The Philosophy of Cartesianism

â€Å"Cogito, ergo sum† (â€Å"I think, therefore I am. â€Å"), Descartes famous basis for his philosophy of Cartesianism, is also compelling evidence towards the defense of one of the most famous of the early Greek teachers, Socrates. In order to be, one must think. Socrates was a seeker of truth, and the highest knowledge is knowing what is best for oneself and one†s community. He was penalized and served the ultimate sentence for his belief in the true nature of education. He was blamed for opposing the authoritative belief that education had the sole purpose of transmitting social mores intact. He believed instead that education was meant to examine and re-evaluate social norms for the betterment of society. It was his re-evaluation of social norms that was perceived as dangerous by his society. This leads to the question, â€Å"Is it dangerous to think to much? † Is it sometimes better to let things be, in order to keep the peace? One of the many charges brought against Socrates was the charge of corrupting the youth with his teachings. Instead of letting the laws govern their lives, he was attempting to show his pupils ways of rationalizing their own world. God originally gave mankind free will so that we would not become a bunch of robots walking around doing his bidding, and yet this is what traditions were doing. The customs of early Athens were limiting on what a person could or could not believe. Socrates believed independent thought in itself could never be bad. It is what one does with this knowledge that determines its worth. Socrates believed that â€Å"self-knowledge† is different from the â€Å"knowledge of information† that had been handed down from generation to generation. Socrates was more concerned with ethical knowledge: self-understanding means self-improvement. Not only must one know what it means to be a human being and understand one's own character (and how it falls short of the ideal), but knowing better means doing better. Knowledge becomes a virtue. One must transform one's own character in the light of one's vision of what is best. Socrates believed true knowledge or human wisdom was not abstract information or facts that filled the brain. It is knowledge that transforms character, brings order to a disorderly life, refines attitude, and makes one better. This self-understanding that Socrates taught his pupils is actually beneficial to a community. When one has order in their lives, it is easier for them to bring order to the world around them. When you smile the world cannot help smiling too. Conversely, when one allows himself to be corrupted, he corrupts the society around them. Self-improvement equals social reform. At the same time, social reform requires knowledge of what is best for the community (as a whole). Thus, since self-improvement and social reform are interdependent, self-knowledge and knowledge of social justice are also interdependent. Ethics is inseparable from politics and individual good is inseparable from the common good. Therefore, by teaching the youth to think without worrying about following tradition, Socrates not only helps them enhances themselves, but he improves society in general. There still remains the question as to whether or not this constant inquiry into the world can be detrimental. Without pioneers of thought, pioneers of action would never exist. As science progresses through time, more and more of its theories are being put into development. Although the progress of science has greatly enhanced society and the world we live in, there are many cases where an invention or discovery managed to set society back. One of the best examples of this is weapons of mass destruction, more specifically, the A-bomb. No one would disagree that this was a terrible thing to create; even the inventor had hesitations when he figured out what he was doing. Still he made it, and as society progress, it progressively develops newer and more destructive weapons. The irony is that the leaders of society are the people pushing for the bigger and better weapons, for the sake a guaranteeing public safety. Yet as more and more weapons are created the inevitable mass destruction of all societies becomes evident. In this way, Socratic thought and the quest for knowledge is detrimental to a society. Pure Socratic belief is best summed up by his saying, â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living. † Many of Socrates adversaries believed that this principle was an open invitation for anarchy. Examining life leads to new ideas that do not necessarily conform with the beliefs of society. This causes great movements of revolution. Socrates believed these movements were a great tool in the advancement of civilization. One great proof against this idea is the rise of Hitler and communism. Hitler examined his life and found that the Jews were the source of all his problems. He therefore decided to kill as many of them that he could. His ultimate goal was genocide. In this case the personal thoughts of an individual did not help the advancement of society. The new debate becomes, â€Å"Is it justifiable to condemn a person for Socratic behavior? † The answer is no. Everyone should be allowed to quest for knowledge. That is why the necessity for a college education in the modern world is so strong. Society needs thinkers. What is condemnable is the specific actions that are taken as a result of some of these thoughts. Hypothesizing about what a weapon of mass destruction can do and testing it out on innocent people and animals are two different things. Many people criticize Socrates for not being a man of action. All Socrates ever accomplished was questioning and probing the democratic beliefs of his day. He built nothing, and he wrote nothing, all he did was think, and a person cannot be condemned for their thoughts. In the big picture, people should be encouraged to think for themselves, to decide what they are going to believe and what they are going to dismiss as fiction. Society has the right to punish a man†s actions if they are causing harm to society, but expressing a view other than popular opinion is not harmful to society. In actuality, contemplation can help to resolve many of society†s problems. Meditation on a problem leads to possible solutions to the problem, and in essence, progress. By examining oneself, a person gains better insight into who they are, and where their place in society is. This allows them to become more secure with themselves and more efficient in the community. Socratic behavior is about examining everything in order to gain knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge is not condemnable as long as no one is getting hurt.

