The meaning of life Essay Example for Free

The meaning of life Essay During our brief time, spinning on this ball of rock, dust and water, there are questions that haunt almost every person on Earth. Why are we here? What is our purpose? And, what is the meaning of our life? These questions have been rattling around in great minds since the beginning of history, and will continue on until mankind’s eventual extinction. Many people have pondered the relevance of their lives, but finding the true meaning is knowledge that is reserved only for God. Though these questions may never truly be answered, many philosophers, authors, academics and holy men have given this question their full attention. I will explore two of these great minds, compare their philosophies, and try my best to explain my own life’s philosophy. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama The first man we will discuss is a world-renowned lover of peace and happiness; he has had a major motion picture made his life and its exploits, and is actually still alive to this day. His name is Tenzin Gyatso, otherwise known as His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The reason I chose the Dalai Lama, is because of the trials and difficulties he has endured. The Chinese forced him into exile from his home in Tibet to India because of his beliefs about peace. His strengths are admirable and he won the Nobel Peace Prize for attempting to free the Tibetan people from Chinese rule without violence (The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, n. d. ). The Dalai Lama’s theory on the meaning of life stems from Buddhist religion and I will do my best to convey this wisdom in my own words. According to the Dalai Lama’s philosophy on the purpose of life (n. d. ) â€Å"the purpose of life is to be happy† (The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama). That seems simple enough, right? That statement is essentially the very beginning of his writings on the meaning of life. He continues on to elaborate on how this seemingly easy task can be accomplished, and how one can attain a life of meaning through happiness. The way that I interpreted his teachings is that, at every human being’s core, we are all after one thing, and that is love. Love is something we crave from a very young age and that life’s meaning is derived from love and the acts of love that we all give and receive in our day-to-day lives. I also believe that the Dalai Lama’ s meaning of life teaches individuals to be dependent by nature, and that our relationships with those whom we associate ourselves are generally based on love (The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, n. d. ). His Holiness believes that we gain our life’s purpose from our interpersonal relationships. These relationships can be our colleagues at work, teachers and fellow students at school. The Dalai Lama believes that our primary ambition in all of these relationships is to earn love. For example, at work we all strive to do our best in order to earn more money. However, for many of us, it is not the money we are after, but the esteem from our superiors and subordinates for a job well done. We want to feel valuable to that company, feel an importance, a cog within the great machine. I believe that deep down these feelings stem from our inborn need to be loved. While love is a fundamental part of the Dalai Lama’s philosophy, he also speaks of the role compassion plays in our lives. The Dalai Lama teaches that life’s meaning can be attained through true compassion, which should be derived from reason, not emotions, and that it should never waiver; regardless of whether a person is being negative or positive toward you (The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, n. d). Aristotle The second philosopher we will discuss is one of the most notable to come out of the Ancient Greek Empire, Aristotle. Aristotle is to the day one of the most globally recognized philosophers, and was a student of Plato and teacher to Alexander the Great. I chose the philosopher Aristotle because his ethical beliefs are good ones to live by in order to obtain the meaning of life. His studies give off the impression that he knows the answer to the question, why? I was unfamiliar with his direct philosophies, but my research allowed the ability to understand his point of view. Aristotle’s works focus primarily on theoretical, practical and productive sciences. He â€Å"identifies the highest good with intellectual virtue; that is, a moral person is one who cultivates certain virtues based on reasoning† (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005). He was extremely knowledgeable and able to absorb enough of an understanding of these sciences to be able to interpret how life worked in a way to achieve happiness. Using his theories of practical science, Aristotle was able to establish explanations relating to the actions and conducts of individuals within society (Cohen, 2008). He could easily comprehend how society clicked and how the individuals within society adapted. Productive sciences are those relating to the crafts of individuals, what they produce, and how they have evolved. By using the basis of these three sciences, Aristotle was able to establish a sense of ethics and rules of logic. He educated individuals throughout society to spread his beliefs and his understandings of the way of life. Aristotle used many factors when coming to an understanding about the philosophy of life. His main philosophy pertains to living one with nature and relating to society by simply being happy. He compares being happy to being Godlike; however, happiness is not just being happy, but instead living a life that teaches you to be happy by living virtuously (Aristotle, 350 B. C. E). Aristotle understood the meaning of life and would live and teach with that understanding. The choices individuals would make pertain to the ultimate goal of achieving actual happiness. This happiness triggers an unknown pleasure within an individual and essentially becomes a desire and drives one to maintain that happiness. With his education of theoretical, practical and physical sciences, Aristotle was able to make sense of it all. His beliefs of obtaining happiness were collected together by using knowledge and pure goodness. He felt as if knowledge, like happiness, needed to be learned through education and life experience. Aristotle believed that, â€Å"there is nothing in the intellect that was not first in the senses,† meaning that our knowledge is mainly absorbed through our experiences (Turner, 1907). To Aristotle, happiness cannot just be found; one has to be able to live their lives in a virtuous way to obtain honor and the greater good. Individuals need to understand what the reality of what happiness is and how to be a rational being in order to obtain it (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005). His meanings and interpretations have made a significant influence to many and still continue to influence and educate. Both, the Dalai Lama and Aristotle share similar feelings relating to their philosophies of life. The main objective for the both of them is essentially to obtain pure happiness through compassion and pleasure. The Dalai Lama strives to use love and peace to reach this goal, where on the other hand, Aristotle uses virtue and knowledge. They imply to live a life that one would be proud of, taking the trials that life gives to you and turning them into an experience and strive towards happiness and love. My Philosophy My own life’s philosophy is probably pretty cliche, but I firmly believe that if something makes you happy, do more of it, and that one must work to live and not live to work. I believe that if all you do is work then you miss out on all of the things the world has to offer outside of whatever structured work environment you may be a part of. That is not to say that some people do not love their work and that for them their work is their purpose. I think that is what everyone should strive for, but I believe that once work takes precedence over your family, your friends, and most of all your happiness, then it threatens all you’re working for. I have seen this in too many career soldiers, and unfortunately, myself. I can admit that my steadfast attention on work during my last deployment was without a doubt, a contributing factor in a failed relationship. Since that time in my life, I have become determined not to let that happen again, and to let happiness be my purpose in life. Earlier I said that if something makes you happy, do more of it. This means that if you love to sing, but can’t carry a tune, then sing. If you love to work on cars, but can’t find the time, make time. For me, it is making people laugh, I love to do it, and so I will! Life is cruelly short, so let’s all find just a little time to do what makes us happy. In comparison with the Dalai Lama, I feel that my philosophy is quite similar. We both feel that life’s meaning is directly derived from happiness. He feels that we gain this happiness from love and those that surround us, while I feel that we have additional happiness to gain in life if we could just find the time to do the things that make us happy. I feel that my philosophy differs from his in the area of work. I believe that you must work to live and that your work should not come before those you love, yourself or whatever it is you work for. As for Aristotle’s philosophy and my own, I believe that his theory on using virtue and honor to obtain happiness is very accurate. I too believe that living a life filled with honor can lead to a sense of pride that is able to coincide with being happy. I also support his opinion on happiness leading to pleasure. Being happy is like an addiction and the more happiness that you attain, the more that you strive for. However, Aristotle also believes that happiness corresponds to making decisions backed by knowledge and experience. I somewhat disagree and believe that life experience does not necessarily have to be a main factor pertained to happiness. If you want to be happy, then just be, and live your life honestly and virtuously. The main things that I have learned from the teachings of the Dalai Lama that I would like to apply to my own life, is that happiness is the meaning of our life’s and that we should show patience and compassion towards everyone no matter what. If even 25% of the world could manage that, we would not be in the state of constant war we’ve been in for the past decade. I would also like to take away his capacity for love, I think his philosophy of life involving love is inspiring and makes me want to live a more peaceful, loving life. Aristotle on the other hand, has taught me to be more open-minded to knowledge and experience. To take in an experience as a lesson learned instead of just another day on the calendar and to just appreciate every moment, good or bad, and use it to the best of your advantage. References Aristotle. (350 B. C. E). Nicomachean ethics. Trans. W. D. Ross. Retrieved from: http://classics. mit. edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen. 1. i. html Cohen, M. (2008). Aristotle. Retrieved from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/aristotle/ Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2005). Aristotle (384—322 BCE). Retrieved from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www. iep. utm. edu/aristotl/ The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama (n. d. ). A brief biography. Retrieved from: http://www. dalailama. com/biography/a-brief-biography Turner, W. (1907). Aristotle. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved April 17, 2012 from New Advent: http://www. newadvent. org/cathen/01713a. htm.

