Philosophy Final Essay

Throughout the semester, our class has read a great variety of pieces of literature. With each reading, came a flurry of thoughts and discussions. These questions are what help us to become better philosophers. Someone who is on a quest to become a good philosopher must always think critically about all arguments and follow a logical conclusion to wherever it may lead. With Oedipus and â€Å"Forgiven†, I was able to dig deep into the meanings of the readings and come up with philosophical ideas for both. Another quality a philosopher must possess is the ability to compare and contrast different works of art. Using more class readings such as Socrates’ Apology, I found similarities and differences that explained my thoughts. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother. He also must determine who the murderer of King Laius is. Ultimately, his decisions in the play cause him to find out that it was him who killed Laius. Oedipus clearly believed that was he was doing at the time, was good. Although in the end, he most likely regrets his decisions. From his point of view, Oedipus would most likely think that his move from Corinth to Thebes was a bad decision. When he heard the news that he was going to kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus moved far away from his home, Corinth. This is something that he probably regrets because remaining in Corinth would have prevented him from meeting King Laius in the road and killing him. Another bad decision from Oedipus’ point of view would be that he didn’t listen to anyone close to him. Oedipus demonstrates three tragic flaws, intolerance, stubbornness, and a short temper, each of which lead into his downfall. For instance, Oedipus’ stubbornness’ is unmistakably shown when he demands on finding the murderer of Laius and proving that the prophecy hasn’t come true. However, Jocasta, Oedipus’ queen and mother already is aware of the fact that all of this chaos is true and chooses to hide the truth. â€Å"That man, why ask? Old shepherds, talk, empty nonsense, don’t give it another thought; don’t even think† Oedipus replies with, â€Å"What- give up now, with a clue like this? Fail to solve the mystery of my birth? Not for all the world! †(Oedipus). Oedipus made these decisions because he thought he was saving his parents by moving away. He obviously did not want to marry his mother and kill his father, so he figured by leaving Corinth he would avoid the prophecy becoming true. Oedipus is a very stubborn man and he won’t stop until he gets the answers. In this case, he wants to figure out who murdered Laius. The reasoning behind Oedipus’ bad decision to not listen to anyone was mainly due to his stubbornness. I think that if he had not been so dead set on finding out who killed Laius; asking questions and trying to figure it all out, he would not have realized it was himself who was the murdered. Oedipus certainly was not the only character we read about that made some un-smart decisions. In the article â€Å"Forgiven†, the Grosmaires’ daughter Ann is killed by her boyfriend Conor. They end up choosing to forgive Conor, even though he took their daughter’s life. From the Grosmaires’ point of view, a bad decision would have been to not forgive Conor because then, their daughter would have been just another victim in a murder case. Also, in their point of view, not considering what Ann would have wanted if she had still been alive would’ve been a bad decision. If they had not kept their daughter in mind while choosing to forgive Conor, the Grosmaires would definitely have been dissatisfied. Ann’s mother, Kate announced, â€Å"I knew that if I defined Conor by that one moment-as a murderer-I was defining my daughter as a murder victim and I couldn’t allow that to happen† (2 Tullis). The Grosmaires’ believed that if they did not forgive Conor, then all of the attention would have been on him rather than Ann. Another major factor that came in to play when they decided to forgive Conor was their religious background. They tried very hard to base their lives on the lives of Jesus and St. Augustine. In fact, the father said, â€Å"I realized it was not just Ann asking me to forgive Conor, it was Jesus Christ† (2 Tullis). To the Grosmaires, Conor was a part of the family because he had been dating their daughter for years. He even stayed in their home for a period of time. They knew that Ann would have wanted them to forgive Conor because she loved him. By respecting their daughter and what she would have wanted, the Grosmaires felt as if they were doing the right thing. There are a few other options that they could have chosen instead of forgiving Conor. For instance, they shouldn’t have changed their minds about Conor’s jail time. They did not stick to their word and it seemed as if they almost forgot about the whole concept of forgiveness. After hearing Conor describe how he killed their daughter, they let their emotions take a toll and they changed their minds. Not forgiving Conor at all could have been another alternative choice for the Grosmaires. If this were the case, Conor would have gotten the proper justice that all other criminals get. If they did not forgive Conor, there is the possibility he would have either gotten the death penalty or lifetime in prison. Either way, it’s a far more severe punishment than what he ends up getting. Conor would be forced to suffer in prison for the rest of his life, knowing how much pain he caused the Grosmaires family. Usually, this is the case for most murder trials in the United States. It is very out of the norm for a murderer to be forgiven in today’s society. In the state of Florida where the death penalty is still used, it is especially strange for the act of killing to be forgiven. If you dig deep into Socrates’ The Apology and â€Å"Forgiven†, the two can easily be seen as comparable. First, the Grosmaires’ made the decision to forgive Conor in order to satisfy them. Despite the slack they received for forgiving a clearly guilty man, they still chose to remain close with Conor and keep him in their lives. The family was extremely religious and they felt as if it was unjust to not forgive him. Like the Grosmaires, Socrates did not allow other people to affect his decision-making. He continually chose the path less taken as was seen in The Apology. While he is being tried by the city of Athens, Socrates confidently accepts the fact that most of the city’s citizens are against him and continues teaching his ideas to others because it was simply the right thing to do. In an instance where Socrates stands up for himself, he says,â€Å" I realized, to my sorrow and alarm that I was getting unpopular, but I thought that I must attach the greatest importance to god’s oracle†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (loc 616 Apology). He truly believes in doing what morally feels acceptable, not what is socially acceptable and that is a great characteristic about him. Socrates lived his life with the philosophy of â€Å"How can you live a good life if you don’t truly understand what it is? † The Grosmaires’ followed this philosophy also because they did not fully know what the outcome of their decision was going to be, but all they knew was that it made them feel at peace and that is what mattered. Likewise, in The Apology, Socrates says that â€Å"he who is able to recognize his limitations is wisest. † It is nearly impossible for one single person to contain all knowledge of the world. Socrates knew what he did not know which is called Socratic ignorance. He claimed to be the wisest person because he welcomed the fact that he did not know everything in the world. In connecting Socrates to the Grosmaires, they were able to recognize that things could not be simply handled by sending Conor to prison for life. Sure, it would get him out of their sight, but never out of their minds. They could admit to their weaknesses and power through them with Conor and his family. If the Grosmaires ended up not forgiving him, then they would have actually been ignorant about the entire situation because they knew Conor and they knew that he truly did not mean to hurt their family. He was a good kid who had a mental breakdown that resulted in a murder. It was impossible for the Grosmaires to stop thinking of Conor as a son and to stop loving him. In addition, Socrates makes it known in The Apology that he is not afraid of death. Death was talked about a lot in this reading because it was the punishment Socrates was to face if he was found guilty. He says, â€Å" To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know. No one knows whether death may be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils† (loc 748 Apology). This was one of my favorite quotes from The Apology simply because it is so true. The Grosmaires clearly did not fear death either. For if they were afraid, they would not have accepted Ann’s death the way they did. Instead, they tried to turn Ann’s story into something heroic rather than tragic. Never once did they allow the death of their daughter to overcome them. Ann was a great person in their hearts and they believed that she was in a better place. There is no way the Grossmaires are ever going to achieve the life they had before their daughter passed away because it’s impossible to bring her back. But, by forgiving Conor they are trying to make peace with the idea of their Ann being gone. They are trying to make everything as normal as possible again, keeping Conor and his family in their lives. This is helping them to achieve the good life because they were happiest with their daughter and they don’t want to lose both their daughter and Conor at the same time. He was practically another son. Since the Grossmaires are also very religious people, I think they chose to forgive Conor so they could still consider themselves good Christians. To them, these aspects contribute to the â€Å"good life†. These are similar qualities that I consider to be the good life. In the beginning of the semester, I said that the good life is as stress free as possible. I want to avoid conflict as much as I can because conflict with family members and friends would only bring stress into my life. I think the Grossmaires family wanted to bring peace into their hearts and their lives, and forgiving Conor was the first step in achieving that goal. If I am able to look back and be proud of my choices, that is the â€Å"good life†. The Grossmaires probably had the same mentality when they were figuring out how to treat the Conor situation. They concluded that by forgiving him, they would be able to continue on with their lives and try to make the most of it. Reading â€Å"Forgiven† did not seem to change my views on what the good life was. I think from now until forever, my views on that topic will remain the same. The three readings that were discussed, Oedipus, The Apology, and â€Å"Forgiven† required much philosophical thinking on my part. With comparing and contrasting, I was able to dig deep into the meanings of each reading and come up with ideas for both.

