Moth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Moth - Essay Example This is an extremely large family of moths with an estimated 35,000 species. However, several geometers are known to be terrible pests. The caterpillars, known as loopers, inchworms or spanworms, feed on plants while some species are even carnivorous (‘Looper’, 2012). The family Noctuidae, or the owlet moths, are not only numerous in species but also robust – and they are the largest family. They have hind wings of bright colors. They are usually flying at night. They also invade flowers as many are attracted to sugar and nectar. Moreover, their larvae are crop pests (‘Cutworm Moth’, 2012). The family Cambridae is colored and patterned moths characterized by a special structure in the ears known as â€Å"praecinctorium,† which is responsible for joining the two tympanic membranes of the ears. The harmful Cambrid moth, or Grass Moth, has larvae which are typical stem borers of many important crops (‘Grass Moth’, 2012). ... The so-called tunnel moths make a silk lined tunnel and that during night time or winter, the caterpillar of the tunnel moth gathers grass foliage and drags them back into their tunnels. The caterpillars are very small and may be quote difficult to notice for they measure around 35 mm long only and 3 mm across (‘New pasture pest’, 2010). Pasture tunnel moths usually live in areas with higher rainfall, and they can cause significant damage to clovers, as well as annual and perennial grasses. The larvae are usually grey-colored in their bodies with black heads. The adult moth, on the other hand, is long and has a creamy-white color. The pasture tunnel moth usually cause the greatest damage during the months of July and August, during the rainy months, for rain has a great factors in stimulating this species of moth to feed more (‘Pasture tunnel moth’, 2009). Moreover, the pasture tunnel moth affects cereal crops (Perry et al., 2011). The first time that Philob ota species were identified in New Zealand was in February 2010 at the Ruakura Research Center in Hamilton, New Zealand. The migrant species are actually native to Australia, of which there are around 400 species, and where a number of these species are regarded as â€Å"minor pests of pasture† because it merely feeds on grass such as tall fescue trials and perennial ryegrass (Popay & Gunawardana, 2011). In case a New Zealand resident sees pasture tunnel moths, they should immediately contact MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (‘New pasture pest’, 2010). Based on the table below from the Asia & Pacific Plant Commission Protection, the first sighting of Philobota species in New Zealand was in 2010, and it was perhaps through the wind that

The Color of Innocence Essay Example for Free

The Color of Innocence Essay In the context of The Picture of Dorian Gray, one of the most noticeable and important motifs is that of the color white and its variants, including, but not limited to, pale and listless. The meaning of this color evolves as the novel progresses, changing in relation to Dorians character. While the motif may never physically alter in appearance, it succeeds in reversing meaning completely, signifying the great contrast in Dorians soul between the beginning of the novel and the end. In the very beginning of the novel, as Basil speaks of his first encounter with Mr. Gray, he notes that when their eyes met, I [Basil] felt that I was growing pale (9). The motif comes to signify a sort of timid transparency; as if Dorians purity softens everything around he comes into contact with. Similarly, Lord Henry employs the motif when describing Dorians youth, labeling it as his rose-white boyhood (21). Shortly after, Dorian is described as possessing the white purity of boyhood (37). In both of these passages, the motif represents its most basic connotation, that of innocence, particularly, the innocence of youth. White gives Dorians appearance a sense of vivacity. Lord Henry describes Dorians soul as having turned to this white girl [Sibyl Vane] and bowed in worship before her (57). The motif denotes a youthful purity or vitality in Sibyl Vanes soul, most likely one that is shared by Dorian Gray. Her innocence soon grows to incorporate innocent affection for Dorian, as after kissing him, She trembled all over, and shook like a white narcissus (74). The motif has not reversed its meaning at this point; rather, it incorporates a virtue similar to youth and innocence, that of love. Furthermore, as Sibyl Vane performs onstage, Dorian tells how Her hair clustered round her face like dark leaves around a pale rose (74). The complexion in Sibyls face suggests a pure exquisiteness that embodies everything desirable to Dorian. He has employed the motif in describing Sibyls youth, innocence, passion, and beauty, all of which seems to mirror Dorians face and soul, as is evident in Basils description of him. The motifs meaning has reached the climax of goodness here, signifying qualities Oscar Wilde holds in highest esteem. However, it does not occupy this position for long, as the ensuing events  begin an extensive bastardization of the colors significance. As Sibyl Vane performs as Juliet in front of Basil and Lord Henry, The curves of her throat were the curves of a white lilyyet she was curiously listless (81). In this performance Sibyl retains her physical beauty, yet her vitality has escaped her. In a single sentence the motif revolves to a negative connotation, coming to suggest a vapid emptiness where there had previously been such fervent life. Sibyl, whose apparent perfection and talent once embodied the motif, has become to Dorian A third-rate actress with a pretty face (85). Her disappointing showing, an obvious contrast to previous performances, succeeds in deeply affecting Dorians definition of the motif as well, as Dorian Gray grew pale as he watched her (81). Later, as he rescinds his love for Sibyl, He looked proud, pale, and indifferent (83). A word used only pages before to describe the beauty of a rose has changed in such magnitude to be grouped alongside such words as proud and indifferent. The motif utilized in the illustration of Sibyls unhindered affection is now used to depict Dorians lack of love altogether. Deeply wounded by Dorians tirade and exclamation of nothing but distaste for her, The girl [Sibyl Vane] grew white, and trembled (85). Whereas Sibyl had previously taken on such a color and shuddered after sharing her first kiss with Dorian, she does it here in response to losing Dorians love. The motif changes from signifying passionate ardor to passionate sadness and fear. A color that gave Sibyl a reason to live her life to the fullest quickly steals her will and pushes her to take her own life. It is represented in a literal sense as well, as Lord Henry describes the instrument of her death as having either prussic acid or white lead in it (96). Distressed by Sibyls untimely death, Dorian muses, Can they feel, I wonder, those white silent people we call the dead? (96). As opposed to describing liveliness, or beauty, the motif is associated with that of a corpse. Basil refers to Sibyl Vanes body similarly, proclaiming, Why, man, there are horrors in store for that little white body of hers! (105). However, as opposed to Dorian, Basils use of the motif preserves the purity of Sibyl Vane, recognizing her innocence as a person. Only Dorians perceptions have changed on the meaning of the color; it has become something sinister and  deathly to him, as if the colors meaning and significance died along with Sibyl Vane. Lord Henry purports that a long term relationship with Sibyl Vane would have been futile, and Dorian agrees, saying, I supposed it would,' as he was walking up and down the room, and looking horribly pale (97). As Dorians value for human life recedes, and his soul darkens, one would expect his face to dim as well, as it would have developed the lines and shadows accompanied by such nature. However, this motifs connotation, much akin to the portraits appearance, has been forced to change while Dorian stays the same. Later, when Basil insists upon seeing the horrible portrait, Dorian responds, Basil he said, looking very pale, you must not look at it. I dont wish you to' (108). Basil turned pale upon first meeting Dorian, implying a shy fear of the boys pure livelihood. Here, when Dorians secret is threatened, when his evil soul is in danger of being revealed and he exhibits a similar reaction, it becomes clear that whatever fear Basil experienced earlier is much different than the fea r Dorian is experiencing now. Basil grew afraid out of reverence, while Dorian grew afraid out of shame. While the motif was previously synonymous with purity, it has adopted a sinister, calloused meaning with Dorian. Further on, Dorian would place his white hands beside the coarse bloated hands of the picture, and smile. He mocked the misshapen body and the failing limbs (124). In 19th century England, white hands were a sign of aristocracy, and beauty. However, when juxtaposed with the awful vileness of the portrait and Dorians soul, they seem wicked, and deathly. The motif changes meaning not only in Dorians eyes, but also in the readers eyes as well. A while after this, pressed against the window of the conservatory, like a white handkerchief, he [Dorian Gray] had seen the face of James Vane watching him (190). Although Dorian was not aware of James promise to kill him, he understands James purpose for being there. The motif, thoroughly transformed in meaning by now, is a brooding symbol of death that Dorian has come to fear. Dorian returns to the party after seeing James, and As the thought crept through his brain, he grew pale with terror, and the air seemed to him to have become suddenly colder (192). Dorians fear of death mirrors James lust for death. The passion Dorian first had for what this color signified has  turned into a loathsome fear of all it embodies. Dorian Grays static appearance can do nothing to stop the transformation of the world around him, or, more importantly, his soul. The color white becomes a motif in the novel that mirrors Dorian Gray; its appearance remains the same, yet as the story progresses, it begins to convey a meaning much less innocent than early on. The juxtaposition between the whiteness of purity early on and the whiteness of death in the end gives the reader a clear idea of the evolution of Dorians soul, and in doing so, it provides a concise understanding of the plot as a whole

John Locke :: Empiricists, Empiricism

John Locke's, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690), was first criticized by the philosopher and theologian, John Norris of Bemerton, in his "Cursory Reflections upon a Book Call'd, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding," and appended to his Christian Blessedness or Discourses upon the Beatitudes (1690). Norris's criticisms of Locke prompted three replies, which were only posthumously published. Locke has been viewed, historically, as the winner of this debate; however, new evidence has emerged which suggests that Norris's argument against the foundation of knowledge in sense-perception that the Essay advocated was a valid and worthy critique, which Locke did, in fact, take rather seriously. Charlotte Johnston's "Locke's Examination of Malebranche and John Norris" (1958), has been widely accepted as conclusively showing that Locke's replies were not philosophical, but rather personal in origin; her essay, however, overlooks critical facts that undermin e her subjective analysis of Locke's stance in relation to Norris's criticisms of the Essay. This paper provides those facts, revealing the philosophical—not personal—impetus for Locke's replies. INTRODUCTION "Locke's Examination of Malebranche and John Norris" (1958), by Charlotte Johnston,1 connects John Locke's posthumously published treatise on the philosophy of Nicolas Malebranche to the replies he had written to an English philosopher and theologian, John Norris of Bemerton. When Locke first published An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690),2 Norris, aided by the philosophy of Malebranche, responded with the first critique of the Essay, entitled "Cursory Reflections upon a Book call'd, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding," and appended to Norris's Christian Blessedness or Discourses upon the Beatitudes (1690).3 Three texts: "JL to Mr. Norris" (1692), An Examination of P. Malebranche's Opinion of Seeing All Things in God (1693),4 and Some Remarks Upon Some of Mr. Norris's Books, wherein he asserts P. Malebranche's Opinion of our Seeing all Things in God (1693),5 according to Johnston, were all a direct response to Norris. Johnston's essay, which has been widely accepted, clearly shows the interrelatedness of the texts; however, her appraisal of them as a response to Norris, incorrectly devalues their philosophical seriousness by overestimating the importance of a personal quarrel between Norris and Locke. She concludes her essay with this summation: "the stimulus for these three papers came directly from Norris, from his criticisms of the newly published Essay, and still more from his personal relationship with Locke"; otherwise, "Locke's opposition to the theory of vision in God would surely have remained unexpressed, since he felt the notion to be sufficiently absurd to die of its own accord.

