A Lavishing Welcome-- Odyssey essays

A Lavishing Welcome Odyssey essays For years hospitality has played a huge role in the lives of many, whether they be travelers or not. Through Homers The Odyssey this statement proves to be true; hospitality affects the travels of Odysseus throughout the entire work, both to his benefit and not. Many types of hosts are presented throughout this novel, some differing greatly, but they all have an effect on Odysseus in some way. From the start of the story you get a sense of how travelers are treated in most places. When we first meet Odysseus he is being treated as a king in the land of the Phaeacians. The Phaeacians were the perfect hosts to Odysseus giving him all that he needed and helping him along his way. They sat listening to the tale of his journey for quite some time and immediately offered to help him find his way back to Ithaca. This is what every traveler hopes to come across when finding themselves stuck in an unfamiliar area. Unfortunately for Odysseus this wasnt always the case. Some of the hosts Odysseus came across seemed wonderful and welcoming on the outside, but in all reality hurt his case more than anyone else. Calypso was a perfect example of the importunate host. She treated Odysseus well, spoiling him and letting him live a life of lavishing riches, but she wanted this to be all he knew of life. A perfect host would treat Odysseus well, just as Calypso did, but this perfect host which Calypso was not-would let Odysseus leave whenever he was ready and willing. Calypso never felt a desire to let Odysseus leave and did all she could to ensure that he was stranded with her. None of this is to say that Odysseus didnt like the life he was living. It was quite possible that he enjoyed himself throughout this extravagant life, but he still yearned for his home. Calypso wasnt the only one who played the role of an importunate host; Circe fulfilled this role as well. Unlike Caly ...

Abandoned People in Of Mice and Men Essay Example

Abandoned People in Of Mice and Men Essay Example Abandoned People in Of Mice and Men Essay Abandoned People in Of Mice and Men Essay Essay Topic: Of Mice and Men Steinbeck had already displayed a variation of the lonesome existence of the farmhands with the more common attitude towards George, Lennie, and Candy. In Chapter Four, this contrast becomes more pronounced. Crooks, Candy, and Lennie being the three mentally or physically disadvantaged â€Å"outcasts† on the farm discuss their dream of living a superior lifestyle. There seems to be a strong relation to socialism, which brings forward views of prejudice, freedom, and racism. Curley’s wife is reintroduced as well, leaving the four of them alone together. These characters are similar in the way they are secluded from society because of their impairment. Crooks is physically handicapped due to his skin color. Since he is not white he is looked upon as weak and inept. He does not have a proper bedroom and is stuck in a barn by himself every single day. To add to that, Candy is also physically handicapped. He is not able to do certain things because of his missing hand and does not feel needed on the farm. His dog was his only companion, but he loses him and has no one else to rely on. Curley’s wife is socially handicapped. She is perceived as a tramp because of her gender. There are not any other women for her to talk to, and that makes her seek attention. Last but not least, Lennie is mentally handicapped. He cannot think for himself and is unable to process basic concepts. To sum it up, all of them have some sort of handicap, whether it be mentally, physically, or socially. Although they are undeniably similar, they are also exceedingly different. For instance, Crooks is the only character who is left out on a daily basis. He cannot go anywhere without harsh words being thrown at him or feeling hated completely. On the other hand, Lennie is mocked simply because of his mental illness. At least he has someone to look after him, which is George. He can go places, but people feel the need to make their own entertainment from pushing hi

Kurdistan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Kurdistan - Research Paper Example While the political waves have promised to grant this state some form of political freedom, it is clear that it has a long way to go in the journey towards its independence. In the Middle East, Kurdish people claim one of the longest histories. The Kurdistan land was founded back in the year 2400 BC and the Kurds occupied the same geographic region that they occupy today. However, the population in this land has changed since there hass been massive foreign invasions and immigrants into this region. The current face of the Kurdish people has been changed by not only the people surrounding them but also those that have entered in this region in the course of history. One of the historical times that the Kurds mark is the time that they fall under the rule of the Ottoman. The Ottoman Empire considerably suppressed the Kurdish people and this had socioeconomic impacts in this land. Since 1843, during the Ottoman rule, a massive Kurdish uprising underpinned the political consciousness of this community. In the year 1908, the Kurdish people responded to oppression by attempting to form a national Kurdish movement. During the period of the First World War, there was a great struggle to redefine the boundaries of the Kurdistan land. Treaties were being formed by the respective governments to divide the minority communities such as Kurdistan. However, the government of Iraq and Turkey refused to give up the Kurdish land due to the presence of Oil wells in this region. They felt that this would be a great economic loss for the country. At the end of the Second World War, the Kurdish people formed the Mahabad Republic of Kurdistan, a body that gave this land independence from the other countries. However, this independence was short-lived as Iran, with the support of US and Great Britain destroyed this land and executed its leaders. This was a great blow for the land as it reduced the hopes of reconstruction and left the and under no