Cantaberry Tales Compare To Inferno Essay

Canterbury Tales Compared to Dante’s Inferno This study will explore the themes of innocence and guilt in the â€Å"Hell† section from Dante’s Divine Comedy and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The study will focus on the uses each author makes of urban and more natural settings to convey messages about innocence and guilt. While both Dante and Chaucer make use of this motif in making their thematic points, a great difference exists between them. Chaucer’s primary purpose is to present a humorous and compassionate portrayal of human existence including innocence and guilt, or goodness and evil while Dante’s essential purpose is moral and instructional. Chaucer uses urban and country references in his portrayal of the human condition as a means of drawing a contrast between the goodness and evil of humankind. Again, we must keep in mind that Chaucer uses setting to reveal truths about humanity from an empathic perspective. He does not want to judge, but to entertain and perhaps inspire compassion for self and others as flawed beings. Therefore, when he uses natural or urban settings, he is not saying that human beings are good when they are in Canterbury, and evil when they are out in the countryside. At the same time, that is precisely the apparent truth of the matter. As Chaucer paints the picture of human desire and passion, there is an intimate connection between that passion (which can lead to a loss of innocence) and a natural setting: When April with his showers sweet with fruit The drought of March has pierced unto the root And bathed each vein with liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath, Quickened again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and buds . . . And many little birds make melody . . . (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)— Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage . . . To Canterbury, full of devout homage (Chaucer 159). The clear suggestion by Chaucer here is that there is something very sweet but potentially very corrupting about nature, while the urban center of  Canterbury offers relief from the guilt and sinfulness which nature engenders in the weakness of human flesh. At the same time, Chaucer knows that the apparent differences in the behavior of human beings in the city, or in a sacred environment, and in the natural setting where passions are free to work their wiles, as they will, are indeed only apparent differences. The nature of humanity, as perceived and portrayed by Chaucer, is a thoroughly corrupted one. However, unlike Dante, Chaucer does not have much to say in judgment of humanity for that corruption. Chaucer accepts the sinfulness, selfishness and loss of innocence of humanity as an integral part of the history and development of the race. In other words, people may agree to behave righteously when they are in the holy city, but once they are free again to behave as they will, t hey will quickly be consumed by their personal passions. Nature is also shown in Dante to be full of powerful and dark forces, which can tempt a human being off the path of righteousness. Dante writes that Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself in a dark wood, where the right way was lost. Ah! How hard a thing it is to tell what this wild and rough and difficult wood was, which in thought renews my fear! So bitter is it that death is little more (Dante 1). The â€Å"city† or the path of the true way is symbolized by the high hill, in contrast to the dark wood of the life of the passions and senses: â€Å"But after I had reached the foot of a hill, where that valley ended which had pierced my heart with fear, I looked upward, and saw its shoulders clothed already with the rays of the [sun], which leads man aright along every path† (Dante 1). Here we see the light of goodness contrasted with the darkness of sin or temptation away from the state of innocence. It is no coincidence that the phrases â€Å"city of lights† or â€Å"city upon a hill† are meant to stand in contrast to the â€Å"darkness† of the natural environment, a darkness which can bewilder human beings and lead them to take part in behavior which Dante clearly believes is both self-destructive and destructive to others. Dante’s depiction of Hell is not meant to entertain but to change the behavior of  his readers so that they will choose behavior which will lead them to the â€Å"city† of Heaven, rather than behavior which will lead to the dark wood and, eventually, damnation: A place is there below, stretching as far from Beelzebub as his tomb extends. . . . My Leader and I entered by that hidden road, to return into the bright world; and . . . we mounted up . . . so far that a round opening I saw some of the beautiful t hings which Heaven bears, and thence we issued for again to see the stars (Dante 52). In Dante, we read of the â€Å"wicked city† which represents hell (22), but it would be fair to say that human beings in Dante’s conception are subject to temptation, sin, guilt and the loss of innocence wherever they are on earth—in the city or in the country. Heaven is the only locale which offers human beings respite from such corruption. In Chaucer, we find little of the kind of solemn judgment offered by Dante at every turn. For example, Chaucer writes of a friar—a religious man—who was â€Å"a wanton and a merry, A limiter, a very festive man† (Chaucer 162). His ribaldry is not affected by whether he is in a town or in the countryside—he is always willing to have a good time: â€Å"In towns he knew the taverns, every one,/ And every good host and each barmaid too† (Chaucer 163). Despite the fact that Canterbury is seen as the goal of the pilgrimage and can therefore be said to be a city symbolizing goodness and innocence, or restoration of innocence through religious activity, this in no way suggests that Chaucer sees the city as the repository of goodness and nature as the repository of evil. Instead, Chaucer sees human nature as the abiding force at work in shaping the behavior of human beings. A human being can be good or evil in the city, just as he can be good or evil in a natural environment. The Clerk, for example, is shown to be a miserable creature, although he is full of the education and philosophy and sophistication, which the city of Oxford offers (Chaucer 164). Again, the basic difference between Dante and Chaucer cannot be deciphered merely by focusing on the uses of urban and country settings in their works.  The differences in the authors’ uses of settings do not shed essential light on the two texts without our awareness first that Dante means to judge and warn and Chaucer means to celebrate and understand. To Dante, all settings—urban or country—stand full of temptations which can deliver human beings into the pits of Hell. The fact that Hell is portrayed in urban terms merely means that there is much organization in Hell, rather than perhaps the chaos we might presume. Dante by use of the city as the setting for Hell means also to place it in stark contrast to the glorious city of Heaven. Dante wants to show that Hell is an essential part of the intricately organized and ordered machinery of the universe, and his use of the urban environment gives this sense of order and organization far more readily that would a natural setting. We must keep in mind the purpose behind this manipulation of setting—Dante wants to affect the behavior of his readers and he means to do so by warning them that a very carefully designed Hell—as carefully designed as a city—awaits them if they stray from the path of goodness. Chaucer, on the other hand, aims to portray humanity in all its passion and waywardness, with a sense of acceptance and celebration rather than condemnation or warning. Chaucer gives the reader the clear sense that—whether in the country or in the city, whether in the midst of sin or the middle of innocence—the author is one with the reader. It does not matter whether the action is taking place in the city or the country in Chaucer’s tales—there is a sense of empathy bonding the author, the characters and the reader. Even when Chaucer enters into a lengthy treatise on the different sins and their remedies, the reader has the feeling that he is not the kind of strict judge of humanity which Dante is or would like to be. The uses of setting in the two works is not particularly crucial to an understanding of the books overall, but such a focus can help us understand certain elements of the works, such as the organization of the city which  allows Dante to show that hell is an integral part of the universe created by God and not merely an imaginary place of punishment. In addition, such a perspective is useful in showing the apparent contrast in Chaucer between the city of Canterbury and its promise of absolution from sin, and the natural environment which leads to the free expression of the passions of human beings which in turn lead to the commission of those very sins. The city or country cannot be seen as symbolic of guilt or innocence in Chaucer, simply because Chaucer believes human nature to be susceptible to corruption in any environment. At the same time, whereas Dante judges humanity for its corruption, Chaucer tends to forgive and seeks ways to ease the suffering of guilt and sin. Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffrey. Troilus and Cressida and The Canterbury Tales. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1987. Dante. Divine Comedy. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1987.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder Essay I have been diagnosed with what is called a Bipolar Disorder Essay. For all of my life I have been moody, so I guess when my I had mood swings my parents chalked it up to being a teenager. I always knew that it was more than just moodiness, but I had no idea what was wrong with me. When I am in a manic state I feel empowered and clever. In this phase, people find me very charismatic I also love myself and others and am very creative and productive. I also make unwise decisions during this phase like investing in one of my creative ideas which are not realistic.My manic phases can also jump to irratbility and imparience with others, when I amin this stage of my manic phase all that I can see is that everyone is an idiot, and the world is against me. This is when my charisma wears off and I end up alienating people. Luckily, I have some friends and family that stick with me no matter what I do to hurt them. Eventually this manic stage wearsoff and I crash into a deep depression. I feel remorse and sadness for the harm that I have caused those around me. I spend alot of my depressed state apologizing to people for the harm I have inflicted on them. I try to clean up my mess. I also can not sleep during this phase so I force myself to do the everyday things such as cleaning the house, showering, as well as reading books and doing anything I can to keep my mind occupied. If I am not busy during this time my mind fills with ideas of my suicide. I have written my final intructions and apologies so many times I cant even begin to count them. I know every method of suicide possible, its a wonder that i am still alive. Fortunately one of my close firends found one of my suicide notes and told my family and close friends. They talked me into finding help I eventually checked myself into a psychiatric facility because I did not want to go to my home alone. After 4 hours of filling out insurance papers and talking to people I eventually saw a doctor at this point I panicked and ignored their advice. I had never checked myself into a facility like this because I was afraid if everyone saw how crazy I am I would never get out. I have now realized that the facilities help and do not harm. The doctors put me on medications for a while to tes the waters. The firts was Lithum, a drug that naturally occurs it is a mood stabilizer which helps control my mood swings. They also suggested stronger drugs such as depakote, depacine, depakene and epilim these are all derivatives of a substance called valproic acids these are called anti convulsants they help me stay calm. The doctors have given me a self medication regien that will help me control my moods. They had me change my eating habits. Rather then having my usual samll breakfast, medium lunch and large dinner they had me eat three meals of equal size and on a certain schedule. They said eating a larger meal later on in the day can make my bipolar disorder harder to treat. They also said it is imperative to have a set sleeping schedule. Going to bed at the same time everyday and waking up at the same time. they say lack of sleep can trigger mania. Along with a set eating and sleeping schedule the doctors have me make a mood chart to help illistrate which medications are working. it is also important in helping me find my triggers such as stress, foods, people, etc. I alo have had to learn how to manage I am also seeing a therapist who listens to me and helps me manage my disorder. .

Confidential Organizational Information and Employee Responsibility Essay

Confidential Organizational Information and Employee Responsibility - Essay Example This breach at Sony made experts question the level of security that is associated with other companies that have in their possession millions of data records linked to different users. The situation at Sony should be used by those in the area of IT security to recognize and implement security protocols in a consistent manner throughout their organizations. In the case of customers, they should be careful of the people they give their data as it may not be worth the price of getting an access to online games. The PlayStation outage was caused by an external intrusion that was directed at the PlayStation Network associated with Sony as well as Qriosity services and involved personal data linked to almost seventy seven million accounts being stolen while preventing users using PS 3 and PS Portable consoles from being able to play online using the service (Daniel & Daniel, 2012). This attack took place on April seventeenth and went on up to the nineteenth of April in 2011, thereby obliging Sony to shut the PlayStation network on the twentieth. Sony ultimately confirmed that personally identifiable information associated with all of the seventy seven million accounts had been stolen on 4th May and the outage that followed went on to last twenty three days. During the outage, almost seventy seven million PlayStation Network accounts that had already been registered were affected, making it the biggest data security breach in history. It was even bigger than the TJX hack that took place 2007 that had affected approximately forty-five million customers (Delta & Matsuura, 2009). Officials from the governments of various nations were concerned about the theft and the manner in which Sony delayed before it gave a warning to its users. On 26 April, Sony gave the statement that it was trying to get its online services running in a week’s time and went on to release PS 3 firmware version 3.61 as a security patch. The users of this firmware were

Art and Society - a Two-blade Sword Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Art and Society - a Two-blade Sword - Essay Example Let us not forget that this step forward was often viewed as a threat to the political, social and clerical institutions. Looking into history, one of the most pertinent manners in which art was counter-attacked by art was the period of Renaissance and Baroque, when the church produced massive art just to minimize the popularity of the teaching brought by the new homo universal concept. There can be identified two types of art approaches towards society problems. The first one can be greatly noticed in the famous painting of the republican Frenchman Édouard Manet, Execution of Maximilian. This approach reveals the political oriented art that either comes from a great patriotism or from a great admiration or disapproval towards the leaders. Maximilian is a French duke left alone in Mexico after the civil war and who was finally executed together with his two generals. This deed of defiance inspired Manet to paint this "modern barbarism" painting (Stevens 10). The political message seems to be clear out in this painting, although it ignores the true social realities that were obvious in Mexico. The utmost desire was to represent the event from the French point of view and not from a legitimate and impartial one. The painting is composed of three main groups of characters: the executioners, the spectators and the victims. The spectators might seem scared because o ne system is falling and another one is rising without any connection to them. On the other hand, the relationship between the victims and the murderers seems a little strange. The executioners look bored, knowing that this is the right thing to do, as they are soldiers and their life depends on executing the jobs given. The figure that impresses us the most is Maximilian.