Love and Loss in Poetry Essay -- First Love Remember Christina Walsh E

Love and Loss in Poetry Q. How do the poets convey their attitudes toward love and loss in the poems ‘ a woman to her lover’ ‘first love’ ‘remember’ and ‘ when we two parted’? The poem ‘ a woman to her lover’ was written by Christina Walsh. The poem starts of with a question, ‘do you come to me to bend me to your will?’ throughout the poem, the basic atmosphere of loss is evident. Within the first stanza itself there is marital imagery relating to the sense of power and dominance. ‘ in drudgery and silence’, she tries to portray how she is helpless to protest, she begins the poem with this relationship, the dominance of man over woman, ‘to make of me a bondslave’ in this stanza she is explaining one of the types of relationships between a man and woman. She also gives out a feeling that if the relationship were as what she described she would be wasting her life, and tries to give out women’s point of view to these types of situations. She seems quite certain of what she wants in life and this does not seem to be it, ‘ if that be what you ask, O Lover I refuse you!’And her point is to prove that if that was the man’s view of the relationship, that it would not be possible to commit to that. In the second stanza she does not keep it as long as the first or any of the others as she does not want to dwell on it. The very idea of the man thinking the woman to be perfect and ‘one from heaven sent’ is what she rejects. When she describes women to be perfect her tone is very mocking. ‘ a wingless angel who can do no wrong’ she tries to convey that that would be someone who would have no freedom. ‘Go’ this implies how she rejects him if he wishes the relationship to be anything like this as well. In th... ...ith silence and tears’ there is a different meaning in this now, they do not understand each other now, but in the beginning they knew each other so well because over the years she has changed so much. The pain and sadness seems to intensify, ‘cold kiss, chill on my brow, knell to my ear’, these are all traditional images of rejected love. The poems octave stanza and regular eight lines, show the continuity of his pain. Throughout all these four poems the poets convey all their attitudes towards love and loss by expressing themselves in situations of love with others, of experiencing it and hence showing reactions and feelings that evolve from certain situations. They show that they feel love is a great thing, and for one to really know the true meaning of love, they need to experience loss and pain the be able to value love to its deserved potential.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Down to the Harbor Down to the harbor they went – past the condos, the cane fields, the golf course, the Burger King, the Buddhist cemetery with its great green Buddha blissed out by the sea, past the steak houses, the tourist traps, the old guy riding down Front Street on a girl's bike with a macaw perched on his head – down to the harbor they went. They waved to the researchers at the fuel dock, nodded to the haglets at the charter booths, shakaed the divemasters and the captains, and schlepped science stuff down the dock to start their day. Tako Man stood in the back of his boat eating a breakfast of rice and octopus as the Maui Whale crew – Clay, Quinn, Kona, and Amy – passed by. He was a strong, compact Malaysian with long hair and a stringy soul-patch beard that, along with the bone fishhooks he wore in his ears, gave him the distinct aspect of a pirate. He was one of the black-coral divers who lived in the harbor, and this morning, as always, he wore his wet suit. â€Å"Hey, Tako,† Clay said. The diver glanced up from his bowl. His eyes looked as if someone had poured shots of blood into them. Kona noticed that the small octopus in the diver's bowl was still moving, and he scampered down the dock feeling a case of the creeps fluttering to life in his spinal cord. â€Å"Nightwalkers, gray ones, on your boat last night. I seen them,† said Tako Man. â€Å"Not the first time.† â€Å"Good to know,† said Clay, patronizing the diver and moving down the dock. You had to keep peace with anyone who lived in the harbor, especially the black-coral divers, who lived far over the edge of what most people would consider normal life. They shot heroin, drank heavily, spent all day doing bounce dives to two hundred feet looking for the gemstone-valuable black coral, then spent their money on weeklong parties that had, more than once, ended with one of them dead on the dock. They lived on their boats and ate rice and whatever they could pull out of the sea. Tako Man had gotten his name because on any given afternoon, after the divers came in for the day, you'd see the grizzled Malaysian carrying a net bag full of tako (octopus) that he had speared on the reef for their supper. â€Å"Hi,† Amy said sheepishly to Tako Man as they passed. He glared at her through his bloody haze, and his head bobbed as he almost nodded out into his breakfast. Amy quickened her pace and ran a Pelican case she was carrying into the back of Quinn's thigh. â€Å"Jeez, Amy,† Quinn said, having almost lost his footing. â€Å"Do those guys dive in that condition?† Amy whispered, still sticking to Quinn like a shadow. â€Å"Worse than that. Would you back up a little?† â€Å"He's scary. You're supposed to protect me, ya mook. How do they keep from getting into trouble?† â€Å"They lose one or two a year. Ironically, it's usually an overdose that gets them.† â€Å"Tough job.† â€Å"They're tough guys.† Tako Man shouted, â€Å"Fuck you, whale people! You'll see. Fucking nightwalker fuckers. Fucking fuck you, haole motherfuckers!† He tossed the remains of his breakfast at them. It landed overboard, and tiny fish broke the water fighting for the scraps. â€Å"Rum,† said Kona. â€Å"Too much hostility in dat buzz. Rum come from da cane, and cane come from slavin' the people, and dat oppression all distilled in de bottle and come out a man mean as cat shit on a day.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Clay to Quinn. â€Å"Didn't you know that about rum?† â€Å"Where's your boat?† asked Quinn. â€Å"My boat?† â€Å"Your boat, Clay,† said Amy. â€Å"No,† said Clay. He stopped and dropped two cases of camera equipment on the dock. The Always Confused, the spiny and powerful twenty-two-foot Grady White center-console fisherman, Clay's pride and joy, was gone. A life jacket, a water bottle, and various other familiar flotsam bobbed gently in a rainbow slick of gasoline where the boat had once been. Everyone thought someone else should say something, but for a full minute no one did. They just stood there, staring at what should have been Clay's boat but instead was a big, boatless gob of tropical air. â€Å"Poop,† Amy finally said, saying it for all of them. â€Å"We should check with the harbormaster,† said Nate. â€Å"My boat,† said Clay, who stood over the empty slip as if it were his recently run-over boyhood dog. He would have nuzzled it and stroked its little dead doggy ears if he could have, but instead he fished the oily life jacket out of the water and sat on the dock rocking it. â€Å"He really liked that boat,† Amy said. â€Å"Can I get a duh for the sistah?† exclaimed the dreaded blond kid. â€Å"I paid the insurance,† Nate said as he moved away, headed for the harbormaster. Tako Man had come down the dock from his own boat to stare at the empty water. Somber now. Amy backed up into Kona for protection, but Kona had backed up into the next person behind him, which turned out to be Captain Tarwater, resplendent in his navy whites and newly Kona-scuffed shoes. â€Å"Irie, ice cream man.† â€Å"You're on my shoes.† â€Å"What happened?† asked Cliff Hyland, coming down the dock behind the captain. â€Å"Clay's boat's gone,† said Amy. Cliff moved up and put his hand on Clay's shoulder. â€Å"Maybe someone just borrowed it.† Clay nodded, acknowledging that Cliff was trying to comfort him, but comfort fell like sandwiches on the recently bombed. By the time Quinn returned from the harbormaster's office with a Maui cop in tow, there were a half dozen biologists, three black-coral divers, and a couple from Minnesota who were taking pictures of the whole thing, thinking that this would be something they would want to remember if they ever found out what was happening. As the cop approached, the black-coral divers faded to the edges of the crowd and away. Jon Thomas Fuller, the scientist/entrepreneur who was accompanied by three of his cute female naturalists, stepped up beside Quinn. â€Å"This is just horrible, Nate. Just horrible. That boat represented a major capital investment for you guys, I'm sure.† â€Å"Yeah, but mainly we liked to think of it as something that floated and moved us around on the water.† Nate actually had a great capacity for sarcasm, but he usually reserved it for those things and people he found truly irritating. Jon Thomas Fuller was truly irritating. â€Å"Going to be tough to replace it.† â€Å"We'll manage. It was insured.† â€Å"You might want to get something bigger this time. I know there's a measure of safety working off of these sixty-five-footers we have, but also with the cabin you can set up computers, bow cameras, a lot of things that aren't really possible on little speedboats. A good-size boat would add a lot of legitimacy to your operation.† â€Å"We sort of decided to go with the legitimacy we get from doing credible research, Jon Thomas.† â€Å"We didn't make those figures up.† Fuller caught himself raising his voice. The cop interviewing Clay looked over his shoulder, and Fuller lowered his tone. â€Å"That was just professional jealousy on the part of our detractors.† â€Å"Your detractors were the facts. What did you expect when your paper concluded that humpbacks actually enjoyed being struck by Jet Skis?† â€Å"Some do.† Fuller pushed back his pith helmet and ventured a smile of sincerity, which collapsed under its own weight. â€Å"What's your angle, Jon Thomas?† â€Å"Nate, I can get you a boat like ours, with all the trimmings, and an operating budget, and you'd just have to do one little project for me. One season of work, maximum. And your operation can keep the boat, sell it, do whatever you want.† Unless Fuller was about to ask him to shove him off the dock into the oily water, Quinn pretty much knew he was going to turn down the offer, but he had to ask. Those were really nice boats. â€Å"Make your proposal.† â€Å"I need you to put your name on a study that says that human-dolphin interaction facilities are not harmful to the animals, and do a study that says that building one at La Perouse Bay wouldn't have a negative impact on the environment. Then I'd need you to stand up at the appropriate meetings and make the case.