Vietnam War Veterans Deserve More Respect Essays -

Vietnam War Veterans Deserve More Respect After thinking about all the things we would learn this year in American history I decided to do my project on the experiences of Vietnam War veterans. There is a lot of controversy as to whether or not the Vietnam War veterans are given enough recognition for what they went through. I have heard horrible stories of US soldiers dying from US bombs, shell shock, and soldiers returning to America and not being able to function as active members of society due to the horrors of the war. All I really know about the war is what I have seen on television. I wanted to learn about the war through the firsthand accounts of those who were there. The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975. It began as an attempt by Communist guerrillas (or Vietcong) in the South, backed by Communist North Vietnam, to overthrow the government of South Vietnam. The struggle grew into a war between South Vietnam and North Vietnam and ultimately into an international conflict. The United States and some 40 other countries supported South Vietnam by supplying troops and munitions, and the USSR and the People's Republic of China furnished munitions to North Vietnam and the Vietcong. On both sides, however, the burden of the war fell mainly on the civilians.1 On January 27, in Paris, delegations representing the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Provisional Revolutionary Communist Government of South Vietnam signed an Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam. The cease-fire officially went into effect on January 28. Both the US and North Vietnam asserted that there were no secret peace terms.2 All the US fighting forces had withdrawn from Vietnam by March 1973, but not without major losses on both sides. Two million Vietnamese were killed and 3 million were wounded. The extensive use of napalm and defoliants (such as Agent Orange) left many people badly burned, and destroyed the ecology of a country that was mainly agricultural. This is an important part of US history because it was the first war in which there was no clear winner. 57,685 US soldiers were killed, and triple that amount were wounded. Even those who returned to the United states without physical damage suffered from depression, and had to live with memories of the carnage and destruction that they saw. What bothers me about the war is that even though these men risked their lives to fight a war that had nothing to do with them only because their country was anti-Communist, they have been seemingly forgotten by their country. Many, especially those who suffered physical trauma, have no jobs and are forced to beg for food on street corners and live under bridges. The first book I read was Bouncing Back. It was a collection of the experiences of a group of Air Force pilots who were gunned down and taken as prisoners of war. The post-POW lives of the Air Force pilots I read about contrasted greatly with those of the Marines I read about in The War In I Corps. The Marines lived dirty lived in the Jungles of Vietnam. One of the best things about The War In I Corps was its great descriptions of the things the Marines had to go through. As Richard A. Guidry put it : In a driving rain, laden with heavy packs, our platoon lumbered toward its place in the long line of men sprawled in the thick sticky mud.... The rain added a slimy quality to the crust of dirt and fungus that encased my body. Running my fingers across my arm was like following the tracks of a snail.3 It really gave me a feel for what they were going through. It made me wonder how they didnt just not fight. The war wasnt theirs, but due to bad luck they were stuck in this horrible jungle forced to fight an enemy they had no reason to hate. Living like animals with practically no food and little or no contact with Their families. Under the same conditions I think I would sit under a tree and wait it out. While finishing the book, I remembered a discussion we had in class about whether or not the soldiers were considered as individuals. Guidry explained how military thought of them: To them we were just parts of the machine, no different from cannons or jeeps. We were superfluous; they were there to fill their clipboards. Apparently, nobody wanted to stop the

A Farewell To Arms Essays (406 words) - Literature, Fiction

A Farewell To Arms Essays (406 words) - Literature, Fiction A Farewell To Arms A Farewell to Arms The book A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway is about the love story of a nurse and a war ridden soldier. The story starts as Frederick Henry is serving in the Italian Army. He meets his future love in the hospital that he gets put in for various reasons. I thought that A Farewell to Arms was a good book because of the symbolism, the plot, and the constant moving of the main character. The symbolism in A Farewell to Arms is very much apparent. To the main character in novels, nights have always been a sign of death, or something negative to happen. Another one of the symbolisms in A Farewell to Arms is when Henry tries to escape from the Italian army by jumping off one of the ships the army was traveling on and running away from the army. This water symbolized new, clean life that he was going to live from now on. At this time, Henry goes off and finds his wife to be. The plot in A Farewell to Arms was always active. They were never staying in one place too long. It had a very good story line, which was a love story that ended up in a tragedy. The main characters wife got pregnant and she was off to have her baby when problems started occurring. They had to have a cesarean, and the baby dies, and when the mother of the child starts to hemorrhage Henry knows that it was over for his wife and he was right. From the beginning of the book untill the end, the action was up. Ever since the front page Henry was traveling around to different towns so it was not boring for the reader. That made it very interesting for the reader because it was always a new town coming up so you were being introduced in the new characters quite often. As the story goes on , the writer is not introducing as many new people, but they are still traveling around quite a bit. I felt that the authors planning of these types of events in this novel was put together very well! Ernest Hemingway is one of the worlds best known classic writers. He uses very strong symbolism that you the reader dont always pick up. I am sure that I missed some of the symbolism that went on in the book. I picked up a few though and they were very interesting. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a love story without a happy ending.

