Essay The Fault of the Character Macbeth in Shakespeares...

The Fault of the Character Macbeth in Shakespeares Macbeth Macbeth by William Shakespeare is the story of a brave, honourable soldier who ruins his life due to his own greed for power, respect and wealth. The story starts with Macbeth as the kings favorite soldier, a very respectful, honorable man. Macbeth then is told by the witches his life will change for the better - All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!. In a desperate effort to obtain this promised position of King, Macbeth takes his fate in his own hands. He kills, lies and betrays to get what he wants. This changes him, into a mean, suspicious and evil man. The story ends with the pathetic Macbeth being killed, therefore losing all that he finally had. The†¦show more content†¦The fact he changed his mind is the first example of how his personality changed throughout the play. Macbeth returns to the witches at the beginning of Act 4, desperate for new information - Howeer you come to know it - answer me. This shows he places much faith in the witches, which is his choice, therefore their words are not beyond his control. Lady Macbeths reaction to the news of the witches, which she received in a letter, was outwith Macbeths control. Her love for Macbeth and her ambitions for his happiness were what caused her decision that Duncan should be killed. However, Lady Macbeth realises in Act 3 that noughts had, alls spent - they have what they want but are not enjoying it. I think that after Lady Macbeths decision in scene 5 of Act 1, Macbeth had his own choice to make. He decided to listen and to follow Lady Macbeths instructions, even though he needed further encouraging. I believe that agreeing with Lady Macbeth was not his only choice. Macbeth is an impressionable man, as can be judged by his first reaction to the witches. While Banquo laughed at the witches predictions, Macbeth takes them very seriously and wonders how he can become Thane of Cawdor if the Thane is still alive. Being a soldier, Macbeth has learnt to only trust himself, and I believe that the incident with the first Thane of Cawdor lying to his country only escalates Macbeths urge to only trust himself, and not fate, therefore leading him to believe heShow MoreRelatedCharacterization Of Macbeth1276 Words   |  6 Pages But with this answer comes another question: why would Shakespeare name the main character Macbeth when his monarchs were Elizabeth I and James I? What message was he trying to send by using the name of Macbeth, the king of Scotland in 1040? In Jonathan Goldberg’s essay â€Å"Speculations: Macbeth and source† in Jean E Howard’s anthology on Shakespeare, Goldberg explains how the King Duncan in the play is a refl ection of the real life Duncan I from Scotland in the 1030s when Scotland was going throughRead MoreMichael Attenborough’s Macbeth at the Playhouse by Queensland Theatre Company1199 Words   |  5 Pages QUEENSLAND THEATRE COMPANY’S MACBETH: A CRITICAL REFLECTION Having been much anticipated, Michael Attenborough’s Macbeth was recently shown at the Playhouse by Queensland Theater performed by The Grin and Tonic Theatre Troupe as part of the Arts for all Queenslanders strategy instilled by Newman Government in 2013 (Walker, I. 2014. pg 3). With this in place it’s allowing renowned actors and directors to dazzle Queensland theatregoers with a new waveRead MorePower and Tragedy in Macbeth by William Shakespeare Essay examples768 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Shakespeare’s play Macbeth tells the story of the noble thane, Macbeth, becoming corrupted due to his rise of power. Macbeth, who is the centre character, qualifies as a tragic hero. People are able to identify with Macbeth, see his nobility before corruption, and witness him acquire new knowledge from his dark story. Readers and watchers of the play are attracted to Macbeth, despite his faults. Most people would not see Macbeth and say that they want to be exactly like him, yet they cannotRead MoreIs Macbeth A Tragic Hero Or A Tyrant? Essay920 Words   |  4 PagesIs Macbeth A Tragic Hero Or A Tyrant? Macbeth, one of Shakespeares most emotive plays, is set in Scotland during the 11th Century and follows the downfall of a man who is led by temptation to mass murder and cruelty. Macbeth, at different stages in the play, demonstrates many of the characteristics of both an evil tyrant and a tragic hero. However, a tragic hero is defined as a great man who falls because of a fatal flaw and Macbeth bests fits this description. ThereforeRead MoreLady Macbeth Has Been Described as the ‘Fourth Witch.’ Do You Agree with This Statement?1113 Words   |  5 PagesLady Macbeth is an insidious and complex character. Throughout the course of the novel, she manipulates her husband, Macbeth, and spurs him to commit his first murder in order for him to ultimately achieve what she believes he deserves. Lady Macbeth is shown to the audience as a loyal wife who wants the best for his husband, but at the same time, she is portrayed as a malicious character from the very beginning of the play. The line between an evil human being, and a scheming witch, is so fine thatRead More A Comparison of Macbeth and Oedipus the King Essay1572 Words   |  7 PagesA Comparison of Macbeth and Oedipus Rex  Ã‚   The objective of this essay is to compare the Shakespearian tragedy Macbeth to the Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex. Although the plays share similarities, it will be seen that the fall of Macbeth is very different from that of Oedipus. Macbeths downfall is due to his own personal decisions while the downfall of Oedipus is due to fate and the will of the gods. In Greek tragedy plot was always emphasized over character; everyone wore masks. TheseRead More Lady Macbeth of Shakespeares Play, Macbeth Essay1000 Words   |  4 PagesLady Macbeth of Shakespeares Play, Macbeth Lady Macbeth is the most interesting and complex character in Shakespeares play, Macbeth. She is, in fact, the point on which the action pivots: without her there is no play. The purpose of this essay is to describe Lady Macbeth’s role in the play and discuss why this makes her the most fascinating character. Her evil doings are the main reasons why she dominates the plot so greatly. These include the following: considers Macbeth to be a wimp notRead More Macbeth - Kingship Essay1609 Words   |  7 Pages With detailed reference to the characters of Macbeth, Duncan, Malcolm and Edward in the play ‘Macbeth’, analyse William Shakespeare’s ideas and attributes towards kingship and assess what you think the audiences reaction to the play would be at the time. Shakespeare’s ideas towards kingship can be seen throughout the play. He shows that a king should be chosen by divine right and shows the attributes of what a good king should be. The play ‘Macbeth’ is set in medieval Scotland at the fictionalRead MoreOlivia Murillo. Mr. Ortiz . English 12. February 27, 2017.1124 Words   |  5 Pages2017 Comparison of Macbeth and Throne of Blood Shakespeare’s play, â€Å"The Tragedy of Macbeth† and the 1957 movie Throne of Blood are similar in the way the power struggles first commence. As the old saying goes, â€Å"behind every great man, there is an even greater woman.† When a man has potential it is usually his partner that is right there beside him, pushing him towards greatness. That is where Asaji and Lady Macbeth’s character comes into the play and movie. Both female characters are strongly presentedRead MoreShakespeare - His View on Kingship1600 Words   |  7 PagesShakespeares ideas towards kingship can be seen throughout the play. He shows that a king should be chosen by divine right and shows the attributes of what a good king should be. The play ‘Macbeth is set in medieval Scotland at the fictional time of King Duncan. Scotland is currently at war with the Norwegians when news of their victory comes through, with thanks to the two leaders of the army Macbeth and Banquo. On their travel home Macbeth and Banquo stumble upon some old hags, and they predict

The Nile River, Sahara Desert and Islam Free Essays

The Nile River has always been the backbone of Egypt. The mighty river flows for some 4,000 miles from the mountains of Equatorial Africa and Lake Victoria before it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Without the Nile River and its annual inundation Ancient Egypt would never have come into being. We will write a custom essay sample on The Nile River, Sahara Desert and Islam or any similar topic only for you Order Now Its fertile valley was renewed every year with rich silt deposits laid down during the flooding. As the agriculture of Egypt revolved around the Nile, so did the social life of the ancient Egyptians. During inundation when there was less to do, people had more time for recreational activities, they played games, held sporting tournaments and regularly feasted. When the River Nile receded the appearance of the land had radically changed and there was a great rush to restore boundaries. There were many disputes as markers had moved, banks had collapsed, and distinguishable features had disappeared. The river was also the chief means of transport. It was their highway, making unnecessary roads, except between close villages. Virtually everything moved by boat. The Nile, for the most part, is a gently flowing river and in the time of the ancients, was crammed with fish. It’s easy flow made fishing very popular. Everyone enjoyed fishing, from the young to old, peasant to noble. The Egyptians believed that the Nile was the centre of the world. And the place from which it originated was, ‘the beginning of the world’. In Lower Egypt, in the area of the Nile Delta, the river splits into two great arms. The area between the two was densely populated from the earliest times. Many of the major religious group centers developed in this region. Even the soul of a deceased had to cross the Nile before he could enter the kingdom of the dead. The Sahara desert covers around 9,000,000 square kilometers and the overall area is as large as the continental United States. The Sahara desert also has the reputation of being the world’s largest hot desert. The landforms in this desert often undergo constant change. These landforms are shaped as per the direction of the wind and the occasional rainfalls. Although being a desert area, one can notice annual rainfall in many regions of this vast land area. There are different climates witnessed in different regions such as the subtropical climate in the northern land where as a tropical climate in the southern area. Over the years, the climate of the Sahara desert has undergone humungous changes. This desert therefore, is known for its harsh climates so typical of all deserts. This hot desert has annual temperatures that can exceed 30 degrees C. Some of the hottest months have temperatures exceeding 50 degrees C. In the winters, the temperatures drop below freezing points. This it explains the diverse climates of this hot desert. Studies have revealed the changing size of the Sahara desert! Observations made with the help of satellite photographs have proven this desert can shrink or even grow in size. The Sahara desert is home to quite a few species of animals. Camels and goats are the only ones amongst the domesticated animals one may see out here. Apart from these, the Saharan cheetah, the sand vipers, scorpions and monitor lizards can be found out here. This desert has some of the tallest sand dunes and these can reach 189 meters in height. The land area also has stone plateaus, large gravel plains, dry valleys and even sand flats. The Sahara desert has around 500 species of flora. These consist of mainly ephemeral plants known locally as Acheb. At some oases, close to the Nile Valley, one can find olive trees growing out here. Vegetation is found in areas where the ground water reaches the surface of the land. This place has mainly nomadic groups of people that move from place to place. Nomads wear a particular headdress known as Howli. These people are mainly engaged in trading and hunting. The low population is due to the rather difficult conditions seen in the Sahara desert. The Sahara desert stretches over areas of Northern Africa, from the Red Sea to the areas close to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean. This desert shares it boundaries with the Atlas Mountains, the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, Sudan and valley of the Niger River. Islam is a religion that has existed for millions of years. The followers believed that there is one God and Muhammad is his messenger. Muhammad was deeply troubled by the idols worship of Arabs and the moral ills of society. When he was about 40, he was meditating and heard a voice. According to Muslim the belief the voice was that of the angel Gabriel it said, â€Å"Proclaim. † When Muhammad asked what should I proclaim the voice responded with proclaim in the name of God. Muhammad was a young man born in Mecca about the year 570. Orphaned at an early age, Muhammad was cared for by his uncle. In his youth he worked as a shepherd among the Bedouins. Later he led caravans across the desert for merchants. When he was 25, Muhammad married Khadija. It was at age 40 when he had his first vision. Islam has a book similar to that of the Holy Bible. It is called the Quran. To Muslims, the Quran contains the sacred text as spoken to Muhammad from god. The Quran not only teaches about God, but about how to lead a good, faithful, life. It sets harsh penalties for stealing or murdering. How to cite The Nile River, Sahara Desert and Islam, Essay examples