Class Project on San Diego Police Department

Police Departments of different cities are undergoing a transition. Police department and their operations, hierarchy design, and strategies are becoming increasingly similar to that of other commercial organizations. Police Departments today operate with a sense of direction, a mission that is broken down into objectives and achievable goals that must be met in order to rank the mission of the department as a success. Therefore, it will not be incorrect to compare police departments to business organizations functioning within the society About San Diego Police Department The police department of San Diego is one of the most efficient police departments from across the country. The department is also amongst the pioneers in implementing strategies that have won the country the edge in the fight against crime. These strategies include implementation of an Information Technology infrastructure and programs such as ‘Community Oriented Policing’. The San Diego Police Department has a strength of over two-thousand-six-hundred personnel. This strength consists of officers that are sworn, as well as other that are civilians. These personnel function conjointly towards accomplishing the mission of the police department. These personnel are further divided into eight divisions: Field Operations, Special Operations, Neighborhood Policing, Training and Development, Office of Administration, Personnel Services, Professional Responsibility, and Support Services. All these departments function under the assistant chief, except for the Personnel Services which functions under a civilian personnel director. (Decker, Cordner, Ward, 1999) The department has been a leader in trying new strategies for implementing effective criminal justice routines. The department works closely with the community and encourages the society to participate and coordinate with the fight to make the city free of crime. The ‘Community Oriented Policing’ and ‘Problem Oriented Policing’ are two such programs that bring the community and the department together in the fight against crime. Further, the department has also implemented Information Technology as a strategy for efficient crime reporting and monitoring The aforementioned strategies have yield promising results for the San Diego Police Department. The crime rate has considerably declined in the city and is continues to drop. The crime statistics of the year 1997 show that fewer homicides, murders, violent crimes, property crimes and burglaries have taken place that year as compared to 1978 (Decker, Cordner, Ward, 1999). However, this existing crime rates are still quite high for the United States. The San Diego Police Department has therefore the responsibility to sustain the comparative low crime rates and try to reduce these statistics even further. This cannot be achieved without efficient strategy planning of department’s resources. Following is a study and analysis of the San Diego Police Department. The various aspects of the operations of the department are studied, analyzed, and based on these a strategy plan is devised for sustainability in operation of the department. San Diego Police Department’s Mission The department envisions cohesion of efforts of various entities in the society, aimed at improving the lives of the inhabitants of San Diego. The collaborative work is one of the most stresses attributes of the police department’s mission. This collaboration includes entities such as â€Å"communities, government agencies, private groups and individuals† (The City of San Diego Web Site, 2002) that share the same vision as the San Diego Police Department, i. e. fighting crime and improving the quality of life in San Diego. The attributes of the mission statement are the values that the San Diego Police Department tends to use to accomplish its mission. These values are representative of the spirit, and are the basis of the policies of the police department’s mission. San Diego’s Web Site (2002) lists some of the core values of their police department, rating protection of human beings as one of the highest priority values. This is significant for any police department as the primary reason for establishment of peace, law and order systems is protection of human life. The value deserves to be at top priority as a lack of value suggests taking for granted the objective of the department’s motif for existence. The implementation of ethical policing follows in the list of values. The reason for giving ethics a high importance is crucial for the acceptance of the police department by the people it is established for. There are many issues surrounding execution of duties of the police force and officers, ethics being one of them. It is not fiction but a fact that a police subculture has established itself within the officers which sometimes provides for officers to carry out unethical practices or misuse of authority. The public shows its concern for such unethical practices implemented by law enforcers themselves. Therefore, the implementation of ethics in particular and mention of it that high in the mission statement of the police department is strategically intended to ward off bad attention. Units in the San Diego Police Department The police department has been organized into several different units based on nature of function or crime. This helps organization of resources as well as represents the image of a well-organized/equipped police department. The different units operating in SDPD are: Air Support Unit, Armory – SWAT, Background Investigations, Canine Unit, Child Abuse, Communications, Crime Analysis, Criminal Intelligence, Crisis Intervention, Data Systems, Domestic Violence Unit, Elder Abuse, Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO), Field Training Officer Administration (FTO), Financial Crimes, Gang Detail, Harbor Patrol, Homicide, Internal Affairs, Juvenile Administration, Laboratory, Legal Advisors, Metro Arson Strike Team (MAST), Media Relations, Mounted Enforcement Unit, Narcotics, Neighborhood Policing, Permits & Licensing (Vice Administration), Personnel, Psychological Services, Records, Recruitment, Robbery, School Task Force, Sex Crimes, Special Investigations, SWAT/SRT (Special Response Team) and Vice Operations. The City of San Diego Web Site, 2003) Critical Success Factors of San Diego’s Department of Police The success of the Police Department in accomplishing and maintaining the mission objective in the community can be contributes to various factors. Some of these factors can be outline to be critical for the success of department, without which the SDPD could not have realized their mission objectives. These factors are summed up and briefly outlined here as the critical success factors for SDPD. Well-defined Strategy The reason why San Diego Police Department has been recognized as one of the leading police departments in controlling crime is that the department has well-defined strategic objectives. The objectives are responsible for focusing the resources of the organization in an organized manner, towards attaining the mission objectives of the department. Setting up a well-defined strategy for a criminal justice unit is rather a new concept in criminal justice administration as usually these departments just focus resources in an unpremeditated manner towards the customary objective of reducing crime. However, the strategy of the SDPD is different. The police department has laid down a definition of more than one goal and further strategically channelled their resources towards realizing these goals. An instance of such a strategy is the department’s awareness about different approaches towards criminal justice, such as the ‘problem-oriented policing’ strategy or integrating the community in the fight against crime in the neighborhood. Training of Human Resource  The shift away from the conventional means of operations brings forth the need to train the human resource of any organization to accustom it to the new strategy. Not only would a new strategy introduce new processes for conducting conventional operations, but it may also introduce new tools (such as Information Technology tools, including software and hardware) that are intended to enhance the efficiency of the human resource. San Diego Police Department faced the same circumstances where the introduction of a strategy enticed the need for human resource training. Eventually, the proper and trained use of strategies and tools led to efficient operations and increased productivity of the police department which was unprecedented. Besides the consideration of training with a changing information technology infrastructure, officers at the police department have to undergo extensive training from the police academy before they can start performing their duties in SDPD. A focus of ethical grooming is also maintained during this course of training. This helps realize and implement the value of the San Diego police department to use ethical policing when serving the community. The officers undergo comprehensive training in the police academy which prepares them not only to ‘serve and protect’ but to efficiently implement policing according to the strategy that is implemented at SDPD. Use of Information Technology The introduction of Information technology tools is one important development for crediting the success of the mission at SDPD. Conventional policing shows less use of high tech tool for attaining criminal justice objectives, but with the advancement in technology the role information technology tools play has become a crucial success factor of policing. San Diego Police Department has been one police departments that accredits it success to the use of Information technology tools, including software, hardware and processes. The department has segregated the use of Information technology in various units and systems. The New Technology Unit (NTU) is one such unit which is headed by a sergeant and staffed by patrol officers. Each individual involved in the integration of technology in policing is thoroughly trained, committed and knowledgeable about the use of this technology. The information technology infrastructure is used for a range of operations. This includes activities from installation of software of laptop machines to the use of Automated Field Reporting (AFR) devices. (The City of San Diego Web Site, 2003; Decker, Cordner, Ward, 1999) Information Technology helps improve the efficiency of operations of the San Diego Police Department in various ways. For instance, the patrol officers can electronically transfer information from their remote locations to the central information system regarding criminal activity or general reports. Financial Situation Finances are the backbone of the any organization as refining the state of the community comes at a cost which must be met. Finances help any organization buy and employ resources towards a definite objective. Similarly San Diego Police Department has the primary objective of making the city a secure place by protecting them and further improving their quality of life. In order to realize these (and many other) objectives for the mission of the police department, the department needs finances. Once finances have been obtained, which is further required is the proper and efficient management of these finances in order to get the maximum out a limited finances. Budgeting is used by SDPD to plan its finances most effectively. The major part of the budget is used to cover personnel expenses. This shows the worth and its expected reliance on the human resource for the success of the mission of the department. Like any other organization, monetary benefits are used to keep the human resource motivated. When the major portion of the budgeted amount is spent on salaries, the remaining amount is still a hefty lot for the police department to plan investment in information technology and other nfrastructure – efforts aimed at improving the efficiency of SDPD. (The City of San Diego Web Site, 2003; Decker, Cordner, Ward, 1999) The primary sources for the finances made available to the San Diego Police Department are five, namely: Property Tax, Sales Tax, Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), Motor Vehicle License Fee (MVLF) and Franchise Fee. As the financial resource of SDPD depends on the City’s General Fund, they are generally sensitive to political and economic stimuli coming from either local, state or national levels. Organizational Design Strategy The organizational hierarchy is clearly listed at the San Diego Police Department Web Site (2003). The organizational hierarchy shows the structure of the police department and the chain of command can be conveniently analyzed. An analysis of the organizational chart reveals that the department is arranged in a way of a business organization with the Chief of Police as the CEO, and the managers take places lower in the hierarchy. So much so that the organizational chart is also labeled as â€Å"San Diego Police Business Center†. The organizational hierarchy is top down, however possesses horizontal attributes, which make communication between individuals working at the same level (horizontal communication) and also across departments. Vertical communication however is not favorable in the top-down hierarchy. Further analysis of the organizational chart of the San Diego Police Department reveals that the department intends to implement a central control over other departments / entities working lower in the hierarchy. This organizational design will be helpful in enforcing strict monitoring and accountability of entities lower in the hierarchy. Such an organizational design, therefore, is used to implement effective programs and reduce the relaxation/room for errors for entities as activities are reported to entities higher up in the hierarchy design. This is one strategy that is used to accomplish the mission of ethical policing at all levels within the department. It is safe to suggest that the organizational design of the San Diego Police Department compliments its ethical policing objective. Strategic Plan for San Diego Police Department The aforementioned analysis has laid the foundation to devise a strategic plan for the San Diego police department for the coming years. The analysis of the department’s mission, critical success factors, financial situation and organizational design strategy are the groundwork for a smart strategic plan for the department, which would otherwise not be feasible without these analyses. The following is a suggested strategic plan for the San Diego Police Department including justification for each strategy suggested. Strategic Design for SDPD The analysis of the organizational design reveals a hierarchy with strict and inflexible structure. This organizational design might be appropriate for implementation of ethical policing and complimenting strict measures of control within the department, however the organizational design conflicts with an important aspect within any organization, i. e. communication. The design strategy hinders communications within different departments at different levels of the hierarchy. The design strategy suggests to the community that officers and entities placed lower in the hierarchy will be the interface for dealing with the department, whereas entities higher in the hierarchy depict not much interaction with the public. It is important to mention here the expectancy of the public to have transparent execution of services as it is the public’s money which is the source for funding the police department. Therefore, what the San Diego Police Department needs is an organizational design that fosters communication with all the entities involved in policing, however one that also implements a strict control for implementing ethical policing without hindrance. This can be implemented with a new, lean organizational design. Contingent Strategy for SDPD As analyzed earlier, the financial strategy of the San Diego Police Department is susceptible to economic and political fluctuations on the local, state or national level. This susceptibility poses a threat to the sustainability of operations of the police department by exhibiting dependence on these factors. The department needs to device a financial management strategy to provide when in difficult times such as those that may not cause disruption of work. This means that an alternative source for generation of funds must be established or sought out by the San Diego Police Department that can cater to the financial needs of the department when other currently implemented sources are not available. Conclusion The San Diego Police Department has implemented quite a few strategies to minimize crime in the city. Nevertheless SDPD must implement further strategic measures for sustainability of its mission of fighting crime.

