Public Utility of Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA)

The Congress enacted Public Utility of Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978 to answer the energy crisis that U. S. was facing (470 U. S. 1075). Section 210 of Title II provides that the act shall promote for the development of alternative energy resources by stopping the practice of electric utilities in purchasing power from non-traditional facilities (470 U. S. 1075).In addition, the act also authorized the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC to implement the act by promulgating rules necessary to encourage cogeneration and small power production (470 U.S. 1075). The function of FERC includes also the setting of rate of electricity (470 U. S. 1075).Moreover, the act required the rates to be just and reasonable and non-discriminatory and shall not exceed the incremental cost of the electric utility of alternative electric energy (470 U. S. 1075). Pursuant to said act, FERC adopted the maximum rate which is the incremental of full- avoided cost and required all utilities to purchase from qualifying facilities (470 U. S. 1075). The state of New York has set minimum rate of six per kilowatt hour.The appellant argued that it cannot pay such amount because its avoided cost fell below that amount (470 U. S. 1075). PROCEDURE: The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court granted the petition because the rate of six cents per kilowatt hour exceeded the federally mandated avoided cost rate (470 U. S. 1075). The respondent here appealed to Court of Appeals and it reversed the decision of the lower court on the ground that the federal law and the statute are complementary and the statute is consistent with the purpose of the act.ISSUE: Can the state require utilities to pay more than the full avoided cost rate for their mandatory purchases? HOLDING: Yes, the state can. REASONING: There is no question as to the rate implemented by the state because the Act authorizes it. The state can freely enact regulations or laws providing rates as long as it achiev es the purpose of the Act. Furthermore, there is no substantial issue than can be debated and so the case is dismissed. DISSENTING: The Act and the state's regulations should be clearly interpreted.The decision of CA is contradictory to the case in Kansas where the court held that the state regulatory commission could not set rates for purchases from cogenerations that were higher than the avoided cost (470 U. S. 1075). Moreover, the state may have jurisdiction to set the rates under PURPA but the extent of their authority shall be settled (470 U. S. 1075). In addition, Justice White found that there are various cases similar to this and the states also have different approaches as to the setting of the rate under the PURPA (470 U.S. 1075). These cases may occur again in the future and in order to avoid it, the issue shall be resolved. Furthermore, the Justice found the issue as important and open for debate (470 U. S. 1075) Works Cited â€Å"Consolidated Edison Company of New York , Inc. v. Public Service Commission of New York, et al (470 U. S. 1075). † 2003. The New York Times. 23 May 2008 . â€Å"How To Brief A Case. † 2006. 4Lawschool. com. 23 May 2008

Grace of God Essay

The traditional social order is marked by the three estates it comprised off. The ruler who is supposed to be ‘by the Grace of God’ was absolute in his power. The first estate comprised of the clergy who were responsible for community well being by conducting prayers and sacred ceremonies. The next estate is the nobility who are in charge of protecting the country from foreign invasions. They also played an important role in government and in administration. The third estate consisted of the majority of population. They generated wealth that fed the entire society. Real estate and regional commerce were their main activity. This order underwent change at the wake many significant events. The French revolution gave power to the bourgeois, the third order. The French viewed democracy as a building block of creating a new social order where there is no self proclaimed monarchy hovering over. The spirit of French revolution spread across Europe. And slowly the rising started everywhere. The colonized countries started gaining grounds in their home lands. The Sepoy Mutiny in India is an example of the social order undergoing a change. The natives organized an uprising against the British. It may not have deterred the British in their pursuit to expand but it did mark an important turn of events. Similarly the West had its influence on Japan and China. The monarchy and the aristocracy slowly started to adopt the ways of the West. Starting from their dressing to their way of life, a significant transformation was taking place. The Crimean War,1853-1856 Describe the causes, course, and consequences of the Crimean War and evaluate the effect of the war on Russia’s government. One of the main causes of the Crimean War is the misperceptions in Russia, Britain and France. Britain and France were disturbed that Russia was the strongest state in Europe and its assumed Russian expansion plans towards Turkey. On the other hand Russia was cautious of revolutionary France. Russia was also expecting the fall of Turkey. Moreover in the holy place of Palestine the Catholics were favored by France and the orthodox Christians were favored by Russia. The Catholic and Orthodox monks disputed possession of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. During the early 1850s, the two sides made demands which the Sultan of Turkey could not possibly satisfy simultaneously. To solve this issue the Tsar of Russia, Nicholas I sent his diplomat for talks which failed. The demands made by the Tsar were rejected. Austria contrary to what Russia believed sided Britain. Further in an attempt to revert war a four point proposal was presented to the Tsar. When the Tsar refused to comply with the four points, the Crimean War commenced. The reality of the war is that France and Russia injured each other’s options without knowing they did so. France overestimated Russia’s hostility and Russia underestimated British and French interest in Turkey. As a result, Russia seeking to secure Black Sea region lost its control until 1871. Russian power in the area declined to be restored only after fourteen years. During peace negotiations in 1986, it was decided that no warship would occupy the Black sea coast. This became a specific disadvantage to Russia as it diminished the naval threat it posed to the Turks. Compare and contrast China’s and Japan’s response to western influence for the period of 1850 to 1865. In the 1800s China and Japan experienced both major internal strains and Western imperialist pressure which was backed by military might which the natives couldnot match. China’s leading position in the world reversed in a mere 100 year period (c. a. 1840-1940) from leading civilization to subjected and torn country. The Japanese witnessed China’s experience with the military power of Western nations. At the arrival of an American delegation in Japan in 1853, Japan was also forced to open its ports to the Americans. But unlike China, Japan was able to adapt rapidly to match the power of the West and soon established itself as a competitor with the Western powers for colonial rights in Asia. In 1894-5, Japan challenged and defeated China in a war over influence in Korea. This upset the traditional international order in East Asia, where China was the supreme power and Japan was a subordinate power. Western nations utilized China for their opium trade. They took silver bullions from China as commodity exchange. China’s attempt to ban the sale of opium in the port city of Canton leads to the Opium War of 1839. The Chinese were defeated by the British arms. This lead to China opening up its ports for foreign trade. By 1800 China was in a vulnerable position in the hands of the West. From the 1860s onward, the Chinese attempted to reform efforts to meet the military and political challenge of the West. China adopted Western learning and technology while preserving Chinese values and Chinese learning. Reformers and conservatives struggled to find the right formula to make China strong enough to protect itself against foreign pressure. The Japanese taking the cue from China launched a major modernization effort in 1868 to match the West and then came to be a major competitor for rights. Japan’s defeat of Russia, a Western power, in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 surprised China. This way the West influenced two the countries in its most significant way.

Why growth is good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Why growth is good - Essay Example This essay discusses that in the beginning of the article Why Growth is Good, the author frankly asserts, â€Å"Economic growth is slowing in the United States. It’s also slowing in Japan, France, Britain, Italy, Spain, and Canada. It’s even slowing in China.† Apparently, this claim has not been statistically interpreted or supported in the article which may be regarded as a significant drawback. Yet, the claim is simple and has a well defined argument. We can see in our day-to-day experience that in the developed countries, demands are lowering, unemployment is increasing and no significant industrial start-up is taking place. The next important claim is that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a very important standard in measuring the socio-economic situation of a country. Unfortunately, the writer has not provided with a contextual definition of GDP anywhere in the article. Also, the writer is apparently not much worried about the controversies regarding GDP, whi le academicians are debating over it more and more. However, Reich (2010) forthrightly writes, â€Å"Nations with high and growing GDPs have more overall capacity; those with low or slowing GDPs have less.† This argument reflects that the author tries to establish a proportional relationship between the GDP of a country and its overall prosperity. The author argues, â€Å"The United States has the largest capacity in the world. But relative to other rich nations it chooses to devote a larger proportion of that capacity to consumer goods, health care, and the military.†... Further, Reich (2010) has put significant blame on the United States for today’s gloomy economic situation. The author argues, â€Å"The United States has the largest capacity in the world. But relative to other rich nations it chooses to devote a larger proportion of that capacity to consumer goods, health care, and the military.† (Reich, 2010) In this way, the author tries to focus at the irresponsible behaviour of the United States and indirectly regrets that it did not take up a proactive role in handling the global economic slowdown. Evidences The author avoids providing statistical evidences in favour of his claims in the article. However, circumstantial evidences have been put forward. In the context of slowing growth, Reich writes that if the governments continue to hack away at their fiscal policies and budgets while the consumers are becoming more watchful about their expenses, â€Å"global demand will shrink to the point where a worldwide dip is inevitableâ €  (Reich, 2010). This tendency of the governments have sent shockwaves across the corporate sector, who are now trying to downsize their organisations leading to job cuts (Kumar and Pranjal, 2009). Similarly, Howitt (2007, p. 10) points out that â€Å"the speedup of productivity growth since the mid-1990s† is gradually slowing down. Nell (1998) has focussed on the interfaces between growth driven economic models and social economic theories. His rejection to conservative economics has not found much practical implication. Unplanned chasing of profits has finally resulted into a sort of global economic slump, which was gradually becoming evident since the 1960s with plummeting trends of growth. Figure – 1: Falling GDP growth

Organization Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organization Strategies - Essay Example Key environmental factors are predicted and their influence on the organization looked at and then optimum measures are taken so the organization can benefit from these environmental factors (Mintzberg 1976). Strategy looks at long-term direction and guides short term plans. It is understood at the top and middle levels of the organization. A strategy is as such clear that there is no way delicate. The results are defined; this is involved with the translation of strategies in to realities of the organizational structure, operations, policies and products. This in essence closes the gap between the companies' current position and where it would like to be. At last significant matters are identified and prioritized. Outcomes are positive statements of the changes the company needs to make to it and the results that it must carry out in its environment to fulfill strategic requirements. Outcomes are the steps for an organization towards strategic closure. Organization strategic plans are in general prepared of many interconnected elements; Vision, mission, Values, assessment, goals/objectives, strategy and outcomes. They have also major role in integration of strategic management principles and models. A feasible example of a strategic plan follows: The Vision gives a proposal about the objectives of the organization and broadly capture future services, markets and structures but do not go in to great detail. The Mission statement delineates customers, competitors and markets. It demonstrate a preferred location in a predicted future world" and a "bulls eye or target of the strategy."A mission should not consign a firm to what it must do in order to survive but what it chooses to do in order to thrive. Values are what the company believes to be true; values offer guides for staff on how to act within the company and ethical standards for all the stakeholders. Values set the company independently from its competitors and show the reliability of the organization. Measurements of the organization are the external and the internal forces, which will affect the company in making its mission and vision successful. These can be carried out in an environmental scan, which includes the following components; 1. Internal analysis of the firm 2. Analysis of the firm's industry (task environment) External macro environment (PEST analysis) A SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/ Opportunities/Threats) task can also capture the overviews of a business. Outside factors can vary from economic condition to changing technology and competition and are shown as threats and weaknesses. Inside factors can be anything which may belong from assets to liabilities and are usually shown as threats and weaknesses. Then the transition to the future is assessed with regard to industry and competitive environment, general and organization specific environment. PEST stands for political, economic, environmental and technological. The PEST analysis and explain the components of a macro environment within the organization and these can also be converted to fir in with a SWOT analysis. To create competitive advantage for an organization, it is identified that there are three strategies, Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus. The suitable standard strategy will make location of the firm to leverage its strengths and defend against the adverse effects of the five forces (Porter 1980). Cost Leadership comprehends

Research Design to Determine the Future of New Orleans Levee Board Essay

Research Design to Determine the Future of New Orleans Levee Board - Essay Example Generally, the failed sections of earthen levee around St. Bernard and east Orleans Parishes do not appear to have included sheetpiling or other core construction. In a very few instances, evidence of a sheetpile core is now exposed and in general, these occurrences tend to be present where older pre-existing canals and natural waterways cut across the levee's intended location, probably due to recognition that otherwise seepage and percolation would be more of a problem at these locations. As a result of its elevation near sea level, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin is quite vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes. Hurricanes are categorized by their windspeed in miles per hour (mph). Hurricanes have affected the Louisiana coastline with a frequency that peaks in September. Hurricanes with significant monetary or human loss are memorialized by retiring their name. In addition to its separation from the coast, the topography of the land in the city of New Orleans is adverse. The city is surrounded by a river levee system 25 feet high along its southern boundary, and by hurricane protection levees about 15 feet high along the remaining boundaries. Most of the land in the city is below sea level, with much of the northern half of the city more than 5 feet below sea level. About one half of the population of the city can't and won't evacuate during a hurricane. Many people, about 200,000, do not have automobiles or access to an automobile. There are an additional 20,000 special needs people that cannot be easily moved. Finally, there several hundred thousand people that will not evacuate because of the difficulty of actually evacuating and finding suitable shelters. The hurricane protection levees surrounding the city are designed to protect the city from a category slow 2 or fast category 3 hurricane. Thus for any slow category 3, or category 4 or 5 hurricanes, the possibility exists for flooding the metropolitan area of New Orleans. The city of New Orleans averages 1.8 m (6 ft) below sea level, resembling a shallow depression surrounded by levees and water. The levee system in New Orleans is one of the most extensive in the world. Levees are earthen structures, made of clay (sedimentary particles smaller in diameter than sand and silt), in cross section forming a truncated triangle. The base is commonly 10 times as wide as the height. Floodwalls are concrete and steel walls, built atop a levee, or in place of a levee, often where space is insufficient for a levee's broad base. Orleans Levee District, a quasi-governmental body, is resposponsible for 129 miles of earthen levees, floodwalls, 190 floodgates, 2 flood control structures, and 100 valves. The governor appoints six of the board's eight members,