Switzerland Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Switzerland - Research Paper Example Depiction and Delineation Switzerland is considered to be one of those exceptional countries that are found to be the richest nations by both their economy as well as their beauty. This federal republic is situated in the heart of Europe (Middle Europe) and has been circumscribed by countries including Austria, Germany, Italy, and Liechtenstein. The foundation of Switzerland is an outcome of the concordance of people with diverse racial, cultural and religious origins. This fact reveals the secret of diversity observed throughout this country. It was established as an independent state by the Federal Constitution in 1848. Several great and notorious places are fancied by tourists including the Matterhorn, the Eiger, and the Jungfrau for their exclusive allurement subsumes French, Germans and Italians respectively. The major languages which are being used in Switzerland as national languages include French, German, Italian, and Romansh. However, Romansh does not equally match the stat us of other three languages. The hallmark souvenirs of this country are found to be the Swiss cheese and Swiss chocolate. Commerce and Industries Switzerland is found to be one of those exclusive countries that have the most stable economies in the world and has remained a leading financial and business hub. Along with the stability of its own economy, it has also been proved to be a safe harbor for financiers and business groups. The country has served as a safe heaven not only for depositors, but also for investors to place their funds in different businesses. On the basis of this, it is found that the country’s economy, holistically, is based mainly upon foreign investments. There are various kinds of industries which attract entrepreneurs for business progression (Robinson & Schweizer, 2006). The principal industries running in Switzerland are in the manufacturing sector producing either raw material or finished products, or they are involved in producing innovative high quality finished goods, for instance, watches. After manufacturing industries, industries for machineries and chemicals are dominant over other industries by rank. One of the chief as well as the oldest industries found in Switzerland is the food processing industry embodying processed cheese, condensed milk, baby food and, most substantially, the Swiss chocolate products. They are followed by another oldest industrial sector – the textile industry which is found to be mandatory for raw fabrics. However, the paper and plastic industry has also gained substantial elevation in the commerce of Switzerland. If skimmed economically, then Switzerland has achieved the honor to be one of the economic countries with topmost revenues along with the least rate of retrenchment (Switzerland, 2013). Government The government of Switzerland is considered to be divided into three principal levels: †¢ The Confederation. †¢ The Cantons. †¢ Communes. The Confederation, which is a lso been termed as the federal government, principally deals with the administration of taxes, customs, army, foreign relations, lawmaking of currency, and confederacy communication. The government comprises seven associates possessing comparable rights, and each of them is considered to be foremost in their respective departments. However, decisions are supposed to be adjudicated by voting of the seven members. Nevertheless, these associates are not considered permanent as they are customarily reinstated after four years by the Federal