African American

Please show how Segregation shaped the lives of African Americans during the time frame 1870-1920. Please examine all faucet of society under slavery to support your argument. In the year of 1870, It was the re Invention of slavery. America could not be built without economic. The south was still a negative place and they tailed to accept blacks. After decades of discrimination, the voting rights act of 1965 aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that denied blacks tovote under the 15th amendment. The 1 5th amendment in 1870 gave African Americans the right o vote. The constitutional amendment passed after the civil war that it guaranteed blacks the right to vote. It affected not only freed slaves In the south but the blacks that were living In the north who was not allowed to vote(3). The amendment was favored by the Republican Party; since the votes of the slaves helped the party dominates national politics In the years after the war. During the same year, Hiram Rhodes Revels. who was a republican from Mississippi, became the first African American to sit in the United States congress when he was elected to the United tates senate. Millions of black men served In congress during reconstruction but more than 600 served In the states legislatures and many more held local offices(3). The Jim Crow laws were the era of struggle. The state and local laws in the united states enacted between 1876 and 1365. In 1890, there was a separate but equal status for African Americans. Jim Crow laws followed the Black codes which restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans with no equality. During the reconstruction period, the federal law provided clvll rights protection In the united States for the African Americans who had formally been slaves(l)_ In 1890, Louisiana required by law that blacks ride In separate railroad cars. The whites on railroads, including separate railway cars. Plessy attempted to sit in an all- white railroad car. After refusing to sit in the black railway carriage car, Plessy was arrested for violating in1890. Louisiana statute that provided for segregated separate but equal railroad accommodations. Those using facilities not designated for their race were criminally liable under the statute(4). Plessy was found guilty on he grounds that the law was a reasonable exercise of the states police powers based upon custom, usage, and tradition in the state. Plessy filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Louisiana against Ferguson, asserting that segregation stigmatized blacks and stamped them with a badge of inferiority in violation of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments(4). The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson was one of a combination of rulings passed by the U. S and the state Supreme Courts after reconstruction. Many of these decisions allowed and required Jim Crow segregation laws in southern states. At the highest level, the case was decided on May 18th in 1896, in favor of Ferguson and the state of Louisiana. The Supreme Court had given southern states all the permission they needed to let any remaining equality between the races fade away and be replaced by the Jim Crow laws standing(S). By the 1870s, many southern whites had resorted to intimidation and violence to keep blacks from voting and restore white supremacy in the region. Beginning in 1873, a series of Supreme Court decisions limited the scope of Reconstruction-era laws and federal support for the Reconstruction Amendments, particularly the 14th nd 15th, which gave African Americans the status of citizenship and protection. The Compromise of 1877 occurred after the Presidential Election of 1876, when Congress formed the Electoral Commission to resolve disputed Democratic Electoral votes from the South. The republicans agreed to enact Federal legislation that would spur industrialization in the south. They agreed to withdraw federal soldiers from their remaining positions in the south(5). They did this to appoint democrats to positions in the south and to appoint a democrat to the presidents cabinet. The Compromise f 1877 effectively ended the Reconstruction era. The Southern Democrats promised to protect but the political rights of blacks were not kept. The end of federal interference in southern affairs led to widespread disenfranchisement of blacks voters(4). From the late 1870s, southern legislatures passed a series of laws requiring the separation of whites from persons of color on public transportation, in schools, parks, restaurants, theaters and other locations. These segregationist statutes governed life in the South through the middle of the next century, ending after the uccess of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The migration was a watershed in the history of African Americans. It lessened their overwhelming concentration in the South, opened up industrial Jobs to people who had up to then been mostly farmers, and gave the first significant impetus to their cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and New York(8). The single largest movement of African Americans occurred during World War l, when people moved from rural areas and small towns in the South to cities in the North and the East. Even in the North, blacks encountered violence at the hands of whites, who esented competition for Jobs and black economic success. Segregation and discrimination in housing, education, and Jobs was pervasive in the North as well. From 1916, more than six million blacks left the South for other regions of the United States. Over the next fifteen years, more than one tenth of the countrys black population would voluntarily move north. The Great Migration lasted until 1930. This was the first step in the full nationalization of the African American population(2). The Klu Klux Klan is the oldest organization. During this time 1920s, there were still 5 percent of African Americans in the south. The Klan was created in 1871 by the Democratic Party to prevent African Americans from voting the 1 5th Amendment. The Klan also became Americans 1st terrorist group and became an institutional part of American life and political colt.

