International Bond and Currency Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Bond and Currency Markets - Essay Example In precise, it also helps in pre-determining the fluctuation of the currency appreciation or depreciation in respect to countries and influenced cross border trade prospects by a substantial extent. It is noteworthy that the volatility of exchange rate, in the short run and also in the long run depends on multiple factors such as the demand and supply prospects in the financial market. Arguably, forecasting in the long run and short run is considered as quite difficult, which can be explained with reference to the Theory of Speculation in the market and the collective belief of the investors about the future prospects (Andreou & Zombanakis, 2006). Based on these underpinnings about the importance of forecasting exchange rate fluctuations, this essay will aim at emphasising the challenges commonly witnessed by analysts when obtaining the intended forecasting results in the short run as well as in the long run performance of the exchange rate. Challenges in Forecasting Exchange Rate in Short Run Arguably, in the short run, the forecasting of exchange rate is nearly impossible. Forecasts, which are delivered by the macroeconomic factors, are generally less accurate than the results obtained through Random Walk theory application. In general, the Random Walk Theory presumes that market changes, in terms of stock-prices changes, are unpredictable. Even though in the long run forecasting, the theory has been considered by many financial investors and analysts, the short run implications of Random Walk theory remains under considerable scrutiny. It is in this context that no claims to substantiate a perfect Random Walk model in the short-run stock price fluctuation were firmly made. On the contrary, arguments centralised on the theory that forecasting stock-prices changes in the short run is challenging owing to the fact that in the short run, the volatility of the exchange rate is less but the speed of convergence based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is slower than that recorded in the long run (Babazadeh & Farrokhnejad, 2012). Correspondingly, it has been argued that the level of exchange rate in the short run is not very predictable, but is also not entirely unpredictable, as the volatility of the currency and the correlation between them vary with time and hence, forecasting becomes challenging (Mitra, 2008). The current account balances, real income of the people, interest rates, the preferences of the consumers regarding the domestic or foreign products, are all signified as market fundamentals influence the stock-prices in the short run, as per the conceptual framework of PPP. As explained by Taylor & Taylor (2004: 135), â€Å"PPP is a disarmingly simple theory that holds that the nominal exchange rate between two currencies should be equal to the ratio of aggregate price levels between the two countries, so that a unit of currency of one country will have the same purchasing power in a foreign country†. Subsequently, it is the m onetary policies, the fiscal policies and the market speculations affect the forecasting decisions in the short run. These factors are important when considering the financial transfers with regards to the

About Euripides Alcestis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

About Euripides Alcestis - Essay Example Alcestis has the character of the powerful Greek woman in the Greek Mythology. However, love makes her to be humble like any common woman. She dies for her husband because of love. She is a hero who decides that she has to sacrifice her life for his husband. Through her heroic deed, Alcestis depicts the character of women that makes them different from Men. While men in the Greek society are shown to be selfish and even foolish, Alcestis shows that women, through simple sacrifices can make a change. In the first stasimon, the Chorus says, â€Å"Oh poor man! What a man you are! What a wife you are losing!† (25). This shows that Euripides in his writings thought of Alcestis as a hero. The chorus affirms that the lose of Alcestis was a big blow to Admetus. Alcestis says, â€Å"My death is enough--I am dying for you.† The sacrifice by Alcestis is captured in her own words. She affirms her heroic stature among all the mortals by declaring that she is dying for her husband. In the third Stasimon, Pheres speaks of the heroic deeds of Alcestis, â€Å"And she has made life more glorious for all women by undertaking this generous deed.† This shows that Alcestis is a Hero amongst women through her act of sacrifice. Because of Alcestis heroic deed, Heracles decides to do a heroic deed by fighting death and eventually managing to restore Alcestis. The heroic deed by Alcestis of dying for his husband is appreciated by Heracles to the extent that he decides to give Heracles life back. Selfishness helps create Alcestis heroic character. Admetus through his own selfishness, had agreed that he be given prosperity by Apollo, on the condition that he was destined to die. However, Admetus could cheat death if he managed to find someone willing to die in his place. Admetus had tried to look for a person who was willing to die for him, but everyone had refused. Alcestis through her bravery and sacrifice decided to

Analysis Of Marketing Mix

Analysis Of Marketing Mix We took up Amul Ice Cream as a product for our study and analysis. The project basic objective was to acquire a deeper understanding of the product and apply the concepts related to marketing mix, 4Ps of marketing and the consumer behavior as learnt in the course. The project was studied in three parts: Marketing mix of Amul Ice cream Study of the consumer behavior with the help of a structured questionnaire Marketing mix of two main competitors; Kwality Walls and Mother Dairy, suggestions and foresight about Amul Ice Creams In the first part, we studied the marketing mix of Amul ice cream which was further divided into four parts: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. MAIN CONTENTS Note: all corrections/additions/reasons in lieu of corrections are done below the remarks itself. SESSION 1 Marketing Mix of Amul Ice cream Amul Ice Cream was launched on 10th March, 1996 in Gujarat. It was launched on the platform of Real Milk. Real Ice Cream given that it is a milk company and the wholesomeness of its products gives it a competitive advantage. In 1997, Amul ice creams entered Mumbai followed by Chennai in 1998 and Kolkata and Delhi in 2002. Nationally it was rolled out across the country in 1999. It has combated competition from the established players like Walls, Mother Dairy and achieved the No 1 position in the country. This position was achieved in 2001 and it has continued to remain at the top. Today the market share of Amul ice cream is 38% as against the 9% market share of HLL, thus making it 4 times larger than its closest competitor. Product Amul has added a vast variety of flavours to its ever growing range. Currently it offers a