† â€Å"I'm not your guy, Jon Thomas. First, I'm not a dolphin guy, and you know that.† Nate avoided adding what he wanted to say, which was Second, you are a feckless weasel out to make a buck without any consideration for science or the animals you study. Instead he said, â€Å"There are dozens of people doing studies on captive dolphins. Why don't you go to them?† â€Å"I have the animal study. You don't have to do the study. I just want your name on it.† â€Å"Won't the people who actually did the study have some objection to that?† â€Å"No. They'll be fine with it. I need your name and your presence, Nate.† â€Å"I don't think so. I can't see myself testifying before impact committees and county planning boards.† â€Å"Okay, fair enough. Clay or Amy can do the stand-ups. Just put your name on the paper and do the environmental impact study. I need the credibility of your name.† â€Å"Which I won't have as soon as I let you use me. I'm sorry, but my name is all I really have to show for twenty-five years of work. I can't sell it out, even for a really nice boat.† â€Å"Oh, right, the nobility of starvation. Fuck that, Nate, and fuck your high ideals. I'm doing more for these animals by exposing the public to them than you'll do in a lifetime of graphing out songs and recording behavior. And before you retire to your ivory tower on the ethical high ground, you'd better take a good look at your people. That kid is a common thief, and no one has ever heard of your precious new assistant.† Fuller turned and signaled to his chorus line of whalettes that they were going to their boat. Quinn looked for Amy, saw her on the other side of the cop who was talking to Clay, helping him fill in details. He ran up behind Fuller, grabbed the smaller man's arm, and spun him around. â€Å"What are you talking about? Amy studied at Woods Hole, with Tyack and Loughten.† â€Å"That right? Well, maybe you'd better give them a call and ask them. Because they've never heard of her. Despite what you think, I do my research, Nate. Do you? Now, get back to your one-boat operation, would you.† â€Å"If I find out you had anything to do with this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Fuller wrenched his arm out of Quinn's grip and grinned. â€Å"Right, you'll what? Become more irrelevant? Screw you, Nate.† â€Å"What did you say?† But Fuller ignored him and boarded his million-dollar research vessel, while Quinn skulked back down the dock to his friends. Oily flotsam seemed to be losing its allure, however, and the crowd had dispersed somewhat, leaving only Amy, Clay, the cop, and the couple from Minnesota. â€Å"You. You're somebody aren't you?† asked the woman as Nate walked up. â€Å"Honey, this guy is someone. I remember seeing him on the Discovery Channel. Get my picture with him.† â€Å"Who is he?† said  «honey » as his wife took Nate by the arm and posed like he'd just handed her a check. â€Å"I don't know, one of those ocean guys,† she said through a grin, acting as if she were posing with one of the carved statues that decorated doorways around Lahaina. â€Å"Just take the picture.† â€Å"Are you one of those Cousteau fellas?† â€Å"Oui,† said Nate. â€Å"Now I muss speak with my good fren' Sylvia Earle,† he continued in his French-by-way-of-British-Columbia-and-Northern-California fake accent as he went over to Amy. â€Å"I need to talk to you.† â€Å"Sylvia Earle! She's a National Geographic person. Get their picture together, honey.† â€Å"He's lying, Nathan,† Amy said. â€Å"You can check if you want. It was all on the resume I gave to Clay.† She didn't appear angry, just hurt, betrayed perhaps. Her eyes were huge and teary, and she was starting to look vaguely like one of those creepy Keane sad-eyed-kid pictures. Quinn felt like he'd just smacked a bag of kittens against a truck bumper. â€Å"I know,† he said. â€Å"I'm sorry. I just†¦ well, Jon Thomas is an asshole. I let him get to me.† â€Å"It's okay,† Amy sniffed. â€Å"It's just†¦ just†¦ I've worked so hard.† â€Å"I don't need to check, Amy. You do good work. My fault for doubting you. Let's get Clay squared away and get to work.† He tentatively put his arm around her and walked her back to where Clay was finishing up his interview with the cop. Clay saw the tear tracks down Amy's face and immediately took her in his arms and pressed her head to his shoulder. â€Å"I know, honey. I know. It was a great boat, but it was just a boat. We'll get another one.† â€Å"Where's Kona?† Nate asked. â€Å"He was around here a second ago,† said Clay. Just then Nate's cell phone rang. He worked it out of his shirt pocket and answered it. â€Å"Nathan, it's me,† said the Old Broad. Nate covered the mouthpiece. â€Å"It's the Old Broad,† Nate said to Clay. â€Å"Amy, you go round up Kona while I finish up with the officer, okay?† Clay said. Amy nodded and was off down the dock. Clay turned back to the officer. The Old Broad went on, â€Å"Nathan, I spoke to that big male again today, and he definitely wants you to take a hot pastrami on rye with you when you go out. He said it's very important.† â€Å"I'm sure it is, Elizabeth, but I'm not sure we're even going out today. Something's happened to Clay's boat. It's gone.† â€Å"Oh, my, he must be distraught. I'll come down and look after him, but you have to get out in the channel today. I just feel it's very important.† â€Å"I don't think you'll need to come down, Elizabeth. Clay will manage.† â€Å"Well, if you say so, but you have to promise me you'll go out today.† â€Å"I promise.† â€Å"And you'll take a pastrami on rye for that big male.† â€Å"I'll try, Elizabeth. I have to go now, Clay needs me for something.† â€Å"With Swiss cheese and hot mustard!† the Old Broad said as Nate disconnected. Clay thanked the policeman, who nodded to Quinn as he walked off. Even the couple from Minnesota had moved on, and only Clay and Quinn were left on the dock. â€Å"Where are the kids?† asked Nate, cringing at the whole idea: he and Clay, the middle-aged couple being responsible and boring while the kids went off to play and have adventures. â€Å"I asked Amy to find Kona. They could be anywhere.† â€Å"Clay, I need to ask you something before they get back.† â€Å"Shoot.† â€Å"Did you check any of Amy's references before you hired her? I mean, did you call anyone? Woods Hole? Her undergrad school – what was it?† â€Å"Cornell. Nope. She was smart, she was cute, she seemed to know what she was talking about, and she said she'd work for free. The bona fides looked good on paper. Gift horse, Nate.† â€Å"Jon Thomas Fuller said that he checked and that no one at Woods Hole has heard of her.† â€Å"Fuller's an asshole. Look, I don't really care if she finished high school. The kid has proven herself. She's got balls.† â€Å"Still, maybe I should call Tyack. Just in case.† â€Å"If you need to. Call him this afternoon when you get back in.† â€Å"I'm sure Fuller was just yanking my chain. He tried to offer us a boat like his if we backed his dolphin-park project.† â€Å"And you turned him down?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"But those are really nice boats. Our armada has been reduced by fifty percent. Our nautical resources have declined by more than one-half. Our boatage is deficient by point five.† â€Å"What's up?† Amy said. She'd come back down the dock and seemed to have shaken off her earlier melancholy. â€Å"Clay's being scientific. Fuller offered us a sixty-foot research vessel like his, with operating budget, if we back his dolphin project.† â€Å"Do I have to sleep with him?† â€Å"We haven't put that on the table,† Clay said, â€Å"but I'll bet we could get a sonar array if you're enthusiastic.† â€Å"Hell, Nate, take it,† Amy said. â€Å"It would mean selling out my credibility,† said Quinn, appalled at what total whores his colleagues had become. â€Å"We'd be going over to the dark side.† Amy shrugged. â€Å"Those are really nice boats.† The corner of her mouth twitched as if she was trying not to grin, and Nate realized that she was probably goofing on him. â€Å"Yeah,† said Clay. â€Å"Nice.† Clay was goofing, too. He'd be all right. Nate shook his head, looking as if he were fighting disbelief, but actually he was trying to shake the memory of his dream of driving a big cabin cruiser through the streets of Seattle with Amy displayed as the bikinied figurehead. â€Å"If you're okay, Clay, we really should get out before the wind comes up.† â€Å"Go,† Clay said. â€Å"I'll get the police report for the insurance company.† To Amy he said, â€Å"You find Kona?† â€Å"He's down there with that Tako guy.† â€Å"What's he doing down there?† â€Å"It looked like he was building a saxophone. I didn't go close.† Quinn strode down the dock and looked to where Kona was talking with Tako Man. â€Å"No, that's his bong. It breaks down for easy portage.† â€Å"What's a bong?† â€Å"Cute, Amy. Help me get the equipment in the boat.† Suddenly Kona started shouting and running down the dock toward them. â€Å"Bwanas! I found the boat!† Clay perked up. â€Å"Where?† â€Å"Right there. Tako Man says it's right there. He dove down there this morning.† Kona was pointing to a patch of murky jade green water in the center of the harbor. Jade green because of all the waste flushed from the live-aboards, as well as the bait, fish guts, seasickness, and bird poop that went into the water faster than the scavengers could clean it out, and so it caused a perpetual algae bloom. â€Å"My boat,† said Clay, looking forlornly at the empty water. Amy stepped up and put her arm around Clay's shoulders to resume stage-two comfort. â€Å"He dove in that water?† â€Å"The nightwalkers sank it, Bwana Clay. Tako Man saw them. Skinny blue-gray guys. He called them nightwalkers. I think aliens.† â€Å"Aliens are always gray, aren't they?† inquired Quinn. â€Å"That's what I say to him,† said Kona. â€Å"But he say no, not with the lightbulb head. He say they tall and froggy.† â€Å"You're high,† said Clay. â€Å"Tako Man got dank mystical buds, brah. Was a spiritual duty.† â€Å"He's not criticizing you, Kona,† Quinn explained. â€Å"We just assume that you're high. Clay's just doubting the credibility of your story.† â€Å"You don't believe I? Give a man a mask, I'll dive down and get a ting off da boat for proof.† â€Å"Hepatitis, that's what you'll bring up,† said Amy. â€Å"I'm going to work,† said Nate. â€Å"My boat,† said Clay. Nate decided that perhaps he should offer a measure of solace. â€Å"Look at the bright side, Clay. At least whales are big.† â€Å"How is that the bright side?† â€Å"We could be studying viruses. You have any idea what it costs to replace a scanning electron microscope?† â€Å"My boat,† said Clay.