Marketing Plan of Lifestyle Production Free-Samples for Students

Question: Demonstrate an Understanding of Marketing and how it is Managed within the Australian business Environment. Answer: Marketing Plan of Lifestyle Production Introduction A marketing plan is a document in business that is used to formulate strategic marketing position and action for a specified period of time (Maritz, 2008). The marketing plan shows marketing objectives, costs, environment, target market and competitors. Marketing plan help business achieve marking goals and objectives effectively and use resource efficiently. This following report is preparation of a marketing plan for life style Video business. The report analyses the current situation of the business in terms of capabilities and weakness in the industry. The report also outlines the macro environment that the business is operating in. This will enable the business achieve it marketing objectives in the Australian market. Company information Lifestyle Production business is a Rowville Melbourne based events video recording business. The business is involved in production of videos. The business is owned by John and Anne Morton. The firm has been in business for the past 20 years (Lifestylevideos.com.au, 2017). John is the business cameraman. Ann Morton acts as the administrator of the business and offers other assistance to second camera, designing, editing and writing. John has won several awards and got recognized of his exceptional work in video making. These awards include Australian video producers Association national Award 2008 stage Production and AVPA National Award 2006 Documentary 2 for shooting Tasmania the Devils Playground. The business is a member of Australian Video Producers Association and has accreditation from Australian Video producers Association Special event and Australian Video Producers Association Corporate. Purpose of the marketing plan The marketing plan will have the following purposes; The marketing plan will set objectives of the business involvement in marketing. It will set a budget for the marketing activities It will enable accountability of the marketing activities The marketing plan will compliment the strategic plan of the business. Lifestyle Production Marketing Mix Lifestyle Production product is videos. The business makes videos for its customers that involve their life style. These include; birthday videos, wedding video, concert videos, business promotion videos, special events, travel DVDs and family history videos. The business provides it products to customers in Melbourne. The business also serves people around Victoria State. Lifestyle production uses internet and personal sales persons to promote the business product. The owners approach customers who have event and persuade them creating demand for the product. The business also uses it website https://www.lifestylevideos.com.au to promote it products. The business product prices depend on the length of the video, size of he event and location of the event. The Lifestyle production business marketing mix is significant to understanding the product, place, and promotion and pricing. The marketing mix enables understanding of the value that the business offers to its customers. It also help in understanding the area coverage, current promotional activities and determinants of the prices charged. Situational Analysis The situational analysis of Lifestyle Production Company will involve external environmental analysis, industry overview, target market and internal analysis. External environmental analysis Political trends: The business has to abide with the get copyright for making video and copyright clearance. The business also needs to abide to the moral rights for the work that they are involved in. The business has to observe privacy laws in Australia. Lastly, the business has to observe the competition law and engage in fair trade (Austrade.gov.au, 2017). Economical Trends: People in Melbourne have an index purchasing power of 122.30. The Australian economy is forecasted to decrease in terms of GDP growth rate and increasing inflation rate for the second and third quarters of 2017 (Tradingeconomics.com, 2017). Social, cultural and demographic Trends: The population in Melbourne is expected to increase with 5.8 in this year. This shows that there is an increase in populations and therefore more services demand. The people in Melbourne are changing their lifestyle. There is an increasing use of internet, long working hours and increased need for entertainment. Technological Trends: There are new development in technologies and usage. People are using their phones to record due to phone advancements. There is a new advanced camera that has been launched by Samsung Company (DeMers, 2017). There is also changing trend on video posting. Videos are posted online for hosting and transfer. Environmental trend: The business has to observe the environmental legislation that protects the environment and cultural concerns. This ensures that the activities of the business do not cause any cultural concerns to the society. Legal Trends: The business has to subscribe for business license in order to carry business in Melbourne and have an office. The business also require permit from the Media Association in order to be permitted to shoot videos. Industry Overview The video production industry in Melbourne is dominated by large companies concentrating with large events and targeting large corporations promotion video productions. The industry has many customers spanning from personal needs to corporate needs for producing their events. Analysis of the market There has been an increase in media consumption in Melbourne and Australia at large. It estimated that one out of seven Australian watch non commercial TVs. According to a survey done by ABC News in 2017 kids used an average of 12hours a week watching online materials. The critical industry success factors of the video industry is having the highest number of views and getting recognition by Awarding organizations. The video industry has no discrimination to new entrants and the producer power is held on how best products of high standards (Blankson, Motwani and Levenburg, 2006). Videos in distributed either via CDs, DVDs, flash disks or through the internet. Target Markets Lifestyle targets personal events, school events, wedding events and small-medium businesses promotional events. The business target small to medium events in Melbourne. The target audiences are individuals with great sense of keeping memories for the events in their life. Review of the Situation The business is operated by two individuals who perform the camera works and administration. The business has more than 20 years experience in video producing. The business involved making of videos for personal events and small to medium business promotion videos. Capabilities The business has the following capabilities; Skills for making videos Professional photo taking Documentary making Creating promotional messages Story telling (narration) The business owners have good experience and the business is well established for it has been in existence for the past 20years. The business can use it core competence to attain a competitive advantage over it competitor. SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis shows the businesss strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The tool shows the strength that the business has and can use them to take the existing opportunities in business. The tool also shows the internal weaknesses that the business is facing and the threats that exist in the business. Therefore, the business is able to use it strength an minimize it weaknesses in order to take opportunities and avoid threats that can lead to business failure. Branding of lifestyle Production Lifestyle production has established it brand in making quality videos by taking best professional shots and telling clients story. The business has experience in telling stories and uses this position to distinguish itself from its competitors. The business has positioned itself with ability to position businesses through video marketing and putting clients business in the forefront. The business has also branded itself as customer centered by offering flexible terms. Marketing Objectives The marketing plan of Lifestyle Production will include the following; Increase number of clients per week to 100 Increase businesss return by 15% within one year Increase coverage to Darwin and Sydney cities. Marketing strategies The marketing strategy will be used execute the marketing plan to achieve set objectives. The marketing strategy will be formulated in terms of price, product, place, physical evidence and promotion. They include the following; Product offering Product is core value that the business is offering to its customers. Giving more products to customers will build a business relationship. This business will create packages that will be sold out. These packages include; video + photo, video+ narration and writing +video shooting+ narration. This increase product package will give customers offers to choose from (Senapati, 2014). This strategy of increasing product package to video photos and narrations will persuade customers to select Lifestyle production business for their events. This will be aimed at increasing sales of the business. Price Strategy The business will lower the prices of it products. The lowering of prices will make the business provide it product at slightly cheaper price compared to it competitors. These prices will be competitive and thereby attracting customers to select Lifestyle Production based on favorable prices. Lower the minimum price fromAU$450 to AU$350 to attract more customers Place The business will increase it coverage by opening new offices in Darwin and Sydney. These offices will open to enable customers to access the business services. Potential customers will visit offices to inquire and book services with the business. Promotion strategy This strategy will involve communicating with target audience to persuade and convince them for the business product. The promotional activities will be aimed at reaching the target market to create awareness of the businesses coverage, product offers and physical evidence. The business will use local commercial TVs to reach vast mass watching. This will boost awareness of the business and communicate about the products that the business is offering. The business will also use it website to give detailed information about the products, offers and show physical evidence of past successive deals. The business will also use engage in partnerships to sponsor events that will create good publicity. These events are like local beauty contest or schools beauty contests. Lastly, the business will manage it social media pages. Social media will create awareness and direct potential customers to the business website. The business will use these channels to reach customers in all areas. Physical product strategy This strategy will involve creating videos and photos and letting them accompany the promotional messages. This will enable provide physical evidence to customers about the quality of service that they are offering. This will also be enhanced by encouraging customers to give testimony about the businesss products (Sharma, 2014). The physical evidence will allow customers interact with the Lifestyles production products and rate them according to how clear and quality of images are. Marketing Budget The marketing activities are set to use AU$ 30000. Advertising Commercial TVs 10000 Sponsoring Events 8000 Opening offices 1000 Managing social media And website 2000 Calendar of Marketing Activities The marketing calendar shows the schedule of marketing activities that will be carried our for a period of one year to implement the marketing plan. Evaluation The lifestyle production marketing plan will take approximately one year. The marketing plan has objectives that will be achieved through implementation of the marketing strategies. The business will create new demand by increased promotional activities. The promotional activities will base on product, service, price and coverage. The promotional activities will be vigorous on the peak season when there are more events. For instance, there will be more promotional activities in August, December and Aprils. During these periods in a year, there are more weddings and celebrations in the society. Therefore, the business will increase its products awareness in these peak seasons to increase demand of the products (Jones and Rowley, 2011). The TVs will be used because of it appeal and ability to show the businesss physical evidence of the product. The company will use it website throughout the year to update customers and visitors about the ongoing offers. The business will also use the s ocial media to advertise it product. The business will upload photos and short videos on social media to create awareness to social media users about the products and the offer that the business is giving. Partnering to sponsor at least on beauty event will be aimed at creating good public relation with local community. The marketing strategies will be evaluated on the set objectives. First, the promotional activities will be evaluated on the number of new customers visiting the premises or inquiring for the business product. Secondly, increasing coverage will be evaluated on opening of Darwin and Sydney offices for the business to serve a wider range of customers. Third, the product package will be evaluated on bases on how many customers purchased for the package instead of the ordering one product. This will involve analyzing number of customers who bought video plus photo package instead of video or photos separately. Conclusion The lifestyle production marketing plan will be achieved by the first analyzing the eternal and internal situation of the business. This will give an insight if the existing situation of the business and the industry. This will enable the formulation of the marketing objectives and strategies that will increase the businesses sales. The business marketing plan will give a budget outlay and schedule that is time bound for the marketing activities of the business. Therefore, the marketing plan will be used as a tool of creating focus, activities and standards for evaluating the marketing process. References Austrade.gov.au. (2017). Australian business and environment laws - Austrade. [online] Available at: https://www.austrade.gov.au/International/Invest/Guide-to-investing/Running-a-business/Understanding-Australian-business-regulation/Australian-business-and-environment-laws [Accessed 22 Apr. 2017]. Tradingeconomics.com. (2017). Australia | Economic Forecasts | 2016-2020 Outlook. [online] Available at: https://www.tradingeconomics.com/australia/forecast [Accessed 22 Apr. 2017]. Blankson, C., Motwani, J. and Levenburg, N. (2006). Understanding the patterns of market orientation among small businesses. Marketing Intelligence Planning, 24(6), pp.572-590. DeMers, J. (2017). Forbes Welcome. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2016/11/16/7-technology-trends-that-will-dominate-2017/#7f6b6f0f4a51 [Accessed 22 Apr. 2017]. Jones, R. and Rowley, J. (2011). Entrepreneurial marketing in small businesses: A conceptual exploration. International Small Business Journal, 29(1), pp.25-36. Lifestylevideos.com.au. (2017). Lifestyle Video Productions. [online] Available at: https://www.lifestylevideos.com.au/index.html [Accessed 22 Apr. 2017]. Maritz, A. (2008). Entrepreneurial Services Marketing Initiatives Facilitating Small Business Growth. Journal of Small Business Entrepreneurship, 21(4), pp.493-503. Senapati, M. (2014). Marketing of small business, A case of small business in India. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 16(5), pp.08-11. Sharma, M. (2014). Creative Marketing for small businesses. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 16(7), pp.69-77.

Negative Body Image free essay sample

A study showed that women experience an average of 13 negative thoughts about their body each day, while 97% of women admit to having at least one â€Å"I hate my body† moment each day (raderprograms). Teens today are faced with many pressures: how they dress, who their friends are, who they are going to date, and most importantly, what they look like. In today’s society, body image is more than just the mental picture a person has of what their body looks like. For many, body image is also a reflection of how they feel about themselves and their lives. People with a negative body image believe that if they do not look right, other things, such as their personality, intelligence, social skills, or capabilities, also are not right. They think that if they fix their bodies, all their other problems will disappear. This can result in unhealthy weight management practices and an unhealthy relationship with food. We will write a custom essay sample on Negative Body Image or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page People excessively diet and exercise out of fear of gaining weight. The media today portrays stick thin women with beautiful faces and size 0 bodies, but the truth is, the majority of runway models meet the Body Mass Index (BMI) criteria to be considered anorexic (raderprograms). When influenced by role models like these, teenagers start to feel inferior if they do not look the same. In turn, when put under the pressure of women in the media, teenagers will most likely develop a negative body image, eating or mood disorder, or other unhealthy addictions if they feel their bodies do not â€Å"measure up† to those of women portrayed. Negative body image is a serious issue that can be greatly influenced by today’s media. Body image refers to a person’s feelings about how attractive their body is. Celebrities like Kate Moss are 30+% under their ideal body weight, along with this, adolescent girls are more afraid of gaining weight than getting cancer, losing their parents, or nuclear war (raderprograms). Research has shown that media exposure to unattainable physical perfection is detrimental to people, especially women, and that the detrimental effects are currently more the rule than the exception (An Intervention for the Negative Influence on Body Esteem 405-418). Negative body image affects all aspects (physical, mental, social, and spiritual) of the body negatively and cause problems like depression, anxiety and social anxiety. Roughly half of the women in the U. S. wear size 14 or larger though most standard clothing retailers only cater to size 14 and smaller (raderprograms). Having a negative body image can be detrimental to a person’s self-esteem; they will always scrutinize themselves in mirrors and be envious to other’s bodies, whether it is celebrities, friends or even complete strangers. Many people with a negative body image will start to diet to control their weight and get it to where they want it to be. At any given time, one in every three women and one in any four men are on a diet (raderprograms). People diet to be thinner and more attractive, to look like people they see in the media. A People magazine survey showed that 80% of female takers felt that women in movies and television programs made them feel insecure about their bodies (raderprograms). The media is very negative towards people who are not as small as models and (most) actresses. The average U. S. model weighs 117 lbs and is 5’11†, while the average U. S. woman weighs 140 lbs and is 5’4† (raderprograms). The media also is a very strong advocate of dieting and especially diet pills. While dieting can be done healthily, some teenagers abuse dieting; 73% of teenage girls who abuse diet pills and 79% of teenage girls who self-purge (the act of forcibly making themselves vomit or abusing laxatives to not absorb calories) frequently read women’s fitness and health magazines (raderprograms). People who diet have an increased amount of depression due to body image and not getting the results they expect. Thirty-five percent of â€Å"occasional dieters† progress into pathological dieting (disordered eating) and as many as 25% advance to full blown eating disorders (raderprograms). Medical researchers believe that 80 percent of all eating disorders started with a diet (The Causes of Negative Body Image). Media causes teens to feel insecure and have low self-esteem. It is one of the leading causes of Eating Disorders in the United States. Eating Disorders affect 10+ million females and 1+ million males (raderprograms). Many teens suffer from eating disorders and it majorly affects a person’s life. â€Å"When you have an eating disorder at a young age, you can’t shake it easily. I’ve suffered with anorexia and bulimia since I was 12 years old, along with severe depression and anxiety disorders. It was largely influenced by the media and the pressure to be thin. You’re always pre-occupied with the voices telling you not to eat this, or not to eat that because you want to be thin, right? It’s always there and it’s hard. You know what you’re doing is wrong, but man does it feel so right. † (Billstein). For females between the ages 15-24 who suffer from anorexia, the mortality rate associated with the illness is twelve times higher than he death rate of ALL other causes of death (raderprograms). When a person develops an eating disorder they may also become addicted to exercise along with restricting calories. Exercise addiction is maladaptive, causing more harm than benefits. People become addicted to exercise in order to be thinner. This is usually paired with an eating disorder or negative body image. A person will exe rcise and burn off every calorie that they have consumed during the day and run their calorie count into the negatives so they do not absorb any calories at all. â€Å"I feel in control of my body when I exercise. I can see exactly how many calories I have burnt out of my body; being able to burn the small amount of calories that I have managed to eat just feels good. † (Billstein). About 10% of gym users have exercise addiction. Another disorder that ties in with eating disorders is Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). BDD is â€Å"imagined ugliness†, where a person picks apart everything about themselves until their self-esteem is very low, making them susceptible to mood disorders. It is the gateway drug to eating disorders and negative body image, depression, anxiety and other altered mood disorders. 0% of people diagnosed with eating disorders also suffer from BDD. â€Å"When I look at myself in the mirror, I don’t see what other people see. I see a girl with a large forehead, big thighs, a fat stomach and beady little eyes. I hate my body so much that what I see is totally transformed and disgusting. I don’t want to look like this, that’s why I resorted to o ther things that I could control: eating and how much. † (Billstein). When a person has depression, anxiety, eating disorders or other altered mood disorders they may become addicted to unhealthy activities. An unhealthy addiction that many people, teenagers primarily, form is self-harm. It has many names: self-injury, self-injurious behavior, self-abuse, self-cutting, and repetitive self-harm syndrome. It is most often called self-mutilation. Regardless of what name a person uses, it is the intentional destruction or alteration of one’s own body tissue without conscious suicidal intent (How Negative Body Image Affects the Body and Mind). Self-harm consists of any bodily injury whether it be cutting, burning, scratching, picking or preventing the healing of wounds. Individuals self-harm to release pain. Some people say they self-mutilate because they are emotionally numb and it helps them feel something. When cutting, the person feels in control of the pain, while on the inside, they cannot control mental pain from disorders or depression. Those who cut feel a relief afterwards but it gets more intense of an addiction the longer it goes. They experience strong cravings to harm themselves and withdrawals when in recovery. â€Å"I cut because I can control it. I’m not saying that it’s a good thing, but I’m in recovery and I have relapsed. It takes control of your mind; you’re in a sad state when you take that blade to your skin. You have the scars forever to remember the times you’ve been through, but they show strength not weakness. They’re battle scars and they show that you’ve conquered, not been defeated, you’re still alive and here, and that’s beautiful. † (Billstein). 90% of self-injury individuals begin harming themselves during their teen years or younger. (Cutting: Self Injury Facts amp; Statistics). Only 4% of women in the world truly think they are beautiful (raderprograms). There are some positive body image influences in the media including Dove skincare. They have the ‘Real Beauty’ campaign showing moderate to plus size models in a positive atmosphere. There is a drastic difference between Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign (Figure 1) and Victoria’s Secret’s new ‘Love My Body’ campaign (Figure 2). Some forms of media are only positive to a certain weight group (i. e: ‘Love My Body’ campaign). Women should not be ashamed of their bodies, they should embrace them and show off their best features. â€Å"You’re going to be in this body for the rest of your life, so you might as well learn to like it† (Billstein). Figure 1 (Rana). Figure 2 (McDonell-Parry). Overall, negative body image is a very dangerous issue to have because it can lead to destructive behaviors like eating disorders, low self-esteem, mood disorders, exercise addiction and other unsafe body disorders. When teenagers are put under the pressure of women in the media, they are at a higher risk of developing a negative body image, eating or mood disorders and other unsafe addictions if their bodies are not as slim.

