Tourist art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tourist art - Essay Example tourist art can also serve as the means to preserve and to revive aboriginal art, as well as to negotiate new cultural meanings with locals and visitors in the modern world (Markwick, 2001). This essay will analyze two tourist art items from Hilo Hattie and ABC Store catalogues: the plastic floral lei and the petroglyph pottery. These tourist art objects serve different purposes and targets different audiences, but they both serve economic and symbolic functions that may stereotype native cultures, and they may also help promote local history and culture to locals and visitors. The first to be analyzed is the plastic floral lei. It is a product that seems to be intended for visitors and not the locals, because locals can use their natural resources to create their own floral lei. The locals also already know enough of the culture to demand authentic or natural floral lei, unlike visitors (Graburn, 1984, p.400). Visitors may not know or are not interested in authentic materials (Graburn, 1984, p.400), especially when they want a preserved souvenir. Furthermore, the plastic floral lei is produced as a souvenir for tourists. It is not part of traditional art, because it is used as an accessory by native women. The native tribe that uses natural lei has no â€Å"cultural stake† in creating plastic floral lei (Graburn, 1984, p.400). Traditional art is part of the cultural heritage and history of the aborigines. Though floral lei can be seen as a cultural symbol, it does not have deep cultural meaning as a form of art. It is not even prepared with high cr aftsmanship in mind. This item is also a souvenir because it is evidently a â€Å"new form† of the natural lei; it is made from plastic, a modern external resource that can produce inexpensive souvenirs (Graburn, 1984, p.400). Plastic is also related to mass production of cultural items. This modern material further commoditizes the idea of flower lei, which is far from its original use, where it is â€Å"made† for

Sales and Marketing Tourism Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sales and Marketing Tourism Report - Essay Example There are decorations in the Edwardian style: chandeliers, specially commissioned hand- painted woodcarvings and furnishing, rich fabric, Persian state of the art rugs, sophisticated designer furniture and brass – railed quality staircases (Kerin, 2006). There is awesome comfort in the 459 rooms. The rooms are divided into 294 pleasurable standard rooms, 17 luxury suites, 101 fantastic deluxe rooms, and 47 classic single rooms. It won’t go unmentioned that Radisson Edwardian Heathrow has received awards as its Henley’s AA Rosette serves the modern British cuisines with high quality native ingredients and Brasserie cafe that offers a more informal choice of drinks and food alike. For instance, on March 25 – 27, 2005 Radisson Edwardian Hotel hosted a â€Å"Dawn of the Dead† convention. Similarly, on March 21 – 24, 2008 a Science Fiction Easter Convention was hosted in the hotel (Bodenberg, 2002). In the analysis of the macro environment of Edwa rdian Heathrow hotel, its essential for the identification of factors that may in the event have an influence on a number of variables that may affect the company’s demand and supply levels and the associated costs(Bodenberg, 2002). The PESTLE analysis is among the checklist that is a mere framework categorizing the environmental influences as political, economic, social, technological and legal forces. The analysis examines the impacts of each factors and their interplay on business in effect to Edwardian Heathrow hotel. Pestle analysis is the strategic tool for an in depth comprehension of decline and growth, the position of business, potential and operations directions. This outcome can be used to take advantage of opportunities and structure contingency plans for presumed threats when designing the business and strategic plans ( Kotler & Makens, 2006). To start with, we shall take an analysis of the political environment. The elections of the country in England take place in the stipulated duration and have an added advantage to Edwardian Heathrow hotel. The law on employment stipulates on the human resource policies on workers remuneration and terms of employment. For instance, workers at the Edwardian Heathrow hotel have their pay on time though they work tirelessly to the satisfaction of the customer needs. There is great protection of the consumer by our company to ensure that he is not exploited in terms of price and services offered to requisite standards. The environmental regulations of the country are followed to the latter like, air and water non-pollution. The company has ensured that there is safe collection, storage and treatment of its waste (Oeklers, 2007). The industry specific regulations in the country relating to the management and operations of hotels are strictly adhered to by Edwardian Heathrow hotel. This is the reason for the many expansions that have beesn made by the company. The company conducts sophisticated checks and ad vanced investigations on its customers for efficiency to combat the fight on terrorism and warfare. In addition, there is a frequent check in the premises of the company for drug and substance abuse. The political trend in England of the king and queen has also positively ensured that services for them are always available. Secondly, the economic situation in terms of the economic growth trend is analyzed. The taxation system in the country is not to the detriment of Edwardian Heathro

Puberty Blues Essay Example for Free