Seal Air Corporation Essay Example

Seal Air Corporation Essay Example Seal Air Corporation Essay Seal Air Corporation Essay The management of Sealed Alarm was unable to Identify profitable acquisitions or expansion projects and simply increasing the dividend [would be] admitting defeat. Starting with the World Class Manufacturing program to improve Sealed Airs manufacturing process, Sealed Air established new priorities, such as using cash flow from operations as a major factor in managers bonuses instead of airings per share, and Sealed Air put more emphasis on employee stock ownership after the rationalization. We believe that Sealed Air made a good choice to leverage themselves to the extent that they did, and that decision benefited multiple parties. Management believed that they were not as well suited to invest the $54 million in Sealed Airs cash as their investors would be able to, thereby making those investors happy with the companys decisions. Any shareholders that kept their shares following the rationalization did not lose equity in Sealed Air, which could have happened if Sealed Alarm decided to Issue more shares. The company itself was able to stay Independent without any need for an anti-takeover device. In order to determine how much value was created from Sealed Airs decision to leverage itself, we had to figure out the present value of the interest tax shield. For the senior secured bank credit agreement of $136. 7 million, we reduced the principal by the given repayments from 1991 to 1996 and each year calculated the interest due by multiplying the 1 1. 5% by the beginning balance at the start of each year. Each interest amount for those years was multiplied by the corporate tax rate (34% for 991 and 1992 and 35% thereafter) In order to determine the present value of the tax shield, and the NP of $1 5,904,368 was determined based on those individual year values. For the subordinated bridge notes, the $170 million value was multiplied by the 12. 25% interest rate to determine the interest due. We multiplied this by a constant 35% corporate tax rate to determine the interest tax shield. Using a formula to determine the full tax shield over the 10 years of the bridge notes, this present value was found to be $41 Adding the NP and the bridge notes IV resulted n a $57,283,921 total tax shield, which represents the value that sealed Air gained by the leveraged rationalization By creating value in terms of a tax shield, Sealed Air Corporations decision to pursue this leveraging up plan coincided with World Class Manufacturing. The purpose of the WAC program was to revivalist the culture and operations of the company. In order to execute this program, however, the company had to change directions and become much more disciplined and organized in their operations. Once they were operating efficiently, they then had a structure In place hat served as the foundation for the financial discipline that was then needed to take on a large amount of debt. Termed Dumpy, the CEO of Sealed Air, believed it was necessary to change the companys priorities and incentive structure following the recap. Dumpy felt that management needed to place a greater emphasis on the importance of generating cash flow. Prior to the recap, their Incentive structure was based on earnings-per-share, which takes Into account non-cash accounting expenses. By swelling ten Touch to A, management was teen addle to Touch on cash flow from operations. Additionally, Sealed Air focused on meeting inventory, receivables, and working capital goals that required management to be more aware of cash that was tied up in these balance sheet items. Dumpy also placed a strong emphasis on employee stock ownership. He felt that this sort of profit sharing would greater align the interests of shareholders and employees, and effectively improve the overall performance of the company. After the recap, many institutional investors had sold their holdings, and were replaced by cash flow investors. On one hand, the institutional investors were more conservative. They aimed at investing in companies with consistent growth, a solid financial situation, and limited downside risk. On the other hand, the one-time special dividend eliminated pension funds that required themselves to hold dividend paying stocks. Moreover, other institutional investors who sold their shares were negative toward leverage and deficit net worth. The managers of Sealed Air should be concerned more about this situation, and focus on cash flow projections. The important new shareholders for Sealed Air became speculative wealthy private investors who were looking for significant gains n profitability. This leveraged rationalization plan required management to curb their capital expenditures per year. This situation could make it hard for a firm to stay competitive in the market but in the case of Sealed Air, the constraint imposed on capital expenditures under the bank lending agreement was good for the company, although it was difficult to achieve. Capital expenditures were restricted to a set amount from 1990 to 1995, which forced the Sealed Air to make wiser decisions to reduce capital expenditures and restructure the formal capital budgeting process. In this way, the company would generate more free cash flows, which would benefit the leveraged rationalization to some extent. We think the managers would be able to renegotiate the covenant successfully. By the end of 1989, the leveraged recap proved to be successful, putting the company a year ahead of the principal payments required by the banks. The managers could renegotiate the covenant by identifying the success of the rationalization with stronger balance sheets. Leverage rationalization is a risky business venture for any company. When evaluating several options for the use of Sealed Air Corporations cash, management did not want to sit on their $54 million. Rather, they wanted to keep company performance at a maximum. In order to do this, management decided to leverage up the company by borrowing money and paying out dividends to their shareholders. Management was confident Sealed Airs cash flows would stay constant for the foreseeable future, which is necessary for leveraged rationalization to work. Furthermore, by leveraging the company, operational improvements were made by holding management responsible for increasing the corporations cash flows. The use of leverage rationalization to change the organizational structure of the company also coincided with managements implementation of World Class Manufacturing. Although leveraged rationalization worked out well for Sealed Air Corporation, it would not be good for all companies to do. A company who participates in leveraged rationalization has to be able to maintain or increase their cash flows for the life of their debt repayment. If a company is not able to hold a steady cash flow, they will have a hard time maintaining the interest payments on their loans. A company who prates In a non-volatile environment Witt a lack AT competition Is Test salute Tort this procedure. A company whose cash flows can change as the market moves would not be well suited for this capital structure. In addition, a corporation must have a strong management core in order to maintain operational efficiency thus improving future cash flows for the company. If management shirks even a little bit, a corporation may be unable to lean out their operations as necessary. Finally, a company that needs to invest in capital expenditures in order to continue their operations would not be suited well for a leveraged rationalization plan. As seen by Sealed Air Corporations binding debt covenants, Sealed Air was only allowed to spend a certain amount per year on capital expenditures. From analyzing this case study, as well as further research on Sealed Air Corporation, it can be seen that a leveraged rationalization plan worked out well for Sealed Air. Sealed Air had all of the necessary requirements in order to make a plan like this successful. The company created value for the corporation as a whole, as well as their shareholders. Management was able to show that the corporations shares were undervalued and improved investors perception of the company in the market.

Pros and Cons of Genetically Modified Foods

Pros and Cons of Genetically Modified Foods Our ancestors first cultivated plants some ten thousand years ago. They domesticated animals later and then selectively bred both plants and animals to meet various requirements for human food. Humans discovered natural biological processes such as fermentation of fruits and grains to make wine and beer, and yeast for baking bread. Manipulation of foods is not a new story, therefore. The latest agricultural discovery uses genetic engineering technology to modify foods.Farmers and plant breeders have been changing crop plants to improve characteristics such as size, resistance to disease and taste. Plants which grow well, have a higher yield or taste better are selected and bred from. This is still the most widely used technique for developing new varieties of a crop, and is limited by natural barriers which stop different species of organisms from breeding with each other. Genetic modification is very different to these traditional plant breeding techniques.Genetic modification is th e insertion of DNA from one organism to another, usually by molecular technologies. Genetically Modified Foods (GMF) are animals or plants that have had genetic modification. This changes the characteristics of the organism, or the way it grows and develops.Jim Maryanski from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, had the following to say in an interview published on the FDA's website.ÂÆ'‚‚“There are hundreds of new plant varieties introduced every year in the United States, and all have been genetically modified through traditional plant breeding techniquessuch as cross-fertilization of selected plantsto produce desired traits.ÂÆ'‚‚” (Robin)Current and future GM products include:a)Food that can deliver vaccines - bananas that produce hepatitis B vaccineb)More nutritious foods - rice with increased iron and vitaminsc)Faster growing fish, fruit and nut treesd)Plants producing new plasticsIn so many respects, genetic modification is perfect for today's societ y. It would help agriculturalists overcome all headaches...

