In the three stories from other cultures (Country Lovers, Veronica and A Stench of Kerosene) Essay

In the three stories from other cultures (Country Lovers, Veronica and A Stench of Kerosene) discuss how the relationships in each one are affected by cultural forces In ‘Country Lovers’, the Apartheid in South Africa stopped ‘blacks’ and ‘whites’ intermingling. The Apartheid meant that police could decide to invade people’s homes if there was a suspicion of ‘blacks’ and ‘whites’ having a sexual relationship together. South Africa was a worse place due to the Apartheid and even now the division still has an affect on people’s lives. The main Act that governed the Apartheid was the Immorality act. This ultimately banned mixed marriages and later went on to be amended to ban sexual relationships. If mixed marriages were heard of the couple would be arrested and sent to prison, although even the sentencing was biased as ‘blacks’ got harsher sentences than ‘whites’. At the start of the story Paulus displayed true love towards Thebedi by bringing home a painted wooden box he had made for her in wood-work classes. He had been sent away to do these classes at a boarding school. The boarding schools were another reason why ‘blacks’ were not as educated as ‘whites’ because it was just simply not given to them in the same way it was given to the ‘whites’. Thebedi also returned the love by giving Paulus a sort-after bracelet which she had made. This bracelet made his ‘white’ friends jealous, so this shows that just because Thebedi is ‘black’ doesn’t mean she cannot bring happiness to anyone. This shows the affect it had on both races to the extent where if they had known the bracelet was made by a ‘black’ person, they wouldn’t have been jealous. When Paulus goes off to Veterinary College, it gave Njabulo a chance to show his love for Thebedi. He had had a crush on her for a long time but never revealed his feelings until Paulus went away. The relationship between Thebedi and Njabulo would not have been so frowned upon at all as they were both the same colour. The most controversial issue within the story is when Thebedi and Njabulo supposedly have a baby, but when the baby is born it is mixed-race. Njabulo accepts the baby by going out and buying things for it, ‘he bought from the Indian store a cellophane-widowed pack†. This is probably because he loved Thebedi too much to get rid of her because of a mixed-race child. This shows the different views within the cultures. But when Paulus finds out that the baby is most probably his, he demands that Thebedi gets rid of it, ‘You must give it to someone’. This shows that he is scared of the authorities, because if they find out he would be facing prison or worse. So when the baby is found dead, and the forensic evidence relates to poison, Paulus is the main suspect. But when Paulus gets to court it says that when Thebedi was giving evidence she was still wearing the ear-rings Paulus had given her when they had first met, ‘she wore gilt-hoop ear-rings’. This proved that she still had feelings for Paulus. In Veronica, it is not a case of racial differences; it is the fact that society dictates the way you live by your gender. Fatalism plays a big part in this story. Okeke shows that he accepted what he had been given more so than Veronica. This is shown by the fact that Okeke moves away top the city to try and make a life of his own. Whereas Veronica was not persuaded by Okeke’s efforts to try and get her to come with him. Instead she stayed in the village to try and scrape a life off of very little money. Okeke proved to be moralistic, ‘all the women I meet are only interested in money and cars’. Veronica herself had to mature a lot quicker than any other adolescent as her father was a bitter drunk and her mother was weak and poorly. When Okeke went away to his life in the city, I think both of them were feeling as if their lives were going to be dramatically changed but were too afraid to admit it. Okeke returned to the village as a prosperous doctor with many paths he could choose to take his life down. He came back to discover that Veronica was still living the same life but with a child and husband. Her brothers and sisters that she worked so hard to keep alive had left her and dispersed into different parts of the country and forgotten about her. The war breaks out and Okeke returns again to find Veronica lying there close to death. She says she wants to dies because she has lost everything, ‘I don’t want to live, you hear?’. So Veronica slips away and Okeke shows how much he felt for her by burying her down by the river, where they spent so much time together in their youth. A Stench of Kerosene is set in Jammu and Kashmir, Northern India. It is based in mid 20th Century. The cultural force that plays its part in this story is the Hindu Marriage Act (1955). This governs all Hindu marriages. This Act also applies to Buddhists and Sikhs. It said that the bride should be 18 and the groom 21. Neither should already have a spouse and both should be capable of giving consent. It was also believed that both spouses should be fit for both marriage and consummation. This rule however did not apply to the counties of Kashmir and Jammu. Manak truly loved his wife called Guleri. There was a carnival in a town called Chamba. Guleri looked forward to it every year and was set on going the same as usual. But there was just one problem, Manak knew that if Guleri left for any length of time, his mother would set up a marriage with someone else he might not even like. He was so seperate for her to stay he even begged her, ‘I ask again, don’t go away this time’. The reason his mother wanted Manak to get a different was because Guleri had never conceived a child and therefore could not continue with the family name. His mother paid 500 rupees just to get Manak another wife. This worked because after a short time of being with the second wife conceived a child. When Guleri heard the news of Manak’s second wife she soaked her clothes in kerosene and set them alight. The fact you don’t ever find out what the second wife’s name is, tells us that she was irrelevant to Manak and that he considered her to just be there as his wife. The main reason he just put up with her is because he respected his mother and thought that it would be wrong to speak up about how he actually felt. Also this shows that Manak’s mother cannot be blamed entirely because she was just acting how her culture dictates. Overall in these didactic stories, it shows the effects that different cultural forces had on people’s relationships and that people had to go to extreme lengths to avoid the terror of being caught doing something they know is wrong but cannot help.