Stock Valuation at Ragan Engines Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stock Valuation at Ragan Engines - Case Study Example This difference in P/E is not justified given that Ragan has superior earnings and dividends compared to that of the industry i.e. EPS of $ 5.35 vs. $ 1.47 and DPS of $ 2.13 vs. $ 0.47 respectively. Relative valuation of Ragan puts the company’s stock price at $ 65.64 which offers a significant upside from the intrinsic price of $ 38.55. One of the measures that Carrington and Genevieve can employ to increase the price of their shares before selling them to East Coast Yachts is to retain more earnings and invest in the research and development of additional proprietary technology. Investing in appropriate and improved technology will have the effect of reducing production costs for the organization, therefore giving Ragan the opportunity to produce fuel saving engines. Such investment in technology will enable Ragan to increase their profit projections, therefore increasing the value of shares. In addition to that, retaining earnings for investment in more proprietary technology will give Ragan an edge over its competitors. This edge will make investors in the company to develop optimism, therefore ensuring that the prices of the shares maintain a high value. These strategies, however, will not increase the value of their shares when Ragan fails to record improvements after investing in technology. Since there will be no new technology to give the company the competitive edge, the value of the shares will not increase. One issue is that the stock prices of Ragan have been undervalued because it is not listed in the securities exchange market. Ragan has a P/E of 7.21x, while the Industry has a P/E of 12.27x. Ragan posts higher earnings and value per share than the rest of the industry. Upon valuation, Ragan’s stock price is $65.64, compared to the figure provided of $38.85. A solution to this issue lays in the reevaluation the value of Ragan’s stocks in order to provide the true value of the shares. In the short run,

Global Performance Management of IHRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Global Performance Management of IHRM - Essay Example The paper’s primary objective is to explore performance management and all its challenges (Adler, 56, Aswathappa & Dash, 178). The present study primary aim is to increase understanding on the performance management practices of the existing expatriates. The study looks at the understanding of related contextual factors and the efficiency (Black, Mendenhall, and Oddou, 197). Descriptive findings earlier studies pictures and also expound on several new ideas For example; team goals. The fundamental practices of performance management influencing the effectiveness of the system were perceived (Cohen, 157). The key outcome is set performance goals of expatriate performance management. The formal performance evaluation leads to an increased process efficiency (Devellis, 187, Beck, 58). The results further show the international level of a company, hierarchical position of the expatriate as well as the business’s size. The expatriate task type and the organisational structure influence practices of performance management (Kraemer, and Thiemann, 197). Human Resource Management (HRM) is a business practice and academic theory that addresses the practical and theoretical techniques of workforce management. HRM is universal as per its processes, policies and strategies. HRM has replaced personnel management gradually (Kyi, 328, Stolt, 197). Developing and managing human resource in a global setting is increasingly referred to as a central challenge. The prevailing company tendency towards internationalisation, inter-company merging and global operation has gradually increased the necessity of expatriation. Expatriation is aimed to fill the skills gap, technology transfer and new endeavour launching. Expatriation has been increasing steadily worldwide, and the trend continuation is very likely (Windham International and NFTC, 187. Krausert, 379). Efficient and good management

Medicine. Chemistry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Medicine. Chemistry - Essay Example The hits come from natural sources, such as plants, animals, or fungi. They can also form synthetic sources, such as historical compound collections and combinatorial chemistry. Combinatorial chemistry involves the rapid synthesis or the computer simulation of a large number of different but structurally related molecules. Synthesis of molecules in a combinatorial fashion can quickly lead to large numbers of molecules. Combinatorial chemistry has been used up in industries since the 1990s. But, combinatorial chemistry was there in 1960s when a researcher at Rockefeller University, Bruce Merrifield, started investigating the solid-phase synthesis of peptides. In the 1980s researcher H. Mario Geysen developed this technique further, creating arrays of different peptides on separate supports. Combinatorial chemistry is nowadays used by almost all the pharmaceutical industry. Some researchers have been attempting to optimize the activity profile of a compound by collecting many different but related compounds. On the other hand, advances in robotics have led to an industrial approach to combinatorial synthesis, enabling companies to routinely produce over 100,000 new and unique compounds per year. (Nelapa, Rolfle and Harper, 2006) According to Nelapa, Rolfle and Harper (2006), they say that researchers are creating a virtual library (a computational enumeration of all possible structures of a given pharmacophore with all available reactants), in order to handle the vast number of structural possibilities. This kind of a library, consist of thousands of virtual compounds. The researchers select a subset of the virtual library for actual synthesis that is based upon various calculations and criteria. In the context of luminescent materials obtained by co-deposition of elements on a silicon substrate, work has been continued by several academic groups as well as companies with large research and development programs. In order to improve the biological properties of the compound pharmacophore, the next of drug discovery undergoes synthetic modification of the hits. The quantitative structure-activity relationship of the pharmacophore play an important part in finding lead compounds, which exhibit the most potency, most selectivity, and least toxicity. Pharmacophore is a set of structural features in a molecule that is recognized at a receptor site and is responsible for that molecule's biological activity. (Nelapa, Rolfle and Harper, 2006) Pharmacophores in modern computational chemistry are used to define the essential features of one or more molecules with the same biological activity. Then, a database of diverse chemical compounds is searched for more molecules which share the same features and where these features are a similar distance apart from each other. There are several reasons to find compounds with similar biological activity to known compounds: new compounds may have beneficial effects at different doses, they may be taken up more readily by different tissues, they may have fewer deleterious effects, they may have a different biological half life, and they may be produced more efficiently. In addition, new compounds may not covered by existing patents. (Nelapa, Rolfle