Internal Traceability And External Traceability

Internal Traceability And External Traceability Traceability itself does not make food safe. However it is a risk management tool whenever a food safety problem is concerned. Past experiences have shown that the operation of food or feed market can be jeopardized when it is impossible to trace food or feed. Seafood is a highly perishable food item, increasingly globally traded and many particular conditions have to be taken into account (Schrà ¶der, U. 2008). Therefore a comprehensive system of traceability is targeted to avoid unnecessary wider disruption in food business. According to ISO 8402:1994, traceability is defines as the ability to trace the history, application or location of an entity by means of recoded identification. Starting from 2002, all fishery products in European Union must be labeled with commercial designation of the species, the production method and the catch area or production location according to traceability Requirements for Fish (Regulation EC/2065/2001). E.U. General Food Law Regulation 178/2002 (Article 3) mentioned that traceability means the ability trace and follow a food, feed, food producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected to be incorporated into a food or feed through all stages of production, processing and distribution. Traceability is mentioned in the Food Hygiene Regulation 2009 (Regulation 10) that it should be identified as one step back from where the food came and one step forward where the food went at any specified stage in the food chain 80.5% of fishery production in Malaysia is captured whereas 94.4% of seafood in European Union is capture fisheries. Marine fish landing in Malaysia has been quit consistent around 1300 tonnes per annum (Buku Perangkaan Perikanan Tahunan, 2009; Fisheries statistic, 2011). However, there is a trend of dropping in the capture of fishery products in the European Union from 7253 tonnes in 1998 to 5148 in 2008. Hence, European Union tends to import more fish and has stringent rules and regulations on the import of seafood products. Traceability procedure may seem to be lengthy but its importance and benefits outweigh its all. The main purpose of traceability is to improve safety and quality control and this could boost import potential, market access and lead to better business management and efficiency. In food safety issue, it not only safeguards against bioterrorism, but also enables immediate recall and withdrawal when a risk or hazard is identified. Besides that, it also provides a channel for transparent and fair trading between operators. Accurate information is provided to the public so that consumers will not be misled by inaccurate label and make informed purchasing decisions. Traceability records help control authorities to perform better risk assessment (Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 (Article 18)). Traceability also helps to increase ones market share or product value. Its importance in the implication of sustainable fishing may be unseen by the society. With traceability record, seafood business ope rators cannot make false claims and we can get rid of the false perception of plentiful seafood supply in the marine ecosystem. 2.0 Internal Traceability and External Traceability Generally, traceability can be divided into two types, which is the internal traceability and external or chain traceability. Internal traceability is the recordkeeping of a product within a particular operation, company or production facility. It relates the data about raw materials and processes to the final product before it is delivered. Many seafood processing companies have effective internal traceability systems as part of their HACCP based quality assurance systems. Internal traceability is aimed at productivity improvement and cost reduction within a production unit such as fish plant. This type of record keeping is already required throughout the seafood industry as it is essential for keeping track of inventory, purchasing and other in house accounting. External traceability refers to traceability the product outside of a business entity, in the entire supply chain. It is between companies and countries and depends on the presence of internal traceability of each entity. Therefore it is a challenge that requires the cooperation of all operators in the supply chain from farm to table. For instances, external traceability allows the tracking of a product and attributes of that product through the successive stages of the distribution chain such as from boat or fish farm to table. One step back and one step forward approach is the simplest model of external traceability. It comprises the capability to track the movement of the product forward through the supply chain to understand where it has gone, what it has gone into and what it has come into contact with. Besides, it enables to trace a product back to understand the custody chain of product, components and ingredients. Under this system, each partner in the supply chain is respons ible to record input and output data but not for information which may be several steps ahead or behind in the supply chain (Can-Trace, 2007). Tracing upstream means looking back along the supply chain towards the harvester or producer steps. Downstream looks forward towards distribution and consumption. External traceability makes use of a set of tools that aids in traceability such as identifiers, carriers (Bar code and RFIDs) and readers. As seafood supply chains become longer and convulated, there is raising demand for external traceability data by both regulators and consumers. Both internal and external traceability system had been used in European Union (EU) and Malaysia. They are used to achieve different purposes or objectives such as for food safety regulatory requirements or to ensure quality and other contractual requirements. Besides a well-developed technological infrastructure, the speed of trace-back and trace-forward (traceability) is influenced by well-functioning and well-organized competent authorities (CAs). Legistlation and the accuracy, efficiency of data exchanges and controls are vital to the functioning of the CAs. The Malaysia food safety system is characterized by its complexity and diversity with different authority entrusted with the task of ensuring food safety at different stages of the food chain such as Ministry Of Health (MOH), Department Of Fisheries (DOF) and Fishery Development Authority Of Malaysia (LKIM). C:[emailprotected] traceability systemexternal and internal.jpg Figure 1: External versus internal traceability. (Source: Petersen and Green, 2007) 3.0 Fishing Scenario in Malaysia: What Causes Malaysia to Change? The introduction of import conditions for seafood and other fishery products by European Union (EU) in year 2002 had been a wakeup call for the Malaysian authorities. In year 2005, the Directorate General of health and Consumers (D.G. Sanco) visited Malaysia after the harmonization of the EU members import condition. Among the main problems identified were (Shahridan and Nagalingam, 2011): No specific legislation was in place to ensure that fishing vessels and landings sites are in line with EU standards, No generic approval of a farm for export, those who wish to export must register with the Animal Health Quarantine Centre of the Department of Fisheries, Laboratories involved in testing were not adequately equipped and staff were not knowledgeable enough, The HACCP programme was not a prerequisite for an establishment to be proposed for the EU export list, and There was a need to implement minimum hygiene standards in processing plants, fishing vessels and landing sites. After the findings, recommendations were made to improve the situation by the next visit in 2008. In year 2008, D.G Sanco found that most of issues from the previous visit have not been addressed and concluded that all official controls put in place by the Malaysian competent authority were not equivalent to the EU requirements for import of live fish and finished products. Therefore, EU contemplated to impose a ban, which would then be gazette into a law which would be harder to reverse. This lead the Malaysian competent authority to immediately impose an unilateral export ban to the EU (Shahridan and Nagalingam, 2011). The impact of unilateral EU export ban caused huge lost to the seafood and fishery products industries and the government. Forty-five processing establishments and one freezer vessel lost their licenses or EU numbers to export to the EU immediately. Processing plants that had their shipment ready for EU and also in process had to appeal for a gestation period to fulfill those orders. The ready stock for the upcoming EU festive seasons had to be reprocessed and repacked for other countries. Half of the processing plants in the country shut down and many lost their jobs overnight (Shahridan and Nagalingam, 2011). Several improvements were implemented to meet the EU requirements. New regulations were enacted (Table 1) and the official controls put in place by the Malaysian competent authorities were reorganized (Figure 2). Details regarding traceability were discussed in detailed in the next subtopic. Table 1: New regulations enacted to improve the food safety regulations. Regulation Content Food Hygiene Regulation 2009 Health certificates need to be issued for all relevant parties involved in finished product heading for the EU. Fisheries Regulations 2009 Fishing vessels and aquaculture farms have to get quality control certification for seafood that would be processed into finished product for the EU. Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia Regulations 2010 Hygiene and recognition of fish landing sites approved for raw material heading to the EU. MOH DOF LKIM Central competent authority Directly responsible for public health in this matter. Controls of potable water supply Competent authority directly responsible for animal health matters in this area. Competent authority for issuing the license that allows a company to carry out the activity of import/export of live fish or final product (fishing vessels). MOH DOF LKIM Middlemen/ Transporters Processing plants Sources of imported raw material Water and ice sources Aquaculture farms Fishing vessels Landing sites MOH: Ministry of Health DOF: Department Of Fisheries LKIM: Fishery Development Authority Of Malaysia Figure 2: Reorganization and detailed description of competent authorities framework. (Source: Shahridan and Nagalingam, 2011) Improvements 4.0 Chain Traceability The ability to connect incoming and outgoing goods or one-step backward and one-step forward is a prerequisite for chain traceability to show the relationship between business partners. This requires that the business partners are known to each other and able to cooperate to successfully create traceability graph. This graph is a representation of elements and relationships consisting of knowledge about a traceable unit represented as a directed graph of trace events and relationships to resources, actors and other traceable units (Tracefish, 2009). Before establishing chain traceability, one must decide on what system, method and tracing tool to be used to identify, mark and label his products. It is also necessary to be able to define business partners that are involved in the traceability. The partners should be divided into the following categories which are: suppliers (producers of raw materials, ingredients, finished products and packaging), customers (retailers) and transporters. Types of traceability system and the food supply chain will be further discussed below. 4.1 Paper-based and electronic systems Identification, marking and labelling Paper based system and electronic system are examples of traceability system used throughout the food supply chain. The purpose of both systems is to provide information, recording and linking of the particular food from farm to fork. Most traceability system adopted by companies utilizes the mixture of paper and electronic systems. The key factor in determining the type of traceability system depends on the size of the company. In both European Union (EU) and Malaysian perspectives, there is no definite and singular system to be employed throughout the food supply chain. In EU General Food Law, Article 18 states that the system must simply guarantee a link supplier-product and a link customer-product which allows providing the essential information to the competent authorities upon their request. The same goes for the Malaysia, whereby Regulation 10 in Food Hygiene Regulation 2009 states that a food traceability system shall be provided to be able to identify one step back and one step forward at any specified stage from production to distribution. Although there are differences in approaching traceability and major structural differences between the chains for different types of fish, products and varies among countries, there is also a degree of commonality in information requirements by the respective law and regulations. These information requirements can be categorized as (Tracefish, 2009): Each food business has to collect and record information and make it available to the competent authorities upon request and to other food business operators for the purpose of product withdrawal or recall. Information on the nature of the food and the operations involved is required for particular purposes and must be available to the appropriate authorities. Commercially desirable information on the nature of the food and the operations can be requested by food business for reasons such as, Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), ethical, environmental, quality assurance records, raw material or product standards and specifications. Paper traceability system is widespread and is the oldest system used throughout the supply chain. Most companies in both EU and Malaysian, who are making small profit and producing limited quantity of products, utilise this system as it is cheap and changes can be easily made. However, its disadvantages are manually intensive, reliant on correct procedural operations, trace-back of information is time consuming and difficult and records are not easily reviewed. A paper traceability system also requires a lot of storage space. Electronic traceability consists of bar code systems and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems. Bar code systems are widely used and are well established in the food industry in both EU and Malaysia. It is inexpensive to implement and use. EAN.UCC system (European Article Number and Uniform Code Council) are the most widely used across EU. The more recent RFID technology uses tags that send identification codes electronically to a receiver when passing through a reading area. RFID identifiers consist of a surface/chip, which can be attached onto or implanted into any surface to provide encoded information of identity. One of the major advantage of RFID is that it is able to scan the whole pallet in seconds while passing through a reader area as many tags can be read simultaneously even when not in-line of sight which is the disadvantage of bar codes. However, RFID is less widely used technology in EU when compared to bar code technology as it is expensive. Thus far, the usage of RFID technology in Malaysia has not been introduced in tracking seafood product. However, RFID technology had been introduced in government-run livestock tracking programme which is funded by the veterinary Department of Malaysias Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based industries to control disease outbreaks among livestock (RFIDNews, 2009). One major advantage of electronic traceability systems is their ability to handle large amounts of information in a precise manner. Records and reports regarding traceability can be retraced in a short amount of time. Figure 2: Example of bar code (left) and RFID tag (right). In EU, all establishments handling food of animal origin must be approved by the national authority. Establishments here included abattoirs/slaughterhouses, cutting plants, processors etc. All foods produced by the approved establishments must carry an EU identification mark, indicating the approval number. Under Regulation EC 1907/90, identification marks are required for all other products of animal origin except for eggs. This legislation came into force in January 1, 2006 to ensure traceability for products of animal origin. The mark must be in oval shape, legible, indelible and clearly visible for inspection. The first part of the approval number is a two-letter national code (UK for United Kingdom), indicating the country in which the food was produced, followed by a site-specific approval number and ending with the abbreviation (EC) for European Commission (Reily, 2009). This kind of regulation however is not implemented in Malaysia. C:[emailprotected] traceability systemEUeuidentificationmark.jpg Figure 3: EU identification mark comprising country code (UK), establishment code (AZ020), European Commission indication (EC). 