George Whitefield Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

George Whitefield - Essay Example He moved the masses as no-one before him and hardly anyone since. His life is filled with instruction for Christians today." He spoke to some ten million people, and it is said his voice could be heard a mile away. It is estimated that throughout his life, he preached more than 18,000 formal sermons and if less formal occasions are included, that number might rise to more than 30,000. In addition to his ministry in Great Britain (for 24 years) and America (for 9 years), he made 15 journeys to Scotland, 2 to Ireland, and one each to Bermuda, Gibraltar, and The Netherlands (Armstrong 9, 22). He may have been the best-known Protestant in the whole world during the eighteenth century. Certainly he was the single best-known religious leader in America of that century, and the most widely recognized figure of any sort in North America before George Washington (Noll 91). Early years in England. George Whitefield was born in the Bell Inn where his father, Thomas, was a wine merchant and innkeeper. It was the largest and finest establishment in town, and its main hall had two auditoriums, one of which was used to stage plays. But when he was only two tragedy struck this young prosperous family, George's father died (Dallimore I 17-19; Armstrong 12). When the lad was 8 years of age his mother remarried, but the union was tragic, and the inn was almost lost due to financial difficulties. While the other children worked, George's mother saw his ability and made sure he attended the St. Mary de Crypt Grammar School in Gloucester from the age of 12. He was a gifted speaker, had a great memory, and often acted in the school plays, he was proficient in Latin and could read new Testament Greek. However, at the age of 15 George had to drop his studies and worked for a year and a half to help support the family. It seemed tragic, but it was a good experience for George to experience real life. He learned to associate with people from all ranks of society, he worked by day and at night, he read the Bible and dreamed of going to Oxford. In time the husband left, and George's older brother took back control of the inn. But there was no longer any money to send George to college with. For a time he and his mother were heartbroken. But over t ime they learned that he could go to Oxford as a "servitor," and at age 17 he left for the University with great eagerness. In 1732 he entered Pembroke College at Oxford in November. As a "servitor" he lived as a butler and maid to 3 or 4 highly placed students. He would wash their clothes, shine their shoes, and do their homework. A servitor lived on whatever scraps of clothing or money they gave him. He had to wear a special gown and it was forbidden for students of a high rank to speak to him. Most servitors left rather than endure the humiliation. In 1733, George became a member of the Holy Club led by John and Charles Wesleys (this group of students followed certain "methods" for religion, that were centered on careful reading of the Bible). His mates at Pembroke College had begun to call Whitefield a "Methodist," which was the derogatory word they used to describe members of the Holy Club. To other students their disciplined way of life looked foolish, and the word "Methodist" implied that they lived by a mindless method, like windup robots (Dallimore I 21-49). Charles Wesley loaned him a book, "The Life of God in the Soul of Man",

Mississippi Employment Laws and HRM Strategy Research Paper

Mississippi Employment Laws and HRM Strategy - Research Paper Example The guidelines enable employees to work under favorable conditions that are not discriminatory. The laws are equally set to ensure that employers do not infringe the individual’s rights. This is vital since some employers subject workers to unconventional practices that affect the employee’s dignity and rights. According to the international labor organization (ILO), employment laws protect each stakeholder’s rights. The laws recognizes everyone as equal partners and state that employers are obligated to provide requisite working equipment, pay favorable remuneration, set excellent working conditions and provide effective support equipment to the disabled. The employers have the right to administer their employees and to receive the best from them in terms of performance. Indeed, the disabled have been neglected in diverse settings with their employment rights being compromised based on their conditions. This has prompted the international labor organization (ILO ) to design intervening guidelines with full recognition that everyone should be treated dignity. This paper explores the significance of the initiation of new technology for employees who may experience physical limitations in institutions. Description of the scenario selected The introduction of the modern technological systems for the disabled is crucial in the quest to empower them. This will ensure that the physically challenged who have been neglected regains their appropriate position in the society (Landy, 2005). Their participation in the economic development and growth, in institutions, has been dismal because they fail to receive similar employment opportunities compared to stable individuals. This distorts their performance and confidence levels. According to Landy (2005), disabled individuals have been facing prejudice during the employment process. The authorities within their workplace often fail to adhere to their working rights and support systems. This has led to t he development of general rules in Mississippi. These rules ensure that employers employ the disabled individuals and treat them with dignity and respect. They should also provide them with the pertinent rights in terms of remuneration, favorable working conditions, provision of meals and technological equipments to facilitate their operations. The technological equipment should include reading gadgets for the deaf, walking sticks and logistical equipment to facilitate their movement. The administration should also recognize their efforts; thus, boosting their ego and social engagement (Perkins, Shortland & Perkins, 2006). Currently, technology is a significant force with the capacity to transform operations in institutions. This calls for the training of employees on the use of technological equipments. Mississippi laws provide clear legal procedures that ensure that the rights of the disabled are respected. The laws recognize the disabled and states that they should not be denied the opportunity to serve in various capacities based on their conditions. The law requires employers to provide them with modern technological equipment to enhance their working conditions (Perkin et al, 2006). Indeed, most institutions including the

Economics 202 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Economics 202 - Essay Example Further this paper discusses how the feeling of a civil war was felt in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to the possibility of revolts in the two countries. This paper tells us that Saudi have so much oil that it could inject it in the economy at anytime to reduce the global oil price. This concept is of basic demand and supply and we can understand here that the price would fall since as more levels of oil would be supplied then demanded, equilibrium would then be reach at a subsequently low price by the interaction of the demand and the supply curve. Further on this article discusses how customers adjust the rising oil prices. Since oil is an essential commodity, its demand therefore is inelastic. Consequently as prices go up, producers of oil raise the price and make more profits and the customers would still buy it since they have no option but to use it, it being a necessity for life. This makes it clear that goods which have an inelastic demand, their prices can easily be raised and the producer make a decent amount of money on

Stategic Managment - Board Report on MarketPlace Progress Essay

Stategic Managment - Board Report on MarketPlace Progress - Essay Example Even though the overall performance may not look substantial in the first quarter, market saturation has been acknowledged as one of the factors that led to the projection of these results. According to the financial reports of the first quarter, there has been a weak financial return, a clear indication that the company has long-term focus attributed by stock turnouts (Grünig and Kühn 2011). After the three years in this industry, Tech Nova Company has been considered as the third best in travelers demand with a total return of 448 points after universal and Pineapple computers. However, the marginal difference was quite narrow and can be easily attained. Moreover, the organisation forms the third best overall in market share. While striving to achieve its best competitive edge, the organisation has also put in place mechanisms to catch up with the second best firm before putting more emphasis of competing with the leading company (Dobson 2004). Tech Nova’s market segments are characterized by more emphasis on both workforce and the travelers. However, latest reviews have pointed it out that much more can be generated from the workforce as compared to travelers. In addition, achieving substantial results from both is even easier through adjustments of the previous results. The organisational long-term intention is to venture in to the market for Mercedes because, this is one of the leading firms whose monopoly within the first quarter is an indication of good potential for the market (Betz 2001). From the preliminary results of the first quarter, Tech Nova has been competing only within three markets, but due to the organisational potentials, other markets have been identified. The company can make expansion regionally to areas such as Tokyo and Toronto since only PineApple has been dominant in these areas. The main organisational objective is to expand its market

