Analysis of Widower in the Country by Les Murray Essay

Les Murray’s poem ‘Widower in the Country’ highlights the painful effect of the death of a loved one. His tone in this poem is one of grief and loneliness, and through strong imagery and emotive language, the composer draws out empathy and interest from the reader. This poem describes how repetitive life becomes after someone very close to you passes away. The composer conveys a strong feeling of grief and pain in the poem. The composer creates an empathy towards the widower, by expressing just how lonely he feels after his wife had died, and he had to stay in the place that they had shared together. Through the use of multiple metaphors, â€Å"The Christmas paddocks aching in the heat/The windless trees, the nettles in the yard† , the composer builds a path into how the widower is ‘aching’ after the grief of losing his wife. ‘windless trees’ implies the feeling of death, as the trees have no leaves, whilst ‘nettles’ evokes the pain and burning he is feeling at this difficult time. The reader realises that this might be a difficult time for the widower, and empathises to attempt to feel what he feels. Les Murray creates an overall feeling of grief and loneliness throughout his poem. Murray clearly outlines just how much losing a loved one makes you suffer and hurt for a very long time. The poem is structured in a way that establishes the routine of morning, afternoon and evening that widows or widowers are forced through to change their everyday lives to suit after losing their partner. The composer uses enjambment and a metaphor to create this idea. â€Å"The roof reflects the sun and makes my eyes / Water and close on bright webbed visions smeared / On the dark of my thoughts to dance and fade away.† Murray makes it easy for the readers to relate to the text by creating a clear empathy for the grief and loss the widower is feeling in the poem. Some people can not regain the strength to lead a normal life after losing those dear to them. The poem reveals how monotonous life becomes after losing their partner. The widower lives day to day and tries to get through daily life without his partner, but finds that he suffers for it. People who live a monotonous life tend to keep to themselves and may come off as sharp, as they are so stuck to their routine so they don’t have to think about anything other than the work they have to do to avoid the prickly pain. The composer uses repetition â€Å"I’ll go,† to reinforce the monotonous, day to day life that widowers lead. â€Å"I’ll get up soon, and leave my bed unmade./I’ll go outside and split off kindling wood†¦Ã¢â‚¬  demonstrates the feeling of numbness that the widower feels, and the feeling that he doesn’t want to get out of bed and go and live his life, because he feels as though he can’t live it without his wife. This poem highlights how a widower leads his life after losing his wife. Murray demonstrates how people in outback Australia deal with loss. The widower is still trying to live through the grief, pain and torture that people suffer after losing their loved ones, and the composer creates a clear empathy towards the widower. The widower leads a monotonous life, and struggles to get through day to day life without his partner. The poem effectively demonstrates how a widower feels after losing their wife, through strong metaphors, emotive language and repetition.

Are Formal and Semi Formal Financial Institution Partnerships a Viable Option for Serving the Underserved in India