Emergency Management - Risk Management Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Emergency Management - Risk Management - Article Example Apart from being efficient, it is community-based and gives the locally affected residents to have a voice and directly contribute towards the mitigation efforts. At the same time, Holcombe and Malcolm argue in favor of the community-based landslide hazard mitigation measure since it is cost-effective. It is less cheap as compared with the conventional methods that require a lot of resources to finance. Therefore, it can be done by the available finances availed by the government and all other financiers. Moreover, it is faster and requires a little time to materialize. Therefore, these authors say that it can be relied upon for providing long term mitigation measures for landslides which has been causing a lot of agonies to so many people. It is a good initiative that brings together several players to at least make their contributions towards its implementation. However, for it to be successful, the strategy needs to be appropriately used as planned. First, it should actively involve the support of the residents. If it is supported by the affected communities, it will definitely succeed. This is guaranteed because their contribution makes the initiative to appeal to them. All the other concerned stakeholders such as the government and financiers should be actively involved in the entire process. They are major players whose contributions can not be overlooked. It is for such reasons that these scholars assert that MoSSaiC is much better than the conventional mitigation measures. Actually, this article is properly written. Its depth indicates that it was written by professionals who have got sound research skills to gather information and disseminate it to the users. This is evidenced in the manner the article captures all the important information about the subject. For instance, rather than stating the issue, they go ahead to examine how efficient the new strategy has been in mitigating landslides in different

General Equilibrium and welfare economies Essay

General Equilibrium and welfare economies - Essay Example A deductive structure that tolerates a contradiction does so under the penalty of being useless since any statement can be derived flawlessly and immediately from that contradiction. In its mathematical form, economic theory is open to an efficient scrutiny for logical errors." We will try to be coherent, and we will do our best to avoid any contradiction when speaking about General Equilibrium and Welfare Economics. It is easy to get confused with these microeconomic models, so we will deal with them using simple and logical words. The most important thing is to understand those models and to apply the knowledge in our everyday life as much as possible. Microeconomics is defined by the Wikipedia (2005d) as "the study of the economic behaviour of individual consumers, firms, and industries and the distribution of production and income among them. It considers individuals both as suppliers of labour and capital and as the ultimate consumers of the final product. It analyzes firms both as suppliers of products and as consumers of labour and capital." It is necessary to understand this simple definition to apply that knowledge to General Equilibrium and Welfare Economics. ... Harberger (2002) speaks about the importance of Microeconomics as follows: "The strength of microeconomics comes from the simplicity of its underlying structure and its close touch with the real world. In a nutshell, microeconomics has to do with supply and demand, and with the way they interact in various markets." In microeconomic theory, the partial equilibrium supply and demand economic model was originally conceived by Alfred Marshall when he tried to explain changes in the price and quantity of goods sold in competitive markets. This microeconomic model just deals with an imperfectly competitive market. It has its foundation in the theories used by some economists before Marshall like Adam Smith, and it is one of the most fundamental models of economic schools in the present time, widely used as a basic building block for many other economic models. The theory of supply and demand is important for understanding a market economy as it is an explanation of the mechanism by which many economic decisions are made. Nevertheless, unlike General Equilibrium models, the supply and demand theory offers a partial equilibrium model fixed by unexplained forces. (Wikipedia, 2005d). The theory of supply and demand frequently considers that markets are perfectly competitive. This means that there are many buyers and sellers in the market. It also means that none of them have the capacity to influence the price of the good. In real life, this assumption usually fails because some economic agents have the ability to influence prices. (Wikipedia, 2005d). Wikipedia, 2005h In Microeconomics we say that the market "clears" at the point where the supply and demand find a balance at a given price. It means that the amount of a commodity at a given price equals the

Making a script for Bad-news presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Making a script for Bad-news presentation - Essay Example The continuous and dramatic changes in the consumer patterns demand that we become flexible, fluid and capable to adapt to the ever changing global environment, the demand for our products is falling, and if necessary steps are not taken immediately then it would spell disaster for all of us, as production would need to be cut down resulting in the downsizing of the workforce, in simple words, it would mean many of us will lose our jobs and our ties with this company would end. But I am pleased to report that our senior executives have taken the right decision at the right time, and in favor of all of us. After deliberate consideration, it has been decided that the national chain ‘Neilson’s Electronics’ should take Echo Computers under its umbrella and save us from unemployment. However, this is not just a one-sided game; we need to demonstrate our support and cooperation for this acquisition to succeed. You have to believe in yourselves like I believe in you, and we have to be fast and efficient in adapting to changes in our workplace environment. Our product range would widen, and now we would provide not only computer-related goods, but also general electronics and house goods, this would mean an opportunity to prove your salesman potential. The three weeks of retraining at your disposal challenges every one of you to demonstrate your competence and reliability, and gives you a chance to secure your jobs. If you do not cooperate, you would be left behind; therefore I suggest you to be united and strong, as integrity and passion would lead to your success. I must remind you that things could have been much worse if this store would have been shut down. I realize that this transitory phase is a hard time for all of you, but this is nevertheless much better in every measurable way than losing your job (wikiHow, 2010). Your goal herein is to perform up to your maximum capabilities and prove your strength, and I wish you great success and

Procurement Management Plan for Laces Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Procurement Management Plan for Laces - Essay Example It also throws light on the procedure of endorsement of agreement and decision making strategy. Approach: The plan should define plainly the compulsory stages and duties thought the life of the company. The company manager work with the project team, contract, purchasing department and vendors to go through different stages of the plan, and make sure that the plan should be able to guide the company in the effective termination of the project. Definition: The procurement definition identifies clearly the articles to be acquired and states associated circumstances. Procurement deadlines are also clearly defined which is very necessary for the effective accomplishment of the assignment. Thus in the definition articles to be procured should be listed, justification given, conditions stated and any other specification required must also be described. The names of the persons must also be given who can approve the purchase etc. in the absence of the manager. Table I: Shows the articles/se rvices to be procured, rationalization and deadline. Article/Service Rationalization Deadline 1. Laces Required for the shoes and its preparation is very costly 1 October 2011 2. Studded soles Required for the completion of the shoes and its preparation is very time consuming 1 October 2011 3. ... The articles required in this case are usually procured by firm-fixed price contract. The project team specifies the articles, their amounts, services and deadlines. The purchasing department calls bids from different vendors according to the specifications and deadlines. It also bargains the price of the articles with the selected vendor according to the firm-fixed price. Contract accomplishment procedure: The contract execution procedure varies greatly among different companies but it is very important to specify all the rules for finalizing a contract relating to procurement with the company. The authorities which will be involved in decision making should also be mentioned. First of all it is decided that which articles are to be procured. It can be done through a survey of the cost analysis of the required articles provided internally compared with that procured from different vendors. After making decisions about the items to be procured based on the cost analysis, the purchasi ng department will call for bids from different vendors. Different vendors will send proposals which will be reviewed to see which proposal is according to the criteria set out by the project team and purchasing department and offers lowest price. It is also decided that up to what amount the project manager can approve the purchase and the purchases greater than that amount will require the approval of The Contract Review Board. This Contract Review Board usually consists of agents of the project team, purchasing department, finance and project manager office. Decision making criteria: The standard which is used by the contract review board/project manager for the selection and award of contracts differs from company to company. However, following criteria

Analys of a needs assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analys of a needs assessment - Essay Example The hospital has a cardiovascular section including the Cardiac Cath Lab, the Electrophysiology lab, Echo lab and Angio Lab. The Cardiac Cath Lab employs registered nurses; however the VA facility employs registered nurses, advanced practice nurses, licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants and nurse anesthetists. This report targets the nurses working in the Richmond VAMC Cardiac cath lab section. As the managing director of the cardiac cath lab of Richmond VAMC, I have observed some additional learning requirements for nurses in this sector. To verify this fact, I assessed a sample of the nurses in the form of questionnaires. This document is an analysis of the results of an assessment conducted to determine the educational needs of the nurses in the cardiac cath lab. The assessment was in the form of a questionnaire conducted on 10 staff members and containing 9 questions (Dept of Veteran Affairs, 2011). Description of a sample of assessed employees Mary A. Allan The above sta ted person has been working in this cardiac cath lab for five years. She previously worked at Utah Valley Regional Centre in its cardiac cath lab as a nurse for 4 years. She trained as a nurse at the Utah Valley University after where she got employed at the Blossoms Children Care. She currently holds a BSN and possesses adequate training in advanced cardiac life support and reading of EKGs. She is efficient, punctual, exceedingly skillful and addresses the patients adequately. Joan O, Kenney The above stated person has been working at the cardiac cath lab for 1 year. Prior to working here, she was a student at the Richmond Medical Training center for 3 years. She has no prior working experience as a cardiac cath lab nurse. She currently holds a BSN and possesses adequate training in advanced cardiac life support and reading of EKGs. Prior to working here, she was a student at the Richmond Medical Training center for 3 years. Catherine G. Williams The above stated person has worked in the cardiac cath lab for three years. Prior to working here, she was a student at the Richmond Medical Training center for 3 years. She possesses no prior experience as a cardiac cath lab nurse. However, she worked as an intern at the Richmond Clinic. She currently holds a BSN and possesses adequate training in advanced cardiac life support and reading of EKGs (Dept of Veteran Affairs, 2011). Analysis of assessment results Working experience In the questionnaire, questions 1 and 2 dealt with the external and internal work experience the nurses possessed in relation to a cardiac cath lab. About 40% of the workers responded to have working experience in this lab for three years and above. Also, 70% of the nurses responded to having worked in other cath labs for more than three years. We consider a nurse who has worked for three years and more in a cardiac cath lab to be adequately experienced in this field thus, more than 70% of them possess the reputation in this one. This data in dicates that about three quarters of the nurses have adequate cath lab experience. Orientation satisfaction This is an analysis of the response by the nurses towards the orientation. Questions 3, 4 and 6 covered issues concerning the orientation. A considerable number (40%) are under-oriented since they received less than four weeks