UK Banking Sector Reforms Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

UK Banking Sector Reforms - Dissertation Example The business environment in the modern world has become highly volatile. Different sectors make reformations that aim at responding to these changes in the economic, legal-political, technological and sociocultural environment. The United Kingdoms banking sector has experienced myriad reforms in the memorable past in this regard. Deregulation of the banking sector in the 1970s and 1980s in the United Kingdom enabled banks to take vantage of the lucrative opportunities that came with financial innovation and globalization. As a result, functionally large and geographically diverse banking groups have emerged in the United Kingdom. The public-policy attention in the United Kingdom has been focused primarily on the costs of the banking sector, which is dominated by complex and large institutions that appear too important to fail. New players and products have emerged in the industry over the last 50 years. Banks in the United Kingdom have continued to become larger and central to the provision of a full range of financial services. The emergence of highly interconnected universal banks in the banking sector has completely harnessed the economic network and tremendously increased the likelihood of system-wide contagion. The condition has been a characteristic of individual banks distress.

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Corporate Ethics in relation Case Study

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Corporate Ethics in relation to an Australian manufacturing company - Case Study Example The corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the responsibility which involves an organization for continuous commitment of the ethical behavior to the society. It helps to improve the standard and the quality of life of the employees as well as the life of the society and the local communities (Zimmerli & et. al., 2007). The prime objective of this study is to highlight the various importances of corporate ethics and CSR and the usefulness of these two practices while deciding the global outsourcing of an Australian company with proposed recommendation and conclusion for the overall discussion. Critical Analysis of Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Ethics Corporate ethics involves the ethical principles of the management as well as of the mangers to persuade them to be translucent in business transactions. Business ethics considers the customer’s feelings regarding planning out the goods and the services provided to the customers. Corporate ethics also con siders the stakeholder’s interests to the business. Corporate ethics is one of the most important activities in every organization, especially in relation with the customers and their idea about consumerism. Consumerism refers to the term which describes the rights of the consumers and the legal concerns. Corporate ethics is an evaluation and a study conducted by a business to make decisions in relation to the judgments and the moral concepts. Corporate ethics involves the organization’s responsibilities towards their customers, the commitment to be honest towards the customers. It also involves the responsibility of the company to conserve the nature and the environment. Corporate ethics also involves the protection of the rights... From the study the main idea has been developed regarding the corporate ethics and the responsibilities of a corporation towards the society. The key findings to be considered by the Australian company are type of the market while entering the global territory, the people of that region, and the environment of the particular country. The other findings to be considered by the company are the various laws and regulations of the other countries, the legal formalities, the consumerism factor and the quality product manufacturing. The Australian company can easily spread the business in global market by considering all these CSR issues and various corporate ethics. The prime objective of this study is to highlight the various importances of corporate ethics and CSR and the usefulness of these two practices while deciding the global outsourcing of an Australian company with proposed recommendation and conclusion for the overall discussion. In relation to the study, conclusively, it can be stated that the corporate ethics is the process of valuing the rights and the moral of the people related to the corporate. Corporate ethics is the responsibility of the corporations towards their employees, workers as well as towards their customers and stakeholders. The approach taken by companies under the purview of corporate ethics is known as corporate social responsibility. In CSR, the companies function to provide the society certain values and they show the concern towards the society and environment being responsible towards the nature.

K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award Personal Statement

K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award - Personal Statement Example I would like to go back and teach as a professor in KFUPM. I have personally designed a course that is known as, â€Å"From ore to steel,† which guides engineers and technicians in the process of transforming ore to steel. I formulated the class material, discussion, and exams for this course. The fact that I have designed this course indicates that my teaching skills are beyond replicating written material because I can prepare original teaching materials and deliver them to students. In fact, I received an award of the best course taught in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation where I taught this subject. I took part in Saudi Iron and Steel Corporation as a production supervisor from April 2005 to May 2008. I supervised the color coating line team that consisted of fifty operators who were from diverse backgrounds. Since I was able to manage the team that consisted of individuals with diverse characteristics, it means that my leadership skills are not local, but

International business Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International business - Movie Review Example Among those victims is a senior risk-management executive, who was working on a major analysis just when he was let go. As the person is leaving he hands a USB drive to an analyst who works late in the night. The data on the usb disturbs him and turns out to be first rumbling of the storm. He unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm and further finds out that both the market and the company are about to crash. On this he calls his seniors and colleagues in and informs them about the companys financial disaster which follows an emergency meeting and a long panicked night until dawn when the owner of the company John Tuld arrives. The owner is informed of the financial crisis which the company was facing over the past 40 months the company have packaged a series Mortgage Backed Securities (Mbs) into one tradable commodity. The idea was quite profitable but it requires a month to layer the products that is, they have to hold the products for a longer time than desired and they are based on mortgages and risk is elevated. The company’s (MBS) have decreased by 25%, and that was the rate at which the losses will exceed even the current value of the company. The company based on historic patterns, had exceeded their levels of volatility that is their historic volatility has exceeded the limits. They were already facing the crisis as the company has broken through for the past 5 days. The owner was told it will take weeks to clear the problem and if they stop buying it will be noticed and they were left with 60 traders only. The owner inquires how bad the situation was and he was told that the company was al ready in a crisis, the young analyst also informs him that him if the assets were to be decrease by just 25%, it will exceed the value of the company. The decision made by the owner was to

Domestication of Plants and Animals in Ethiopia Essay

Domestication of Plants and Animals in Ethiopia - Essay Example The area currently referred to as Ethiopia is believed to be among the earliest hosts of economically centered societies. The oldest evidence of hominids comes from this area, suggesting that the time was available to develop such systems. However, as history passed, people were amassing in Ethiopia in parallel to birthing civilizations elsewhere in the world. Consequently, the evolution of domesticating techniques does not have a clear starting point. In Ethiopia, and most other candidate areas for the "cradle of civilization", it is estimated that animals were domesticated first over a period that may range from near 10,000 BC to 3,000 BC. Plant cultivation of this form then became prominent in the period encompassing about 3,000 BC to 2,000 BC. Cattle were among the earliest domestic animals, due to their appeal as a source of meat. Goats provided milk, sheep gave wool, and stronger animals like donkeys and oxen provided transportation, as well as brute force. A wide variety of beasts would eventually be harnessed for human benefit, largely thanks to the presence of many local animal species (Milkias n.p.). The early use of animal labor and the subsequent emergence of domestication is theorized to have played a considerable role in the development of agricultural centers in Ethiopia and other early societies (such as those in the Fertile Crescent). Animals bred for the benefit of humans helped to produce the resource surpluses that drew most people to a limited number of areas, ultimately producing the framework of economies and civilization itself. If animals raised for humanity laid the foundation for social development, then plants, appropriately, allowed civilization to bloom. As early as the 30th century BC, plant domestication became an immediately dominant force in the propagation of Ethiopian communities. At least thirty-six different plant species became the first plants in the area to be grown under control for the traits that most benefit