Power Sector Analysis: Porters Five Forces Model

Power Sector Analysis: Porters Five Forces Model More than 63% of Indias total installed capacity is contributed by thermal power. Western region accounts for largest share (30.09%) of the installed power in India followed by Southern region with 27.76%. Unbalanced growth remains the cause of concern for the Indian power sector. Only about 56% of households have access to electricity, with the rural access being 44% and urban access about 82%. Southern region remains the dominant region in renewable energy source accounting for more than 57% of the total renewable energy installed capacity. Indias power generation has grown with nominal rate at 0.65% in 2008 compared with 3.90% increased in 2007. Thermal, hydro and nuclear and wind are the major sources of power generation. Thermal power generation recorded positive growth at 3.25% in December 2008 however hydro and nuclear were recorded negative growth rate at 12.41% and 21.62% respectively in December 2008 compared with December 2007. In April-December 2008 power generation were recorded 2.57% growth compared with April-December 2007. There has been significant improvement in the growth in actual generation over the last few years. As compared to annual growth rate of about 3.1% at the end of 9th Plan and initial years of 10th Plan, the growth in generation during 2006-07 and 2007-08 was of the order of 7.3% and 6.33% respectively. Power Generation is primarily owned by the government (close to 90%) and the rest of the generation capacity is controlled by the private sector. Energy deficit in India has increased over the years. During the year 2007-2008, average energy shortage was 9.0 percent and peak energy shortage was 15.2 percent. As India develops, it is expected that energy demand will increase by more than 8 percent over the medium term. Factors that have been plaguing Indias power sector are capacity shortages, frequent power failures, poor reliability and deteriorating physical and financial conditions. Since majority of power generation is through thermal sources which are dependent on fossil fuels and cause environmental degradation through carbon emissions. Off late the government is laying more emphasis on using hydro and wind energy sources for power generation which are environment-friendly. An analysis of the Power sector using Porters Five Forces model Buyer Power Based on the following parameters it can be said that Overall the buyer has weak power. Low Switching Cost switching cost for the buyers is low as of now but is supposed to increase when new players come in the market as the product in not differentiable i.e. electricity. Buyer size Very small. Oligopoly Threat Very Low. Undifferentiated product As the product i.e. electricity is undifferentiated product, so this increases buyer power. Tendency to switch Buyers will switch to the supplier who is efficient and cost effective. Price sensitivity Not much price sensitive Financial muscle Nothing as compared to PSEs. Buyer independence Low as of now but if more suppliers come into picture as Govt. has sought competition in this market, the buyer power will increase. Product dispensability Very Low. Supplier Power Based on the following parameters it can be assessed that the supplier Power in High. Supplier size Very Large as the suppliers are Large PSEs. Oligopoly threat Small number of suppliers enjoy monopoly, thereby contributing to the supplier power. Switching costs Very high, as only large govt. companies are the suppliers. Player independence Low Substitute inputs As no substitute inputs, so the firms have no choice. Player dispensability High Differentiated input- Inputs are same i.e. electricity in case of company buying electricity from wholesale market and selling to the end-users, and coal or gas in case the company is in power generation field. Threat of New Entrants The Threat of new entrants is moderate based on the following parameters. Low Switching Cost Switching cost for the end-user is low, so it increases opportunity for the new entrants. Undifferentiated product Product is not differentiable i.e. electricity, so the users have the incentive to switch to the low cost supplier. This increases the opportunity for the new efficient entrants. Fixed costs High fixed cost acts as a barrier to entry for new entrants. Little regulation Delicensed generation and multiple licenses in the distribution in the same area of supply acts as an opportunity for the new entrants. Distribution accessible Increasing the threat of new entrants. Suppliers accessible Increasing the threat of new entrants. Market growth High, leading to great opportunities for new entrants. Threat of Substitutes The Threat of substitutes is Weak as per the following parameters. Low Switching Cost The cost of switching to substitutes like gas, solar penal, etc. is high. Rivalry among existing firms The rivalry among existing firms is low as per the following parameters. Competitor size Very Few companies very large in size like NTPC, NLC, NHPC, NPCIL, PGCIL etc. Number of players Very few. Hard to exit Ease of expansion Difficult because of lack of investment and resources. Why should weather derivatives be introduced in India? Estimates suggest that the unutilized hydro power potential of India is in excess of 0.15 Million MW. This figure indicates that there is growing importance of weather dependent hydro and wind based power projects in India. Power generation through hydro and wind depends on a number of critical weather factors such as rainfall, snowfall, wind speed etc. Already weather derivative products based on these indices is being used in a number of countries. With the introduction of availability based tariff the spot market for electricity trading has come up where electricity is bought and sold by market participants like producers, consumers and intermediaries. These developments have taken the market for electricity closer to other normal markets in the economy where derivative trading has been successfully going on. Indian electricity market is still very much controlled by the government unlike the US market which is highly competitive. The Indian government offers a number of subsidies to the consumers thereby absorbing the cost of production and transmission and increasing the fiscal deficit. Introduction of weather derivatives will help in passing the cost to the consumer thereby reducing the burden on the government. Continuous supply of energy to agriculture and industrial sector is essential for the rapid growth of the economy. The government cannot afford to overlook this issue as this would act as a major deterrent to the foreign direct investment. Introduction of weather derivatives would bring in a lot of private participation in energy sector thereby making it more competitive, efficient and robust. Introduction of weather derivatives would serve as an effective risk hedging mechanism for Indian power sector in comparison to other alternatives such as long-term power purchasing agreements. Electricity Derivatives and long term power purchasing