Competing with Information Technology Essay Example for Free

Competing with Information Technology Essay Chapter 2 introduces fundamental concepts of competitive advantage through information technology and illustrates major strategic applications of information systems. Information Technology (IT) professionals must understand how to use IT systems and technology to deliver a competitive advantage to the organization. Information systems and technology should provide more than a cost savings benefit to organizations. Today, IT solutions are expected to provide the means to surpass a competitor’s performance. As discussed in Chapter 1, the role of IT professionals is changing. Currently, there is an evolving term, business technology, which is used to describe the emerging role in IT. IT professionals are becoming more and more integrated with the business operations of an organizations. The Real World Case Study 4, IT Leaders: Reinventing IT as a Strategic Business Partner, describes how one organization is reorganizing to better utilize IT to increase business benefits and contribute to a competitive advantage. It is important for an IT organization to utilize IT to reduce the cost of running the business, grow the business, or develop new services to change the business. To position an organization to better provide its products and services, an understanding of the competitive forces is needed. Michael Porter identifies five threats that require business strategies ensure that an organization can out-perform other competitors. They are: 1. Rivalry of competitors within its industry 2. Threat of new entrants 3. Threat posed by substitute products that might capture its market share 4. The bargaining power of customers 5. The bargaining power of suppliers To counteract these threats, competitive strategies must be developed to address the potential risks an organization may encounter as it strives to maintain its position on the market place. The competitive strategies are: 1. Cost Leadership Strategy 2. Differentiation Strategy 3. Innovation Strategy 4. Growth Strategies 5. Alliance Strategies 6. Other Strategies These strategies can be used either individually or in a combination to position an organization to better compete for the future. An example of an organization that is utilizing IT to change how it does business and remain economically viable in the future is the online magazine Cross Talk. In the 1990’s, Cross Talk was printing and mailing the magazine to subscribers. With a decrease in funding, this organization had to develop ways to reduce costs, deliver its services to its subscribers, grow its subscriber base, demonstrate its value above other on-line content providers, and justify why it should not be eliminated. Cross Talk is now available at its new website in either an online digital flipbook format or PDF version—CrossTalk is now completely electronic. This change reduces their carbon footprint and allows them to bring the journal to their readers in their preferred and most convenient format. This is also CrossTalks first step towards reaching new reader devices and enhancing the suitability of the journal for our increasing electronic readership. Customer Value Customer value has become a driving force in the world economy. A key success factor for many organizations is developing customer value by increasing customer loyalty, anticipate their future needs, respond to customer concerns, and provide top-quality customer service. One example is Southwest Airlines. Not only have they automated ticket sales via the Internet, Southwest also sends special offers regarding discounts available at my destination, emails to remind customers that the trip is around the corner, text alerts if a flight is delayed, and offers incentives to fly with them. It seems that Southwest Airlines provides a personal assistant to help make the travel experience more enjoyable. Think about how some of your favorite businesses are creating customer value for you. Internet Technologies Many organizations use Internet technologies to create a strategy to offer fast, responsive, high-quality products and services tailored to a customer’s individual preferences. Internet technologies make customers the focal point of customer relationship management (CRM) and other e-business applications. New technologies such as wikis and blogs are also being incorporated as a means to provide enhanced customer experience. Such communications enable continual interaction with customers by creating a cross-functional collaboration with customers in product development, marketing, delivery, service, and technical support. Television is taking advantage of this capability. TV news shows are reading and answering emails and some reality TV shows allow views to vote for their favorite contestant, preferred ending, or favorite commercial. Using the Internet technologies, business units are better able to shape and offer products and services. Value Chain The value chain is another concept that helps to identify opportunities for strategic information systems. It views an organization as a series of basic activities that add value to its products and services. In this framework, activities are organized into primary and support processes. From the business understanding gained by analyzing an organization’s value chain, the IT organization can determine where to best apply IT systems and technology. The following value chain graphic provides an example of how and where information technologies can be applied to specific business processes to gain a competitive advantage in the market place. Value chain offered by information technologies. Business Reengineering Often times, to remain competitive, an organization must consider more than just where and what IT systems and technology solutions should applied. An organization must look at how it actually does business and then reengineer its business processes. Business reengineering requires an organization to re-design how it does business by eliminating stove-piped, silo organizations and functions, develop an improved understanding for opportunities for information sharing, and instituting enhanced stewardship regarding an organizations data and business processes. Agile Companies The rate of change is increasing and organizations must be able to quickly respond to changing market trends. Standardized, long-lived products and services are giving way to globalized, niche markets which offer products that are individualized and short-lived. To become an agile organization, an organization must consider the following strategies. 1. Provide a solution that customers perceive as a solution to an individual problem. This allows the product to be priced based on value rather than cost to produce. 2. Cooperate with customers suppliers, and other companies to quickly bring the product to market. 3. Thrive on change and uncertainty. 4. Leverage the individuals and knowledge of the processes. Become entrepreneurial in spirit. Knowledge as a Competitive Advantage To remain competitive, organization must become a learning organization. Organizations must be able to capture the knowledge of the organization, learn from this knowledge, and then use it to enhance its offerings. Knowledge Management Systems facilitates an organization’s ability to capture and then utilize its knowledge. Understanding and being able to utilize this unstructured date is key to developing and maintain a competitive advantage. Information capture includes processes, procedures, patents, reference works, best practices, etc. This integration of knowledge helps an organization become an innovative and agile provider of high-quality products and customer services, and potentially a more formidable competitor in the market place. Leaders in information technology are expected to be not only a technology professional but also a business professional. Many are tasked with finding emerging business opportunities, driving growth, encouraging innovation, and engaging customers. This provides a tremendous opportunity for you to step up and co-create and ultimately shape the future business vision. Collaborating with the business will not be enough—you dont just provide the technology but jointly own the success and failure of business initiatives. IT Portfolio Management and Governance An emerging trend is enhanced IT Portfolio Management and Governance as a means to effectively apply IT systems and technology to business needs. According to Richard Spires, DHS CIO, in his blog post entitled Getting Program Governance Right Helps Ensure Success on the federal CIO Council Web site: Complex IT systems encompass at least a half-dozen stakeholder organizations that must be synchronized, including the strategy organization, the business or mission owner of the system, IT, finance, procurement, security, and privacy. Ensuring all key stakeholders are involved in key decisions is an essential element to assuring genuine alignment. Program Governance Boards provide guidance, decision-making, and oversight of one or more programs. The function of the Program Governance Board is not to usurp the authorities of the Program Manager (PM), but rather to provide a forum by which the PM can bring key issues and trade-off decisions to an informed, empowered body that has a vested interest in that program’s success and views the PM as a trusted advisor and true subject matter specialist. IT organizations must determine where to invest time, people, and money in current and new IT systems and services in order to enhance the value of products and services. To do this, many organizations are categorizing offerings into individual portfolios and establishing a strong governance structure to guide the selection and investment into solutions. Enterprise Architecture Organizations are establishing an Enterprise Architecture (EA) to inform, guide and constrain the investment decisions made by governance boards regarding IT systems. The Federal CIO Council defines EA as: Enterprise Architecture is a strategic information asset base, which defines the mission, the information necessary to perform the mission and the technologies necessary to perform the mission, and the transitional processes for implementing new technologies in response to changing mission needs. An enterprise architecture includes a baseline architecture, target architecture (sometimes referred to an as-is and to-be), and a sequencing plan. An EA identifies which processes and IT systems to standardize and integrate. The benefits of an EA are reduction in IT Costs, improved IT responsiveness, guides the proper selection of IT solutions to ensure the accomplishment strategic business outcomes. The components of an enterprise architecture is described in the figure below: Various layers of an enterprise architecture. (Source: NIST) Conclusion How does your organization determine how to invest in IT? You might see if one of your organization’s senior executives is available for a 30 minute meeting to discuss how the organization determines what technologies to invest in as a corporation. Think about questions to ask. Some examples might be: how is an business need identified? How are IT investments justified? Who are your competitors? If you work for an IT consulting firm, you might as how the company decides what contracts it will bid on. It can be said that our use of IT systems and technology is equivalent to when we were using rotary telephones. As you complete your Masters Program at UMUC, remain watchful of emerging trends in the IT industry, how it will be utilized to gain a competitive advantage, and what impact it will have on the skills needed by an IT professional and the organization structure required to take advantage of the advancements in technology. Trends currently occurring that may be worth watching are: cloud computing, software as a service, virtualization, social networks, and mobile computing. It is through developing learning as a life-long habit, remaining aware of trends in the industry, and understanding the impact that technology has on a company’s ability to compete that you, as an individual, will be able to keep your skills current, agile, and competitive.