Are formal and semi formal financial institution partnerships a viable option for serving the underserved in India Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar 10/6/2010 Indu Paramita Mahapatra and Malay Harsh The essay tries to identify the potential problems with financial sector and does a gap analysis that leads to potential opportunities in the sector.It also takes a look at the challenges faced by the different financial institutions, the goals achieved, the targets to be achieved and how the partnership between the different formal and semi formal institutions can create a synergy for serving the underserved of the country. Introduction: The reach and availability of finances determine the growth and development of any enterprise. Then how could the development of a nation be any different from it?It must be duly noted that majority of the country’s populace is out of the purview of the financial services which means more than half of our nation lacks access to savings an d credit facilities among other financial securities and services such as investment options and insurance policies. Where we the urban literati state ourselves to be heavily hassled by the innumerable calls and emails trying to sell us a loan or investment options, these very same options are visibly amiss in the large rural pockets, places where they might be actually be needed.The fact is, there is a gap between the financial services needed and what is available. Problem With financial services in India: Current scenario India’s Economy Growth rate has been around 8. 5% – 9% (last 5 years). Our growth primarily has been in the industry & services sector which has grown by about 16. 8 percent. Even though agriculture is the principal means of livelihood for over 58. 4% of  India's population, the growth in this sector is limited to around 2. 8%.Of the many factors that attribute to poor growth in agriculture, a major reason is lack of access to proper finance. Limited access to savings, loans, remittance ;amp; insurance in rural/ unorganized sector are major constraints to agricultural and SME growth. Financial access enlarges livelihood opportunity ;amp; empowers the poor. And empowerment in turn aids socio-political stability. Financial inclusion provides formal identity, access to payments system ;amp; deposit insurance.Types of Financial Exclusion: (i) exclusion from payment system: not having access to bank accounts (ii) exclusion from formal credit markets leading to approaching informal/ exploitative markets The marginal farmers, the landless labour, the self employed, the unorganized sector, urban slum dwellers, migrants, ethnic minorities, socially excluded groups, senior citizens and women are often not covered under the financial services. The North Eastern Region and the eastern ;amp; central regions are most excluded. Financial Inclusion and RBI’s role:For the past few years one of the important new objectives of the Reserve Bank of  India  has been financial inclusion. Financial inclusion  is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to vast sections of disadvantaged and low income groups. Unrestrained access to public goods and services is the sine qua non of an open and efficient society. It is argued that as banking services are in the nature of public good, it is essential that availability of banking and payment services to the entire population without discrimination is the prime objective of public policy.The movement towards financial inclusion rose to a crescendo in the current year, partly because of the Platinum Jubilee Celebration of RBI and partly because the demand for financial inclusion has become a national and a governmental imperative. According to Annual Policy Statement of RBI, 2004-05 â€Å"†¦banks should be obliged to provide banking services to all segments of population on equitable basis. † In 2005 RBI advised banks to provide basic bank â€Å"no frills† accounts with low or minimum balance/ charges so as to expand anking outreach to larger sections of society. KYC principles were simplified to open accounts for customers in rural ;amp; urban areas for people intending to open accounts with annual deposits of less than Rs. 50,000. General purpose Credit Card (GCC) facility was available up to Rs. 25000 at rural ;amp; urban branches . Revolving credit was encouraged and withdrawal up to limit sanctioned was based on household cash flows . No security or collateral was needed for the same. Interest rates were deregulated.In January 2006 banks were allowed to use services of NGOs, SHGs, micro finance institutions, civil society organizations as business facilitators/ correspondents (BC) for extending banking services. BCs were allowed to do â€Å"cash in-cash out† transactions at BC locations ;amp; branchless banking. Pilots were set up to provide credit counseling and financial education. In June 2007, R BI launched multilingual website in 13 Indian languages providing information on banking services.For the financial inclusion drive, in identified districts, survey was conducted based on electoral rolls, public distribution system etc to identify households with no bank accounts. Banks were required to open at least one account per house. Mass media was deployed for awareness/ publicity. Bank staff/ NGOs/ volunteers took ration cards/ Electoral ID/ photos for fulfilling KYC norms ;amp; opening accounts. The different financial institutions and their roles:The government institutions fuelling the growth in the financial sector for the purpose of extending the banking services to the underserved in India are Regional Rural Banks, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, LAMPs, Commercial Credit Co-operative Societies, State Cooperative banks and Commercial banks. But then the entire system of lending must be self sustaining. Most of the above agencies are loss making units and need to be supported by the government with seed funds. The wide availability of such units extends the outreach of governments financial benefits to the large rural population.The commercial banks try and keep themselves distant from extending their financial services of credit, savings etc to the villages owing largely to the heavy cost of operation and servicing in the deep pockets and would rather cough up the penalty imposed on them by the Reserve bank of India for not meeting credit targets set for Priority sector lending. The cost of reaching the customer unto itself is too high and added to that is the high cost of transaction and servicing of small ticket loans and to top it all there is a high default rate on such loans issued.On the contrary the Non banking financial service companies operate on a much lean structure. The models on which the financial service extension is operating these days is constantly evolving into more and more innovative structures. Unlike the banks, the M FIs may furnish loans without collaterals or security deposits as they have exercise a social obligation on the loan applicant to repay the loans on time. As the loans are issued only through SHGs or JLGs, the liability of each loan rests entirely on the shoulders of the entire group and not just the individual.Thus the ticket size of the loans increase in size and cost of servicing the loans also gets appropriated. The NBFCs and MFI also sell out their loans to the Commercial banks who finance them thus ensuring that the commercial banks also end up meeting their target of priority sector loans that too at a profitable scale. The role played by the NGOs is also worth mentioning when we talk about the financial services in the rural pockets. There has been a rise in the number of SHGs owing to the capacity building and awareness activities taken up by the NGOs.The SHGs are informal bodies formed by the coming together of a homogenous group of people (preferably women) such groups ac tively promote mandatory savings among their members. From the funds collected loans are issued at nominal rates to its group members while loans can be sought for livelihood purposes largely, loans may also be sought for consumption needs. The SHGs are also trained for developing enterprises and businesses to fuel their growths. The other tangential benefits of women’s SHGs are the increase of social status and say a woman has in the communityPartnership of banks with organisations like â€Å"A Little World† and â€Å"FINO† has been a groundbreaking innovation where the above organisations in partnership with the banks extend no frills bank accounts to the rural areas and their people. The benefit is two pronged. It must be noted that the cost per transaction incurred per transaction on a bank teller amounts to roughly $1. 07 USD, while the cost of transaction per ATM transaction costs the bank around $0. 27 USD. The costs are prohibitively high for a commercia l bank to operate on lower ticket size transactions and hence can’t enter the rural market directly.The partnership models that FINO and ALW have adopted ensure that the underserved get access to the banking services by means of innovative rural ATMs that are all but hand held devices operated by either a village person or their own employee. The costs of such operations are low due to the absence of infrastructure needs. The above organisations take a cut from the account opening fee and a certain fee for operations costs. Goals achieved by the financial drive: No frills accounts: 6 million new â€Å"no frills† accounts were added between March 2006 ;amp; 2007.About 45000 rural ;amp; semi-urban branches of Regional rural banks (RRBs) ;amp; Public Sector Banks (PSBs) showed highest performance after the drive. SHG-Bank linkage: Access to banking system was provided through SHGs (groups pooling savings ;amp; providing loans to members). National Bank for Agricultural an d Rural Development (NABARD) extended support in group formation, linking with banks, and promoting best practices. As a result, the recovery was excellent – 2. 6 million SHGs were linked to banks touching 40 million households. SHGs were given loans by banks against group guarantees (Joint liabilities).With smaller loan sizes and reasonable rates of interest, SHGs were encouraged to take loans for consumption and to set up smaller business initiatives. IT Solutions: IT solutions were essential for doorstep banking. Pilot projects were started by SBI using smart cards for opening a/c with bio-metric identification. The smart cards were linked to mobile/ hand held connectivity devices to ensure transactions were recorded in banks’ books on real time basis. State governments started making pension ;amp; other payments under NREGS through smart cards. Other financial services (low cost remittances, insurance) were also provided through cards.IT solutions enabled large tra nsactions like processing, credit scoring, credit record ;amp; follow up etc. Role of Government: Some state governments played a proactive role by issuing identity cards for a/c opening, through awareness campaigns by district/ block level officials. Financial literacy drives were conducted and India Post was roped in as BCs. FM’s Budget Speech 2007-08 allocated a budget of $125 mn each to 2 funds (i) Financial Inclusion Fund for developmental/promotional work (ii) Financial Inclusion Technology Fund for technology adoption/innovation Challenges FacedWith the rates of interest being high the customer is sometimes still apprehensive in approaching for credit, as the poor do not have collateral to offer and are hence not always eligible to loans from govt. banks. The stronghold of the money lenders too is very strong as the loan servicing time of a money lender is very low and can be furnished at any hour of the day. Imposition of rate restrictions by the government may also r ender MFI businesses inefficient owing to high operations cost and defaults, the govt. Promotes defaulting each time there is a loan waiver issued by it.Such actions promote defaulting nature amongst the farmers. There is a disinterest of the rural population in taking insurance policies as there is no understanding of the same in the large rural pockets. The seasonality of the crops and harvest too impose a challenge to the lending and repayments to the financial institutions. Way forward: There’s a need to link the impact of the financial institution to the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The impact analysis can be done by evaluating how far the financial institutions have been effective in contributing, directly and indirectly, to all the eight MDGs.Microfinance contributes to improving income and reducing hunger (MDG 1), providing children school education and training (MDG 2), and paying for health services (MDG 4 – 6). The main beneficiaries of microfinanc e services are women, so financial institutions contribution to women's empowerment and gender equality (MDG 3) can be studied. As for the environment (MDG 7), financial institutions are increasingly combining environmental programs with their financial services, although the contribution may be indirect.For MDG 8, since Target 12 calls for the development of open, rule-based, non-discriminatory financial systems, the expansion of financial programs themselves is the achievement of MDG 8. Hence the future of financial outreach lies on the synergy of formal and semiformal institutions to bring about a positive change. References: 1. http://timesofindia. indiatimes. com/business/india-business/Highest-industrial-growth-recorded-in-20-yrs-at-168/articleshow/5566436. cms 2. India. gov. in/sectors/agriculture/index. php 3. http://www. tradingeconomics. com/Economics/GDP-Growth. aspx? Symbol=INR 4.Financial Inclusion :Perspective of Reserve Bank of India,MK Samantray, RBI Guwahati 5. http ://banking. senate. gov/97_07hrg/072997/charts/chart01. pdf 6. http://www. nabard. org/ 7. Finance Minister's Budget Speech, http://www. rediff. com/money/2008/feb/29budget38. htm 8. Montgomery, H. 2005. Meeting the Double Bottom Line – The Impact of Khushhali Bank’s 9. Microfinance Program in Pakistan. Tokyo: ADBI. ——————————————– [ 2 ]. http://timesofindia. indiatimes. com/business/india-business/Highest-industrial-growth-recorded-in-20-yrs-at-168/articleshow/5566436. ms [ 3 ]. India. gov. in/sectors/agriculture/index. php [ 4 ]. http://www. tradingeconomics. com/Economics/GDP-Growth. aspx? Symbol=INR [ 5 ]. Financial Inclusion :Perspective of Reserve Bank of India,MK Samantray, RBI Guwahati [ 6 ]. http://banking. senate. gov/97_07hrg/072997/charts/chart01. pdf [ 7 ]. Financial Inclusion :Perspective of Reserve Bank of India,MK Samantray, RBI Guwahati [ 8 ]. http: //www. nabard. org/ [ 9 ]. Finance Minister's Budget Speech, http://www. rediff. com/money/2008/feb/29budget38. htm [ 10 ]. Montgomery, H.