agreements: All commodities are being successfully traded on Indian stock exchanges but derivatives trading in power sector has not begun yet. Weather derivatives would be traded soon once the parliament approves the amendment in Forward Contract Regulation Act. Although the electricity derivatives market have not done that well worldwide analysts suggest that unless the spot market for the underlying commodity is well functioning, it is very difficult to have a feasible derivatives market. It would be a difficult task to promote electricity derivatives in India as the spot market in electricity is still in its growing stage and private participation is almost nil. Some of the requirements that should be met for a viable electricity derivative market: An active and competitive spot market with a large number of private participants Government should reduce its control over generation, transmission and distribution of power Availability of adequate number of power exchanges that would cater to the need of each of the geographically segmented electricity market. There should be sufficient surplus power generation capacity available so that power may be transmitted to desired destination without any loss of time. The above features are nonexistent in the Indian market with the majority of the control lying with the government thereby making the electricity market in India highly non-competitive. As per reports it is suggested that in a non-competitive market demand for power should be met by long term power purchasing agreements and a very small percentage should be traded in the spot market because of price volatility. Such agreements hedge the risk of power producing companies but the risk is transferred to the purchasing companies who have to pay the contracted rates. Most of the state electricity boards in India are purchasing power through long term contracts and continue to be in a state of financial bankruptcy. This long term agreements simply shift the price risk to the consumer. In India as of now there are no power exchanges where electricity derivatives are being traded. The above arguments indicate that risk hedging in Indian power sector through electricity derivatives and long term power purchasing agreements may not be a long term solution. Weather Derivatives and their effectiveness for Indian Power sector Weather derivatives are instruments used to hedge the weather dependent risk, which could be termed as financial gain or loss due to variability in daily climatic conditions. In the power sector the weather risk is huge both on demand and supply side as they are dependent on weather related factors. On the demand side the amount of energy required for both heating and cooling depends on the weather. Similarly on the supply side the hydro based power plants are dependent on annual rainfall and snowfall. If the rainfall is insufficient there would be less production and in that case the producers will have to buy from the costly spot markets to meet up the contractual obligation. This is highly risky and hence the hydro based power producers need a hedge against the weather risk. Variation in temperature, rainfall etc means that it would affect the power consumption. Indian electricity market is highly regulated with majority of control related to buying and selling of power is rested with the government therefore price risk in Indian context is not an issue but the volume risk is a major threat. Weather derivatives offer a feasible solution to overcome the volume related risk in Indian power sector as it can be implemented without disturbing the market structure or by making huge infrastructural investments. An essential requirement for trading weather derivatives is the availability of accurate historical and current weather data which is available at the Indian Meteorological Department. The financial market is well developed in India. One important requirement could be developing appropriate weather based indices, designing pricing mechanism for weather derivative contracts and educating the participants about the concept. Once regulatory roadblocks are cleared these contracts could be listed on major stock and commodity exchanges of the country where users, producers and other participants may trade them. State electricity boards and government owned power p roducers would benefit from weather derivatives. Trading in weather derivatives would also bring in a lot of foreign direct investment in power sector as this would be an effective way to hedge volume related risk in power sector. The government needs to open the power distribution to private players to bring in more liquidity and improve efficiency. From above argument it is evident that the weather derivatives are a much better risk hedging alternative as compared to electricity derivatives and long term power purchasing contracts. Selection of Appropriate Weather Derivative Contract A suitable weather derivative contract depends upon the risk tolerance of buyer and the seller weather they are risk averse or risk loving and what their expectations are about the future. Few basic rules before selecting a weather derivative contract: If the parties are risk averse and wish to avoid paying contract premium then variable weather risk can be fixed with a swap contract. If the parties are willing to take risk by paying a moderate to high premium and the probability of price hike is very high then a cap contract can be considered.. If the parties prefer protection from losses due to price decline or lower production more than the benefits from the price rise or increased production then a collar contract is the most suitable one. Swap Contract A weather swap can be constructed for a hypothetical power producer Hydel ltd. if it wants earnings stability from lower rainfall, but would also like to benefit from cold winter conditions without paying a premium. Swap payout structure Cap Contract Assume that a power starves state electricity board wishes to hedge peak load requirement during the summer season. Further, it is assumed that past 20 years data reveals that during the five-month summer season there are 5,000 cumulative cooling degree days (CDDs), on average. After analyzing the relationship between power consumption and historical weather conditions, it is determined that for each CDD above 5,020, SEBs earnings are affected by Rs. 50,000. Therefore, a weather cap contract is structured with a strike value of 5,020 and premium of Rs. 5 million. Cap Contract payout structure Collar Contract Collar contract restricts the natural outcome to upper and lower put boundaries. It is a combination of put and call options. Consider the case of a hypothetical Counterparty Hydel Ltd. The possible payout profile would be: Counterparty: Hydel Ltd. Term: June 2005-May 2006. Index: cumulative inches of rainfall per year, as measured at Station X. Put strike: 40 inches (Hydel Ltd. receives below). Call strike: 60 inches (Hydel Ltd. pays above). Payment: Rs. 10,000 per 1/10 inch. Put limit: 25 inches. Call limit: 80 inches. Premium: No premium. Collar payout structure