Puberty Blues Essay The TV show I have chosen to talk to you about today is Puberty Blues. It is aired at 8:30pm, Wednesday on channel 10. It doesnt have a specific genre, but more like a mixture. I would classify it as a teen drama. Puberty Blues doesnt work in plot twists but offers a suprising reality. The best part about the TV drama for me is how we get a glimpse into the life of a 1970s teenager. Puberty Blues is set in Cronulla, Sydney, in the late 1970s. Majority of the time, Debbie and Sues houses are used, but the greenhill gang are also featured hanging around by the beach. Puberty Blues tells the story Debbie Vickers and Sue Knights. They are both very clever but somewhat unpopular high school girls who wants to raise their social standings in order to go out with boys. Through out the episodes we get to know the girls parents- Judy and Martin who are closed off and dont interact with each other much and Pam and Roger who have a far more open relationship. The sixth episode was directed by Glendyn Ivin and written by Fiona Seresis. The main plot is when the greenhill gang including Debbie and Sue, get wasted, go driving and flip the car, killing the driver. Any other show would have sent the characters into an instant panic but the writers of Puberty Blues understand that the shock combined with drugs would have caused everyone to burst into disbelieving laughter. The car crash wasnt the only plot in the episode though. Debbies parents, Judy and Martin, got to couples councilling because Martin has strong feelings for a women at his work. Cheryl, a member of the green hills gang, is flirting with her mums boyfriend to prove she is more desirable than her mother, who resents. The social issue pressented in the show was definitely driving under the influence. This message is easily interpreted in the car crash scene were the driver and passengers are drunk and stoned. This wasnt my favourite episode from Puberty Blues but it was still solid like we have come to expect from this series. I would recommend the show to high school students and older as there are some mature themes and sexual references. I love this show because it takes awkward and serious situations and brings out their bright side.

LEGO: Porters Five Forces and PEST

LEGO: Porters Five Forces and PEST LEGO is one of the most popular toy brands due to the companys distinctive brand image, high-quality products and creative business climate. However, the present successful performance of the company went through a period of significant transformation. In the beginning of the 21st century the company experienced drastic net loss which was resulted by internal inefficiency and over-ambitious expansion targets. The transformation path of the company has not always been smooth and flawless as LEGO faced some substantial threats over the lengthy period of operation. In the beginning of the 21st century the company experienced significant tremors which were resulted by profitability deficit of 1.4 billion DKK. At present LEGO has introduced a number of innovative strategies to enhance its consumer insight, reinforce its creative dynamics and produce more market-relevant products. The company has been involved in a number of operations which include the work of external professionals and enthusiasts to attract greater creativity influx to the production of new products. Although LEGO has gone through a period of highly positive transformations, the company is still facing a number of environmental threats and operational risk. The introduction of the Mindstorms NXT product line made the company penetrate in a highly competitive market where innovative and experienced brands as SONY failed. On the other hand, the company is working with a number of external parties which implies a continuous risk and pressure on the companys intellectual property. Moreover, the coordination of external professionals is hard to be sustained in the long-term and also hard for the company to fit these professionals within the corporate culture. In this context, the present report is focused on analysing the strategic capabilities which LEGO possesses, exploring the external environment and identifying business opportunities and threats. The purpose of the report is to outline some strategic issues which the company needs to avoid or exploit and thus introduce recommendations to promote LEGOs profit sustainability in the long-term. The Environment The environment in which LEGO operates can be characterised as highly dynamic. The companys products have been played by some 300 million children and adults on annual basis. LEGO manufacturers more than 1 400 000 components every hour to fulfill sales of some 100 million products worldwide every year (The Voice of the Customer, 2001). Deriving from these findings, it can be suggested that LEGO manages a highly diverse and complex environment where efficient resource allocation is of paramount importance for profit sustainability. The internal complexity of the organisation can be recognised as one of the main source for the past net profit loss as the company could not realise its resource potential, many new concepts were never released to market and the focus on continuous expansion incurred substantial costs. This is the reason why, LEGOs EBIT margins were falling in period when the company achieved high sales growth (Figure 1) (Robertson and Crawford, 2008). LEGOs Revenue and EBIT comparison Figure 1 Apart from the complex internal climate, LEGO has been also operating in a challenging external environment which can be identified from the presented PEST analysis (Figure 2). Political Environmental LEGO needs to consider international emerging markets, such as China. However, the company would need to be knowledgeable and flexible with respect to responding to the specific political characteristics of the Chinese market, such as penetrating through state-owned enterprises and government equity within the venture. Moreover, the company needs to produce products which continuously comply with health and safety regulations and, therefore LEGO is constantly exposed to risk and regulatory pressure (The Voice of the Customer, 2001). The company is operating in a business climate where the global environmental sustainability is continuously growing in importance. This is the reason why, producing plastic products as a core product line is of substantial challenge for the companys corporate citizenship and responsiveness to environmental degradation (Tracey et al., 2005). Social Technological The company has been continuously challenged by the need to keep up with new emerging social trends and lifestyles of their consumers. New toy themes have been continuously released on the market, therefore