selection of 220 products. Amul has always brought newness in its products and the same applies for ice creams. The broad heads under which Amul markets its ice creams are as follows: Royal treat range (rajbhog, cappuccino, chocochips, butterscotch, tutti frutti) Nut-o-mania range (kaju draksh, kesar pista, roasted almond, kesar carnival, badshahi badam kulfi, shista pista kulfi) Utsav range (anjir, roasted almond) Simply delicious range (vanilla, strawberry, pineapple, rose, chocolate) Natures treat (alphonso mango, fresh litchi, anjir, fresh strawberry, black current) Sundae range (mango, black current, chocolate, strawberry) Millennium ice cream (cheese with almonds, dates with honey) Milk bars (chocobar, mango dolly, raspberry dolly, shahi badam kulfi, shahi pista kulfi, mawa malai kulfi cream, green pista kulfi) Cool candies (orange, mango), Cassatta, Tricone cones (butterscotch, chocolate), megabite-almond cone), Frostik 3 layer chocolate bar, Fundoo range exclusively for kids, Slimscoop fat free frozen dessert (vanilla, banana, mango, pineapple), Health Isabcool In January 2007, Amul introduced SUGAR FREE ProLife Probiotic Wellness Ice Cream, which was a first in India. This range of SUGAR FREE, LOW FAT Diabetic Delight ProLife Probiotic Wellness Ice Cream is created for the health conscious. Price Amul has managed to stay ahead of its competitors by providing quality products at competitive prices, maximizing customer value. Amul followed the penetration pricing strategy and entered the market with prices much less than the leader in the market kwality Walls. This helped Amul in achieving great success at the start. Amul also captured a lot of the lower end untapped market due to its pricing strategy and gradually acquired a market share of 12-15% in the first few years. The pricing has been a major advantage of the brand. Following Amul, other players lowered their prices consequent to which Amul now follows a competitive pricing as its major strategy. Range of price minimum and maximum? Amul frostiks start from Rs 10 and go upto Rs. 20. The prolife pro-biotic icecream is priced at Rs. 15 for 125 ml. the super saver take away packs start from as low as Rs.110 for 2 litre whereas catering the higher end, exotica range starts from Rs. 120 per litre brick and extends upto Rs. 160 for different flavours. Place Ice cream, being a perishable item, it is very important to have a good distribution channel. Amuls head office is at Anand. The entire market is divided into 5 zones. The zonal offices are located at Ahmadabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. Moreover there are 49 Depots located across the country and Amul caters to 13 Export markets also. Amul follows four marketing channels to distribute its ice creams. Level Zero also called direct marketing channel consists of a manufacturer selling directly to the final customers how? Amul has entered into direct retailing through Amul Utterly Delicious parlours created in major cities Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Baroda, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Surat. These parlours surpass the regular softy and ice-cream scoop offering joints in terms of popularity and look set to give the more established ice cream brands in the cities a run for their money. In these parlours, icecream is stored and transported in a frozen condition (- 28o centigrade or below). They also keep frozen pizzas and frozen paneer. Level One contains one selling intermediary such as retailer to the final customers Level Two has two intermediaries typically distributor and the retailer Level Three comprises the distributor, retailer with the jobber in between Promotion Amul doesnt follow an aggressive marketing strategy for its ice creams. In the beginning, TV commercials for products such as amul tricone, real milk ice cream, frostik and premium ice cream were seen frequently. However these commercials cannot be spotted now. Instead the company prefers a more direct approach to sales promotion strategy. Offers such as super saver packs, one plus one and the likes are often given to lure the consumers into buying. Apart from these, Amul Company as a whole with its advertising partner FCB-ULKA puts up its hoardings which are famous for their satirical take on current happenings, for its complete basket of products including ice cream. The main reason for Amul retaining its dominant position in the market despite a conservative marketing strategy is because all the market players in this product category follow the same kind of strategy, i.e. minimal exposure to electronic media and high on sales promotion technique. In such a scenario Amul has been successful in creating a niche for itself. Amuls entry into ice creams is regarded as successful due to the large market share it was able to capture within a short period of time. The differential pricing, quality of products and of course, the brand name made this possible. SESSION 2 Consumer Buying Behavior We studied the marketing mix of Amul ice creams. Now well study and analyze the behavior in terms of consumers decision making process and factors affecting their buying behavior. Consumer behavior is how individuals, groups, and organizations select, buy, use and dispose of goods, services and ideas to satisfy their needs and wants. Consumer passes through five stages in buying a product: Need Identification Information Search Evaluation of Alternatives Purchase of Product After Sales Service Consumers dont always pass through all the above stages while making a purchase. For many of products (mostly perishable), the kind of involvement in the buying process is low. Consumers tend to do a lot of brand switching for the sake of variety and novelty. While buying a regular brand of ice cream, one goes directly from the need for ice-cream to the purchase decision skipping information search and evaluation. Even if they are present, the time given to each of these is negligible as compared to other stages. This is very important part of consumer buying behavior which in turn affects the factors affecting the consumer behavior. If one is loyal to one brand he will repeatedly purchase that brand and flavor. However if one doesnt find that product, he is very likely to switch to other available brands without much effort and may start liking it. Factors affecting the consumer behavior: Various types of factors which affect the consumer behavior and lead them towards a particular ice-cream brand are as follows: Product specifications, variety, price range, promotion strategies, and availability of product (which forms an integral part in case of variety seeking products) Reference groups (family, friends , media etc) and their effect on choices Knowledge of other brands existing in the market and their positioning in the minds of the consumers Demographics age, gender, income group Situational occasions where a consumer buys a product Involvement in buying the product in terms of frequency of purchase Studying the consumer behavior: In the survey conducted, (sample