The Limits of Software Liability Essay -- Legal Business Technology

"Faulty software can cost lives, cause injury, or economic damage. Write an essay to investigate the question, under which circumstances a software company should be liable for the damage caused. Use an example where software failures are potentially dangerous, such as that of the Prius's brake software. Discuss the difference between strict and negligent liability and comment on the social and economic impact stricter liability practices for software could have." It is remarkable, that nowadays, we have complex software systems everywhere. We have them in our dishwashers, and in our wristwatches, though they are not quite so mission-critical. But sometimes, the human factor can be devastating, because of the negligence or the strict liability who dominates, and often devastating implications not only for the man himself, but can affect the whole economy of a country, succeeding or at least trying to succeed, ignoring the institutions, rules and contract. A highly representative example of the failure of human factors in an attempt to â€Å"progress† with the help of a software, is Ariane 5 explosion, that was the cause of a huge economic gap. It took the European Space Agency 10 years and $7 billion to produce Ariane 5, a giant rocket capable of hurling a pair of three-ton satellites into orbit with each launch. It intended to give Europe overwhelming supremacy in the commercial space business. There was no risk of lightning since the strength of the electric field in the spray was negligible. Perhaps, one problem, leading the explosion, was the visibility. The countdown, which also comprises the filling of the core stage, went smoothly until the first seven minutes when the launch was put on hold since the visibility criteria ... ... at what determines the law and contracts, addressing scientists. Lastly, let us continue our efforts to improve our world, even with technological wonders. Works Cited ARIANE 5 / Flight 501 Failure / Prof. J. L. LIONS / Paris, 19 July 1996 http://sspg1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk/Share/ISTP/ariane5r.htm A Bug and a Crash / by James Gleick http://www.around.com/ariane.html Hardware and Software Liability / by Tim Tompkins / 6 December 2000 http://www.cs.rpi.edu/academics/courses/fall00/ethics/papers/tompkt.html Software liability laws: a dangerous solution / Chase Venters / September 5, 2007 http://lwn.net/Articles/247933/ SOFTWARE LIABILITY / Cem Kaner, J.D., Ph.D. / 1997 http://www.badsoftware.com/theories.htm ARIANE 5 / Flight 501 Failure / Prof. J. L. LIONS / Paris, 19 July 1996 http://sunnyday.mit.edu/accidents/Ariane5accidentreport.html