Facebook IPO Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Facebook IPO - Article Example This will make Facebook the world’s leading social network by capitalization considering that its value will stand at $104 billion at the share offering. The social network is on course to raise $16 billion through its initial public offer. The company will certainly rank among major share offering in the United States taking into consideration that Facebook stands third behind Visa and General Motors. The IPO has undoubtedly portrayed a profound revolution and growth of the company, which was formed eight years ago in Harvard as a dormitory project. The social network will be issuing 420 million common stock shares of which Facebook will sell 180 million of its share while an additional of 241 million shares will come from previous shareholders. After the initial public offer Facebook will be ranked among the most valuable US technology corporations, where key players such as Amazon, Google, Cisco and Apple owns the majority stake in the industry. Background Facebook is the w idely known and used social network. Facebook first entry was in 2004 and had accumulated over one million users within one year. Statistics shows that the number was around 100 million users in December 2008 and 200 million in June 2009, which is doubling of the figure in six months period. Currently, this social network is globally recognized and available in 4 languages (English, French, Spanish and German) and sources say it is spreading its wings to include 22 more languages (Weir, 2008). Facebook is preferred for its user-friendly applications, such as Facebook Online Chat, launched in 2008 and this feature is a popular real time messaging market applications. Facebook is a global with hundreds of millions people using it to inter-connect and check in on friends/relatives, upload photos, share videos and links, meet new friends and have updates of how their friends are fairing (Facebook, 2010). Market Competition According to Nick Wingfield, author of the article, Apple vs Fac ebook, these two companies are not big rivals or competitors. According to the author the companies’ relations is comparative to the relationship between United States and China. These companies have immense powers in their own right. They are neither friends, nor hostile to each other. The apparent reason why Apple and Facebook are not rivals is because Facebook don’t develop operating system, computers, mobiles and tablets. Implications for Competition (Rivalry among the Companies) Apple’s social network, Ping, is not such popular apart from its users who have musical preferences on iTunes. It is obvious that its creation was not meant to challenge Facebook. Apple’s late CEO, Steven P. Jobs, professed that he admired the Facebook CEO and co-founder Mr. Mark Zuckerberg. He hailed praises to Mr. Zuckerberg for his role of trying to build a lasting Silicon Valley company and not selling it. Recently, tension has been realized between the two companies. Aft er Ping introduction to the market two years ago, the two companies could not agree on how to integrate Facebook with the Ping services. This would have enabled users to use Ping to interact with their Facebook friends. Mr. Jobs told one of the reporters that Apple could not work with Facebook on the Ping issue as Facebook was demanding difficult terms they could not agree on. Strategic Alliances Facebook launched alliances in the summer of 2008, with Netflix and Apple to promote Facebook Connect. With regards to Apple, the platform allowed Apple to use Facebook Connect to promote its products. Netflix members were able to link their Facebook and netflix accounts through the Facebook Connect. This helped to expand communication by making it possible for Netflix users to