Umass Dartmouth Reflection

I am currently on year six at Umass Dartmouth, and thus far it has been quite the journey. I have been a commuter for all six years and my experience hasn't been too enjoyable. If I could restart my college experience I am not sure if I would not even put this school as a possibility. I have experienced some positive experiences at this school, but the negative aspects definitely outweigh the positive. However, this current semester has really changed my view on the University. Umass Dartmouth's campus is definitely unique.One thing that has always bothered me about Umass Dartmouth is the look of the buildings. The outside and inside of the buildings definitely help to impact the negative feeling I get about the campus. The campus is so gray looking that it makes me feel somewhat â€Å"gray'. The classrooms are very uncomfortable regarding seating, temperature, and desk space. One positive aspect of the campus is the layout. Personally as a commuter student I really like the â€Å" ring road† effect. I feel it makes the campus really navigable.A big negative when I think about Umass Dartmouth is how I feel as though a large majority of the staff does not care about the students. I have had many experiences ith different departments of the school being very rude to me in different situations. I feel as though the advisors at least should be interested in your wellbeing at this school, but even with most advisors I have had awful experiences. I have switched majors a few times so I have experienced many different advisors.Not every employee of the university has given me a negative experience. I have had a few professors who I felt were very dedicated to making sure I was learning and understanding the material. This is an aspect that I feel is very important, so I am rateful to have had the experience to be taught by some very educated, caring professors. The core business classes that I started taking as an operations management manger were a very good b ase to my major. The classes really helped to give me a broad understanding of different business areas.The class sizes for these classes were medium sized which I thought was perfect for these types of classes. Most of the professors I had for these classes I felt taught me the material very well. However, I did come across one or two professors that I feel really did not benefit me at all. I really find it unfortunate there are professors in this university who do not teach the material well at all. At the end of a semester looking back at a class and feeling like I can take close to nothing from it really frustrates me.I feel as though the university should really be monitoring the classes and spectating them. So far the operations management major required classes have been very good. The sizes of the classes are perfect. I have found all my classes very interesting, and felt the material is being taught very efficiently. I have learned more this semester than any other semester at Umass Dartmouth. One thing that I really have enjoyed this semester is the amount of class interaction. I have experienced a lot of class discussions and have done a lot of presentations.I absolutely hated presentations at much more confident in giving presentations and participating in class discussions. Another part of this semester I have enjoyed regarding my major required classes was a recent trip I took toa manufacturing plant that one of my professors setup. I felt this was extremely beneficial. Being able to actually go toa real life plant and see concepts being used in real life really opened my eyes, and made me really excited to raduate and start my career to apply concepts I have learned.My experience at Umass Dartmouth started out negative, but as I continued through it seemed to start to improve. This current semester has really impacted me positively. I feel as though these operations management courses are really starting to prepare me very well for my career. I really feel as though Umass Dartmouth's campus is a very big negative for myself as well as for other students. If they Just added a little more color to every building it would really help to improve the atmosphere!