Having Virus Protection software ensures security of the data Essay

Inline with the growth of internet, is the growth of security threats from malwares (viruses, spywares and adware) that comes from the vast interconnect of the word wide web. As new technology comes to provide more security to your PC, new technology are also added that provides vulnerabilities to malicious codes. A malicious code could be inserted from downloaded files of un-trusted origins. Other sites trick you to download what they claim as useful file but instead it is either a virus or worm. You will only learn later after clicking it that your PC security has been compromised. On other worst cases, this malicious code can delete or corrupt your important data. â€Å"It is estimated that PC Viruses cost businesses approximately $55 Billion in damages in 2003† (Security Stats, 2000). There are a number of ways to protect your PC from viruses, spywares, and adwares. This includes activating your firewall, limiting the access rights, or installing an virus protection software. Normally, it includes the combination of all in order to secure your PC from harmful malwares. Having a virus protection is almost used by everyone to protect their PC. Although a majority of these people using virus protection software knows only a little of the details of protection they get from this software. They are often captured by expensive well known virus protection software when all they need are found on cheaper or free virus protection software. Statement of the Problem The purpose of this document is to explain the importance of having virus protection software. It also goes further by analyzing and providing data as to how effective and to what extent are these virus protection software effective in protecting important data. The document provides arguments to the quality of virus protection software that you need. Forms of Malwares Viruses A virus is a man made program that is loaded into your PC and does things that are not your intent. In most cases, a virus can replicate itself either by staying resident in memory or relying on user actions to spread from one PC to another. Viruses can be transmitted via the network, PC to PC connection, emails, floppy disks, pen drives and other means of physical data transfer. Variants of viruses are classified as Trojans, Worms and Macro-virus. Trojans are malicious code embedded within another program so that when the program is run, the Trojan is also run. Trojans are often used by hackers to gain access to your PC through backdoors aided by Trojans. Trojans may also be embedded through emails as executable attachments with single or double extension files. Worms are small programs that replicates over a network. They normally cause a lot of trouble such as freezing of processes due to their unwanted use of resources. An example of a worm is â€Å"the Sasser worm that tries to contact hosts repeatedly in a short time period at the same port† (Harder et al, 2005). Macro-viruses are embedded as macro-commands for word or excel documents. Microsoft word and excel allows power macro to be embedded within the document. A virus can be made from these macro and turn into a deadly virus. Spyware Spywares are programs that are loaded into your PC and are used specifically to secretly obtain information from your PC that are transmitted to advertisers, hackers or other interested parties. Spywares are the greatest threat to privacy in the internet. Adware Adware are programs that are added to most freeware and shareware programs you download from the web to serve pop-ups and banners. Normally they produce very annoying pop-ups and consume some of your PC resources resulting into a much slower system. Possible Consequences of Infected PCs Malwares in general slows down your PC because they take up computer resources when running. Some worms take up so much of your resources that the PC becomes too slow to be even useful. Other viruses can lead to data loss due to direct deletion of files or by corruption of storage devices due to the uncoordinated process that they perform. In some cases, the formats and partitions of storage devices gets damaged by viruses leaving your data unusable. Spywares and other virus can lead to identify theft due to the information they secretly extract from your PC. This can lead to serious problems such as identity theft of your web based accessible bank accounts or email accounts. Hackers can access your web based accessible bank accounts if they can obtain sufficient information and transfer your money to their accounts. Virus can also corrupt your operating system due again to the uncoordinated process or deletion of system files. An infected PC can infect more PC within the network or infect storage devices that are temporarily attached to your PC such as ped drives, floppy disk or external drives. Analysis of Virus Protection Software Attacks Prevented by Virus Protection Software Most virus protection software protects you from viruses whose signatures are already included in the virus definition file. Virus protection software periodically scans files and memory for known virus signatures. The user may also invoke virus protection software to scan certain folders anytime the user deem necessary. Virus protection software also â€Å"monitors files as they are opened or created to make sure they are not infected† (Get Safe Online, 2007). Most virus protection software also scans emails to insure there are no viruses attached. Virus protection software can either delete, repair or quarantine files infected by viruses. In most cases, it is best to delete infected files if the files can be deleted. Most virus protection software are also able to detect spywares and adwares that are introduced by virus program to install into your PC. Attacks Not Covered by Virus Protection Virus protection software are not able to protect you from new viruses whose virus definition file are not yet included in the software’s date. They are also not able to protect you from most spyware and adware programs. Most spyware programs are spread through the internet via infected servers. Infected servers redirect good sites to fraudulent sites that install malicious code into your PC. An example were the servers found in Russia that worked by infecting some Web sites so that when Net surfers visited those sites, they were redirected to the Russian server, which downloaded software onto surfers’ PCs (Lemos, 2004). Virus protection software cannot also protect you from most installation software that contains malicious code. Hackers that attack your PC without the use of Trojans are also not detected by virus protection software. Virus protection software are also not able to stop spammers from flooding your inboxes. When you go online and access web sites, a virus protection software is also not able to protect you from phishing sites. Phishing sites are fraudulent sites that obtain personal information to gain access to your PC or for advertising purposes. Some phishing sites are redirected from good servers that are infected by malicious code that redirects you to a fraudulent site. You give up personal information thinking that you are still in the intended site that you are accessing. Quality of Virus Protection Software The effectiveness of virus software depends primarily on the number of virus definition file that it contains and how updated these signatures are. It is not very much dependent on what type of antivirus software you have. Therefore, it is not very advisable to purchase expensive virus protection software. What is important is that you can get a continuous update when you connect to the internet. Most virus that cause major havoc are those viruses that are not yet included in the recent virus definition file. Therefore whether the virus protection software is expensive or not, if the virus is very new, then none of the virus protection software can detect it until it can be included in the signature file. Presently, the methods of virus protection algorithm are almost similar using a set of signature to detect viruses. So it is advisable to choose only those that you can update the virus definition as often as possible, do not base it on the price of the antivirus software to guage the quality of virus protection software. Most virus or malwares in general exploit weaknesses within the system or application to spread the malicious code. For example in 2004, â€Å"security researchers are seeing the first signs of a large-scale virus attack taking advantage of a known flaw in the way JPEG images are processed in Microsoft Windows products† (Naraine, 2004). This vulnerability is due to the way GDI, which is included in the GDIplus. dll, processes JPEG files. Since its detection, Microsoft immediately released a patch for it and a scanning tool to determine if the GDI+ library needs a patch or not. So that a virus protection is only secondary to this type of prevention, the operating system must be updated from security threats. This again does not make virus protection software the ultimate protection and therefore it is not advisable to buy them if free virus protection software is available. Virus protection software are also not able to recover severely damaged files, they can only protect your PC from the spread of viruses. Virus protection software are only best for detection so that the spread can be prevented but not in cleaning infected files and most anti-virus package, even the free are able to perform virus detection. Again it is still best to delete infected files and replace them with fresh from installers not merely removing the infected portion because the file may already be damaged beyond the normal repair. So that since most free antivirus software are able to perform the detection and deletion of infected files, they are sufficient to protect your PC. What else should be done? Aside from having a virus protection, it is necessary to get updates of security patch of your operating system to prevent virus exploits of these vulnerabilities. Care must be taken in downloading files from the internet. It is important that you read user feedback of the authenticity of web files before using them. When receiving emails, be sure to delete files that are from unknown origin. Do not use full privileged account such as administrator account when visiting websites. Use limited or guest account to prevent viruses from altering your system files. Make sure that your firewall is up when surfing the web to prevent pop-ups and other malwares from being able to enter your PC. Read resources that provide details of virus protection mechanism so that you will know how to protect your PC. When your PC is not in need of internet connection, please â€Å"disconnect it from the Internet to avoid hacker attacks† (Information Technology Services Centre, 2004). Since virus protection normally do not protect you from spyware, it is also necessary to install spyware protection software. Do not rely heavily on virus protection software alone, they are necessary to ensure security of data but they are not the ultimate solution to protect your PC. The most effective solution to protect your data is back-up regularly to other physical storage devices such as recordable CD, recordable DVD, pen drives or other external drives. So that when a virus destroys your data, you can still recover it from your backup. Conclusion Virus protection software is very important in securing your data. Although it is not necessary that you purchase expensive virus protection software, what is important is that you can get a constant update of the virus definition file for it. Since virus protection cannot protect you from all forms of malware and new viruses, it is necessary that you exercise other forms of security measures. This includes firewall, limited access account for surfing the net, connect to the internet only when necessary, install anti-spyware, regular backup of data, and continuous update of system security patches. References Unknown. (2000). Virus Related Statistics. Security Stats Inc Website. Retrieved April 25, 2007 from http://www. securitystats. com/virusstats. html Harder, U. et al (2005). Observing Internet Worm and Virus Attacks with a Small Network Telescope. Department of Computing, Imperial College London. Retrieved March April 25, 2007 from http://pubs.doc.ic.ac.uk/network-telescope/network-telescope.pdf

Impact of the European Union on France Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Impact of the European Union on France - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that  the European Union (EU) is a political and economic federation comprising 27 member countries, and all of them design same policies for different areas. In 1993 the EU was formed with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, but later there was a great contribution from multiple European organizations, which led to the development of European Union. This represents an effort to bring forth unity in Europe encompassing various attempts of establishing unity through armed forces. France was one of the member nations involved in European Union. There were several criteria associated with joining the Union which were evaluated by the European Council country-wise.  This paper outlines that the major benefit of EU was that it focused on a stable democracy where one nation would not be unduly harmed by other nations. One European currency and economic integration proved to be primary goals of European Union. The research question for this particular study is – â€Å"what is the impact of Euro and EU on France in economical, social, political and cultural context.† This study will help to evaluate the positive and negative impacts created on France by European Union.  In the economic context the impact of EU and Euro on France would be analysed on the basis of GDP components, productivity, public finances, external trade and labour market. EU possessed GDP of 11,600 billion Euros and a total population of 500 million in 2006.