size=60) well first do a general analysis studying the market and Amul ice-creams position in it. In second part of the analysis, well see how different age groups may behave differently in consuming ice cream. Methodology: Samples for the study consisted of people from the age group of 18-40. Samples were taken randomly where a structured questionnaire was mailed to the people and their responses recorded. The questionnaire had the following dimensions: Demographics of the respondents such as age, income group, occupation, gender Knowledge/awareness about the various brands available in the market Frequency of purchase of ice cream, place of purchase, price preferences, reference groups, Favorite brands vis-Ã  -vis Amul in terms of ratings on the features of the product. Sample size: 60 respondents from the target population were approached to fill in the questionnaire. Result and discussion: The decision in buying ice cream is influenced by many factors such as taste, availability, pricing, packaging, variety of the product, occasions and mood and so on. Results of the data analysis will be studied in two parts: An overall analysis of all the factors. A comparative analysis of the age groups to analyze the difference in their behavior due to different age. Overall analysis: Demographics of the respondents: Data was collected with respect to four demographics of the sample; age, gender, income groups and occupation. Based on the analysis, it was observed that 68% of respondents were in the age group 18-24 and 32% in the age group 25-40. One third of the respondents were females. More than 50% of the samples were students owing to which the income range of less than 50000 Rs. bears the highest percentage in the income distribution. The following pie charts show the age, and income group distribution of the sample: Consumer behavior with respect to frequency of purchase and the occasions/moods leading the buying towards buying ice creams: The frequency of purchasing of ice creams is high. 7% and 35% of the respondents buy ice cream on a daily and weekly basis respectively. This implies that buying frequency for ice creams is fairly high. This influences the level of involvement in looking for the alternatives each time the buyer consumes an ice-cream. The consumer is more or less habitual own interpretation? in purchasing the ice cream due to which the 2 steps in buying behavior become redundant as already mentioned earlier. By habitual, we mean routine to be more precise. This can be seen in the following pie-chart which shows the frequency of purchase. Restating the data, 7% of the respondents are buying on a daily basis and 35% are doing so weekly. In terms of mood in buying, people generally buy ice-cream without any reason when buying very frequently. If they buy occasionally then the occasions on which buying is carried out on the occasions as given below: The samples are equally distributed over the occasions such as birthday, marriage, family outing, hanging out with friends, or part with the % of people consuming it with friends dominating the others. As far as choosing the flavor/brand of ice-cream is concerned, over 93% choose the flavor/brand themselves. It can be inferred that the influence of family and friends in choosing the ice-cream is very low and people go by their own choices while buying it. 5% of the people eat ice-cream flavors as decided by the family which may be the case when one is buying bricks of ice-cream. Rest 2% constitutes people who go by the friends choice in choosing the flavor/brand. Place of purchase and importance attached to packaging: More than 50% of the consumers buy ice cream from the corner shop of their colony. It signifies the importance of distribution channels and the kind of availability they need to have to maintain to create a position in the market. If they go out of stock they are at the risk of losing their customers to other competitors. The data infers that availability of Ice-creams are high in round the corner shop and Super markets whereas Malls may afford to go loose on all time availability. Regarding the packaging, 93% place importance on the packaging of the ice-cream which again makes it important for the brands to have a very attractive packaging in order to attract the consumers. Factors forming an important consideration for trying a new product/flavor: There are various factors which lead to trying out a new product launched in the market and make repeated purchases. The following pie diagram shows the constitution of various factors that may lead to trying out and repeated a new flavor, brand or product: It can be seen that taste forms the most important factor leading to buying of ice cream which is placed higher than the brand name also. It reemphasizes the fact that brand name of the ice-cream is not the most important. If the consumer likes the taste of other product, one may shift to the other brand. The 2nd most important factor is advertising. Ice-cream brands are generally low on their promotional strategies. However the importance of advertising with consumers is easily visible in the survey. For one fourth of the people, advertising is the force which leads them towards an ice-cream product. Most of the advertising for Ice-creams comes through billboards and hoardings and here Amul as a brand scores over others as the brand awareness of Amul is one the best. 2. Comparison of consumers favorite ice-cream and Amul ice-cream on various attributes: We asked our sample to rate their favorite ice-cream vis a vis Amul ice-cream on various attributes such as taste, packaging, price , variety and availability on a scale of 5 where 1 was the worst and 5 was the best (out of total samples 13 rated Amul as their favorite ice-cream also which is roughly 21% of the total samples). A comparative chart of the same is given below: Studying the parameters: Taste: People rate their favorite ice-cream as approx 3.7 (average of all the samples collected) whereas rate the Amul ice-cream as approx. 3.1. And as we saw that taste is the most important factor in determining the choice of consumers, how you can conclude this? Graph shows that Amul ice cream is lagging behind in this attribute to quite a large extent as compared to other factors. In the previous question, we had asked the consumers about the factors which would lead them to try out a new product/flavour/brand. The response was in favour of taste with over 50% of the respondents going for the same. We took five parameters in that question and weve taken the same in the rating scale also. So using the data from above, weve concluded that from these five factors, taste is the highest influence in making the choice for ice cream. Packaging: Favorite ice-cream stands at an average of approx 3.4 as against Amul ice cream which stands at 2.9. The company needs to work on its packaging also in order to attract the consumers. Price: Amul ice cream fairs slight better than the consumers favorite ice-cream. This is obvious as Amul is known for its lower range products. Kwality-walls among the other brands are known for slightly higher prices. Amul has been doing well on this front. Variety: Favorite ice-cream is rated at 3.4 Vis a Vis Amul rated at 2.8 on this parameter. Though Amul offers a wide range of products, but maybe people are not aware about the variety of the Amul ice-creams. Amul needs to create awareness among the consumers on this front. Availability: On the parameter of availability, people rate their favorite ice-cream as approx. 