Environmental analysis Essay

Rivalry Competition in the US video rental industry is fierce. There are actually several different segments of players within the industry, like rentals who establish physical store locations and rentals who serve mail-orders, but these different segments are competing to gain the same market share. Blockbuster reveled that the business actually has a small profit margin, due to the high cost of building and equipment maintenance. Furthermore, the movie rental industry has a stagnant market condition, or in simple words, the market does not reveal any meaningful growth within the years. This means the only way to grow is by taking away a piece of competitors’ market share. Thus, competition is s serious issue for Blockbuster because in one hand, the company cannot afford to loose more market share due to its minimum profit margin, and in the other hand, Blockbuster would also need to experience some kind of revenue growth. Ironically, competitors of Blockbuster also possess the same obsession. As a result, price war is the only way to determine which player would lead the market. Unfortunately, most of the players in the industry has already sustain heavy operational and maintenance that they cannot afford to reduce rental prices. In addition, most of these players have also minimum promotion budget because of the small profit margin. Today, competition industry enters a stage where all the players are stagnant in most of its departments (Brem, 2002). Not all movie rental industry can survive in a long term, especially if the industry is online. With the recent tightening in the market, some executive and investor are challenging Blockbuster.com to show some results: higher revenues, more customers, perhaps even a profit. This is should become tough news for Blockbuster. com who have spent most of their money on expensive advertisements, PR campaigns, or websites that look attractive. The full integration of Blockbuster. com online and in-store programs planned for next year will enable them to provide their customers, young and old, with unmatched convenience, service, selection and value. If a customer is in their store and wants to return a movie they rented online, Blockbuster.com will be able to accommodate them. If a member rents primarily in-store, but wants a hard-to-find title Blockbuster. com does not typically carry in store, they will be able to go online and get it. It is a matter of maximizing convenience and choice (â€Å"About Blockbuster. com†, 2006). Blockbuster has not been watching these developments lazily. It has launched its own online rental service in response to the competition, despite the set-up costs and the fact that it could take revenue away from its retail operation. It has also introduced a number of initiatives, such as a part-exchange deal on VHS tapes, and is currently exploring offering an in-store download service. †¢ Buyer Power Due to the stagnant market and the need for huge economies of scale to reach profit, buyers of the video rental industry has quite an influential power. In a nutshell, by choosing to go to which rentals, buyers will determine which one will reach profit within the financial period and which one will fall below targets. The increasing use of Internet becomes the power of buyers that soon force Blockbuster to provide online services. To change itself from a zone of movie rental store into an â€Å"anywhere-anytime† entertainment destination that eventually will enable customers to rent, buy or trade movies and games, new or used, in-store and online, Blockbuster initiatives to continues their accomplishment as the online rental service company (â€Å"Blockbuster goes broadband, streams movies to TV†, 2001). Blockbuster. com becomes the business through information technology (I. T. ) marketing. Because of the online marketing Blockbuster can live and breathe. They can get more competitive, lower their costs, and provide better service through continuous improvement of the I. T. marketing (â€Å"BBI: Profile for BLOCKBUSTER INC. †, 2006). However, as online retail, marketing efforts of Blockbuster. com could be even more effective if they asked the consumer for a dash of personal information. So far, businesses were hoping that personalization technology would serve as the equivalent of a best friend who just happened to have all the same tastes in products and services. More consumers are choosing to rent online, which has no late fees and have the movies mailed to them. It makes Blockbuster. com has increased their membership (â€Å"Blockbuster goes broadband, streams movies to TV†, 2001). The only way for movie-rental stores to continue operations is to rise to the challenge and shift their business model to stay practical. To develop a substantial share of the online rental business by the end of next year, Blockbuster. com is providing rental plan and their practical understanding marketing. It should help Blockbuster. com to be more successful in the next period. Movie distributors and the large chains, such as Blockbuster, Inc.directly negotiate revenue-sharing agreements covering most titles distributed by the upstream (â€Å"BBI: Profile for BLOCKBUSTER INC. †, 2006). Personalization and community features are very important. Blockbuster. com should allow film fans to rate films and write reviews to help inform other users. In addition, Blockbuster. com need to have a management team with bags of expertise, which they believe differentiates us from the competition. †¢ Supplier Power Suppliers of the industry generally have little power over the Blockbuster. The prices of inputs are nearly identical for most suppliers and there is no price discrimination because of the widely available substitutes. †¢ Threats of Substitutes The video rental industry is actually facing quite significant threats from various substitutes. Examples of substitutes are: pay-per-view, video-on-demand, streaming on-line videos, etc. All of these alternatives are delivering the same product in a quite similar quality, which means that they contribute notably to the tension within the video rental industry (‘Videotape Rental’, 2004). Barriers of EntryAnalysis of the industry indicated that Blockbuster is actually enjoying significant level of entry barriers. First, as mentioned earlier, the industry generally has a small profit margin, which means that a huge economic of scale is required to create a profitable business. This is caused by the high operational and maintenance costs, profit sharing agreement with studios, etc. Second, Blockbuster enjoyed a positive image due to its long-time presence and its popularity within the US market. Both of these factors ensured the triumph of Blockbuster against any newcomer. Most of these conditions however, are now becoming obsolete. This is true partly due to the presence of internet. As internet shopping becomes more popular, mail-order rentals like Netflix gain notable attention from the market. In addition, Blockbuster made the mistake of not providing enough copies of popular and recent movies, which ultimately get customers to think of going to alternative rentals. Another factor that reduces the entry barrier is the popularity of DCDs over the old VHS which no longer require negotiating revenue gain agreements with studios (Brem, 2002; Wagner, 2003).