Economics in Context Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics in Context - Essay Example There is an overall increase in the price and quantity. ‘if the price of a complementary good increases then the demand for the good will fall. This will result in a leftward shift in the demand curve of any complementary good’(Biz/ed team 2010, Spotlight on the theory: Demand Curve, Movements) Obligation to follow fair trade policies has resulted in increased cost of production, thereby causing a decrease in supply as producers shift to other activities. This translates into a higher quantity at a lower price. The elasticity of demand price is becoming more inelastic for tea. This can be explained by the fact that rising tea prices have not deterred tea demand and have been accompanied by increased tea demand. Tea is a stable drink in the diets of many and is catching on in many countries like China and it has relatively few alternatives (only real one being coffee) which makes the demand inelastic. Another reason for the inelastic demand is that tea consumes a low percentage of the consumer’s income making them less sensitive to its price changes.(Price of Tea, Economics Help). This seems unlikely but an exception might exist for consumers who treat teas as a luxury, their demand would be price-elastic. The elasticity of supply price would tend to be inelastic. This is because although an increase in price should create more incentive for suppliers statistics show that this has not happened at least in the short run. At the moment for example supply is being outstripped by demand. Also irrigation, weather conditions and land shortages make it hard to increase tea production.( Rahman Lutfur Mohammad ‘Imapct of price and other factors on tea in Bangladesh: Sources of variation and Disparity over Vision) In the long run however supply is likely to respond to the tea pressure. It has been estimated by the FAO that supply will

Erica Homes ltd. Project Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Erica Homes ltd. Project - Research Proposal Example At this time the city has considerable problems with migrants who don’t have a place to work and often not even a place to live. It is thought that the Olympics will provide a chance for the development of the area, for the creation of new jobs and for the integration into society of all the people with ethnic origins other that British. Erica Homes ltd. is planning to take advantage of this event and exploit it to the maximum. If the company purchases land right now it will do it very cheaply. However, as the 2012 Olympic is drawing nearer the value of the land in the outskirts of London will double, if not even triple and the prices of housing in the area will rise accordingly. Thus a great profit for all developers that manage to built before that time. Erica Homes ltd.’s strategy is to purchase land in the area, to build high quality luxurious apartments and to sell them when the market value of estates raises, thus realizing the desired profit. The company will hire internationally renowned engineers, architects, chartered accountants and IT experts. Erica Homes ltd. will employ the strategy of participative decision making. The centralization of decision making has been found to have in most cases a negative impact on a company’s relations between its employees and its management. Training, on the other hand has the exact opposite effect on the relations. Therefore Erica Homes ltd. is focusing on developing a structure of the organization that is based on communication in all levels. Every employee has to be able to have an impact on the management of the company and he has to feel it, motivating him to work harder and better. This would also encourage the appropriate integration of all employees, even problematic integrations. In order to achieve this system of participative decision making we are encouraging every employee in Erica Homes ltd. to own shares in the company. However little the investment might be, it will make that person feel linked to the organization in a proprietary sort of way and act accordingly. We will not only offer jobs to 1000 people, we are offering long term investment plans. Other organizations have applied this strategy and it has proven very effective because a person who feels secure about his future and the future of his family is more productive. "Members are part of a common social system or clan and are bonded together through the development of a sense of affiliation and belonging"1. Employees of Erica Homes ltd. will develop a sense of loyalty towards the company. In terms of structure the company will have a Board of Directors, a Shareholders Meeting, a General Manager, managers of the different departments and employees in each department. Erica Homes ltd. aims at being adaptable and flexible according to the needs of its employees and to the market. The good management of the company has to accomplish this while being stable and controlled. "There needs to be growth, resource acquisition and external support, but also tight internal information management and formal communication. The framework suggests an emphasis on the value of human resources, but also emphasizes planning and goal setting"2. Information sharing in the company will be very important. "As a catalyst for organisational growth, the sharing of knowledge is vital to an organisation"3. This will add value to the company and help with the achievement of the participative decision making strategy. Information exchange stimulates creativity and creates intellectual assets which are more important for a company than physical assets. "Sharing knowledge within organisations provides the opportunity to discuss know-what and know-how practices to direct the organisation towards future development and growth"4. The shareholders will elaborate plans and goals for long periods of time. The Board

Terrorist Group ISIS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Terrorist Group ISIS - Research Paper Example This paper seeks to explain the origin of ISIS, now known as IS and its rise to prominence. Latwan Carpenter additionally explains the structure of the Islamic State and the sources of its financial strength. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) also known as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) or Islamic State is a political and terrorist organization that embraces a radical understanding of Islam. ISIS operates as a military insurgency group that seeks to enforce its ideologies on Muslims and non-Muslims alike in the whole world. ISIS was barred from cooperating with Al-Qaeda terrorist group for being too extreme, and for using extreme measures in enforcing their ideologies (Hashim, 2014). ISIS changed its name to the Islamic State after gaining immense control of large parts of Syria and Iraq. Islamic State claims to be the rightful rulers for the entire Sunni Muslims in the whole world. Through their military and political operations, they have established what they observe in a state that contains huge regions of territory in Iraq and Syria. Islamic State operations are headquartered at Raqqa in Syria. Having changed their name from ISIS to IS (Islamic State), the group supports numerous theological ideologies to maintain its claims. Its supporters contend that they are just committed to what Islam teaches in totality, denouncing the individuals who do not agree with their ways. Their beliefs and ideologies are used to justify the killings of those who oppose their ways, usually by their trademark of slaughtering through cutting of heads. Initially started by Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the Islamic State organization was formerly known as AQI (Al-Qaeda in Iraq). The group took part in the US invasion of Iraq against the US forces after the American government toppled the Saddam Hussein administration. In the year 2013, IS became part of the civil war in Syria, however, instead of

Why did men like Joseph Plumb Martin join the army Essay

Why did men like Joseph Plumb Martin join the army - Essay Example Most of the recruits were young and army provided them with an opportunity to escape home and experience adventure of fighting against their enemy. But unfortunately, the reality was far from the rosy picture as envisaged by the new recruits. The common soldiers were faced with huge hardships where food had become scarce and proper clothing a distant dream. The long drawn battle of American army had severely affected the welfare of the soldiers. The new recruits were just sent to the front to fight with enemies without training. They were also not only deprived of adequate food and shelter during tough weather conditions but were also not paid their wages on time. Martin asserts that ‘I well know, for I have fought by their side’ (183). The delivery of supplies for food and other goods use to become difficult due to weather conditions which resulted in starvation and death. Most of the recruits went to fight without training because they felt that it was their moral duty to fight for their country. Hence, need for training was not important for the common soldier. The young recruits later became accustomed to the grim conditions of the war but were unable to do anything except accept the situation.

Reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading - Essay Example The historical changes that have taken place over the centuries have enabled authors to certainty and snatch up what was understood as the missing links of life and text (Mavor, 273). According to Mavor, the essay â€Å"Dearth of the Author,† was part of the force that propelled the change towards postmodernism The article Life Made Art, Art Made from Life by Miguel A. Medina, demonstrates that there are many artists whose artwork can be known without references of their biographies. However, there are other artists whose work cannot be separated from their life. In this case, their works of art are sustained by the events of their life. A third group of artists is the group that practices confessional art, in this article the most extreme case of confessional art is done by Tracey Emin. Emin’s artistic production revolves around her life experiences and has turned her life into a public display. According to Medina, in order to understand the sincerity and truth in the confessional art done by Emin, one has to understand confessional culture (Medina, 58). In addition, creativity in Emin’s artwork is inspired by her obsessions and she uses painting, monotypes, neon, bedspreads, films, installations photographs, and books (Medina,