Examine what is meant by situation ethics Essay Example for Free

Examine what is meant by situation ethics Essay Joseph Fletcher an Anglican theologian was the main person to challenge the view that ethics and morality have to be based around laws and rules. He developed three ways of making moral decisions, these were: 1. The antinomian way 2.The legalistic way 3. The situational way The antinomian way was a way of making decisions without any laws or principles. It is what feels right at that particular time and on no bases whatsoever, only on how it feels to you. This was also where existentialism arose. Existentialism being a principle developed by a 19th century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. His theory was that the best way to make decisions was for each individual to find their own unique bases for morality; the foundation for his argument was that no objective or rational bases could be grounded in moral decisions. So the antinomian approach is therefore that in every existential moment or unique situation the situation itself provides the ethical solution. The legalistic approach being at the other end of the scale. This is a way of making decisions with regard to laws or rules. The legalist will live their life in accordance with a set of guidelines or rules. For example Jews will abide by the rules of the Torah and make their decisions primarily from this source. Joseph Fletcher suggested a third way of making moral decisions and this was called the situational way, which consists of a compromise between antinomianism and legalism. In the situational approach every decision is made on one universal principle and that is love. In situation ethics his view was to look at each situation individually. His main line of argument was that the only moral principle that could be applied to all situations is that of love, or: To do whatever is the most loving thing. (Fletcher quoted by Jenkins, Ethics and religion p47). Whereas Natural law theorists ask what the law states, Fletcher asks what is the best possible decision to help others and provide love in doing so. Therefore in his view this is not a law in itself, and its not dictating what should be done in any particular situation but rather an approach that informs moral choice. In other words you should always have someones best interest at heart. Another one of Fletchers arguments was that Christians are meant to love and care for each other and God is also portrayed to be all-loving. As this is the case for Christians shouldnt morality also be based around this theory to do the most loving thing? The Christian perspective like many other religions is based around the idea of natural law. The natural law ethic arose in the 4th century BCE by Aristotle. The Christian theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas further developed the ideas first put forward by Aristotle. He argued that the natural purpose of the world is found in God. He outlined natural law in the following way by suggesting that all people should follow the law of God. He also believed that Human purpose was to reproduce, to learn, to live harmoniously in society and to worship God. (Jenkins p26, quoted by www.faithnet.freeserve.co.uk/situation_ethics.htm). His ultimate belief was that Natural law describes not only how things are, but also how they ought to be furthermore this happens when things fulfil their natural purpose. Natural law is only concerned with what seems to be the natural course of action for humans to take and this is where the conflict arises with situation ethics. There are many circumstances where what appears to be natural doesnt appear to be loving. This is why theologians such as Joseph Fletcher dont agree with the natural law ethic as it causes much controversy. For example the Catholic Church undertook the natural law approach to guide them in terms of their sexual behaviour. They saw the natural purpose for sexual intercourse to be procreation, so therefore anything that proves to be a barrier to this end result is not allowed i.e. contraception. When developing an approach to Situation ethics Fletcher suggested 4 working principles and 6 fundamental principles to outline his ideas. The 4 working principles are: 1.Pragmatism- being ideas and theories that have to work in practice, to be right of good it has to produce a desirable outcome that satisfies loves demand. The main emphasis is that the practical course of the action should be motivated by love. 2.Relativism- To be relative, on has to be relative to something, as situation ethics maintains it has to relate to love and should always respond to love in each situation. Fletcher says it relativises the absolute; it does not absolutise the relative (Fletcher quoted from Vardy; Puzzle of ethics p126). Meaning each absolute can be made relative to love but relativism cannot be applied to a concrete situation as love acts differently in different situations, it depends on how its applied and this varies with each circumstance. 3.Positivism- this is accepting to act in love by faith rather than by reason, once faith is declared it is supported by logic. In situation ethics positing a belief in God as love or a higher good and then reasoning what is required in any situation to support that belief. 4.Personalism- This is the desire to put people not laws first. It is always what is the best to help a person that makes a decision a good one. As God is meant to be personal therefore morality should also be person-centred. However It is the main framework of situation ethics that is outlined by the 6 fundamental principles. These are: 1. There is only one thing that is intrinsically good- love. Actions are good if they are fulfilling love by helping them but reversibly they are bad if they hurt people. No single act in itself is right or wrong it always depends on the situation the circumstance occurs in. Love always decides the actions that are good or bad. 2. The ruling principle of Christian love is agape love. Agape love is self-giving love and this doesnt require anything in return. The overriding principle of decision-making is love. 3. Love and justice are the same. In Fletchers words love and justice are the same thing, for justice is love distributed. (Fletcher quoted by William Bailay p73). He also claims that justice is love at work in the community in which human beings live. (Vardy, Puzzle of ethics p128). 4. Thout shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (William Temple quoted by Vardy, puzzle of ethics p123). As the neighbour is a member of the human family therefore love wills the neighbours good. Love is practical and not selective. Christian love is said to be unconditional so we should show love to everyone and that includes are enemies. 5. Only the end result justifies the means, love is the end- never a means to something else. Love can justify anything in situation ethics as long as the end result satisfies love. 6. Loves decisions are made in the circumstance of each situation and not prescriptively. Humans have a responsibility of freedom. No one is bound by laws, so with this responsibility comes the notion to do the most loving thing and to apply this to every situation. Fletcher claims that it is a mistake to generalise. You cant say Is it ever right to lie to your family? The answer must be, I dont know, give me an example. A concrete situation is needed, not a generalisation. It all depends may well be the watchword of the Situationist. (Puzzle of ethics, Vardy p.130) There are many moral dilemmas when given certain situations, and taking the situational view we are faced with the duty to do the most loving thing possible, and to serve agape love. Taking an example from William Bailay, on a wilderness trial to Kentucky many people lost their lives to Indians who hunted them down. In one case there was a woman who carried her child with her and her child was crying. The babys crying was betraying the rest of the camp as the cries were leading the Indians to them. The mother clung to her child and as a result the whole camp was found and they were all killed. In another case a Negro woman and her party found themselves in the same situation, their lives were in danger, as they too would be found out if the baby continued to cry. However the Negro woman strangled her child to stop its cries, and as a result the whole party escaped. How can we tell which action was love? The Mother who kept her baby and brought death all, or that of the mother who killed her own child to save the lives of her family and friends? This is a perfect example of the type of decisions that situation ethics confronts us with. In situation ethics there is no definite right or wrong, it has to be applied by each circumstance. Likewise there is no intrinsic value, no goodness or badness held purely in an action itself. Situation ethics says it all depends on the situation and whether or not it fulfils love. Goodness and badness are not properties of moral actions they are predicates. This demonstrates one of the key aspects and an advantage for situation ethics. Sometimes morality can be somewhat restricted however in taking the situational approach there are no moral rules. If someone with morals can only abide to duty they cant go outside their own boundaries. This is the case in many orthodox religions. Whereas situation ethics maintains that there are no absolutes, you are allowed to go outside certain boundaries if in doing so you are providing the most loving result. Take the Islamic faith for example. Muslims follow the laws of the Koran; one law is do not steel, which is an absolute. But say if there were a single mother living in the poorer regions of the country who had no money and was struggling to feed her starving children. Would it be right for the mother to let her children starve? Or would it be better for the woman to go against the law and perhaps steel some food in order for them to survive? If the woman followed her religion seriously then it would not be morally right for her to steel and as a result her children lives would be at stake. This is the advantage of situation ethics, it says that words like never and absolute cant be used because their will always be exceptions. Another advantage of situation ethics is that people are always put first, it is a personal matter. People are made more important than principles. This goes against the legalistic approach. Where legalism put laws in first place conversely situation ethics makes people the main emphasis. Furthermore we often find that the outside world is constantly changing. As we live in the modern day and age we are on a constant roller coaster of changing situation. As a result of this many religions find it extremely difficult to apply their laws to the modern world. Take the Torah being applied to the modern age or orthodox Jews attempts to conserve laws against modern relativism to be an example. Because situation ethics can change with time this gives it a huge advantage. Situation ethics also makes the important link between love and justice, which is another key aspect and this is shown as the third of the six fundamental principles. To Fletcher justice is love distributed and Justice is love working out its problems. (William Bailay p73) However there have also been many criticisms of Situation Ethics. When referring to the meaning of love, this is sometimes seen to be too general. As love has no definite meaning, it changes according to the situation, it becomes relative, and so it cannot be said that there is only one moral absolute. As there are no specific guidelines for agape love it could be said that it is possible to justify any action. These are dangerous boundaries. The question What might happen if I allow euthanasia once? could be asked. It may be hard to know where to draw the line; people all over the place might start killing their grandparents because they are too oldin the name of love! Situation ethics sometimes relies on spontaneity, however spontaneity can sometimes be misguided. It may turn out to be irrational and foolish. The abandonment of rules may in turn reduce situation ethics to antinomianism. It may lead to a state of moral flux as rules play an important part in sociological maintenance. It is also been decided that there are certain examples of absolutes. Take rape, child abuse and genocide, these are all examples of absolutes that are wrong and under no circumstance would they be right. You would not be able to justify this with love. It is often quite hard to understand exactly what is meant by the meaning of love. It can be hard to know what they most loving thing to do is. It is also hard to know what the most loving thing is in terms of the consequence. How can we predict all the consequences of an action? This can be shown by euthanasia. Say their was a man who had aids and had only a 5% chance of getting better again, he approached his friend and asked him if he would end his life for him. What happens if he got better? Even if there is only a very tiny chance there is still a chance. The man might suddenly make a recovery and go on to lead a long and prosperous life. How can we predict the consequences? It is also hard when attempting to share love out fairly in a particular situation. This can also be shown by this example of euthanasia; it is hard to know what is the best for the person, friends and family. It might be best for the man but what might be best for him might not necessarily be the most loving thing for the family or their friends. It is also quite hard to view a situation from a totally unbiased perspective. There is a possibility that a decision could be made selfishly with or without realising it but as its in the name of love it is justifiable. This again makes the boundary for love very hard to distinguish. It is also questionable as to whether it is possible for all members of society to judge each situations by its merits. A lot of time and energy has to go into the decision this isnt always accessible to everyone. How practical is situation ethics? Finally on what basis is it possible for the situationist to make moral decisions? What happens when there are no ultimate ethical principles? The situationist is making prejudiced decisions based potentially on personal whims. An example of a danger caused by this can be seen in the actions of Adolf Hitler and his attitude towards the Jews in the Second World War. For those who felt that situation ethics went to far in attempting to set itself free from any conception of law, there is an approach that combines both theories of natural law and of situation ethics. This approach is known as proportionalsim. Proportionalists hold the belief that there are particular situations where moral rules should be abided to unless there is a proportionate reason for not contending with them. This reason would be grounded in the situation itself. In this way the primary precepts of natural law could be accepted (e.g. killing, stealing, lying etc) as the ground rules unless there was a sufficient reason for not doing so. Proportionalists hold a clear distinction between moral and non-moral acts. For example proportionalists would say abortion is wrong, but it may be morally right in the circumstances of that situation. However unlike situationalists they say that love does not then make a wrong action right. Furthermore they still incur the same problems that situationalists face in trying to determine what bests serves love in a situation, and on making decisions by selfish means.