4.2 Traceability in fish catching In both EU and in Malaysia, information on vessel name, fishing trip number, time of catch, quantity in haul, batch size, landing area and fishing area are required to be recorded. The method of record keeping could be paper or electronic, depending on individual company. The only difference between EU and Malaysia is that the existence of a central database system for foods in EU (TraceFood) for tracking the movement of products. This allows information to be recorded and registered in each link. In Malaysia, information is managed manually; each organization has their own way of keeping and transferring information. In EU nations, fish are sorted on board according to species and iced in boxes. Each box is labeled with information on fish species, catch, date, vessel name or number and a unique box number, readable as ordinary numbers and in the form of a bar code. The information is registered in a computer onboard the vessel and the data are transmitted via a mobile phone to a computer at the next step in the chain, the collector. This enables the collector to receive all information from the vessel before it enters the harbor. At the collector, each specied of fish is sorted according to size, keeping the fish from each catch date separated to enable fish to be traced according to the same vessel with the same catch date. At the collectors stage, information about the collector name, fish size/weight and a new box number registered at the computer adding this new information to the database (Frederiksen and Gram, 2004). This kind of technology is not implemented in Malaysia due to its high im plementation cost and training cost to the fishermen. Nevertheless, ongoing effort is being conducted by the Malaysian authorities to improve the traceability in both fish catching and aquaculture farms. The introduction of import conditions for seafood and other fishery products by EU in year 2002 was a wakeup call to Malaysian authorities. To enforce traceability in fish catching, all fishermen need to get comply regulations in Fisheries Act 1985 :(i) Fishing license (ii) Fishing vessel permit/license (iii) Permanent marking of ID on fishing vessel. In aquaculture farms, Malaysian Aquaculture Farm Certification Scheme (SPLAM) was introduced which incorporated traceability principles. SPLAM is managed by Department Of Fisheries (DOF) which emphasizes in the implementation of HACCP at source. It is a voluntary scheme to encourage Good Aquaculture Practice to ensure the safety, quality, consistency and competitiveness of the products based on criteria, guidelines and standards determined by DOF. Aquaculture entrepreneurs have to fulfil c ertain requirements and criteria set by the DOF Malaysia, make an application, undergo a review audit and final approval before their farm can be awarded the certificate and logo (Department of Fisheries Malaysia, 2011). 4.3 Traceability in fish processing plant The information generated from the stage of fish being catches on vessel until reaches the end consumer are transmitted from one link to the next unit. In fish processing plant, the raw material received to be processed from its own fishing vessels. The information that may obtain from catching and from production stage are shown in the Table 2. The freshness of fish and fishery products are important along the processing as these products are perishable commodity. It needs to be evaluated frequently. There are several evaluation methods could be chosen from, which included microbiological methods, biochemical and chemical methods, physical methods as well as sensory methods. Table 2: Information registered or generated in fish processing stage. Information from catching Information from production Vessel name Fishing trip number Fishing area Fish species Units per catching day Condition of fish Weight of fish Ratio of ice to fish Other parameters Name of product Origin of raw material Plant number Authorisation number (especially for EU perspective) Product number or code Production date or lot number Best before date Product weight Temperature Quality and processing parameters Sensory evaluation results Microbiological results In Europe, since the European Union (EU) Regulation 178/2002 requires mandatory traceability for all food and feed products in EU countries, there is a comprehensive and complete traceability system implemented in the region. In the fish processing plant, several batches of raw materials may be processed into different finished product in one day. Different batches of raw materials came from different vessels, and graded mechanically. The graded raw materials will be distributed into different containers or tanks according to size. Each container labelled with a grade ID. These graded fishes are ready to be processed, which is also known as in-feed batches. The in-feed batch ID carries the information which able to be tracked back from final product. The information are carried between links of batch number, grade ID and in-feed batch ID, or even final products. The processing manufacturers must also able to identify whom they provide their products to. For Malaysia perspective, the traceability in fish processing plant is adopted from ISO 22005, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP). ISO 22005 described a traceability system is influenced by regulations, product characteristics and customer expectations within a feed and food chain. The manufacture company should identify the product or ingredients used, the raw materials suppliers and finished products customers, flows of materials, manufacturing process history and other related information. These information shall be recorded as documentation for traceability data. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is aimed to determine whether there is any food safety hazards that are likely to occur on the fish and fishery product processed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical and physical hazards from the raw material, to processing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. At the same time, the hazard analysis is to identify possible preventive steps that may be applied to control those hazards. The general records that required to make included name and location of the processor or importer, date and time of the activity that record reflects, signature or initials of the person performing the operation and identity of the product and its production code. These records should be done at the time that it is observed. All records as well as all plans and procedures required should be available for official review and copying at reasonable time periods, usually 1 year from the processing date for refrigerated p roducts and 2 years for frozen, preserved or shelf-stable products. Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification scheme aimed to assist manufactures of food products and food related products to provide assurance to consumers that the products are manufactured in a hygienic manner and the best practices in manufacturing accordingly. GMP is one of the pre-requisite programmes (PRP) required to established prior implementation of HACCP. Records are made along the manufacture process show all the steps required by the defined procedures and instructions were taken to achieve the expected quantity and quality. The documentation may divide into quality manual, operating procedures and support documentation. Support documentation will be the significant element for traceability system. It records how the manufacture company carries out and details of their processing process on materials, procedures, operations and finished products. These records may enable the complete manufacture process of a batch to be traced are retained in a comprehensible and ac cessible form. Meanwhile, Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP) emphasize on the sanitation aspect for a fictional seafood company processing a cooked ready-to-eat seafood product. There are several steps in this operating procedure and several records had been made accordingly. Daily Sanitation Control Record is the main document that used in seafood processing monitoring, such as in safety of processing water and ice, condition and cleanliness of food contact surfaces (included utensils, gloves and outer garments), prevention of cross-contamination, protection of food, food-packaging material and food-contact surfaces from adulteration, labelling, storage, employees health and hygiene, toilet facilities as well as pest control. Other documents are included municipal water bill and periodic sanitation record, building plumbing inspection report and periodic sanitation control record. These records will be reviewed and kept on file for two years. 4.4 Traceability during Fish and Seafood Products Transportation and Storage In EU perspective, information needed to be kept during fish transportation and storage includes the name and address of supplier, quantity, batch number and the nature of the supplied fish and seafood products. Other information such as areas and dates of harvesting, location and the date of processing and packaging are also necessary. A more detailed description of the products is recommended such as pre-packed or bulk products, processed or raw fish and seafood products. The conditions of the transportation means should be recorded specifically. This includes the temperature, humidity and the atmosphere of the transport vehicles, length and conditions of handling and also the duration of transportation and storage. The location where the products are stored and the date by which the products should be used are needed to be recorded. Meanwhile, the name and address of the customer (wholesaler or retailer), quantity, batch number and the nature of the fish and seafood products that were delivered to the customer and the date of transaction or delivery should also be recorded. Whereas in Malaysia, basic information such as the name and address of the supplier, quantity and batch number are recorded. Registration and validation of the cold chain maintenance is required. Record keeping of the temperature and time control, GMP records such as the personnel and sanitation is also required. In general, the information recorded in the transportation in Malaysia is similar to the information recorded in EU. 4.5 Traceability in Retailer The record keeping of retailer in EU and Malaysia shares the commonality. The retailer should have the record on the information of the producers name, product name and quantity, pallet number, carriers name, shipment number and also wholesalers name and address. RFID system and bar code can be used upon the arrival of the products and these systems aid in the traceability of the food products. Besides, the temperature and hygiene of storage conditions of the products upon receiving; date and places of arrival should also be recorded. Types of boxes or container used and the weight of the fish and seafood products should also be recorded. In addition, the retailer should have the record on the origin of the products. In general, the commercial documents for these highly perishable products are usually kept for the period of 6 months after the manufactured date or delivery. The legislation of handling and processing of fish and fish products for export to EU are controlled by the Fisheries (Quality Control of Fish for Export to the European Union) Regulations 2009 under Fisheries Act 1985 together Food Export (Issuance of Health Certificate for Export of Fish and Fish Products to the European Union) Regulations 2009 and Food Hygiene Regulations 2009. 