Implementation Factor Affecting E-governance in Uttarakhan

Implementation Factor Affecting E-governance in Uttarakhan Jitender Kumar Sehgal, Dr. Priti Dimri, Krishna Nand Rastogi Abstract e-Governance is the utilization of Internet and the world wide web for delivering government Information and services to the citizens and the other organizations. Uttarakhand is one of the leading states in implementation of e-Governance but still there are lot of challenges in effective and efficient implementation at rural level or hilly areas. This paper highlights the factors that are affecting the implementation of e-Governance in Uttarakhand it also includes a survey which takes all the factors into an account and before starting a actual survey a preliminary study conducted in order to evaluate feasibility for this questionnaire was done which confirms its acceptance. Keywords: E- governance, Common Service Centers, M-Government Introduction E-Governance refers to approach â€Å" How government utilized IT, ICT, and other web based telecommunication technologies to improve and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery in public sector. Government of Uttarakhand has implemented a number of projects implementation of e-governance. The website of almost every government department has been launched so as to provide as their services online, for this purpose Government of Uttarakhand has launched www.uk.gov.in where we can access a short description of a particular government department and its related website links. The description of 46 departments is available on this website. In addition to large no. of Common Service Center (CSC) are also provided for convenience of rural and hilly areas of citizens . But there are some hurdles due to which hilly area/rural area citizens are not able to access e-Governance services. In this survey an attempt to collect the factors that affect the implementation of e-Governance is done so that the necessary actions can be made for its efficient and effective implementation. Common Service Centers The CSC is a strategic cornerstone of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programmed to introduce e-governance on a massive scale. The CSCs would provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data content and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment as well as other private services. A highlight of the CSCs is that it will offer web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone and water bills. The Scheme creates a conducive environment for the private sector and NGOs to play an active role in implementation of the CSC Scheme, thereby becoming a partner of the government in the development of rural India. The PPP model of the CSC scheme envisages a 3-tier structure consisting of the CSC operator (called Village Level Entrepreneur or VLE) the Service Centre Agency (SCA), that will be responsible for a division of 500-1000 CSCs and a State Designated Agency (SDA) identified by the State Government responsible for managing the implementation over the entire State. M-Government M-Government, is the extension ofe-Governmentto mobile platforms, as well as the strategic use of government services and applications which are only possible using cellular/mobile telephones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) andwirelessinternet infrastructure. M-Government is now evolving on four dimensions transforming e-Government services directly to the mobile platform, providing access to mobile technologies and application for the field workers of the public sector, enabling smart / flex working and providing citizen services any time, any where. Analysis Factor This survey considers all the factors affecting the services of e-governance at urban and rural or hilly areas. It includes major factors and all those factors are taken as question which can be answered in two different ways (yes or no) according to which we take better services and form government and suggests some specific points to government of Uttarakhand for better implementation of e-governance services. According to the survey the respondents can be classified into two categories are as follows: Rural/ Urban Citizens Hilly areas citizens Category Factors General Questions Do you access internet in your daily life? Do you have internet connection? Is there any CSC in your village ? Do you have electricity in your village? Do you have proper road facility in your village? E-governance Have you heard about e-governance and its services? Do you prefer to use governance services online? Is the access to government links or websites (c.1) Easy? (c.2) Time Saving? (c.3) Accessible from Home? (c.4) Secure and safe? Common Service Centre (CSC’s) (a) Have you ever visited CSC centre? (If Yes, Please attempt the following) (b) Where do you access CSC ? (b.1) In your city or village (b.2) Nearby your city or village (b.3) Is it easy to access that CSC (If No, Please mention the reason/reasons) (b.4) Distance to be travelled in KM (b.5) Is Proper road facility available (b.5) Is the travel expensive? (b.6) Is there any Misguidance by agents (b.7) Is the procedure Complicated ? (b.8) Are all the staff members of CSC centre available at your visiting time? (b.9) Which medium of instructions are used by the staff? (b.9.1) Hindi (b.9.1) Garhwali (b.9.1) English (b.10) Do you think the staff members at the centre are well trained? (b.11) Are the staffs co-operative? (b.12) Do the staffs ask for more money than the prescribed fee? (b.13) Are you satisfied with the cooperation of the CSC staff on duty? (b.14) Is there any delay in submission of forms at the counter? Common Service Centers Facilities (a) Do you know common service centre provides following services? (Check Yes if already known) (a.1) Issue of Birth Certificate (a.2) Issue of Death Certificate (a.3) Issue of Licenses (a.4) Issue of Dependent Certificate (a.5) Issue of Bus Passes (a.6) Issue of Dependent Certificate (a.7) Issue of Unmarried Certificate (a.8) Issue of ID-Card (a.9) Registration of Vehicle related services (a.10) Issue of Affidavits (a.11) Submission of Passport Applications (a.12) Issue of No Objection Certificates (a.13) Services to Pensioners (a.14) Issue of Marriage Certificate (b) Do you know the procedure to get the services from Common Service Centre? (c) Which services have you ever accessed from CSC centre? (c.1) Issue of Birth Certificate (c.2) Issue of Death Certificate (c.3) Issue of Licenses (c.4) Issue of Dependent Certificate (c.5) Issue of Bus Passes (c.6) Issue of Dependent Certificate (c.7) Issue of Unmarried Certificate (c.8) Issue of ID-Card (c.9) Registration with Road Transport Office(RTO) (c.10) Issue of Affidavits (c.11) Submission of Passport Applications (c.12) Issue of No Objection Certificates (c.13) Services to Pensioners (c.14) Issue of Marriage Certificate (c.15) Issue of Bus/ Train Passes. (d) Do