An Analytical View of Women in Politics

An Analytical View of Women in Politics Achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision making will provide a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society and is needed in order to strengthen democracy and promote its proper functioningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of womens perspectives at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved. Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995: Article 181 Women represent more than half of the worlds population and just less than half of the global electorate. Nevertheless, women constitute a marginal proportion of representatives in the worlds legislative bodies. In 2008, the average rate of female representation in national parliaments stands at a meager 18 per cent. India has of yet managed notably limited success in rectifying these imbalances, with women currently holding only 8 per cent of parliamentary seats. Although India was one of the first democratic nations to grant women the vote, women are neither represented in the legislative spaces nor contributing towards the formation of national laws.  [1]   I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved. B.R. Ambedkar Taking measures to enhance the status and visibility of women is critical for sustainable progress against the range of human development indicators, both because women are particularly vulnerable to social and economic marginalisation when resources are scarce, and because women are critical agents in the development processes. According to various international reports, development in India is being severely hampered by the breadth of the gender gap and limited female participation in traditionally male dominated institutions and social strata. There are countless studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of womens empowerment as a tool for development. For example, Kerala and Manipur have experienced rapid progress in improving health and reducing mortality and fertility rates the benefits of which affect men as well as women and in these states women also play a vital social and economic role. This correlation should not be surprising, given that nutrition and child health gener ally fall within the remit of the womans household decisions. Ultimately, healthy, educated and empowered women are more likely to raise healthy, educated and confident children and engage positively with the life of the community (UNICEF). To eliminate gender discrimination and promote female empowerment, womens decision making capacity must therefore be enhanced within the household, the workplace and the political sphere. Increased political influence should have reverberations for womens equality in the other two realms, which will in turn have implications for Indias performance against all milestones for social progress. Women and Reservation Reservation of seats is a basic, consistent and logical step towards both womens emancipation and inclusive development particularly for a government which promised that the equal access to participation and decision making of women in the social, political and economic life of the nation would be at the heart of its agenda  [2]  . The concept of democracy will only assume true and dynamic significance when political parties and national legislatures are decided upon jointly by men and women in equitable regard for the interests and aptitudes of both halves of the population.  [3]  Whilst there is no universally accepted definition of democracy, any functional analysis must include two fundamental principals: all members of the society must have equal access to power, and all members must enjoy universally recognized freedoms and liberties. The Indian model of democracy also prioritizes representation so as to avoid the pitfalls of majority rule. On this basis, there already exists a quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It is clear from the statistics alone that women do not have easy access to traditional power structures. Their entry into public spaces is persistently disabled by prevailing historical constructions of gender, created and perpetuated by the dominant institutions such as family, religion, education and the State. Nevertheless, the nature of this relationship also means that the same institutions which created the imbalance can take responsibility for its repair. The final objective of reservation is to increase womens visibility in all policy decisions on the basis that all policy decisions affect women as well as men, and affect women differently to men. This applies equally to the harder issues such as trade, industry, agriculture, defence, employment etc., as it does to those softer issues which are traditionally assigned to women politicians. Political participation of all sections of society is essential for building a functioning and representative democracy. Women must therefore be present in new arenas of decision making, with their experiences, perspectives and visions of the future informing public debate. Reservation will provide elected women with the ability to compliment elected men in making the rules that apply equally to both sexes, and which women are equally expected to abide by. The World Economic Forums annual Gender Gap Report (2007) affirmed that there are just six countries Iran, Bahrain, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen performing worse against economic parameters, with women constituting a mere 3 per cent of legislators, senior officials and managers and making up 90 per cent of informal workers in the economy. Against other major indicators, there is also immense cause for concern: India has the largest number of maternal deaths in the world and shocking rates of female malnutrition, and a woman in India has lesser chance of survival than in all but 2 of 128 countries. The oft-discussed imbalance in the sex ratio can be attributed not only to female infanticide, as is often assumed but to sustained neglect from infancy of female health, nutrition and wellbeing. A girl child is up to 3 times more likely to be malnourished than her brother (UN), and is also significantly more likely to drop out of school before completing a full eight years of education. As well as passive neglect, violence against women and girl children is on the rise: the number of rapes per day has increased by nearly 700 per cent since 1971, and thousands of dowry deaths occur each year.  [4]   In 1990, the United Nations Economic and Social Council endorsed the implementation of measures to reach a target of 30% women in national legislatures by 1995. Nearly 20 years later, women occupy only 18% of parliamentary seats around the world, and at the current rate of progress it has been estimated that gender parity in parliaments will not be achieved until the turn of the twenty-second century (Norris: 2004). More countries are therefore deciding to implement a fast track route to tackling structural discrimination and increasing female participation. During the last 15 years, nearly 50 countries have introduced legal quotas for women, which guarantee a minimum representation of women in their highest decision making bodies. Percentage of women representatives in Parliament: Nordic countries 41.4% Americas 21.8% Europe (excluding Nordic countries) 19.1% Asia 17.4% Sub-Saharan Africa 17.2% Pacific 13.4% Arab states 9.6% In the high performing Nordic countries, no constitutional clause or law demands a high representation of women; rather, womens groups have exerted sustained pressure on the major political parties to voluntarily ensure increases in the number and caliber of female candidates being fielded through party lists. However, this was not introduced until women were already present in the Parliament, and already holding between 20 and 30% of the seats. Elsewhere, there have been numerous problems with implementation and enforcement of party quotas. In France, for example, many political parties have preferred to pay fines rather than put their women candidates up for election. In October 2003, Rwanda came closer than any other country to achieving parity between men and women in a national legislature, with reservation of seats securing 48.8% women in the Lower House and 34.6% in the Upper House. Taiwan has introduced an outwardly complicated but well-functioning system of reservation. In a ddition to a stipulated number of seats reserved specifically for women, there is also a policy of reserving every fifth seat in a district for the best performing female candidate. It is therefore in the interests of the parties to nominate women of the highest possible caliber so as to guarantee winning the womans seat. Moreover, the women are directly elected and are therefore treated as legitimate political actors. Currently, women ministers remain concentrated in social areas (14%) rather than legal (9.4%), economic (4.1%), political (3.4%) and executive (3.9%), and there are just 13 female heads of state across the globe  [5]  . The proponents of the policy of reservation state that although equality of the sexes is enshrined in the Constitution, it is not the reality. Therefore, vigorous affirmative action is required to improve the condition of women. Also, there is evidence that political reservation has increased redistribution of resources in favour of the groups which benefit from reservation A study about the effect of reservation for women in panchayats shows that women elected under the reservation policy invest more in the public goods closely linked to womens concerns A 2008 study, commissioned by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, reveals that a sizeable proportion of women representatives perceive an enhancement in their self-esteem, confidence and decision-making ability. Some opponents argue that separate constituencies for women would not only narrow their outlook but lead to perpetuation of unequal status because they would be seen as not competing on merit. For instance, in the Constituent Assembly, Mrs Renuka Ray argued against reserving seats for women: When there is reservation of seats for women, the question of their consideration for general seats, however competent they may be, does not usually arise. We feel that women will get more chances if the consideration is of ability alone. Opponents also contend that reservation would not lead to political empowerment of women because: Larger issues of electoral reforms such as measures to check criminalisation of politics, internal democracy in political parties, influence of black money, etc. have not been addressed, and It could lead to election of proxies or relatives of male candidates The recent UNO report shows that Women hold just over 18 per cent of the seats in parliaments around the world. This represents a 60 per cent increase since 1995 but it is still a long way to go to achieve equality with men in national legislative bodies. During 2008, parliamentary elections and renewals took place in 54 countries and womens representation increased to 18.3 per cent up from 17.7 per cent last year and 11.3 per cent in 1995, the Inter-Parliamentary Union report said. The U.N. Economic and Social Council had set a target of having a minimum of 30 per cent women lawmakers in all parliaments by 1995. According to the IPU, 15 per cent of parliamentary chambers reached the 30 per cent goal for the first time in 2008. That translates to 39 out of 264 chambers in 32 countries. Forty per cent of those chambers are in Europe, 33 per cent in Africa and 23 per cent in Latin America, the report