Writing Wisdom Choosing Your Unique Style

Writing Wisdom Choosing Your Unique Style Writing Wisdom: Choosing Your Unique Style They say writing is like speaking and thinking. From the moment we learn how to form letters into words, we are introduced to the world of expressing ourselves. You can share your thoughts, ideas or what interests you with others poetically, metaphorically, or matter-of-factly (we took a little creative license with that turn of phrase). Pick a book, newspaper or magazine, and you will notice what’s written was done in a style that made the content interesting or boring. Thats why its important to pay attention to the words you write and how you present those words. Choosing the best writing style for your project can elevate your material to a â€Å"worthy read† or a classic. Writers not just professional novelists and historians but anyone who sits down and picks up a pen, need to select a style or form of writing they want to emulate. There are plenty of options to choose: Poems and lyrics: If we want to say something lyrically or rhythmically, whether to turn it into a song with music or say it with flow, this style of expression can be particularly meaningful. It can make language fun or moving, but takes talent, a quick wit, and a strong vocabulary. Tales and Novels: This is an exciting genre to explore. Tales and novels take you away from the current world to a place the author wants you to visit. It could be fiction or nonfiction, but the strength of the narrative lies in how much it involves its reader. Articles and blogs: The concept behind article or blog writing is to share a personal or professional story or experience to the reader. It can be an idea, product, event or a concept that the author wants to share with others and involve them in it by providing information and/or connecting with the reader. News Articles: News articles are a more focused form of writing where the content written informs others about something that happened or is happening. It is an actual event people might want to know about, or need to know about. This is done for the awareness and education of people. The emphasis of the writing is on â€Å"who, what, when, where, why and how.† Biographies and autobiographies: This form of writing delves into one’s own life or the life of someone else and shares the different stages, twists, turns, ups, and downs of it with others for entertainment and/or education. Writing is not limited to the list above there’s a whole new world to explore. Various forms and styles appeal to different authors and potential authors! If you want to explore your inner Dickinson, Hemingway, Shakespeare, Sande or Sartre, give us a

9 Free and Effective Classroom Rewards

9 Free and Effective Classroom Rewards Its no secret that schools only provide the bare minimum, so teachers often need to dip into their already shallow pockets in to supplement what the school provides in the classroom. Material rewards are one easy place where we can cut corners and still remain effective educators. You really dont need to spend your money on candy, toys, stickers, and other little goodies to extrinsically motivate, reward, and recognize your students good behavior. Emphasize intrinsic motivation and teach that learning and good behavior are rewards unto themselves. Your students will rise to your heightened expectations.   Easy, Free Rewards for Your Classroom Save yourself the trouble and consider some of the free ways you can give your students a meaningful thumbs up when they do something right. Lunch Bunch   Recognize a well-behaved table group by inviting them to Lunch Bunch with the teacher. The chosen kids bring their own lunches and eat in the classroom together with you. If you have a TV, find some cartoons to watch. Or, have the kids bring their favorite CDs from home to listen to during lunch (check the lyrics first!). They can also play games when they finish eating. The children feel special because they get to stay inside and you may even find that you enjoy this unique, low-key time with the kids as much as they do. Longer Recess   This is a great one because it doesnt have to involve extra time from you. If possible, reward a child by letting them stay outside and play until a later bell. For example, after my third graders come in, the fourth graders get to play about 10 more minutes. So, I can reward a student by letting them stay out until the fourth grade bell. You may need to double-check with yard duty supervisors before doing this. Also, you probably wont want to use this one all the time. The kids do miss some instructional time and you are relying on the supervisors to help you out. Special Seats   Reward a well-behaved (or much-improved) child by letting them work at the teachers desk for an entire day. Or, you can set up a special seat on the rug and let chosen students have a chance to sit there during story time. This free reward is zero hassle for you and quite a thrill for the kids! Whole-Group Rewards   Let individual students earn points towards a whole class reward. This works especially well for students who crave attention because they will earn positive attention from the whole class for their good behavior. For example, the student can earn a table point for their table group, or a few marbles for the class marble jar. This helps difficult students feel like a real part of the group and it provides for a little positive peer pressure to keep them performing well. Read-In Party Stay away from popcorn parties that require extra money and preparation from you. Tell the kids that they can wear pajamas to school that day (discuss appropriate attire, first!). They can also bring their favorite stuffed animal and a pillow. Use the day to celebrate the joys of reading. The kids get to lounge around the room for part of the day, reading, relaxing, and savoring the joy of books. You can also add in other literary activities for a rewarding day that sends a clear message to the students: Reading is Fun! Afternoon of Art and Music   Art and music are worthy academic subjects. But, if youre like most time-strapped teachers, you cant fit enough of them into the school day. Motivate your class with this simple reward. Let the class listen to music while they work on an art project. Theyll love it and so will you! Good Phone Call Home Why do phone calls home always have to be negative? Set this standard on its head by letting parents and guardians know how great their child is doing in your class. Most students will work really hard to get this kind of individualized recognition that will make a big difference at home. This is also a wonderful opportunity to solidify your relationship with parents. They want to know that you love their child and this is an easy way to make everyone happy. Help in Another Class   This is a great one for reinforcing academic content and building self-esteem in kids who really need it. Its hard to implement in kindergarten and first grade classes, but with other grades, it works great. Recognize a worthy student by letting them help out in a lower grade for awhile. Use your professional judgment to make it work in your classroom and school environment. Hand Stamp Dont get stuck on costly and consumable stickers. Use the simple ink stamps that you already have to let a student know that they are A-okay! Simply stamp your sign of approval on the back of the childs hand. You may want to clear this with parents first, since they might not appreciate ink on their kids hand. It may sound too good to be true, but if you dont introduce material rewards in the first place, your students will never miss them. In elementary school, children are so eager to please and so pleased to receive any little special recognition. They really will bend over backward for these types of rewards that dont cost you a penny! Edited by  Janelle Cox

Lab report peer review Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lab report peer review - Assignment Example In figure 2 the COSY and H NMR data for unknown 2 shows a structural representation known as 4-heptanone. FEEDBACK: Yes, there is a good transition between the paragraphs. The information flow from one paragraph leads to the analysis of the next one. Together, the paragraphs sustain an argument, for example, paragraph 1 that introduces the thesis statement is followed logically with paragraph 2 that analyzes unknown 1 to completion before introducing analysis of unknown 2 in paragraph 3. FEEDBACK: There is a remarkably smooth integration of examples by the author into the argument. The connections between the evidence cited and the ideas supported are also quite clear. For instance, in each of the three cases of unknowns, the author illustrates the number of carbon/proton chains that produce the structure of the peaks that help in identifying the figures. The author supports the findings with appropriate figures. FEEDBACK: The other problems are not spotted. Only clichà ©s are used in the paper. Examples are â€Å"†¦in conjunction with†¦Ã¢â‚¬  in paragraph 1 and â€Å"†¦pentane chain which mirrors each side†¦Ã¢â‚¬  in paragraph 5 (Pavia, Pg

Issues of Patient Confidentiality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issues of Patient Confidentiality - Essay Example Such information must be accessible only to the surgeon, and when necessary, to specific health care and insurance workers. Simply put, patient confidentiality denotes that personal and medical data granted to a health care provider should not be divulged to other people who do not have a need to know except if the patient has conferred explicit authorization for such release. Since the revelation of personal information could trigger professional or personal setbacks, patients depend on medical practitioners to uphold the privacy of their medical information. However, nowadays, it is common for medical records to be shared with several people for a number of reasons. The most common violation of confidentiality occurs when clinicians distribute medical data utilized in case studies. As per procedure, as soon as data is circulated in specialized periodicals, the character/personality of the patient is never disclosed and all information that could lead to the identification of the pa tient are also removed or altered, however, if this confidentiality is infringed in whatever way, patients have the right to take legal action (Fremgen, 2008; Rosenbaum, 2002, pp. 906-907; Landrum, 2003, pp. 222-223; Hubbard, Glover and Hartley, 2003; Carter, 2003). Implications In the case study, particular legislations and state regulations have been infringed. For one, there was a breach in confidentiality based on the Patient's Bill of Rights under the provision on Confidentiality of Health Information and the person most accountable for the said violation is Dr. Orbit's medical assistant, Sabrina. Likewise, aside from violating a patient's right to privacy, Sabrina's disclosure of Katrina's circumstance to her husband desecrated the provisions contained in the AAMA Code of Ethics, which explicitly stipulated that as medical assistants they are to "respect confidential information obtained through employment unless legally authorized or required by responsible performance of duty to divulge such information" (AAMA Code of Ethics, 1996). By divulging such information to Roger (who really does not have a need to know), Sabrina acted unethically. In like manner, there was also an encroachment of the Privacy and Security Rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The Privacy Rule demands that covered entities, such as that health care provider operated by Dr. Orbit, take sensible measures to guarantee the secrecy of interactions and exchanges with individuals. In this case, Dr. Orbit appears not to be so keen on his patients' privacy as evidenced by his nurse' sloppy disclosure of their patients' situation, meaning, if they had been cautious and vigilant about their commitment to preserve patient confidentiality, such revelation should not have taken place. On the other hand, the Administrative Safeguards under HIPAA's Security Rule have also been disregarded. First, under such rule, healthcare entities must implement a set of privacy procedures on paper and assign a privacy officer who would be responsible for executing all necessary policies and procedures. Obviously, Dr. Orbit's