Nvocc

Introduction Globalization has lead to an increase in the integration of national markets and the interdependence of Countries worldwide have opened their boundaries for a wide range of goods, services, and commodities. Today, in a globalised economy, no nation is self-sufficient. Every nation is involved at different levels in trade to sell what it produces, in order to gain what it lacks and also to produce more effectively than their partners. Maritime history, the study of human activity at sea, covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach. Freight forwarders typically arrange cargo movement to an international destination. Also referred to as international freight forwarders, they have the expertise that allows them to prepare and process the documentation and perform related activities pertaining to international shipments. Some of the typical information reviewed by a freight forwarder is the commercial invoice, shipper's export declaration, bill of lading and other documents required by the carrier or country of export, import, or transhipment. Much of this information is now processed in a paperless environment. A freight forwarder who does not own vessel, but functions as a carrier by issuing its own bills of lading and assuming responsibility for the shipments is called an NVOCC Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier. Firm that ship cargo on behalf of its client. NVOCC functions like any other carrier, issuing its own bills of lading or air waybills. There are numerous benefits of using a Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier. They can also help a company save time and resources because of their understanding and immense knowledge of the cargo shipping industry. This knowledge includes information on what the most effective and efficient routes of delivery are, based on specific destinations. They have expertise in most of the constituents of cargo shipping, packaging, pickup and delivery. This knowledge is institutional in providing a cargo with the best possible standards in accordance with international standards of delivery. Non-vessel operating common carriers are considered to be one of the â€Å"intermediaries† in the shipping industry. The latest law in this area has defined the NVOCC as â€Å"a common carrier which does not own or operate the vessels by which the ocean transportation is provided, and is a shipper in its relationship with the ocean carrier Latest law has defined the NVOCC as â€Å"a common carrier which does not own or operate the vessels by which the ocean transportation is provided, and is a shipper in its relationship with the ocean carrier. † NVOCC operators buy space from ocean carriers for consolidated shipments from a variety of clients. Documentation, logistical planning and warehousing of cargo from the port to final destination also are taken care of as part of the services provided. It was in 1951, when first intermodal modern day container was built and in 1955 first intermodal transport was operated. For the purpose to stream line the movement of container from origin to destination, there were intermediaries at each stage in the system. Ocean Freight Forwarder, Custom Clearance Agents, Trucking Agency, Railway Booking and Wagon Lease Agency, Container Freight Station, Port Clearance Agents, etc. Components Each time of the following three stages, i. . Inland Transportation at origin, Seaway and Finally Inland Transportation at destination, a new Bill of Lading was issued and cargo was insured. With International Trade increasing in 1970’s, efficiencies from containerisation led to trade of large volume and increased ocean carrier’s attention to ship with Full container load (FCL). That was the ti me when NVOCC emerged into the business. NVOCC’s are considered as one of the â€Å"intermediaries† in maritime industry. NVOCC’s went a way ahead in the business and provided end to end logistic solution even to small shippers. Business Model for NVOCC follows as shown below. At the origin, a NVOCC plays a role of consolidator as well as packaging agency, whereby they take part parcels from various shippers and consolidate in one full load container. Increase in efficiency and low time turn out time in transportation from inland depots to gateways of port. Another concept of Multicity Consolidation (MCC) is also leveraged by NVOCC’s. Once the cargo is placed in Container Freight Stations (CFS) or ware house at ICD’s, Cargo to a same destination is consolidated in one FCL. In this way NVOCC’s filled a transportation niche, particularly for inland ports, as onsolidator for smaller shippers ignored or abandoned by the ocean carrier. NVOCC Bill of lading: NVOCC's releases MULTIMODAL House Bill of Ladings (HBL) once they run a door-to-door service. They issue this HBL against shipper/final consignee whilst the Steam Ship Line issues a Master B/L (MBL) against the forwarder at origin and the forwarder at destination. NVOCCs play an importan t part in international trade. It is important that safeguards are in place to ensure the security of blank Bills of Lading, and there are systems in place to track them if they are misused. A NVOCC, who does not charter an entire ship, concludes contracts of carriage with several shippers/freight forwarders concerning individual packages or containers. When the NVOCC has accumulated an appropriate number of orders, he concludes a contract of carriage with a carrier who actually will perform the transportation. The NVOCC makes money by obtaining a better price from the carrier than he (the NVOCC) charges his shippers. The main duty of a carrier consists of the unconditional and unlimited obligation to transport the goods from the port of loading to the port of destination. The commitment to fulfil the transport obligation is the only and decisive criterion for a carrier. The salient features of NVOCC (Exports Sea) are as below: ?Register Individual shipment, Shipping Bill wise. ?Club multiple shipping bills under one HBL. ?Club multiple HBLs under one Master B/L. ?Prepare and print Master and House Bill of Lading. ?Specify B/L Charges for various charge heads for both payment and receipts and in any currency. ?Prepare Challan report for HBL. ?Prepare and send Consol Manifest. ?A unique Alert system which updates the user on current status of shipments based on shipment life cycle defined. These alerts can be mailed directly to the customer. ?Prepare and send Shipping Advice to customer. ?Prepare and Print Container Load Plan (CLP). ?Shipped On board (SOB) or Shut Out report preparation. ?Track transhipment details of containers at various Cargo Hubs. ?Various Customer Service reports. Can be sent directly through email from system. ?Prepare and print various types of Invoices e. g. Services and Freight, Brokerage, Lifting Shifting etc. including to Overseas Agent. The salient features of NVOCC (Imports Sea) are as below: ?Record various details for Import Shipment. Maintain various stages of shipment in its life cycle. ?A unique Alert system which updates the user on current status of shipments based on shipment life cycle defined. These alerts can be mailed directly to the customer. ?Keep track of various charges related to a shipment e. g. Freight, Fuel Surcharge, Ex-Works etc. ?Prepare, print and send Cargo Arrival Notice (CAN) to Importer for collection of charges which are linked to Accounts. ?Receive or Send Delivery Order (DO) as the case may be. ?Checks for shipment under Bank Release Order (BRO) and controls issue of DO. Overseas Agent's inward invoice/Credit/Debit Note can be booked into system for each shipment with profit sharing. ?A complete Foreign Remittances module for payment and receipts with RBI and bank covering letters/forms. The salient features of NVOCC (Accounts) are as below: ?Complete accounting package to suit specifically the needs of freight forwarding/NVOCC business with multi location and multi division activity. ?Managing the accounts of individual profit centres combined with common accounting books. ?Prepare/ view trial balance/ profit and loss/ balance sheet for individual profit centres as well as entire company. Prepare and print all types of vouchers e. g. Cash/Bank payment and receipts and Journal vouchers. ?Receipts and payments can be booked against particular invoices with TDS deducted details. ?Book Tra de Bills i. e. related to a particular shipment e. g. Transport or Freight Debit notes. ?Facility for Non Trade bills where tracking can be had for each item in a bill e. g. stationery items, Telephones etc. with separate recording of Service Tax Charged. ?Complete Cheque Book Management module for tracking of checks bank wise and also cancelled and post dated cheques. Merge Data of different Branches in Head Office. ?Complete Security module for rights of each user to operate a certain part of software. ?Data can be exported to TALLY accounting Package. Working of NVOCC’s at Various stages: Warehousing & In plant Logistics Receipt Unloading into warehousing Inspection Storage including stacking Preservation Order execution Dispatch and loading into own/customers’ vehicle Yard Management Receipt of Cargo Inspection Storage Inventory Management Order execution Billing Dispatch to Customers Value Added Services Unpacking/Repacking Grading / Sorting Break-bulk Labelling / Bar Coding Heat Sealing / Shrink Wrapping Assembly related services Quality Check Information Related Services MIS on stock, dispatch KPI related MIS Invoicing related MIS Preparation / submission of Excise returns Invoicing Order Processing Invoice Printing Related Statutory Documentation Inventory Management Re-order Level Assessment & finalization Stock-aging & FSN analysis Distribution (Secondary Transportation) Transportation to Customers’ premises Unloading at Customers’ premises Transit Insurance (as required) Reverse Logistics Transport Load Optimisation

John Grisham - His Most Recent Releases

John Grisham - His Most Recent Releases Although  John Grisham gained popularity through legal thrillers, he has successfully branched out these past few  years. For a more up-to-date taste of his work, here is a short list of John Grishams most recent releases.   Gray Mountain Published on October 21, 2014, Gray Mountain  is about a Manhattan lawyer who spends a year in Appalachia after losing her job during the 2008 financial crisis. In the process, she learns a lot about small town culture. Eventually, she enters the courtroom for the first time in her legal career and has a  run in  with big coal that becomes dangerous. The Whistler Grishams most recent book, The Whistler was published on October 25, 2016. While judges are expected to be models of intelligence, honor, and impartiality, The Whistler tells the story of a corrupt judge who bends the law. With a plot that involves the mafia, whistleblowers, hidden identities, and danger, this book has all the ingredients to make a page-turning thriller.   Camino Island The prolific John Grisham will publish his 30th book in 2017, titled Camino Island. The story revolves around a set of handwritten F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts that get stolen and sold into the black market. The FBI, a secret agency, and a young writer all get involved in the investigation of these missing documents.   Fans will be excited to hear that Camino Island will be released on June 6, 2017. Dont want to wait? Check out this complete list of Grisham books  and see if you missed one of his earlier novels.

Business English Writing Resources

Business English Writing Resources Written communication is especially important at work. Business writing often follows specific expectations. There are a wide range of standard phrases that are expected in business English that are generally not used in everyday English. Examples Please find attached ...We regret to inform you that ...It has come to our attention that ... Another challenge is that business writing follows very specific formulas in structure. Take the resume, ​for instance, the writing style you use, the points you highlight about your career or education, and the overall look and feel can play a very important role in deciding whether you are offered a job or not. There are also a number of documents that are common to business writing. These include office memos, e-mails, and reports. These business writing documents also take on different styles depending on the audience of those who receive the documents. This guide to business writing points you in the direction of the wide variety of resources available on the site. Basic Business Letters These two articles provide an overall framework for writing business letters. They outline specific issues of salutation, structure, letter layout and language use. Finally, there is also a Business Letter Writing Basics - Business Letter Writing Basics for English learners. Guide to basic style questions and standard phrases used in business English letters. How to Write a Business Letter - This how to provides a quick step by step guide to writing a basic business letter. Specific Business Letters Building on basic business letters, these business letters provide specific examples of letters written for common business writing tasks such as making an inquiry, sales letters, placing an order, etc. They include key phrases commonly found in each of business letter types, as well as an example letter on which to model your own English business correspondence. Letters of AcknowledgementMaking a Sale - Sales LetterPlacing an OrderMaking a ClaimAdjusting a ClaimMaking an inquiryReplying to an inquiryNew Account Terms and ConditionsBasic Business LettersWriting a Cover Letter when Applying for a Job Specific Business Documents There are a number of standard business documents that are used on a daily basis at the office. These documents follow standard outlines. This example provides important structural details, an introduction and example document on which to model your own reports. How to Write a Business Report Job Applications It is extremely important that these key business documents are in order when applying for a job. The cover letter and the resume are key to successfully winning a job offer during the interviewing process. Finding a Job - Writing a Cover LetterExample Cover Letter 1Writing Your Resume

Changes of Technology into the Teaching Profession Essay

Changes of Technology into the Teaching Profession - Essay Example With this, it can categorically be said that the teaching profession has gone a long way to jive with the innovations in technology. In regard to the aforesaid facts, this paper aims to explore the salient changes of technology into the teaching profession. Moreover, the discussion and analysis shall be based on relevant references that showcase reputable research evidences, thereby exemplifying the intent of this paper. According to Crader and Bridgforth (1996), the benefits of technology into the teaching profession are generally positive. Such benefits were enlisted in the research conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) and are quoted as follows: Furthermore, it was also figured that technology has made "a real difference" with the way educators implement their teaching methods and skills (Center for Technology in Education, qtd. in Crader and Bridgforth "Recent Research on the Effects of Technology"). This is evidenced by the integration of telecommunications into teaching, where telecommunication activities are being conducted with students, thus enabling teachers to spend more time with individual students and less time in making traditional lectures to the whole class, in so doing, it would allow students to carry out a more independent work (Honey, 1993, qtd. in Crader and Bridgforth "Recent Research on the Effects of Technology"). These changes signify the shift from the traditional direct approaches to a more student-centered approach in teaching (Crader and Bridgforth "Recent Research on the Effects of Technology"). Hence, technology is hailed as a driving force that geared towards improved teaching and learning (Sel din "Improving College Teaching"). On the other hand, for technology to be effective in the field of teaching, certain skills and tasks are required to ensure the appropriateness of its implementation, as well as successful adaptation to the changes brought about by the advent of technology. Thus, the following are the recommendations from the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA): Integrating and suiting technology into education/teaching goals and standards Having a vision for the use of technology to support curriculum Ensuring access to appropriate technology Providing training for the use of new technology Rendering sufficient administrative support for technology use Providing time for teachers to plan and learn how to integrate technology Providing for ongoing technical support for technology use (OTA, 1995, qtd. in Crader and Bridgforth "Recent Research on the Effects of Technology"). Additionally, a positive disposition, or attitude, towards the application of technology to teaching is a key prerequisite in order to develop the

The effect of feedback on learners of a Foreign Language in the Dissertation

The effect of feedback on learners of a Foreign Language in the development of the writing skill - Dissertation Example Although writing is one of the most important aspects of language learning, it has been observed that when learning second language much emphasis is on the fluency of speech and error free writing is neglected. A written piece of work with grammatical and other errors is a real eyesore and shows poor command over the language. Writing in a second language is difficult for students mostly because they do not have sufficient working knowledge of the target language. The biggest challenge the students of second language face is writing an error free composition. Error free composition in second language is possible through practice and through the guidance of the teacher in the form of feedback. Research shows that feedback plays an important role in language learning as it not only helps in the development of writing skills of the students but it also improves the general language learning (Hyland 2011). Teachers give different type of feedback in different situations; usually errors i n speech are corrected on the spot while errors in writing are corrected after some time. Teachers either simply point out the errors or sometimes write comments. Self-correction and peer correction are common techniques for error correction but learners have little confidence in these techniques and prefer their teachers’ remarks. ... Written comments from the teachers, on the other hand, are not easy to ignore and cannot be forgotten and are thus the most preferred form of feedback used in teaching. Though written feedback is very useful in helping students develop their writing skills while learning a foreign language, empirical evidence gleaned from experience of teaching written French language skills to undergraduate students, shows that there is a lack of engagement with written feedback on their written language assignments. This impedes student progress in target language acquisition. This research study aims to identify how students engage with written feedback provided by their teachers and while focusing on undergraduate French students aims to explore the level of engagement of students with different forms of responses in the area of language learning. This qualitative research project that started from the premise that students may be unaware of the ways in which feedback can be exploited as a valuab le learning tool, progressed to identify the ways in which students currently respond to feedback from their tutors and how and why they feel a certain form of feedback is more effective. Based on the findings, this study also suggest new ways of delivering feedback in different formats and how the written feedback can be improved further in ways that are considered more effective by the students.   1.1 Background and Context Despite the paramount importance of written feedback on the assignments of students learning foreign language, less emphasis is placed on research in this area. There has been research on what students perceive about writing in a second language (Ismail 2011); also teaching writing to students of foreign language (Gaudiani 1981; Caywood & Gillian