Food Security Bill Essay Example for Free

Food Security Bill Essay The bill was truncated from the NAC version at the first stage when the government finalized it and then the parliamentary standing committee went along similar lines and recommended further paring down of the benefits. Sources said concerns were raised by the Congress leadership about reducing existing benefits under the Antodaya Anna Yojana to the 2. 5 crore poorest families as well as the recommendation of the standing committee to remove the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) from the mandate of the bill, which was advised by the women and child development ministry. Sources said the party leadership was unhappy with the move to reduce existing entitlements under UPAs flagship scheme instead of providing larger benefits. The government is likely to revise the bill keeping these views in mind and look at a much higher coverage in at least the 250 poorest districts of the country. The standing committee had recommended providing 5 kg of rations per person to 75% of rural population and 50% of urban India a formula the government was happy with till the party leadership intervened. The standing committee had recommended doing away with two categories of beneficiaries with differential benefits a move the government had contemplated anyway after having sent the bill to Parliament. But curtailing the total number of beneficiaries and reducing the benefits to the poorest has not found acceptance with the party leadership, sources said. The government could now consider restoring the monthly allocation to the poorest back to 35 kg of rations per family. Under an apex court order, the poorest and most disadvantaged are provided 35 kg rations at present. With the party keen to see the bill in Parliament during the budget session, a revised version could see the ICDS scheme coming back under the purview of the bill as a legally guaranteed right along with other food delivery mechanisms such as community kitchens. The UPA has already been caught on the back foot with opposition-ruled states providing cheaper rations to greater numbers under their own schemes following the lead of Chhattisgarh. The delay in pushing the bill through, coupled with the constant and often publicly expressed differences between different arms of the government and the UPA on the shape of the legislation have taken the sheen off UPA-2s big ticket scheme Food Security Bill is affordable The subsidies meant for the poor are always under attack, while the rest are able to retain their privileges. The additional allocation in grain and money terms will neither distort the grain market nor place a burden on the fisc. Many recent commentators have portrayed the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) as an â€Å"unbearable burden† on the exchequer. The facts, however, do no substantiate the claim. The NFSB has been trashed from time to time in the English dailies. For instance, Business Line (March 21, 2013) published an article titled â€Å"Food Security Bill will torpedo Budget†. Another national daily claims that the Bill has a â€Å"fundamental flaw† that places â€Å"an unbearable burden† and â€Å"distorts agriculture† (Indian Express, March 19, 2013). Quite often, the claims are partly due to a misconception that the government is making new financial and grain commitments under the NFSB. In fact, the NFSB does little more than turning into legal entitlements pre-existing food security schemes such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme, Public Distribution System (PDS) and maternity entitlements. Some commentators have said that it is precisely the legal commitment that will lead to problems in the future — for example, the fear of the emergence of a government monopoly in the grain market. This fear is not borne out by the facts. Under the PDS, ICDS and MDM, the government currently allocates about 58 million tonnes of grain. To meet this commitment, the government currently procures about 30 per cent of grain. The NFSB commits 62 million tonnes, i. e. , an additional 4 million tonnes. The Budget of 2013-14 allocates Rs. 31,000 crore for two childrens food schemes — school meals and the ICDS which reaches children under six. The Budget allocation for the food subsidy in 2013-14 is Rs 90,000 crore. According to our estimates, the food subsidy will increase from Rs 80,000 crore (in 2012-13) to Rs 1,11,221 crore, under the NFSB. Thus, the NFSB implies an increase of just over Rs 30,000 crores in financial terms and 4 million tonnes in real (grain) terms. Can India afford this? Speaking at a panel discussion at IIT Delhi in February, Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said â€Å"it would be dishonest† to say that we cannot afford the Food Bill, and that the subsidies that we need to target are those enjoyed by the middle classes (e. g. , fuel). Speaking at the same discussion, Amartya Sen made a pertinent point — that the reason why it is more difficult to reduce subsidies enjoyed by the middle classes (fuels such as LPG, petrol and diesel) is that the beneficiaries of those are more vocal than the rural poor or children under six who benefit from the food subsidies. This point is well illustrated by the events following last years Budget. The Budget 2012-13 announced a 1 per cent excise duty on unbranded jewellery and doubled custom duty on gold to 4 per cent. Gold is the countrys second biggest import, after crude oil. This burden on the current account deficit was an important reason for doubling the customs duty. Following this, the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation and others initiated a strike which went on for 21 days. They argued that the industry, including the â€Å"large† number of people it employs, and buyers of gold, would suffer. A massive media campaign was launched, following which the Finance Minister withdrew the excise duty. According to the revenue foregone statement presented along with the Budget 2013-14, the revenue foregone from the gold and diamond industry for the previous financial year was Rs. 5,000 crore. Such tax breaks are often justified on the grounds of the employment potential of the gems and jewellery industry. According to Invest India, a website of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, â€Å"The sector provides employment to around 1. 8 million people. In the next five years, the sector is expected to create additional employment for around 1. 1 million people. † According to the National Sample Survey Organisation, 2009-10, the size of the Indian workforce is between 430-471 million persons. If the gems and jewellery industry employs 3 million people as per the Ministrys target, this would be 0. per cent of the workforce. An industry that employs less than one per cent of the Indian workforce is currently enjoying tax benefits amounting to Rs 65,000 crore (nearly 20 per cent of all revenue foregone). The Food Bill will benefit 67 per cent of the population at an additional cost of Rs 30,000 crore, yet it is said that it will â€Å"torpedo† the Budget. If anything, the NFSB does not go far enough. The NFSB tabled in Parliament in December 2011 included special provisions for the destitute and other vulnerable groups (e. g. , community kitchens and social security pensions). These have been discarded in the version cleared by Cabinet on March 19, 2013. In many rural areas, the Block is already too far to go to complain, yet for violations of rights under the NFSB, grievance redressal only begins at the District level. Viewed in this comparative perspective (for example, it is approximately 1 per cent of the GDP), few can question the affordability or desirability of the NFSB. In absolute terms it is not a small amount. One might argue whether such expenditure is worth it, given the â€Å"fact† that the programmes in its ambit, for example, the PDS, are â€Å"dysfunctional† (Indian Express, March 19, 2013). However, recent data from the National Sample Survey of 2004-05 and 2009-10 suggest that while the functioning of the PDS is far from perfect, we do need to update our â€Å"facts†. In joint research with Jean Dreze, we show that the implicit subsidy from the PDS eliminates 18 per cent (14 per cent) of the â€Å"poverty gap† — or the difference between the poverty line level of income and the median income (or monthly per capita consumption expenditure) of poor households — among poor rural (urban) households. Again, there are marked inter-State contrasts — in Tamil Nadu the corresponding figure is 60 per cent and in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh it is nearly 40 per cent. The real question then is not whether India can afford to have a right to food but as the Food Minister said in a recent interview, â€Å"Can we afford not to? † Food as a right In its latest form, the National Food Security Bill, 2013 promises to address the extreme irony of an ambitious nation holding mountains of food in storage, while masses of its people are undernourished or even starving. The right to food is finally on the threshold of being legislated. Every step taken to widen the coverage of food security schemes is an advance. Yet, the empirical truth is that incremental measures at targeting the needy are a poor substitute for a cohesive, rights-based universal system of food entitlements. There are, no doubt, many positives to the new legislation, such as coverage of up to 75 per cent of eligible priority households in rural areas, the importance given to women as the head of the household for issue of ration cards, inclusion of pregnant and lactating women for free meals (some in government wanted to take away this entitlement from women ho bear more than two children but the idea was sensibly dropped), and setting up of State Food Commissions to investigate violations of entitlements. Under the proposed law, it will be up to the States to frame criteria and choose the priority households for food entitlements, an exercise that will inevitably be accompanied by the well-documented troubles associated with targeting any welfare scheme. Exclusion of any deserving household is unfair and divisive. It poses a challenge to States that wish to provide universal access, an issue that is bound to be felt acutely in urban areas attracting tens of thousands of migrant labourers. The Centre is unwilling to countenance a Universal Public Distribution System on the ground that too much money is involved. Even under the latest Bill, it is argued, the exchequer would have to bear a heavy expenditure of Rs. 1. 24 lakh crore. Yet, the government has not hesitated to build up expensive food stocks over the years, some of which is left to rot, mainly to pay the high support prices demanded by influential sections of the farm lobby. Moreover, the policy orientation is disproportionately favourable towards some sectors such as infrastructure, compared to food and health care. Evidently, the Food Bill can and should do a lot more, to become near-universal and win over sceptics such as Tamil Nadu, which has opposed it on the ground that it is inferior to the universal PDS in the State. Also noteworthy is the fact that the Chhattisgarh Food Security Act has done better than the Centre’s proposed law in some respects — by supplying subsidised pulses and covering 90 per cent of households, for example.