The Bond Market in Bangladesh

The Bond Market in Bangladesh Free Online Research Papers The bond market is a financial market where participants buy and sell debt securities, usually in the form of bonds. Like emerging-market countries around the world, Bangladesh could benefit from having a local-currency, fixed-income securities market. At present, its main fixed-income financial products are bank deposits, bank loans, government savings certificates, term loans, treasury bills, and government bonds and corporate debt (syndicated loans, private placement, and debentures). But in general the corporate debt market is still very small compared with the equity market. Numerous factors in Bangladesh today suggest that Bangladesh will not be able to develop an active, local-currency fixed-income market. In this paper, we will discuss the current situation of our bond market, what the drawbacks are and what may be the remedy for overcoming these drawbacks. INTRODUCTION: Money Market is an integral part of the financial market of a country. It provides a medium for the redistribution of short term loan-able funds among financial institutions, which perform this function by selling these short term securities that usually are highly marketable. The money market in Bangladesh is in its transitional stage. The various constituent parts of it are in the process of formation, while continuous efforts are being made to develop appropriate and adequate instruments to be traded in the market. At present Money market instruments such as Government treasury bills of varying maturity, Bangladesh Bank Bills, Certificates of Deposits, Bankers Acceptance or L/C and Repo and Reverse etc in limited supply are available for trading in the market. However, the short-term credit market of the banking sector experienced a tremendous growth since in recent years, a total of about 6000 branches of the scheduled banks provided short-term credit throughout the country in th e form of cash credit, overdraft and demand loan. The paper first analyzes the current situation of the bond markets in Bangladesh: The bond market has played a limited role in the Bangladesh economy. The Bangladesh bond market is also rather shallow compared to the neighboring countries. Then, the paper analyzes the main impediments to the Bangladesh debt market include (I) the weak regulatory framework; (ii) supply-side constraints such as a lack of the benchmark bonds; (iii) demand-side constraints such as the limited investor base; (iv) a lack of intermediaries with expertise in debt products; (v) a lack of confidence in corporate borrowers; (vi) market distortions which are caused by the National Savings Scheme (NSS) offering above-market returns; and (vii) a lack of interest from private companies, including financial intermediaries and large business, in launching new debt products due to high fees. Finally, the paper offers a roadmap for the development of the Bangladesh bond market. BACKGROUND: Before independence, the use of bonds as a means of resource mobilization was virtually non-existent in Bangladesh. Immediately after liberation, the government of Bangladesh reissued long-term bonds accepting the liabilities of the Income Tax Bonds and the Defense Bonds of the Pakistan government held by Bangladeshi nationals and institutions. The government also issued a 5% non-negotiable bond to Bangladeshi shareholders of nationalized industries. In addition, savings bonds were also issued to pay for the value of demonetized 100-taka notes in 1974. Most of these bonds are held by Bangladesh bank. The first effort to mobilize savings for use of development expenditure was the issue of Wage Earners Development Bonds in 1981 to be sold to Bangladeshi wage earners abroad. Later, a two-year special treasury bond was issued in January 1984 to be sold to individuals, public and private sector organizations including banks. In December 1985, another instrument, the National Bond, was issued to be sold to non-bank investors. During the implementation period of the financial sector reform programmed that took effect from 1990, Nationalized commercial banks, specialized banks and development financial institutions had to make considerable provisions for huge classified loans. As a result, the capital base of those banks and financial institutions eroded severely and their viability was seriously threatened. In this situation, the government issued a series of bonds to restructure the capital base of these banks and financial institutions as well as to assume the liabilities of the bad loans made to a number of public sector organizations. The government also issued some bonds for augmenting loan able funds for specialized banks and financial institutions. Moreover, some bonds were also issued to mobilize funds for a number of public sector organizations like the TT Board, Bangladesh Biman etc. Following is the list of bonds issued by the government on various occasions: 15-year treasury bond (recapitalization and bad debt provisioning, issued 30.12.1990); 3-year Jatiya Biniyog Bond (national investment bond, issued 30.12. 1985); Interest-free treasury bond (issued 1988, withdrawn from 15.10.1993); treasury bond to specialized banks (issued 2.5.1993); 3-year T T bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 29.12.1993); 3-year special treasury bond (for reimbursement of losses on A/C of working capital, issued 1.7.1993); 15-year treasury bond (capitalization, provisioning and agricultural loans write-off, issued 16.10.1993); 25-year treasury bond (jute sector liquidation, issued 1.11.1993); 3-year treasury bond (re constitution of BSRS, issued 16.4.1994); interest free treasury bond (issued 30.6.1994) and 2-year treasury bond (issued 15.7.1995) for reimbursement of agricultural loan remission,); 3-year treasury bond (reimbursement of loss in jute sector, issued 1.7.1994); 3-year TT bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 7.8.1994); 3-year treasury bond (reimbursement of loan loss in BADC, issued 29.6.1995); 3-year treasury bond (reimbursement of loan loss in BTMC, issued 29.6.1995); 3-year T T bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 30.1.1995); 3-year jute treasury bond (for jute sector, issued 1.7.1995); 25-year treasury bond (jute sector liquidation, issued 30.6.1994); 5-year Biman treasury bond (to increase share capital of Biman, issued 29.6.1995); 3-year jute treasury bond (issued 1.7.1995); 25-year jute treasury bond (private banks jute loan liquidation, issued 1.7.1995); 15-year agriculture treasury bond (reimbursement of agricultural loan remission, issued 16.4.1996) ; 3-year T T bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 30.11.1996); 3-year treasury bond (reconstitution of BSRS, issued 19.6.1997); 5-year Biman treasury bond (share capital, issued 1.4.1997); 3-year treasury bond (reimbursement of loan loss in BTMC, issued 26.5.1996); 3-year T T bond (for digital telephone installation, issued 22.6.1999); 10-year jute treasury bond (for jute sector, issued 1.7.1995); 5-year Biman treasury bond (issued 25.5.1998); 5-year Biman treasury bond (issued 15.7.1998); 10-year BSC treasury bond (to meet the loss of BSC, issued 1.7.1998); 10-year jute treasury bond (for jute sector, issued 1.7.1995); 3-year TT bond (issued 18.8.1999); and 3 year treasury bond (bad loan provisioning, issued 1.1.2000). Marketability of bonds issued in the country is very limited. The bulk of these bonds are held by the nationalized commercial banks. The few specialized and some private banks hold a part of them. Individuals and non-bank financial institutions also hold some of these bonds. Therefore, the main market of these bonds so far is being provided by the banks which hold them due to the government allocation system, as well as to maintain statutory liquidity requirements (SLR). Many of these bonds are non-negotiable. As there is no secondary market in the country, the holders of these bonds have to wait till the date of maturity for their encashment. LITERATURE STUDY: Bond Market is a place or incidence of transaction in which any kind of bonds changes hands. References to the bond market usually refer to the government bond market, because of its size, liquidity, lack of credit risk and, therefore, sensitivity to interest rates. Because of the inverse relationship between bond valuation and interest rates, the bond market is often used to indicate changes in interest rates or the shape of the yield curve. Bond markets in most countries remain decentralized and lack common exchanges like stock, future and commodity markets. This has occurred, in part, because no two bond issues are exactly alike, and the number of different securities outstanding is far larger. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association classifies the broader bond market into five specific bond markets. Corporate Government Agency Municipal Mortgage Backed, Asset Backed, and Collateralized Debt Obligation Funding Bond markets link issuers having long-term financing needs with investors willing to place funds in long-term, interest-bearing security. Bangladesh has both the issuers and the investors in place but it still has not been able to link them effectively through a bond market. The positive effect of developing a domestic bond market on the economy is well-known. On the one hand, bond markets are essential for a country to enter a sustained phase of development driven by market-based capital allocation and increased avenues for raising debt capital. On the other hand, the central position occupied by domestic bond markets in markedly increasing the resilience of a country’s financial system and insulating it against external shocks, contagion and reduction of access to international capital markets is established. Capital markets are essentially about matching the needs of investors with those that need capital for development. Bangladesh has no shortage of both such parties, a young and dynamic population that increasingly wants, and is able to, make provision for lifetime events, to save for children’s education, for the possibility of ill health and ultimately for old age and retirement. On the other side of the equation, Bangladesh has a pressing need for investment resources to bolster its stretched infrastructure resources, to build more power stations, bridges, ports and gas-pipelines to empower the people in the development of enterprise and the creation of jobs. Debt markets are an extremely effective mechanism for matching the long term needs of savers with those of entrepreneurs. Term capital is a precious commodity and it has been a frustration to see the process of long term savings, such as provident funds and life insurance contracts, being invested in short term instrume nts such as bank deposits, a process we call ‘reverse term transformation’ but we could equally call it â€Å"reverse alchemy† in which the gold of term capital is turned into the lead of short term liabilities. As a development institution it is our goal to establish sustainable capacity. As Bangladesh has led the world in its development of the microfinance industry, we have impressed others with our ability to mobilize funds for productive purposes at the community level in the villages. What we need to see now is a similar degree of success at the institutional level in terms of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and other uses of long term funds. It is much more useful that Taka funds are mobilized to fund projects whose sole revenue source will be in Taka. Bangladesh should play a larger role in mobilizing its own capital resources and reducing the dependency upon donor institutions such as World Bank, IMF and ADB etc. Bond markets in most countries are built on the same basic elements: a number of issuers with long-term financing needs, investors with a need to place savings or other liquid funds in interest-bearing securities, intermediaries that bring together investors and issuers, and an infrastructure that provides a conducive environment for securities transactions, ensures legal title to securities and settlement of transactions, and provides price discovery information. The regulatory regime provides the basic framework for bond markets and indeed, for capital markets in general. Efficient bond markets are characterized by a competitive market structure, low transaction costs, low levels of fragmentation, a robust and safe market infrastructure, and a high level of heterogeneity among market participants. An important element of a domestic bond market is the government bond market. Development of a government bond market provides a number of important benefits if the pre-requisites to a sound development are in place. At the macroeconomic policy level, government securities market provides an avenue for domestic funding of budget deficits and avoids a build-up of foreign currency-denominated debt. A government securities market can also strengthen the transmission and implementation of monetary policy, including the achievement of monetary targets or inflation objectives, and can enable the use of market-based indirect monetary policy instruments. The existence of such a market not only can enable authorities to smooth consumption and investment expenditures in response to shocks, but if coupled with