Hassan and Amir Essay Example for Free

Hassan and Amir Essay The texts in section A focus on cosmetic surgery on teenagers. Write a paper (700-1000 words) in which you answer the following questions. Answer the questions separately. 1. Give an outline of the various views on plastic surgery for teenagers, which are presented in texts 1 and 2 2. How dies Valerie Ulene engage the reader in the subject in text 1? Illustrate your answer with examples from the text. 3. Taking your starting point in text 3, discuss whether cosmetic surgery on teenagers should be banned. 1. Both given texts, â€Å"Plastic surgery for teens† by Valerie Ulene and â€Å"Seeking Self-Esteem. Through Surgery† by Camille Sweeny, have very similar views on plastic surgery for teenagers in America. They both hold the view that teenagers are pressured by set beauty standards, which are displayed by media and other industries. In the first text â€Å"Plastic surgery for teens† Valerie Ulene, the author and a specialist for preventive surgery in the US, says that America’s teenagers feel the need to undergo plastic surgery because they think of the beauty standards as the given norm and want to achieve those norms. Ulene is of the opinion that plastic surgery shouldn’t be the alternative to diets and exercise, because most teens are very impatient and change their opinions quickly, so they might regret their choice shortly after. She believes teens will obtain a better view on themselves, as they grow older and go through the process of growing up. It’s not entirely unwise to get a plastic surgery, according to Valerie Ulene, she thinks some teenagers, who have had the wish for a long time, should have the opportunity, but preferably when they are legally aloud to sign consent, until then parents and doctors should determine whether or not the teen should turn to a surgeon’s knife. The second text â€Å"Seeking Self-Esteem Through Surgery† by Camille Sweeny, the author is of the fairly same opinion as given in the first text. Sweeny also believes that the growing figures of teenage plastic surgery emanate from unreachable beauty standards. She quotes critics who think that the growing number of plastic surgery, especially among adolescent girls, stems from the fact, adolescents have low self esteem and because plastic surgery has become easy to access. Sweeny also thinks a lot of teenagers are unaware of the long-term effects, like pain Elena Haig 2C English or follow-up surgeries. She feels it is important to challenge the given standards and preach different ones, also it is important to accept one’s own appearance. 2. Valerie Ulene engages the reader by telling about herself and how she â€Å"disliked [her] nose as a teenager would be an understatement† (l. 1), this way the reader feels like she is honest and respectable. Furthermore she uses pronouns like â€Å"I† (l. 2, l. 3) to make clear that she states her own opinion. Ulene also makes use of modern terms like â€Å"getting it â€Å"done†Ã¢â‚¬ (l.3) and â€Å"fixed† (l. 62) and by doing that she seems closer to the teenagers, whom she wants to reach. Ulene appeals to logos and persuades the audience by reason, an example of this is â€Å"The American Society of Plastic Surgeons estimates that more than 330,000 adolescents (†¦)† (l. 6) where she uses data from a respected American institution and thus the reader trusts her and her opinion and she seems credible. Expressive adjectives like â€Å"ridiculous† (l. 17) or â€Å"tremendous† (l. 60) underline her statement on plastic surgery or beauty standards. Later on in the text she makes use of pathos to appeal to the readers’ emotions and convince them to believe in her argument by creating an emotional response. â€Å"With a 14-year-old daughter of my own, I recognize how difficult that [saying no to plastic surgery] can be. While I’d like to think that I’d dissuade – if not forbid – her from having cosmetic work done†. (ll. 58-59) With this quote the reader empathizes with Ulene, because it’s now a lot more understandable why she’s against plastic surgery on teenagers, and in the next paragraph she uses another example from her life where she diminishes the wish for plastic surgery by saying â€Å"as far as my own nose goes, I’ve never really grown to love it. I have grown used to it, however, and have no regrets that it was never fixed† (ll. 61-62). 3. â€Å"If they aren’t old enough to sign their own surgical consent for a medically necessary procedure, then they shouldn’t be able to induce their parents to do it for cosmetic surgery which is a personal, subjective, value-based decision, not a decision of medical necessity. † Dr. Pete Costantino According to this quote, the ban of cosmetic surgery for teenagers is a good idea. The topic of plastic and cosmetic surgery has been open for a lot of debate. The question whether it should Elena Haig 2C English be banned or not bears more than one problem and can be viewed from different sides. The main question is though, where a medically necessary procedure ends and becomes cosmetic surgery? On the one hand, there is the problem of the promoted unreachable beauty norms, which teenagers are exposed to everyday. These norms make some teenagers believe that their features are ugly or an abnormality, but they are mostly completely normal. A general ban of cosmetic surgery could help them rethink the view on their bodies. Also, a lot of teenagers are very impatient, and if they don’t have access to these kinds of surgeries, they are forced to wait and maybe they’ll rethink their decision. In contrast to this, some teenagers are so unbearably unhappy with their features that they don’t go to school, don’t interact socially or are confronted with bullying from their classmates. If cosmetic surgery is prohibited for citizens under 18 years, they don’t have any chance of improvement in their lives. Often, parents have very different morals and convictions than adolescents, and wouldn’t understand their child’s struggle, and in the long run the adolescent is the one who has to live with the given facial or physical features. All in all, I am only partly for a general ban of plastic surgery for minors. I think there should be a certification that the person undergoing plastic surgery is completely aware of the consequences the procedure will have and that this person has considered positive and negative effects of this decision. What I don’t agree with is that the government decides what distinguishes necessary medical surgery from cosmetic surgery. It’s not always visible if the person needs this surgery or not, there are often mental problems linked to the choice that is made. Words: 963 (without quote) Elena Haig 2C English 1) Later on in the text she makes use of In diesem Satz war ein Kongruenzfehler, denn in der 3. P singular â€Å"she† muss dem Verb ein â€Å"s† hinzugefugt werden. 2) By doing that she seems closer to the teenagers, whom she wants to reach. Hier muss â€Å"whom† verwendet werden, da es sich auf das Praposition â€Å"to† bezieht. 3) Nachstes mal werde ich in meiner Outline darauf achten, keine bis wenig Fluchtigkeitsfehler zu machen, um meine Sprache zu verbessern. Auch die grammatischen Strukturen mochte ich mehr beachten, so dass sie komplexer, vielfaltiger und korrekt sind. Auch von dem Inhalt her mochte ich versuchen ein wenig mehr auf Standpunkte einzugehen die ich eventuell nicht als wichtig empfinde. Um den Text leichter lesbar zu machen, versuche ich alle dargestellten Haltungen klarzustellen und genau zu erlautern. Beim zitieren versuche ich nachstes mal noch mehr auf das Integrieren in den Text zu achten, damit er flie? ender zu lesen wird. View as multi-pages Topics in this document Surgery, Plastic surgery, Reconstructive surgery, Microsurgery, Adolescence, Hand surgery, Hospital Related Documents Plastic Surgery Essay An Ugly Trend Plastic surgery is defined as repair, restoration, or improvement of lost, injured or defective body parts. It can also be used as a synonym for â€Å"fake† or â€Å"superficial. † Although the meaning of plastic surgery fluctuates between different people, the origin of the word â€Å"plastic† comes from the Greek â€Å"plastikos,† meaning able to be molded. † Throughout history, society values beauty. Individual’s pursuit in 1267 Words | 6 Pages Plastic Surgery Essay. PLASTIC SURGERY Plastic surgery is a special type of surgery that greatly improves not just your appearance, it improves self esteem and health at the same time it gives you a better quality of life. The name â€Å"Plastic surgery† which includes the word plastic doesnt mean patients who have this surgery end up with a face full of fake stuff. The name isnt taken 1267 Words | 3 Pages Essay on Teenage Girls and Plastic Surgery Mr. Archer English 11 AP 1 April 2011 Underage Girls Going Under the Knife Should teenage girls under the age of eighteen be allowed to undergo plastic surgery? According to recent statistics, rhinoplasty was performed on nearly 35,000 patients between the ages of thirteen and nineteen in 2009. The procedure accounted for nearly fifty percent of all cosmetic surgical procedures performed on this age group. If all cosmetic procedures like chemical peels, 1267 Words | 5 Pages Plastic Surgery Superficial or Necessary? Essay Plastic surgery is a very necessary form of surgery. It is needed by millions of Americans every year, not only to improve life, but in some cases, to save it. There are two types of plastic surgery: cosmetic and reconstructive. Cosmetic surgery consists of certain procedures used to â€Å"improve† a person’s natural features, or give a more youthful appearance, while reconstructive surgery is used to 1267 Words | 7 Pages Essay about rationale of plastic surgery ? The Rationale of Plastic Surgery Plastic surgery is a controversial issue among the society now. For some people, there is not agreed about undergo plastic surgery because they are grateful and appreciative with their natural beauty appearance what god gave to them and for Muslim’s religion does not give Muslim’s change appearance have been given by Allah. Every countries now has a 1267 Words | 5 Pages Plastic Surgery Beauty or Beast? Essay Swan 2, she morphed into a beauty queen after a slew of plastic surgery proceduresa brow lift, lower eye lift, mid-face lift, fat transfer to her lips and cheek folds, laser treatments for aging skin, tummy tuck, breast lift, liposuction of her inner thighs and dental procedures. The Fox show gives contestants plastic surgery and then has them compete in a beauty pageant, which last year Stiles won. The Swan and other such 1267 Words | 5 Pages. Essay about Plastic Surgery Cosmetic surgery is very common these days it is no longer only accessible to rich and famous. Any person in the world can have the procedure they want done, most people think cosmetic surgery is unsafe but it is only unsafe if your surgeon is not qualified. Here are the 5 top reasons why most people get cosmetic surgery. 1. Health Reasons. Some people may have gone through rough times caused by sickness or massive weight loss, so its only 1267 Words | 5 Pages Should Teenagers Be Discouraged from Doing Plastic Surgery? Essay. doing plastic surgery? What is plastic surgery? Plastic surgery is ‘the process of reconstructing or repairing parts of the body by the transfer of tissue, either in the treatment of injury or for cosmetic reasons’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2010). Sushrutha from India, who is known as the ‘Father of Plastic Surgery’, had carried out plastic surgery a 1267 Words | 5 Pages Cite This Document APA (2015, 04). plastic surgery outline.

Functional Requirements Of Cladding System Construction Essay

Functional Requirements Of Cladding System Construction Essay Cladding can be defined as a protective or insulating layer fixed to the outside of the building or any other structure. The objectives of cladding system to be built are: To provide enclosure. The cladding was made to provide enclosure to the building which will give the necessary protection against the weather and external changes. Speed of dry construction. The usage of off-site prefabrication for the cladding can provide a drier and faster construction. It imposes minimal additional dead load. The cladding is usually made from a lightweight material and thus the additional load impose on the building is minimum. It enhances architectural concept and impress the appearance of the building. The cladding is made from a different type of materials. So, each of the material used may extrude the appearance of the building according to the concept and function of the building that the architect wants to design. It can control internal environment. The cladding system can control the internal environment of the building such as controlling light penetrating into the building, controlling the radiation and conduction of heat from the sun, and many others. To achieve the objectives, the cladding system should obey some of the functional requirements. The primary functions of cladding system is to separate the indoor environment of a building from the outdoors in such a way that the outdoors environment will not affecting the indoors and the indoor environment can be maintained at levels suitable for the intended use. The other functional requirements of the cladding system are as follows: The cladding system should have a good strength and stability. The cladding system must have adequate strength to support its own weight between the points of support or fixings to the structural frame whereas the sufficient stability is needed to against the lateral wind pressure exposed to the building. Both of these features are required in the cladding system to allow the differential movement between itself; in terms of material expansion and contraction, between the structural frame or the differential movement in other adjacent building element. The cladding system should have exclusion of wind and rain. To fulfil these criteria, a common practice is to construct a solid cladding system with an outer leaf as a rain screen and inner leaf as insulator. Thus, the materials used to seal joints are required to be resilient enough to accommodate movement and resist weather deterioration. To sustain the pressure and suctions by the wind, the cladding must be adequately strong and stiff. The wind directions and velocities are greater at the upper reaches of building. The cladding system must have durability and freedom of maintenance. The minimum frequency and extent of work is necessary to maintain the minimum functional requirements and acceptable appearance of the cladding. As an instance, the glass cladding requires frequent cleaning and renewal of seal to maintain its performance whereas the sheet metal cladding need to be observed and carefully take care of it as it is easily undergo oxidation process and faded. The cladding system has the control of internal temperatures. This is due to the solar gain through the glass panels. The internal temperature can be controlled by three ways. First is by using a deep recessed window in conjunction with external vertical fins. Secondly, by using non-transparent external louvers and thirdly is by using a special solar control glass. The cladding system has a great resistance towards fire. The system must fulfil the building regulations by the local authority. The materials used as a lining for insulation must be made from a non-combustible material. The cladding system should include thermal properties by controlling the radiation and conduction of heat. The lining of the cladding material need to provide additional insulation to control the heat. To radiate the flow of heat from the sun, the interior surfaces of the cladding need to be at the temperature that will not cause radiant discomfort which is neither too hot nor too cold. To control the conduction of heat, the cladding must be made from a low conductivity of heat material to avoid localised condensation on interior surfaces, thermal bridges and stabilised the required degree of the conduction of heat into and out of the building. The cladding system should be equipped with sound insulation. The cladding system should isolate the noise outside the building from the interior of the building or the interior of the building from the external noise. The isolation of noise is best achieved by walls that posses the features of airtight, massive and resilient. The used of resilient pad to prevent sound originating within the structure to be transferred vertically through the cladding members. The airborne sound can be prevented by utilising double glazing panel to windows area. The cladding systems must provide sufficient openings for the admittance of natural daylight and ventilation. The admittance of the sunlight into the building must be controlled as the sunlight has ultraviolet ray which is harmful towards human skin and must be kept off from inferior material that easily disintegrate or fade. The visible light of sunlight is useful for illumination but it can also be bothersome because it causes glare. Question 2 (b) A client requires a road that requires little maintenance with reasonable non-skid properties. With the aid of diagram, suggest a type of road and the construction methodology for the proposed road. The type of road that requires little maintenance and reasonable non-skid properties is a rigid pavement or also known as concrete road. A rigid pavement consists of a concrete slab resting on a thin granular base. The pavement may be Unreinforced Concrete (URC), Jointed Reinforced Concrete (JRC) or Continuously Reinforced Concrete (CRCP). The concrete slab should be Pavement Quality Concrete (PQC), manufactured, laid and cured according to the specification required. Figure 1: Cross-section of Pavement Structure The basic rigid pavement structure consists of subgrade (existing soil), sub-base course, base course and surface course (concrete). The sub-base course and base course are optional depending on the location of the road to be made. Sub-base layer consists of a lean concrete base and a layer of cement-bound granular base or soil cement base. The total thickness of sub-base and concrete slab should be a minimum of 450mm. The function of sub-base is assisting the drainage, protecting the subgrade against frost, and, in the case of fine-grained soils is to prevent pumping where the ejection of water and silt through joints or cracks occurs due to the downwards movement of the slab caused by heavy wheel loads. The materials used as a granular sub-base are crushed rock, crushed slag, crushed concrete, natural sand, gravels or well-burnt non-plastic shale. After the placement of sub-base layer, an anti-friction membrane is placed over and normally polythene sheeting that performs extra function of preventing grout loss from freshly laid concrete. The concrete slab is normally placed by a concreting train that runs on a heavy duty road form to prevent deflection and is bedded in position at least 24 hours before concreting tthe slab. A hopper unit is usually included in the concrete train to feed the concrete on the base through a conveyor belt. This operation may be carry out alternatively by using a screw-type spreader. Then, the concrete is laid onto the fabric reinforcement, followed by the placing of the fabric, a second spreader and compactor unit to complete the slab. Next, a surcharge is placed on the top layer of concrete to gain maximum compaction. An alternative method to lay the slab is by using a slip-form paver. This plant requires no side forms and mounted on crawler tracks. It is capable of laving pavement at 2m per minute. The general method of rigid pavement costruction consists of placement, consolidation, finishing, curing and jointing. Placement This process involves equipments and procedures use to place the pre-cast concrete on a desired thickness of surface. The concrete can be pour and spread by using truck or truck attachments. For a more accurate and even placement, a placementmachine can be use instead. The concrete will become less homogenous or tend to segregate after it has been unloaded from the truck. Thus, the screeding process is carried out immediately after the concrete placement. The excess portion of roughly pre-cast concrete are cut off to the required level of slab elevation. This can be done by dragging a straightedge at the required elevation across the slab. Figure 2: Placement Over Dowel Bars in an Intersection Figure 3: Placement in Front of a Rolling Screed Consolidation This process is use to eliminate undesirable voids in any ways possible. This process removes undesirable air voids and causing it to move around reinforcing steel or other potential obstruction and thus, makes the freshly placed pre-cast concrete more uniform and compact mass. The process of consolidation is completed by using a vibrator that can be characterised as a long and slender vibration rods. The vibrator works by moving back and forth to rotate an eccentric weight which causes the particles in the pre-cast concrete mass to excite to move close together for a better flow around obstruction. However, the vibrator need to be controlled carefully as the exccess or too little vibration can cause the coarse aggregate particles to be non-uniformly distributed. Finishing Finishing process involves all the steps and equipment used to create the final surface finish and texture of fresh pre-cast concrete. This process can be divided into two parts; floating and texturing. Floating. This process involves different tools and may use multiple passes over the same surface. This is done by running a flat surface across the concrete to remove high and low spots, eliminate the imperfections, and compact the mortar at the surface for texturing. Texturing. The concrete is quite smooth after the floating. So, texturing process is carried out to create a slip resistance surface for traffic. The pattern is done by dragging a rough-texture item across the surface. There are two types of texturing; microtexture and macrotexture. Microtexture. The texturing is done by dragging a section of artificial turf or burlap behind the paver. This can enhances frictional force between the tires of vehicles and the surface of pavement and thus increases safety at lower speeds. Macrotexture. The texturing is done by tining the pavement surface. This type of texturing allows the water to escape from between the tyres of vehicles and the pavement and thus increases the safety at high speeds.   Figure 4: Microtexture Figure 5: Macrotexture Curing The curing process is the maintenance of required temperature and satisfactory moisture in pre-cast concrete as it hardens to develop desired properties such as strength, durability and density. These properties related to the extent of hydration of concrete which depend on the moisture and temperature of the site. The perfection of the hydration can results in the better concretes properties. Jointing This process involves the actions to insert purposeful discontinuities in the pavement and seal them appropriately. Joints are formed in slab for allowing and controlling the movements such as expansion,contraction and warping. There are two types of materials used in joints, a sealer that separates the slab and a sealing compound that fills the top of joint. The material used as a joint fillings are cork, rubber or sheet bitumen. On completion, the surface of the slab may be textured by brushing with a wire broom at right angles to the centre line of the carriageway to gives a better skidding resistance and uniform appearance. The slab should be cured immediately after brush treatment by spraying with a curing compound. Question 2 (c): Describe the performance and specify the material that can be used to fill the void of disused structures, e.g. culverts, redundant sewers, cellars, and basements and also for soil structural stabilisation, e.g. bridge abutments, tunnel stabilisation, and embankments. The material that can be used to fill the voids of disused structure is foamed concrete. Specifically, it is called Highly Air-entrained Mortar (HAM) or also known as aerated concrete. Ready-mix foam concrete is highly workable and contain up to 50 percent air-entrained which lead to a low density material. This type of concrete can self-levelling, self-compacting and can be pumped with the risk of settlement cracking and plastic shrinkage is lower than a normal concrete. The performances of the foamed concrete can be divided into three categories which are plastic state advantages, working improvements and final concrete performance. At plastic stage advantages, the foam concrete can be implemented to a variety project needs and operational conditions as it is more practical than any other materials. The features of concrete that satisfy at this stage are as follows: The concrete can be produced on site or off site. This feature allows an immediate placement on delivery and thus, no space is needed for storage. This will also lead to nice workability retention. The concrete has wide range of possible mixes of materials according to its usage. The proportion of mixture is adjustable to fulfil required performance. This may results in controlled density and strength of the concrete. The concrete has a stable chemical structure. So, no soil analysis and moisture checks between layers are required. This is due to its compatibility with almost all building products and materials. The concrete has a cellular fill. This may cause the external contamination face difficulties to penetrate into the concrete. At the working improvements category, the free-flowing properties of these concrete contribute to the following features and benefits: The concrete is easy to place and finish. It uses only a single process of installation where the concrete is pour and then levelled. This lead to a reduction in cost for labour and supervision. Besides, the specialist machinery such as compactors or vibrators is not needed. The foam concrete is pumpable. They can be pumped at a significant distance by using a simple conventional concrete pump. The concrete is self-compacting and self-levelling. This feature makes it ideal for an inaccessible trench where the compaction is difficult to carry out. It allows the concrete to discharge into narrow space and fully fills the void. At final concrete performance category, the plastic state qualities have finally translated into significant final performances. The performances are as follows: The concrete has high entrained air content. This feature makes the concrete becomes more resistance towards freezing or thaw damage. The entrained air content also acts as a good thermal and acoustic insulation. The foam concrete has a good cohesion. The cohesion makes the concrete as a stable foam structure that reduces settlements. The cohesion also helps in the reduction of bleeding and segregation of concrete The density and strength of the foam concrete can be controlled. The range of densities and strengths is available for each type of foam concrete. The lower strength concrete allows removal of subsequent access to services The foam concrete has a stable structure which makes it can be surfaced after twenty-four hours. Question 2 (d): Briefly describe the activities involved in external works at the start of the contract. External works can be generally defined as the construction works done externally from the main building. The external works can be divided into two; at contract commencement and at the end of contract. The activities involved in external works at the start of the contract are drainage, temporary access and buildings, and public utilities whereas the activities involved at the end of contract consists of road and pavement, fencing, landscaping and minor external works. Drainage can be divided into two types; underground/subsurface drainage and surface drainage. Subsurface drainage was made to collect the water from where it is not wanted to some other place such as removing and disposing of surplus groundwater from gardens and other plots of open land. The system usually deals with foul water from kitchen, toilets and any industrial process or combining foul water with surface water. The subsurface drainage system consists of underground pipe line, manhole/inspection chamber and culvert. The underground pipe line pipes and sewer pipes can be made of vitrified clay, uPVC, concrete, high density polyethylene (HDPE) and many others. The jointing of plain ended pipes is made by means of a coupling where the socketed pipe that has distinguishable male and female ends must be laid with female end pointing upstream. To construct underground pipe line, the pipes should be laid in straight line from point to point with a fall to a steady gradient. The type of bedding is depending on the pipes material to protect the pipes from ruptures or breakage. The fittings and access points must be installed at head of run, bend or change of direction, change in pipe diameter and at junction, unless all runs connected to junction can be rodded from another access point. The second part of subsurface drainage system is manhole, access point and inspection chamber. The access chambers are intended to provide simple access for cursory inspection and access for drain rods or other maintenance equipment. The inspection chambers (IC) are larger than access chambers. It provides access for maintenance equipment, but tends to have more branches feeding into them. The manholes (MH) are the largest chambers providing access to sewer or drain for maintenance equipment. The manholes can be made from brick (brick manhole) or pre-cast concrete manhole. The brick manhole typically have 215mm thick brickwork with a mass concrete as benching whereas the pre-cast concrete manhole only 50-60mm thick, although those built beneath vehicular trafficked areas should have been haunches with mass concrete at least 150mm thick. Figure 6: The Cross-section of Pre-cast Concrete Manhole The third part of subsurface drainage system is culvert. Culvert is a structure which provides a waterway or other opening under a road. The type of pipe culvert should be class Z spun reinforced concrete with spun concrete collars or spigot and socket type. Figure 7: The Culvert The second type of drainage is surface drainage system. The system collects water from the roof and the paving, often discharging this relatively clean water into a local watercourse to reduce demand on the effluent treatment plant. The surface water systems are gulley and access point, continuous grating over pre-cast concrete channels and combined kerb and drainage systems. The gulley and access point can be classed into individual trapped gulley and road gullies. The individual trapped gully commonly used with rainwater downspouts for draining large area of paving. The road gullies are basically much larger and used within carriageways. The continuous grating over pre-cast channels can be made from wide range materials such as HDPE, polymer concrete and stainless steel. The combined kerb and drainage systems act as road isolator and discharge point of collected surface water. Figure 8: The Kerb Second external works done at start of the contract is the construction of temporary access, storage area, car parking and site facilities. These are the major components to be built before any construction of building can take places in provision of difficult access to all parts of the site, difficulties in storage of materials and for the site facilities and car parking. For the construction of temporary access, the contractor will lay the base course of permanent road to minimise the cost. The site temporary road can be kept dry by laying the drainage system as soon as possible. The third external works at the commencement of contract is the public utilities services. The services that involves are water system, electricity and cabling for telephone. The public utilities need to be planned ahead before any major structures are built. Any constructions of service mains and ducts should start concurrently with foundation construction stage so that it will not hinder the construction activities.