3.4 and Amul as 2.9. Amul has to ensure that it never goes out of stock due to the nature of buying behavior of the product. Awareness about other brands existing in the market: People are well aware about the brands in the market. Among the top 3 brands mentioned by the consumers, Amul and Kwality-walls feature the most among the two. For the 1st preference, Kwality-walls overtake the awareness whereas for the 2nd choice Kwality-walls and Amul stand at an equal rating. This is important from the point of view of Amul as the people who are variety seeking will switch over easily to the other brands if they are not happy with Amul. Among the brands that are well known to the customers, Amul, Kwality-walls and mother dairy are the most sought after brands. Other than these regulars brands, there are other brands such as Vadilal, havmor, Baskin Robbins, creambell, and others which constitute a small share in the market in terms of awareness level. Analysis with taking age, income (demographics) as the distinguishing factors: For analyzing the difference in factors leading to buying behavior due to difference in age, we have already divided the samples into 2 age groups 18-24 and 24-40 years. Frequency of purchase: Following is a chart depicting the total sample of people on the parameter of frequency of purchase divided age wise: It is clearly visible that 18-24 years consume ice-cream more frequently than the people in the age group of 25-40 years. 57% of people in the age group of 25-40 consume ice-cream occasionally which is only 31% in the case of the lower age group. On the other hand, the combined % of people consuming ice-cream on a weekly or daily basis for 24-40 year age group is only 25% as against 48% in case of 18-24 year olds with weekly consumption leading for the same. Factors consuming new ice cream product, brand or flavor: It can be observed from the above table that number of people preferring taste is much higher in case of 18-24 year olds. Also people in the age group of 24-40 years dont consider packaging or cheaper price as a leading factor while considering a new product. This is an important observation as Amul mainly sells on the lower price strategy. If it is offering a lower priced product, it needs to work on packaging as large numbers of people give importance to packaging in this group (also shown in the following chat). However it may or may not work so much on packaging if it is introducing a new product/flavor in the higher end markets. Willingness to buy sugar free ice cream at a higher price: To determine the level of health consciousness of the people and their willingness to buy the ice cream at a higher price if available, the data was collected, representation of which is given below: 70% of the people were not willing to buy the sugar free ice-cream at a higher price. This can be due to 2 factors: always better to ask from the respondents people are less health conscious people are price sensitive The options given to determine the same would not have been exhaustive. Possible the open-ended question wouldnt have been of much use. But yes, it is certainly better to ask from the respondents and due care would be taken next time. To further judge this, we distributed this data age wise to which how many people in which age group are willing to buy the ice-cream at a higher price. The representation of the findings is given below: In case of people in the age 25-40 years, over 42% of the people are willing to buy the sugar free ice cream if available at a higher price. However this falls to 32% In case of the age group 18-24 years. This can be again attributed to 2 factors: People in the lower age group are less health conscious or they are earning less so they are price sensitive or both. People in the higher age group are more health conscious or they are earning more so they can afford higher prices. Miscellaneous remarks about Amul ice creams: (optional in the survey) Amul is my favorite brand but more chocolate varieties are possible using different caramels and nuts. Its like since childhood I have an image that Kwality Walls is the best ice cream. Amul and Mother Dairy are my second best. They should come out with some good advertising campaigns for their ice creams and should really try out the social media to market their brand. It is good, but sometimes some flavors are out of market, especially mango flavor. The Amul ice cream should be readily available and the variety should be more. Also the marketing is very poor we do not see much. Amul seems to be a brand for common men the middle class, very well placed to cater to middle class people the biggest chunk of Indian populationalthough not very popular among the higher class These remarks about Amul ice cream highlight the fact that we have been saying all throughout out analysis. The variety in some products of Amul is not at par with the other brands or the needs of the consumers. The availability is on a lower side due to which some of the samples complained of the brand getting out of stock. Also the level of awareness of the ice creams of Amul among the consumers is very less due to which it suffers a lot. Amul needs to go aggressive on its promotion strategies so that it can expand its market share and perform well. Conclusion: From the above survey, we can conclude that major factors affecting Consumer behavior are Taste, Price, Packaging, Brand Perception and occasion. As Ice-cream is a variety seeking product, therefore the availability of Amul Ice-cream has a major impact on the actual consumption by the consumers and since Amul is very close to the market leader Kwality-walls. It has to take care of availability especially at round the corner stores and super markets where the sales of Ice-cream are maximum. Taste is considered the most important factor in determining the consumer behavior as per the survey. Amul Ice-cream is lagging behind in Taste as per the consumer perception when compared to Market leader. Attitude of the consumer is favorable towards Amul Ice cream and this can be seen through the comparative analysis of different brands in the market. Part of it can be attributed to Amuls brand perception across all the product categories countrywide. There is no significant difference in behavior towards purchasing Ice cream based on gender but the younger age group prefers to eat ice cream more than their older counterparts. Since most of the younger age group also falls in relatively lower income group, this shows the higher consumption trends by low income group in survey.