you know that you can check the status of your queries at website of CSC centre? (If Yes, attempt the following) (d.1) Are you satisfied with the services provided by CSC’s centre? (d.2) Do you think some other services should be available at CSC centre ? If Yes, Please mention: E-Governance in Hilly Areas (e) According to you, what are the reasons due to them e-Governance is not successful implemented in Hilly Area? (Please tick from the given factors) (e.1) Illiteracy (e.2) Digital Divide (e.3) Improper Infrastructure (e.4) Shortage of funds (e.5) Government policies (e.6) Available at Short Distance (e.7) Not proper road to reach the CSC (e.8) Cost involved to visit a CSC (e.9) Non-existence of kiosks in Villages. Helps in Controlling Corruption (f) CSC is helps in controlling corruption? (If Yes, Please choose from the reasons given below) (f.1) Single window system to apply (f.2) Applying directly to CSC (f.3) Work completed with in a time period (f.4) Government officials are responsible for their assigned work (f.5) No person will have to come face to face Interaction with a government officials Which helps in to reduce corruption. General terms about Uttarakhand (g) General terms about Uttarakhand, are you already familiar? (g.1) Population 10,086,292 (g.1) Literacy rate is about 78.82% (g.2) Rural population is 69.77%. (g.3) Urban population is 30.23%. (g.4) Number of CSC centres at Uttarakhand level is 1641. (g.5)Name of Project Consultant:- Unit A – M/s Nekton IT India Private Ltd. (NIIPL) Unit B – M/s Reliance Communication Ltd Unit C – M/s Reliance Communication Ltd (g.5) Roll out of CSCs as under in – Unit A (Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag and Tehri ) 706 Unit B (Haridwar, Chamoli,Pauri Garhwal, Almora, Bageshwar) 1394 Unit C (Nainital, Pithoragarh, Champawat, Udham Singh Nagar) 704 (g.6) Total cost of implementing a CSCs is about Rs 2.56 crores Role of Uttarakhand Government (h.1) All government services will be put online. (h.2) Common service centres will be opened throughout the state to give single window for all government work. (h.3) State Data Centre would provide many functionalities like Central Repository of the State, Secure Data Storage, Online Delivery of Services, Citizen Information/Services Portal, State Intranet Portal, Disaster Recovery, Remote Management and Service Integration etc. (h.4) The e-District project is developed to improve the efficiency of the various Departments under the district-level to enable seamless service delivery to the citizen . (h.5) Uttarakhand State Wide Area Network (UK-SWAN) UK-SWAN project is almost in the final stage of completion by 13 establishing around 135 POPs in all the Districts, 84 Tehsils and 95 Blocks in the state. (h.6) Many Uttarakhand departments like Forest Department, Police Department, Finance Department, Tourism Department and Cooperative Department etc. are taken up for formulation of MMPs initially. Some projects are as- Gyanotkarsh (low-interest/easily repayable loans to all government employees and teachers for purchase of computers for the home segment), Aarohi (distribution of Computers in schools), Shikhar (Computer education through colleges), Shiksha (Provide training to teachers of government/ non government schools) Conclusion Improvement in the e-Governance services in rural or hilly areas is needed for its overall effective and efficient implementation. This questionnaire also helps to find some factors are considered due to which rural or hilly area people are not able to access e-Governance services and setting the stage for the transformation from e-Government to m-Government. References: Home.nic.in/projects/e-district-uttarakhand www.uk.gov.in Egov.elesonline.com/2013/03/e-governance-in-dev-bhoomi Itda.uk.gov.in/pages/displays/995-csc http://www.census2011.co.in/census/state/uttarakhand.html http://itda.uk.gov.in/pages/display/995-csc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Wide_Area_ Network https://sites.google.com/site/uttarakhandswan/ Appendix A questionnaire on survey of Implementation Factor That Affect E-Governance In Uttarakhand. Please take few minutes to fill out the questionnaire. 1.Name: 2.Gender: Female: 3.Age: 18-25 25-35 35-45 45-55 55-65 65-70 4:City/Village: 5:State: (b.10) Do you think the staff members at the centre are well trained? (b.11) Are the staff co-operative? (b.12) Do the staff ask for more money than the prescribed fee? (b.13) Are you satisfied with the cooperation of the CSC staff on duty? (b.14) Is there any delay in submission of forms at the counter? Common Service Centre Facilities (a) Do you know that common service centre provides following services? (Check Yes if already known) (a.1) Issue of Birth Certificate (a.2) Issue of Death Certificate (a.3) Issue of Licenses (a.4) Issue of Dependent Certificate (a.5) Issue of Bus Passes (a.6) Issue of Unmarried Certificate (a.7) Issue of ID-Card (a.8) Registration of Vehicle related services (a.9) Issue of Affidavits (a.10) Submission of Passport Applications (a.11) Issue of No Objection Certificates (a.12) Services to Pensioners (a.14) Issuance of Marriage Certificate (b) Do you know the procedure to get the services from Common Service Centre? (c) Which services have you ever accessed from CSC centres? (c.1) Issue of Birth Certificate (c.2) Issue of Death Certificate (c.3) Issue of Character Certificate (c.4) Issue of Licenses (c.5) Issue of Dependent Certificate (c.6) Issue of Bus Passes (c.7) Issue of Dependent Certificate (c.8) Issue of Unmarried Certificate (c.9) Issue of ID-Card (c.10) Registration with Road Transport Office (RTO) (c.11) Issue of Affidavits (c.12) Submission of Passport Applications (c.13) Issue of No Objection Certificates (c.14) Services to Pensioners (c.15) Issue of Bus/ Train Passes (d) Do you know that you can check the status of your queries at website of CSC ? (If Yes, attempt the following) (d.1) Are you satisfied with the services provided by CSC’s ? (d.2) Do you think some other services should be available at CSC ? If Yes, Please mention: E-Governance in Hilly Areas According to you, what are the reasons due to them e-Governance is not successfully implemented in Hilly Area? (Please tick from the given factors) (e.1) Illiteracy (e.2) Digital divide (e.3) Improper infrastructure (e.4) Shortage of funds (e.5) Government policies (e.6) Available at Short distance (e.7) Not proper road to reach the CSC (e.8) Cost involved to visit a CSC (e.9) Non-existence of kiosks in Villages. Helpful in Controlling Corruption (f) CSC is helpful in controlling corruption? (If Yes, Please choose from the reasons given below) (f.1) Single window system to apply (f.2) Applying directly to CSC (f.3) Work completed within a time period (f.4) Government officials are responsible for their assigned work (f.5) No person will have to come face to face with government officials which helps in reducing corruption.