Gladiatorial Combat In Rome :: Gladiators, Chariots, Roman Games

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gladiatorial contests (munera gladitoria), hold a central place in our perception of Roman behavior. They were also a big influence on how Romans themselves ordered their lives. Attending the games was one of the practices that went with being a Roman. The Etruscans who introduced this type of contest in the sixth century BC, are credited with its development but its the Romans who made it famous. A surviving feature of the Roman games was when a gladiator fell he was hauled out of the arena by a slave dressed as the Etruscan death-demon Charun. The slave would carry a hammer which was the demon's attribute. Moreover, the Latin term for a trainer-manager of gladiators (lanista), was believed to be an Etruscan word. (4:50) Gladiators of Ancient Rome lived their lives to the absolute fullest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gladiatorial duels had originated from funeral games given in order to satisfy the dead man's need for blood, and for centuries their principle occasions were funerals. The first gladiatorial combats therefore, took place at the graves of those being honored, but once they became public spectacles they moved into amphitheaters. (2:83) As for the gladiators themselves, an aura of religious sacrifice continued to hang about their combats. Obviously most spectators just enjoyed the massacre without any remorseful reflections. Even ancient writers felt no pity, they were aware that gladiators had originated from these holocausts in honor of the dead. What was offered to appease the dead was counted as a funeral rite. It is called munus (a service) from being a service due. The ancients thought that by this sort of spectacle they rendered a service to the dead, after they had made it a more cultured form of cruelty. The belief was that the souls of the dead are appeased with human blood, they use to sacrifice captives or slaves of poor quality at funerals. Afterwards it seemed good to obscure their impiety by making it a pleasure. (6:170) So after the acquired person had been trained to fight as best they can, their training was to learn to be killed! For such reasons gladiators were sometimes known as bustuarii or funeral men. Throughout many centuries of Roman history, these commemorations of the dead were still among the principle occasions for such combats. Men writing their wills often made provisions for gladiatorial duels in connection with their funerals. Early in the first century AD, the people of Pollentia forcibly prevented the burial of an official, until his heirs had been compelled to provide money for a gladiators' show. (1:174)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was in Campania and Lucania that the gladiatorial games came to their

john kerry :: essays research papers

Kerry's rivals wax optimistic Massachusetts senator goes for third weekend win Howard Dean braves the cold weather to speak to supporters outside of a caucus site in Bangor, Maine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Story Tools -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CNN ELECTION EXPRESS On the campaign trail: The latest Express Line dispatch VIDEO Kerry wins caucuses in Washington state and Michigan. PLAY VIDEO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry sharpens his attack on the Bush administration. PLAY VIDEO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOP may target Kerry by labeling him a "Massachusetts liberal." PLAY VIDEO RELATED Gallery: Analyzing the results Gallery: On the campaign trail Gallery: The candidates, up closer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- †¢ Kerry labels Bush 'extreme' †¢ Dean loses endorsement †¢ Edwards focuses on the South †¢ Analyzing Michigan, Washington †¢ Poll: Kerry has national appeal DEMOCRATIC CONTESTS †¢ Sunday, February 8: Maine caucuses †¢ Tuesday, February 10: Tennessee and Virginia primaries †¢Tuesday, February 17: Wisconsin primary When is your primary? For more key dates in the 2004 election season, see our special America Votes 2004 Election Calendar SPECIAL REPORT †¢ Complete February 3 results †¢ Upcoming Races: Washington, Michigan, Maine †¢ Delegate Scorecard †¢ Primary Explainer †¢ Special Report YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS America Votes 2004s Presidential Race Democratic candidates Presidential primaries or Create your own Manage alerts | What is this? BANGOR, Maine (CNN) -- Democrats across Maine braved frigid winds Sunday to have their say in presidential caucuses in which 24 delegates to the party's nominating convention are up for grabs. Front-runner Sen. John Kerry of neighboring Massachusetts entered the Maine contest with the momentum from two dominant first-place showings in Saturday's caucuses in Washington and Michigan. Kerry also has the endorsements of Maine's Democratic governor, John Baldacci, and former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell. A win in Maine would be his 10th victory in 12 primaries and caucuses. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, struggling to revive his once-promising campaign, was the only candidate barnstorming the state Sunday, making stops in six cities, hoping his fellow New Englanders don't give him the cold shoulder. "Maine folks are just like Vermont people -- they're very independent. And that's a great place to start the turnaround," Dean said after greeting supporters in Bangor who braved sub-zero wind chill to cheer their candidate. Results from the caucuses were expected from party officials about 9 p.m. Dean finished second in both caucuses Saturday. He got 30 percent of the delegate support in Washington, his best showing in any of the nominating contests held so far. But he was nearly 20 points behind Kerry, and 35 points behind him in Michigan.

Evaluate the claim that modern political parties are failing to perform their traditional functions :: essays research papers

To answer this question, we most identify the key roles of a political party in the political system. Political Parties must identify their leaders who in turn, become the offered leaders to take control of the country. Skills of persuasion, organisation of support, public speaking, committee work, and public campaigning are all essential qualities for leaders of political parties. Currently, the leaders of the Labour Party, Conservative’s and Liberal Democrats represent a range of viewpoints, giving the UK voter a choice, depending upon their opinions. Political parties nominate individuals to important positions in public services e.g. hospital trusts. They also choose the minister for that service; e.g. Education minister Jane Davidson for the Welsh Assembly. In general these choices are sensible and not overly radical. Therefore we can see that this traditional function is being performed accurately. Political Parties also are responsible for creating legislation, a vital job involving producing coherent policy programmes. A recent example of British Government doing this, is the 2001 Terrorism Act and the soon to be announced 2005 terrorist legislation. Parties are creating necessary and modern legislation, so it cannot be said that they are failing in this aspect. Parties also organise the timetable of Parliament whilst supplying members to the various committees, produced to reach decisions. Timetabling is obviously going ahead, or there would be no Parliament. The Neill committee, created in 1994 discusses the funding of political parties and the equality. Political Parties also scrutinise the other parties work in the Parliament successfully. By successful, I mean disputing other parties suggestions, arguing for changes in the law. Daily disputes break out in the House of Commons between MP’s, indicating a good scrutiny of legislation.