said International conventions and Indias stand: The Constitution of India is a progressive document that guarantees equal rights for both sexes, and entitles women to enjoy economic, social, cultural and political rights on an equal footing with men (Article 325). It proceeds to consider the appropriate use of legislation to redress inequality and prevent the further infringement of womens fundamental democratic freedoms and human rights. Under Article 15 (3), the State is thereby empowered to make special provisions, legislative or otherwise, to secure womens socio-political advancement. Indian case law has already interpreted the Equal Protection provisions to allow for affirmative action for women. In addition, India is a signatory to a number of international agreements that support proactive state measures for womens political development: The Convention on the Political Rights of Women provides for equal political rights for women  [6]  . Under this Convention, states are obligated to ensure that women have the right to vote in elections, to be elected to publicly elected bodies, and to hold public office on equal terms with men. Women are entitled to be free from discrimination in the exercise of these rights. Articles 1 and 2  [7]   provide for the right to vote and to be elected to publicly elected bodies, such as parliaments, established by national law. These are the basic rights which all people must have to express their interest and protect themselves against discrimination or deprivation of liberty. The Charter of the United Nations reaffirms in its preamble the principles of equal rights for men and women. The first General Assembly endorsed these rights when it unanimously adopted the resolution recommending that all member states, which had not already done so, adopt measures necessary to fulfill t he purposes and aims of the Charter in this respect by granting to women the same political rights as men. This convention spells out this recommendation in clear and practical terms, on which all parties in a country can unite. Article 3  [8]   of this convention goes beyond the basic rights in articles 1 and 2 into the matter of public office. It provides that women shall be entitled to hold public office established by national law on the same terms as men, and to exercise all public functions in the same way. The object of this article to encourage opportunities for women in government service. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was ratified by India in 1993. Article 3 discusses appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure the full advancement of women and Article 7 affirms that signatories should take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country. The Inter Parliamentary Unions (IPU) Universal Declaration on Democracy (1997) asserted that the achievement of genuine democracy presupposes a genuine partnership between men and women in the conduct of the affairs of society in which they work in equality and complementarily, drawing mutual enrichment from their differences. The Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), 1995 affirmed that womens persistent exclusion from decision making was substantially hampering the achievement of democratic transformation, womens empowerment and achieving the goals of sustainable development. The BPfA therefore endorses affirmative action for women in the political spheres. The Mexico Plan of Action (1975), the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (1985), the Beijing Declaration as well as the Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcome Document adopted by the UNGA Session on Gender Equality and Development Peace for the 21st century, titled Further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action have been unreservedly endorsed by India for appropriate follow up. NATIONAL POLICY FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN (2001) Goal and Objectives The goal of this Policy is to bring about the advancement, development and empowerment of women. The Policy will be widely disseminated so as to encourage active participation of all stakeholders for achieving its goals. Specifically, the objectives of this Policy include (i) Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for full development of women to enable them to realize their full potential (ii) The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedom by women on equal basis with men in all spheres political, economic, social, cultural and civil (iii) Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political and economic life of the nation (iv) Equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels, career and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational health and safety, social security and public office etc. (v) Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (vi) Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation and involvement of both men and women. (vii) Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process. (viii) Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child; and (ix) Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly womens organizations. Women in local bodies: The Panchayat Raj, a system of self-governance, was introduced in 1959, following the submission of Balwant Rai Mehta Committee Report of 1957. The 64th Constitutional Amendment Bill was introduced in Parliament in 1989, which provided for 30% reservation for women. But it could not be passed. The Bill was defeated by a narrow margin in the Upper House. The Bill was reintroduced in September 1991, as the 72nd 73rd Constitutional Amendment Bills with an additional provision such as one-third representation for women in chairperson positions. The Bills were finally passed on December 1992. Ratified by half the states by April 1993, they came into operation as 73rd 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India on 24th April 1993. But very recently Union Cabinet approved a proposal for amending the Constitution to increase the women reservation in urban local bodies from one third to 50 percent. Increased representation of women is likely to yield significant benefits in terms of higher priority to womens issues in critical areas of urban Governance and service delivery such as water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, education and health etc.  [9]  Reservation policies clearly have a strong impact on womens representation. Women participate more in the political process in Gram Panchayat in which seats are reserved for women. In that Gram Panchayat, there are significantly more investments in drinking water, road construction, health, public toilets etc. Womens experience of being involved with the PRI has transformed many of them. They have gained a sense of empowerment by challenging men. They have become articulate and conscious of their power. They have used their elected authority to address, critical issues such as education, drinking water facilities, family planning facilities, hygiene health, quality of healthcare village development. They have also brought alcohol abuse domestic violence onto the agendas of political campaigns. In these and other ways, the issues that women have chosen differ from conventional political platforms, which are usually caste/ethnic/religion based.  [10]   Women Reservation Bill: In Valsamma Paul (Mrs) v. Cochin University and others, the Supreme Court had occasion to refer to the human rights of women and this is what it says: The human rights for women, including girl child are, therefore, inalienable, integral and an indivisible part of universal human rights. The full development of personality and fundamental freedoms and equal participation by women in political, social, economic and cultural life are concomitants for national development, social and family stability and growth cultural, social and economical. All form of discrimination on grounds of gender is violative of fundamental freedoms and human rights In 1996 the United Front government led by Deva Gowda introduced the reservation bill in the Parliament but the bill was rejected in an uproar with, some male politicians arguing that women should stay at home where they really belonged. The media had described the debate as the battle of the sexes. The Womens Reservation Bill is a powerful normative signal about the desirability of the empowerment of women. It comes against the backdrop of profound social change. Women have, by the dint of their capabilities and efforts, torn down so many barriers.  [11]  In 1993 the 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution came into force, affecting the Indian rural governing bodies, the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). The Amendment, at focal point for this thesis, provides a 33% reservation for women as members and as chairperson in the PRIs three-tier system. The reservation has led to a tremendous mobilization of women in the countryside, resulting in one million elected representatives.  [12]   Women have already captured 40 per cent (numbering more than a million) of the seats in panchayati raj institutions, exceeding the constitutionally mandated one-third. It is good that the Government is all set to raise this to 50 per cent soon. However, women form only 15 per cent of the civil service, although many of them have risen to high positions in Government, bureaucracy, police, armed forces, professions, science and technology, business, industry and the corporate world. Their proportion in State and national representative institutions has regrettably been small, disabling them from making their full contribution to the political process in matching strength. Compared to men, they are found to be more assiduous, more result-oriented, more earnest, more successful in getting the best out of those they work with, more disciplined and more particular about adhering to norms of propriety, prudence and probity.  [13]   Conclusion: In C. Masilamani Mudaliar and others v. Idol of Sri Swaminathaswami Thirukoil  [14]  ,the Supreme Court construing Article 21 of the Constitution of India as encompassing the right to equality, to dignity and to development, held that women are entitled to enjoy all these and without it, the right of life would be shorn of its meaning and purpose. A democracy grants political sovereignty to the people: the people must therefore retain a fundamental belief in its ability to represent their needs and act in their interests. In terms of countering apathy, reservation for a sub-group of the population can open up the system and demonstrate that a democratically elected government works for them, and that is not just an elite bureaucracy functioning solely for the dominant sections of society. Indeed, economic and social empowerment cannot be sustained unless women are politically aware, active participants in all levels of decision making. It is thereby imperative that women are politically mobilised and engaged with political processes, and for this to happen they must believe that their voices are being heard within the legislative spaces. Womens political participation can provide the inspiration for women to take action on a vision of a better and more equal society, and to make meaningful contributions towards inclusive natio nal development. There can be no equal society until women help to elect lawmakers and make laws. There is an old saying that, educate one man only one man is educated. However when a woman is educated whole family is educated. Similarly when one woman is empowered whole family is empowered.