PEST Analysis Of AirAsias Essay Example for Free

PEST Analysis Of AirAsias Essay 1.1Background AirAsia was set up by Dato Tony Fernandes in 2001. In December 2001, Fernandes and his partners set up Tune Air Sdn Bhd (Tune Air), an airline holding company then bought over AirAsia. Now, AirAsia has become one of the most successful airlines in the Southeast Asian region and the pioneer of low cost and no frills travel in Malaysia. The leading low fare airline in the Asia AirAsia has been expanding rapidly since 2001, to become an award winning and the largest low cost carrier in Asia. With a fleet of 72 aircrafts, AirAsia flies to over 61 domestic and international destinations with 108 routes, and operates over 400 flights daily from hubs located in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. To date, AirAsia has flown over 55 million guests across the region and continues to spread its wings to create more extensive route network through its associate companies, Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia. AirAsia believes in the no-frills, hassle-free, low fare business concept and feels that keeping costs low requires high efficiency in every part of the business. Efficiency creates savings which are then passed on to guests so that affordable air travel can become a reality. Through our philosophy of ‘Now Everyone Can Fly’, AirAsia has sparked a revolution in air travel with more and more people around the region choosing AirAsia as their preferred choice of transport. As AirAsia continuously strives to promote air travel, we also seek to create excitement amongst our guests with our range of innovative and personalized service. The aim of the investigation The aim of this analysis is to conduct a PEST and SWOT analysis in the context of AirAsias international business operations, identifying the major variables involved and the impact of the specific threats and opportunities confronted by AirAsia .Besides that, The purpose of this report is to identify its stakeholders and core competencies, carry out a investigation of its external environment, review a strategic analysis of Airasia to identify opportunities and threats it might face, and to isolate key strengths and any weaknesses that need dealing with. Moreover a SWOT analysis will be carried out to assess the extent to which its strategies are suitable to what is happening in its present environment. Finally, after  identifying competitive strategy a Strategic plan will be made to gain competitive advantage. Chapter 2 DISCUSSION 2.1 Company Overview AirAsia is currently one of the leading low cost airlines in South East Asia which has expanded rapidly and it’s still the second largest air carrier in Malaysia. It dynamic nature of business is based on domestic and international flights, holiday and business arrangements for its customers domestically and internationally around the region with the low fare, safe and convenience means of transportation. (www.airasia.com). AirAsia’s vision To be the largest low cost airline in Asia and serving the 3 billion people who are currently underserved with poor connectivity and high fares. AirAsia’s mission To be the best company to work for whereby employees are treated as part of a big family Create a globally recognized ASEAN brand To attain the lowest cost so that everyone can fly with AirAsia Maintain the highest quality product, embracing technology to reduce cost and enhance service levels AirAsia’s values AirAsia make the low fare model possible through the implementation of the following key strategies: SafetyFirst: Partnering with the world’s most renowned maintenance providers and complying with the with world airline operations. High Aircraft Utilisation: Implementing the regions fastest turnaround time at only 25 minutes, assuring lower costs and higher productivity. Low Fare, No Frills: Providing guests with the choice of customizing services without compromising on quality and services. Streamline Operations: Making sure that processes are as simple as possible. Lean Distribution System: Offering a wide and innovative range of distribution channels to make booking and travelling easier. Point to Point Network: Applying the point-to-point network keeps operations simple and costs, low. Products and Services offered By Air Asia In-flight services: †¢ Air Asia offer food and drinks on board programme . †¢ In-flight services customise meals and merchandise package upon request e.g. caps, T-shirts, and pants. Online services: †¢ Online booking makes it more convenient for its customers to book online anywhere anytime. †¢ Flight information is available to help customers make enquiries on flight schedules arrival and departure time and date. †¢ Chatter –flight: Created for a group of people, business travellers for purposes like meetings, conventions, leisure or even exhibition. Channels of distribution A number of alternate channels of distribution may be available: Selling direct: †¢ Outbound sales forcer †¢ Via mail order, Internet †¢ Telephone sales Selling indirect: †¢ Agent, who typically sells direct on behalf of the producer †¢ Distributor (also called wholesaler), who sells to retailers †¢ Retailer (also called dealer or reseller), who sells to end customers Sales and Marketing AirAsia is an international company, and going global invites a lot of competition. AirAsia has to deal with the competition of local companies in the same field- Airline services. Competition for AirAsia would also be encountered in the virtual world-the internet. As they entered into the use of modern technology such as the public domain would invite competition on the global scale. Different localities and countries have different technological standards, and quality control policies, which AirAsia would have to adhere to, by adherence to these policies; certain intended developments may be possible in certain communities but not acceptable in others. According to CEO’s of the company, Mr. Fernandez, there are a lot workers or low pay salaries earners who would like to travel often to meet their families especially during special occasions but due to how expensive it was that time, their desire are not fulfilled. By introducing a low fare will give all those people opportunity to travel if not more than once in a year. This enables them to identify their target market. Reduced price sales  is one of the basics of securing a target market for AirAsia. They reduce their price to suit their class of customers Branding AirAsia went into intensive General advertisements and other high profile activities, which contributed to the high offering of their companys image. They came with a brand â€Å" Now every one can fly† These points of contact with their target customer help them to build their image, which in turn created loyalty from their customers. Group Discounts and Offers Discounts or other offers can help exposure business to new customers, resulting in a sales increase . AirAsia is a ticketless Airline that allows customers to purchase their ticket online with at a discounted rate. They also have a scheme of group discount and this help to get more target market, especially internet based customers. 2.2Core competencies: Computer Reservation System (CRS) AirAsia’s CRS (Open Skies by Navitaire) has helped it to grow at a dramatic pace in the past couple of years. Tony Fernandes, CEO AirAsia described that Navitaires Open Skies technology has truly enabled Airasias growth from 2 million passengers to 7.7 million passengers in less than two years. Open Skies scaled easily to accommodate our growth. It is an integrated web-based reservation and inventory system. It includes Internet, call center, airport departure control and more. It is a direct sales engine that effectively eliminates the middleman (travel agents) and the sales commissions that need to be paid to them. Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) AirAsia has recently (May 2005) opted for a full fledged ERP system implemented by Avanade consultants. By implementing this package AirAsia is looking to successfully maintain process integrity, reduce financial month-end closing processing times, and speed up reporting and data retrieval processes. Self Check In With the use of the new self check in service a quicker and more convenient way to check in using mobile phones, laptops etc, connecting to the internet. This system is easier and faster for customers and their family to  check in at or before they get to the airport without having to queue up at the counter to check in. Air Asia credit card Air Asia offers a choice of credit card facilities to fit in their customers travel life style be it business, leisure, training or holidays. With an Air Asia credit card a customer can purchase any goods or services while travelling anywhere in the world online. Go Holiday services Air Asia has a product called Go Holiday, with the help of E-commerce Air Asia is able to display their coverage maps, holiday resorts, first and average class hotels, car rental services, and activities in different countries with their different rates and prices on Air Asia’s web page.. Using E-commerce, customers are able to select and make a holiday and travel arrangement with a hotel of their choice and class, a pick up car and even medical services. And payments for all this can be done on the internet using credit cards or other online E-payment methods ahead of travel time. Foreign workers and Contractors strategy AirAsia also target most foreign workers from Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Macau who may not afford the expensive flight home and offer them the cheap fare which attracted most of them as would go home very often without paying much. 2.3 The Competitors Companies in all industries have direct as well as indirect competitors. Direct competitors in the aviation industry are companies that offer flights to similar destinations on comparable terms of travel. Direct competitors include: Malaysia Airlines: offering flights in same routes . Singapore Airlines: offering flights on same routes between London and Kuala Lumpur. Thai Air : operating flights between Bangkok an Kuala Lumpur. Air Srilanka: operating flights between Colombo and Bangkok. AirAsia are facing strong competition with major international and national airlines on the market shares In contrast to other airlines ,AirAsia offers better value for money 2.4Analysis of Environmental Factors In analyzing the macro-environment, it is important to identify the factors that might affect a number of vital variables that are likely to influence the organization’s supply and demand levels and its costs (Kotter and Schlesinger 1991). The external environment of any organization can be analyzed by conducting a PEST analysis. The acronym PEST is used to describe a framework for the analysis of a range of macro environmental factors including the Political, Economical Social and Technological environment. PEST Analysis for AirAsia: Political Flying outside Malaysia is difficult. Bilateral agreement is one of the main obstacles in the way of low cost carriers. Landing charges is also another big influencing factor on costing of low fare airlines. The low- cost airline industry in south-east Asia has been underdeveloped because the aviation market is tightly regulated by bilateral air rights agreements. Threat of terrorism, people is afraid to fly after the September 11 terrorist attacks incident. Economic In spite of strong competition from Malaysian Airline (MAS), AirAsias low-cost carriers offering cheap tickets and few in-flight services are gaining attraction in the region. Current recession hit the aviation business. But with this economy slowing down, more people will want to enjoy its cheap tickets. Oil prices is another regulatory factor for this type of airlines. If oil prices go high, it is very difficult to control cost of operation. Social Passengers are reluctant to board a no-frills airline for a long-haul flight. Increasing worlds population, tourists and number of educated people helpful for the growth of aviation industry. Outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has scare people to fly. AirAsia commit to Safety First; comply with all regulatory agencies, set and maintain consistently high standards; ensure the security of staff and guests. Technology AirAsia provides online service that combines air ticketing with hotel  bookings, car hire and travel insurance. To help keep costs in check, Air Asia has pushed internet booking services. AirAsia also recently introduced GO Holiday, the airlines online programme where guests can book holiday packages online in real time AirAsia has bought in A320 to replace Boeing 737. The Airbus A320s improved fuel efficiency and extra capacity which leads to better performance and reliability. SWOT analysis for AirAsia Strengths Low operational and maintenance cost by having a single aircraft type fleet i.e. from Boeing 737 to Airbus A-320. Economy of scales benefits. Low operating cost due to being No Frill, online reservations system, quick check in etc. There is huge untapped market in the region, especially for business travellers and for-the-first-time-flying segment. As it is low cost airlines, it can target customers who are currently using non-aircraft modes like, Bus, Trains, car to travel to distances. Weakness Huge investment to purchase air planes and implementing latest technologies there is high amount of operational cost. Rising fuel price. Increased the operational cost. The flight times are more or less limited to 2.5 hours. So they cannot operate flights of longer duration without any Frill, so No-Frill becomes impossible to implement for passengers. Opportunity Low fares offer by AirAsia has encourage people from all walks of life style to fly. Especially, during economy down turn. Airbus A320 would encourage greater passenger capacity and offer comfortable service to customers. Introduction of SMS booking allows customer to book their seat at anytime and anywhere. With the commitment in ensuring the security of staff and customers, customer will have more confident to fly via AirAsia. Threats There are more no-frills airlines may take off in Asia to meet increasing consumer demand following the success story of Malaysias budget carrier AirAsia. Singapore Airlines plans to launch a budget carrier, they see the success of AirAsia. They know how big the market is and how good the opportunity is in Asia. Travelers may not choose AirAsia if they are to  travel long distance flight. They will prefer airlines such as MAS or SIA which provide better services. Demand to fly decreased via terrorism and outbreak of the SARS. 2.5 Marketing Plan Cost advantages activities: AirAsia already introduced cost advantages activities. Some of them describe below: Utilising one type of aircraft (Boeing 737-300 which will be fully replaced with Airbus A320) results in reduction of maintenance cost (one of the major expenses in airline industry), scheduling cost, administrative cost, and inventory of parts. Creative and low-cost advertising significantly reduces marketing cost. On the other hand, AirAsia direct sales through internet, call centres, walk-in airport sales, and sales offices significantly reduce the commission fee to travel agents as AirAsia only assigned its sales to limited travel agents AirAsia assigned multi-skilled cabin crews (2-3crews/flight), cost-effective training, performance based reward and incentives systems Target Market: Low- income Customers and tourism segment Malaysia emergence as a regional business and tourism hub has provided AirAsia plenty of room for growth and has fuelled regional air passenger traffic. Transit passengers Kuala Lumpur is the operational hub for AirAsia, which is the best connection point between Europe and Asia/Australia has supported the growth of their business. AirAsia has been using this connection point to promote their business. 2.6 Proposed Strategy for further expansion of AirAsia Extending New Routes: Extending current services into new markets may be helpful to further growth of this company. It is possible to achieve this strategy by launching existing services into new geographical area or new market segments. Adding new routes and destinations are possible; especially there is growth Malaysia and East Asia tourism. Activities related to this strategy: Marketing research Feasibility Study Contract with hotels and tourist agency at new destinations Finding out strategic partner Marketing new routes and destination Time frame and cost: It will take 1 to 2 years to start a new route and estimated cost around $200 million to new aircraft and for marketing cost. Organizational change: Recruiting new employees Arranging training for new employees Opening new office in new destination Evaluation criteria: New destinations are implemented to achieve new market development. Flight number in new destination is the best way to measure result of this strategy. Private Suite for business customer: Introducing new services into existing markets implies product development. This strategy involves the development of fresh competencies and requires business to expand customized services which can apply to current markets. That’s why Emirate Airlines introduce high quality first class private lounges to attract business travelers. Activities related to this strategy: Technical and feasibility Study Allocated budget Contract with a company to install new facility. Installation and modification of aircraft’s onboard facilities Time frame and cost: It will take 6 months to 1 year to complete installation new facilities in a single aircraft and estimated cost around $0.2 million to new aircraft and for marketing cost. Organizational change: Recruiting new employees to serve business customer Contract with new or existing company for catering service for business customer. Evaluation criteria: Quantitative measurement of this product would be number of booking or occupancy. Chapter 3 CONCLUSION 3.1 Conclusion By studying PEST, SWOT and marketing analysis, it could be said that AirAsia  is situated in standard cycle markets where it get competitive advantage for its business policy and strategy. Providing customers with superior products and services with low fare is synonymous to the AirAsia brand. However, it is necessary that Airasia should re-evaluate its strategies and focus on core values and competencies. For this why, AirAsia should reconsider their market and specific routes to obtain value other than price and survive the competition. From this study, it is possible to say that still there is some other option to expand this company. Adding new route and introducing business class suite may be suitable option for AirAsia for further growth. 3.2 Recommendations To remain leader in the market in serving customers, AirAsia has to re-evaluate their current strategy. Recommendation for improvement can be outlined as follows: AirAsia should make any major changes to their strategy after proper technical and feasibility study to avoid unnecessary risks. Oil price is a big factor to low fare airlines. So this company should make longer contracts with fuel suppliers for more stability As Airasia operates their fight very frequently, so they should have a spare aircraft at each location to avoid delays. AirAsia should consider environmentally friendly operation system as such as carbon offsetting to save environment. REFFERENCE Daniels, J. D. Radebaugh, L. H. (1998), International Business ‘Environments and Operations, 8th edition, Addison-Wesley, USA. Peng Mike W, 2006, Global Strategy, Thompson, United States Porter Michael E, 1998, Competitive Advantage, The Free Press, United States. Websites: www.airasia.com www.navitaire.com/res

The United States and the Era of Imperialism Essay -- American History

The United States and the Era of Imperialism Never interfere with Europe was the cry of the founding fathers. Our very first president, George Washington warned us not to get involved with foreign powers. The spirit at the time of our nation’s birth was isolationism. The infant United States of America could not afford to get it’s hand caught in the cookie jar of world affairs. As children grow they get stronger, and the growth of the United States was no different. By the end of the Civil War the United States had muscles to flex. At the time the world was enthralled in the Age of Imperialism, in which a nation’s power was derived from it’s overseas holdings. The United States, who had just proved that it could beat itself up, was not going to be excluded from imperialistic contest the world arena provided. So, the United States was ushered into the Era of Imperialism. There are several reasons why the United States sought to found an empire. For theses reasons, American began it’s divine quest. Foremost were the economic prospects of empire. There were several commercial and business interests involved with the American imperialist movement. Overproduction in America caused economic depressions. In order to curve these slumps, America needed new markets. Also, as American business increased there was an ever-growing demand for raw materials. America glanced heavily at the potential of the Far East, especially China, and it’s southern neighbor Latin America as a new market, and a source of raw materials. These are the economic factors that contributed to the rise of American imperialism. For military and strategic reasons America needed to forge and empire. In 1890 Thomas Mahan published Influence of Sea Power upon History 1660 - 1783. In his book Mahan pointed out that Great Britain’s phenomenal growth as the world power was because of it’s unsurpassed naval power. America saw that in order to become a world power, it needed to expand it’s own navy. In order to maintain this new navy, America would also need to increase the number of harbors, refueling and repair stations, and trade ships around the globe. America also came to realize that the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans needed to be connected closer to home. This raised the demand for an isthmian canal. These are the military and strategic exponents that sparked America to... ...rican interests abroad. Taft would use â€Å"dollar diplomacy†, and the Roosevelt Corollary in Nicaragua and other Latin American countries to further protect American business investments. The U.S. got a late start in the race for trading rights with China, and with the U.S. now in the Philippines, the race became economically crucial for America. By this time, Great Britain, France, Russia, Germany, and Japan claimed exclusive trading rights with China within their sphere of influence. Some, like Japan, even claimed parts of China as their own. In order to level out the playing field Secretary of State John Hay sent diplomatic dispatches to these nations, urging an Open Door Policy, in which there would be equal trading rights with China. All the dispatches came back to Hay with their corresponding nations endorsing the proposal. However, before the policy was enacted, the Chinese tried to expel the â€Å"foreign devils† from their homeland in what was to be called the Boxer Rebellion. This nationalist rebellion was put down by an international police force including 2,500 U.S. troops. These actions of intervention in Latin America and China were part of American imperialism.