The Investiture Controversy

The Investiture Controversy is seen often times as a significant conflict between Church and State in medieval Europe. However, it was really a conflict over two radically different views of whether the secular authorities such as kings or dukes, had any legitimate role in appointments of spiritual offices such as bishoprics. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the control of appointments or investitures of church officials such as bishops and abbots became a conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.This reveals that medieval society had to decide which authority figure to support, either the secular or spiritual authority, because each one believed that the other was entitled to more authority than the other. The Investiture Controversy was significant in medieval history because though Henry IV and Gregory VII had very different opinions of what the spiritual and secular authorities duties were they both wished to preserve the Catholic faith against corr uption. The Middle Ages began after the fall of the Roman Empire.Significant changes began to occur in every part of the continent due to the lack of an absolute ruler, which was Rome. The churches around Rome looked to the Pope for guidance but seeing that their needs were not being met, nobles and especially kings assumed numerous Christian duties, including the protection and foundation of churches and abbeys. Although canon law, which is the body of laws and regulations made for the government of the Christian organization and its members, declared that bishops were to be elected by the clergy and the people but the rulers ignored it.Secular authority slowly started to become more dominant than spiritual authority being that weak church authorities were monitoring their powers. During the eighth and ninth centuries, the Roman aristocracy dominated the election of the papacy due to no Carolingian powers to control them. The aristocratic family with the most power would have the a bility to elect the pope or sell his office. Bishops and abbots were nominated and installed by rulers in a ceremony known since the second half of the eleventh century as investiture.This was a ceremony conducted by the king who granted the new bishop or abbots with a staff and, since the reign of Emperor Henry III (1039-1056), a ring signifying that they â€Å"receive the church†. By church it did not only mean the spiritual office but also the secular rights. In return to the king, an oath of fealty to the ruler was made that indicated homage to the king that the bishop or abbot would assist the ruler spiritually and materially, which would fulfill the requirement of â€Å"service to the king† including paying fees, distribution of fiefs to royal supporters, military support, and court attendance as an adviser and collaborator.A notable monarch who practiced investiture was Holy Roman Emperor, Henry III. Henry III wanted to be crowned emperor but currently there wer e three popes, Benedict IX, Sylvester III, and Gregory VI because of the domination of the Roman aristocracy. Henry III reached Rome in 1046 and imposed his secular authority over the situation and elected as the new pope a German, Suidger, bishop of Bamberg, who was inaugurated as Clement II.Control over the Roman Church passed into the hands of the German king. In succeeding years, Henry III used his secular authority to appoint a pope at three more occasions. The spiritual authority was in ruins and a need for reformation within the church was necessary. A man who began reforming the church was Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg, who later became Pope Leo IX, was a German aristocrat and a powerful spiritual ruler of central Italy while pope.On the death of Pope Damasus II, Bruno was selected as his successor but as a condition of his acceptance for the papacy, he had to first proceed to Rome and be freely elected by the voice of the clergy and people of Rome. After receiving much suppor t of his election, Bruno formally became Leo IX. Favoring traditional morality in his reformation of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo IX publicly declared that he was against simony that had been occurring due to a weakened and corrupt papacy. Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church.Another type of reformation in church that had been occurred before the Investiture Controversy was the establishment of Cluny Abbey. Founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910 this Benedictine monastery was located in Cluny, France. William I nominated Berno as the first Abbot of Cluny who forced a strict enforcement to the Rule of St. Benedict. Though this was a demonstration of a secular authority appointing an abbot to a spiritual office, William I released the Cluny abbey from all future obligation to him and his family ther than prayer: Therefore be it known to all who live in unity of the faith and who await mercy of Christ, and to those who shall succeed them and who shall continue to exist until the end of the world, that, for the love of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, I hand over from my own rule to the holy apostles, Peter, namely, and Paul, the possessions over which I hold sway, the town of Cluny, namely, with the court and demesne manor, and the church in honor of St. Mary the mother of God and of St.Peter the prince of the apostles, together with all the things pertaining to it, the vills, indeed, the chapels, the serfs of both sexes, the vines, the fields, the meadows, the woods, the waters and their outlets, the mills, the incomes and revenues, what is cultivated and what is not, all in their entirety. This is an extremely significant declaration by a secular authority figure because not only did many other secular authorities follow William I’s example, monasteries across Europe began adopting the Rule of St.Benedict causing many leaders in the spiritual realm to rise agai nst the secular authority and start to divide the powers between the church and state. Before becoming the pope who would challenge secular authority over the topic of investiture, Hildebrand of Sovana was a cluniac monk who was deacon and papal administrator for the Leo IX. During the reign his reign, Nicholas II established a new election system for the papacy. The Papal Election Decree of Nicholas II was established in 1059.It declared that a College of Cardinals would convene, during a period of vacancy in the papal office to elect a Bishop of Rome who then becomes pope. However, Hildebrand did not become Pope Gregory VII by the College of Cardinals. He was elected in an informal fashion and the decree of Nicholas II was ignored, nevertheless Hildebrand did not encounter strong opposition and received sacerdotal ordination thus becoming pope Gregory VII. A reformer, Gregory VII’s main focus was to reform the church and by that he wanted to reduce the secular authority ove r the spiritual.He strongly believed that God alone founded the Church and that she is supreme over all human structures, especially the secular state. However, he did believe that there could be coexistence of church and state, but in no way were they two equals. The superiority of church was much greater than that of the state because God elected the church officials while men who could be corrupt selected the state officials. Henry III had retained a firm hold on the church and resolved a schism.However, after Henry III died at an early age, his son Henry IV believed that he had been appointed by God to become Emperor and spiritual authority figures like the pope were subordinate to him and his decisions. Known as the Milan Controversy, there were two candidates in the running for the position of archbishop. The people of Milan who were supported by the pope supported one of the candidates. However, Henry IV countered by having his own nominee demonstrating a secular authority at tempting to elect a candidate of a religious authority, referring to a king-committing investiture.Henry IV interfered in the situation to help resolve the issue rather than allowing the people of Milan with the support of Pope Gregory VII to achieve a resolution. Refusing to obey the spiritual authority, Henry IV received a letter from Pope Gregory VII warning him of an awful fate if he is to ignore the pope’s negotiations in regards to the investiture problem. Offended by this threat, Henry IV refused to obey the pope because of his belief that God had made him emperor. God alone was the only one who determined the wrongs of kings or emperors.Nevertheless, Pope Gregory VII replied by excommunicating Henry IV for refusing to accept that a king or emperor must obey the wishes of a spiritual authority and continue to interfere in church matters, thus the Investiture Controversy ensued. A series of letters by Gregory VII and Henry IV presented the positions of each side and the ir attempts to best their opponents in public opinion. Gregory VII wanted Henry IV’s acknowledgement that the spiritual authority triumphed over the secular authority.Pope Gregory VII demonstrates in many of his letters that though Henry IV was an emperor he is unfit to appoint bishops or abbots because God had elected church officials who are able to perform such actions. Hence, Henry IV should withdraw all his power from church matters just like William I had done for the Cluny Abbey. Establishing that royal powers were subordinate to the priesthood because secular authority figures continuously lusted for power, which in the eyes of the church lowers their spirituality for committing an act that is considered a sin.Henry IV retorted with the claim that Pope Gregory VII was never a pope due to the fact that he had been appointed by an invalid election and even attempted to gain the papal office while the current pope was alive. Again, when a synod was celebrated in the time of Pope Nicholas [II], in which one hundred twenty-five bishops sat together, it was decided and decreed under anathema that no one would ever become pope except by the election of the cardinals and the approbation of the people, and by the consent and authority of the king.In this statement, Henry IV agrees with the idea that cardinals have the right to elect a new pope but a person of extremely high authority, like himself, has the right to agree or disagree with the decision made by the College of Cardinals. Among other accusations that Henry IV made against Gregory VII, he deemed the pope as a â€Å"bad monk† who did not follow what he preached and had mistresses before and after he became pope. Henry IV finally indicated that God alone can judge the actions of the secular authority and that no spiritual authority, especially a corrupt one such as Gregory VII, could assert their authority over a king.The Investiture Controversy was between the church and state and the ma in issue was the rulers’ ability to continue to invest and install bishops and abbots with the symbols of their office. It soon quickly became an argument between Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Gregory VII trying to determine which had more authority, spiritual or secular. Gregory VII saw the emperor’s disobedience to the papacy as an attack on the church, while Henry IV viewed it as the pope forcing his authority over an emperor.However, each saw that the other side was corrupt and unfit to make decisions within the church. Both wished to control the matters of the church since according to each side, God had elected him to his position of authority signifying more power than the other one. Nevertheless, their main goal was to keep the sacrifices of mass and the church untainted, with no influence of corrupt authority figures.Bibliography Geary, Patrick J. â€Å"Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV†, in Readings in Medieval History , 562-586. Toronto: Univ ersity of Toronto Press Incorporated, 2010. Geary, Patrick J. â€Å"Cluniac Charters†, in Readings in Medieval History , 315-321. Toronto: University of Toronto Press Incorporated, 2010. Thompson, James Westfall. â€Å"Church and State in Medieval Germany. † The American Journal of Theology, 22, no. 4 (1918): 513-540, doi: 19, Feb. 2012. http://www. jstor. org/stable/3155326 ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Henry III was the son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. His accession to the throne did not lead to civic unrest due to the fact that he was a descendent from the two sides that were causing civil war in the empire. [ 2 ]. The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book written by St. Benedict of Nurisa for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. [ 3 ]. Patrick J. Geary, â€Å"Cluniac Charters†, in Readings in Medieval History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press Incorporated, 2010), 316. [ 4 ]. Patrick J. Geary, â€Å"Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV†, in Readings in Medieval History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press Incorporated, 2010), 580.