continuous research and product development would be one of the most expensive operations of the organisation (Robinson and Crawford, 2008). LEGO has penetrated a highly competitive market with its Mindstorms NXT product range. The company is facing competitors, such as the popular robotic brand of WowWee. Moreover, this market requires significant product development costs and thus is likely to challenge the companys profitability. For example, brands as SONY, which has significantly more experience than LEGO in electronic products failed to realise its robotic ambitions (Allonrobots, 2009). LEGOs PEST analysis Figure 2 Strategic Capability The strategic capabilities of LEGO are explored and analysed through the use of the resource-based view theory. The resource-based view theory describes the strategic capability of organisations are based on their internal resources. In this respect, in order for a company to have high degree of strategic capability it needs to possess resources which are valuable, rare, in-imitable and non-substitutable (Colbert, 2004). In this respect, the following table adopts the resource-based view theory to evaluate the strategic capability of LEGO (Figure 3). Resource Characteristics LEGOs Strengths LEGOs Weaknesses Valuable One of the most valuable resources of LEGO is knowledge. The company has a well-developed team of engineers and designers and is also employing external professionals to enhance the industry knowledge and creativity of the team. LEGO is producing an extensive amount of new design and prototypes and only few ever reach the market. In this respect, the company may generate some valuable know-how and intellectual property but at the end appears to be wasted and not successfully utilised. Rare The resource which can be identified as rare is the brand image of LEGO. The company have distinctive brand image and product ranges. This is proved by the case study analysis which revealed that LEGOs reduction of product components ignited dissatisfaction among customers. Although LEGO possesses some rare resources and capabilities the company is facing some significant competition from other toy segments. Moreover, LEGOs Mindstorms NXT product line is competing with WowWee which have greater experience and know-how in this particular segment of the market. In-imitable LEGO is continuously producing new concepts and product lines and therefore it is hard for competitors to imitate them. Moreover, the company has been recently paying extensive attention to community responses to their product prototypes which has been enhancing the companys continuously enhanced insight on segment needs. On the other hand, LEGOs products can be easily imitated by competitors with respect to toy themes and components. However, as already recognised the company has distinctive brand image which differentiates the brand from possible copy cats. Non-substitutable LEGO possesses non-substitutable resources such as intellectual property, designing capabilities, know-how and industrial insight. The company is competing with a great number of toy brands which provide consumers with substitutions for LEGOs products. Moreover, the highly innovative Mindstorms NXT brand has product substitutions from competitors such as WowWee. LEGOs Resource-Based View Figure 3 In order for the author to further analyse the strategic capabilities of the company a Porters Five Forces model is implemented. It will reveal how the internal strategic capabilities of the company relate to the market context (Figure 4) (Porter, 1990). Risk of entry by Competitors Power of Suppliers Competitive Rivalry Power of Buyers Threat of Substitutes Porters Five Forces Figure 4 Deriving from Porters Five Forces model it can be concluded that LEGO is facing a number of strategic challenges. For example, the power of buyers is significantly high as the company needs to tailor product lines to specifically fit consumer segments needs and preferences. Although LEGO has greater power of external suppliers, the company still needs to develop solid collaboration with external partners within the supply-chain in order to increase operational efficiency and innovation (Robertson and Crawford, 2008; Afuah, 2003). In the context of new competitors penetrating the market, it can be suggested that the risk is comparatively higher than other industries. The toy industry does have any high barriers to entry as it does not require substantial investment and know-how to operate. This is the reason why, LEGO faces a number of substitution products form popular brands, such as: Playmobil; BRIO; ELC; Meccano Toys; Geomag; Hasbro; and Logiblocs (ToyShop UK, 2009). All these brands provide construction toys which use similar principles of build-to-play entertainment. However, it should be outlined that the company is facing other substitute toy products which are own-branded from popular names as Hamleys, ToysRUs and Disney (Doyoo, 2009). However, with respect to LEGOs new range of Mindstorms NXT product line the situation is different. There are very few competitors which can provide substitutes, such as WowWee (WowWee, 2009). This product line requires greater investment by companies to penetrate and is likely to increase production costs. This is the reason why. LEGO can develop and sustain advantage in the production of robotic products which are building by hardware and software. Moreover, the greatest competitor WowWee does not have such a diversified range of robotic products as LEGO but still WowWee provide robotic toys and technologies with greater functionality (WowWee, 2009). Business Opportunities and Challenges Based on the presented analysis, it can be concluded that LEGO can exploit a number of promising business opportunities. However, it should be also underlined that these opportunities hide substantial threat to the EBIT profitability of the organisation. In this context, one of the greatest business opportunities of LEGO is the companys focus on external professionals and enthusiasts in the product designing and engineering (Robertson and Crawford, 2008; Lego, 2009). On the one hand this results in influx of fresh idea and creativity due to the diverse