Advanced Technology Boon or Curse

CURRICULUM VITAE VANDANA KOLI E-MAIL:[email  protected] com CONTACT NO: 08816993499 Address: H. NO 1615 near gymkhana club Sector- 4, Rewari OBJECTIVE: To establish myself as a successful professional by executing my skills acquired from my academic qualifications, rich experience by personal approach to a given problem.Application of my talents and skills in the new atmosphere, with challenging outlook to gain the desired result in a given field. EDUCATION:- Professional Qualifications: Completed MBA in HR & Marketing from SITM Rewari (affiliated to MDU University Rohtak Haryana) Academic Qualifications: Completed Bachelor of Arts from M. D. University ( Rohtak) in 2010. Completed Senior Secondary from C. B. S. E in 2007. Completed Higher Secondary from C. B. S. E in 2005. KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED DURING JOB :- 1. Related essay: Internal Competition: A Curse for Team Performance?Develop interpersonal skill to interact with different kind of peoples. 2. Enhance knowledge . 3. A way of working . 4. How to work with team. AREA OF INTEREST: †¢ Interact with new people to share her views.. †¢ Internet surfing . PERSONAL SKILLS: †¢ Self Confidence & Willingness to Work. †¢ Good learner about new project or work. COMPUTER SKILLS: †¢ Basic Knowledge about computer †¢ Knowledge of MS Office and Internet. PERSONAL DETAILS: Father’s Name : Mr. Ranbir Singh Mother’s Name : Mrs. Sushila DeviDate of Birth : 9th March 1989 Sex : Female Nationality : Indian Marital Status : Single Languages Known : English, Hindi , Punjabi Permanent Address : H. NO. 1615 near gymkhana club Sector – 4, Rewari Pin No. -123401 Haryana DECLARATION: I, VANDANA KOLI Solemnly declare that the information given above are all true to the best of my Knowledge & believe. Place: REWARI Signature VANDANA KOLI

Determining Activation Energy

Activation energy of a reaction Mengyuan Wu IB Chem HL Richard Forster March 20, 2013 Introduction: In this experiment, a reduction of peroxodisulphate (VI) ions by iodine ions is investigated. Solution of 10cm3 of K2S2O8, potassium peroxodisulphate, represented as ‘Solution A’. Mixture of 5cm3 of KI (Potassium iodide solution), and 5 cm3 of Na2S2O3 (sodium thiosulphate solution), and 2. 5cm3 of starch solution is considered as ‘Solution B’.Solution A and B are mixed together under different temperatures to show a â€Å"clock† reaction. Observation: Table 1: Raw Quantitative Data of Temperature and Time from the Experiment Fixed / Ideal Temperature ( °C)| Temperature of Solution A ( °C ±0. 5 °C)| Temperature of Solution B ( °C ±0. 5 °C)| Time Taken| Time Proceeded (seconds ±1 seconds)| 30| 31. 0| 31. 0| 3:10:34| 191| 35| 36. 0| 33. 5| 2:11:83| 132| 40| 40. 0| 38. 0| 1:37:24| 97| 45| 46. 0| 45. 5| 1:12:83| 73| 50| 51. 0| 51. 0| 0:52:40| 53| Qualitative:Before: Solution A: clear colorless solutions; Solution B: clear colorless solution During: Both solution A and B reached (or close to) a fixed temperature and mixed together form a clear colorless solution reaction time: one or few section of the solution turned clear light purple opaque purple, then the section expand to the entire solution speedily within a second the purple opaque solution gradually turn to a darker purple color After: Dark purple-black colored opaque solution Processing and Presenting Data:Table 2: Uncertainty of the Apparatus Used in the Experiment Equipment| Uncertainty| Explanation| Stopwatch| Seconds ±1 second| The actual uncertainty of the stopwatch is millisecond, shown in the column ‘Time Taken’ in Table 1. However, there are human reaction uncertainties when receiving the change in color in the actual experiment, so that particular uncertainty is presented by  ±1 second| 50cm3 Burette for K2S2O8, KI, and Na2S2O3| cm3 ±0. 02cm30. 02% for each solution| Initial Reading ( ±0. 1cm3) + Final reading ( ±0. 1cm3) = volume used ( ±0. cm3) for every solution measured in mixture A or B| 10mL Measuring Cylinder for starch solution| mL ±0. 2mL| | Thermometer|  °C ±1. 0 °C| Mixture A and B both have separate (but relatively close) temperature with uncertainty of  ±0. 5 °C each, after the average of the two the uncertainty doubles| Table 3: Processed date for temperature and time Average Temperature of the reaction ( °C ±1. 0 °C)| Proceed Temperature (K ±1. 0K)| Time Proceeded (seconds ±1 seconds)| 31. 0| 304. 0| 191| 35. 0| 308. 0| 132| 39. 0| 312. 0| 97| 46. 0| 319. 0| 73| 51. 0| 324. 0| 53|Table 4: Processed data for Graphing ln 1t (3 sig fig)| 1T (K)(4 sig fig)| -5. 25| 0. 003289| -4. 88| 0. 003246| -4. 57| 0. 003205| -4. 29| 0. 003134| -3. 97| 0. 003086| ln 1t=lnK (Proportional) t= Time T= Temperature (in K) Graph1: Calculation: Values: Table 4: Calculation to Process Temperat ure: | | Calculation 1: Average Temperature ( °C ±1. 0 °C)| Calculation 2: Temperature in K (K ±1. 0K)| | Formula| Temp. of A+Temp. of B2| Temp. in  °C+273| Fixed / Ideal Temperature ( °C)| 30| 31. 0+31. 02=31. 0| 31. 0+273=304. 0| | 35| 36. 0+33. 52=34. 75? 35. 0| 35. +273=308. 0| | 40| 40. 0+38. 02=39. 0| 39. 0+273=312. 0| | 45| 46. 0+45. 52=45. 75? 46. 0| 46. 0+273=319. 0| | 50| 51. 0+51. 02=51. 0| 51. 0+273=324. 0| Table 5: Calculation for Graphing Data | Calculation 3:ln 1t| Calculation 4:1T(K)| Fixed / Ideal Temperature ( °C)| 30| ln1191? -5. 25| 1304? 0. 003289| | 35| ln1132? -4. 88| 1308? 0. 003246| | 40| ln197? -4. 57| 1312? 0. 003205| | 45| ln173? -4. 29| 1319? 0. 003134| | 50| ln153? -3. 97| 1324? 0. 003086| Calculation 5 (Activation Energy): lnk= -EaR ? 1T+lnA y = m(slope) x + c R=8. 314 Jmol-1K-1(Diploma)Data from Graph 1: y = -6045. 3x + 14. 705 -6045. 3 = -EaR Ea=8. 314 ? 6045. 3 =50260. 6242 J =50. 2606242 KJ Random Errors: Calculation 6: (%Random Error for Average Temperature of the Reaction) Average temperature of the reaction K  ± 1. 0 K (Refer to Table 2) % Error=1. 0304. 0+1. 0308. 0+1. 0312. 0+1. 0319. 0+1. 0324. 0? 100 ? 1. 596% Calculation 7: (%Random Error for Time) Time Taken Seconds  ± 1 Second (estimated human reaction time) (Refer to Table 2) % Error=1191+1132+197+173+153? 100? 5. 569% Calculation 8: (% Random Error for Solutions) Random Error for K2S2O8+KI+ Na2S2O3+Starch 0. 02%? 3+0. 22. 5? 100 ? 8. 06% Calculation 8: (Total % Random Error) % Error=1. 596%+5. 569%+8. 06% =15. 225%=20% (one sig. fig. ) Final Answer: Calculation 9: (Final Answer) 50. 2606242 KJ  ±20% 50. 2606242 KJ =50. 3 KJ (3 sig. fig. >smallest sig. fig. in calculation) 50. 2606242 KJ? 0. 2? 10. 052 KJ=10KJ (one sig. fig. ) Experimental Result: 50. 3 KJ  ±10KJ 50. 3 KJ  ±20% Work Cited: Diploma Programme Chemistry Data Booklet. 2nd ed. Cardiff: International Baccalaureate Organization, 2008. 6. Print.

Antiamericanism essays

Antiamericanism essays Americas global dominance has faced a lot of criticism for actions ranging from the Vietnam War to the aid for Israel and the sponsorship of globalization across the World to the authoritarianism of people for the U.S. governments own personal agenda (Cooper 1). Anti-Americanism is more than just an hatred to the United States; it is the belief that Americanism (media, values, world power dominance) destroys culture and existing traditional ways of life (Chianese 9). One of the main reasons behind these beliefs come from the fact that the USA has bombed, suppressed Islamic nations and restricted them financially, commercially and politically(Chianese 10). Few nations, ethnicities or cultures are untouched by globalization. A mood of resentment toward America and its scandolus behaviour around the world has become so common in Middle Eastern countries that it is bound to breed hostility, hatred, and then renewed physical violence. With domination such as this, it is no wonder that the re is an increasing amount of Anti-Americanism throughout the world. "When asked to pick one "main reason why those who attacked us and their supporters hate the United States," the reasons given most often were 1. "our democracy and freedom" (26%) and However, almost as many believe the main reason is 3. "our values and way of life" (20%), and 4. "our influence on the economy and lives of Middle Eastern countries" (17%). 5. Only 11% believe our economic and military power is the main reason. www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/latest.asp First one must define what exactly Anti-Americanism is. Anti-Americanism is an emotion masquerading as an analysis, a morality, an ideal, even an idea about what to do. When hatred of foreign policies ignites into hatred of an entire people and their civilization, then thinking is dead and demonology lives. When complexity of thought devolves into caricature ...

How to Get Your CDL in Virginia

How to Get Your CDL in Virginia If you’re looking for information on how to get your CDL in Virginia, then the information below will walk you through the process. For information on all other states, refer to this guide on getting a CDL in every state of the country. EligibilityYou must be at least at 18 to obtain an intrastate CDL and age 21 to obtain a CDL in Virginia.  If you have never held  a Virginia driver’s license or ID card in the past, you must present documents proving your eligibility.If you are at least 19 years old, you must show two proofs of identity, one proof of  legal presence, one proof of Virginia residency, and proof of your social security number.If you are under 19 years old, you will be required to show one proof of identity, one proof of legal presence, one proof of Virginia residency, and proof of your social security number.RequirementsYour first step is to fill out an application for your CDL instruction permit.  You must apply for your permit and license in pers on at a DMV Customer Service Center. The permit allows you to operate a commercial vehicle under supervision while you learn to drive.Then, you must pass one or more knowledge tests (written or verbal), plus a vision screening test.All commercial vehicle drivers (class A, B and C vehicles) must take the general knowledge exam, which  determines your familiarity with the operation of commercial vehicles, motor vehicle laws, and safe driving techniques. You must answer at least 80 percent of the general knowledge questions correctly to pass the exam.  You must take the skills exams in the type of vehicle for which you want to be licensed.Once you pass the required knowledge exam(s), you can take the CDL skills exams. These exams include:Pre-trip inspectionBasic vehicle controlOn-road drivingIn order to take the tests, you must have held a CDL instruction permit for at least 30 days or show proof that you have previously held a CDL or completed a CDL driver’s education progr am.For the road test,  you you must  supply a properly equipped, legally registered and insured vehicle with  a valid inspection sticker. It must be of the proper type and manufacturer’s GVW  rating for the class license you are applying for, and it must pass a safety check by the examiner.

Foundation of scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Foundation of scholarship - Essay Example 1)" and the end of nation states. Since the time of their emergence national states have always been among the key participants in the world economy. However, the time when nation states were highly effective in creation of wealth is over, and nation states of this epoch have turned into simple mechanisms of wealth distribution. The function of wealth creation has shifted toward and distributed among four forces, namely: investment, corporations, consumers, and information technology. Ohmae does a really great job explaining capital and organizational benefit from the advanced modern instruments of communication thus facilitating international transaction and how modern type of consumers affects the flow of goods and services. As a result, investments have ceased to be domestically driven and become so profit driven, that even the nation states increasingly invest abroad these days instead of reinforcing their domestic potential. Similarly, industries and corporations also do not perceive the state interests as the primary guideline in their operations and become increasingly involved in transnational activities.

Position Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Position Analysis - Essay Example In addition, when children get access to guns, it is dangerous in that during their playtime, and they might end up killing others thinking that they are just playing Gun control is ineffective in reducing crime. Research has countless times revealed through their historical, econometric, and criminological studies that gun control does not reduce crime, yet the advocates of gun control fail to recognize these results. Instances of youth brutality utilizing weapons were pointedly expanding. This exploration presumed that between 1985-1998 instances of youth brutality expanded by 154%. Weapon control by age is very important since people in this age tend to be very violent and aggressive. This is attributed to early onset of forceful youth practices and poor child rearing as a percentage of the explanations behind expanded youth wrongdoings. Specifically, the events of the Aurora, Colorado Theater shooting alongside the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre have galvanized public opinion on both sides of the issue (Agresti and Reid, n.p). The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution sought to convey individual gun rights to the citizen. Although the law has long been interpreted to mean just this, the fact of the matter is that when one reads the Second Amendment from a literalist perspective. It is quite clear that the Second Amendment is speaking to the needs of the states and individual regions of the newly formed United States to form a militia as a means of protecting the Republic. In such a way, the Second Amendment can and should be interpreted as little more than admission from the Federal government that it promises not to infringe upon the rights of the militias (National Guard and Army Reserves) to maintain a stock of weaponry for the purpose of defense and securing the borders of the new nation. This particular argument hinges upon interpretation of

FDT 1 - week 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

FDT 1 - week 6 - Essay Example the broken immigration system into law will happen if there is a historical or shocking level of cooperation between the bickering parties in the United States political landscape. It can only happen if a bipartisan group from both political divides oversees the immigration reforms (Fifield, 2013). There exists a consensus between Congress and the White House in some of the main policy points in the immigration bill. The main points of agreement relate to the border security issues, a strict employer verification system, and a path to citizenship to people who come into the United States through the borders. A bipartisan group of senators will be the answer to fixing the broken immigration laws since the obstacle to fixing the laws is not policy related but the lack of political goodwill (Fifield, 2013). Fixing the broken immigration laws is not the time the president should exercise his bullying pulpit to make Congress act. It is a time for the president to let the group of eight senators from both parties to lead the way to the finishing line. A group of eight senators referred to as â€Å"the gang of 8" can provide a bipartisan solution to the immigration issue (Fifield, 2013). The group will provide the needed leadership. The group can push for what is to be fixed in the employment of undocumented immigrants, tightening security in the Border between the United Sates and Mexico, and offering a way through citizenship for undocumented immigrants can be granted. A sustained bipartisan spirit should prevail in the reform effort between Republicans and Democrats to fix the immigration

Impact of Credit Default Swaps (CDS)