Parameters For Noise Pollution Measurement

Parameters For Noise Pollution Measurement Noise is defined as the sound which is unwanted or undesired for a particular community in a particular place. Sound is the form of energy which gives the sensation of hearing. It is produced by longitudinal mechanical waves in the matter and is transmitted by the oscillations of atoms and molecules of matter. Noise is basically a form of unwanted sound with a specific pitch, intensity, frequency, amplitude and other characteristics. The description of noise as an unwanted sound indicates that it has an unpleasant effect on human beings and their environment including land structure and domestic animals, also affecting wildlife and ecological cycles. Units of measurement: The unwanted sound or noise can be physically determined as a quantity with the unit called decibel (dB). Decibel is audio loudness measurement. It is the logarithmic unit that describes the ratio between sound intensity values or sound pressure values. 0dB is nominally the threshold of hearing and 85-90dB is nominally the threshold of pain while levels near 120dB may disturb normal body functioning. Noise and our hearing: The auditory function of the ear consists is the conduction of sound through the external and middle ears or cranial bones and their reception by the spiral organ of corti, the receptor of the auditory analyzer. The external and middle ear make up the sound conducting apparatus, while the internal ear, specially the organ of corti, makes up the sound perceiving apparatus. The auricle in man plays a role in collecting sound and determining their direction. Sound waves striking the tympanic membrane set it into vibrations. The drum being connected to the handle of malleus, these vibrations are transmitted to the ossicular window of the labyrinth, rocks in and out of the oval window according to the phase of sound vibration. The vibration of the foot plate of the stapes in the oval window sets up vibrations in the perilymph. These vibrations are transmitted to the basilar membrane, and the organ of corti which it supports. The vibration of the basilar membrane causes the hair cells of the spiral organ of corti to get in touch with the overhanging tectorial membrane. At the same time, the mechanical energy of excitation, which is conveyed to most delicate receptors of the auditory nerve to be passed further to its nuclei into the medulla to the temporal brain lobes where nerve impulses are interpreted as sounds heard. Normal hearing depends on the normal condition of the apparatus for sound perception and conduction. Human being can hear external sounds with a frequency of 16-20,000 cycles per second. When sound vibrations enter into the cochlea; the tiny hairs in the cochlea to move back and forth. If vibrations with a great intensity blast into the cochlea, these hairs, especially the stereocilia, can be flattened and damaged. NOISE POLLUTION Noise pollution is the pollution caused when the unwanted sound is dumped into the environment without taking concern of its adversaries it may have. It causes health hazards (auditory + non-auditory effects) to the people and also affects the surrounding environment as well as wildlife. PARAMETERS FOR NOISE POLLUTION MEASUREMENT: For noise emission measurement, change in several sound characteristics is determined for detecting and recording the accurate values in dB. Some of these measuring parameters are: Sound Power: It is defined as the energy of sound per unit time and is given by: W= E/t (j/s or Watts) Whereas, sound power level can be described as: Lw= 10 log (W/W0) Where: W= measured power from the sound source W0= reference power level (10-12 Watts) Sound Intensity: It is defined as the amount of energy per unit area in unit time that is perpendicular to the direction of travelling sound waves. It is also defined as the sound power transmitted per unit area and is given by: I = W/A (W/m2) The dynamic range of sound intensity for human hearing ranges from 10-12W/m2 to 10-100 W/m2. The highest sound intensity possible to hear is 10,000,000,000,000 times as loud as the quietest. The usage of intensity for describing human ear response over a linear scale is very difficult as it gives such large values. Therefore, a logarithmic scale is used instead of linear scale in which the intensity level is given by 10 times the logarithmic ratio of the actual intensity to the reference intensity value. The threshold of audible sound is 10-16 W/cm2; which is considered as 0 dB. Sound intensity level is given by: Lt= 10 log (I/I0) Where: I= intensity value measured (W/m2) I0= reference intensity (10-16W/m2) Sound Pressure: Sound pressure is defined as the force of sound per unit area perpendicular to the direction of sound waves. It is given by: P= F/A (N/m2 or Pa) The range of human hearing is 0.00002-20 Pa. the sound pressure level is given by: SPL= 20 log (P/P0) Where: P= measured sound pressure (Pa) P0= reference power level (2ÃÆ'-10-5 Pa) SOUND PRESSURE ( Pa) INTENSITY (W/m2) INTENSITY LEVEL (dB) 2ÃÆ'-10-5 10-12 0 2ÃÆ'-10-4 10-10 20 2ÃÆ'-10-1 10-4 80 2(2ÃÆ'-100) 10-2 100 20(2ÃÆ'-101) 10(100) 120 200(2ÃÆ'-102) 100(102) 140 Table 1.1- Showing relationship between sound pressure and intensity level CLASSIFICATION OF NOISE POLLUTION Depending on the source of generation, the pollution due to several types of noises can be divided into following types: COMMUNITY NOISE POLLUTION: Community noise pollution is mainly spreading in the environment due to various community noises. These community noises can be further sub-divided into: Road traffic noise: With rapid increase in number of road vehicles, traffic noise is increasing day by day. The noise is spreading mainly due to traffic speed as the volume of the noise enhances with the traffic speed, and as modern high ways and traffic systems encourage speed, the noise pollution phenomenon is raising rapidly. There is maximum noise pollution during morning and evening hours in urban areas. Heavy engine-trucks are the noisiest vehicles on road having at least 80-85dB level of noise. Domestic noise: This type includes all types of noises that are common in residential areas i.e. the noise of music players, television, burglar alarms, dog barking, residential construction noise etc. depending on its intensity and volume, residential or domestic noise can be source of annoyance to anyone. The noise level in residential areas ranges from 35-45dB and does not cause serious auditory disorders. Aircraft noise: The noise which is spreading in the environment mainly due to aviation activities i.e. phases of a flight including take off, landing and flying on a path. These aerodynamic activities have an adverse effect on the people associated with the flight processes but also the people residing near airports. These noise levels are much higher in ultra-flight aircraft having a peak near 100dB which is extremely hazardous to the health. http://www.ccrh.org/comm/slough/images/Image5.gif Fig. 1.1- Aircraft noise pattern from a jet engine OCCUPATIONAL NOISE POLLUTION: Occupational noise pollution is the pollution which is present in the environment due to noises on work places, factories, and industries i.e. the noise of machines, tools, and other working equipment at work. Depending on the time of exposure, these noises have been divided into following three types: Continuous noise: It is defined as the noise whose maxima (highest levels) occur more often than once per second. It is produced by the machinery that operates without interruption e.g. pumps, compressors and processing equipments etc. Intermittent noise: The noise that is not continuous with time i.e., taking alternating periods of start and stop is called intermittent noise e.g. drill machines. NOISE SOURCE NOISE LEVEL(dB) Breathing 10 Conversation 20-30 House in a quiet street 35 Loud conversation 50-60 Office noise 60 Children playing 60 Lawn mower 60-80 Traffic noise 60-90 Sports car 85-90 Heavy truck 90-100 Electrically amplified music 120 Aircraft noise 90-120 Jet engine 140 Table 1.2-Sound sources and their intensities Impulse noise: It is the noise that gives rise to instantaneous sharp sound for a small time duration and then diminishes e.g. blasting. The sound pressure in this type may be from 40dB (minimum) to 200 plus dB (sufficient to destroy internal organs). http://coastaldrillingandblasting.com/images/home-photo-blast.jpg Fig 1.2- intermittent noise from blasting HAZARDOUS EFFECTS OF THE NOISE POLLUTION Health effects on human beings: Noise pollution is being considered as one of the leading environmental hazards nowadays. From a simple ceiling fan to a heavy traffic sight, the sound affects our lives somehow. But it is the relative loudness that is hazardous to the man and the other life forms. Noise pollution affects the human beings in two ways which are: 1) auditory effect: when it interferes with the functions of hearing mechanism. 