range of participants but on the other hand it can result in a number of risks, such as: intellectual rights; outflow of knowledge; inability to fit external professionals to the organisational climate, etc. Another significant business opportunity which can be recognised is LEGOs development of the Mindstorms NXT product range through the use of external specialists and by involving consumers in a virtual collaborative platform (Robertson and Crawford, 2009). On the one hand, this is an emerging innovative market which has strong growth potential as it targets both young and adult segments. However, on the other hand, penetrating this market involves high amounts of investment and operational costs which may push profit margins down. Moreover, the greatest competitor of LEGO in the Mindstorms NXT range is WowWee which can be recognised to outperform LEGOs product by functionality, whereas LEGO is more focused on robotic entertainment (WowWee, 2009). This is the reason why, it can be suggested that WowWee is more likely to attract adult consumer segments and thus generate greater margins sales as adult consumers would be more willing to pay higher price for more functional products. Another challenge for LEGO, which can be directly produced by the product diversification of the company, is the negative impact this may have on LEGOs brand identity. As identified, the company has recognisable brand image and any drastic diversification may have negative impact on consumers perceptions (Robertson and Crawford, 2008). Moreover, LEGO is managing a wide range of product lines and there is not any identified synergetic relationship between them. This is not only challenging to LEGOs ability to optimise costs and enhance efficiency but has substantial impact on what actually the LEGO brands stand for. On the other hand, the numerous opportunities for new product development which LEGO can utilise can be proposed to increase supply-chain complexity. For example, the build-it-by-yourself service which LEGO provides to consumers to construct their own Mindstorms NXT robot may result in pressure within supply-chain operations and specifically inventory management. This virtual platform needs to be integrated with a highly sensitive back-end supply-chain system to indicate any changes in inventory levels. And this is a complex process that may predispose to errors and inefficiencies (Harrison and van Hoek, 2008). Finally, LEGO has the opportunity to continuously develop complementary products to increase profitability. The present case study identified the companys inability to successfully integrate complementary merchandise with the sale of its product lines and toy themes (Robertson and Crawford, 2008). This can be proposed to be a significant drawback as other market competitors provides diversified range of merchandise and other complementary accessories to enhance consumers experience and entertainment. Recommendations Based on the analysis of the external environment and strategic capabilities of LEGO, there are four strategic recommendations which can be made with respect to the companys segmentation strategy; supply-chain efficiency; financial profitability; and brand identity. 5.1 Segmentation LEGO needs to target new segments not only through demographic characteristics but also by identification of new consumer needs. For example, the company may focus on the adult segment by developing LEGO lines, such as LEGO Hobby (e.g. selling construction sets with innovative elements to be used for hobby purposes, such as: small models building of airplanes; ships; automobiles, etc). Moreover, the company may target professional segments such as architects to which components for models can be sold. In this respect, the present Lego Club can be diversified to fit the needs of adult consumers. An interesting theme in the Lego Club may be how parents can communicate with their children through Lego games. In other words, Lego can produce games to enhance parents-children communication and sharing of experience. Moreover, this is an opportunity for Lego to penetrate other family games markets and segments, and produce Lego games to compete with Monopoly, Scrabble, Pictionary, Cards, etc. Lego can also enhance customers loyalty through providing discounts existing customers who wish to return old Lego toys and purchase new ones. First, this would be an effective recycling strategy which Lego can adopt. Second, parents would have the incentive to return old toys but still continue purchasing new ones through discounting vouchers. Third, children would have the opportunity to play with all new Lego models throguh this discounting scheme, which will constantly promote their interest in the Lego brand. 5.2 Supply-chain efficiency The company has developed a Mindstorms NXT range which is a highly innovative and promising product line. However, LEGO should consider competitors threats seriously and thus develop supply-chain partnerships with organisations which have extensive experience in building electronic products. 5.3 Financial profitability Lego needs to focus on developing its merchandise range and complementary products to both enhance the entertainment experience and use additional source of profit. 5.4 Brand identity Lego should consider how the companys brand identity is changes with the introduction of new products. The company may focus on enhancing its corporate social responsibility by introducing product ranges with environmentally friendly components. This would not only have positive impact on the brand image of the company but is likely to target new segments (e.g. environmentally conscious consumers). In this respect, the company could focus on Green Marketing by donating some small amount of every purchase to environmental projects. Another interesting strategy for promoting the brand identity of the company may be also focused on socially responsible projects, such as donating a small amount of every purchase to the construction of hospitals, homes, schools and other public and private sector buildings in developing countries. In this context, the company can promote a campaign slogan, such as: Lego A Real World Constructor.