4.6 Information available to customers It is important that there is information available about the seafood products sell in the market for consumers. This is to enhance consumer confidence and by confirming the foods that they consume are safe as well as free from any contamination or diseases. Besides, it is also to strengthen the food safety by increase the effectiveness of product recall during the emergency case such as food poisoning. Information on traceability system enables consumers to avoid specific seafood easily due to the allergenicity, food intolerance or even lifestyle choice (ICTSD. 2006). For consumers, traceability system provides a more controllable condition in food chain which meant to deliver a safer and higher quality of food. Thus, traceability system may be an effective system that provides information about the whole process of product, from the production to the distribution among consumers by providing the consumers information of the origin for that particular product and give consumers a gr eater choice in deciding whether to buy or not. Basic information such as species of seafood product, origin of product and suppliers is needed on the package of products as well as Halal certification/ authentication especially in country like Malaysia. With this information, consumers will feel safer in that they will be able to see the detailed information about the origin country and also the farm of the seafood products. Due to the undeveloped and inappropriate management of traceability system, Malaysia is still practicing conventional and manual record keeping. Thus, more detailed information about the product is not available to customers in the market. In developed countries like EU, there are tools to identify the trade and logistics items such as EAN.UCC system. Every item will be given one unique number, and the number will give identity to the products and consists of information concerning the products. Besides, it is capable in providing the locations where the products are assigned and ensure the efficient flow of products. Through the system, information related to the products can be passed from one stage to another until to the end, which is to the consumers. The information available to consumers are such as fish species (Trade/ Latin name), catching area, catching date, production me

The Third Ways Ideology In Britain

The Third Ways Ideology In Britain In this essay I would be discussing how The Third Ways ideologies have affected the development of Social Policy within Britain. I will be concentrating on their success and failure by comparing it policies with other the political ideology of The New Right and The Old Left. I will be focusing on three of the Third Way policies which are Social, Welfare State and Health Policy The Third Way is an ideology strongly supported by Tony Blair and the then America president Bill Clinton. Soon after the presidential election in America, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown travelled to America to meet Bill Clinton. They all realise that the share a lot of things in common especially the philosophy of John Macmurray and this was how The Third Way came into existence. In the 1997 Labour manifesto Tony Blair claimed that new approach needs to be given to all area of each policy which would be different from both The Social Democratic and The New Right. (Labour Party 1997a). The Third Way was meant to be a form of renewal for Social Democracy but the other parties view it as non-ideological theory without much fact to stand on. Tony Blair describes The Third Way as means of updating the welfare state to fit in into the 21st century by given the state and the community a chance to make a different. In my view, I believe that The Third Way is all about empowerment and given opportunities and way out to the poor especially the less privileged groups which includes lone parents families, unemployed, disables and pensioners by supporting them into getting jobs and developing their independent skills. The Third Way focused mainly on ending poverty by making it clear to the society that work is the quickest way out of poverty. From my research I can argue that The Third Way is a bit different from both The New Right and The Old Left, for instance The Old Left put more focus on the delivery of means but putting less emphasis on how it would be delivered and not measuring outcome while The New Right are more into cutting public services which leads to increase in poverty level and making it difficult for people to find a way out. The Third Way can also be described as a means of modernising the approach to politics whilst holding on to its major elementary values. One of the aims of The Third Way is to create awareness to the society on how to overcome poverty by providing access to education for all ages and providing training and apprenticeship. This is an example of Giddens view of The Third Way as I quote investing in human capital wherever possible rather than the direct provision of economic maintenance. In place of welfare state we should put the social investment state, operating in the context of a positive welfare society. (Giddens, 1998 p177). Tony Blair was very famous for this quote a hand up rather than a hand out (Tony Blair) leads me to explain the four main values of The Third Way: The four key values of The Third way The value of a community Unlike Margaret Thatcher who doesnt think that there is a society as I quote There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families. The New Labour was not in support of this and they believe that it was very important to provide a service that reflects the needs of the community. Commitment to equal opportunity Deprivation needs to be addressed and it must not be seen as an excuse for failing to provide opportunities. For example, whether it is the absence of a GPs surgery on a council estate or uncontrolled crime or poor housing or failing schools the theory is that the cycle of deprivation can be broken by the community. Emphasis on responsibility It is very important that an individual takes adequate responsibility for their actions especially the socially excluded group. For example, the government will support those who want to give up smoking but they also need to do their own part by participating in the service provided. Accountability More effort needs to put into measuring outcome as it plays a major role in finding out if a policy is working and how it can be improved. Services needs to be provided in the best way possible and monitored and service provided needs to be held accountable for the success and failure of their service. In the next pages I would be evaluating the policies of The Third Way by comparing them to the other parties policies and focusing on which on what works and what could have been done differently. Policies Housing Policy At the time of Margaret Thatcher under the Conservative government, welfare state went through a lot of transformation especially in the area of housing policy which makes it very important for the other parties coming into power to acknowledge the changes. Going back to the beginning of the 19th century around 1918 to be precise, the war just ended and the main needs that was identified was housing due to soldiers returning home from war into extreme housing conditions. The government then decided to set up programmes of building new properties. By the end of 1919 government used part of the income tax to fund projects managed by the councils and making sure that rents are made affordable and within reason. From the conservatives manifesto of 1979, emphasis was laid into helping families own their homes. They identified that a lot of families would like the idea of owning their own home but they finds it difficult to raise the deposit for a mortgage or prevented from doing so under the local authority and the Labour government. The Conservatives decided that it was the right time to remove all these restrictions by given council tenants the Right to Buy their homes. The right to buy came into effect on 3rd October 1980. Council tenants were allowed to