2) Non-auditory effects: where it interacts with the health and bodily functions other than our hearing organs. Fig.1.3- a brief chart description of noise pollution hazards on human health Auditory effects: The first organ that gets affected by the noise is the ear. More than 50% of our working community complains of tinnitus (continuous ringing noise) in the ear. Continuous exposure may lead to deafness or permanent loss of hearing. It is because of the complete destruction of the organ of corti that transmits sound from ear to brain. The levels at which a person can get affected by the noise exposure are given below: Sensorineural hearing loss, neural hearing loss is due to damage to auditory nerves, sensory hearing loss is due to damage to inner ear or cochlea resulting from repeated loud noise exposure. High noise levels can result in excessive ear-wax secretion, a damaged ear-drum or fluid in the inner ear. More serious affects include permanent deafness, pain and ringing in the ears. Non-auditory effects: Non-auditory effects can be defined as all the effects on health and welfare due to the noise exposure apart from the effects on the hearing organs. they affect the social behaviour of the objects also altering the normal biological functioning of the body. When the noise pollution is considered to cause hazards other than hearing disorders, annoyance is the most basic level by which it affects peoples actions and communication, which leads to stress showing further symptoms and thus showing illness. On the other hand, noise may not always cause annoyance first and can directly affect health. The degree to which it may affect the health depends on the parameters including the intensity, pressure, volume, duration and the nature of the noise. Annoyance: It is the most prevalent and well documented subjective response to the noise, including fear and mild anger. Noise is also seen as interfering into personal privacy, while its meaning for any individual is important in determining whether the person will be annoyed by it. Annoyance reactions are associated with the degree of interference that any noise causes in everyday activities, which probably precedes and leads on to annoyance. In both traffic and aircraft noise studies, the noise levels have been found to be associated with annoyance in a dose-response relationship. on the whole, it seems that the speech communication activities are most disturbed by aircraft noise while traffic noise is most disturbing for sleep,if present at night. Noise pollution and sleep interference: Exposure to the noise for a long duration disturbs sleep resulting in raised anxiety levels. Habituation is likely to occur with the continual exposure of the noise. Objective sleep disturbance will develop if more than 50 noise events per night with a maximum level of 50 dB are at indoors or more. But, for the outdoor noise levels the value is quite low for sleep disturbance. Noise exposure during sleep may elevate blood pressure, heart rate, pulse amplitude and affect body movements. Following disturbed sleep, there may also be after-effects during the day; perceived sleep quality, short temper and daily performance levels are decreased due to sleep disturbed by road traffic noise. Effects on performance: It has been concluded from the laboratory studies, that noise exposure impairs routine performance. If a speech is played in front of a person who is learning a particular subject, it will cause performance impairment. Such impairment is independent of the meaning or subject of the speech but depends on the relative loudness. Noise exposure also slows down the rehearsal and the of selectivity processes in memory, and the choice of strategies for a particular tasks. It has also been observed that noise may reduce helping behaviour, increase violence and reduce the obedience of social cues. Physiological responses: The continuous exposure to noise causes numerous short-term physiological responses as transmitted through the nervous system. Exposure to noise causes physiological activation including elevated heart rate and blood pressure, peripheral vasoconstriction and increased peripheral vascular resistance. There is habituation to brief noise exposure but to the prolonged noise, habituation is less certain. Cardiovascular effects: Studies have suggested that individuals continually exposed to continuous noise of at least 85 dB have higher blood pressure than those not exposed to noise. Noise exposure is also an indicator of exposure to physical and psycho-social factors, associated with high blood pressure. Aircraft noise pollution is found related to heart trouble and hypertension, more cardiovascular drug use and higher blood pressure. The effects of noise have been shown on systolic blood pressure (but not diastolic pressure), total cholesterol, total triglycerides, blood viscosity, platelet count and, glucose level. However, it was found that the prevalence of hypertension was higher among people exposed to aircraft noise levels of at least 55 dB or maximum levels above 72 dB around. There is some evidence from community studies that environmental noise is related to hypertension and there is also evidence that environmental noise may be a minor risk factor for coronary heart disease. A sudden exposure to noise may stimulate catecholamine secretion and precipitate cardiac dysrhythmias. Psychiatric effects: It has been found that persistent exposure to noise causing annoyance may lead to psychological disorders. Early studies showed that regular exposure to high levels of noise to the factory workers and inhabitants of overpopulated areas complain about nausea, headache, anxiety, restless nights, and edgy tempers. But recent studies do not confirm this association between air-craft and road noise and psychiatric disorders; and the weak association was established between road-traffic noise and mental depressiveness. Hence, it is now believed that environmental noise may seem related with certain psychological symptoms, but does not result in serious psychological disorders. However, enhanced noise levels may increase the possibility of such disorders. Effects on cognitive behaviour in children: It is of the common knowledge that children belong to a group which is especially vulnerable and sensitive to environmental pollution and all of its types. Their cognitive structure is developing and they lack the well-developed strategies to coop-up. Studies have found the Effect of environmental noise activities on the cognitive structure. The research shows that noise pollution does not affect all cognitive structures uniformly; affecting mainly central processing and understanding of the language. Difficulties have been found in concentration and visual attention. The reports describe that noise exposed children show more difficulty in concentrating than those who are less exposed. The test performed on primary school children living in over-populated areas showed them having poor auditory distinction and speech perception; affecting their reading ability, as well as their school performance than those living in quiet areas. Effect of noise pollution on wildlife: Noise pollution can be harmful to the animals. High enough levels of the noise pollution may interfere with the natural cycles of the animals, which may change their migration paths to avoid the sound; moreover, masking which is the inability to perceive sound of ecological cues and animal signals. Exposure of Desert Kangaroo Rats to dune buggy sounds (95 db at 4 meters, on and off for 500 seconds) caused a major reduction on detection distance for its principal predator the Rattlesnake. When the distance for the normal sand kicking response to the snakes presence was reduced from 40 cm to 2 cm, and it took three weeks for the rat to recover. Plenty of evidences exist to prove that serious damage is occurring to the wild animals. Long-term effects from medium to low level noise intrusion need much more study, with emphasis on threatened and endangered species. NOISE POLLUTION COUNTROL All the sources of noise including road traffic, heavy vehicles, airplanes, factory machines etc. contribute towards noise pollution in one way or another. Some of these sources may have tolerable noise levels but when combined together, these can cause serious risks. According to World Health Organization, noise pollution control is easiest among all kinds of pollution the world is facing today Several steps are needed to be implemented so as to improve environmental conditions and to attain healthy noise free environment. Some of these steps are following Public awareness measures are required to make people understand about noise pollution and to guide them about permissible noise levels by using print media and electronic media properly. Noise exposure may be reduced on personal level by usage of protective ear plugs and also steps are required to reduce of exposure time to noise. Engineering techniques such as altering and modifying the designs to reduce noise, construction of sound barriers and sound absorbers might be helpful. Academic institutions and hospitals can be shifted away from the noisy roads, railway stations and airports. Similarly, the heavy industries and factories ought to be formed away from residential areas. The usage of pressure horns and record players among all means of transportation must be banned by the government in order to reduce the noise intensity. Monitoring of sound levels should be carried out by the traffic police. Legal action should be taken against violators by the government. Law formation and implementation is required to lessen the hearing problems among factory workers. Vegetation programmes along the roads should be initiated as plants absorb and dissipate high energy sound waves.