Risks In Bandra Worli Sea Link Project

Risks In Bandra Worli Sea Link Project The Movement of Vehicles in Mumbai city and the Bandra-Worli Sea link project are like disease and anti dote. It is the perfect solution for the sites endless Movement of Vehicles issue. The native rail network provides better tracks, AC coaches and transports million of travellers. The non-rail components have new roads, over bridges, subways, and signal system. The Bandra-Worli Sea Link will only add to the existing issues. Mumbai city is among the five most polluted cities of the world. The Municipal report insists that to reduce the air pollution in Mumbai city it is essential to promote public transport viz. Rail network and Bus service. Many projects were suggested since 50s for smooth Movement of Vehicles in Mumbai city. The project in question was opposed, strongly by fisher men and other alert natives constantly. However the CRRI mentioned that these corridors should be implemented only after detailed native research and the Execution of these projects should be started only after the research say it is ok to go ahead. MUMBAI URBAN TRANSPORT PROJECT-I was planned around 1984. There was a heated brain storming session in the Assembly and the Maharashtra Govt. appointed a high level team called the K. G. Paranjape Team to give a list in priority of solutions to Mumbai citys Movement of Vehicles issues. The Team submitted its consolidated Report which had certain projects listed in a priority list. Kirloskar Consultants and the Operation Research Group made a thorough research of Movement of Vehicles conditions and submitted their reports in July 1994. This report has rejected the Bandra-Worli Sea Link Project and the West Island Freeway saying that it will attract more and more Movement of Vehicles towards South Mumbai city and the congestion will only get worse in many areas. The report has warned that if the Bandra-Worli Sea Link Project is implemented it will lead to more congestion and as a consequence more pollution and therefore affecting the health of Mumbai citys natives. The V.M. Lal Team has also suggested restricting automobile Movement of Vehicles entering the island Site at Sion and Mahim. As per the newspapers it is clear that the Bandra-Worli Sea Link Project has no scientific basis. It is disastrous to let the personalised vehicles occupy more space and roads, as it will be harmful to everyone including the users of private vehicle. Constitutional Legitimacy of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link Project The project is supposed to be based on a research made by the Central Water and Power Research Institute, Pune. The research is based on a hydraulic model and not on the actual sea is studied. It is imperative to note that the Indian Ecological Protection Act came into effect in 1986 and the CRZ Notice in February 1991. In 1994 the Notice which made it compulsory to make an Ecological Effect Analysis came into force and in the Notice requiring a public hearing also came into force. Obviously these legal requirements were not fulfilled. The Ecological Clearance cannot be given without doing prior research and observing all the steps of procedure. Even then on 7th January, 199 the clearance was given. The important clauses of this clearance were also violated. This attitude shows that there is no respect for Constitutional clauses. In addition to this the site location of the proposed toll plaza has been changed after obtaining Ecological clearance. Illegality of the Project Rules for Ecological Compliance in India Almost every Progressive activity has some negative Effect on the nature. The Effect, however, differs according to the nature of activity. Thus, whereas setting up an industrial unit can have serious Effect on the water and air quality besides affecting the flora and fauna of the area, a highway project can dramatically push up the noise and pollution level of the surrounding areas. It is with the purpose of containing the potential negative Effects of a development projects that the Nature Effect Analysis is done. Thus, it can be stated that Ecological Effect Analysis is one of the tools available to planners to minimize and contain harmful effects of the development activity on the nature. The objective is to foresee and address potential Ecological issues/concerns at an early stage of project planning and layout. This is a decision-making tool to ensure that finite natural resources are utilised within the carrying capacity of the eco-system to avoid its collapse. It is desirable to ensure that the development options under consideration are sustainable. In doing so, Ecological consequences must be characterized early in the project cycle and accounted for in the project layout. It integrates the Ecological concerns in Progressive activities right at the time of initiating the project when preparing the feasibility report; It can often prevent future liabilities or expensive alterations in project layout. Prior to January 1994, in India was carried out under administrative leadlines which required the project proponents of major irrigation projects, water body valley project, power stations, ports and harbours etc., to secure a clearance from the Ministry of Nature and Forest, Govt. if India. The Ecological appraised team of the Ministry carried out the Ecological appraised. In January 1994, the Govt. of India notified the Nature Effect Notice under rule 5 of Nature Protection) Rule, 1986 and 29 designated projects. The Notice made it obligatory for the 29 designated projects to prepare and submit an, and Nature Management Plan (EMP) and a Project Report to an Effect Analysis Agency for clearance. The Ministry of Nature and Forests, Govt. of Indian was designated the Effect Analysis Agency. What went wrong with Project Location? The site selection is always an effective approach in mitigation of risk. Sea link project locations should be reviewed based upon