Musical Impact Essay

In society today, music is shown to have an impact on ways of life. People within the society are raised with it in some way. Music is always present in society. It is natural then, to wonder about the origin of music. Music is a special type of sound and noises mixed in together. People create the meanings of these sounds and noises to create their own opinions and emotions of expressing themselves. Many people believed that music is created in the mind for this same reason. That we have the sounds and noises that are heard are within our own human being and along that, it can come once we are born with it. Although, this may not be true, due to the differences in today’s society, there are many aspects that can have a control of the musical taste of a person. One’s musical interests are not based on biology, rather the individual’s environment: community, culture, religion, and geography. First of all a community can effect an individual interest in music. The definition of a community is having the same beliefs, resources, needs and risks. When people tend to share and have the same interest they tend to also have the same interest in music. The term â€Å"community music† finds no more resonating tone than within minority groups working toward social acceptance and assimilation (Hayes 6). As shown in the International Journal we can see people tend to stick together in order to have the same identity and be accepted in the group. Also sharing the same risks and resources will help them have communication within each other, making it be easier on them to be able to relate. An example of this would be people in community, such as in Honduras, they have a lot of different beliefs. For example, in the burials, the community gathers around in order to their last goodbye to the deceased. Then they called upon a band, which in their thoughts mean that they celebrate the life of the deceased. They each sing and walk with the burial service and take them around. This event mentioned, to some may be disrespectful, but to Hondurans is a way to communicate with the dead. It shows that they respect him or her and show him or her that they are celebrating the life they had. Having communication in music brings to a community a better aspect to people and it is also very important for them. Yes, they can be sounds and noises to some, but many do not think that way. Like the people in Honduras, their beliefs are very important and they demonstrate them through music. Therefore, a community could determine a person’s interest in music because a community makes an individual do the same thing as other people. Another example would be, if a person listens to rock and they see that other people listen to it too, than they will would go ahead and hear it to. Secondly, culture is also another factor that influences music preferences on individuals. The culture of someone can affect the way of music choices. The two factors that generate culture will be academic knowledge and manners taught to each person (Yudkin 27). Each culture then possesses on its own musical language. This musical language reflects its own traditions, concerns, and activities; and in order to begin to understand the music of another culture, we need to understand something of the nature of its culture systems and the role the music plays in them (Yadkin 5). This is because many of the cultures have different academics and manners taught to them. An example is the culture would be of the Mandinka of Gambia in Senegal, they have a special musician leader, known as a jali. This leader is very important to the tribe due to that fact that he knows all the prayers and all the history of the tribe (Miller 44). As shown in this example each culture has its own special person and holds music as a special part of the community. The important part here is that a person needs to grow up somewhere. That place holds a significant knowledge making them a part of that culture group. With growing with them they hold a place within the culture. Music brings them all together making them communicate with each other easily and bring them normalcy. When this takes place the individual takes the musical knowledge and incorporates it into their system and beliefs. The beliefs that they incorporated can be seen in their academic areas. The literature, dance, and theater cannot go anywhere and do their expected ideas across without music. Music has to be in these areas in order to function well and be able to get the individuals culture across to the people. For example, dance cannot function without music. It gives the person the beats and the melody in order to create the feeling they want to get across to their audience (Miller 57). Dance also has different meanings in culture. A New Yorker can have a different rhythm than a person from China. This difference can be seen with the music they choose for their arts and their dance. It’s really difficult to be able to be prejudice to others cultures, because every culture is different. Music has that effect on society because it teaches the cultures and meanings of one’s society. The mixture of music to other society is also shown. Many of these arts can be seen throughout the world and from them people learn the differences in music. Music such as Jazz, Blues, and Gospels were produced when Europeans and Africans came together during the late nineteenth and twentieth century’s (Miller 61). Here we can see two cultures mixed in together and this is shown through their mix of their own music. Music can bring together worlds and is all due to its simplicity such as using their melodies and sounds. Music creates a new world for many people. The third factor that can affect the music choices of the individuals is the fact of one’s religion. Many religions do not allowed their followers to hear music from the outside world such hip-hop and rock. As said by Kong, â€Å"its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media the moral barricades are manned by bishops (Kong 104)†. An example of this is Christians and Catholics which have very different opinions regarding music. Christians is the larger group that includes Catholics. Christian women followers are not allowed to wear pants or the followers are not able to hear any type of music because in their regard they are preventing is a sin from them. While Catholic Church allowed their followers to wear their clothing with respect to God and be able to choose the type of music they listen to. As seen the music plays a big role due to the fact that Catholic churches make prayers into songs and sing them with their hearts, believing that God can be able to hear them (Miller kj187). While Christians cannot be able to do the same pray and sing to God due to the banned of music within their own. To many this is not unusual seeing the difference of worship. But once looked inside and see the music playing its role is different because it makes people think about what God thinks and which one he would prefer. If it is just music and prayers, then there is no music at all in its gatherings of worship. This is important because music can be seen playing a role in religions and making individuals having a different taste to the one with a Catholic follower. The religion of a person a can limit the person the knowledge of the evolution of the music outside their group. This can make it hard on them to relate to the others outside the society. The last and important factor that can make a difference in ones interest in music is the geography. Many people as seen can have different views and belief but geography make them have a different taste in music. We hear the melody, but we feel the beat. People in all cultures move their bodies to the rhythms of music, whether drumming, dancing, or rocking an infant (Silver and Trainer 2). This is important because a person in Los Angeles California will not have the same beats and rhythm as a person in London, Great Britain. Each part of the world is bound to have some type of music but the music differentiated in each part of the world. As mentioned in the seven themes of music geography â€Å"specific involvement with location of musical activities, such as the compositions and travels of their composers, rather than broader world distributions of regional delineations mentioned in Theme Two† (Nash and Carney 66). This means that even with culture and communities, music was first put into the field of geography due to the travels of the musicians and the spread of their ideas and tunes. This is important because it not only gives a way for questions to arise such the one that geography is the main factor as to the interest of music in humans. Due to the composers traveling, they spread around the ideas meaning that culture is affected and the belief is shaken with these ideas. The population of the countries is also a big factor because due to the fact that people are mixed together. People with different geography regions tend to have a different viewpoint of the world and music can be included in that. In conclusion this can be said, that these types of points can create music interest such one’s environment: community, culture, religion, and geography. This can be reasonable because people cannot be born with music interests. They are shaped by ones environment. People can have the same music interests if they shared the same belief and the same religion where they live. Music is very common in and around the world. Music is therefore a symbol to society because it represents the life and beliefs of people. Music can have a great impact on the life of people and this is important because this makes society. Music is evidently an important part of the lives of human beings. Music is reflected to our society we are in. The four aspects which are one’s community, culture, religion, and geography can determine each person’s interests in music rather than biological. Other factors can also relate to one’s musical preference, but the four aspects are the ones that are most common. Music is bound to be heard everywhere and without music the world would have hard times understanding things. Music is important to our world because it brings us together and also puts life and excitement. Music will always motivate people and will always be part of our lives. Without music, our society wouldn’t be the same including our feelings and impressions about it. Therefore, music brings happiness to our friends, and families, and all the people around the world.