Economic Development of FATA Within Pakistan

Economic Development of FATA Within Pakistan Introduction 1. Situated midway along Pakistans border with Afghanistan is a wedge of rugged terrain, dotted with sparsely populated valleys, home to a dozen Pakhtun tribes and hundreds of clans and sub-tribes. This mountainous land, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), is made up of seven political agencies and six smaller zones, called Frontier Regions, which separate the tribal agencies from the rest of the country. On three sides, FATA is bounded by the settled provinces of Pakistan. The Durand Line forms its western border. In the 19th century, the area held great strategic importance, serving as a buffer between the British colonial government of India and Tsarist Russia. Starting with the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the turmoil and instability across the border spilled over into FATA. 2. FATA has remained one of the most insular and isolated corners of the country cut off from the mainstream of Pakistani society. Increasingly impoverished and marginalized, they have become an easy pray to terrorist elements. The overall economic situation of the region has remained below normal level due to governmental policies coupled with overall economic decline in the country due to the after effects of GWOT.In the succeeding paragraph an attempt has been made to analyze economic potentials of FATA with a view to initiate an economic development drive in the region. The aim remains to bring facilities of life to its people eradicating social deprivation. Aim 3. To carry out a detailed analysis of present eco sit of Pakistan, with a view to recommend measures for a sustained economic development process within Pakistans economic capacity to spearhead an economic development process in FATA in specific and Pakistan in general. 4. Sequence. The research paper haws been divided into following major parts:- Part I Pakistan Economic Review Problems of Pakistani Economy Part II FATA Economy Agency wise economic potential Recommendations to improve FATA Economy c. Part-IV Budgetary Allocation Recommendations for Sector Wise and Consolidated Budgetary Allocation Part III Economic Developments Models for Development of FATA Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) FATA Sustainable Development Program (SDP) GCC EU Friends of FATA Fund (FFF) Recommended Framework PART I 5. Pakistan Economic Overview. Pakistans economy has been fluctuating throughout its 55 years history. The deplorable state of the economy was the result of many years of economic mismanagement and imprudent economics policies of the successive governments. The tragic events of September 11 and their aftermath further exacerbated the already difficult emerging situation on the global economic scene  [1]  . 6. Problems of Pakistani Economy. Few of the major ones are: Political Instability. In Pakistan governance is characterized by uncertain policies, ineffective implementation, limited accountability to clients, regulatory overhangs, and failure of the legal system to provide timely recourse. Lack of Long Term Planning. Despite the establishment of planning commission in 1953, there has not been any meaningful planning. Futuristic needs/trends have not been catered for by so called planners. Nationalisation versus Privatisation. In the past 60 years the country has oscillated between the two options and even now the privatisation drive is marred by personal interests and lack of transparency. Bad Governance. Usually competent/professional people have not governed the state-controlled industries. This had pronounced effect on overall poor output of these units. Poor Banking System. Our banking system has not supported the growth of economy. Money of innocent people deposited with these banks has been loaned to influential people that now stand defaulted. Large Trade Deficit. In 2009, 80% of our imports were financed by our export earnings. This ratio has come down to only 50%, it may go up to 60% but a gap of 40% of financing needs in order to keep with the import level still exists  [2]  . Fiscal Deficit. Pakistans government takes away 20% of national income as its own. 80% is left in the private sector and 20% in the hands of the government is spent on defence, debt servicing, development on education, health, general administration etc  [3]  . Declining Foreign Trade. In 1990, Pakistans share was 0.2% of the world trade. After 20 years it has come down to 0.12% in a very buoyant world economy  [4]  .Pakistan is stuck with only a few commodities textiles, leather, rice, sports, goods and the surgical goods. Poor Economic Indicators. Pakistans indicators in literacy, infant mortality, in access to water supply, primary enrolment ratios are more comparable to Africa rather than to the countries of similar per capita income. Energy Crisis. Our industry is at a disadvantage that they get the orders from foreign countries but they cannot execute the orders because there are electricity outages and in addition of cost of production becomes higher than international competitors. Law and Order Situation. In 2007, Pakistan was one of the most favourite countries among the international investor community  [5]  .However, in two years time we have missed that boat due to alarming law and order situation in the country. Faulty Taxation System. Indirect taxes account for about 80 % of tax revenues, with nearly half of this coming from trade-related taxes  [6]  . This narrowness of the tax base can be traced to weak tax administration. Smuggling / Black Economy. Independent economic analysts estimate an annual direct revenue loss of 25 billion rupees (US$540 Million) to the government because of smuggling  [7]  . Export / Import Imbalances. This is usually over US$ 3-4 billion per annum. The reason is heavy production cost and our inability to convert raw materials into finished goods  [8]  . Heavy External Debt. With over US$ 32 billion, as external debt, even our future economic development is at stake  [9]  . Population Growth. This over hanging liability is a constant disadvantage to our overall economic growth. The effects of our economic growth are eaten away by the rapid growth of population  [10]  . Unrealistic Economic Policies. The absence of competent economist in planning departments of the government has adversely effected the economic growth. Human Resources Management. Pakistan expenditure on social development sector has remained poor. The talent is going to foreign countries due to mismanagement  [11]  . Exports. The Rapidly growing competition in international markets coupled with improved quality standards has resulted in substantial decrease of share in foreign trade. Poor Literacy Rate. Pakistans primary and secondary school enrollment rates are considerably low. The average adult literacy rate is less than 50%.  [12]  . PART II FATA ECONOMY 7. The rural economy is chiefly pastoral, with agriculture practiced in a few fertile valleys. The local economy operates on an informal basis and is undocumented, since few laws providing for the regulation of economic activity have been extended Most households are engaged in primary-level subsistence agriculture and livestock rearing. Some are involved in business and trading, or find employment in the small-scale commercial and industrial sectors. Those unable to earn a living at home migrate to other parts of the country or travel abroad in search of work. Women take active part in agricultural activities, collect fuel wood and fetch water, in addition to attending to household work and family duties. 8. Agriculture  [13]   Small landholders make up the majority of farmers and engage in agriculture mainly at the subsistence level, characterized by the underutilization of land, poor productivity and risk- adverse behavior. Only 7 per cent of the total geographic area of FATA is cultivated, with another 1 per cent recorded as fallow, accounting for roughly half of all potentially cultivable land. Overall production and per-hectare yields in FATA compare poorly to figures for the country as a whole. The yield per hectare for wheat in FATA is just 38 per cent of the national. 9. Poultry and Livestock  [14]   Livestock and poultry are an essential component of the rural economy, providing income support for most farm households. The size of the herd depends on the households capacity to purchase animal feed in the winter and spring months, when natural fodder is thin on the ground. Some 4.9 million ruminants and 6.7 million birds are being reared across FATA.Fish farming is practised mainly at the household level on wasteland and marginal lands. 10. Commerce and Trade  [15]   Commerce and trade form a major source of livelihood in the tribal areas, second only to agriculture. Historically, and particularly during the 1980s, the region was a major centre for opium production and trafficking. Today, the transit trade with Afghanistan provides employment for the local population. 11. Industry  [16]   Industrial activity is restricted primarily to small, owner-financed units, operating without government oversight Some mineral extraction is taking place in various agencies, using outdated technology and antiquated methods. Many seek employment as short-term unskilled labourers or enlist in the local security and paramilitary forces. Those who are able to travel find work in cities across Pakistan as well as in the Middle East. There is considerable local expertise in the manufacture of weapons but production is not regulated and export to the settled areas is illegal. 12. Forests  [17]   Forests are an integral part of the rural economy, playing a significant role in local livelihoods particularly in the mountainous regions. The forest cover is declining rapidly as a result of timber extraction, prolonged periods of drought, uncontrolled grazing, and pressure from fuel wood and fodder collection. Over-exploitation has also affected the natural regenerative capacity of forests. With forest resources rapidly disappearing, the environmental services provided by natural ecosystems have also diminished. Rangeland and pasture areas are in a depleted state, partly from overgrazing but also because of extended periods of drought. 13. Economic Potential Available. A variety of economic potential exists in the tribal areas depending upon the population, land, geography, and vicinity of the Afghan border. These will be covered as per the existing administrative set up of the areas.The agency wise economic potential is covered in succeeding pqrqraphs  [18]  :- 15. Dir, Swat, Bajur and Chitral Agency. As per the old records the major source of economy has been Agriculture. Where so ever agriculture is possible majority of the population depends upon agriculture, but the produce is not sufficient to sustain the complete population therefore grain and certain other items have to be imported from other parts of the country. The second major source of economy has been cattle farming. It is still common in all the highland country and people involved in this profession spend a nomadic life shifting their abode in search of pastures and with the severity of weather. Mineral to include Iron and Copper are also found in the Khashkar valley of Bajour Agency, these are being mined in certain areas and few villages are totally employed in this profession. Inferior Cotton Carpets and Shawls are also made in these areas through which a number of families are sustaining their livelyhood. Forests have been another major source of income and have contribut ed in the overall revenue generation from the area. Deodar forests of upper Dir valley are a famous source of income to thousands of people. Although these are protected by Forest department yet certain rights have been secured by the local population to sustain their livelihood. 16. Mohmand Agency. The Mohmand country comprises barren hills and a little of fertile alluvial plains between the doab of the rivers. Major produce is Grass, Dwarf Palm, Firewood and charcoal. But this produce is meager enough to sustain the population; therefore reliance of majority of the population is on trade through Khyber Pass from Afghanistan. It has been replaced by smuggling of drugs, weapons and other electronic item of Afghan transit trade which passes through Khyber pass. 17. Khyber Agency. The Khyber Pass is the great northern route from Afghanistan into Pakistan and India, while Kurram and Gomal Passes form intermediate communications. Agriculture has been the major source of sustenance besides trade. A limited cottage industry of gun manufacturing also exists in Bara area of Khyber Agency. Now a days smuggling through Afghan transit trade is the main stay of the economy along with drug trafficking and gun running. Cattle farming as a tradition have always been supporting the tribes in Khyber Agency. The Mullagori marble deposits are one of the largest marble deposits of the world. Other mineral deposits in Khyber Agency include soapstone, limestone, dolomite, ciliate, silica sand, barite, mica, and graphite. Marble deposits are found in Mullagori, Sultan Khel, Ghundai Sarand and Loe Shalman. Soapstone is the second most important mineral of Khyber Agency. The major deposit lies 7 kilometres from Jamrud Bazaar. The mineral production figures for the year 2003-2004 include 7260 tons marble, 1,82,160 tons of lime stone, 1200 tons of soapstone and 110 tons of barite. Khyber Agency has a very low industrial base having only three industrial units of significance including the Bara Ghee Mills and two cigarette factories namely One More Cigarette Factory and Tatara Cigarette factory with a total employment estimated at 525 persons. There are other small silk processing units at Alam Gudar Bara, which is basically a cottage industry. 