various regulatory and non regulatory criteria. Project siting restrictions depend on the reception of the surrounding nature. Sensitivity should be assessed in relation to proximity of the project to the sites/sites listed in the identified ecologically sensitive zones (ESZ) notified by MoEF. The siting criteria delineated by MoEF include: As far as possible, land retained for agricultural purposes should not be converted into an industrial site. Acquired land must have a green belt area as per regulatory norms. Sufficient space and arrangements must be made for storing and disposing solid waste. The design of the project must confirm to the landscape pattern of the area without unduly affecting the scenic beauties of that site. Respective town of the project, if any, to be created must provide for space for a barrier between the project and the township. Mitigation Measures and Ecological Effect Analysis Report Once substitutes have been examined, a mitigation plan should be drawn up for the selected option and be supplemented with an Ecological Management Plan (EMP) to lead the proponent towards Ecological improvements. The EMP is an important input to monitoring the clearance conditions and therefore details of monitoring should be included in the EMP. An EIA report should provide clear information to the deciding committee on the different Ecological scenarios without the project, with the project and with project options. Unknown elements should be clearly reflected in the EIA report. The affected persons may include: Bona fide native natives; Native associations; Ecological groups active in the area and Any other person located at the project site(s) of disinterment They are to be given an opportunity to make oral/written suggestions to the State Pollution Control Board as per the rules and regulations given forth in the Notices. Monitoring the Clearance Conditions Monitoring should be done during both the construction and operations stages of a project. This is not only to ensure that the commitments made are complied with however also to observe whether the predictions made in the reports were correct or not. Where the Effect exceeds the predicted levels, corrective action should be taken. Monitoring will enable the regulatory agency to review the validity of predictions and the conditions of Execution of the Ecological Management Plan (EMP). Violations of Ecological Laws With reference to the Notice as given above, the following violations have taken site during the execution of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link Project 1. Mockery of a Public Hearing As per the notifications issued vide the Central Ministry of Nature and Forests (MoEF), dated 27th January 1994, 4th May 1994 and 10th April 1997, under the Nature Protection Act (EPA), Public Hearing was mandatory in development projects such as the one in question. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) is responsible for holding such Public Hearings. This public hearing is not a mere formality. The native population is often more conversant with the native implications of a project than Govt. agencies and experts exercising their judgement from outside. Besides, in attempting to get through a attractive project, the agencies are known to turn a blind, even to obnoxious and harmful implications, and the hearing in a public court gives an opportunity, though limited, to highlight such consequences. In addition, public participation is an extremely crucial component of democratic governance and has to be treated seriously, and respected nationwide. Above all, the affected population has a right to be informed about any project, which is likely to influence its quality of life and Living. 2. Incomplete Ecological Effect Analysis According to a further Notice, the Effect Assessing Agency should prepare a set of recommendations based on the technical analysis of documents and data furnished by the project authorities of the factories and sites if started and details of the public hearing. Also, the notice issued above, for obtaining Ecological Clearance of projects, the applicant has to obtain a NOC from the State Pollution Control Board. The MPCB should issue this NOC only after completing the legal proceedings. In the case being discussed, the public hearing was not held in regard to (BWSLP), nor was the relevant documents etc. made available for inspection to the IPT panel or other NGOs and concerned natives. Therefore the panel concludes that the report is incompletely furnished before the eyes of the law. 3. Project assessment Report not Available for inspection or fault finding As per clauses of Nature and Forests (MoEF), whoever applies for Ecological Clearance of projects has to submit 20 sets of a summary of the salient features of the project and other relevant documents as prescribed, by the State Pollution Control Board so that the same can be made accessible to the concerned committee or agency in case a public hearing is conducted. The Mumbai city Ecological Action Group (BEAG) approached the MoEF for an opportunity to raise objections with regard to this project. MoEF agreed to give them the opportunity to justify their claims for rejection of the project. However, no particulars, maps, designs, layouts or other information was furnished to the BEAG. These factors prove that from the very beginning there has been a lack of transparency in the passing and Execution of the project before the eyes of law. 4. Proved negligence and Violations Due to Reclamation In the case of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, The State of Maharashtra and the MMRDA gave a statement that no reclamation would be carried out in the Kurla Complex area and no mangrove in the Mithi Water body and its estuary would be disposed off. There has been a apparent dis-obeyance of the terms and the conditions of the Ecological clearance notifies that land reclamation should be kept to the minimum, at