Consequently Mayflower

There were several dfferent classes of people who settled in the colonies of North America. They all experienced hardships along the way, though some experiences were milder than others. One perspective of someone who had a decent experience. was William Bradford. He was one of the leaders among the group of religious, freedom-seeking people, called Pilgrims, who arrived in America on the Mayflower. Their trip was not as smooth as It seemed though. Their ship had gotten off-course several times, as a result of the violent storms that took place.Consequently, in spite f the patent (which had originally granted them to settle in Virginia), they ended up settling their colony in what they called Plymouth (Massachusetts). This lead to a series of conflicts between the group of land-seeking people and the religious people. The land-seeking people argued that they were not bound by the terms of the patent, and thus no one had the power to control them. As a compromise, Bradford and the oth er leaders created an agreement called the Mayflower Compact, which stated that members of the colony had to form a civic body politic, and obey by the laws for the good of the colony.Bradford later went on become governor of the Plymouth Colony. Another perspective, is of Olaudah Equiano, who served as an African slave and came to the America not by choice, but by force. Born in Africa to a village chief, Equiano was suppose to follow in his father's footsteps. However, at age 11 he was kidnapped and loaded Into a crowded slave ship with Inhumane conditions. After barely surviving the poor conditions of the trip, Equiano was first taken to the Barbados, and then to Virginia to work in a plantation. Less than a month later, he was sold to an English naval officer.After traveling the world as the man's servant for seven years, he was fortunate to have been able to buy his way out of slavery. HIS fate was lucky, compared to others who would, along with their children. never know freed om again. Lastly, a slightly better experience of settling in the colonies would be Matthew Lyon, who was one of the many indentured servants who voluntarily agreed to trade their freedom for a trip to America. Lyon was a fourteen year old at the time, but his intelligence allowed him to persuade the ship captain to say he was eighteen (through bribery), which lessened his service time to three- ears.However, because of his cleverness, he once again was able to shorten his service time. After a year of service, he convinced a farmer to give him two bulls, promlslng to pay off the debt when he was free. With the bulls now In his possession. he was then able to sell the bulls to his master in exchange for his freedom. From the on, he was free, and after working off the debt he owed the farmer, Lyon went on to first become a ironworker, then an officer in the army, and eventually, the legislator of Vermont.As you can see, there were many different types of people with a wide ange of pe rspectives, who settled in the colonies of North America. BY Pinklover1967 There were several different classes of people who settled in the colonies of North were milder than others. One perspective of someone who had a decent experience, Their trip was not as smooth as it seemed though. Their ship had gotten off-course 11 he was kidnapped and loaded into a crowded slave ship with inhumane slavery. His fate was lucky, compared to others who would, along with their children, promising to pay off the debt when he was free. With the bulls now in his possession,

Mixed Ability Grouping

MIXED ABILITY GROUPING Ana Redondo I/ INTRODUCTION: The main purpose of this module is to present to you some general evidences of different researches about method of mixed ability grouping versus other forms of organising pupils in MFL teaching and learning perspective. II/CONTENT 1/ Political context (in England and Wales) * 1944 the educational system in Britain streamed into diferent types of secondary schools, student with special educational needs being educated in special school. Since 1980s central government break up the Local Education Authorities by introducing Local Management of School * 1991-1993, chidren with special education needs into mainstream school, private school: 20-25%, conprehensive school being skew. * Throughout 1990, setting had proved to be effective in many secondary schools for mathematics, science and language. Pupils grouping are cosidered under such pressures: Student’s achievements (examination results), policy and society, local needs and parental choice. / Mixed ability grouping * In the title clerly indicates: ‘Mixed ability grouping’ also refer to a group in which children of varied ability are taught together rather than being set apart. * -No group of pupils is ever homogeneous. Differences in areas: ability, gender, self-concept, self-estem, ethnic background. a. Advantages of Mixed abilitiy grouping * Mixed ability grouping provides all pupils with equality of opportunity and reduces the negative results often associate with homogeneous grouping. It avoids the problems associated with allocating pupils to homogenous groups. * It promotes a good relation among pupils, between teachers and pupils. * Reduce competition and the labelling of pupils. * Low ability pupils are supported more benefit. b. Disadvantages of mixed ability grouping * It is hard to ensure that higher ability Ss are stretched sufficiently. * The meeting the needs of high and low ability pupils can result in failure. Teachers need to be sensitive to aware the differences of in order to set appropriate work, maximize learning outcomes and avoid conflicts between teaching and learning. * Mixed ability grouping makes unrealistic demands on teachers' pedagogical skills. * The majority of the class is often poorly supervised. Mixed ability grouping pose particular difficulties in MFL. 3/ Other forms of organisind pupilss – MFL teaching and learning perspective * Students have multiple intelligences, there for, some are better at certain things than others. Homogeneous groupings are likely to alow teachers a greater opportunity to meet the individual’s needs of students. * Homogeneous groups of pupils can achieve more efficiently in MFL. * Homogeneity of teaching groups- when classes share a greater similarity of learning qualities and characteristic, allows the techer to carry out their teaching more effectively. * It is difficult to allocate students to the appropriate group, no stigma is attached. Both ‘mixed ability grouping’ and ‘ability grouping’ have advantages and disavantages.III/CONCLUSIONS * I suggest here to consider ‘homogeneous groups’ and ‘within -class groups’ as pragmatically feasible options. Seated group work, collarborative project work, co-coperative learning, flexible learning, task-based learning or carousel work can all be applied in various different ways to ensure academic and social learning. (Ana Redondo) * The grouping of pupil is only one of several factors affecting the learning environment of the classroom. The quality of instruction and the curriculum are central. (Halam, 1996:2)