sound debt management, can also help governments reduce their exposure to interest rate risk – a situation that is looming large in the National Savings Certificates market, cu rrency, and other financial risks. Finally, a shift toward market-oriented funding of government budget deficits will reduce debt-service costs over the medium to long term through development of a deep and liquid market for government securities. The prerequisites for establishing an efficient government domestic currency securities market include a credible and stable government; sound fiscal and monetary policies; effective legal, tax, and regulatory infrastructure; smooth and secure settlement arrangements; and a liberalized financial system with competing intermediaries. Since pension and life insurance reform helps in the development of government securities market, starting the process of pension and insurance reform now might be prudent because of the time it takes to feel the positive impact of such reforms on the capital market. The current emphasis on local-currency bond markets stems mainly from their risk-management benefits, as highlighted by the Asia and the Tequila crises. Issuing bonds can reduce the types of interest rate, foreign exchange, and refunding exposures that created those crises and can help ensure that emerging market borrowers have more shock absorbers- more tools- to limit the impact of those exposures. Foreign investment is clearly a plus for economic development but it does create certain risks. Since financial sector crises will never be eliminated, and, at least for many years to come, flows into emerging markets will be large in relation to the markets in which they are investing, any rapid outflow will create serious problems for the borrowing country. Emerging market countries must find ways to manage the risks, and hence benefit from international capital flows. They need to be able to reduce exposures to foreign-currency borrowing and also absorb the associated shocks and volatility, so that small problems will not escalate into broadly based social catastrophes, harming people who were in no way directly involved in the markets. Local-currency bonds dampen the effect of crises created by international capital flows by locking in interest rates and local-currency funding. This allows borrowers to hold on to their funds and positions and work their way through a crisis. But, as happened in Asia, many borrowers want to rely on short-term, foreign-currency funding because when their economy and local currency is strong, such borrowing creates a double benefit to their net worth: the borrower’s liabilities fall while its assets and revenues rise. The flip side is that when times turn bad, borrowers get a double hit on their net worth: liabilities rise and assets fall, causing strains and in some cases defaults. The solution to this problem is to use funding structures that have a neutral effect on net worth, as in the case of bonds. The difficulty lies in convincing borrowers that good times may turn bad, and in getting them to incur the potential opportunity cost from locking in stable funds and rates. Local bond markets also support major trends that stem from economic and financial sector growth. For issuers, infrastructure development is creating demands throughout Asia and other parts of the world for large-scale, longer-term funds that banks cannot often provide. Privatization, securitization (particularly for housing finance), and decentralization of governments are all creating new financing demands. On the investor side, many countries are now rich enough for insurance and social security and are creating institutional investors that need long-term assets. They want to keep their interest rate (fixed), reinvestment (long term), and local-currency risks to manageable levels. With macroeconomic stability increasing in many countries, issuers and investors alike are more willing to lock in rates. Local bond markets also strengthen the financial sector by encouraging greater transparency, pushing companies to disclose in public markets and forcing them to better understand themselves and in turn improve their management (as is the case in equity markets, too). Bond markets create competition with the local banking sector, which can reduce lending rates. Ideally, countries should try to build both primary and secondary markets for bonds. Primary markets reduce the three risks noted; secondary markets, by adding liquidity and broadening the investor base, help reduce funding costs. Many countries will not be able to create secondary markets, and some will find it hard to develop public primary markets. Whatever the situation, reducing one or two of the three financing risks is worthwhile. Getting local-currency, fixed-rate, long-term funds in a private placement may cost more than a publicly traded issue but it might be all that a country can do, and will reduce the issuer’s risk. Developing bond markets can be more complicated than developing equity markets. Bond markets need supporting pricing infrastructure. They operate best when they have money market and longer-term benchmarks. Most emerging markets lack these benchmarks. The issuer’s credit risk is another major concern. The issuer has to service and repay the bonds, whereas with equity the issuer can be â€Å"incubated† from payments as it grows. Investors need to make sure issuers have the cash flow to make interest payments and redeem principal. Bond markets simply cannot grow as quickly as equity markets can. Furthermore, bond markets need more sophisticated market participants. Issuers need to be able to manage their cash flow to make repayments. Bond markets typically need dealers and market makers, which means creating a new class of intermediaries who can take positions and manage their risks. FINDINGS: The obstacles to bond market development can be divided into three broad categories: those around and across the market, and those inside the fixed-income markets. Around and Across the Market The obstacles in this group stem from the political situation, the macroeconomic situation, and the broader financial system. The Political Situation: The People’s Republic of Bangladesh has been a parliamentary democracy since September 1991. The present government is headed by the Awami League which has an absolute majority, but the opposition party has stepped up its nationwide program of strikes, processions, and mass meetings. These activities have weakened the government’s intentions to foster changes such as the development of the financial market. In addition, certain commercial and financial regulations are outdated in that they tend to focus on institutions rather than functions. Governance and accountability are lacking in certain areas, and there are elements of inefficiency in the financial system, mainly concerning the state-owned banking sector. Although the government is aware of these problems, it has been slow to improve governance and develop strong institutional capacity. The problems created by these weak institutions are compounded by an increasingly confrontational political environment. At the same time, the government has committed itself to launching financial reforms that could help accelerate the country’s rate of growth. The main goal of these reforms is to reduce the direct controls on the financial system, and to deregulate and introduce a new set of market-oriented approaches to financial sector activity. The Bangladesh National Budget for 1999–2000, for example, earmarks funds for the creation of a central depository system (CDS) to help streamline trading at the stock exchanges and improve authentication. Furthermore, a proposal is under scrutiny that would amend the Trust Act to allow provident and pensions funds to invest in the capital market. To achieve that goal, it will be essential to ease the bad-loan situation, which is draining the country of its monetary resources. But certain factions in Bangladesh oppose those aims and commitments. Since no one has stepped forward to â€Å"champion reform,† the government appears unwilling and unable to undertake the requisite changes in due time. Because the political environment is so fragile, laws and regulations are not being fully enforced. Macroeconomic Situation: Bangladesh’s macroeconomy was fairly strong throughout the 1990s, with growth rates averaging a respectable 5%, and inflation averaging a modest 9%–10%. The primary fiscal deficit during the past five years has averaged about 5.5% of GDP, which has generally been within sustainable limits. (However, the consolidated public sector deficit, taking into account losses incurred by state-owned enterprises, is much higher and underscores the need for improved fiscal management, although foreign exchange reserves have become more stable recently owing to impressive export performance and reduced imports.) Heightened foreign investor interest in the country’s natural gas sector has opened up tremendous possibilities. But despite these positive elements there are some serious constraints on the development of active corporate bond markets in Bangladesh. First, Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, with approximately 125 million inhabitants, of which ab out 60 million live below the poverty line. Although its GNP growth rates- in the range of 4%–5% year- are attractive, they suggest that it will take Bangladesh 25 years to double its per capita income. In order to reduce the incidence of poverty to about 11%, as it hopes to do, Bangladesh will have to achieve economic growth rates of 7.5% or more a year. According to several studies (see, for example, World Bank, â€Å"Bangladesh, Key Challenges for the Next Millennium,† April 1999), economy has the capacity to move out of poverty with increasing speed, but that will require decisive policy actions in several areas, not least of which is the financial market. However, a sense of urgency is missing in policymaking, despite the growing imbalances in the economy and crowding out as Bangladesh continues to channel vast monetary resources into servicing bad loans. Given that macroeconomic changes can happen in short periods of time and that non-performing loans, which account for a third of the loan portfolio, can create financial sector vulnerability, the bad-loan situation could trigger a severe liquidity crisis nationwide. It can take decades to build a fixed-income market in the wake of such crises. This issue clearly needs immediate and focused attention. If the country’s positive macroeconomic trends continue into the future, the fiscal deficit and bad-loan situation will ease up and these factors would pose less threat to the financial market. Broader Laws and Regulations: Certain omissions or drawbacks of the broader laws and regulations directly affect development of the fixed-income market. First, with regard to the ownership of land, the law provides for the registration of deeds rather than of ownership, which makes it impossible to take land as collateral for bond issuance. Second, the law makes arbitration a cumbersome and slow process; moreover, foreign arbitration awards are not enforceable in Bangladesh. Third, in terms of obtaining issuers, there is no privatization law to lend transparency and authority to the privatization process, although one is at present being drafted. Fourth, Bangladesh’s laws represent a mixture of codified British common law and legal principles from various religious heritages. Although the court system derives from a common law tradition, Bangladesh courts are limited in their ability to function effectively. In view of these constraints, the legal system can move only so fast in amending the laws and enacting new ones, even though the government acknowledges the need for such changes. Contract laws and commercial codes seem to be fair, but ensuring that they are observed is difficult because of a weak adjudication system. Broader Financial System: The broader financial system includes the banking sector, nonbanking sector, government securities market, and short-term money markets. Banking sector. Bangladesh’s banking system, which is dominated by state-owned NCBs, creates two serious problems for a local corporate bond market.First, the system provides low-cost loans to stateowned enterprises, which account for a large part of the corporate sector. This undermines development of the corporate bond market because other financial institutions are unable to compete with these â€Å"underpriced loans.