any cost to less than 4.7 hectares and the same should be monitored closely so that it does not violate the clauses of the CRZ Notice, 1991 or as amended subsequently. Mrs. Geeta Pardiwala a native of Shivaji Park deposed before the IPT saying that initially we were told that there would be only two pillars on the sea link, one at Bandra and the other at Worli. However now they are reclaiming more land, as it becomes cheaper for them to build the bridge. According to the 1994 Notice, any expansion of all existing or new projects requires that not only a fresh Ecological Effect Analysis is carried out however also fresh permission for the said project is sought and granted. This has definitely not been adhered to in the case of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The present project is based on the 1992 MMRDA report; however there are a number of contradictions to the original recommendations. The Ecological Effect Section has recommendations by scientist C. V. Kulkarni that no further reclamation be allowed on the Bandra side, to prevent siltation in the Mahim bay and the creek area. In project such as mentioned above, in case new quarries are to be opened, specific approvals from the competent authority should be obtained in this regard. This has been violated by the Mumbai city Suburban Collector who has issued the quarrying Permit. The quarry on site falls under a no development zone, Notified in development control regulation for Greater Mumbai city, 1991. Wherever fishing or other marine activities are getting affected, the concerned agency should be consulted and their concurrence obtained for the project in question. The fishermen affected by the project in question were neither consulted nor was their consent obtained. Mumbai city is geographically positioned to play host to creeks and shallow waters opposite headlands. In most of the areas, these creeks have been blocked. Mahim Creek is one of the few sites left where the waves can partially enter the area. However, the Effect on the marine ecology, flora and fauna, and the possibility of initiating erosion has not been studied. With Mahim creek getting shallower because of the process of siltation, there is a greater danger for coast like the Versova beach. The erosion here become a geological hazard, and has assumed alarming probabilities. The road network in Mumbai city is based on three north-south corridor routes and there are very few continuous east-west routes. Therefore, Movement of Vehicles is concentrated on a few routes that have become congested. Mumbai city road Movement of Vehicles has worsened by around four hundred percent in the last twenty years. It poses considerable health issues. The W. S. Atkins Report (1994) was commissioned by the MSRDC to research the feasibility of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The result of the report is based on a strategic transportation computer model based on cost and time of travel and calibrated for Mumbai city. Undesirability of the Project a) Effect due to Blockage of Mithi Water body The most insidious aspect of the link, that will endanger the life of every native person, is related to the outbreak of epidemics. Almost 800 million litres of sewage is discarded everyday in the Mahim Creek, besides the thousands of industries that release effluents that are located in Dharavi and upstream of the Mithi Water body. b) Financial Viability and Absence of Realistic Projections of Cost Recovery The generalized cost of travel for the Bandra-Worli Sea Link is taken as the sum of travel time cost, direct cost of travel and cost of discomfort. By considering only internal and direct costs borne by motorists, the project planners have not considered external and opportunity costs of the project c) Issues with the Planning and Execution of the Project It is not possible to accurately predict the behaviour of the sea using a research based on models. Also the date used is outdated and the subsequent development i.e. the EPA of 1986 and the CRZ Regulation of 1991 have not been considered. Further, the CWPRS report goes on to say that the construction of the bridge is not likely to create any adverse condition along the costs. However as we have seen, this is definitely not correct, and among other thing with regards to Livings, floods and mangroves the negative Effect is already being experienced Most experts agree that Socio-economic and financial instruments can help achieve sustainable development. Issues relating to transportation are so complexly mixed with other issues, such as agricultural land use and demographic and cultural trends that only a coherent set of policy measures will work. Obviously, policy recommendations must be made on a case-by case basis; however some generalized approaches can be suggested. Transportation policy strategies should consist of Socio-economic, institutional, technological, information and land-use reforms. A balanced strategy should set standards that can be used to achieve full-cost recovery, inform consumers, provide options for them and integrate social and urban planning. Conclusions It is understood from the above discussed report that not one, but several aspects of the Ecological Regulations of the country have been violated in the proceedings of this project. The project as is planned will only seek to eliminate the issue of vehicular pollution and Movement of Vehicles especially in the Worli-Haji Ali Area which is already severely congested due to lack of space. The most annoying part of the project is that in depth research using current data have not been used to estimate the Ecological Effect of the project on the sites coastline, mangrove forests and marine ecology, which till date remains a major flaw in the plan. Lastly as there has been no survey started to elicit how much the natives are willing to pay for the use of the bridge it should not end up being another white Elephant to the States exchequer.