buy their homes. The New Right manifesto made an obligation to introduce Right to Buy this gives secured council tenants of more than 3 years the right to buy their homes at a heavily discounted price. The policy entitled tenants to buy their homes at a minimum discount of 33% of market value of the house and 44% for flats. But there is a clause to the policy that emphasised that if the property is resold within 3 years, some of the discount should/must be repaid to the local authority. This idea became very popular and it was one of the ideas that were identified with the conservatives. At the beginning the Labour party was not in support of the right to buy due to the fact that there will be financial consequences and the effect it would have on the remaining tenants. But by 1985 the sale of property has increased tremendously as shown in the table below: This table shows Public sector new housing completions and Right to Buy sales in Britain (1980-95) Housing completions (000s) Right to Buy sales (000s) 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 86 66 37 35 34 27 23 20 20 18 17 10 5 3 2 2 1 82 200 142 103 94 91 106 164 186 129 75 65 61 67 51 Source: Wilcox (1997) By the time the labour party comes into power in 1997, the right to buy scheme has slow down and they decided to reduce the discount. Labour sees this as a failure because two thirds of the families that bought their property under the Right to Buy within the last ten years have accumulated huge mortgage arrears, negative equity and a huge numbers of homes have been repossessed because families were unable to make payment. During the term of Mrs Thatcher the number of homeless household increased tremendously and it also leads to the economic recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Labour party stated in their 1997 manifesto as I quote .the Conservatives lack of housing strategy has led to the virtual abandonment of social housing, the growth of homelessness... The Labour Party made it their priority to address what causes the housing market to collapse. They decided that the council should use the money they received from the sale of property should be used to build new properties and keeping the old ones up to the level of decent homes. The local authorities would be asked to give priority to families of individuals who are homeless but not by their own fault. In my view The New Right are more in support of quick solution but dont always consider the long time effect the housing policy would have on the welfare state while Labours Third Way focused on outcome and prevention. Labour also lays a lot of emphasis on what was the cause and how best to tackle the situation. In regards to the Right to Buy in my opinion it was used by the Conservatives as a way of controlling people i.e. if you have a mortgage you will think twice before going on strike or walking out of a job due to the responsibility and mortgage commitment while Labour looks at how to help people keep up their repayment and laying out prevention if things goes wrong. I believe that the Right to Buy was a good idea initially but the way it was implemented may be a bit wrong however during the term of Mrs Thatcher the housing market improved a lot. Social Welfare Policy The new Labour focused on issues faced by the poor i.e. lone parent families, disables, unemployed and pensioners. The Conservatives focused on the idea that individuals performs better when market forces are unleashed (Martin Hewitt). The introduction of the New Deal as part of Labours welfare reform programme is seen as a positive outcome than Conservatives achievement on the workfare welfare. Tony Blair implies that there has been no truly comprehensive review of the welfare state in all its elements since the Beveridge (DSS, 1918a, p iii). The New Deal was introduced in January 1998 and it main focus was to provide support for the poor and less privileged people in the society. At the time there was a rise in people claiming incapacity benefit (1.85 millions) and unemployment has also rise especially in young people (80000). When the New Deal was first introduced many politicians opposed to it and some up till now because they believes that people out of work should be neglected. But since the introduction of the New deal more than 1.8 million people have benefited and got into employment and training. Over the last 10 years 300000 lone parents are back in work and this is a great way of reducing child poverty. As of now, the New Deal is going through reformation in other to be able to continue to tackle the problems of employment by helping people to develop their skills. The New Deal runs programmes for young people ages 18-25 claiming jobseekers allowance (JSA) for more than 6 months. The programme will help them develop skills which would increase their chance of getting into work. In July 1998 the New Deal introduces another programme for people aged 25 and above concentrating mainly on people claiming JSA for over 2 years. Each claimant would be given a personal adviser that helps them to identify their strength and weakness. It helps them develop and recognise the skills and experience they may already have and empower them to build on it to create opportunities for jobs. New Deal works in partnership voluntary and private sector to delivering it services and according to research the New Deal programme has been the most successful innovation of the Labour party. Due to the current recession, unemployment figures have risen again. The Conservatives government inherited a welfare state that minimised fraud rather than maximised work (Peck, Workfare 273). There focus was to restrict eligibility and reduce replacement ratio from 43% in 1972 to 16% (Peck, Workfare 284). Health Policy The National Health Service (NHS) was created by the Labour Party more than 60 years ago. When Labour came out of power in May 1979, the NHS was in a good and stable place with good performance outcome on financial structure. The Conservatives were not in support of the idea at the beginning. There was an expectation that it would be dissolved when Margaret Thatcher came into power in 1979 but this failed to happen as stated in her 1979 manifesto I have no intention of dismantling the health service than in dismantling Britains defence (Margaret Thatcher 1979). However the government aims to bring in competence and competition into healthcare market. By allowing hospitals and GPs to compete for funding. They informed health authorities to use private companies where possible i.e. private companies would compete on who could be responsible for the hospital laundry or catering. Others ways hospitals can raise funds under the Conservatives includes renting out space to florist, sweet sh ops, charging foreign patients for their health care and many more. The New Right were all about privatisation and commercialisation while The Third way is in favour of modernising and providing quality service that would be accountable to the community. Labour plans to stop the privatisation of the NHS in their 1992 manifesto but the lost to the Conservatives during the election. In my view it is very difficult to conclude which government policy on the NHS has actually works, the quality of care have improved under both governments especially around the waiting time for patients however issues surrounding increase in funding and performance target plus lack of good performance outcome can be challenged. I believe that both parties lays good legacy for the NHS and whether their policy work or not they all share the same ideas on some levels. The Third Way, The New Right and The Old Left all have policies focusing on the quasi market. Law and Order Policy One of the biggest challenge the Labour party faced law and order. The conservative party were seen as a Party of law and order (Sarah Charman and Stephen P. Savage). On the day that the Conservatives worn the general election in 1979 Margaret Thatcher stated: What the country needs is less tax and more law and order (Savage, 1990). The Tories believes that tougher approach needs to be taken and they made a commitment to increase police numbers and power to put an end to crime by waging war against it. New sentences were introduced to the court targeting young offenders; new prisons were built to deal with the problem of prison shortages. James Callaghan stated that the roots of crime are still social deprivation, broken homes and all the rest (Labour Home Secretary, 1970). The Labour party manifesto elaborate their main concern for future action this includes quick sentence for young continual offenders, clean-up on petty crimes and neighbourhood disorder, reform the Crown Prosecution Service, crime prevention and more police patrolling the streets. The Labour party realised that in other to tackle crime they needs to look into It is hard to establish the success or failure of law and order policy in Britain, Labour appears to be tough on crime and the cause of crime while the Conservatives acknowledged that dramatic short-term improvement is needed. I can only come to one conclusion that Tony Blairs government was more focused on been tougher on crime that both The New Right and The Old Left.