What to Do if Youre Charged With Plagiarism in College

What to Do if You're Charged With Plagiarism in College Plagiarism- the act of passing off someone elses work as your own, no matter where you found it- is pretty common on college campuses. If one of your professors or an administrator realizes what youve done, you may be charged with plagiarism and put through some kind of campus judicial system. Figure out the Process Do you have a hearing? Are you supposed to write a letter explaining your side of the story? Does your professor simply want to see you? Or could you be placed on academic probation? Figure out what youre supposed to do and by when and then make sure it gets done. Make Sure You Understand the Charges You may have received a strongly worded letter accusing you of plagiarism, and yet youre not totally clear on what exactly it is youre being accused of. Talk with whoever sent you the letter or your professor about the specifics of your case. Either way, make sure you are crystal clear on what youre being charged with and what your options are. Understand the Consequences In your mind, you may have been up late, writing your paper, and absentmindedly cut and pasted something from your research that you forgot to cite. In your professors mind, however, you may have not taken the assignment very seriously, showed disrespect to him or her and your fellow classmates, and acted in a way that is unacceptable at the college level. What is not very serious to you may indeed be very serious to someone else. Make sure you understand what the consequence are, therefore, before you are unpleasantly surprised at how your sticky situation just got a lot worse. Respect and Participate in the Process You may not think the plagiarism charge is a big deal, so you toss the letter aside and forget about it. Unfortunately, however, plagiarism charges can be serious business. Respect and participate in the process so that you can explain your situation and reach a resolution. Figure Out What Youve Learned so It Doesnt Happen Again Plagiarism charges in college can be dealt with lightly (essay rewrite) or severely (expulsion). Consequently, learn from your mistake so that you can prevent getting yourself into a similar situation again. Having a misunderstanding about plagiarism, after all, can only happen once. The next time you receive a letter, folks are much less likely to be understanding since youve already been through the system. Learn what you can and move forward toward your ultimate goal: your diploma (earned by you and your own work, of course!).

Technology in the classical era Essays

Technology in the classical era Essays Technology in the classical era Essay Technology in the classical era Essay provides a strong need for public Infrastructure in the way of the necessity for flood prevention construction. This view is only on of many other possible views we could have heard from, ranging from: the common wealth, all the way to royalty. Though the point of view of this document was clearly that there was an obvious necessity for a flood prevention plane, some of the other views we could have heard room Like say the royalty for Instance, may have not really noticed that there was a need for a flood prevention plane because they TLD have to live with the destruction that the floods caused. The Han official may have put up a request that flood planes be built because a lot of soldiers are not well housed and so they are on the lower grounds with the common wealth people and have experienced the floods first hand, so he would be looking out for his soldiers, keeping their moral up, and over all Just keeping as many alive as he could. He could have also been trying to pep their moral up In the sense that if there was a flood prevention plan, there would be no need for the soldiers to worry about their family and their loved ones, seeing that all the foot soldiers were not wealthy people nor did they come from wealthy families, compared to the majority of the generals and officers. Document six, written by Plutarch, a Greek-born Roman citizen and high official, describes the construction of roads in the second-century B. C. E. Under the rule of political leader Gauss Gracious as he anxiously built roads not only for utility but also for beauty. It explains the Importance of bulling the roads to Gallus and how well mapped out It was, as the saying goes, All roads lead to Rome. It displays how the dedication of one aspect of an empire can impact society so greatly, it shows how much of a necessity order is. Plutarch may have described the road construction in extensive detail because it was something tremendous back then, something that was thought of as high quality. Document eight describes the process of turning stream water into drinking water and the enormous stretch of the many uses It has. The governor of Britain, Frontline, also a roman general, may have spoken of the aqueducts and viewed them as some of the few monumental structures that were actually useful, or at least had a use, unlike the pyramids and such. For the attitudes towards tools and men being in workshops, the views were accumulating towards the view that workshops were not for the clever nor for the gentlemen. Page Break In document five, Cicero, and upper-class Roman politician leader In the first century workshops dont have, and never will have anything enlightening about them. This splays the fact that the attitudes are very much original and from a direct source. Cicero may have said that it was a vulgar and non-enlightening choice to work in a workshop because those sort of Jobs are never clean, are all hands on, attract the common folk, and because gentlemen are not supposed to those sorts of hands on things, it brings them lower, they should have someone do it for them. Document seven describes what the speaker speculates about who invented tools, seeing them as nimble and sharp but neither great nor elevated. The whole point of this comment is the fact that it revolves around the idea of an opinionated and varied attitude of the speaker. Seneca, and upper-class Roman philosopher and adviser to Emperor Nero in the first century C. E. May have said that the person was neither great nor elevated because a great of elevated person would Just have someone else do it for them, its not the fact that he made tools that made the work more efficient than by hand, its the fact that he was even doing that work in the first place. Most advancements are done in the best interests of both parties, though a couple advancements could hinder one side but help the other. In document two, it is clear that the advancement only helped one side. The government replaced the workers hand crafter sturdy and long lasting tools with cheaply made brittle tools made in prison camps. Ultimately, it hindered the government too because it took efficiency away from the workers in the same given amount of time. This advancement decreased efficiency of the workers and productivity levels, but made it a lot cheaper for the government and therefore gained them a bit more wiggle room with income, which in turn hindered the entire process, which ties into the two categories of advancements in the thesis. Human Guan, a Han government official, may have said that now the salt and iron is sold at high prices and that some of the poorest peasants now had no choice but to work there, because, it shows how great of an impact a governments choices can have on people. Document three on the other hand, was a very beneficial advancement, employing nature to do mans work. It increased productivity and there for helped all parties. Human Tan may have spoken of this in such a supportive way because it not only helped productivity, but it also elevated the empires stature. In document four, It Shih has created a water powered blowing engine. It definitely helped them on their way to establishing their name in the top empires. The writer may have spoken of the new invention so well, because it was an enormous advancement back then. On the other hand, It might help to hear from the working class because those are the people that actually used the tools, They have first hand experience and they also know the efficiency of the new tools compared to the old tools or the times before the advancements compared to the mime after the advancement. It might also be helpful to hear from foreigners because if the tools are efficient, word will have reached the foreign countries about the advancements, and if they have heard of them, it proves that they really are good tools. It might help to hear from women because they will hear to complaints of their husbands who use the new tools or they will hear the gossip from other wives and so it gives you almost a 3-D perspective instead of a 2-D one because now you see all the sides of the situation instead of Just the black and white.

