on Iraq without going to Congress to ask for appropriations that will cover soldiers’ salaries, aid to civilians, ammunition, fuel and support services. 6) Congress: What are Standing, Joint, and Conference Committees? A standing committee is an ordinary permanent committee. By U.S. Congress rules, a conference committee is â€Å"A temporary, ad hoc panel composed of House and Senate conferees which is formed for the purpose of reconciling differences in legislation that has passed both chambers. Conference committees are usually convened to resolve bicameral differences on major and controversial legislation.† This means differences between the Senate and House versions of a bill.   A â€Å"joint committee† refers to all other bicameral committees convened for some special function or other except reporting legislation.   Examples of the latter are joint committee hearings on controversial matters or on impeaching the President. Importance of committee work: Laws are not made arbitrarily, often there is a need to consult with others before a bill is proposed in the floor. At the same time it is too chaotic present a half-baked bill to the general assembly of congress without refining it first. This is the work of committees. 7) Congress: How does a bill become a law? A bill must be authored, be deliberated on in committee then pass three readings in both houses of Congress. The President then signs the bill to make it law. Importance: On paper a bill must first pass through one house before it is forwarded to the other house for its own three readings there. But in practice a bill is often authored and filed simultaneously in both houses with each version differing little from the other. 8) Presidential Powers: The president is the commander-in-chief of the army. He can mobilize the armed forces even without a formal declaration of war for up to 60 days. Domestically, he has the power to make or break a bill with the stroke of a pen. He can also propose priority legislation to Congress. 9) Presidency: To be a successful leader of Congress, the President must be able to read the pulse of congress well. He must know when to act and push for his agenda. He is important because Congress must be united under strong leadership if it is to be an effective counter balance to the President’s domination. 10) Judiciary: Judicial Activists versus Judicial Restraintists. A Judicial Activist is a radical who tries to pursue social justice in his decisions. While a Judicial Restraintist is a conservative who tries to maintain the status quo. Importance: The judiciary needs a balanced mix of both kinds of Justices in order for it to be a fair and just final adjudicator of legal disputes. If it were made entirely of Restraintists or Activists, decisions would be biased. Section II: Short Essays. Answer ALL parts of each question in as much detail and depth as possible. 1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mass Media is referred to as the fifth branch of government because of the sway it holds on public opinion. Media can reach into every aspect of our lives and influence us in ways the other branches of governance can only dream off. Regretfully, media is biased these days. It is biased for the highest bidder and for its own overly-liberal agenda. Media is a commercial proposition hence profitability is a concern. Since controversy creates cash, media is known to play up scandals and negative aspects of life because the shock value is known to create high ratings, which then attract more advertising money. As a result news today appears to be a parade of bad news and shocking events because media mercenaries know that by showing these they will get more advertising money and social responsibility be damned. 2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 2000 George W. Bush won as a result of the disaffection people felt with the Democrats. Bill Clinton’s presidency was rocked by scandal (Monica Lewinsky comes to mind) and economic depression (among other things, the frenzied dot-com bubble burst). People were tired of what they thought was the misrule of the Democrats and were eager to try what the Republicans had to offer. In 2004 Bush was flying high on the euphoria generated by his still successful War on Terror; both Afghanistan and Iraq had fallen in just a few weeks of fighting. His bold fighting stance was still supported by many then.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However Bush, in my humble opinion did not defeat Gore in 2000. Based on the total number of voters, first of all, Gore actually won the elections. He lost in the electoral vote, though. This is another reason why the electoral college system should be abolished, it devalues the principle of one man, one vote. In the extreme example, Gore could have had an overwhelming majority of the total voters but so long as he lost in enough large-college states like California, he would still lose the elections. Therefore, the electoral college system overvalues certain states if they have a large number of Electors. Kerry, for his part, lost during the 2004 elections because he could not present a strong alternative to Bush. 3.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The iron triangle is a corrupting influence in the American political process because it takes away from the sanctity of the political process enshrined in our Constitution. Congressmen are loved by their constituents for the benefits they can provide. A Congressman being a representative of his or her state tends to keep (and vote for) the best interest of the state in mind. After all if he votes or acts in a way detrimental to his constituents he will have to answer to them in the next elections. Also a Congressman’s recommendation is necessary to enter West Point.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Congress is hated, almost universally, because of its poor image. Recently, it has been unable to stem Bush’s warmongering. The economy is slowing down and Congress is getting a share of the blame for not doing anything to prevent it. Also, Congress is seen as a breeding pit of vested interests and lobbyists who push their agenda to the detriment of legitimate concerns of the country as a whole.

A Paper Review on the Economics of the Middle East

Workforce is a significant aspect in every country’s economy.   There are some areas that has a large number of employment opportunities yet with just a few people applying for work which could be due to lack of skill or because of culture when it comes to women workers especially the married ones.This usually becomes an issue in places where women are not able to work so that they could tend to their children everyday.   In some countries, it still taboo for women to get employed since their role is considered as a housekeeper thus not requiring them to seek employment and it is the husbands’ role to be the breadwinner and be the one to put food on the table.This research paper was conducted to help determine whether child care availability would affect women’s employment decisions in the Arab countries, most specifically in Israel where the free Pre-Kindergarten Law for three to four year old kids was implemented last September 1999. This also tried to find out about the effects of child care costs on fertility.According to Analia Schosser, who wrote the research paper, women’s participation in the labor force would help promote women empowerment and gender equality.   This would also help in the progress of a country’s economy and modernization.   A minimal labor force participation of women is often attributed to cultural factors.  I do agree with the author of this paper that having women in the labor force would allow them to earn a living and be able to help support their families financially at the same time help their country’s economy and   also reduce the gender gaps in the employment area.   Mothers would also realize how imperative it is for their kids to get early childhood education to build a foundation for their children’s education.This paper may be based on a study done in one country only but there are some countries that are somewhat of the same situation as that of Israel and t his will serve as a basis of a change in the role of women in their societies as well. This could boost the economy of one place if women consider seeking employment and were at the same time considered for employment by certain companies.   This could also enhance the educational growth of children who are of pre-school age.It was found in this research that the Pre-Kindergarten Law of Israel successfully fulfilled two aspects which were the increase of children’s enrollment in pre-school and the increase of the women’s labor supply.It just goes to show that women gave the priority in child-rearing thus giving them no time to seek for employment or they could not afford to put their children to get a pre-school education but when free education was available, it significantly showed a change in the women’s participation on the labor force thereby helping their country as well.   The research also found that there were no short-term fertility responses among mothers affected by the intervention.It would strengthen the findings of this research and be very essential if a follow up is made after a few more years among the same communities offered by the free pre-school education.   A research of the same kind will also help if conducted in another country that has the same predicament.Researches of this type can help a government’s decision on what aspect and ways they need to implement for the enhancement of their community and their economy.Works Cited Schlosser, Analà ­a. â€Å"Public Preschool and the Labor Supply of Arab Mothers: Evidence from a  Ã‚   Natural Experiment.† 2005.