The Actions and Agenda of the Hizbullah :: Politics Political Essays

The Actions and Agenda of the Hizbullah The Hizbullah are an extreme Islamic fundamentalist group. In fact, Hizbullah means 'Party of God." The Hizbullah came into existence in the social uprising of the late 1960's to the early 1970's by a Lebanese shia community. Then, following their charismatic leader Imam Musa Sadr, who mysteriously disappeared in Libya in 1978, the group developed until the Israeli invasion of 1982. This brought about Shiite radicalism, which is the Hizbullah's basis when it was created. Since then, the Hizbullah have been an influential part of Lebanon. The Hizbullah is a group of tactical genius. They have created an image as being of good intentions. They have helped to rebuild many communities in return for the people's backing. The agenda of the Hizbullah, which is known for its attacks on Israeli forces in occupied southern Lebanon, is now unclear. Israel withdrew from the "security zone" of southern Lebanon in May 2000. The only area of Lebanon where Israeli forces remained was Sheba'a farms. Many believed that because of the Hizbullah victory and the Israeli pullout, the Hizbullah would now focus on political and social agendas inside Lebanon. However Hizbullah has chosen to persist in its military strategy against Israel. Hizbullah's actions have the potential to trigger a full-scale, inter-state war. Some militant actions after the withdrawal have been: - the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers from Mount Dov / Sheba'a farms. Hizbullah claimed that this advanced Lebanese interests: 'the liberation of disputed Sheba'a farms and the freeing of Lebanese detainees in Israel' and the Palestinian struggle. -the killing of an IDF solider in the Sheba'a area on November 26. Despite press reports of a possible Israel-Hizbullah swap of prisoners, Hizbullah continues to lay the groundwork for future military actions. For Israel, heavy retaliation against Hizbullah and its ally Syria, especially at a time of Israeli-Palestinian violence, risks opening Israel's northern settlements to Hizbullah fire and maybe even a full-scale military confrontation along the northern border. Aims for Hizbullah today: 1. Survival - leader, Nasrallah has said that Hizbullah is defined by its "Jihadic identity," a philosophy of continual military struggle. When Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, recognized by the UN Secretary General as fulfilling the requirements of UNSC resolution 425, Nasrallah declared this inadequate. Hizbullah states that it will continue to fight to liberate Sheba'a. We will continue to fight to liberate Sheba'a." 2. Balance in Lebanon. Hizbullah wishes to seek a balance between continuing to fight against Israel and also to maintain popular support.

Television and Media - The Power of Advertising :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The Power of Advertising Advertising has an influence on everyone in one way or another, but it especially has had an influence on my children. Catchy jingles, cute slogans, and cartoon characters are all key factors that have hooked my children on certain products. Advertising influences the toys they want, the clothes they wear, and the food they eat. Advertising influences my children's choice of toys. If a television commercial displays children laughing and playing, my children think it must be a great toy, regardless of the type. For example, my three-year-old desperately wants a skateboard for Christmas. Every time he sees a skateboard commercial, he gets excited. He believes that if he had a skateboard, he would instantly have the same fun and skill as the boys on television. He also wants a fingernail kit. He does not know what a fingernail kit is, but he likes the glitter and stickers the commercial shows. The more appealing the commercial is, the more he wants the toy. Another influence advertising has had is on the clothes my children want to wear. Clothes from Wal-Mart and K-Mart are no longer satisfactory. Brand names such as GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, and American Eagle are much more appealing to them. My teenage daughter is constantly looking through catalogs and magazines, examining each outfit down to the last detail. She is continuously wanting to change her wardrobe to keep up with the latest fashion trends and most popular brand names. Of course, clothes endorsed by celebrities are always at the top of her shopping list. Last, advertising influences the food my children want to eat. Cartoon characters are placed on boxes of foods such as crackers and cereal to influence young children. For instance, I was grocery shopping with my young son the other day, and he asked me if I would buy him some yogurt to have for breakfast. I reached for the cheapest brand off the shelf and was about to put it in the cart when he said, "I want the Rugrats' yogurt." I had no idea what he was talking about until he pointed to the shelf behind me. There I saw a six-pack container of yogurt with pictures of Rugrats characters on the label.