Impact of Credit Default Swaps (CDS) Chapter 1 : Introduction A Swap is a derivative in which two counterparties agree to exchange one stream of cash flow against another stream. Swaps can be used to create unfunded exposures to an underlying asset, since counterparties can earn the profit or loss from movements in price without having to post the notional amount in cash or collateral. It can be used to hedge certain risks such as interest rate risk, or to speculate on changes in the expected direction of underlying prices. The main objective of the project is to understand about Credit Default Swaps (CDS), its global footprint, its role in subprime crisis, its settlement in global arena and to check the feasible settlement of CDS in India, after its introduction in India, by understanding about Indian Credit Derivatives market. Research is concerned with the systematic and objective collection, analysis and evaluation of information about specific aspects to check the feasible settlement of CDSs in India. The development of financial derivatives in recent past is astounding when we consider its volume globally. But at the same time the product once created for hedging the risk currently allows you to bear more risk sometimes making the whole financial system to tremble. May be thats why Warren Buffet called it a financial weapon of mass destruction. Whatever it may be but derivatives have grown exponentially and are necessary for the market to flourish. The credit derivatives are nothing but the logical extension to the family of derivatives and have already made its presence felt globally. The credit derivatives have played a significant role in the development of debt market but also share a blame for the proliferation of subprime crisis. A credit default swap which constitutes the major portion of credit derivatives is similar to an insurance contract which allows you to transfer your risk to third party in exchange of a premium. Right from its origin as plain vanilla product for hedging purpose it has grown to very complex products and now has posed a question mark on its credibility. The subprime crisis started in what were regarded as the worlds safest and most sophisticated markets and spread globally, carried by securities and derivatives that were thought to make the financial system safer. The subprime crisis brings the complexity of securitized products and derivatives products, the human greedy nature, inability of rating agencies to gauge the risk, inefficiency of regulatory bodies, etc. to the fore. Although CDS was not the cause of the subprime crisis but it had cascading effect on the market and was considered as the reason for the collapse of American International Group (AIG). The lessons from the consequences of subprime crisis have helped in creating awareness about the regulatory frameworks to be in place which has increased the transparency, standardization, and soundness in the market. The various measures include formation of central counterparty for CDS, hardwiring of auction protocol and ISDA determination committee. On the backdrop of global crisis the movement of CDS is being watched carefully. The various data sources now provide data even on weekly basis. The efforts are being paid off and the market size of CDS has reduced considerably. And now with the central counterparties in place the CDS market will have more transparency and better control. After opening up of the economy the equity market of India have grown significantly bringing in more transparency. But the corporate bond market is still in undeveloped mode and the efforts being taken on developing it have not provided expected returns. Under this light, India is now all set to launch Credit Default Swaps which are expected to ignite the spark which will flourish the corporate bond market. Considering the cautious nature of RBI and the havoc created by CDS in global market the move by RBI is significant. From the move of RBI one can say as the knife itself is not harmful but it depends whether its in doctors hand or a robbers hand. Similarly CDS as a product is certainly not harmful but its utility will depend on the judicious use of the same. Chapter 2: Literature Review Derivatives The global economic order that emerged after World War II was a system where many less developed countries administered prices and centrally allocated resources. Even the developed economies operated under the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates. The system of fixed prices came under stress from the 1970s onwards. High inflation and unemployment rates made interest rates more volatile. The Bretton Woods system was dismantled in 1971, freeing exchange rates to fluctuate. Less developed countries like India began opening up their economies and allowing prices to vary with market conditions. Price fluctuations made it hard for businesses to estimate their future production costs and revenues. Derivative securities provide them with a valuable set of tools for managing this risk. Financial markets are, by nature, extremely volatile and hence, the risk factor is an Important concern for financial agents. To reduce this risk, the concept of derivatives comes into the picture. Derivatives are products whose values are derived from one or more basic variables called bases. These bases can be underlying assets (for example forex, equity, etc), bases or reference rates. It is afinancial instrument(or more simply, an agreement between two people/two parties) that has a value determined by the future price of something else. Derivatives can be thought of as bets on the price of something.Itis the collective name used for a broad class offinancial instrumentsthatderivetheir value from other financial instruments (known as the underlying), events or conditions. Essentially, a derivative is a contract between two parties where the value of the contract is linked to the price of another financial instrument or by a specified event or condition. Asecurity whose price is dependent upon or derived fromone or more underlying assets.The derivative itself is merely a contract between two or more parties. Itsvalue is determinedby fluctuationsin the underlying asset.The most common underlying assets includestocks, bonds,commodities,currencies, interest rates and market indexes. Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage.Derivatives are generally used as an instrument to hedgerisk, but can also be used forspeculative purposes. For example, wheat farmers may wish to sell their harvest at a future date to eliminate the risk of a change in prices by that date. The transaction in this case would be the derivative, while the spot price of wheat would be the underlying asset. Derivatives have probably been around for as long as people have been trading with one another. Forward contracting dates back at least to the 12th century, and may well have been around before then. Merchants entered into contracts with one another for future delivery of specified amount of commodities at specified price. A primary motivation for pre-arranging a buyer or seller for a stock of commodities in early forward contracts was to lessen the possibility that large swings would inhibit marketing the commodity after a harvest. The need for a derivatives market The derivatives market performs a number of economic functions: They help in transferring risks from risk averse people to risk oriented people They help in the discovery of future as well as current prices They catalyze entrepreneurial activity They increase the volume traded in markets because of participation of risk averse people in greater numbers They increase savings and investment in the long run The participants in a derivatives market Hedgers use futures or options markets to reduce or eliminate the risk associated with price of an asset. Speculators use futures and options contracts to get extra leverage in betting on future movements in the price of an asset. They can increase both the potential gains and potential losses by usage of derivatives in a speculative venture. Arbitrageurs are in business to take advantage of a discrepancy between prices in two different markets. If, for example, they see the futures price of an asset getting out of line with the cash price, they will take offsetting positions in the two markets to lock in a profit. Types of Derivatives Forwards: A forward contract is a customized contract between two entities, where settlement takes place on a specific date in the future at todays pre-agreed price. Futures: A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a certain time in the future at a certain price. Futures contracts are special types of forward contracts in the sense that the former are standardized exchange-traded contracts Options: Options are of two types calls and puts. Calls give the buyer the right but not the obligation to buy a given quantity of the underlying asset, at a given price on or before a given future date. Puts give the buyer the right, but not the obligation to sell a given quantity of the underlying asset at a given price on or before a given date. Warrants: Options generally have lives of upto one year, the majority of options traded on options exchanges having a maximum maturity of nine months. Longer-dated options are called warrants and are generally traded over-the-counter. LEAPS: The acronym LEAPS means Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities. These are options having a maturity of upto three years. Baskets: Basket options are options on portfolios of underlying assets. The underlying asset is usually a moving average or a basket of assets. Equity index options are a form of basket options. Swaps: Swaps are private agreements between two parties to exchange cash flows in the future according to a prearranged formula. They can be regarded as portfolios of forward contracts. The two commonly used swaps are : Interest rate swaps: These entail swapping only the interest related cash flows between the parties in the same currency. Currency swaps: These entail swapping both principal and interest between the parties, with the cash flows in one direction being in a different currency than those in the opposite direction. Swaptions: Swaptions are options to buy or sell a swap that will become operative at the expiry of the options. Thus a swaption is an option on a forward swap. Rather than have calls and puts, the swaptions market has receiver swaptions and payer swaptions. A receiver swaption is an option to receive fixed and pay floating. A payer swaption is an options to pay fixed and receive floating. Uses of Derivatives Derivatives may be traded for a variety of reasons. A derivative enables a trader to hedge some pre-existing risk by taking positions in derivatives markets that offset potential losses in the underlying or spot market. In India, most derivatives users describe themselves as hedgers (Fitch Ratings, 2004) and Indian laws generally require that derivatives be used for hedging purposes only. Another motive for derivatives trading is speculation (i.e. taking positions to profit from anticipated price movements). In practice, it may be difficult to distinguish whether a particular trade was for hedging or speculation, and active markets require the participation of both hedgers and speculators. A third type of trader, called arbitrageurs, profit from discrepancies in the relationship of spot and derivatives prices, and thereby help to keep markets efficient. Jogani and Fernandes (2003) describe Indias long history in arbitrage trading, with line operators and traders arbitraging prices between exchanges located in different cities, and between two exchanges in the same city. Their study of Indian equity derivatives markets in 2002 indicates that markets were inefficient at that time. They argue that lack of knowledge; market frictions and regulatory impediments have led to low levels of capital employed in arbitrage trading in India. However, more recent evidence suggests that the efficiency of Indian equity derivatives markets may have improved (ISMR, 2004). Development of derivatives market in India Derivatives markets have been in existence in India in some form or other for a long time. In the area of commodities, the Bombay Cotton Trade Association started futures trading in 1875 and, by the early 1900s India had one of the worlds largest futures industry. In 1952 the government banned cash settlement and options trading and derivatives trading shifted to informal forwards markets. In recent years, government policy has changed, allowing for an increased role for market-based pricing and less suspicion of derivatives trading. The ban on futures trading of many commodities was lifted starting in the early 2000s, and national electronic commodity exchanges were created. In the equity markets, a system of trading called badla involving some elements of forwards trading had been in existence for decades.6 However, the system led to a number of undesirable practices and it was prohibited off and on till the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) banned it for good in 2001. A series of reforms of the stock market between 1993 and 1996 paved the way for the development of exchange-traded equity derivatives markets in India. In 1993, the government created the NSE in collaboration with state-owned financial institutions. NSE improved the efficiency and transparency of the stock markets by offering a fully automated screen-based trading system and real-time price dissemination. In 1995, a prohibition on trading options was lifted. In 1996, the NSE sent a proposal to SEBI for listing exchange-traded derivatives. The report of the L. C. Gupta Committee, set up by SEBI, recommended a phased introduction of derivative products, and bi-level regulation ( i.e., self-regulation by exchanges with SEBI providing a supervisory and advisory role). Another report, by the J. R. Varma Committee in 1998, worked out various operational details such as the margining systems. The first step towards introduction of derivatives trading in India was the promulgation of the Securities Laws(Amendment) Ordinance, 1995, which withdrew the prohibition on options in securities. The market for derivatives, however, did not take off, as there was no regulatory framework to govern trading of derivatives. SEBI set up a 24-member committee under the Chairmanship of Dr.L.C.Gupta on November 18, 1996 to develop appropriate regulatory framework for derivatives trading in India. The committee submitted its report on March 17, 1998 prescribing necessary pre-conditions for introduction of derivatives trading in India. The committee recommended that derivatives should be declared as securities so that regulatory framework applicable to trading of securities could also govern trading of securities. SEBI also set up a group in June 1998 under the Chairmanship of Prof.J.R.Varma, to recommend measures for risk control in derivatives market in India. The report, which was submitte d in October 1998, worked out the operational details of margining system, methodology for charging initial margins, broker net worth, deposit requirement and real-time monitoring requirements. The Securities Contract Regulation Act (SCRA) was amended in December 1999 to include derivatives within the ambit of securities and the regulatory framework was developed for governing derivatives trading. The act also made it clear that derivatives shall be legal and valid only if such contracts are traded on a recognized stock exchange, thus precluding OTC derivatives. The government also rescinded in March 2000, the three- decade old notification, which prohibited forward trading in securities. Derivatives trading commenced in India in June 2000 after SEBI granted the final approval to this effect in May 2001. SEBI permitted the derivative segments of two stock exchanges, NSE and BSE, and their clearing house/corporation to commence trading and settlement in approved derivatives contracts . To begin with, SEBI approved trading in index futures contracts based on SP CNX Nifty and BSE-30(Sensex) index. This was followed by approval for trading in options based on these two indexes and options on individual securities. The trading in BSE Sensex options commenced on June 4, 2001 and the trading in options on individual securities commenced in July 2001. Futures contracts on individual stocks were launched in November 2001. The derivatives trading on NSE commenced with SP CNX Nifty Index futures on June 12, 2000. The trading in index options commenced on June 4, 2001 and trading in options on individual securities commenced on July 2, 2001. Single stock futures were launched on November 9, 2001. The index futures and options contract on NSE are based on SP CNX Trading and settlement in derivative contracts is done in accordance with the rules, byelaws, and regulations of the respective exchanges and their clearing house/corporation duly approved by SEBI and notified in the official gazette. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) are permitted to trade in all Exchange traded derivative products. The following are some observations based on the trading statistics provided in the NSE report on the futur es and options (FO): †¢ Single-stock futures continue to account for a sizable proportion of the FO segment. It constituted 70 per cent of the total turnover during June 2002. A primary reason attributed to this phenomenon is that traders are comfortable with single-stock futures than equity options, as the former closely resembles the erstwhile badla system. On relative terms, volumes in the index options segment continues to remain poor. This may be due to the low volatility of the spot index. Typically, options are considered more valuable when the volatility of the underlying (in this case, the index) is high. A related issue is that brokers do not earn high commissions by recommending index options to their clients, because low volatility leads to higher waiting time for round-trips. Put volumes in the index options and equity options segment have increased since January 2002. The call-put volumes in index options have decreased from 2.86 in January 2002 to 1.32 in June. The fall in call-put volumes ratio suggests that the traders are increasingly becoming pessimistic on the market. Farther month futures contracts are still not actively traded. Trading in equity options on most stocks for even the next month was non-existent. Daily option price variations suggest that traders use the FO segment as a less risky alternative (read substitute) to generate profits from the stock price movements. The fact that the option premiums tail intra-day stock prices is evidence to this. Calls on Satyam fall, while puts rise when Satyam falls intra-day. If calls and puts are not looked as just substitutes for spot trading, the intra-day stock price variations should not have a one-to-one impact on the option premiums. SWAP In finance, a SWAP is a derivative in which two counterparties agree to exchange one stream of cash flow against another stream. These streams are called the legs of the swap. Conventionally they are the exchange of one security for another to change the maturity (bonds), quality of issues (stocks or bonds), or because investment objectives have changed. A swap is an agreement to exchange one stream of cash flows for another. Swaps are most usually used to:- Switch financing in one country for financing in another To replace a floating interest rate swap with a fixed interest rate (or vice versa) (Litzenberger, R.H)In August 1981 the World Bank issued $290 million in euro-bonds and swapped the interest and principal on these bonds with IBM for Swiss francs and German marks. The rapid growth in the use of interest rate swaps, currency swaps, and swaptions (options on swaps) has been phenomenal. Currently, the amount of outstanding interest rate and currency swaps is almost $3 trillion. Recently, swaps have grown to include currency swaps and interest rate swaps. It can be used to hedge certain risks such as interest rate risk, or to speculate on changes in the expected direction of underlying prices. If firms in separate countries have comparative advantages on interest rates, then a swap could benefit both firms. For example, one firm may have a lower fixed interest rate, while another has access to a lower floating interest rate. These firms could swap to take advantage of the lower rates. Different types of swaps:- Currency Swaps Cross currency swaps are agreements between counterparties to exchange interest and principal payments in different currencies. Like a forward, a cross currency swap consists of the exchange of principal amounts (based on todays spot rate) and interest payments between counterparties. It is considered to be a foreign