Mya Angelou :: Essays Papers

Mya Angelou Toni Morrison, the first black woman to receive Nobel Prize in Literature, was born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, U.S.A. She was the second of four children of George Wofford, a shipyard welder and Ramah Willis Wofford. Her parents moved to Ohio from the South to escape racism and to find better opportunities in the North. Her father was a hardworking and dignified man. While the children were growing up, he worked three jobs at the same time for almost 17 years. He took a great deal of pride in the quality of his work, so that each time he welded a perfect seam he'd also weld his name onto the side of the ship. He also made sure to be well-dressed, even during the Depression. Her mother was a church-going woman and she sang in the choir. At home, Chloe heard many songs and tales of Southern black folklore. The Woffords were proud of their heritage. Lorain was a small industrial town populated with immigrant Europeans, Mexicans and Southern blacks who lived next to each other. Chloe attended an integrated school. In her first grade, she was the only black student in her class and the only one who could read. She was friends with many of her white schoolmates and did not encounter discrimination until she started dating. She hoped one day to become a dancer like her favorite ballerina, Maria Tallchief, and she also loved to read. Her early favorites were the Russian writers Tolstoy and Dostoyevski, French author Gustave Flaubert and English novelist Jane Austen. She was an excellent student and she graduated with honors from Lorain High School in 1949. Chloe Wofford then attended the prestigious Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in English with a minor in classics. Since many people couldn't pronounce her first name correctly, she changed it to Toni, a shortened version of her middle name. She joined a repertory company, the Howard University Players, with whom she made several tours of the South. She saw firsthand the life of the blacks there, the life her parents had escaped by moving north. Toni Wofford graduated from Howard University in 1953 with a B.A. in English. She then attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and received a master's degree in 1955. After graduating, Toni was offered a job at Texas Southern University in Houston, where she taught introductory English.

Home Test: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

1. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are best friends that have many things in common and many things that are not in common. Tom is better at using his imagination. In the beginning of the Adventures of Huck Finn Tom makes a robber band with the neighborhood boys. Huck soon decides that it is boring because they were not doing anything that Tom promised they would. Huck could not pretend that they were doing what Tom said they were doing. This is again illustrated in the end when Tom and Huck are trying to free Jim and Huck simply cannot see the use of what Tom is doing with all his talk about rope ladders and messages on the walls. Huck is wiser, more sensible, and more grown up. He thinks that Tom is rather silly and nonsensical because he is talking about matters that are not important in the plot of rescuing Jim. Huck understands that the topics that Tom is talking about are not of use. Tom is more daring, civilized, and pushy than Huck. Tom lives with his aunt Polly and wears store bought clothes. He can make Huck do what he wants him to do. Tom is daring enough to help Huck steal Jim and Tom spearheads the mission and he adds all the extra effects. Both Huck and Tom are loyal friends. They did not give each other away when they were living with Aunt Sally. They both knew Jim and they helped him escape from his prison hut. Neither of them are afraid to lie, in fact, most of the book is contains at least one of them lying. 2. Yes, Twain portrays Jim very realistically for that time period. Back in those days, black people did not go to church. They fell back on superstition because they were uneducated. Education was rare among white people and even rarer among blacks. Jim is very loyal. Black people were loyal to kind masters and people who helped them. The way Jim is portrayed is not demeaning. He is not portrayed as stupid, just as uneducated. 3. The role of the river is simply that it the mode of transportation that Huck and Jim are using to get to Ohio. No, it is not a character. It is not animate and it cannot talk to Huck or Jim. It cannot make decisions that change or forward the plot. It can take Huck and Jim to places where the plot is forwarded, but a horse and carriage could do that. It cannot take Huck and Jim anywhere that it would not take anybody else. 4. Superstition fuels parts of the book. It becomes a motive for important actions. 7. Over all Twain’s attitude is rather hostile. He does not really like it and enjoys making fun of it. He shows that he thinks it is just another type of superstition. Huck gives up praying in the very beginning and thinks that it is stupid. He also does not like to learn about the Bible particularly the people because as he said â€Å"I don’t take no stock in dead people [sic]†. He thinks Christians are pathetic and easily fooled. He illustrates this when the King swindles a whole church out of almost a hundred dollars by pretending to be a pirate who had reformed and was going to be a missionary to reform other pirates. He shows it as ineffective and as an unnecessary tradition that everybody had simply because it was tradition. This is well exemplified when the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons go to church with their guns and sit through a sermon about brotherly love then go right back to feuding. Mark Twain did not like Christianity. 8. No, I do not agree that it is a racist novel. Racism is when someone is demeaning because someone else has a different shade or color of skin. Jim, the main example, is not portrayed as stupid, just uneducated and superstitious, like Huck. Jim is not portrayed as less than human. He is Huck’s best friend. Racism is looked down upon in this book. When the King and the Duke are cruel to black people, the moral tone is that their cruelty is bad. Those who think blacks are property are not depicted well in that respect. Miss Watson, when she is going to sell Jim, is not represented well character wise. Black people are also considered property for parts of the book simply because that is how it was in those times. To say Adventures of Huck Finn is racist would be to say that everyone in those times was racist. 9. Huck Finn did not know too much. He had gone to school for at least a small period of time and could read at least a little bit. When Huck is trapped in his dad’s cabin and he escapes, that is just ingenuity and street-smarts. Huck knew about traps and ways of catching animals but he picked that up from his dad. Most people tend to pick up things off the streets. By listening hard enough Huck could have figured out where Cairo was. When Huck is talking about the kings, he had a book and he could read so he was most likely reading out of the book. Besides he was making up a lot of what he said or it was superstition. Most of what Huck knew was common knowledge or now unlikely that he would know because he was a young man. Most of the time when Huck is talking about â€Å"educated† things, they are not true. This is demonstrated when Huck is talking to Joanna, the hare-lip about England. Almost all of Huck’s educated conversations are bluffs, superstitions, or not true. The others may be true but Huck could have learned the information in school or through a book. 10. 11. The end of the book is no different than the rest of the book. It completely fits Twain’s plot of two mischievous boys having a bit of fun and adventure. It is just like Tom and Huck to devise a roguish plan to free a slave. It is completely within character for Tom not to tell Huck that Jim was already free so he could have some fun. The only thing that I could see as wanting criticism is the two boys had an unrealistic amount of influence over everyone. Even someone as uneducated as Jim would not trust those two boys so implicitly. 12. The central irony is that both overarching conflicts have been resolved. Huck is running away from his dad because he is abused by him and Huck does not want to give his dad all his money. But in the very beginning of the book, when Huck and Jim are about to go down the river, they find a floating house with a dead man in it. The dead man was Huck’s father. The other conflict of Jim running away from Miss Watson because he does not want to be sold is resolved because Miss Watson dies shortly after Huck and Jim leave. In her will she sets Jim free. Neither of them have any reason to be running away. 13. This irony is that the river is taking Huck and Jim further into the slave states when they are trying to set Jim free. During this time the United States was divided into two parts. The free states were in the north and the slaves states were in the south. The Mississippi River has a current that runs to the south, not the north. To set Jim free they are going further into the slave states. This makes no sense because they are trying to set Jim free and are going in the wrong direction. 14. My favorite minor character was Emmeline Grangerford. She is hilarious. She is obsessed with death and separation of lovers. Emmeline wrote comical poems that were obituaries and she was good at it. The people always went to her so she could write her â€Å"tributes. † It is surmised that she died because someone went to undertaker before they went to her. Twain is making fun of the literature and art of that period with her character. 15. My favorite part of the book is when Huck escapes from his father’s cabin. He shows himself to be a genius young man. He displays great ingenuity and plays a brilliant practical joke. I like this part because I wish I was that talented and could play practical jokes like that. It is also humorous and I like to be entertained. 16. Adventures of Huck Finn’s greatest strength is that it is highly ironic and makes fun of everything and everybody. The book makes fun of the literature of the period with Emmeline Grangerford. It also makes fun of the art of that period with Emmeline Grangerford’s art. Mark Twain pokes fun at feuding with the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons. They end up killing everyone in each other’s families (except Harney and Sophia) over something they do not even remember the cause for. Twain ridicules Christianity as is shown by the King and his sob story, Huck’s â€Å"praying† and his attitude about learning the Bible, and the Grangerford’s and Shepherdson’s church service. He mocks Shakespeare with the speech given by the King. He laughs at the state of education with all his characters, especially the state of education about foreign countries and kings. These are just a few of the ironic and funny parts. Anyone could read this and laugh till their sides split. 17. The book’s greatest weakness is the way it is written. The grammar and spelling is awful. It makes it hard to understand what Twain is saying. Twain wrote it that way on purpose but he could have produced the same effect by using proper English and grammar. It would have been better if Twain had just written the dialogue in the dialects he uses and wrote the majority of the text in proper English. It would have saved me and many others from a bad headache.

Public Private Partnerships Vasco da Gama Bridge in Portugal

Better usage of regional and municipal land use plans in the future. Conclusion Even though the project did not reach its original goal, it had a great impact on regional development. The Visas dad Gamma Bridge is a six lane bridge that spans the Tags River in Lisbon, Portugal. It is the longest bridge in Europe and has a life expectancy of 120 years. Its characteristics are described in the Table here below: Official name Point Visas dad Gamma Carries Six road lanes, 7 sections Crosses Tags River Location North of Lisbon (right bank), municipality of Allocable (left bank) Maintained by Illusions DesignerRandom Riot Design Total Length 17. 182 km, longest in Europe, 9th longest in the world Width 30 m Height 155 m Longest span 420 m Speed limit 120 km/h Serves 50 million vehicles/year Construction 1995 (beginning) – 1998 (ended) Opened 29. 03. 1998 Cost 897 million euros As a result of economic globalization, countries are seeking more efficient and effective ways to improve t heir resources. One way of doing so is through Public- private partnerships especially for the development and operation of infrastructure.Public-Private partnerships provide a tool to increase the quality and efficiency of public services and to overcome the limited public funds available in a country. APP is an agreement between the government and one or more private partners in which both sides invest different resources in order to reach the target/goal by splitting the gains and losses between them. It is usually a long-term contract between the two parties, in which the private partner bears significant risk and great management responsibility.Peps may be formed in areas such as infrastructure projects such as motorways, bridges and in service areas such as schools and hospitals. There are our typical phases in implementing a APP project: the identification of the need and the legislation involved in implementing the project, the preparation and planning and the development of a contract between the public and the private partners, the award procedure, and the implementation and control of the project. Peps offer significant advantages to the public sector.These include the ability to raise additional funds in a country with budgetary restrictions, make the best use of public sector efficiencies in operation in reducing the costs and increasing the quality and offering a quicker service. Peps come in many forms and are still evolving in order to adapt to the needs of each individual project. Several elements that have to be taken into account: Political Leadership: commitment has to come from the top. Legislative and control framework: The application of these must be followed strictly. Protecting the publics interest: Quality and performance standards are required.Public Sector Involvement: Public sector must remain actively involved once a APP is established by monitoring the project. A well structured plan: Each side must know exactly what to expect f rom the beginning of the cooperation. Responsibilities must e clearly defined. Income stream: The sources of income must be clearly defined for the whole duration of the implementation of the project. Communication with stakeholders: Open communication between the parties involved must be enforced. Ensuring open market access and competition: Open and fair competition, transparency has to be taken into account during Tendering/Bidding procedure.Selection of the right partner: The selection must be done carefully taking into account the previous experience of the candidate in the specific area. In a typical APP project, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SSP) is created, which is a separate gal entity established to undertake the project, thus it is responsible for the design, building, and operation of the project. The initial capital required for a APP project may be provided by public grants, private funds, European Commission financing, loans from the owners of the SSP and/or from banks. The SSP is a consortium usually formed by a building contractor, a maintenance company and a bank. Subcontractors may also be used in the APP in order to deliver their specialized services. Until a couple of decades ago, countries followed the traditional infrastructure procurement models. However, due to the public budget constraints and the difficulty to manage large projects, many countries experienced the need to change the traditional model of public procurement. This resulted to today's Peps model which manages to deliver large infrastructure that requires large capital availability.Opportunities and Limitations of Ifs Opportunities that may appear during the implementation of a project: The risks are allocated to the ones that can manage them and are distributed. Public sector capital expenditure is reduced Cost efficiencies are better achieved – Value for Money. Delivery of the project is faster. Construction is done more efficiently with fewer contractual errors. Bet ter quality of service. Innovation and performance of personnel involved in the project is highly encouraged and promoted through incentives.Increased productivity. Infrastructure provision is accelerated. Crisis, there is higher cost in financing a project. There is less control over budget. There is less contract flexibility. The ultimate risk is still undertaken by the public partner. Private financing is usually more complicated than public financing. There are high termination costs in case of spite. Fear of prevarication of public services may be evident. Peps in Portugal Over the last 25 years Portugal has been through a major infrastructure investment program.After the end of dictatorship in the ass, Portugal went through a political stabilization phase. In the ass, after Portugal Joined the ELI, the country was able to access large capital funds. Since the country aimed to decrease its infrastructure deficit, it was evident that a new model for procurements was required and this was the APP model. The first large project developed under the APP model was the Visas dad Gamma ridge which was created under a tight schedule in time for the 1998 World Exhibition.After that several other projects followed totaling to the number of 36 APP projects until 2012. Portugal uses the APP model mainly for the creation/extension of roads, rail, health care and security. Need for the creation of Visas dad Gamma bridge – Background information The Government of Portugal identified the need to solve the congestion problem on Elision's other bridge (25 De April Bridge), and to Join previously unconnected motorways between north and south around the capital city of Lisbon, and therefore n 1991 it decided to construct a second crossing over the Tags river.As soon as the decision was made AGATES (office for the crossing of the Tags river at Lisbon), was established which was actually an inter-ministerial agency chaired by the Ministry of Public Works, with representa tives of the Ministries of Planning, Environment, and Finance. The two main goals of AGATES were to solve the ever-increasing traffic Jam on the 25 De April Bridge and supporting the north-south traffic around Lisbon. By September 1991, AGATES issued a series of studies comparing three options/locations or a new road bridge: eastern, central, and western.The option chosen was the eastern and was based on a strategy of opening new urban development, with top priority to roadways and individual transport. This option was greatly supported by the Minister of Public Works and the municipalities surrounding that area. In April 1994, Illusions, a consortium of Portuguese, British, and French companies won the international public tender to design, construct, finance and operate the new bridge. In February 1995, the construction of the bridge begun and in 29 March 1998 it opened to the public.The project was completed in a very tight schedule in order to allow easy access for World Expo '9 8, the World's fair that India by Visas dad Gamma. The construction of the bridge is considered to be one of the largest and most successful projects of the 20th century in the history of civil engineering. It gained international recognition and was awarded with the 1st prize by the Fiber-Americana Institution of architecture and civil engineering in the year 2000.The Visas dad Gamma bridge is a cable-stayed adjoined by viaducts and it carries six road lanes, with a speed limit of 120 km/h, the same as motorways, except on one section where speed is limited to 100 km/h. On windy, rainy, and foggy days, the speed limit is reduced to 90 km/h. Fifty million vehicles cross the bridge every year. The traffic on the bridge is managed in the traffic control room located in the Toll Plaza building. The bridge has a life expectancy of 120 years. Legal Framework for Peps in Portugal The legal framework for Peps in Portugal was amended on July 27 2006 by Decree Law 141/2006, which substituted the Decree Law no. 6/2003. The new law defines the general rules of interaction of the State with APP model, from definition and conception to supervision. These principles have to be followed by the public entities t the national level. The Decree Law 141/2006 requires the division of risks between the public and the private partners, which has to be clearly specified in each APP project. It also establishes the rules to follow and states that all APP proposals have to be evaluated by a commission including the Ministry of Finance and other relevant to each specific project institutions.There is also the Code of Public Contracts (COP), which is a legal document concentrating on national and legal contexts relating to public procurement. This document derives mainly from the transposition of the EX. isolations on public procurement and it applies in projects related to services, public work contracts, and many others. More specifically, this document regulates the procedures of pub lic procurements from the beginning of the Tendering process until the selection of the successful Tender, it covers the way contracts should