Educational Technology in the Classroom Essay Example for Free

Educational Technology in the Classroom Essay The face of pedagogy has evolved through time with the emergence of the technological age in the 19th century. As new technologies have been developed in order to enhance and produce efficient working environments, educational institutions, especially early childhood education, have slowly adapted several technological tools in order to facilitate the teaching-learning process. Learning available technological advancements in early childhood education (ECE) and understanding how to incorporate them in the teaching process interests me because of the complex and specialized characteristic of ECE. Children are always curious about the things around them, that is why they love exploring and discovering things that are new to them. Applying technology in the classroom setting would be instrumental in teaching them many concepts that would be difficult to teach in the real-life environment. Moreover, employing technology would allow teachers to design challenging instructional materials that may be easily accessed by children. Synopsis One Buckleitner, W. (2000). â€Å"Techno Tools for Assessment. † Teaching with Technology. ProQuest Education Journals. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from ProQuest LLC. Website: http://proquest. umi. com. ezproxy. aut. ac. nz/pqdweb? index=4sid=2srchmode=1vinst=PRODfmt=6startpage=-1clientid=7961vname=PQDRQT=309did=62927618scaling=FULLts=1207829807vtype=PQDrqt=309TS=1207829837clientId=7961 (1) This article emphasizes the importance of technology in tracking and monitoring the growth and progress of children within the educational institution. It asserts that making use of technology allows the teacher to properly document the developments of each child, with the use of pictures and videos for instance, in order to involve and show the parents each milestone that their children accomplish in the school. Technology is also relevant during the assessment phase. The author continues to list several technological tools that from the lowest priced to the highly expensive, while still remaining important in assessing the developments within each child. Cameras, whether disposable, Polaroid, or digital, as well as digital video cameras, are useful in documenting the activities that children get involved in within the school. This would help in showing the parents how their children have grown from day one until the end of classroom instruction. Cassette recorders may be used to record sounds, such as songs, poems, and sounds learned throughout the year, in order to know what new knowledge they have learned regarding sound reproduction and music. Scanners may be used to keep records of pictures and artworks that children have made all throughout the year. This would help in assessing the creativity of each child. Communication with the parents at home may be facilitated by establishing an online website where the teacher and the parents may contact each other. Moreover, online websites may be used to send newsletters and other information that are in a need-to-know basis for the parents. (2) This article is important for teachers who want to learn about simple and affordable technologies to use in the classroom setting. Cameras, video cameras, scanners, sound recorders, and online websites, are simple devices that teachers can easily use. Moreover, assessment and evaluation has gone up a higher level with the options of using technologies, as well as in involving the parents with the education of their child. (3) The technological gadgets suggested by the author benefits the learner, although they do not get to explore and manipulate each gadget, because it focuses on the assessment phase of learning which assists in the identification of needs, demands and follow-throughs of children. Moreover, parents get involved in the education of their children, allowing them to know how they can assist in teaching their children more at home. (4) These technologies may be implemented by providing sound recorders for each student from the beginning of the class and let them record sounds that they have never learned before. During activities, which bring out their skills and abilities, the teacher should be able to take pictures and videos for documentation. Paper works done by the students should all be scanned accordingly for records sake and assessment in the future. At the end of the teaching instruction, the online website should be put up in the World Wide Web, and communicated to the parents in order for them to gain access to the website and start communicating with the teacher whenever possible. Synopsis Two Scoter, J. V. , Ellis, D. , Railsback, J. (2001). â€Å"Technology in Early Childhood Education. † Northwest Regional Educational Technology. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from NETC. Website: http://www. netc. org/earlyconnections/byrequest. pdf (1) The research study has explored the pros and cons of the employment of technology to early childhood education. The argument lies on the capacity of technological tools to provide for the basic needs of children, including their physical, social, emotional, mental, and language development needs. However, researchers could not deny the contributions that technology will make for facilitating teaching and learning for early childhood education. These contributions being teaching children how to learn by autonomy, wherein they learn by doing things by themselves, and the visualization of difficult concepts to teach and for children to grasp. The different developmental stages in early childhood education are also discussed in order to identify the goals and needs of children in each stage. The author continues to discuss several technologies to accomplish these goals and needs. The computer is the most important technological tool that should be used in early childhood education. Moreover, several softwares are available for computers, such as softwares that may be used in constructing examinations, drills, and practice tests. (2) The information in this article is important for teachers who wants to understand the benefits and advantages of technological tools within the classroom. This would assist them in making evenhanded decisions on whether to employ technological use for classroom instruction. Moreover, teachers who want to utilize technology within the classroom setting are informed of the goals and objectives of each child developmental stage in order to design technologies that are able to meet these goals and objectives. (3) The technology discussed in the article, such as the computer and software programs benefit the learner because of wide-range activities that it can develop for learners, such as drills and tests. This would allow teachers to produce numerous automated exams that would help students widen their knowledge and exercise their minds in order to retain information learned throughout classroom instruction. Moreover, computers are able to provide numerous functions such as music, videos, pictures, access to the internet, multimedia applications, language assistive technologies, etc. (4) Implementing what I read from the article takes time and careful planning. Planning should be done to lay out activities that will be suitable for particular developmental stages in children. After planning, the teacher is now ready to incorporate technologies according to the level of understanding and need of each child. This would be established by teaching children the basics of the computer and letting them handle it for better learning and understanding. Synopsis Three Wilford, S. (2007). â€Å"Tuning in to Tech. † Scholastic Early Childhood Today. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journals. Website: http://proquest. umi. com. ezproxy. aut. ac. nz/pqdweb? index=12sid=1srchmode=1vinst=PRODfmt=6startpage=-1clientid=7961vname=PQDRQT=309did=1257130811scaling=FULLts=1207834444vtype=PQDrqt=309TS=1207834584clientId=7961 (1) The proper implementation of technology, so as to ensure positive learning outcomes, is the focus of this article. The author acknowledges the fact that technology does hold negative learning outcomes, especially to young children. In addition, the author continues to discuss the inadequacy of technologies if used improperly and minimally. Therefore, the author reveals steps or guidelines for making the most of the positive effects on learning that technologies may yield to early childhood education. These steps or guidelines include the use of clear digital images with large informative captions, images that show children who display moral values that students might learn, records of visuals and creative works done by students in the computer and student portfolios, taking videos of meaningful activities, and videos of theatrical performances done by children in order for them to imitate and gain insights about acting and being creative. (2) The article is relevant in reminding teachers on how to properly use technologies due to the fact that when these technological devices are used inadequately, then it will yield negative learning outcomes for young children. Aside from reminding teachers of this valuable information, it also provides important tips on how to maximize technology and utilize it appropriately. (3) This valuable piece of information benefits the learner in such a way that it educates the teacher. Educating teachers, especially on the proper use of technology, is significant in teaching with the use of technology properly, therefore, resulting to positive learning outcomes. (4) Implementing this piece of information in classroom instruction starts with committing such information to memory in order to remind oneself of how to use technology effectively in the classroom. Synopsis Four Hertzog, N. Klein, M. (2005). â€Å"Beyond Gaming: A Technology Explosion in Early Childhood Classrooms. † Gifted Child Today. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journal. Website: http://proquest. umi. com. ezproxy. aut. ac. nz/pqdweb? index=43sid=1srchmode=1vinst=PRODfmt=6startpage=-1clientid=7961vname=PQDRQT=309did=872146761scaling=FULLts=1207837036vtype=PQDrqt=309TS=1207837110clientId=7961 (1) The focus of the research paper is to identify and reveal the importance of technology for the early childhood classroom and the benefits that they provide for the children. Several examples were given in order to illustrate real life situations wherein the incorporation of technology in classroom instruction was successful. UPS is an educational institution, which utilizes technology during classroom instruction. The institution attests to the positive learning outcomes that technologies yield within the children. Aside from the children, the teachers also benefit from the functions that technology provide to facilitate teaching and lighten their burden of keeping records and assessing the children’s growth and development. Moreover, technologies also enhance communication lines of the educational institution with the parents. Indeed, the children’s use of technology have gone beyond only gaming to learning valuable concepts that technology offers. (2) I think the article takes on a general approach to the study of technology as a means of facilitating learning for early childhood education. Not only does it discuss the benefits of technology on children, but also its positive effects to teachers and the parents as stakeholders who are involved with the education of young learners. Through this article, children, teachers, and parents learn to appreciate the benefits and advantages that technology provides in order to enhance the learning of their children. Moreover, other educational institutions may learn from the testimonies of UPS. (3) This article does not particularly talk about a certain technology that benefits the learner but it discusses the importance of technology in order to provide meaningful and challenging learning experiences to children. Moreover, it informs people on the importance of technology to the holistic development of children, professional career of teachers, and the involvement of parents to education. (4) The article talks about the need for educational institutions to implement technological tools itself and does not illustrate how to implement them. For educational institutions who are deciding whether to incorporate technology into their classroom instructions shall be guided by the advantages it would provide for learners, teachers and parents. Thus, encouraging them to implement technology when possible in order to promote quality learning. Bibliography Buckleitner, W. (2000). â€Å"Techno Tools for Assessment. † Teaching with Technology. ProQuest Education Journals. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from ProQuest LLC. Website: http://proquest. umi. com. ezproxy. aut. ac. nz/pqdweb? index=4sid=2srchmode=1vinst=PRODfmt=6startpage=-1clientid=7961vname=PQDRQT=309did=62927618scaling=FULLts=1207829807vtype=PQDrqt=309TS=1207829837clientId=7961 Hertzog, N. Klein, M. (2005). â€Å"Beyond Gaming: A Technology Explosion in Early Childhood Classrooms. † Gifted Child Today. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journal. Website: http://proquest. umi. com. ezproxy. aut. ac. nz/pqdweb? index=43sid=1srchmode=1vinst=PRODfmt=6startpage=-1clientid=7961vname=PQDRQT=309did=872146761scaling=FULLts=1207837036vtype=PQDrqt=309TS=1207837110clientId=7961 Scoter, J. V. , Ellis, D. , Railsback, J. (2001). Technology in Early Childhood Education. Northwest Regional Educational Technology. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from NETC. Website: http://www. netc. org/earlyconnections/byrequest. pdf Wilford, S. (2007). â€Å"Tuning in to Tech. † Scholastic Early Childhood Today. Retrieved April 10, 2008, from ProQuest Education Journals. Website: http://proquest. umi. com. ezproxy. aut. ac. nz/pqdweb? index=12sid=1srchmode=1vinst=PRODfmt=6startpage=-1clientid=7961vname=PQDRQT=309did=1257130811scaling=FULLts=1207834444vtype=PQDrqt=309TS=1207834584clientId=7961