Republic Day

Dear brothers and sisters, India celebrates our 63nd Republic Day which is one of three national days in India. Commonly 63rd Republic Day is a public holiday in most of the countries to honor the day on which the country first became republics. In such some are Commonwealth countries, the British sovereign was ruling the state until the change of status. Even though India obtained freedom on August 15, 1947, Indian Constitution implemented and came into effect only on January 26, 1950. King George VI, the last and only â€Å"King† of the modern India, was leading our state during the evolution period from 1947 to 1950. Lord Mountbatten and C. Rajagopalachari were serving as the Governors-General of India at that time. Afterwards Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first president of India on January 26, 1950. With this the Parliament officially approved the Constitution of India and declared itself as a â€Å"Republic† on January 26, 1950, a date thereafter celebrated every year as Republic Day in India. The Constitution had been prepared by the Constituent Assembly based upon India is becoming the liberal from the British rulers in 1947. So we can consider 26th of January was initially India's â€Å"Independence Day†. As everybody know Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nation, had taken a lot of efforts to get freedom for India by many symbolic acts during India's Freedom Struggle against the British colonial rule. Acceptation of the Constitution on January 26, had given an extra strength to Country that has obtained liberty from the British Raj on August 15, 1947. There are two other annual national holidays in India apart from Republic day. One is Independence Day on August 15, 1947 and other one is birthday of Mohandas K Gandhi or Mahatma Gandhi on October 2. Lets talk about India Republic Day celebration official celebration in New Delhi. According to he Republic Day celebration on January 26th every year a grand parade is held in New Delhi, the Capital of India, beginning from Raisina Hill near the Presidential Palace Rashtrapati Bhavan, along the Rajpath, past India Gate and on to the historic Red Fort in the heart of the city to honor this occasion. Defence forces of state, Indian Army force, t he Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force performs the past in parade with their ceremonial dress and official decorations on this auspicious occasion of Republic Day. The President of India, who is also the Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces, takes the salute from the parade. There will be an invited Head of State of another nation as Chief Guest of the parade which is the highlights of Republic Day celebrations. The Republic day parade also involves many customary dance groups, to signify the cultural legacy of India. At the end of parade Air Force jets perform a colourful flypast by in a tiranga formation which is adventurous and eye-catching at a time. Similar celebrations with such parades are held in the capitals of all the states of India on the Republic day. The Governor of the each state takes the salute in their respective celebrations. More over all official government offices will also celebrate this national day which is also considered as people's day. At the beginning of parade on Republic day, the Prime Minister of India wears a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate, honoring all the jawans who missed their worth lives for the country in the war. Then he address the public and give Republic day message in his Republic day speech. Next to this the President comes in his motorcade with the escorts of his bodyguards. Foreign Head of State – who is the Chief Guest at the celebration will follow the President in the Republic day Parade. Once finish this salutation, a 21 gun salute is presented, the President unfurls the National Flag and the National Anthem is performed. This regards the beginning of the parade. The Republic day Parade commences with winners of bravery awards passing the President in open jeeps. Then all of the Armed Forces of India divisions salute the President of India. The Republic parade also sees the Indian Military exhibiting its latest acquirements such as tanks, missiles, radars, etc. There are also considerable parades from the various departments Police contingents, Home guards , Civil Defence and the National Cadet Corps. A colorful cultural parade will follow the military parade. In this cultural parade India's wealthy cultural tradition is displayed with tableaux from various states. Each state represents its distinctive festivals, historical locations and art forms. The next will be the ride past of children, who have won national bravery award winners at last year, on elephants. School-children from all over the country also take part in the parade on the republic Day. The most adventurous item is the next one, displays of skillful motor-cycle riding, usually by Armed Forces. Following this the fly past of Indian Air Force salutes the president symbolically by fight planes. The republic Day celebration will not be end in one day. The official closing ceremony of Republic Day festivities will be held on the third day evening of January 29 after Republic Day. This is renowned as Beating the Retreat. On this occasion of this Republic Day we should stick with our own pledge for our Bharatha Matha to save the country and ourselves. The Republic day pledge should be against terrorism and corruption and we should stand for honesty which is taught by Mahatma Ghandi, father of the country. Also our leaders must be corruption free and alert to threats those we are facing from the countries like Pakistan, China and US. Unlike the US, Pakistan and China have been aggressive ups and downs in India's relationship with them. Therefore Leaders in Indian Government must attempt with effective discussions to eliminate the issues which are threatening India recently. India should not come again in the situation like attacks to Mumbai, Indian most commercial City. Let's dream and hope for corruption free and other threats free peaceful India in upcoming years and contribute from our side. Republic Day â€Å"No Hindu, No Muslim, No Christian, We are just Indian. † Respected judges, respected teachers and dear audience. Today we gather here to celebrate one of the National festivals of India, it is Republic day. It is a great opportunities for me, as you allowed me to share few words on this occasion. On this day, it was January 26, 1950 we declared our country as a Republic country by adopting our own constitution. Actually, the preparation of our constitution was over earlier than this date but we choose January 26 for this, because this date has its own significance earlier than this day. It was January 26, 1930 on the bank of river Ravi, our freedom fighters pledged to attain â€Å"Sampurna Swaraj† and started new agitations to make India freedom from the British Rule. So, on 1950 on this day we declared our India as a Sovereign, Democratic and Republic. As this festival is related to our nation, it is celebrated all over our country. It celebrated in schools, colleges, government and non government offices and industries. It becomes a public festival as every Indian celebrates it. On the eve of this day, our honourable President gives a message to the nation. In his/her message he/she analyses the achievements of government and gives indications towards the future plans of the government towards the welfare of our country. All over the country people celebrates this festival. In national capital Delhi, there is a grand celebration. People from every corner of the country come here to participate in the grand Republic day celebration. The grand celebration occurs at the India Gate and Rajpath of New Delhi. The entire route is decorated with our national flags. Many foreign delegates also come to witness India's progress on this occasion. At the beginning of the celebration, our Prime Minister salutes the martyrs of soldiers who laid their life lives for our country on Amar Jawan Jyothi, at the India Gate. Then he moves towards the celebration point. Then our President comes to the celebration point who is welcomed by our Prime Minister. All the commanders of three wings, Air Force, Army and Navy come to participate in the grand celebration. After this, flag hosting happens by our president and as soon as it completes we give a grand salute to our national flag by singing â€Å"Jana Gana Mana†¦. â€Å". Then the award ceremony starts, our president gives valuable awards for those who sacrificed their life in different situations for our country and countrymen. Even some kids also selected for bravery awards for this occasion, who showed their braveness while miserable conditions. Then the grand parade starts from the Vijay Chowk by all different wings, such as Army, Navy, Air force, Paramilitary forces, NCC, Tanks, Anti aircraft missiles, radars etc. Then a cultural program is organized by school children. After this dance program, tableaux from different states and national territories move on the route to show their culture and progress to the world. At the final stage aircrafts of Indian Air Force shows their talents in the sky. They send a message to the world that sky also in their limit. Overall, I can say it is not only the day of celebration but also the day to remember those great lives who sacrificed everything for this country. We should take a resolution to work for our country and its progress. So, at the end I want to say one thing that, we may from different region or religion but we are one, only one Indian. So, think about this country before thinking about your religion or region. Jai Hind. Republic Day Republic Day Speech 2009 Ladies & Gentlemen! My heartiest felicitations to you on the occasion of 60th Republic Day! This is a sacred day for each one of us, when we come together to pay tribute to the freedom fighters and martyrs who laid down their lives for the sake of the independence and sovereignty of our nation. Today we remember the extraordinary contribution of all those, who have toiled to build a free and modern India. Chandigarh, in itself is a Mini India symbolizing a truly dynamic City, with a success story of growth and development, achieved through public partnerships.The Administration has made great strides in every field, with a special emphasis on ensuring social justice, safe and secure environment, high quality civic life and equal opportunities for everyone to grow. Adding another milestone, the City has become the first Plastic Free city after becoming the first Smoke Free City of the country. Various mega projects including Le Corbusier Center, Education City , Modern Terminal Market, Housing project for Slum Dwellers, Warehousing project, Milk Village etc. are in the pipeline.The upcoming Chandigarh International Airport will further boost the stature of Chandigarh at the national and international level. The Administration is dedicated to provide proper facilities to disadvantaged sections, senior citizens, economically weaker sections and has undertaken various schemes. Two landmark projects namely AASHA KIRAN – A vocational training Centre for differently abled and AASHREYA – A home where the mentally challenged, would learn and live with comfort and dignity, have been launched.Both these prestigious projects focus on empowerment and creation of an ‘Inclusive & Barrier- Free Society’ with an aim of securing all rights of disabled persons in a practical way. The first phase of the Street Children Home & Vocational Training Center at Village Maloya, a project set up of Rs. 7. 40 crore has already started. The second phase would be functional soon which will accommodate 300 street girls for empowering them. The Tourism Industry in the city has witnessed paradigm shift consequent to various initiatives taken by the Chandigarh Administration.Chandigarh Tourism has won Today’s Traveller Platinum Award for the most Responsible Tourism Plan of 2008. Efforts are being made by the Administration for getting the name of the city in UNESCO’s permanent World Heritage List. In order to pay homage to the creator of Chandigarh and great French Architect Le Corbusier, the Le Corbusier Centre has been launched in Sector 19. The Center showcases and exhibits the multifaceted life and works of Le Corbusier, to acquaint future generations with the rich cultural heritage of the city.Apart from organizing cultural events pertaining to the region, the Administration has also organized cultural events of other states. A major initiative was ‘Poompoohar 2008’ which was jointly organi zed by the Chandigarh Administration and the Tamilnadu Government. The Health and Family Welfare of the residents is always paramount. The first phase of the Regional Center for Mentally Handicapped in Sector 31 will be operational shortly providing comprehensive training and education to at least 1000 mentally challenged children.Facilities like diagnostic and medical care, training, counseling for the prevention of disability and training facility for the parents and guardians of the mentally challenged children will be made available. New facilities of Bronchoscopy and Computed Radiography System have been installed at Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector-16. Trauma Unit with emergency operation theatres has also been added in the GMSH 16. In order to provide assistance to the people residing in the backward areas of the city, Health Melas are being organized from time to time.The commitment to provide good facilities and infrastructure for health is being further reinforc ed by major infrastructural additions. The Administration is building a new OPD Block which will cost around Rs. 8. 46 crores, in the Govt. Multi Speciality Hospital, Sector 16. In addition, the work to have a new E-block, which will cost more than Rs. 23. 00 Crores, has already started in the GMCH-32. In the coming year the Administration also proposes to create additional infrastructures for various dispensaries, polyclinics and health facilities.The issue of Education has always remained at the top of the Administration’s priority list. With the incessant efforts made by the Administration the decks are finally cleared, for setting up the Education City, at Sarangpur Institution Area, with the signing of 9 MoUs with the Chandigarh Administration. We have further strengthened the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and expanded the Mid Day Meal Programme up to the upper primary level. We are also establishing new techniques to build high quality model Schools. Special emphasis is being la id on the Placement Cell in each college for curbing unemployment.The Chandigarh Administration has taken initiatives for promoting Chandigarh as a Knowledge City and has received huge investments from various IT Companies. The Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (RGCTP) once completed will create more than 60000 IT jobs. Already, more than 8000 IT professionals are working in the RGCTP. I am happy to inform you that this year till November 2008, the software exports from RGCTP alone have crossed Rs. 400 Crores. Infosys has completed its second software development block and Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel are expected to operationalise their Centres by April 2009.Similarly most of the BTS sites are also under development. As a part of e-Governance initiatives, the Department Information Technology has made technology available at grass root level through Sampark Centers and e-Gram Sampark Centers. As many as 27 varied Public Utility Services are being provided from 10 e-Sampark Centers in different parts of the city and 13 e- Gram Sampark Centers spread across the villages of Union Territory. These centers have given major relief to the rural people by providing one stop solution centers in their neighborhood.In order to ensure transparency in its delivery mechanism, the Department of Food & Civil Supplies has initiated the process of a smart card based Public Distribution System. The Detailed Project Report has been approved by the Government of India and the process of selection of the partner is in process. The Administration has dedicated two major projects to the residents of the city including the Beant Singh Memorial & Center for Performing and Visual Arts and a New Lake in Sector 42. These two projects, have given city residents a major fillip, especially those residing in the Southern Sectors.With the reopening of the spruced up Tagore Theatre costing about Rs. 9 crore the city will witness more and more cultural activities. Though we have limite d villages in U. T. of Chandigarh, it is a commitment of the Administration to provide city like facilities in the villages. While drinking water facility, sewerage, storm water have already been extended to the villages, in the next financial year the Administration proposes to provide city-like street lights and start shifting from tube-well-based water supply to canal-based water supply for the villages.Plans in this regard are already being prepared. Those villages which have come within the MC limit, have also been planned by the Municipal Corporation for up-gradation of all types of infrastructure including roads, street lights, water supply, storm water community centers, parks etc. We have all faced the problem of increasing traffic day-by-day in Chandigarh. The Administration, being conscious of this fact, has taken initiative to improve the roads. On this we will spend Rs. 26 crores on improving the existing roads, on widening and four-laning of roads of Chandigarh and als o on route No. for Panchkula from Dakshin Marg, which is likely to be operational by May 2009. This has been a long pending demand of the residents of City which, I am glad, is being fulfilled. The residents of the city have been clamouring for large number of changes in the building rules of Chandigarh. After due deliberations with different stake holders and after a long time, the Chandigarh Administration has made larger number of people friendly and need based amendments in the building rules, which I am glad, will go a long way in meeting the day-to-day requirements of the people of Chandigarh.In addition, various processes for clearance of building plans etc. are also being streamlined so that people do not face any problem. The Sports infrastructure of the city is among the best in the country. Lately, the opportunity given to the UT Administration for holding the â€Å"54th National School Games 2008-09†, a Sports extravaganza, with more than 31 states and UTs partici pating has proven that the city possess State-of-the-art sports infrastructure required for hosting such National Events.The credit for this goes to the Sports Department which has been striving for not just creating world class infrastructure but also maintaining it. Soon, Floodlights would be installed at Cricket Stadium, Sector 16 and a new Astroturf Hockey Stadium and a New Basketball Court at Sector 42 would also be set up. The City Beautiful has an edge over entire nation as the young shooter Abhinav Bindra, brought laurels to the country by winning the first ever Olympic Gold in an Individual category. The Administration has taken up major initiatives in making Chandigarh a Slum Free City.The Chandigarh Housing Board will provide housing to 25,728 slum dwelling families thus making the city beautiful a Slum Free city. The Administration is also conscious of the housing needs of its citizens and as such plans have been made by the Board to provide more than 13000 houses in the UT. The implementation of providing more houses has already started with 2200 dwelling units of different categories already under construction. Keeping in view the recent advancements in the technology and the imperative need for conserving scarce natural resources, CHB plans to go in for construction of Green & Intelligent Buildings.It is through our consistent efforts that the City Beautiful is known as the Green City of India. The Green cover of Chandigarh is 35. 7% of its total geographical area. The Botanical Garden has been developed over 176 acres and has the rarest medicinal plants, apart from being a walker’s paradise. The Department is also in the process of establishment of a world class aquarium. In order to contain pollution and encourage clean fuel in the city, the UT Administration has started a drive to replace the existing Auto Rickshaws with LPG driven Auto Rickshaws.The Chandigarh Police is among the most organized and Tech Savvy in the country. As per th e recent survey conducted by one of the leading national magazine, Chandigarh has been rated as one of the top performing UT in handling law & order. Keeping in view the need for cyber security, a Cyber Crime Investigation Cell has been established. In order to provide security to the tourists in the city, Tourism Police has been launched in the city with the combine efforts of the Department of Tourism and Chandigarh Police.On the auspicious day, I on behalf of Chandigarh Administration convey heartfelt sympathies to the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks. Such unfortunate incidents are cowardly acts and will never shake the faith of the nation. The country will forge towards development and growth and deal with these elements with an iron hand. On this momentous occasion, I once again call upon all of you, for an active participation and contribute to the progress and prosperity of the city and the nation as a whole. I, once again, convey my heartfelt wishes to you all on this a uspicious day. Jai Hind! Republic Day Republic Day Speech 2009 Ladies & Gentlemen! My heartiest felicitations to you on the occasion of 60th Republic Day! This is a sacred day for each one of us, when we come together to pay tribute to the freedom fighters and martyrs who laid down their lives for the sake of the independence and sovereignty of our nation. Today we remember the extraordinary contribution of all those, who have toiled to build a free and modern India. Chandigarh, in itself is a Mini India symbolizing a truly dynamic City, with a success story of growth and development, achieved through public partnerships.The Administration has made great strides in every field, with a special emphasis on ensuring social justice, safe and secure environment, high quality civic life and equal opportunities for everyone to grow. Adding another milestone, the City has become the first Plastic Free city after becoming the first Smoke Free City of the country. Various mega projects including Le Corbusier Center, Education City , Modern Terminal Market, Housing project for Slum Dwellers, Warehousing project, Milk Village etc. are in the pipeline.The upcoming Chandigarh International Airport will further boost the stature of Chandigarh at the national and international level. The Administration is dedicated to provide proper facilities to disadvantaged sections, senior citizens, economically weaker sections and has undertaken various schemes. Two landmark projects namely AASHA KIRAN – A vocational training Centre for differently abled and AASHREYA – A home where the mentally challenged, would learn and live with comfort and dignity, have been launched.Both these prestigious projects focus on empowerment and creation of an ‘Inclusive & Barrier- Free Society’ with an aim of securing all rights of disabled persons in a practical way. The first phase of the Street Children Home & Vocational Training Center at Village Maloya, a project set up of Rs. 7. 