Mergers and Acquisitions Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9500 words

Mergers and Acquisitions - Dissertation Example The aim of the study is to reveal the impact of merger and acquisition on the performance of companies in UK which will be achieved by analysing the financial performance of sample companies involved before and after M&A. The study will analyse the financial statements of randomly selected companies before and after merger so as to reveal the true impact from such merger or acquisition. The study begins with an introduction and initial discussion of background followed by a detailed literature review. The research methodology is designed so as to facilitate analysis of secondary data collected from reliable online sources. The findings section discusses the research findings which is then analysed so as to critically analyse the research findings with research objectives and to what extent does the findings answer research questions. After the interpretation of findings, the research finally ends with conclusion and recommendations. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Chapter 1: Introductio n 6 1.1. History and Background of the Research 7 1.2. Objectives of the Research 8 1.3. Aims of Research 9 1.4. Research Problem and Research Questions 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review 10 2.1. Types of Mergers 11 2.2. Motives for mergers 12 2.3. Empirical Studies 16 2.3.1. Event Studies 16 2.3.2. Accounting Studies 16 2.3.3. Clinical Studies 17 2.3.4. Executive Surveys 17 Chapter 3: Research Methodology 17 3.1. Research Problem 18 3.2. Primary Research 19 3.3. Secondary Research 19 3.4. Data Collection 20 3.4.1. Primary Data Collection 21 3.4.2. Secondary Data Collection 22 3.4.3. Justification of Secondary Data Collection 22 3.5. Sampling and Sample Size 23 3.6. Data Analysis 23 Chapter 4: Findings of the Research 24 4.1. Overview 24 4.2. Financial Statement Analysis of Companies BEFORE Merger and Acquisition 25 4.2.1. Performance Analysis of Acquirer Company - Barclay Plc (Before M&A) 25 4.2.2. Performance Analysis of Acquired Company - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (Before M&A) 30 4.3. Financial Statement Analysis of Companies AFTER Merger and Acquisition 35 4.4. Results of Findings 40 Chapter 5: Analysis of Findings 42 5.1. Brief Overview of Findings 42 5.2. Reasons for Merger 43 5.3. Consequences of M&A 45 Chapter 6: Conclusion 46 Chapter 7: Recommendations 48 References 53 Appendices 57 Table 1 – Financial Statements of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (Before Merger) 57 Table 2 – Financial Statements of Barclays Plc (Before Merger) 58 Table 3 – Financial Statements after Merger and Acquisition 59 Chapter 1: Introduction In today’s world the primary objective of a firm is to survive the cut-throat competition and one way to do that is to make more profits and add value to shareholders’ wealth. The ladder of success for any firm is ‘growth’ which can be achieved either by expanding existing resources or introduction of new products and services. Another way of achieving growth is through merger and acquisition (M &A). The former is also known is organic growth where the firm uses its own resources (retained earnings, reserves and surplus, or equity capital) for financing growth. The later is also known as inorganic growth where the acquirer firm buys the assets and liabilities of the target(s) as on a given date (Sherman, 2010, p.1). Thus, M&A are external growth strategy that gains popularity mainly

Oil spill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Oil spill - Essay Example The author proceeds to state that oil contamination is extremely harmful to the environment and numerous numbers of sea birds, mammals and other sea creatures fall prey to oil spill. However, there is no one to one correspondent between the volume of the spill and sea life lost. Often the nature of the pollution is long term and affects sea life even after many years of the spill. Unless addressed with due importance it would surely trigger environmental catastrophe. However, the author has not mentioned that not the immediate direct action but the indirect action in terms of habitat loss (Center for Biological Diversity, 2014; National Wildlife Federation, 2012) would also affect the sea life and environment. Again sea and ocean water floats from one nation to another nation and from one continent to another continent; hence it is an environmental problem that is locally initiated but with global impact. Furthermore this local problem might risk the global economy; as an example the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It might also affect tourism and fishing and thereby pose economic and cultural threat (The Levin Institute, 2014). Considering these facts and the potential danger associated with the same; the author calls for more prompt research and development geared towards finding a technologically advanced, efficient and meaningful method to clear the ocean and sea water in case there is any oil spill. Center for Biological Diversity (2014), End Offshore oil drilling now, retrieved on August 1 2014 from: National Wildlife Federation, (2012), How Does the BP Oil Spill Impact Wildlife and Habitat?, retrieved on August 1, 2014 from: