04- Courtney Alsbrook - Science Fair Report Essays (450 words)

Courtney Alsbrook Science Fair May 14, 2012 Ms.Geiger Introduction My topic is "How does distance affect shooting percentage?" I chose this experiment because I'm a basketball player/fan, and I'd like to know how the different obstacles that come up during a game affect play on the court. This is important, because it could help other players, specialists, and coaches, make decisions on what shots they should go for over the course of a game. According to my research, 3 point shots, the shot with the furthest distance, require more strength and accuracy than short and mid-range jump-shots. The further back you move, the more force you have to apply to the ball, and the more accurate you need to be for the ball to go in. Hypothesis I think that if you increase distance of a jump-shot, then the shooting percentage will decrease, because more distance requires more strength and accuracy. Variables Independent: Distance Dependent: Shooting Percentage Procedure Materials NBA regulation sized Basketball Regulation height rim (10Ft) 10 Basketball Players Gym Calculator Procedure Have each person shoot 10 shots from short range Have each person shoot 10 shots from foul line (jumpshot) Have each person shoot 10 shots from 3pt. Calculate Percentages Shooting Percentage from Short Range #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 90% 50% 80% 100% 100% 90% 60% 80% 100% 70% Shooting Percentage from Medium Range (Foul Line) #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 80% 50% 40% 80% 100% 60% 90% 100% 80% 70% Shooting Percentage from Long Range (3pt.Line) Shooters #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 % 50% 30% 80% 20% 70% 10% 0% 60% 0% 10% Conclusion My topic question was, "How does distance affect shooting percentage?" The answer is, distance negatively affects shooting percentage. The avg. decrease in shooting percentage between short range jumpshots, and long range jumpshots is about 43%. Therefore, my hypothesis is correct. My results show that the greater the distance of a shot, the less likely it is for you to make it. I think these were the results because, the higher the distance of a shot, the more strength and accuracy required. My experiment affects the real world because coaches, and players can choose the shots taken in games more wisely. If they see my results and have more reason to believe that distance hurts percentage, they can make better decisions on what shots to take. In the future, I plan to test which Sports Drink helps energize players best.

The Design of the Sidekick essays

The Design of the Sidekick essays The Design and Use of the T-Mobile Color Sidekick Communication is important. Many people use cell phones and electronic devices everyday to communicate with their families and friends. One type of cell phone that many hard of hearing or deaf people use, along with hearing people, is the T-Mobile Sidekick from Danger, Inc. They use it because not only it has a phone feature like all cell phones, but it also has an instant messaging program that serves as an alternative to a phone for people who cannot hear well. The Sidekick will be examined, to see if it is beneficial to a person who owns one, by following some of the main designing principles derived from Donald A. Normans The Design of Everyday Things. The Sidekick has many things wrong about it that are often overlooked and it also has many great features, such as its email service that makes the device a cell phone/pager in one. The Sidekick comes in a spiffy colorful box from T-Mobile and it includes a re-charger, a wrist strap and a cover. Does the Sidekick have an excellent sense of usability? That has yet to be determined in this paper. The appearance of the pager has customers vying for it. Its silver body with a swivel LCD screen that rotates clockwise 180 degrees around the hinge, that sits about a couple of centimeters from the top of the phone, makes a person want to get his/her hands on whats exposed when the LCD is flipped a QWERTY keyboard. When the LCD screen is swiveled upside down, the contents on the screen will also flip to make reading easier. A clickable scroll wheel is embedded inside the right center of the device where the users thumb might roam over when the hand is holding the pager. Inside the wheel, lies a multi-colored tiny light bulb to display changing colors used for feedback to the user. Placed on the top right corner of the pager, which is directly above the flashin g scroll wheel, exists an 11-row vent in...

Mythology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mythology - Essay Example The moment of transformation, or to use Ovid’s word, metamorphosis, leads Pygmalion to have at least one child with his beloved creature, who responds with adoration to the amorous attentions of her creator. This moment brings about the happy ending that Pygmalion so desires, but it also raises a number of questions about the boundary between art and life, and the nature of the love relationship between men and women. A perceptive study by Alison Sharrock explores the way that Ovid’s story of Pygmalion and his statue provides an ironic commentary on the relationship between men and women in classical times. In her view â€Å"Woman perceived is woman as art-object† (Sharrock 36). The artist creates an image of woman, which is then an object of admiration, and even love. From this feminist point of view, there is something demeaning in the way that the woman is treated, since she is not seen as an equal to the male creator figure, but quite literally is admired as a figment of his superior imagination, or an extension of his own self. This shows males as god-like figures, and females as fallible human beings, reflecting the very real social hierarchy that existed in Classical times. Sharrock coins the word â€Å"womanufacture† to describe the process of making women into art objects for the enjoyment of men. The perspective of the tale is entirely that of Pygmalion and the character of the statue which comes to life, or even her name, are not revealed, leaving the reader to wonder what she thinks of this turn of events, and whether she ever learns to question the motives or indeed the sanity of her obsessive creator/lover. Another academic study highlights the elements of doubling and incest that this erotic relationship between Pygmalion and the statue contains: â€Å"The statue, then, is in Pygmalion’s own likeness, in the sense that it represents his response to the flawed nature of women as they are in nature. It is also hi s ‘daughter’, in the sense that an artist is the ‘father’ of his creations† (Hardie 10). This article takes a more psychological approach and explores the whole domain of creativity and art, showing how the work of art, whether it be a poem, painting, statue or any other kind of art, always contains a great deal of the creator’s own self. The white ivory is like a blank canvas on which the artist paints his own vision of what it is to be a woman. There is considerable arrogance in Pygmalion’s rejection of real women, in preference for his own created object. Falling in love with one’s own creation is therefore a highly selfish and obsessive trait, which hints at a certain unresolved conflict between men and women in the real world. The story approaches the taboo area of incest since there is very clearly an element of fatherly pride in Pygmalion’s attitude to the statue. A close reading of Ovid’s text highlights furt her moral undertones in the telling of the story. Pygmalion remains single for many years, because he is disappointed in the moral behavior of ordinary women. This means that he must be an older man at the time of the statue’s creation. His creature is â€Å"a perfect virgin† (Ovid 248) and he uses words such as â€Å"

Discription Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Discription - Essay Example The pumping of the heart is controlled by the Sino atrial (SA) node that is located in the posterior wall of the right atrium(Heart 1995). 2. The valves: there are two types of valves the Atrioventricular valves (located in the middle of the heart between the ventricle and the atria) of two types the tricuspid on the right and mitral/cuspid on the left and the Semilunar valves of two types pulmonary and the aortic valve. The functions of the valve is too prevent the backflow of blood to the chambers. 3. The vessels: There are four main vessels in the heart; the vena cava divided into superior and inferior, the pulmonary artery, the pulmonary vein and the aorta. The functions of veins is to covey blood from and to the heart. The heart is divided into four chambers: the top two chambers are known as the atriums and the bottom two chambers are called ventricles. Importantly, the atriums both contract at the same time same as the two ventricles(Heart 1995). First and foremost, deoxygenated blood enters the heart via the superior and the inferior vena cava into the right atrium. The right atrium contracts and forces the blood to rush into the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve. Consequently, when the right ventricle contracts, the deoxygenated blood is pumped into both lungs through the pulmonary arterypast the semi lunar valves(Heart 1995). The process continuesas the blood is returned from the lungs via the pulmonary veins wherethe oxygenated blood is delivered to the left atrium. When the atrium contracts the blood is rushed through the valves into the left ventricle, thestrongest and most muscular portion of the heart.When the left ventricle contracts, blood is rushed through the aort a: he aorta is the main artery leaving the heart (Lewis 1925). Through this process, oxygenated blood is now taken throughout

Christopher Columbus, Mariner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Christopher Columbus, Mariner - Essay Example He was an accomplished sailor and retired in 1951 as rear admiral. Morison attended Noble School at Boston and St. Paul’s at Concord, New Hampshire. In 1908 he graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Morison studied at Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques, Paris, France. He later returned to Harvard for his postgraduate studies. Morison received his PhD from Harvard in 1912 and later began teaching there in 1915. The young adult life of Samuel Morison fell in the early 19th century. During the early 19th century the US was under President William Howard Taft 1908-1912 and Glen C. Mead 1912-1913 there were a lot of political activity that influenced peoples way of thinking and also there were a lot feminism ideas being spread around. The rights of feminine workers were stamped clearly by the societal organization’s activities. Feminized professions formed a crucial focus on the socialist’s women organizations. During that period cold was culminating between the capitalists and communists who supported socialism. The Nazi-German forces were detaining activists from the Jewish community and later executed in cold blood. This led to an international outcry due to gross violation of human rights by the Germans. The industrial revolution which led to mechanization had already taken shape marking the advent of weaponry manufacturing companies. Many young brains were being recruited into the forces to inject dynamism in the supremacy battles. Morison took part in the Battle of Kolombagara before returning to the mainland. Most leather factories sprung up during that period to provide boots and heavy clothing needed during that period of war. This changed the mode of dressing as time went by. He worked at the Pearl Harbor which was attacked by the Japanese that led to the entrance of the USA into World War I. Morison wrote many books that are related like the Admiral of the sea: A life of Christopher Columbus (1941), The

Aboriginal And Indigenous Peoples History Essay

Aboriginal And Indigenous Peoples History Essay 2. The Incas were found to be very educated and sophisticated people as they devised their own way of living up in the Andean Area which was made up of many varied geological areas. They had well designed storehouses and intricate architectural constructions displaying their vast knowledge of architectonics. Stones weighing several tonnes fitted together so well that no mortar was needed in the process of their constructions. Although the Incas idea of time was unlike others, they had established systems of agriculture, transport and communication routes giving us the impression that they were very knowledgeable people and were capable of even further advancing in technology. The Incas were very self-reliant with enough food, clothing and shelter for their communities and used their resources efficiently, storing the remains for times of need. They were able to produce their own crops but only made enough for themselves, which meant they had to trade with neighbouring tribes to obtain what they didnt have. Some of their main crops included maize corn, cotton and potatoes. The Incas made good use of the climate of the different regions of the Incan Empire. The adapting of the climates also meant that they had different jobs for the various regions of the Andean Area so they would be able to get more out of their trade. For specific areas, people had a combination of several occupations as it was more productive that way. 3. (Last page) 4. (Last page) During contact and Comparison to Aboriginal Contact: 1. The Spanish 2. The people who colonised the Inca Empire of the Andes were the Spanish. The Spaniards had previously conquered the Aztecs and were now moving onto the Andean area where the Incas dwelled. A man named Francisco Pizarro along with some other Spanish men made a total of three expeditions to the Andes in an attempt to conquer the Incan Empire. The first expedition was made alone by Francisco Pizarro himself in 1524-1525 and he had only just entered the coast of Columbia. As Pizarro was friendly towards the Incas, they offered him gold and silver as a welcoming and sign of benevolence. Pizarro then made a second voyage to the Andean Area but this time he was accompanied by Bartholomew Ruà ­z, his ship captain and other Spanish conquistadors. Ruà ­z brought back to Pizarro many tales about the riches and the rising population and society of the Incas. He also brought back two traders from whom the Spaniards learnt many things from such as about their endless amounts of gold and silver supplies and the magnificent Inca cities. Hearing this, Pizarro had even more desire to conquer the Incas for their abundant amounts of wealth. They also wanted to colonise the land due to them thinking they were a superior race with a moral duty to change the heathens they found to Christianity to rule and utilize them. Hence, on their third trip to the Andean Area, the Spaniards approached them with the purpose of conquest and conversion. 3. The minority of the Spaniards had any desire to engage with the civilisations that they conquered at that time, meaning that most did not wish to socialise with the Incas. Although, at the beginning of Pizarros expedition to the unknown Andean Area, he only came with the initial thought of exploring the land, and without the intention of colonising them, meaning that his first encounter with the Incas was surprisingly friendly. However, as he was welcomed with such kindness by the Incas who even offered to give him gold and silver (which he accepted), he suddenly had the greed and aspiration to take it all from them for himself just from seeing the huge amounts of wealth they had. From his original friendly exploration to the discovery of the Incan gold, Pizarro then made it war between the Spaniards and the Incas. On their third journey to the Andes, Pizarro and the Spanish, who said they brought the Incas no harm, were welcomed by the Inca Emperor Atahuallpa who thought the foreigners were to bring him good fortune. Nevertheless, their foolish emperor was greatly mistaken, for Pizarro had deceived Atahuallpa, and kidnapped him. Pizarro and the Spaniards subsequently held the Incas emperor for ransom, and in return he got more gold. Even so, they then killed their emperor and further prepared for their plan to colonise the Andean Area. 4. The Incas at first, meeting with Pizarro were friendly and gave him gold to welcome him to their humble land. Unfortunately Pizarro then had the need to be greedy and take their gold and decided war against them. Due to him kidnapping their emperor, the Incas gave him gold so they could try to get their leader back. Sadly, although Pizarro got his gold, he still killed Atahuallpa. This signalled the Incas that it was war between the two cultures. The Incas readily prepared themselves and outnumbered the Spanish greatly when it got to the war so they were not worried at all. Those who didnt fight fled and hid high in the mountains. However, the Incas were conquered extremely easily by the Spanish. But how on earth did such a large army get defeated by another that was only a fraction of its size? It was simple; a lot of the Incan army died from diseases such as smallpox and the flu that the Spanish carried with them when they came to the Andean Area which spread across the area inf ecting many. This reduced the size of the Incan army greatly and gave more advantage to the Spanish. The conquistadors were also able to persuade other tribes already under the Incan rule to be on their side and help bring down the Incan Empire. Last of all, the weapons the Spanish used were much more advanced than the Incan weapons and were never seen by the Incans themselves before. As the Spaniards weapons were clearly more advanced, they were also more powerful than the Incas simple arms and resulted in the Spaniards easy conquer against the Incan Empire. 5. The experience of colonisation for the Incas was in some ways, similar to the indigenous people of Australia, the Aboriginals. The Europeans who colonised the Aboriginals also gave them smallpox and other diseases like the Spanish, which they could not withstand, causing many of the natives to die due to their weak immune systems. What the two cultures also had in common besides that was the fact that they fought back against the non-indigenous peoples who tried to take control of them and their land and didnt give up easily. However, the Incas were defeated more easily by the Spanish than the Aboriginals were by the Europeans even though both put up a fight instead of just giving up their land straight away. The Spanish had canons, which were much more advanced than what the Incas had. The Europeans had guns and the Aboriginals had spears, which were also quite weak when the Aboriginals weapons were compared to the Europeans. The Spanish, as previously stated, did not interact wi th the Andean dwellers, whereas the Europeans made bonds with some of the Aboriginals. Some Europeans even had intimate relationships with the Aboriginals they encountered whilst the Spaniards, in contrast, did not do anything like that with the Incas. Consequences of Colonisation and Comparison to Aboriginal experience: 1. The Incas, although highly prepared and ready for combat, were easily defeated by the Spanish due to numerous reasons. The demolition of the Incan Empire caused the population to decrease greatly. As the Incas were colonised by the Spaniards, they were taught Christianity although they were still able to follow their old one along with Christianity. The Incas were taught that all men are equal before God and that slaughter was wrong and brutal. Conversely, the Incan religion involved them to sacrifice humans and offer them to Incan Gods. They were also introduced to many other new things such as the wheel, horses to haul heavy loads and sheep and cattle which were used for food and clothing. Although colonisation for the Incas had its benefits, it had to have its disadvantages as well. Unfortunately, the majority of the Incas at that time died from slavery, famine, sentence of death and disease. The labour the Incas had to go through was so persevering that some poor citizens died from it. Due to the Spanish rule over the Andean Area, they stole and ate most of the food that the Incas had stored and grown in the past, resulting in a lack of food for the Incas. That then led to many other Incas deaths as the amount of food left was not enough to go around. Other Andean dwellers were killed because they were involved in the rebellions against the Spanish. Some, who were lucky, escaped the grasps of the Spanish and managed to build a new life in other villages. 2. For the Spanish, this colonisation was quite rewarding for them at the start, although it led to the death of the Incan civilisation. There were two major things they gained from the conquest over the Incas. One of which was the land that they had taken. Land, at the time of the Spanish colonising the Incas, was very important. Basically, it was the more land that you owned, the more power you had. Another major thing was gold. After conquering the Incas, the Spanish got their wealth that they wanted so badly. Gold was important to the Spanish as they were able to buy goods with it from other countries as well as them just owning it for their own selfish greediness. The Spaniards along with Francisco Pizarro himself successfully colonised the Incan Empire of the Andean Area for a short period of time. However, approximately 8 years after they assassinated Atahuallpa, Pizarro was assassinated at the age of 70. He was stabbed in the back by a group of men leaving the Spaniards with no leader. After a while, a man named Diego de Almagro took over, and was the man who secretly planned and carried out the murder of Francisco Pizarro. He had personally despised Pizarro as he was more triumphant than he was which influenced his evil scheme. However in 1808, the South American countries formed a revolt against the Spanish which lasted 16 years. Eventually, the Spanish were defeated, and this ended their rule over the Andean Area. 3. The results of colonisation for the indigenous people of Australia compared to the Incas, the indigenous people of the Andean Area, had varying results. Roughly 90% of each of the indigenous tribes was wiped out due to the non-indigenous colonisers for almost the same reasons. The Incas were fortunate to at least have some benefits from the colonisation of their land whereas the Aboriginals had fewer advantages. Some of the Incan traditions still remained whereas the Europeans tried to change the Aboriginal traditions. The Europeans supplied food that the Aborigines didnt usually eat like meat which made them reliant of the foreigners to supply their food, changing their daily diets. The Europeans struggled to put up a fight with the Aboriginals, and eventually won with a result of the land being colonised by them until this very day as well as them having a place to put their convicts for that time. On the other hand, the Spanish lost their power of colonisation of the Andean Are a due to the other bordering South American countries rebelling against their rule over the Incas. The Peruvians to this day, still acknowledge and treat the descendants from the Incas well, whilst some of the people of Australia, didnt treat the Aboriginals like they should have, which ended up with a Sorry Day to the Aboriginals. As a result of colonisation, both Australia and Peru were greatly impacted by their colonisers, the Europeans and the Spanish.

Existentialism Vs. Determinism Essay -- essays research papers

Free Will   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Analyzing our individual free will can be very intriguing and can almost reach the point of being paradoxical. Ultimately, free will determines the level of responsibility we claim for our actions. Obviously, if outside forces determine our choices, we cannot be held responsible for our actions. However, if our choices are made with total freedom than certainly we must claim responsibility for our choices and actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The readings I chose offered two quite opposite theories on individual human freedom, determinism vs. existentialism. In comparing these two theories the contrasts are quite outstanding.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Evidently, some philosophers felt that human beings did not really have a free will. This view, defined as determinism held that certain casual laws rule what occurs in the universe. There are two major forms of determinism, including hard determinism and soft determinism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hard determinism taught that each of our actions is determined by factors beyond our control such as heredity and environment. From this point of view there can be no real moral responsibility for our actions if our actions were determined by factors beyond our cont...

Indian Business Environment Essay

Abstract One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. This paper seeks to determine the impact of various market and regulatory initiatives on efficiency improvements of Indian banks. Efficiency of firm is measured in terms of its relative performance that is, efficiency of a firm relative to the efficiencies of firms in a sample. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has used to identify banks that are on the output frontier given the various inputs at their disposal. The present study is confined only to the Constant-Return-to-Scale (CRS) assumption of decision making units (DMUs). Variable returns to scale (VRS) assumption for estimating the efficiency was not attempted. It was found from the results that national banks, new private banks and foreign banks have showed high efficiency over a period time than remaining banks. II. Reforms and Banking system In the post liberalization-era, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated quite a few measures to ensure safety and consistency of the banking system in the country and at the same point in time to support banks to play an effective role in accelerating the economic growth process. One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices 4. Although the Indian banks have contributed much in the Indian economy, certain weaknesses, i.e. turn down in efficiency and erosion in profitability had developed in the system, observance in view these conditions, the Committee on Financial System(CFS) was lay down. Reserve Bank of India has implemented banking sector reforms in two phases. The first reform focused on introduction of several prudential norms, major changes in the policy framework, and formation of competiti ve atmosphere. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. The Financial sector reforms were undertaken in 1992 based on the recommendations of the CFS. Later, The Narsimham Committee has provided the proposal for reforming the financial sector. The committee also argued that ‘economic reforms in the real sector of economy will, however, fail to realize their full potential without a parallel reform of the financial sector. It focused on several issues like, releasing of more funds to banks, deregulation in interest rates, capital adequacy, income recognition, disclosures and transparency norms etc. However, financial sector reforms focused on improving the competitive efficiency of the banking system. The financial reform process has commenced since 1991 which was made the banking sector healthy, sound, well- capitalized and become competitive. The competitive pressures to improve efficiency in the banking sector has resulted in a switch from traditional paper based banking to electronic banking, use information technology and shift of emphasis from brick and mortar banking to use of ATMs. INDIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN BANKING INDUSTRY Indian banking industry, the backbone of the country’s economy, has always played a key role in prevention the economic catastrophe from reaching terrible volume in the country. It has achieved enormous appreciation for its strength, particularly in the wake of the worldwide economic disasters, which pressed its worldwide counterparts to the edge of fall down. If we compare the business of top three banks in total assets and in terms of return on assets, the Indian banking system is among the healthier performers in the world. This sector is tremendously competitive and recorded as growing in the right trend (Ram Mohan, 2008). Indian banking industry has increased its total assets more than five times between March 2000 aThe overall development has been lucrative with enhancement in banking industry efficiency and productivity. It should be underlined here is financial turmoil which hit the western economies in 2008 and the distress effect widened to the majority of the other countries but Indian banking system survived with the distress and showed the stable performance. Indian banks have remained flexible even throughout the height of the sub-prime catastrophe and the subsequent financial turmoil. The Indian banking industry is measured as a flourishing and the secure in the banking world. The country’s economy growth rate by over 9 percent since last several years and that has made it regarded as the next economic power in the worldnd March 2010, The Indian banking industry is measured as a flourishing and the secure in the banking world. The country’s economy growth rate by over 9 percent since last several years and that has made it regarded as the next economic power in the world. Our banking industry is a mixture of public, private and foreign ownerships. The major dominance of commercial banks can be easily found in Indian banking, although the co-operative and regional rural banks have little business segmentIn the post liberalization-era, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated quite a few measures to ensure safety and consis tency of the banking system in the country and at the same point in time to support banks to play an effective role in accelerating the economic growth process. One of the major objectives of Indian banking sector reforms was to encourage operational self-sufficiency, flexibility and competition in the system and to increase the banking standards in India to the international best practices. Although the Indian banks have contributed much in the Indian economy, certain weaknesses, i.e. turn down in efficiency and erosion in profitability had developed in the system, observance in view these conditions, the Committee on Financial System. Reserve Bank of India has implemented banking sector reforms in two phases. The first reform focused on introduction of several prudential norms, major changes in the policy framework, and formation of competitive atmosphere. The second phase of reforms began in 1997 with aim to reorganization measures, human capital development, technological up-gradation, structural development which helped them for achieving universal benchmarks in terms of prudential norms and pre-eminent practices. The Financial sector reforms were undertaken in 1992 based on the recommendations of the CFS. Later, The Narsimham Committee has provided the proposal for reforming the financial sector. The committee also argued that ‘economic reforms in the real sector of economy will, however, fail to realize their full potential without a parallel reform of the financial sector. It focused on several issues like, releasing of more funds to banks, deregulation in interest rates, capital adequacy, income recognition, disclosures and transparency norms etc. However, financial sector reforms focused on improving the competitive efficiency of the banking system. The financial reform process has commenced since 1991 which was made the banking sector healthy, sound, well- capitalized and become competitive. (CFS) was lay down. Liberalisation of India’s banking sector †¢ Liberalisation of India’s banking sector begun since 1992, following the Narasimhan Committee’s Report (December 1991) †¢ Important recommendations of the Committee were – [i] reduction of statutory pre-emptions (SLR and CRR) [ii] deregulation of the interest rates [iii] opening up the sector to foreign and domestic private banks [iv] adoption of prudential regulations relating to capital adequacy, asset classiï ¬ cation and provisioning standards Service firms such as ITC Hotels and ANZ Grindlays Bank found direct marketing very effective in retailing customers and weathering competition. †¢ The Indian banking system is growing in a robust manner. †¢ The Indian banking system complies with international standards of prudential regulation. †¢ The Indian banking system is opening up for entry of foreign banks. †¢ Despite the growth, Indian banking system is not entirely inclusive. †¢ There is good opportunities for the banking industry – domestic and foreign – for expansion to ï ¬ ll the gap. A decade after the Narasimham report was published and in the light of new challenges from the norms laid down by the WTO and Basel II, it is imperative to have a close look at the performance of banks in the last decade or so to assess the success of the reform process. INDIA inherited a very weak banking system following Independence. However, the nationalisation programme (1969) helped this sector achieve remarkable success in many respects. The stability among depositors, penetration into rural India and the consequent reduction in poverty and diversification out of agriculture were some of its laudable achievements. Given the predominantly bank based nature of financial system, the banking industry gained the reputation of one of the most protected in the country. However, in the 1990s a chain of events such as introduction of modern technologies, competition from new players in the liberalised market place, and enhanced emphasis on governance to protect shareholder interest changed the way banks conducted business. The Indian banking sector with its diversity of ownerships — State Bank of India and its associates, nationalised banks, private domestic banks and foreign banks also faced a similar set of challenges. Although the public sector banks acquired a dominant presence thanks to the regulatory environment, several of them performed poorly in the late 1980s. To preserve the soundness of the financial system, especially the banking segment, the Government set up the Narasimham Committee. The Committee (in 1991) made far-reaching recommendations that formed the basis of banking reforms. Some of the comprehensive reform measures suggested included: Stricter income recognition and asset classification, higher capital adequacy ratio, phased deregulation of interest rate, lowering statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and cash reserve ratio (CRR), entry deregulation, and branch-de-licensing. These measures mainly aim to improve the efficiency/profitability of banking industry. A decade and half after the Narasimham report was published and in the light of the World Trade Organisation and Basel II norms, it is imperative to have a close look at the performance of banks in the last decade or so to assess the success of the reform process. Performance indicators Commonly-used measures to assess the performance of the banking industry are: Return on Asset (ROA), Operating Profit Ratio (OPR), Net Interest Margin (NIM), Operating Cost Ratio (OCR) and Staff Expenditure Ratio (SER). The first two are generally considered profitability measures, while the others, the efficiency indices. These five measures have been considered in this analysis for two sub-periods: Pre-liberalisation (1992-1995) and post-liberalisation (2000-2003). The total number of banks considered for two sub-periods were 64 (eight State Banks, 19 nationalised banks, 19 private banks and 18 foreign banks) and 87 (8, 19, 28 and 32 respectively). Overall performance improvement A comparison of performance indices during the study period reveals that the reform measures helped to improve the overall performance of industry. This is reflected in the improvement of all performance indicators barring the net interest margin (see Table). Interestingly, the ROA, treated as a proxy for risk-adjusted return, increased from (-) 0.28 per cent in the pre-liberalisation period to 0.79 per cent (against more than 1 per cent in other merging markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and Korea) post-liberalisation, indicating a significant rise in the ability of banks to convert their assets into net earnings. Another interesting aspect is that despite a marginal fall in the net interest margin from 2.84 to 2.73 (which might be due to policy change), the banking industry has managed to improve its OPR by increasing its non-interest fee-based income and reducing its operating costs/staff expenses. The evidence indicates that after the reform initiation period, the banks have increasingly been providing off balance sheet items such as derivatives, which generate major part of non-interest income. The proportion of operating costs/staff expenses has declined mainly due to computerisation and the voluntary retirement scheme. The property rights theorists believe that the private banks are more efficient than their counterparts in the public sector. This view is corroborated by the public choice theorists who argue that the specific X inefficiency factors are more prevalent in the public sector, irrespective of market conditions. Further, many cross-country findings report an increased government ownership as a deterrent to the development of the banking system. The Indian banking scenario seems to be consistent with the above, as the privately owned (foreign as well as domestic) banks seem to be superior to their public counter parts with respect to all performance indicators except the NIM. Despite a fall in their OPR and NIM between 1992-95 and 2000-03, the private banks successfully managed to reduce their operating expenditures, particularly the staff expenditures, thereby successfully maintaining their status. Among private banks, the foreign banks seem to be superior in terms of three out of five the criteria used. Within the public domain, the State Banks tend to be superior with respect to ROA, OCR and SER, while the nationalised banks seem to show better performance in terms of OPR and NIM. Thus, although there is a significant improvement in the overall performance of banks as one moves from the post-reform period to the late-reform period, one finds certain anomalies such as a fall in the NIM (except in the case of the nationalised banks), a fall in the ROA of private domestic banks, a reduction in the OPR of private domestic and foreign banks and a rise in the OCR/SER of foreign banks. Convergence or divergence Apart from the overall improvement across the board, another important criterion to evaluate the success story is to check whether the competitive force has led to any convergence in the performance of different ownership groups in the post-liberalisation period. Exposure to the competitive forces is often argued as a panacea to shake poorly performing banks out of their slumber. Although the public banks compared poorly with private banks during the initial period, they made a significant improvement in the later period by responding well to the new challenges of competition and consolidation, mostly following a gradual and cautious approach. The pay off is well reflected in the increase in their ROA, OPR and NIM. Some possible reasons for the better performance of public banks could be they still undertake most of the government borrowing programmes, thereby generating significant fee based income; the market discipline imposed by the listing of most public sector banks has also probably contributed to this improved performance; and ï‚ · the reform measures have changed their business strategies particularly greater diversification of non-fund based business and emergence of treasury and foreign exchange business. The study reveals that the OPR across four ownership groups tend to converge. The NIM tend to converge across private and public sectors while the OCR continues to remain significantly different across ownership groups. The above analyses indicate that the banking sector performs reasonably well with respect to the goals set by the Narasimham Committee, particularly in the context of the poorly performing banks and showing some encouraging signs to meet the Basel II norms by 2006. However, one should not go over board in reading these numbers to evaluate the success of the Indian banking sector, particularly from the perspective of a developing economy such as ours. Policy-makers should be extra cautious in giving free a reign to the banking sector in pursuing â€Å"profit and risk† based strategies. Recent trends in non-synergy based consolidation, growing disinclination to lend money towards productive purposes and to the unprofitable sectors such as agriculture, self-help groups, infrastructure and to small and medium sized enterprises, its growing engagement in non-productive treasury operations and conspicuous consumer lending will seriously impair the role of banks as public instruments of development. Therefore, maintaining a balance between these two objectives will remain a challenge to the banking sector for some time to come. Bibliography- * www.thehindubusinessline.com * iimahd.ernet.in/assets/snippets/ *

Congenial vs. Genial

Congenial vs. Genial â€Å"Congenial† vs. â€Å"Genial† â€Å"Congenial† vs. â€Å"Genial† By Mark Nichol What’s the difference between congenial and genial? They both derive from that Latin term that also developed into genius, but their meanings are mostly distinct. Genial means â€Å"friendly† or â€Å"sympathetic,† or â€Å"mild†; it also describes someone who displays or is marked by genius, but that is a rare usage. Genial can refer to a person (â€Å"She has a genial personality†) or to an inanimate object or phenomenon (â€Å"The weather was genial yesterday†). Although congenial can be synonymous with genial, the connotation is usually one of having a pleasant and/or sociable attitude (â€Å"He is a congenial host†) or being harmonious or of a kindred spirit (â€Å"Their congenial interest in the matter may help them cooperate†). Writers must take care not to introduce an extraneous letter to produce one of two words that, though distantly related to genial and congenial, have nothing to do with the terms or with each other: Genital refers to the sexual organs, and congenital usually refers to diseases or unhealthy psychological features. A congenital physical condition is one that dates or exists from birth or is acquired during gestation and not through heredity; one can also describe someone as having a congenital fear of or obsession about something. People are also sometimes described as being congenital in some aspect of their nature for example, a congenital liar is someone who is habitually deceitful. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Royal Order of Adjectives 40 Fish IdiomsPersonification vs. Anthropomorphism

Tristate tornado essays

Tristate tornado essays The tri-state tornado of 1925 was the hugest and most devastating tornado in U.S. history. Its speed, size, power, and duration enabled it to amass the greatest fatalities and injuries ever, almost doubling its next closest competitor. The 18th of March was just another spring day, and many people thought the storm was just another spring storm, but it was far from that. The great F5 twister started its journey near Ellington, Missouri it then passed through Annapolis MO, where 90% of the town was destroyed. Moving east, the twister crossed the Mississippi just 75 miles south of St. Louis. Had the twister passed through St. Louis its power would have only been amplified as would the number of fatalities. The twister proceeded to Gorham, Illinois where almost the entire town was destroyed, with 34 people taking the big ride in the sky, literally and figuratively. The tornados next stop was Murphysboro where it recorded the largest death toll within a single city at 234 dead. 50% of the towns population was left either dead or injured. The estimated damage there was around 10 million. Im not sure what ten million in those days would equate to now but it would have to be at least a billion. The next stop of this amazing phenomena was Desoto, Illinois, population 600. In two minutes 24 homes were obliterated and 69 people were killed. The sheer force of the tornados winds drove a 2x4 through a steel railroad car, and carried a huge grain bin one-quarter of a mile (Watson, 2002). Still traveling eastward, West Frankfort, a small mining community was where the tornado did some of its last major damage. Most of the men in the town were 500 feet underground mining and minding their own business. It was the power outage that forced the hardworking men above ground only to find total devastation. Their homes were d ...

Workplace Climate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Workplace Climate - Essay Example However, professionalism also sets in since one must manage his/her temper when under stress. My co-workers were supportive and during break time, they would give practical tips in how to deal with an angry client or rebook a missed flight. Another characteristic of that workplace is that we were like a family. As a Chinese, we believe in team work and unity. Fortunately, my co-workers tolerate individual and cultural differences. Recognizing diversity in a company really contributes to a positive workplace. Employees do not feel discriminated and they work more productively since they are free to be themselves. Every morning, our boss calls in for a quick 15-minute meeting that reports the transactions done yesterday. We were constructively criticized and accepted the need to improve our behavior. This has greatly helped in creating a positive environment. If there was one department that needed some data or extra hand we immediately collaborated so that we can reach our goal for a certain day. I think that is the essence of team work. Because of the premise of recognizing individual differences, we tried to adjust our expectations from one another. One co-worker would state† this is not my forte, crunching numbers so If you need more clarification, just ask me†. In this manner, we admit our limitations and even find co-workers who would mentor us. Even our boss is not controlling. Perhaps, he really knows the true meaning of empowerment. There is a high degree of trust and responsibility bestowed on us which we try to achieve. If we need help, we do voice out our help by asking immediate superior so a concern can be addressed. Like any other organization, problems and conflicts arise. When there is a mistake committed, we evaluate on our meetings what went wrong. We identify people who are responsible with the task and analyze if procedures have been followed. It is

Information System Engineering (Case Study about system requirement) Essay

Information System Engineering (Case Study about system requirement) - Essay Example The purpose of this report is to elaborate the system design features for its better implementation. The Children Support Agency (CSA) has emerged as a national charity based organization for the betterment of the UK’s young people. This organization has aimed to facilitate young people of UK for their career and support them for spending their lives effectively. CSA has developed their setup very effectively and they have their central office in London. Recently they have moved their two main offices, a small one in London and a larger one on the South Coast of England in Brighton. In this situation this organization has running lot of projects on diverse domains, for the management of these projects and better information transfer in the overall organization structure is really essential. There is need of some distributed information management system that is able to handle the overall organizational information and have the capability to tenser the data and information to each client. CSA has initiated the development of the central information management system that will help the head office to monitor projects. The system will offer the effective tools to help regional directors, area managers and lead workers to manage their work. At the heart of the system will be the recording and monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) for each of the projects managed by CSA. Each department at head office should be able to see information as it relates to their department. Equally, the Regional Directors will need to see the data for their region, Area Managers for their area and Team Leaders for their project. This section will provide the deep insight into the kind of activities for this project to the developer. The developer first analyzes the project requirement. Then he will sort out the workable requirements. After that the developer will draw out the basic system development