Statistics and Legalization of Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Statistics and Legalization of Abortion - Essay Example In very simple words, abortion is the final consequence of a woman's decision of terminating her pregnancy. However, the reasons responsible for this decision vary immensely with individuals and the circumstances they are up against. In medical terms there are two types of abortion; one is miscarriage, also called spontaneous abortion which mostly occurs in early pregnancy say due to environmental factors, the age and the health of the pregnant women. This risk of miscarriage is high among women over the age of 35 or among those who have a history of several spontaneous or induce abortion. The second type of abortion is induced abortion, and has become synonymous to the word abortion today. This form of abortion can be due to many reasons and is therefore surrounded by an intense social and moral debate. The practice of induced abortion can be traced back in to history where certain sharp tools were used for this procedure, also with the help of certain herbs and by applying abdominal pressure. However, in ancient Greece women wishing to terminate their pregnancy were advised to engage in exercise, carrying heavy objects and riding animals instead of using sharp tools for the procedure. One of the reasons for abortion is preference for a particular sex for the child and is more common in Asian countries which have a culture preference of son. Due to medical advances, it is very convenient today to determine the sex of the child before birth through ultrasound, which has led to the occurrence of sex selected abortion in many cases. For example in India and Pakistan a son is seen as a bread earner in the family and high dowry expenses are tied with the existence of a daughter, there the rate of sex targeted abortion is very high as most families already facing financial difficulties prefer sons than daughters. In India alone "researchers have asserted that between 1985 and 2005 as many as 10 million female fetuses may have been selectively aborted" (Reaney, Patricia. 2006). Another reason for sex selective abortion evident in china is due to its historic preference of sons and its one child policy, which has been implemented due to population concerns in this country. This lead to an increase in sex selective abortions and an imbalance in the ratio of male versus female population became evident, in response to which China put a ban on this type of abortion in 2002. Due to the ban on abortion in many countries, as will be discussed in detail later, and also due to lack of access to safe abortion especially in the rural areas women have turned to unsafe methods of terminating their pregnancies. "black alley abortions" is a term uses for such types of abortions which lack hygiene and proper medical skills to perform such a procedure and can even result in death of the woman. According to the estimates of The World Health Organization (WHO) as much as 19 million unsafe abortions are carried out around the world each year. And 68,000 among these result in the death of the women. "A 2007 study published in The Lancet found that, although the global rate of abortion declined from 45.6 million in 1995 to 41.6 million in 2003, unsafe procedures still accounted for 48% of all abortions performed in 2003." (Sedgh et al. 2007) Legalization of Abortion There is no universal law which applies the legalization or ban of abortion. Currently the laws relating to this sensitive issue vary from country to country depending on the religious, moral and