exchange transaction and is not required by law to be shown on the balance sheet. In a currency swap, these streams of cash flows consist of a stream of interest and principal payments in one currency exchanged for a stream, of interest and principal payments of the same maturity in another currency. Because of the exchange and re-exchange of notional principal amounts, the currency swap generates a larger credit exposure than the interest rate swap. Cross-currency swaps can be used to transform the currency denomination of assets and liabilities. They are effective tools for managing foreign currency risk. They can create currency match within its portfolio and minimize exposures. Firms can use them to hedge foreign currency debts and foreign net investments. Currency swaps give companies extra flexibility to exploit their comparative advantage in their respective borrowing markets. Currency swaps allow companies to exploit advantages across a matrix of currencies and maturities. Currency swaps were originally done to get around exchange controls and hedge the risk on currency rate movements. It also helps in Reducing costs and risks associated with currency exchange. They are often combined with interest rate swaps. For example, one company would seek to swap a cash flow for their fixed rate debt denominated in US dollars for a floating-rate debt denominated in Euro. This is especially common in Europe where companies shop for the cheapest debt regardless of its denomination and then seek to exchange it for the debt in desired currency. Credit Default Swap Credit Default Swap is a financial instrument for swapping the risk of debt default. Credit default swaps may be used for emerging market bonds, mortgage backed securities, corporate bonds and local government bond. The buyer of a credit default swap pays a premium for effectively insuring against a debt default. He receives a lump sum payment if the debt instrument is defaulted. The seller of a credit default swap receives monthly payments from the buyer. If the debt instrument defaults they have to pay the agreed amount to the buyer of the credit default swap. The first credit default swap was introduced in 1995 by JP Morgan. By 2007, their total value has increased to an estimated $45 trillion to $62 trillion. Although since only 0.2% of Investment Companys default, the cash flow is much lower than this actual amount. Therefore, this shows that credit default swaps are being used for speculation and not insuring against actual bonds. As Warren Buffett calls them financial weapons of mass destruction. The credit default swaps are being blamed for much of the current market meltdown. Example of Credit Default Swap An investment trust owns  £1 million corporation bond issued by a private housing firm. If there is a risk the private housing firm may default on repayments, the investment trust may buy a CDS from a hedge fund. The CDS is worth  £1 million. The investment trust will pay an interest on this credit default swap of say 3%. This could involve payments of  £30,000 a year for the duration of the contract. If the private housing firm doesnt default. The hedge fund gains the interest from the investment bank and pays nothing out. It is simple profit. If the private housing firm does default, then the hedge fund has to pay compensation to the investment bank of  £1 million the value of the credit default swap. Therefore the hedge fund takes on a larger risk and could end up paying  £1million The higher the perceived risk of the bond, the higher the interest rate the hedge fund will require. Credit default swaps are used not only by investment banks, but also by other financial institutions. Corporate entities use credit default swaps either for protection purposes, to hedge or to sell. Investment banks are primarily affected by the buyers. If a number of major corporate entities have bought protection from the same investment bank, and all of them fail simultaneously, this will put pressure on the investment bank to pay out. Moreover, the credit risk caused by the above failure may lead to other risks, such as liquidity risk, market risk and operational risk. Therefore, most of the investment banks re-sell the sold protection on the market to other market participants. Edwards (2004) argues that derivatives do not reduce credit risk, but rather transfer it from banks to other banks or entities. Therefore, most of the investment banks re-sell the sold protection on the market to other market participants. Edwards (2004) argues that derivatives do not reduce credit risk, but rather transfer it from banks to other banks or entities. Some of the top banks in America are carrying unknown gambling risks that no one has warned about, and they are all tied up in U.S. bank derivative portfolios (Edwards M, 2004). Commodity Swap A commodity swap is an agreement whereby a floating (or market or spot) price is exchanged for a fixed price over a specified period. The vast majority of commodity swaps involve oil. A swap where exchanged cash flows are dependent on the price of an underlying commodity. This swap is usually used to hedge against the price of a commodity. Commodities are physical assets such as precious metals, base metals, energy stores (such as natural gas or crude oil) and food (including wheat, pork bellies, cattle, etc.). In this swap, the user of a commodity would secure a maximum price and agree to pay a financial institution this fixed price. Then in return, the user would get payments based on the market price for the commodity involved. They are used for hedging against Fluctuations in commodity prices or Fluctuations in spreads between final product and raw material prices. A company that uses commodities as input may find its profits becoming very volatile if the commodity prices become volatile. This is particularly so when the output prices may not change as frequently as the commodity prices change. In such cases, the company would enter into a swap whereby it receives payment linked to commodity prices and pays a fixed rate in exchange. There are two kinds of agents participating in the commodity markets: end-users (hedgers) and investors (speculators). Commodity swaps are becoming increasingly common in the energy and agricultural industries, where demand and supply are both subject to considerable uncertainty. For example, heavy users of oil, such as airlines, will often enter into contracts in which they agree to make a series of fixed payments, say every six months for two years, and receive payments on those same dates as determined by an oil price index. Computations are often based on a specific number of tons of oil in order to lock in the price the airline pays for a specific quantity of oil, purchased at regular intervals over the two-year period. However, the airline will typically buy the actual oil it needs from the spot market. Equity Swap The outstanding performance of equity markets in the 1980s and the 1990s, have brought in some technological innovations that have made widespread participation in the equity market more feasible and more marketable and the demographic imperative of baby-boomer saving has generated significant interest in equity derivatives. In addition to the listed equity options on individual stocks and individual indices, a burgeoning over-the-counter (OTC) market has evolved in the distribution and utilization of equity swaps. An equity swap is a special type of total return swap, where the underlying asset is a stock, a basket of stocks, or a stock index. An exchange of the potential appreciation of equitys value and dividends for a guaranteed return plus any decrease in the value of the equity. An equity swap permits an equity holder a guaranteed return but demands the holder give up all rights to appreciation and dividend income. Compared to actually owning the stock, in this case you do not have to pay anything up front, but you do not have any voting or other rights that stock holders do have. Equity swaps make the index trading strategy even easier. Besides diversification and tax benefits, equity swaps also allow large institutions to hedge specific assets or positions in their portfolios The equity swap is the best swap amongst all the other swaps as it being an over-the-counter derivatives transaction; they have the attractive feature of being customizable for a particular users situation. Investors may have specific time horizons, portfolio compositions, or other terms and conditions that are not matched by exchange-listed derivatives. They are private transactions that are not directly reportable to any regulatory authority. A derivatives dealer can, through a foreign subsidiary in the particular country, invest in the foreign securities without the withholding tax and enter into a swap with the parent dealer company, which can then enter a swap with the American investor, effectively passing on the dividends without the withholding tax Interest Rate Swap An interest rate swap, or simply a rate swap, is an agreement between two parties to exchange a sequence of interest payments without exchanging the underlying debt. In a typical fixed/floating rate swap, the first party promises to pay to the second at designated intervals a stipulated amount of interest calculated at a fixed rate on the notional principal; the second party promises to pay to the first at the same intervals a floating amount of interest on the notional principle calculated according to a floating-rate index. The interest rate swap is essentially a strip of forward contracts exchanging interest payments. Thus, interest rate swaps, like interest rate futures or interest rate forward contracts, offer a mechanism for restructuring cash flows and, if properly used, provide a financial instrument for hedging against interest rate risk The reason for the exchange of the interest obligation is to take benefit from comparative advantage. Some companies may have comparative advantage in fixed rate markets while other companies have a comparative advantage in floating rate markets. When companies want to borrow they look for cheap borrowing i.e. from the market where they have comparative advantage. However this may lead to a company borrowing fixed when it wants floating or borrowing floating when it wants fixed. This is where a swap comes in. A swap has the effect of transforming a fixed rate loan into a float Impact of Credit Default Swaps (CDS) Impact of Credit Default Swaps (CDS) Chapter 1 : Introduction A Swap is a derivative in which two counterparties agree to exchange one stream of cash flow against another stream. Swaps can be used to create unfunded exposures to an underlying asset, since counterparties can earn the profit or loss from movements in price without having to post the notional amount in cash or collateral. It can be used to hedge certain risks such as interest rate risk, or to speculate on changes in the expected direction of underlying prices. The main objective of the project is to understand about Credit Default Swaps (CDS), its global footprint, its role in subprime crisis, its settlement in global arena and to check the feasible settlement of CDS in India, after its introduction in India, by understanding about Indian Credit Derivatives market. Research is concerned with the systematic and objective collection, analysis and evaluation of information about specific aspects to check the feasible settlement of CDSs in India. The development of financial derivatives in recent past is astounding when we consider its volume globally. But at the same time the product once created for hedging the risk currently allows you to bear more risk sometimes making the whole financial system to tremble. May be thats why Warren Buffet called it a financial weapon of mass destruction. Whatever it may be but derivatives have grown exponentially and are necessary for the market to flourish. The credit derivatives are nothing but the logical extension to the family of derivatives and have already made its presence felt globally. The credit derivatives have played a significant role in the development of debt market but also share a blame for the proliferation of subprime crisis. A credit default swap which constitutes the major portion of credit derivatives is similar to an insurance contract which allows you to transfer your risk to third party in exchange of a premium. Right from its origin as plain vanilla product for hedging purpose it has grown to very complex products and now has posed a question mark on its credibility. The subprime crisis started in what were regarded as the worlds safest and most sophisticated markets and spread globally, carried by securities and derivatives that were thought to make the financial system safer. The subprime crisis brings the complexity of securitized products and derivatives products, the human greedy nature, inability of rating agencies to gauge the risk, inefficiency of regulatory bodies, etc. to the fore. Although CDS was not the cause of the subprime crisis but it had cascading effect on the market and was considered as the reason for the collapse of American International Group (AIG). The lessons from the consequences of subprime crisis have helped in creating awareness about the regulatory frameworks to be in place which has increased the transparency, standardization, and soundness in the market. The various measures include formation of central counterparty for CDS, hardwiring of auction protocol and ISDA determination committee. On the backdrop of global crisis the movement of CDS is being watched carefully. The various data sources now provide data even on weekly basis. The efforts are being paid off and the market size of CDS has reduced considerably. And now with the central counterparties in place the CDS market will have more transparency and better control. After opening up of the economy the equity market of India have grown significantly bringing in more transparency. But the corporate bond market is still in undeveloped mode and the efforts being taken on developing it have not provided expected returns. Under this light, India is now all set to launch Credit Default Swaps which are expected to ignite the spark which will flourish the corporate bond market. Considering the cautious nature of RBI and the havoc created by CDS in global market the move by RBI is significant. From the move of RBI one can say as the knife itself is not harmful but it depends whether its in doctors hand or a robbers hand. Similarly CDS as a product is certainly not harmful but its utility will depend on the judicious use of the same. Chapter 2: Literature Review Derivatives The global economic order that emerged after World War II was a system where many less developed countries administered prices and centrally allocated resources. Even the developed economies operated under the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates. The system of fixed prices came under stress from the 1970s onwards. High inflation and unemployment rates made interest rates more volatile. The Bretton Woods system was dismantled in 1971, freeing exchange rates to fluctuate. Less developed countries like India began opening up their economies and allowing prices to vary with market conditions. Price fluctuations made it hard for businesses to estimate their future production costs and revenues. Derivative securities provide them with a valuable set of tools for managing this risk. Financial markets are, by nature, extremely volatile and hence, the risk factor is an Important concern for financial agents. To reduce this risk, the concept of derivatives comes into the picture. Derivatives are products whose values are derived from one or more basic variables called bases. These bases can be underlying assets (for example forex, equity, etc), bases or reference rates. It is afinancial instrument(or more simply, an agreement between two people/two parties) that has a value determined by the future price of something else. Derivatives can be thought of as bets on the price of something.Itis the collective name used for a broad class offinancial instrumentsthatderivetheir value from other financial instruments (known as the underlying), events or conditions. Essentially, a derivative is a contract between two parties where the value of the contract is linked to the price of another financial instrument or by a specified event or condition. Asecurity whose price is dependent upon or derived fromone or more underlying assets.The derivative itself is merely a contract between two or more parties. Itsvalue is determinedby fluctuationsin the underlying asset.The most common underlying assets includestocks, bonds,commodities,currencies, interest rates and market indexes. Most derivatives are characterized by high leverage.Derivatives are generally used as an instrument to hedgerisk, but can also be used forspeculative purposes. For example, wheat farmers may wish to sell their harvest at a future date to eliminate the risk of a change in prices by that date. The transaction in this case would be the derivative, while the spot price of wheat would be the underlying asset. Derivatives have probably been around for as long as people have been trading with one another. Forward contracting dates back at least to the 12th century, and may well have been around before then. Merchants entered into contracts with one another for future delivery of specified amount of commodities at specified price. A primary motivation for pre-arranging a buyer or seller for a stock of commodities in early forward contracts was to lessen the possibility that large swings would inhibit marketing the commodity after a harvest. The need for a derivatives market The derivatives market performs a number of economic functions: They help in transferring risks from risk averse people to risk oriented people They help in the discovery of future as well as current prices They catalyze entrepreneurial activity They increase the volume traded in markets because of participation of risk averse people in greater numbers They increase savings and investment in the long run The participants in a derivatives market Hedgers use futures or options markets to reduce or eliminate the risk associated with price of an asset. Speculators use futures and options contracts to get extra leverage in betting on future movements in the price of an asset. They can increase both the potential gains and potential losses by usage of derivatives in a speculative venture. Arbitrageurs are in business to take advantage of a discrepancy between prices in two different markets. If, for example, they see the futures price of an asset getting out of line with the cash price, they will take offsetting positions in the two markets to lock in a profit. Types of Derivatives Forwards: A forward contract is a customized contract between two entities, where settlement takes place on a specific date in the future at todays pre-agreed price. Futures: A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a certain time in the future at a certain price. Futures contracts are special types of forward contracts in the sense that the former are standardized exchange-traded contracts Options: Options are of two types calls and puts. Calls give the buyer the right but not the obligation to buy a given quantity of the underlying asset, at a given price on or before a given future date. Puts give the buyer the right, but not the obligation to sell a given quantity of the underlying asset at a given price on or before a given date. Warrants: Options generally have lives of upto one year, the majority of options traded on options exchanges having a maximum maturity of nine months. Longer-dated options are called warrants and are generally traded over-the-counter. LEAPS: The acronym LEAPS means Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities. These are options having a maturity of upto three years. Baskets: Basket options are options on portfolios of underlying assets. The underlying asset is usually a moving average or a basket of assets. Equity index options are a form of basket options. Swaps: Swaps are private agreements between two parties to exchange cash flows in the future according to a prearranged formula. They can be regarded as portfolios of forward contracts. The two commonly used swaps are : Interest rate swaps: These entail swapping only the interest related cash flows between the parties in the same currency. Currency swaps: These entail swapping both principal and interest between the parties, with the cash flows in one direction being in a different currency than those in the opposite direction. Swaptions: Swaptions are options to buy or sell a swap that will become operative at the expiry of the options. Thus a swaption is an option on a forward swap. Rather than have