Causes of Conflict in DRC

Causes of Conflict in DRC INVESTIGATING THE CAUSES OF CONFLICT IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC) Location of the D R Congo Background The Congo is situated at the heart of the west-central portion of sub-Saharan Africa. DR Congo borders the Central African Republic and Sudan on the North; Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi on the East; Zambia and Angola on the South; the Republic of the Congo on the West; and is separated from Tanzania by Lake Tanganyika on the East. The country enjoys access to the ocean through a 40-kilometre (25 mile) stretch of Atlantic coastline at Muanda and the roughly nine-kilometer wide mouth of the Congo river which opens into the Gulf of Guinea. The country straddles the Equator, with one-third to the North and two-thirds to the South. The size of Congo, 2,345,408square kilometers (905,567sqmi), is slightly greater than the combined areas of Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, and Norway. It is the third largest country (by area) in Africa. In order to distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is often referred to as DR Congo, DRC, or RDC, or is called Congo-Kinshasa after the capital Kinshasa (in contrast to Congo-Brazzaville for its neighbour). The name Congo refers to the river Congo, also known as the river Zaire. (The river name Congo is related to the name of the Bakongo ethnic group). As many as 250 ethnic groups have been identified and named. The most numerous people are the Kongo, Luba, and Mongo. Although seven hundred local languages and dialects are spoken, the linguistic variety is bridged both by widespread use of French and intermediary languages such as Kongo, Tshiluba, Swahili, and Lingala. The Congo is the worlds largest producer of cobalt ore, and a major producer of copper and industrial diamonds. It has significant deposits of tantalum, which is used in the fabrication of electronic components in computers and mobile phones. In 2002, tin was discovered in the east of the country, but, to date, mining has been on a small scale. Katanga Mining Limited, a London-based company, owns the Luilu Metallurgical Plant, which has a capacity of 175,000 tonnes of copper and 8,000 tonnes of cobalt per year, making it the largest cobalt refinery in the world. After a major rehabilitation program, the company restarted copper production in December 2007 and cobalt production in May 2008. The United Nations 2007 estimated the population at 62.6 million people, having increased rapidly despite the war from 46.7 million in 1997. Currently the Head of State is President Joseph Kabila (October 2006-) and Head of government is Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga (December 2006-). Provinces and territories Formerly the country was divided into eleven provinces, Kinshasa, Province Orientale, Kasaà ¯ Oriental, Kasaà ¯ Occidental, Maniema, Katanga, Sud-Kivu, Nord-Kivu, Bas-Congo, Équateur and Bandundu. However, the constitution approved in 2005 divided the country into 26 fairly autonomous provinces, including the capital, Kinshasa to be formed by 18 February 2009. These are subdivided into 192 territories. Provinces and their Capital Cities Province Capital 1. Kinshasa Kinshasa 2. Kongo central Matadi 3. Kwango Kenge 4. Kwilu Kikwit 5. Mai-Ndombe Inongo 6. Kasaà ¯ Luebo 7. Lulua Kananga 8. Kasaà ¯ oriental Mbuji-Mayi 9. Lomami Kabinda 10. Sankuru Lodja 11. Maniema Kindu 12. Sud-Kivu Bukavu 13. Nord-Kivu Goma Province Capital 14. Ituri Bunia 15. Haut-Uele Isiro 16. Tshopo Kisangani 17. Bas-Uele Buta 18. Nord-Ubangi Gbadolite 19. Mongala Lisala 20. Sud-Ubangi Gemena 21. Équateur Mbandaka 22. Tshuapa Boende 23. Tanganyika Kalemie 24. Haut-Lomami Kamina 25. Lualaba Kolwezi 26. Haut-Katanga Lubumbashi History of the DR Congo Conflict The state of DR Congo emerged from brutal colonial history. From 1880s, Belgian King Leopold II used territory as personal kingdom, exploiting vast natural resources through indigenous forced labour. Leopold transferred control of â€Å"Congo Free State† to Belgian government 1908. After upsurge of nationalist sentiment and parliamentary elections May 1960, Belgium accepted independence June 1960. Within two weeks, country faced nationwide army mutiny and secessionist movements in Katanga and southern Kasai. Cold War interests fuelled tensions, with U.S. fearing Congos break-up and Soviet inroads. Power struggle between President Joseph Kasavubu and PM Patrice Lumumba intensified when Lumumba used army to brutally (but unsuccessfully) suppress Kasaian rebellion and appealed for Soviet support. Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba, who was later arrested and 1961 assassinated with Belgian complicity. UN troops began disarming Katangan rebels August 1961 but situation deteriorated into sporadic conflict between UN and Katangan forces. Head of breakaway Katanga Moise Tshombe forced out 1963, returning as Congos prime minister 1964. Colonel Joseph Desire Mobutu ousted Kasavubu and Tshombe in 1965 and began thirty-two year rule. In 1971-2 he changed the countrys name to Zaire. Mobutu systematically used countrys mineral wealth to consolidate power, co-opt rivals and enrich himself and allies through patronage. Following the end of Cold War, cessation of international aid and internal pressure to democratise pushed him to reinstate multiparty politics in 1991, but Mobutu manipulated agreement to retain power. Mobutu was finally ousted in May 1997 by rebellion under Laurent Kabilas leadership, backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Second war The Second Congo War, also known as Africas World War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly called Zaire), and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power (though hostilities continue to this day). The largest war in modern African history, it directly involved eight African nations, as well as about 25armed groups. By 2008 the war and its aftermath had killed 5.4million people, mostly from disease and starvation, making the Second Congo War the deadliest conflict worldwide since World War II. Millions more were displaced from their homes or sought asylum in neighboring countries. War sparked again in August 1998 when Kabila moved to purge Rwandans from government. Rwandan troops backing Congolese Tutsi rebels invaded. Kabila called on Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia for help. It is estimated that 4 million people died in during this conflict between 1998-2004, mostly from war-related diseases and starvation. A Lusaka ceasefire signed July 1999 and UN Security Council peacekeeping mission (MONUC) was authorised in 2000. Laurent Kabila was assassinated January 2001 and replaced by son Joseph. Peace negotiations resulted in Rwandan and Ugandan withdrawal in late 2002, but proxies remained. In December 2002, all Congolese belligerents and political groups signed peace deal in Sun City, South Africa, ushering in transitional government June 2003 in which Kabila shared power with four vice-presidents. However, conflict in Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Katanga provinces continued. Rebel groups, including former Rwandan-backed Tutsi and Hutu militias (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) being largest), continued to fight for land and resources. Violence in north eastern Ituri halted 2003 after three-month French-led emergency mission under EU authority, after UN failed to contain clashes. Deaths and displacements led UN to describe Eastern Congo as â€Å"worlds worst humanitarian crisis† March 2005. Following DRC government request International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate crimes from June 2002 throughout DRC, ICC Prosecutor opened investigation into crimes in Ituri June 2004. Government and MONUC security efforts, undermined by lack of progress in establishing integrated national army, reinvigorated September 2004 by force expansion from 10,800 to 16,700 and more aggressive mandate. From March 2005, MONUC often participated in joint operations with integrated national army. But despite significant demobilisation, many rebel groups still active 2006. Uganda rebel group Lords Resistance Army (LRA) settled in north east late 2005, reigniting tensions: Kampala threatened to pursue LRA into Congo, while Kinshasa suspected Uganda sought access to resources in east. International Court of Justice 2005 found Ugandan army committed human rights abuses and illegally exploited Congolese natural resources. New constitution introducing president/prime minister power sharing and two-term presidential limit was adopted 13 May 2005 and approved by referendum 18 December. After delays, national assembly and first-round presidential elections held 30 July 2006. Violent clashes erupted in Kinshasa between Kabila and opposition MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba supporters when neither gained majority in first-round votes. Kabila took presidency in 29 October second round (58 per cent of vote), and his alliance won majority in national and provincial assemblies. Elections considered by outside observers to be relatively free and fair, ushering in first truly democratic government 40 years. Kabila government faces substantial challenges, including an abusive and ill-disciplined national army (FARDC), corrupt public administration, and lack of infrastructure and basic services. Advances in Ituri remain precarious, with slow progress on militia disarmament and reintegration and lack of transparent natural resource management. Security further deteriorated in North Kivu, where the national army and dissidents under command of General Laurent Nkunda (CNDP, National Congress for the Defence of the People Nkundas political movement, unveiled July 2006) resumed fighting from late November 2006, displacing up to 400,000 in years