† Indeed, the state-owned enterprises constitute a large part of the NCBs’ business. To complicate matters,development financial institutions (DFIs) also provide low-cost loans, priced at a small percentage over bank deposits for similar maturities. Second, the banking sector is faced with a substantial number of bad loans; nonperforming assets account for about 30% of total assets. Although these nonperforming assets can be said to create a need for an active bond market, to the extent that banks are constrained in new lending and thereby cannot meet the funding needs of corporate borrowers, they also rob the bond market of needed investors. Yet the state-owned banks just keep on making bad loans. Nonbanking sector. The nonbanking portion of the financial sector consists of two small stock exchanges (Dhaka and Chittagong),2 both of which have still not recovered from the bull market problems of 1996, which left the public suspicious of corporate institutions because it is hard to get them to disclose their figures. At that time, the stock exchange experienced a hefty run-up in prices owing to a large inflow of funds from retail investors. This inflow, drawn by the prospect of easy money, was a new experience for the Bangladesh people, but it lasted only the second half of 1996. In those six months the index soared from 500 to 3500 and the market came crashing down to about 600. The stock market has not recovered yet: in May 1999 the index hit a 63-month low, at about 465. The average daily turnover in the spring of 1999 was about US$1 million to US$2 million. The weak operating performance by listed companies and low confidence in the market overall has made it difficult for the market to recover. In sum, the nonbanking sector has not evolved in a way that would allow it to play an active role in the financial system. Nor, as discussed in the section on intermediaries, is it prepared to play an active and skilled leadership role in developing and participating in an active fixed income market. Government securities market: The government securities market in Bangladesh is small, does not provide much of a yield curve to support a corporate bond market, and does not provide intermediaries with skills and a profit base to support the corporate bond market. At present, the government issues long-term savings certificates at high interest rates and government bonds, and it only has market-oriented rates for T-bills. At the shorter end of the market, T-bills are auctioned weekly for 91 days and the Bangladesh Bank (BB) occasionally issues paper for 180 days, 365 days, and 720 days. Commercial banks participate in auctions weekly for 91-day T-bills, whereas the others are issued occasionally. Accepted bids are noted in the newspapers. The market is small, with outstandings of about US$800 million. There is no secondary market and no market for repurchase agreements (â€Å"repos†). T-bills are transferable, but settlement is manual and very slow, done through BB. On the whole, T-bills are mainly used to satisfy statutory liquidity requirements (SLRs). The past few years have seen a clear bias for short-term borrowing. Government bonds, with maturities ranging from 3 to 25 years, are issued when needed; they do not create a yield curve as T-bonds are nontransferable, mostly because they are issued to recapitalize state-owned banks. Their notable feature is that they are guaranteed by the government and are eligible for SLRs. Government savings certificates (GSCs) range in maturity from three to eight years. GSCs are offered to different types of investors in the retail sector (but small corporate are allowed to invest). The types of investors are mostly individuals and families but also include charity and provident funds. GSCs are issued in series through the year. The holder may redeem them at par at any time. Finally, GSC issuances offer significantly higher rates than local bank deposits, which create a relatively high rate for risk-free and tax-free government securities. This establishes a high benchmark rate for corporate fixed-income securities, creating a disincentive to invest in corporate securities. GSC rates are 2%–3% higher after tax compared with rates on other government paper. GSCs create a high benchmark interest rate foundation for corporate securities. That matters because it is very hard to compete with risk-free government debt. At present, Bangladesh law and the government’s fiscal and monetary policy combine to create a financial market monopoly for GSCs and NCBs, which in turn keeps alternate financial intermediation from emerging. Bangladesh needs a healthy nonbank financial institution (NBFI) sector to increase mobilization and make competitive financing available in a fixed-income market. To achieve that end, it must break the NCBs’ monopoly. Although the government is aware of this problem and has put forward some relevant reforms, there are no real incentives to speed up the process, maybe because of political considerations. Short-term money markets: Money markets provide another foundation for bond markets. The money markets in Bangladesh are quite small. There is an interbank market, in which commercial banks borrow and lend to adjust their short positions (the size of this market is not publicly known). Normal maturities range from overnight to 30 days. Bangladesh also has a forward market for U.S. dollars against the taka, but only for short maturities. There is no commercial paper market. Inside the Fixed-Income Markets The important factors to consider inside the fixed-income markets are regulators and regulations, central market infrastructure, and intermediaries. Regulators and Regulations: One impediment at the regulator and regulation level is the overlapping authority between the two financial market regulators, Bangladesh Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and no clear jurisdiction over the fixed-income market. In general, BB regulates the commercial banks and their activities, while the SEC regulates the NBFIs, the two stock exchanges, and the capital market. A second problem is that the SEC has no authority to issue rules and regulations, and the procedure as a whole is long and drawn out. As a result, the SEC has not proposed any regulations for the issuance of bonds or debentures. All rule proposals must first be submitted to the Minister of Finance for approval and then passed on for approval from Ministry of Law. Furthermore, potential issuers have to look at various sets of regulations and follow a long and cumbersome procedure. Third, although the SEC requires listed companies to meet international standards on accounting and auditing, accounting information appears to be of doubtful quality and reliability. Fourth, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1993 confers vast regulatory authority on the state, and is regarded as a constraint on capital market development. There is a board of policymakers. Three of its members are appointed by the state, another is from the Ministry of Finance and one from the central bank, and the chairman is appointed by the government. Fifth, in the present system, a company can float debentures up to a maximum amount of its current asset value and has to register its assets in the name of the Trustee as Security. Hence there is no provision for floating unsecured debentures. Central Market Infrastructure: In the absence of a secondary market in fixed-income securities, no effort has been made to build up a central market infrastructure to support it. Bangladesh only has a telephone market for T-bill trading and central market infrastructure at the stock exchange for trading equities and debentures. In the T-bill market, the counterparts call each other and settle transactions without any transparency in real time for other participants in the market. At the stock exchange, the debenture market is fully automated. The debenture market has a somewhat more transparent order-matching system in that bids and offers are entered in the computer and then matched automatically. Bangladesh has no central depository system, though one is expected to start operating in 2000. Today, clearing and settlement are done manually, which creates various risks to completing a transaction. Also lacking are a credit rating agency, research and information companies, and market information on screens; market participants are referred to other media, such as the daily financial newspaper, and thus experience a delay in obtaining essential eco- nomic information. According to some participants, even that information is often unreliable. Market Participants: Market participants can be divided into issuers, investors, and intermediaries. Issuers: The foremost impediment here is that Bangladesh lacks a significant number of potential, good-quality issuers. Its economy continues to be agriculturally based; agriculture accounts for nearly 30% of the country’s GNP, and more than 70% of the labor force is engaged in agricultural activities. The industry and service sectors contribute 20% and 50%, respectively, but compared with landholdings, the average size of industrial and commercial enterprises is rather modest. Most private sector enterprises are small and owner-run, many are of â€Å"cottage size† and most are in the garment industry, which to date depends largely on short-term bank loans for financing. These enterprises could benefit from longer-term funding but are neither large enough nor well known enough to issue bonds. Most of the large-scale industrial units and commercial enterprises are state owned. Their shares are not listed, and they do not offer debentures since their financing needs are met by the government or by the state-owned NCBs. These state-owned firms generally stay outside the capital market. The privatization program for state-owned companies works too slow to influence the market. Second, although Bangladesh has a debenture market, to date only a small number of well-known issuers have used the market (see table 2). The liquidity in those debentures at the stock exchange is insignificant because of the small number of investors and their buy-and-hold mentality. The investor community does not seem to find this market too attractive owing to weak disclosure by the issuers, which in turn reduces credibility and investor confidence. Third, companies find that issuing debt is costly, both in monetary and nonmonetary terms. The interest rate distortion due to the GSCs mentioned earlier raises the ongoing cost of borrowing, while various up-front costs amount to about 7% of the value of the issue (these include registration costs- that is, stamp duties- totaling about 2.5% of the issue value). Fourth, it is difficult to persuade issuers to disclose sufficient information about their companies (although prospectus requirements for listed debentures do seem fair). Yet another problem is that most potential issuers are unwilling to take the opportunity cost involved in issuing a long-term bond. In addition, the absence of a yield curve makes pricing difficult. Investors: On the investor side, few investors are sophisticated enough to think about investing in bonds. About 80% of the base here is made up of retail investors, whose primary concerns include the equity at the stock exchange or the government savings certificate. Of the few institutional investors that could support a bond market, most are either prevented from investing in corporate bonds by restrictive guidelines or are not professionally managed. The major institutional investors are the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh- a government-owned financial institution- and the insurance companies. The mutual fund industry in Bangladesh is the exclusive domain of ICB. There are no private mutual funds to mobilize savings toward the debt market, and the ICB’s monopoly has prevented new investor companies, that is, mutual funds, from developing in Bangladesh. There are provident and pension funds (total assets managed amount to Tk 6.7 billion; see The Financial Express), self-managed by public and private corporate entities, but none are professionally managed. The pension obligations of the gov- ernment are not funded. The Trust Act of 1882 prohibits those funds from being invested in equities, corporate debentures, and private money market instruments. In addition, no protective laws are in effect to ensure that investors will get their dividend and capital back. Missing are higher audit standards together with SEC regulations on disclosure standards in prospectus along with arbitrary institutions. Furthermore, most investors lack a trading mentality and just buy and hold because of SLR requirements or because they do not know how to trade. Few foreign investors are attracted to this, mainly because of the weak disclosure by the borrowers. As for the general public, it has little understanding of debt products, and the intermediaries are not much help because few engage in research on markets, companies and industries to encourage investment. Intermediaries: Intermediaries in Bangladesh lack many of the skills needed to foster an active local corporate bond market. As mentioned earlier, commercial banks dominate the financial sector and not enough intermediaries are skilled in securities. Few are able to identify issuers and investors and bring them to the market. They provide little or no research analysis on industries or companies to encourage investment in the local debt market. Too few private merchant banks are able to conduct financial advisory and trust services. Nor do any feel motivated to become a market maker for an issue. Hence the market is illiquid, with large spreads. At the same time, the fee structure and pricing are high enough to allow intermediaries to make money, but because transactions are so limited, the intermediaries seldom make money. Even if they are able to participate, intermediaries are reluctant to take any risk in dealing. Prospects of a bond market in Bangladesh: Despite the earlier setbacks the bond markets in Bangladesh is ready to take off. The