calls and puts, the swaptions market has receiver swaptions and payer swaptions. A receiver swaption is an option to receive fixed and pay floating. A payer swaption is an options to pay fixed and receive floating. Uses of Derivatives Derivatives may be traded for a variety of reasons. A derivative enables a trader to hedge some pre-existing risk by taking positions in derivatives markets that offset potential losses in the underlying or spot market. In India, most derivatives users describe themselves as hedgers (Fitch Ratings, 2004) and Indian laws generally require that derivatives be used for hedging purposes only. Another motive for derivatives trading is speculation (i.e. taking positions to profit from anticipated price movements). In practice, it may be difficult to distinguish whether a particular trade was for hedging or speculation, and active markets require the participation of both hedgers and speculators. A third type of trader, called arbitrageurs, profit from discrepancies in the relationship of spot and derivatives prices, and thereby help to keep markets efficient. Jogani and Fernandes (2003) describe Indias long history in arbitrage trading, with line operators and traders arbitraging prices between exchanges located in different cities, and between two exchanges in the same city. Their study of Indian equity derivatives markets in 2002 indicates that markets were inefficient at that time. They argue that lack of knowledge; market frictions and regulatory impediments have led to low levels of capital employed in arbitrage trading in India. However, more recent evidence suggests that the efficiency of Indian equity derivatives markets may have improved (ISMR, 2004). Development of derivatives market in India Derivatives markets have been in existence in India in some form or other for a long time. In the area of commodities, the Bombay Cotton Trade Association started futures trading in 1875 and, by the early 1900s India had one of the worlds largest futures industry. In 1952 the government banned cash settlement and options trading and derivatives trading shifted to informal forwards markets. In recent years, government policy has changed, allowing for an increased role for market-based pricing and less suspicion of derivatives trading. The ban on futures trading of many commodities was lifted starting in the early 2000s, and national electronic commodity exchanges were created. In the equity markets, a system of trading called badla involving some elements of forwards trading had been in existence for decades.6 However, the system led to a number of undesirable practices and it was prohibited off and on till the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) banned it for good in 2001. A series of reforms of the stock market between 1993 and 1996 paved the way for the development of exchange-traded equity derivatives markets in India. In 1993, the government created the NSE in collaboration with state-owned financial institutions. NSE improved the efficiency and transparency of the stock markets by offering a fully automated screen-based trading system and real-time price dissemination. In 1995, a prohibition on trading options was lifted. In 1996, the NSE sent a proposal to SEBI for listing exchange-traded derivatives. The report of the L. C. Gupta Committee, set up by SEBI, recommended a phased introduction of derivative products, and bi-level regulation ( i.e., self-regulation by exchanges with SEBI providing a supervisory and advisory role). Another report, by the J. R. Varma Committee in 1998, worked out various operational details such as the margining systems. The first step towards introduction of derivatives trading in India was the promulgation of the Securities Laws(Amendment) Ordinance, 1995, which withdrew the prohibition on options in securities. The market for derivatives, however, did not take off, as there was no regulatory framework to govern trading of derivatives. SEBI set up a 24-member committee under the Chairmanship of Dr.L.C.Gupta on November 18, 1996 to develop appropriate regulatory framework for derivatives trading in India. The committee submitted its report on March 17, 1998 prescribing necessary pre-conditions for introduction of derivatives trading in India. The committee recommended that derivatives should be declared as securities so that regulatory framework applicable to trading of securities could also govern trading of securities. SEBI also set up a group in June 1998 under the Chairmanship of Prof.J.R.Varma, to recommend measures for risk control in derivatives market in India. The report, which was submitte d in October 1998, worked out the operational details of margining system, methodology for charging initial margins, broker net worth, deposit requirement and real-time monitoring requirements. The Securities Contract Regulation Act (SCRA) was amended in December 1999 to include derivatives within the ambit of securities and the regulatory framework was developed for governing derivatives trading. The act also made it clear that derivatives shall be legal and valid only if such contracts are traded on a recognized stock exchange, thus precluding OTC derivatives. The government also rescinded in March 2000, the three- decade old notification, which prohibited forward trading in securities. Derivatives trading commenced in India in June 2000 after SEBI granted the final approval to this effect in May 2001. SEBI permitted the derivative segments of two stock exchanges, NSE and BSE, and their clearing house/corporation to commence trading and settlement in approved derivatives contracts . To begin with, SEBI approved trading in index futures contracts based on SP CNX Nifty and BSE-30(Sensex) index. This was followed by approval for trading in options based on these two indexes and options on individual securities. The trading in BSE Sensex options commenced on June 4, 2001 and the trading in options on individual securities commenced in July 2001. Futures contracts on individual stocks were launched in November 2001. The derivatives trading on NSE commenced with SP CNX Nifty Index futures on June 12, 2000. The trading in index options commenced on June 4, 2001 and trading in options on individual securities commenced on July 2, 2001. Single stock futures were launched on November 9, 2001. The index futures and options contract on NSE are based on SP CNX Trading and settlement in derivative contracts is done in accordance with the rules, byelaws, and regulations of the respective exchanges and their clearing house/corporation duly approved by SEBI and notified in the official gazette. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) are permitted to trade in all Exchange traded derivative products. The following are some observations based on the trading statistics provided in the NSE report on the futur es and options (FO): †¢ Single-stock futures continue to account for a sizable proportion of the FO segment. It constituted 70 per cent of the total turnover during June 2002. A primary reason attributed to this phenomenon is that traders are comfortable with single-stock futures than equity options, as the former closely resembles the erstwhile badla system. On relative terms, volumes in the index options segment continues to remain poor. This may be due to the low volatility of the spot index. Typically, options are considered more valuable when the volatility of the underlying (in this case, the index) is high. A related issue is that brokers do not earn high commissions by recommending index options to their clients, because low volatility leads to higher waiting time for round-trips. Put volumes in the index options and equity options segment have increased since January 2002. The call-put volumes in index options have decreased from 2.86 in January 2002 to 1.32 in June. The fall in call-put volumes ratio suggests that the traders are increasingly becoming pessimistic on the market. Farther month futures contracts are still not actively traded. Trading in equity options on most stocks for even the next month was non-existent. Daily option price variations suggest that traders use the FO segment as a less risky alternative (read substitute) to generate profits from the stock price movements. The fact that the option premiums tail intra-day stock prices is evidence to this. Calls on Satyam fall, while puts rise when Satyam falls intra-day. If calls and puts are not looked as just substitutes for spot trading, the intra-day stock price variations should not have a one-to-one impact on the option premiums. SWAP In finance, a SWAP is a derivative in which two counterparties agree to exchange one stream of cash flow against another stream. These streams are called the legs of the swap. Conventionally they are the exchange of one security for another to change the maturity (bonds), quality of issues (stocks or bonds), or because investment objectives have changed. A swap is an agreement to exchange one stream of cash flows for another. Swaps are most usually used to:- Switch financing in one country for financing in another To replace a floating interest rate swap with a fixed interest rate (or vice versa) (Litzenberger, R.H)In August 1981 the World Bank issued $290 million in euro-bonds and swapped the interest and principal on these bonds with IBM for Swiss francs and German marks. The rapid growth in the use of interest rate swaps, currency swaps, and swaptions (options on swaps) has been phenomenal. Currently, the amount of outstanding interest rate and currency swaps is almost $3 trillion. Recently, swaps have grown to include currency swaps and interest rate swaps. It can be used to hedge certain risks such as interest rate risk, or to speculate on changes in the expected direction of underlying prices. If firms in separate countries have comparative advantages on interest rates, then a swap could benefit both firms. For example, one firm may have a lower fixed interest rate, while another has access to a lower floating interest rate. These firms could swap to take advantage of the lower rates. Different types of swaps:- Currency Swaps Cross currency swaps are agreements between counterparties to exchange interest and principal payments in different currencies. Like a forward, a cross currency swap consists of the exchange of principal amounts (based on todays spot rate) and interest payments between counterparties. It is considered to be a foreign exchange transaction and is not required by law to be shown on the balance sheet. In a currency swap, these streams of cash flows consist of a stream of interest and principal payments in one currency exchanged for a stream, of interest and principal payments of the same maturity in another currency. Because of the exchange and re-exchange of notional principal amounts, the currency swap generates a larger credit exposure than the interest rate swap. Cross-currency swaps can be used to transform the currency denomination of assets and liabilities. They are effective tools for managing foreign currency risk. They can create currency match within its portfolio and minimize exposures. Firms can use them to hedge foreign currency debts and foreign net investments. Currency swaps give companies extra flexibility to exploit their comparative advantage in their respective borrowing markets. Currency swaps allow companies to exploit advantages across a matrix of currencies and maturities. Currency swaps were originally done to get around exchange controls and hedge the risk on currency rate movements. It also helps in Reducing costs and risks associated with currency exchange. They are often combined with interest rate swaps. For example, one company would seek to swap a cash flow for their fixed rate debt denominated in US dollars for a floating-rate debt denominated in Euro. This is especially common in Europe where companies shop for the cheapest debt regardless of its denomination and then seek to exchange it for the debt in desired currency. Credit Default Swap Credit Default Swap is a financial instrument for swapping the risk of debt default. Credit default swaps may be used for emerging market bonds, mortgage backed securities, corporate bonds and local government bond. The buyer of a credit default swap pays a premium for effectively insuring against a debt default. He receives a lump sum payment if the debt instrument is defaulted. The seller of a credit default swap receives monthly payments from the buyer. If the debt instrument defaults they have to pay the agreed amount to the buyer of the credit default swap. The first credit default swap was introduced in 1995 by JP Morgan. By 2007, their total value has increased to an estimated $45 trillion to $62 trillion. Although since only 0.2% of Investment Companys default, the cash flow is much lower than this actual amount. Therefore, this shows that credit default swaps are being used for speculation and not insuring against actual bonds. As Warren Buffett calls them financial weapons of mass destruction. The credit default swaps are being blamed for much of the current market meltdown. Example of Credit Default Swap An investment trust owns  £1 million corporation bond issued by a private housing firm. If there is a risk the private housing firm may default on repayments, the investment trust may buy a CDS from a hedge fund. The CDS is worth  £1 million. The investment trust will pay an interest on this credit default swap of say 3%. This could involve payments of  £30,000 a year for the duration of the contract. If the private housing firm doesnt default. The hedge fund gains the interest from the investment bank and pays nothing out. It is simple profit. If the private housing firm does default, then the hedge fund has to pay compensation to the investment bank of  £1 million the value of the credit default swap. Therefore the hedge fund takes on a larger risk and could end up paying  £1million The higher the perceived risk of the bond, the higher the interest rate the hedge fund will require. Credit default swaps are used not only by investment banks, but also by other financial institutions. Corporate entities use credit default swaps either for protection purposes, to hedge or to sell. Investment banks are primarily affected by the buyers. If a number of major corporate entities have bought protection from the same investment bank, and all of them fail simultaneously, this will put pressure on the investment bank to pay out. Moreover, the credit risk caused by the above failure may lead to other risks, such as liquidity risk, market risk and operational risk. Therefore, most of the investment banks re-sell the sold protection on the market to other market participants. Edwards (2004) argues that derivatives do not reduce credit risk, but rather transfer it from banks to other banks or entities. Therefore, most of the investment banks re-sell the sold protection on the market to other market participants. Edwards (2004) argues that derivatives do not reduce credit risk, but rather transfer it from banks to other banks or entities. Some of the top banks in America are carrying unknown gambling risks that no one has warned about, and they are all tied up in U.S. bank derivative portfolios (Edwards M, 2004). Commodity Swap A commodity swap is an agreement whereby a floating (or market or spot) price is exchanged for a fixed price over a specified period. The vast majority of commodity swaps involve oil. A swap where exchanged cash flows are dependent on the price of an underlying commodity. This swap is usually used to hedge against the price of a commodity. Commodities are physical assets such as precious metals, base metals, energy stores (such as natural gas or crude oil) and food (including wheat, pork bellies, cattle, etc.). In this swap, the user of a commodity would secure a maximum price and agree to pay a financial institution this fixed price. Then in return, the user would get payments based on the market price for the commodity involved. They are used for hedging against Fluctuations in commodity prices or Fluctuations in spreads between final product and raw material prices. A company that uses commodities as input may find its profits becoming very volatile if the commodity prices become volatile. This is particularly so when the output prices may not change as frequently as the commodity prices change. In such cases, the company would enter into a swap whereby it receives payment linked to commodity prices and pays a fixed rate in exchange. There are two kinds of agents participating in the commodity markets: end-users (hedgers) and investors (speculators). Commodity swaps are becoming increasingly common in the energy and agricultural industries, where demand and supply are both subject to considerable uncertainty. For example, heavy users of oil, such as airlines, will often enter into contracts in which they agree to make a series of fixed payments, say every six months for two years, and receive payments on those same dates as determined by an oil price index. Computations are often based on a specific number of tons of oil in order to lock in the price the airline pays for a specific quantity of oil, purchased at regular intervals over the two-year period. However, the airline will typically buy the actual oil it needs from the spot market. Equity Swap The outstanding performance of equity markets in the 1980s and the 1990s, have brought in some technological innovations that have made widespread participation in the equity market more feasible and more marketable and the demographic imperative of baby-boomer saving has generated significant interest in equity derivatives. In addition to the listed equity options on individual stocks and individual indices, a burgeoning over-the-counter (OTC) market has evolved in the distribution and utilization of equity swaps. An equity swap is a special type of total return swap, where the underlying asset is a stock, a basket of stocks, or a stock index. An exchange of the potential appreciation of equitys value and dividends for a guaranteed return plus any decrease in the value of the equity. An equity swap permits an equity holder a guaranteed return but demands the holder give up all rights to appreciation and dividend income. Compared to actually owning the stock, in this case you do not have to pay anything up front, but you do not have any voting or other rights that stock holders do have. Equity swaps make the index trading strategy even easier. Besides diversification and tax benefits, equity swaps also allow large institutions to hedge specific assets or positions in their portfolios The equity swap is the best swap amongst all the other swaps as it being an over-the-counter derivatives transaction; they have the attractive feature of being customizable for a particular users situation. Investors may have specific time horizons, portfolio compositions, or other terms and conditions that are not matched by exchange-listed derivatives. They are private transactions that are not directly reportable to any regulatory authority. A derivatives dealer can, through a foreign subsidiary in the particular country, invest in the foreign securities without the withholding tax and enter into a swap with the parent dealer company, which can then enter a swap with the American investor, effectively passing on the dividends without the withholding tax Interest Rate Swap An interest rate swap, or simply a rate swap, is an agreement between two parties to exchange a sequence of interest payments without exchanging the underlying debt. In a typical fixed/floating rate swap, the first party promises to pay to the second at designated intervals a stipulated amount of interest calculated at a fixed rate on the notional principal; the second party promises to pay to the first at the same intervals a floating amount of interest on the notional principle calculated according to a floating-rate index. The interest rate swap is essentially a strip of forward contracts exchanging interest payments. Thus, interest rate swaps, like interest rate futures or interest rate forward contracts, offer a mechanism for restructuring cash flows and, if properly used, provide a financial instrument for hedging against interest rate risk The reason for the exchange of the interest obligation is to take benefit from comparative advantage. Some companies may have comparative advantage in fixed rate markets while other companies have a comparative advantage in floating rate markets. When companies want to borrow they look for cheap borrowing i.e. from the market where they have comparative advantage. However this may lead to a company borrowing fixed when it wants floating or borrowing floating when it wants fixed. This is where a swap comes in. A swap has the effect of transforming a fixed rate loan into a float