since. Signing of Nairobi Agreement November 2007 and Goma â€Å"Actes dEngagement† January 2008 were welcomed. The Former provided for repatriation of FDLR and latter for ceasefire and voluntary demobilisation of combatants in east, to be implemented through â€Å"Amani† peace program. Success depends on will of militias to disengage, continued funding for the Amani program and improved relations between Kigali and Kinshasa over handling of FDLR. But despite some initial signs of Nkundas readiness to disengage, serious clashes between CNDP and FARDC continued, while June 2008 brought heavy FDLR attacks on civilian camps in North Kivu. Political pluralism has shrunk, with opposition virtually excluded from governorships despite performance in 2006 elections, recurrent use of force against Bembas supporters, and death of over 100 civilians in March 2008 brutal police crackdown on political-cultural movement Bundu dia Kongo in Bas-Congo. The ICC has issued five arrest warrants for DRC leaders and four are in ICC custody three militia leaders charged with crimes in Ituri, and Bemba who was arrested May 2008 for atrocity crimes committed 2002-2003 in neighbouring CARs civil war and transferred to The Hague 4 June 2008. Nkunda resisted hand over of fifth suspect, CNDP chief of staff Bosco Ntaganda, wanted for Ituri crimes. But credibility and future of ICC investigations under question after judges suspended first trial, of UPC militia leader Thomas Lubanga in June 2008 over prosecutions non-disclosure of potentially exculpatory evidence. Recent-Current situation in Congo  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A deal concluded between Kabila and rebel commander Laurent Nkunda providing for the integration of Nkundas troops into the armed forces known as mixage collapsed in 2007 amid opposition from hardliners on both sides. Kabilas aides attacked him over perceived preferential treatment given to Tutsis in army integration, drawing on public outcry over massive human rights violations caused in Nkundas operations against the FDLR to undermine the deals legitimacy. Nkundas Goma-based Tutsi backers, afraid of losing everything acquired during the war, threatened to pull their support. The mixage process and its collapse left Nkunda militarily strengthened and removed a viable alternative to continued struggle. After frequent clashes in the first half of 2008, violence again engulfed the region from late August, when Nkundas CNDP rebels launched a fresh offensive on army bases and areas under the formal protection of UN troops. After significant advances and the collapse of the FARDC in the region, the CNDP took control of Rutshuru town in late October, moved to the outskirts of the regional capital Goma and consolidated their hold over the surrounding region. For a short time, UN peacekeeping troops (MONUC) found themselves the last protection against Nkundas advances on Goma. A 29 October ceasefire soon faltered, and clashes continued throughout November (2008). Partially due to an intense diplomatic effort, Nkunda put on hold his offensive on the city, while still continuing and consolidating advances in other areas. International and regional diplomatic efforts commenced from late October, 2008. An EU mission led by the French and British foreign ministers arrived in Congo and Rwanda on 31 October, while African leaders joined by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met at an emergency summit of the African Union, calling for immediate adherence to the 29 October ceasefire. The UN Security Councils decision to appoint a special envoy former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo added welcome focus and commitment to mediation. International leaders met in Nairobi on 7 November (2008) and called for the immediate implementation of the Goma and Nairobi agreements, establishing a facilitation team composed of Obasanjo and former Tanzanian President Mkapa. The new mediators met with key players over November, securing Nkundas commitment to a ceasefire in the middle of the month, although clashes erupted again shortly afterwards. In February 2009, Rwanda arrested Nkunda though it has not yet handed him o ver. Recent developments also underscored the fragility of the situation in Ituri. October 2008 saw fresh clashes between government and rebel forces as well as a series of brutal attacks and abductions reportedly by Ugandan Lords Resistance Army rebels. Causes of the Congo conflict Leopold and Belgium colonial occupation Like most African nations, the problems in Congo in the recent past have their tap root in the colonial activities by mainly European nations. The Congo possessed an uncharacteristic wealth that made it the desire of many European countries (Lusignan: 2004). It had an abundance of natural resources such as cooper, gold, diamonds, rubber, cobalt, among others that made it the desire of many trading corporations and companies. At the Berlin Conference in 1885, King Leopold was granted to the exclusive right to privately exploit the Congo.  Ã‚   Once in the Congo, Leopold devised an economic system in which the Congo was sectioned into different areas leased to different European corporations that paid Leopold 50 percent of the extracted wealth. Lusigan (2004) writes that Leopold entered the Congo under the cloak and faà §ade of a humanitarian by making hollow promises detailing his intentions to improve the quality of life in the Congo.   He promised to build schools, homes, and to liberate the Congolese people from Arab slave traders.   But under the rule of Leopold, very little was done to improve the well being of the citizens, and instead a regime was instituted that operated solely through force of might.   People were tortured and forced to sign treaties that according to Leopold â€Å"†¦must grant us everything† (Hochschild 71), which included the rights to all land and resources therein.   Thus for a 20 year period, Leopold was able to operate with impunity, and in the process 10 million people were murdered.  Ã‚   During his reign, women and children were brutally raped and murdered and treated like animals. â€Å"They were fed-and slept-in the royal stables.†(Hochschild 176)   They were even hunted like animals for fun and for sport.   Limb amputation was a joy of many Belgium soldiers; hands, heads, and other body were severed for not only proof of kill, but for the cannibalis tic needs of these Belgium soldier.   Even the homes of some Belgium officers were lined with the skulls of the Congolese people for decoration.  Ã‚   Many more died from starvation and exhaustion resulting from the inhumane living conditions present in the Congo. After King Leopold relinquished his position in the Congo, the Belgium parliament assumed legal control of the country, but the trading corporations and companies of Belgium and other European countries continued to dominate the course of events in the Congo. â€Å"The one major goal not achieved, he (Morel) acknowledged, was African ownership of land.† (Hochschild 273)  Ã‚   The Congos wealth of natural resources had always been the main attraction of Belgium, and with Leopold removed, the corporations were given more control and influence over the economy in the Congo.   The United Mines of Upper Katanga (UMHK) was founded shortly after Leopolds reign ended and for the next fifty years, this corporation exercised the greatest influence and control over the economy and the resources with the Congo.   It â€Å"controlled about 70 percent of the economy of the Belgian Congoand controlled the exploitation of cobalt, copper, tin uranium and zinc in mines which were among t he richest in the world.†( Hochschild 31) During this time period, the Congo was one the worlds largest copper-producing countries and the â€Å"cobalt extraction in Katanga represented 75 percent of the entire world production.† (Hochschild 31) In June of 1960, the Congo was granted independence, which threatened the future of European economic control of this profitable source of revenue. The United Nations granted independence to the Congo because of pressure from the worldwide anti-colonial movement that touched Africa in the 1950s. But shortly after the Congos independence, Belgium immediately sent troops to the country in order to protect Katanga, the city in the Congo that possessed a wealth of resources and was the primary export site for these corporations.  Ã‚   With this military presence, the corporations continued their production in the city, and surprisingly, production even increased in the year of independence.   This military presence remained in the Congo for years, thus showing the Congolese people were never truly granted â€Å"independence†.  Ã‚   The entitlement complex of Belgium is further revealed here because Belgium believed that they possessed personal ownership of the land in the Congo, and that the citizens of the Congo did not warrant independence.   Belgium regarded the citizens of the Congo as an inferior people who lacked civilization; they believed that the occupation was justified. This denial of own land and resources, injustice, brutal acts and all other in human acts by Leopold and the Belgians groomed anger, resentment, feelings of discontent among the citizens of Congo that was later to be manifested in counter resistances and civil wars against any one who seemed to portray similar acts and policies, hence, conflicts in the Congo.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba The emergence of an independent Congo on June 30, 1960 marked the beginning of a new era of colonialism by the Western powers.   On this day, Patrice Lumumba became Prime Minister of the Congo, and in six months he would be assassinated. He was an extraordinary politician, motivator, and visionary, and one of the most influential figures throughout Africa during his term.   