Stocks Essay -- Business, Investment, Portfolio Information

In this study, we would measure an investor’s experience as closely as possible. Therefore, in a portfolio formation, we assume an investor who follows reported insiders trading information and at the end of each month, he forms his portfolio by including all stocks that have been traded by insiders in the same month. After that he gives equal weights to each stock in his portfolio. He keeps each stock in his portfolio for X months following insiders’ trades. Furthermore, he rebalances his portfolio every month to drop all stocks that have completed X months in the portfolio and add all stocks that have been just executed. For example, if X equals to three, the portfolio of January 2008 includes all stocks with insiders’ trades in November 2007, December 2007 or January 2008. There is higher change for multiple observations on the same firm in the portfolio that occur within X months of the initial observation, for example, an insider buys stocks of firm B in January 1, 2007 and another insider buys stock of firm B in March 1, 2007. Hence, in the March 2007 portfolio, firm B will have double weight in the portfolio compared to other firms. To overcome this problem, we would consider a number of firms in a portfolio not a number of trades. By following a number of firms in the portfolio, we would provide equal weights to each company, not each trade. The measurement of performance of the portfolio A central empirical issue to measure the performance of any portfolio condition on any event is to control all other factors that may produce excess returns except a particular event. Therefore, we require a model that seems to capture much of the cross-sectional variance in average stock returns. (Fama and French, 1998). We... ...ion model would be ã€â€"IAbã€â€"_bt-ã€â€"TAã€â€"_bt=ÃŽ ±_ +ÃŽ ²(R_(m,t)-R_(f,t) )+ÃŽ ¨Ã£â‚¬â€"SMBã€â€"_t+ã€â€"ÃŽ ³HMLã€â€"_t+ÃŽ »Ã£â‚¬â€"MOMã€â€"_t+ ÃŽ µ_t (7) In similar way, to test the extent to which insiders’ sell of intangible assets companies earn less profit than those in tangible assets, we would follow equation (8). In the equation (8), the dependent variable is the difference between the calendar –time portfolio return of tangible assets and intangible assets(ã€â€"TAã€â€"_s-ã€â€"IAã€â€"_s). For example, for Jun 2007 month portfolio, ã€â€"IAã€â€"_s, is equal weighted average return for all intangible assets companies whose insiders were net buyers between January 2007 and Jun 2007 , over ã€â€"TAã€â€"_s is equal weighted average return for all tangible assets companies whose insiders were net sellers between January 2007 and Jun 2007. The regression model would be ã€â€"IAã€â€"_st-ã€â€"TAã€â€"_st=ÃŽ ±_ +ÃŽ ²(R_(m,t)-R_ft )+ÃŽ ¨Ã£â‚¬â€"SMBã€â€"_t+ã€â€"ÃŽ ³HMLã€â€"_t+ÃŽ »Ã£â‚¬â€"MOMã€â€"_t+ ÃŽ µ_t (8)

Civilization Paper -- essays research papers

Civilization is a term used in many different ways. It can be defined as; people who eat the same kind of foods, People who live together, people who speak the same language, and so on. Yet each way that it is defined relates towards the same topic; Humans and their existence on the planet. Civilization is known greatly as a group of humans or animals that live generally together and practice the same habits. Civilization, according to some historians, first came into play in the year 3000 BCE. These historians look at civilization as people who have the same dietary needs and habits, who practice these habits regularly in order to survive. A couple of years before 3000 BCE, the world went through what historians call the Agricultural revolution. They feel that because of this revolution, groups of people started to come together to practice their farming ways. Because of all the new food supplies that came about through the agricultural revolution, the population started to grow into little villages, which eventually turned into city states. This caused people to look further beyond their little villages in search of more land to hold their growing populations. This caused groups of people to break off and form their own little towns or civilizations. After a while the people learned that by being in different places their farming encountered different weather and growing conditions. Forcing them to grow products that will grow more sufficiently in their new conditions. Thi...