40 crore has already started. The second phase would be functional soon which will accommodate 300 street girls for empowering them. The Tourism Industry in the city has witnessed paradigm shift consequent to various initiatives taken by the Chandigarh Administration.Chandigarh Tourism has won Today’s Traveller Platinum Award for the most Responsible Tourism Plan of 2008. Efforts are being made by the Administration for getting the name of the city in UNESCO’s permanent World Heritage List. In order to pay homage to the creator of Chandigarh and great French Architect Le Corbusier, the Le Corbusier Centre has been launched in Sector 19. The Center showcases and exhibits the multifaceted life and works of Le Corbusier, to acquaint future generations with the rich cultural heritage of the city.Apart from organizing cultural events pertaining to the region, the Administration has also organized cultural events of other states. A major initiative was ‘Poompoohar 2008’ which was jointly organi zed by the Chandigarh Administration and the Tamilnadu Government. The Health and Family Welfare of the residents is always paramount. The first phase of the Regional Center for Mentally Handicapped in Sector 31 will be operational shortly providing comprehensive training and education to at least 1000 mentally challenged children.Facilities like diagnostic and medical care, training, counseling for the prevention of disability and training facility for the parents and guardians of the mentally challenged children will be made available. New facilities of Bronchoscopy and Computed Radiography System have been installed at Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector-16. Trauma Unit with emergency operation theatres has also been added in the GMSH 16. In order to provide assistance to the people residing in the backward areas of the city, Health Melas are being organized from time to time.The commitment to provide good facilities and infrastructure for health is being further reinforc ed by major infrastructural additions. The Administration is building a new OPD Block which will cost around Rs. 8. 46 crores, in the Govt. Multi Speciality Hospital, Sector 16. In addition, the work to have a new E-block, which will cost more than Rs. 23. 00 Crores, has already started in the GMCH-32. In the coming year the Administration also proposes to create additional infrastructures for various dispensaries, polyclinics and health facilities.The issue of Education has always remained at the top of the Administration’s priority list. With the incessant efforts made by the Administration the decks are finally cleared, for setting up the Education City, at Sarangpur Institution Area, with the signing of 9 MoUs with the Chandigarh Administration. We have further strengthened the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and expanded the Mid Day Meal Programme up to the upper primary level. We are also establishing new techniques to build high quality model Schools. Special emphasis is being la id on the Placement Cell in each college for curbing unemployment.The Chandigarh Administration has taken initiatives for promoting Chandigarh as a Knowledge City and has received huge investments from various IT Companies. The Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (RGCTP) once completed will create more than 60000 IT jobs. Already, more than 8000 IT professionals are working in the RGCTP. I am happy to inform you that this year till November 2008, the software exports from RGCTP alone have crossed Rs. 400 Crores. Infosys has completed its second software development block and Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel are expected to operationalise their Centres by April 2009.Similarly most of the BTS sites are also under development. As a part of e-Governance initiatives, the Department Information Technology has made technology available at grass root level through Sampark Centers and e-Gram Sampark Centers. As many as 27 varied Public Utility Services are being provided from 10 e-Sampark Centers in different parts of the city and 13 e- Gram Sampark Centers spread across the villages of Union Territory. These centers have given major relief to the rural people by providing one stop solution centers in their neighborhood.In order to ensure transparency in its delivery mechanism, the Department of Food & Civil Supplies has initiated the process of a smart card based Public Distribution System. The Detailed Project Report has been approved by the Government of India and the process of selection of the partner is in process. The Administration has dedicated two major projects to the residents of the city including the Beant Singh Memorial & Center for Performing and Visual Arts and a New Lake in Sector 42. These two projects, have given city residents a major fillip, especially those residing in the Southern Sectors.With the reopening of the spruced up Tagore Theatre costing about Rs. 9 crore the city will witness more and more cultural activities. Though we have limite d villages in U. T. of Chandigarh, it is a commitment of the Administration to provide city like facilities in the villages. While drinking water facility, sewerage, storm water have already been extended to the villages, in the next financial year the Administration proposes to provide city-like street lights and start shifting from tube-well-based water supply to canal-based water supply for the villages.Plans in this regard are already being prepared. Those villages which have come within the MC limit, have also been planned by the Municipal Corporation for up-gradation of all types of infrastructure including roads, street lights, water supply, storm water community centers, parks etc. We have all faced the problem of increasing traffic day-by-day in Chandigarh. The Administration, being conscious of this fact, has taken initiative to improve the roads. On this we will spend Rs. 26 crores on improving the existing roads, on widening and four-laning of roads of Chandigarh and als o on route No. for Panchkula from Dakshin Marg, which is likely to be operational by May 2009. This has been a long pending demand of the residents of City which, I am glad, is being fulfilled. The residents of the city have been clamouring for large number of changes in the building rules of Chandigarh. After due deliberations with different stake holders and after a long time, the Chandigarh Administration has made larger number of people friendly and need based amendments in the building rules, which I am glad, will go a long way in meeting the day-to-day requirements of the people of Chandigarh.In addition, various processes for clearance of building plans etc. are also being streamlined so that people do not face any problem. The Sports infrastructure of the city is among the best in the country. Lately, the opportunity given to the UT Administration for holding the â€Å"54th National School Games 2008-09†, a Sports extravaganza, with more than 31 states and UTs partici pating has proven that the city possess State-of-the-art sports infrastructure required for hosting such National Events.The credit for this goes to the Sports Department which has been striving for not just creating world class infrastructure but also maintaining it. Soon, Floodlights would be installed at Cricket Stadium, Sector 16 and a new Astroturf Hockey Stadium and a New Basketball Court at Sector 42 would also be set up. The City Beautiful has an edge over entire nation as the young shooter Abhinav Bindra, brought laurels to the country by winning the first ever Olympic Gold in an Individual category. The Administration has taken up major initiatives in making Chandigarh a Slum Free City.The Chandigarh Housing Board will provide housing to 25,728 slum dwelling families thus making the city beautiful a Slum Free city. The Administration is also conscious of the housing needs of its citizens and as such plans have been made by the Board to provide more than 13000 houses in the UT. The implementation of providing more houses has already started with 2200 dwelling units of different categories already under construction. Keeping in view the recent advancements in the technology and the imperative need for conserving scarce natural resources, CHB plans to go in for construction of Green & Intelligent Buildings.It is through our consistent efforts that the City Beautiful is known as the Green City of India. The Green cover of Chandigarh is 35. 7% of its total geographical area. The Botanical Garden has been developed over 176 acres and has the rarest medicinal plants, apart from being a walker’s paradise. The Department is also in the process of establishment of a world class aquarium. In order to contain pollution and encourage clean fuel in the city, the UT Administration has started a drive to replace the existing Auto Rickshaws with LPG driven Auto Rickshaws.The Chandigarh Police is among the most organized and Tech Savvy in the country. As per th e recent survey conducted by one of the leading national magazine, Chandigarh has been rated as one of the top performing UT in handling law & order. Keeping in view the need for cyber security, a Cyber Crime Investigation Cell has been established. In order to provide security to the tourists in the city, Tourism Police has been launched in the city with the combine efforts of the Department of Tourism and Chandigarh Police.On the auspicious day, I on behalf of Chandigarh Administration convey heartfelt sympathies to the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks. Such unfortunate incidents are cowardly acts and will never shake the faith of the nation. The country will forge towards development and growth and deal with these elements with an iron hand. On this momentous occasion, I once again call upon all of you, for an active participation and contribute to the progress and prosperity of the city and the nation as a whole. I, once again, convey my heartfelt wishes to you all on this a uspicious day. Jai Hind! Republic Day Republic Day Speech 2009 Ladies & Gentlemen! My heartiest felicitations to you on the occasion of 60th Republic Day! This is a sacred day for each one of us, when we come together to pay tribute to the freedom fighters and martyrs who laid down their lives for the sake of the independence and sovereignty of our nation. Today we remember the extraordinary contribution of all those, who have toiled to build a free and modern India. Chandigarh, in itself is a Mini India symbolizing a truly dynamic City, with a success story of growth and development, achieved through public partnerships.The Administration has made great strides in every field, with a special emphasis on ensuring social justice, safe and secure environment, high quality civic life and equal opportunities for everyone to grow. Adding another milestone, the City has become the first Plastic Free city after becoming the first Smoke Free City of the country. Various mega projects including Le Corbusier Center, Education City , Modern Terminal Market, Housing project for Slum Dwellers, Warehousing project, Milk Village etc. are in the pipeline.The upcoming Chandigarh International Airport will further boost the stature of Chandigarh at the national and international level. The Administration is dedicated to provide proper facilities to disadvantaged sections, senior citizens, economically weaker sections and has undertaken various schemes. Two landmark projects namely AASHA KIRAN – A vocational training Centre for differently abled and AASHREYA – A home where the mentally challenged, would learn and live with comfort and dignity, have been launched.Both these prestigious projects focus on empowerment and creation of an ‘Inclusive & Barrier- Free Society’ with an aim of securing all rights of disabled persons in a practical way. The first phase of the Street Children Home & Vocational Training Center at Village Maloya, a project set up of Rs. 7. 40 crore has already started. The second phase would be functional soon which will accommodate 300 street girls for empowering them. The Tourism Industry in the city has witnessed paradigm shift consequent to various initiatives taken by the Chandigarh Administration.Chandigarh Tourism has won Today’s Traveller Platinum Award for the most Responsible Tourism Plan of 2008. Efforts are being made by the Administration for getting the name of the city in UNESCO’s permanent World Heritage List. In order to pay homage to the creator of Chandigarh and great French Architect Le Corbusier, the Le Corbusier Centre has been launched in Sector 19. The Center showcases and exhibits the multifaceted life and works of Le Corbusier, to acquaint future generations with the rich cultural heritage of the city.Apart from organizing cultural events pertaining to the region, the Administration has also organized cultural events of other states. A major initiative was ‘Poompoohar 2008’ which was jointly organi zed by the Chandigarh Administration and the Tamilnadu Government. The Health and Family Welfare of the residents is always paramount. The first phase of the Regional Center for Mentally Handicapped in Sector 31 will be operational shortly providing comprehensive training and education to at least 1000 mentally challenged children.Facilities like diagnostic and medical care, training, counseling for the prevention of disability and training facility for the parents and guardians of the mentally challenged children will be made available. New facilities of Bronchoscopy and Computed Radiography System have been installed at Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector-16. Trauma Unit with emergency operation theatres has also been added in the GMSH 16. In order to provide assistance to the people residing in the backward areas of the city, Health Melas are being organized from time to time.The commitment to provide good facilities and infrastructure for health is being further reinforc ed by major infrastructural additions. The Administration is building a new OPD Block which will cost around Rs. 8. 46 crores, in the Govt. Multi Speciality Hospital, Sector 16. In addition, the work to have a new E-block, which will cost more than Rs. 23. 00 Crores, has already started in the GMCH-32. In the coming year the Administration also proposes to create additional infrastructures for various dispensaries, polyclinics and health facilities.The issue of Education has always remained at the top of the Administration’s priority list. With the incessant efforts made by the Administration the decks are finally cleared, for setting up the Education City, at Sarangpur Institution Area, with the signing of 9 MoUs with the Chandigarh Administration. We have further strengthened the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and expanded the Mid Day Meal Programme up to the upper primary level. We are also establishing new techniques to build high quality model Schools. Special emphasis is being la id on the Placement Cell in each college for curbing unemployment.The Chandigarh Administration has taken initiatives for promoting Chandigarh as a Knowledge City and has received huge investments from various IT Companies. The Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (RGCTP) once completed will create more than 60000 IT jobs. Already, more than 8000 IT professionals are working in the RGCTP. I am happy to inform you that this year till November 2008, the software exports from RGCTP alone have crossed Rs. 400 Crores. Infosys has completed its second software development block and Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel are expected to operationalise their Centres by April 2009.Similarly most of the BTS sites are also under development. As a part of e-Governance initiatives, the Department Information Technology has made technology available at grass root level through Sampark Centers and e-Gram Sampark Centers. As many as 27 varied Public Utility Services are being provided from 10 e-Sampark Centers in different parts of the city and 13 e- Gram Sampark Centers spread across the villages of Union Territory. These centers have given major relief to the rural people by providing one stop solution centers in their neighborhood.In order to ensure transparency in its delivery mechanism, the Department of Food & Civil Supplies has initiated the process of a smart card based Public Distribution System. The Detailed Project Report has been approved by the Government of India and the process of selection of the partner is in process. The Administration has dedicated two major projects to the residents of the city including the Beant Singh Memorial & Center for Performing and Visual Arts and a New Lake in Sector 42. These two projects, have given city residents a major fillip, especially those residing in the Southern Sectors.With the reopening of the spruced up Tagore Theatre costing about Rs. 9 crore the city will witness more and more cultural activities. Though we have limite d villages in U. T. of Chandigarh, it is a commitment of the Administration to provide city like facilities in the villages. While drinking water facility, sewerage, storm water have already been extended to the villages, in the next financial year the Administration proposes to provide city-like street lights and start shifting from tube-well-based water supply to canal-based water supply for the villages.Plans in this regard are already being prepared. Those villages which have come within the MC limit, have also been planned by the Municipal Corporation for up-gradation of all types of infrastructure including roads, street lights, water supply, storm water community centers, parks etc. We have all faced the problem of increasing traffic day-by-day in Chandigarh. The Administration, being conscious of this fact, has taken initiative to improve the roads. On this we will spend Rs. 26 crores on improving the existing roads, on widening and four-laning of roads of Chandigarh and als o on route No. for Panchkula from Dakshin Marg, which is likely to be operational by May 2009. This has been a long pending demand of the residents of City which, I am glad, is being fulfilled. The residents of the city have been clamouring for large number of changes in the building rules of Chandigarh. After due deliberations with different stake holders and after a long time, the Chandigarh Administration has made larger number of people friendly and need based amendments in the building rules, which I am glad, will go a long way in meeting the day-to-day requirements of the people of Chandigarh.In addition, various processes for clearance of building plans etc. are also being streamlined so that people do not face any problem. The Sports infrastructure of the city is among the best in the country. Lately, the opportunity given to the UT Administration for holding the â€Å"54th National School Games 2008-09†, a Sports extravaganza, with more than 31 states and UTs partici pating has proven that the city possess State-of-the-art sports infrastructure required for hosting such National Events.The credit for this goes to the Sports Department which has been striving for not just creating world class infrastructure but also maintaining it. Soon, Floodlights would be installed at Cricket Stadium, Sector 16 and a new Astroturf Hockey Stadium and a New Basketball Court at Sector 42 would also be set up. The City Beautiful has an edge over entire nation as the young shooter Abhinav Bindra, brought laurels to the country by winning the first ever Olympic Gold in an Individual category. The Administration has taken up major initiatives in making Chandigarh a Slum Free City.The Chandigarh Housing Board will provide housing to 25,728 slum dwelling families thus making the city beautiful a Slum Free city. The Administration is also conscious of the housing needs of its citizens and as such plans have been made by the Board to provide more than 13000 houses in the UT. The implementation of providing more houses has already started with 2200 dwelling units of different categories already under construction. Keeping in view the recent advancements in the technology and the imperative need for conserving scarce natural resources, CHB plans to go in for construction of Green & Intelligent Buildings.It is through our consistent efforts that the City Beautiful is known as the Green City of India. The Green cover of Chandigarh is 35. 7% of its total geographical area. The Botanical Garden has been developed over 176 acres and has the rarest medicinal plants, apart from being a walker’s paradise. The Department is also in the process of establishment of a world class aquarium. In order to contain pollution and encourage clean fuel in the city, the UT Administration has started a drive to replace the existing Auto Rickshaws with LPG driven Auto Rickshaws.The Chandigarh Police is among the most organized and Tech Savvy in the country. As per th e recent survey conducted by one of the leading national magazine, Chandigarh has been rated as one of the top performing UT in handling law & order. Keeping in view the need for cyber security, a Cyber Crime Investigation Cell has been established. In order to provide security to the tourists in the city, Tourism Police has been launched in the city with the combine efforts of the Department of Tourism and Chandigarh Police.On the auspicious day, I on behalf of Chandigarh Administration convey heartfelt sympathies to the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks. Such unfortunate incidents are cowardly acts and will never shake the faith of the nation. The country will forge towards development and growth and deal with these elements with an iron hand. On this momentous occasion, I once again call upon all of you, for an active participation and contribute to the progress and prosperity of the city and the nation as a whole. I, once again, convey my heartfelt wishes to you all on this a uspicious day. Jai Hind!