He is now enshrined as an historical figure against the fight of injustice because of his outspokenness against the colonization of Africa by European powers (Lusigan: 2004). Lumumba came to power at a time in which the anti-colonial movement was most intense worldwide; this propelled his general regard as a worldwide leader of this movement. The period â€Å"†¦from 1960 to 1965, was the Wests ultimate attempt to destroy the continents authentic independent development.† (Kanza xxv)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before serving as Prime Minister, Lumumba was the president of the National Congolese Movement, a party formally constituted in 1958.   He was an ambitious man and envisioned a promising future for the Congo; a future void of European involvement and one in which the Congolese people had absolute power. He was already a prominent figure in the political scene within the Congo, having amassed a following through his writings and speeches advocating sovereignty and the fight against European injustice.   Lumumba eventually became prime minister through democratic elections, but his government only lasted for a very difficult period of two months during which time Belgium launched many attempts to reoccupy and subvert the independence movement. Patrice Lumumba represented a formidable opponent against the colonization forces in Africa. By advocating sovereignty and de-colonization in Africa, he represented everything that the Western powers feared. He was a man capable of affecting change throughout not only the Congo, but across Africa by promoting a self-sustained economy that was entirely independent from the European nations. He opposed the forces of colonialism throughout Africa. The riches of the Congo and the presence of Lumumbas movement could not be allowed to co-exist in the view of the United States and European political and business interests. Lumumba eventually became the victim of a coup funded primarily by the United States and Belgium, under the protection of the United Nations.   Although the United States and Belgium were the primary opponents of Lumumba, they were acting on behalf of European countries throughout the world because Lumumba personified the anti-colonial movement that everyone feared. They feared Lumumba not simply because he was a man that represented the anti-colonial movement, but because he was an African man that had become too powerful and had the potential to gain the loyalty and attention of his people and focus their goals on true independence and real control of their own resources. â€Å"The Congo crisis is due to just one man, Patrice Lumumba† (Hochschild 49) He had the potential to change the entire social structure of Africa and possessed the ability to affect change throughout the world by promoting democracy and equality.   Probably if Lumumba had lived a little longer, he would have organized and united the nation to avoid the conflicts that have characterized the country ever since time memorial. Poor Centralized governance of mobutu (dictatorship and exploitation of resources) For the next thirty years following the death of Lumumba, the Congo was the victim of a centralized government with the majority of the power concentrated in one man, General Mobutu, who was an instrumental Congolese collaborator with the Western interests in promoting the coup leading to the assassination of Lumumba. Kaplan (1979) notes that Mobutu created a rigidly centralized administration reminiscent of Belgian rule, topped by a single authority figure that he claimed to be in the African political tradition.   Governing by decree, his words literally were law.   His power was absolute, anchored in a constitution of his own inspiration that made him head of the legislative, executive, and judiciary This was not the type of free democratic society that Lumumba had envisioned, but instead one that still allowed many European nations to exercise the authority and influence that Lumumba vehemently opposed. The United States gave him well over a billion dollars in civilian and military aid during the three decades of his rule; European powers- especially France-contributed more (Hochschild 303)/   Mobutu did little to improve the quality of life of his citizens, and instead exploited his own citizens for his material and economic gain. Even after independence, the Congo was still the economic colony of Europe that existed under the control of Belgium. The European and American corporations and investments were still intact with Mobutu in control.   The Congo was now operating as a puppet government in which the United States used Mobutu to affect both economic and political decisions in an effort to stabilize its investments and operations in the country.   It estimated that a t the end of his reign, he was of the worlds wealthiest men; â€Å"his personal peak was estimated at $4 billion.† (Hochschild 303)   And very little of his fortune went to the people of the Congo. One will therefore be short sighted not to blame Mobutu for the conflicted Congo. He did his best to disorganize and disintegrate the countrys internal economic and political structures and systems that laid ground for what was termed as the â€Å"Africas World War†. His puppetism to western countries only resurrected and reminded the Congolese of the harsh, brutal and inhuman rule of Leopold and the Belgians which escalated the anger among the citizens. Mobutu can further be solely held responsible for the greed and mismanagement of natural resources for selfish needs among the Congolese today, he set a bad example. Ethnic differences One of the most sensitive areas of social life in Africa is the problem of cultural pluralism, which usually rears its ugly face in inter-ethnic relations International conflicts and civil wars, these are not simply products of failed diplomacy or policies of aggression. Virtually they all have roots in endemic cultural features of nations (Aluko: 2003). Patterns of languages, religious beliefs and legal institutions form as much a part of the environment enveloping nations have been tales of woes, anguish, sorrows, deprivations, sadness in most of the member states. Many nations of the continent such as Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Angola, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and even many nations of the great lakes region of the central Africa have been in turmoil due to ethnic related reasons. Political instability, economic and social disequilibrium became rampant in countries like Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and the two Congos. Most ethnic conflicts have a background of domination, injustice or oppression by one ethnic group or another. The tremendous psychological pressure on human populations from political change creates a sense of anxiety that frequently makes people seek refuge in belief systems that involve definitions of membership and belonging. In Sudan, Garang charged that civil war erupted largely because Hassan Turabi, the power behind Khartoums government, wanted to impose Sharia, or Islamic law throughout Sudan. The other factor relates to resources and economics. At the simplest level, the struggle to survive can spawn or deepen ethnic problem. The more limited the resources the greater the danger of ethnic problem. For a range of reasons not necessarily bad or intentionally divisive, ethnic groups are also often positioned differently in an economy. Again, change can accentuate differences, triggering hostility or drastic action. The legacy of Colonialism did not do any better. The problems of most colonial nations of Africa are direct products of their colonial experience. The problems had been created by colonialism in different ways, especially by the indiscriminate merger of various ethnic groups to become monolithic entities, and at the same time treated the units as separate entities and allowed each to develop in whatever direction it chose in isolation from others (Nnoli, 1980. Dare 1986 and Young, 1998). This was the trend in virtually all the Anglophone countries of the sub-Sahar an Africa and some Francophone countries too. Colonialism also created structural imbalances within the colonies in terms of socioeconomic projects, social development and establishment of administrative centres. This imbalance deepened antipathies between ethnic groups. In Nigeria, the South achieved a higher level of social development than the North. Similarly, the Baganda advanced farther than the other Uganda ethnic groups, the Chagga and Haya were ahead of the other Tanzanian groups, the Kikuyu, Ashanti and Bemba made more rapid â€Å"progress† than the other Kenyan, Ghanaian and Zambian ethnic groups respectively. In fact, inter-ethnic relations in Kenya have been characterized by the hostility of all the other groups to the Kikuyu. Today, many nations of the sub-Saharan Africa are in one turmoil, violence or civil disorder of one kind or the other largely originating from the ethnic problem. Such countries include Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Angola, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese people are made up of around 200 separate ethnic groups. These ethnic groups generally are concentrated regionally and speak distinct languages. There is no majority ethnic group some of the largest ethnic groups are the Luba, Kongo and Anamongo. The various ethnic groups speak many different languages but only four indigenous languages have official status Kiswahili, Lingala, Kikongo and Tshiluba. French is the language of government, commerce and education. Societal discrimination on the basis of ethnicity is widely practiced by members of virtually all ethnic groups and is evident in private hiring and buying patterns and in patterns of de facto ethnic segregation in some cities (GS: 2000-9). The ongoing conflict in the Eastern part of DR Congo has often been explained as be