18. Orakzai Agency. Named on a pathan tribe inhabiting the Northern slopes of the Samana range and the adjoining valleys of Tirah. The major source of income is as per Khyber agency agriculture; however a small industry of gun manufacturing also exists in the area. Poppy cultivation, drug smuggling has gained momentum in these areas over the last two decades. 19. Kurram Agency. The Agency has an area of about 1,278 square miles. Agriculture is the major profession in the area. Wherever water is available the soil is highly productive. Major crops are maize, wheat, rice, barley and clover. Apples, pears, grapes, cherries, pomegranates, peaches, and a fruit peculiar to the Kurrram and Tirah, known as the Shalil also grow in abundance and are one of the huge income earning sources. It is said that famine is unknown in Kurram. The agency is accessible from Kohat by the Khushalgarh Kohat Thal branch of the Railway and road link also exists. Forests of Blue Pine and Chinar contribute to the economy of the agency a great deal. 20. North Waziristan. The agency comprises of four large and fertile valleys. These valleys are irrigated by the Kurram, Tochi and Gomal rivers respectively. The lands of the valley are extremely rich, and grow heavy crops of maize, rice, sugar cane, wheat. Agriculture is the major backbone of the economy however smuggling also brings a lot of cash in the agency. Forests of Mulberry, chinar, willow, gurgura and wild olive are also abundant on the slopes of the mountain which can be exploited to bring huge finances in the area. Fruit orchards of apple, apricot and peaches also contribute to the economy of the agency. Cattle forming is also a major source of livelyhood in Pashtoon tribes of the agency. 21. South Waziristan. The lands which lie close to the numerous streams are well cultivated; their extent is insufficient to produce grain for the whole population. Wheat, barley, rice, maize and millet are the chief crops; these are often cut when green for fodder, springing up again before the harvest. Fruit orchards of apple and peaches are also contributing in the economy of the area. The chief mineral product is iron, which is found and smelted in many places, especially in the hills above Makin. Forests include wild olive, gurgura and dwarf palm trees. Mats and ropes are made of the dwarf palm by the men and the women weave rough cloth from wool and blankets from goats hair. Cattle farming is also very common in many a tribes in the area specially the Ghilzai Powindas. Trade has also been a famous profession in the area due to the link through Gomal Pass. It still continues with an amalgamation of smuggling. In certain areas of the agency poppy cultivation has also been reporte d, which is being controlled now days. Recommendations 13. The following is recommended to fasten the rate of development work in FATA to boast its economy and bring it in line with the settled areas of Pakistan:- Development Plan. The Central Government should allocate funds and provide loans to tribesmen organisations and individuals. The loans should be provided on minimal mark up rates and private and public sectors should be encouraged to assist the tribal organisations to develop viable and resource generating economic ventures of their own  [19]  . Share in National Finance Commission (NFC) Awards. NFC Award is based on the population of each province. In view of governments drive to bring FATA into the national mainstream, it is imperative that it be included in the NFC Awards as a separate entity. Transparent Financial Management. A system of transparent financial management should be evolved with participation of general public. The authority of auditor general should be extended to FATA and proper audit of accounts of all government departments should be carried out. Trade Sector. The international efforts for re-construction in Afghanistan and opening up of trade routes to CARs (Central Asia Republics) offer great economic opportunities for Pakistan with an annual trade which may fetch up to one billion dollars. Creation of environments conducive to trade will greatly help in improvement of economic situation. Following measures will help in this regard:- Opening of Trade Routes. Formal trade routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan should be opened on priority e.g. Ghulam Khan Route between Miranshah and Khost Custom Regulations. Relaxed custom regulations to encourage legalization of informal (smuggling) trade. Tribal Chamber of Commerce. The establishment of a Tribal Chamber of Commerce would enable the tribal traders to have better interaction with the national and international markets. Tribal National Bank. It should provide financial services, counselling and planning ability necessary to free the tribesmen from the isolation of an economic island in which they had been living for centuries. Agriculture Sector  [20]  . Agriculture sector can provide a substantive base for economic development. Following measures are recommended in this regard: Adopt the pocket area approach to focus on the production of specific crops in identified production zones. Improve water management practices by introducing efficient water use technologies, and constructing small dams, ponds and reservoirs. Reclaim cultivable wasteland through dry land agriculture. Introduce the use of bio-pesticides. Irrigation network needs to be developed by construction of small dams, check dams and channels. A land settlement system should be evolved on modern lines. Processing facilities should be provided to ensure proper packing and canning of fresh and dry fruit for international markets. Grafting of wild olive trees with fruit bearing species. Fruit culture and off-season vegetables with free fruit saplings and experts. Model fish farms have also been constructed to encourage locals to adapt to the modern systems of enhancing their income. Forestry Sector  [21]  . Forestry sector needs to be explored for economic improvement in the area. Following steps are recommended to be undertaken:- Launching of a conservation campaign for the forests. Encouraging plantation of new trees by provision of free saplings. Establishment of checks for smuggling of timber to Afghanistan. Modernization of timber industry in the area. Provision of assistance to locals for olive grafting and plantation of oaks and chalghoza pines. Live Stock Sector  [22]  . Following steps are recommended in this regard: Improve access to services, including animal health services. Increase the number of female livestock extension workers. Make feed and fodder widely available. Improve the condition and productivity of rangeland, in collaboration with research institutions and the forest department. Introduce new species of fodder, in collaboration with research institutions, farmers, tribes and herders. Enhance livestock production through breed improvement. Set up marketing facilities for farmers. Improve rural infrastructure and access to markets. Declare pocket areas for dairy production, with linkages to agro industry for marketing and service delivery. Ensure that savings and credit services are available to support micro enterprise and on-farm income generation activities. Enable farmers to improve marketing by providing information. Mobilise local communities, and establish linkages with public- and private-sector services for technical assistance and inputs. Encourage and support the establishment of livestock- and poultry-based industry. Develop a database, carry out resource mapping and set up information system to assist in planning and monitoring. Conduct research into animal nutrition and breed improvement. Raise awareness about the importance of the sector in terms of livelihood security, and lobby for adequate funding. Establishment of new veterinary hospitals and artificial insemination centres. Setting up of government subsidized live stock markets. Provision of incentives in the form of easy loans. Establishment of food processing facilities for canning of meat. Minerals Sector  [23]  . FATA has great potential of mineral resources. In order to increase productivity in the mining sector and improve the quality of the product, following strategies will be adopted:- Legal framework governing mining activities to encompass leasing, dispute resolution mechanisms and regulation. Increase the productivity of mines by adopting modern methods to boost quality and reduce wastage. Introduce new technologies through joint ventures on the basis of public-private partnerships. Maintain a healthy workforce by improving safety; develop emergency evacuation procedures. Improve the quality of human resources through intensive training. Following needs to be done to improve the situation in this sector:- (a) To encourage tribesmen either in joint ventures or lease agreements with public and private sectors. (b) The whole of FATA needs to be brought under geological survey mapping. (c) Special funds should for mineral exploration and development on modern lines. i. Industrial Sector  [24]  . However, there is a great potential available for development of certain industries in the area which should be exploited by public and private sector. These include following:- Construction material including cement. Decorative material including wood and marble products. Defence related industries including manufacture of small arms and ammunition. Public and private sectors should be encouraged to set up small scale industries. The option of establishing clusters or pockets in industrial parks will be explored. To set up training centres within functioning industrial units, for marble processing, mining, light engineering or footwear manufacture. Organise local craftsmen into trade guilds for promoting best practice, standardisation and quality control. Set up a regulatory authority for formulating investment-friendly policies through dialogue with stakeholders. Strengthen infrastructure in the region, including roads, electricity and water supply. Hold a regular dialogue with local tribes to promote investment. Short-term mining courses can be arranged by the mining department at the Peshawar University of Engineering and Technology. j. Tourism Sector  [25]  . Recommendations in this regard are as follows: Develop tourist facilities and services at selected locations. Facilitate private-sector involvement in the sector. Promote areas that already witness some degree of tourist activity. Encourage and facilitate inter-agency exchange visits and tours. Carry out research on the cultural and natural heritage of the area, and make this information widely available. k. Infrastructure Development. Following measures are recommended in this regard:- Rehabilitate roads for better connectivity to strategic locations. Construct new roads in remote or underdeveloped areas to generate economic opportunities and improve security. Build new bridges and rehabilitate damaged bridges. l. Good Governance. Good governance is a key prerequisite for achieving the goals set out in the economic development of FATA. Governance system is participatory, supported by a robust legal framework with active public consultations. m. Law and Order. Another basic requirement for socio-economic development is human security. This is of course a critical issue for the people but security is equally important to service providers and government officials who travel to and work in the area. In this regard following is recommended  [26]  : Reinforcement of the Frontier Corps with more manpower, modern equipment, mobility, intelligence, higher salaries and training in counterinsurgency. Properly trained, better equipped and reformed FATA police and Khasadar Force. Fencing of Pak-Afghan border with monitoring sensors Afghanistan and selected crossing places. Phase wise handing over of areas to FC and local Law Enforcement Agencies. n. Conflict Resolution. The people of FATA have long been accustomed to use of violent means for settling of conflict between the members of different tribes and clans. Although an indigenous mechanism for conflict resolution already exists in the form of the jirga, there is perhaps a need to find ways to prevent conflict from occurring in the first place. In this connection, it is worth exploring the possibility of a set of rules and regulations, arrived at by mutual consensus, to serve as a basic charter or code of conduct for peaceful coexistence. o. Private Sector Participation. The private sector has to play a crucial role in achieving the targets of economic development in FATA. The government must improve the framework conditions for the development of the private sector, and encourage public-private partnerships. Budgetary Allocation 14. Each year, the federal government sets aside a block allocation, known as the Annual Development Programme (ADP), intended exclusively for development expenditure. This allocation, disbursed according to province, region, sector or project, is part of the federally funded Pubic Sector Development Programme (PSDP).FATA receives an annual share of ADP funding. In addition to the ADP, the PSDP provides separate funds for programmes and projects in various agencies and FRs, and contributes to donor-assisted initiatives 15. Sector-specific allocations from the ADP are made at the Civil Secretariat FATA, based on priorities and needs. Although the development budget is not intended to finance salaries or recurrent liabilities, in practice this is often the case. Insufficient allocations for repairs and maintenance, meanwhile, mean that some of these costs are also met through the development budget  [27]  . Sector Wise and Consolidated Budgetary Allocation. 16. Details are attached as Annexure A. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MODELS FOR FATA 17. ROZ (Reconstruction Opportunity Zones) Model  [28]  . ROZs would be a specific type of export processing zone, and thus part of a world-wide network of free trade zones