be awarded and sets the specific rules in doing so.It also states the follow-up rules as well as possible fines if not complied. As Monitor (2005) puts it, a key feature of the institutional setting of Peps in Portugal, is that a decision in favor of a APP has to be made with the involvement of the Ministry of Finance (experts). The APP proposals have to specify long-term budgetary implications and make necessary arrangements prior to the agreement of a APP project.Another institutional framework is a APP Unit (Parabolic), which is dedicated in implementing, facilitating, evaluating and advising APP projects. It should be noted that this project with a total value of 897 million Euros was impossible to be realized only with public funds. Therefore, the APP had to be formed project is the decision about the location of the bridge. The location of the Visas dad Gamma bridge was the fundamental element for its success. As mentioned before there were three options/locations for a new road bridge: eastern, central, and western.According to Melt (2000), the eastern (Save ©m-Monotint) location for the bridge to be constructed leads to the question Why on earth was the Save ©m-Monotint road bridge option chosen? One may answer that the decision made was due to political and financial issues. The possible alternatives to this option were the central, and western locations. The central (Shells-Barriers) and the western (Alga ©s-Traffic) location could have been better alternatives satisfying the goals of decongest, and not having the active environmental impacts that the selected location of the bridge created.Critical Analysis of APP Model chosen by the Government of Portugal – Description of app Model The project was mainly funded by the private sector under a BOOT â€Å"Build, Operate, Transfer† model, more specifically the variation of DOFF (Design, Build, Finance and Operate). The BOOT model is a type of infrastructure project based on granting of concession by a principal (I. E. Government) to a promoter (private partner) who is responsible for the construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of a project over the period of concession.A BOOT project is normally funded by a mixture of private equity, through shareholders, bank loans, and sometimes with grant aids. The shareholders carry the risks but receive a return on their investment and dividends during the concession period, while the government's reward is to obtain an infrastructure without using its own budget. Governments mainly use the BOOT model for the construction of airports, waterworks, etc. In Peps, the BOOT model involves reasonable support and risk sharing from the government side. After the concession period, the promoter transfers the facility to the principal at no cost, in a fully operational condition.In this project, Illusions had the obligation to design, construct, finance and operate the new crossing/bridge. The contract was signed in 1995, for a maximum concession period of 35 years in a design, build, finance, operate and transfer scheme. In my opinion, at the time that the contract was signed, the APP model used was the most suitable since there was the need to design and build the bridge quickly with the main funds coming from the private sector. Financial Structure of the Project and the role of the participants The Visas dad Gamma bridge cost 897 million Euros, mainly financed by the private sector.The project was funded by a combination of private equity, through bank loans, shareholders, government grants, etc. More specifically the resources for this European Investment Bank Loan grant (299 m), 33% of the project Toll revenues collected from 25 April bridge (50 m), 6% of the project other resources such as shareholders and government grants (299 m), 26% of the project Both shareholders and government benefit from the project, since they receive dividends for their investment during the concession period. It should be noted that the toll price to cross the bridge varies from 2. 0 to 11 Euros, pending on the size and type of vehicle crossing the bridge. TOTAL COST 897 MILLION EURO Table 1 (Funding of Visas dad Gamma bridge) The European Investment loan was for 20 years with no capital repayment over the first 120 months, guaranteed by the commercial banks for only 15 years. Out of the total cost of the project, around 640 million Euros was for construction, payment of land, re-housing, environmental projects, and maintenance costs. It is worth mentioning that in 2000, Illusions and the Portuguese government signed an agreement in order to extend the duration of the concession period untilIn the case of the Visas dad Gamma bridge, both the public and the private partners undertook the financial risk (currency, interest rate, equity, foreign exchange , liquidity, commercial and economic risk. They also undertook the political risk (related to the provision of loans and overall investment situation in the country). Both partners undertook the shareholder's risk (market, changes in management personnel). The private partner, Illusions, undertook the technical risk (construction, operation, and maintenance risk).Problems and Limitations of the project The European Accounts Tribunal (EAT) detected a series of irregularities in the financing and the construction of the project. Some drainage and negative results ere detected to the resistance of some of the material used in the construction of the bridge. Regarding the finance aspect, the EAT stated that 95% of the costs of the building of the structure of the bridge was funded by the European Union, which is in conflict with the regulations of the community.Recommendations A few recommendations may be welcomed at this point. There should be more compliance with project goals in the future. In addition, there should be more compliance with the European legislation in the future. Another alternative location for the bridge would have been highly recommended or the construction of two mailer bridges in different locations. Moreover, a more careful study has to be made regarding the location of future similar projects, and a better usage of regional and municipal land use plans in the future is recommended.Conclusion Even though there is a lot of criticism about the APP of Visas dad Gamma bridge in Portugal, it is evident that without this procurement model the fast development of under public scrutiny. The Visas dad Gamma bridge aimed to solve the decongest problem of the other bridge of Lisbon (the 25 April bridge) and to create the north-south connection around the capital city. According to data, traders prefer to use the bridge in Scorecard (30 km from Lisbon to the North, built after the Visas dad Gamma bridge.This bridge seems to have solved the problem of the north-south connection around the capital city. The daily traffic on the Visas dad Gamma bridge is approximately 70,000 vehicles, which is below the daily traffic on the 25 April bridge with approximately 170,000 vehicles per day. Taking this into consideration, we conclude that Visas dad Gamma bridge did not manage to meet the expectations and to solve the decongest problem, however it affected positively other areas such are regional development.