need for a bond market in Bangladesh deserves attention because of the following: Foreign aid flow is diminishing and the trend is expected to continue. Specialized banks are not in a position to supply desired level of long term fund. Commercial banks have strategically cut down their long term lending. The concept of prudent asset mix is most likely to generate demand for investment grade bonds. The Provident Funds and Insurance Companies Funds are not generally allowed to invest their funds in stock market instruments. There is a bright possibility that these funds may be permitted to invest a part of their funds in marketable instruments subject to prudential guidelines, which may necessitate supply of lucrative debt instruments. Reduction in the interest on Govt. savings instruments and withdrawal of certain savings instruments is expected to boost demand for debt instruments. The registration fee for trust deed has been reduced from 2.5% (on the amount of debentures) to Tk. 2500.00 providing a very significant incentive. There are now credit rating agencies to provide rating prospective issuer. Any interest paid by investor on money borrowed for investment in debentures is deducted from total income. Interest income not exceeding Tk. 20000 received by an individual investor on debentures approved by SEC is excluded from total income.. The interest on Zero coupon bond approved by SEC at the hand of the recipient is tax exempt upto Tk. 25000.00. Such interest exceeding Tk. 25000.00 is subjected to tax @ 10% deducted at source. Banks and other financial institutions and insurance companies which are the mainstay of demand for bonds will now pay 10% tax on interest on such bonds instead of 45% tax payable on other income RECOMMENDATIONS: Recent developments and events have already created an environment conducive to fosterage of the debt market. A number of financial institutions have sold bonds or debentures to institutions. Further, an Islami Bank has decided to issue perpetual bond subject to approval of relevant authorities. It is also expected that quite a number of institutions will float bonds through securitisation in the near further. A sustainable bond market needs enabling policies. The following actions and policy measures are seen important to promote a bond market in Bangladesh. All issues of debentures be rated by independent rating agency prior to issue. Companies issuing bonds/debentures to public may be rated periodically to keep track of issuing companys financial position. Public utilities and infrastructure projects be asked to raise a part of debt through issue of marketable bonds. Industrial companies with good track record be advised to issue marketable bonds instead of relying on bank financing. Existing public utilities and infrastructure projects be advised to securitise debts by issuing marketable bonds. Existing industrial companies be encouraged to replace a portion of bank/DFI loans with marketable bonds. To facilitate liquidity of marketable bonds, discounting facilities may be provided by financial institutions. Systems of market makers (specialists) may be evolved to facilitate market for marketable bonds. Bond maturities be diversified between one year and seven years as to give investors with different maturity profiles the option of purchasing debentures with different maturities. The methods of revolving underwriting facility (RUF) may be introduced so that companies can issue short-term debentures whenever necessity arises. RUF is a system in which a consortium of underwriters make commitment to the issuing company to purchase all the unsold portions of the short-term debentures which may be issued from time to time during a certain period (e.g. five years) up to certain maximum amount. Coupon rates and all other issuing conditions of debentures be determined by market forces. Coupon rates may differ according to the rating of the issuer accorded by independent rating agency. In order to make long-term investment more attractive, issuers may find it useful to increase the coupon rate as years go by, e.g. 9 percent in the first year, 10 percent in the second year, 11 percent in the third year and so on. Such increasing coupon rate methods will be useful, especially if the investor is given the right to call for redemption of the bonds at the end of each year so that he may choose to hold them to enjoy a higher coupon rate. Interest received by individual investors on bonds/debentures approved by SEC may be fully exempted from tax. Investment in bonds/debentures approved by SEC may be given tax-exempt status up to a certain limit. The tax rates/relief available to investors on Zero coupon bonds may be extended to all other bonds/debentures approved by SEC. If all the above things can be done, then this could pave the path for a well-functioning bond market that can change the existing bank-oriented financial system to a multilayered system, where capital markets can complement bank financing. REFERENCE: Jeff Madhura. â€Å"Financial Markets and Institutions† (7th Edition). Thomson south-western Scott Besley Eugene F. Brigham. â€Å"Essentials of Managerial Finance†(13th Edition). Thomson south-western Peter S. Rose Sylvia C. Hudgins. â€Å"Bank Management Financial Services† (7th Edition). McGraw-Hill International Edition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_market (Retrieved on: 14.04.2008). bangladesh-bank.org/seminar/iwdbmbd/seciia06.html (Retrieved on: 14.04.2008). http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTPROGRAMS/EXTTRADERESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:20625246~menuPK:64001880~pagePK:210083~piPK:152538~theSitePK:544849,00.html (Retrieved on: 14.04.2008). ifc.org/ifcext/publications.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/Building_Local_Bonds_Chp.14/$FILE/Building_Local_Bonds_Chp.14.pdf (Retrieved on: 14.04.2008). Research Papers on The Bond Market in BangladeshMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaTwilight of the UAWLifes What IfsInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesDefinition of Export QuotasPETSTEL analysis of IndiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfHip-Hop is ArtOpen Architechture a white paper

The Entertainment Ride Regulation Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Entertainment Ride Regulation Act - Essay Example Section one defines the scope of the Act stating that its provisions are applicable to all the rides that are operated as part of an amusement or fairground park. The section goes further to define a ride in the context of the Act terming it as any equipment meant to ferry passengers for exhilaration or entertainment purposes. Section 2 of the Act introduces the Ride Safety Agency (RSA). The agency is charged with the responsibility of carrying out inspections issuing licenses and imposing sanctions in cases where the licensing conditions or regulations stated under the Act are breached. The RSA is empowered to administer penalties like issuing fines, demanding for repairs or improvements on the rides. It also has the powers to close down the rides or demolish the rides or sometimes revoke licenses2. In cases of moving rides, the provisions in the Act states that such forms of entertainment can be destroyed or confiscated in case they breach any of the RSA regulations. Section 3 come s up with a licensing regime which requires all the ride operators to lawfully obtain licenses before operating any rides. These licenses have to be obtained legally from the RSA. There have been previous cases which have made this act to be put in place. For example, on 20th November 2011, There was an accident in Australia involving a fair ride called the Cha Cha. A thirteen year old girl was thrown from the ride and flung into a safety fence which was metallic. She was again struck when she tried to stand. In the same accident, two other teenagers got minor cuts. The investigating company, WorkSafe Victoria, the ride did not meet the safety standards set aside by Australia. The section also expects the RSA to come up with a policy covering the issuing of licenses that has to be agreed upon after first consulting the relevant parties. The provisions mentioned above have already been enforced and the RSA has already assumed its responsibility of seeing that the provisions of the Ac t are followed to the latter. This has led to the RSA officers to lock horns with most of the rides users and owners who don’t necessarily understand provisions in the Entertainment Ride Regulations Act or are ignorant and assume the powers vested in the RSA. On the other hand, the RSA and its officers have taken advantage of the powers given to them and are harassing owners and users of rides3. This has called for the need to review the judicial application in order to bring to action the private law or find redress using other grievance resolution means. Such negligence leads to fatal accidents like the one seen in Dublin, Ireland. On October 24th 2011, a 31 year old woman was killed after going for a ride at the Tip Top ride. She was thrown from her bucket seat and fell on metal steps at the ride’s platform. It is reported that she died on the spot. Although the ride was found to be in great mechanical condition, it is believed that the woman slipped under the safet y bar and fell. Case 1 This involves an owner of a stall and the RSA officials. Alice who owns a ‘hook a duck’ stall is being accused by the RSA officials for operating her stall at a fair without a license. Following this breach of the Entertainment Ride Regulations Act provisions according to the officers, Alice is fined of 5000 pounds. With references to section 1 of the Act, Alice’s stall falls under the Acts definition of a ride thus it is under the jurisdiction of its provision making the RSA officers have the

Supply Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supply Management - Essay Example Further, tendering is an intense process where the government advertises the specific areas that would require procuring. Through bidding, the lowest bidder receives the contract to do supplying for a specified period of time. Therefore, all supplies receive equal treatment in terms of information access, enquiries on specifications, and lastly the responding time to participate in the bidding. However, the winner of the bid also receives further scrutiny to determine whether they are the responsible and responsive lowest bidder that submitted the bid. They have to prove that they are responsive in relation to effective answering to the questions that the issues of the bid may have. In addition, their responsive nature also applies in their ability to provide samples in good time as per the request of the bid issuer. On the other hand, the winning supplier also becomes responsible because of passing the integrity and desirable background test (UN HABITAT, 2003). In contrast, the priv ate sector operates differently as it uses sample views, interviews with potential suppliers, physical visits to the private site, and using their reference and their credit review. On the contrary, the private contract investigative agencies where the provision of information is on a confidential basis. In the public sector procurement, the process becomes flawed if the responses received are not clear enough meaning that there none qualifies to receive the tenders on offer .sequentially, the awarding of tenders experiences delay and may start all again till the suppliers comply with the set requirements. This translates to time wastage hence making the suppliers despair and losing trust in the process. In essence, this serves as one of the outcomes of an ineffective supply and management process by creating sour relations between the two parties. In addition, there exists a substantial difference between the procurement departments in both the public and private sectors in referen ce to the work force and performance. The latter invests in the workforce by ensuring that there exists competence in task execution, which may not be the situation for the former. For the public sector, it is vital for them to cut on costs rather than accessing quality, which is quite different from the private sectors view. Therefore, the supplier satisfaction in the private sector deems fit as compared to that of the government purchasing and supplies management. Levels of buyer and seller relationships Over the years, buyer and supplier relationship has been on a transformative path to make transactions between relative easy and effective. Ideally, the relationship between the two had an inclination on reactive and mechanized procurement, which later changed to proactive purchasing. In essence, the reactive form of purchasing implied that one party’s gain would be the others loss. Later, the transformation process brought partnership between the two where there would be e qual benefits. Subsequently, there are three levels of buyer and seller relationships that are the adversarial, barometric and complementary relationships. Ideally, the adversarial relationship has the buyer benefiting more than the seller as they tend to push for more discounts at the peril of supplier (Moser, 2006). Therefore, the focus is solely on accessing lower cost for the buyers desired items of choice hence making