Role of Financial Institution in Economy

Role of Banks and Financial Institutions in Economy Money lending in one form or the other has evolved along with the history of the mankind. Even in the ancient times there are references to the moneylenders. Shakespeare also referred to ‘Shylocks’ who made unreasonable demands in case the loans were not repaid in time along with interest. Indian history is also replete with the instances referring to indigenous money lenders, Sahukars and Zamindars involved in the business of money lending by mortgaging the landed property of the borrowers.Towards the beginning of the twentieth century, with the onset of modern industry in the country, the need for government regulated banking system was felt. The British government began to pay attention towards the need for an organised banking sector in the country and Reserve Bank of India was set up to regulate the formal banking sector in the country. But the growth of modern banking remained slow mainly due to lack of surplus ca pital in the Indian economic system at that point of time. Modern banking institutions came up only in big cities and industrial centres.The rural areas, representing vast majority of Indian society, remained dependent on the indigenous money lenders for their credit needs. Independence of the country heralded a new era in the growth of modern banking. Many new commercial banks came up in various parts of the country. As the modern banking network grew, the government began to realise that the banking sector was catering only to the needs of the well-to-do and the capitalists. The interests of the poorer sections as well as those of the common man were being ignored. In 1969, Indian government took a historic decision to nationalise 14 biggest private commercial banks.A few more were nationalised after a couple of years. This resulted in transferring the ownership of these banks to the State and the Reserve Bank of India could then issue directions to these banks to fund the nationa l programmes, the rural sector, the plan priorities and the priority sector at differential rate of interest. This resulted in providing fillip the banking facilities to the rural areas, to the under-privileged and the downtrodden. It also resulted in financial inclusion of all categories of people in almost all the regions of the country.However, after almost two decades of bank nationalisation some new issues became contextual. The service standards of the public sector banks began to decline. Their profitability came down and the efficiency of the staff became suspect. Non-performing assets of these banks began to rise. The wheel of time had turned a full circle by early nineties and the government after the introduction of structural and economic reforms in the financial sector, allowed the setting up of new banks in the private sector. The new generation private banks have now established themselves in the system and have set new standards of service and efficiency.These banks have also given tough but healthy competition to the public sector banks. Modern Day Role Banking system and the Financial Institutions play very significant role in the economy. First and foremost is in the form of catering to the need of credit for all the sections of society. The modern economies in the world have developed primarily by making best use of the credit availability in their systems. An efficient banking system must cater to the needs of high end investors by making available high amounts of capital for big projects in the industrial, infrastructure and service sectors.At the same time, the medium and small ventures must also have credit available to them for new investment and expansion of the existing units. Rural sector in a country like India can grow only if cheaper credit is available to the farmers for their short and medium term needs. Credit availability for infrastructure sector is also extremely important. The success of any financial system can be fathome d by finding out the availability of reliable and adequate credit for infrastructure projects.Fortunately, during the past about one decade there has been increased participation of the private sector in infrastructure projects. The banks and the financial institutions also cater to another important need of the society i. e. mopping up small savings at reasonable rates with several options. The common man has the option to park his savings under a few alternatives, including the small savings schemes introduced by the government from time to time and in bank deposits in the form of savings accounts, recurring deposits and time deposits. Another option is to invest in the stocks or mutual funds.In addition to the above traditional role, the banks and the financial institutions also perform certain new-age functions which could not be thought of a couple of decades ago. The facility of internet banking enables a consumer to access and operate his bank account without actually visitin g the bank premises. The facility of ATMs and the credit/debit cards has revolutionised the choices available with the customers. The banks also serve as alternative gateways for making payments on account of income tax and online payment of various bills like the telephone, electricity and tax.The bank customers can also invest their funds in various stocks or mutual funds straight from their bank accounts. In the modern day economy, where people have no time to make these payments by standing in queue, the service provided by the banks is commendable. While the commercial banks cater to the banking needs of the people in the cities and towns, there is another category of banks that looks after the credit and banking needs of the people living in the rural areas, particularly the farmers. Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have been sponsored by many commercial banks in several States.These banks, along with the cooperative banks, take care of the farmer-specific needs of credit and other banking facilities. Future Till a few years ago, the government largely patro-nized the small savings schemes in which not only the interest rates were higher, but the income tax rebates and incentives were also in plenty. The bank deposits, on the other hand, did not entail such benefits. As a result, the small savings were the first choice of the investors. But for the last few years the trend has been reversed. The small savings, the bank deposits and the mutual funds have een brought at par for the purpose of incentives under the income tax. Moreover, the interest rates in the small savings schemes are no longer higher than those offered by the banks. Banks today are free to determine their interest rates within the given limits prescribed by the RBI. It is now easier for the banks to open new branches. But the banking sector reforms are still not complete. A lot more is required to be done to revamp the public sector banks. Mergers and amalgamation is the next measure on the a genda of the government.The government is also preparing to disinvest some of its equity from the PSU banks. The option of allowing foreign direct investment beyond 50 per cent in the Indian banking sector has also been under consideration. Banks and financial intuitions have played major role in the economic development of the country and most of the credit- related schemes of the government to uplift the poorer and the under-privileged sections have been implemented through the banking sector. The role of the banks has been important, but it is going to be even more important in the future.

“White Man’s Burden” and “Shooting an Elephant”

In the poem â€Å"White Man’s Burden† and essay â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† is talk about the two white men has a different point of views about imperialism and how the white treat the natives. â€Å"White Man’s Burden† by Rudyard Kipling is talk about how does white man sacrifice for the native during the imperialism. â€Å"Shooting an elephant† by George Orwell is talk about how does the white treat the natives by reflect the way shooting an elephant. â€Å"White Man’s Burden† by Rudyard Kipling, the first identity of the white man is sacrifice for the natives, he was one believed in the virtues of imperialism in that period. As the text proof â€Å"send forth the best ye breed-go bind your sons to exile, to serve your captives need; to wait in heavy harness†. The white man try to make difference to the natives, educated them was white man’s job and the cast it as their goal. The second identity of the white man is racial and cultural stereotype, as the text proof â€Å"Ye dare not stoop to less-nor call too loud on freedom to cloak your weariness, by all ye cry or whisper, by all ye leave or do. The white man have to be open mind about different culture and to think about the way of white man teaching the native, be open mind to accept the natives culture as well too. â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† by George Orwell, Through the essay Orwell reflects the social condition at Burma as a result of British Imperialism and his own view on imperialism. The first identity of the white police officer was sub-divisional police officer of the town, an in an aimless. Second identity of the white p olice officer as he expresses is great sympathy for the oppressed Burmese. White police officer reflects the way he Killed the elephant, emotionally. As the text proof â€Å"as soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him. I did not in the least want to shoot him, I decide I could watch him a little bit make sure he did not turn savage again, and then go home. With the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching. Suddenly I realized that I should have shot the elephant after all†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  and finally he shot the elephant. In the essay the police officer feels truly stuck between his loyalty to Britain and his sincere distaste of imperialism. The police officer was kind open mind about the time of imperialism. Ironically â€Å"he shoot the elephant† in order to maintain the integrity o the system of imperialism, In Orwell opinion imperialism take away peoples think, doing whatever to the expectation of other. â€Å"The White man’s burden† compare to the â€Å"Shooting an elephant† they are both white, and the winner of the imperialism. But they have different view and thought about the imperialism. In the poem â€Å"The white man’s burden† the white man to bring civilization to the natives, by educate them and take responsible to the native, and white man sacrifice a lot to the natives . In the essay â€Å"shooting an elephant† the white police officer think that the imperialism was an evil thing to the natives, his sympathy for the oppressed native, but in other hand he can’t do anything about it. In conclusion the poem and essay was written during the Imperialism period, causing many mix feelings between what is good and what is bad? But I feel so bad about the natives, why should white people have to care about native? Because if you want to control over a country you need to know their culture and respect their culture this is call winner. Why is important? Because we are human and we have to try everyone equally the way they should be treat. In shooting an elephant, the white police know that imperialism is evil thing to the native, at the time he couldn’t do anything about. But today is different and we all equal respect each other, and live in freedom country.