'Information systems have revolutionised the way we work'. Critically Essay - 2

'Information systems have revolutionised the way we work'. Critically discuss this statement using two concepts from the mod - Essay Example The internet is considered as one of the major infrastructures to drive the new era of information. The innovations of technology have resulted in the widespread application of information systems in organizations, politics as well as in the public sector with the introduction of electronic and digital government models. Discussion E-Government Electronic government is the digital communication process between the public sector and the government bodies through the use of Information systems including internet facilitated operations and communication technologies. The E–Government strategies can be defined as the implementation of the Information Technology and Communication Technology to deliver government services and information smoothly to the public. The digital governance is directed at maintaining the delivery system of government services and improving the internal government processes (Alston, 2003, p.4). The E-Government models can be classified as the following: Gov ernment to citizens (G2C), Government to Governments (G2B), Government to Businesses (G2B) and Government to Employees (G2E) and Citizens to Governments (C2G). Electronic government has made public administration process flawless and has also influenced the governments to re-evaluate their business processes and responsibilities across all the levels of the government (Deloitte Touche Consulting, 2012, pp.7-10). Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enormous administrative potential for helping the government in delivering information and services Information and Communication Technologies can be effectively used to enhance interconnectivity, efficiency, transparency, decentralization and service delivery of the authority. Electronic government has become an important part of public administration in many countries in order to perform these functions more effectively. Four conceptual frameworks can be applied to the E-Government theory (Garson, 2006, p. 45-50). The first framework considers the potential of Information technology Systems in the decentralization of the government processes. The second concept aims towards the limitations of contradictions in the strategy. The third framework is the socio technical framework which evaluates the continuous communication in the government and public environment with the effective use of technology. The last framework is used to supplement the strategy of electronic government with global integration theories. The electronic government has four important dimensions to support the government processes, engage the public and improve the level of government services (Rabaiah, 2010, pp. 51-69). The key dimensions are: Electronic services to ensure delivery of programs, services and information to the citizens in electronic form, electronic management to use information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance the managerial capacity of the body and streamline the government processes, electronic d emocracy to promote public participation in the decision making processes and electronic commerce to facilitate electronic exchange of goods and services for money. This includes payment of taxes, utility bills, paying for entertainment programs, renewal of vehicle registrations etc. (Mistry, 2012, pp.145-176). According to researches, there can be major

The dreams of Immigration and the harsh realities of Immigration Essay

The dreams of Immigration and the harsh realities of Immigration Itself - Essay Example The story explores immigration and its impact on people’s lives. Early man migrated from continent to continent in search of food, Balboa and Florinda migrated to the Northernish Empire for work. Crosthwaite uses many techniques to illustrate the parallel struggles of 14th century Latin America in comparison to 21st century Latin and North America, which is where the focus will remain. These struggles are comparative to all different cultures, through the adversities of immigration. The struggles for most immigrants merely begin with the concept of being accepted and understood. Moving from one country to another is a very scary and exciting thing. Even in the current culture that we live in, we are judgmental of others merely based on the color of their skin, as Florinda experienced when Balboa took her to the hospital in their first meeting (Crosthwaite, p 12). This is further disheartening considering that Balboa lost his job because of his meeting and helping Florinda. Thi s is only the beginning of the fears and anxieties that immigrants feel. Leaving behind everything they have known, friends, family, life itself for a dream instills an extraordinary fear. Although they know in their hearts and souls that what they are doing is for the best, it is still difficult to take this action because of the overwhelming fears involved. The fears that immigrants have when it comes to migrating to another country are only exacerbated by the people that they encounter both on the journey and upon arrival. How quickly the people forget that they, too, descended from immigrants looking for a better life in the Northernish Empire. It is not often that people migrate from one country to another for the sole purpose of the journey and the excitement of it. Often, the migration of people from one country to another develops over time. It generally begins when a country needs additional labor forces. Then, the laborer comes to, as an example, the U.S. through a guest w orker program. This allows the migrant worker to come and go freely across the border to work. Although work is a primary reason for many people to migrate, it depends on each individuals â€Å"characteristics and vary from person to person and place to place† (Rodriquez-Scott, 2002). Although the key reason for most people to migrate to another country is work, there are those that migrate for love, the dream of a better life, a better world, education and alienation. In â€Å"The Moon Will Forever Be a Distant Love†, Florinda and Balboa come together out of love and move out of necessity. They head to the Northernish Empire so Balboa can find work. This is a true parallel to the current influx of migrant workers from Mexico, but also other countries around the globe. The two flee together in love, but soon discover that their differences are stark. It begins with Florinda questioning Balboa’s religious beliefs, where they disagree and Florinda keeps at Balboa demanding a different answer than the one she keeps getting (Crosthwaite, p 50), and continues to the eventual end of the relationship. This parallel is a similar issue with immigrants to the U.S. as well. Although the U.S. is considered a melting pot, it still realizes promotion of illegal immigration and racism on a daily basis. In 2001, Tyson Foods Inc. recruited illegals from Mexico to work in their U.S. plants. They were paid a pittance

Effects Of Increased Wait-Time On The Quantity Of Attempted Responses Essay

Effects Of Increased Wait-Time On The Quantity Of Attempted Responses And Correct Responses From Elementary ELL Students To Questions In A Classroom - Essay Example It gives the educator, as a scholarly practitioner, the opportunity to examine relevant issues in his or her own classroom or school which may complicate, compromise, or complement the learning process—and to find meaningful, practical, research-based answers. In Action Research, teachers are empowered to design a research-based plan, identify learning issues or problems, review relevant literature that examines identified problems, implement specific, research-based strategies, and discover convincing evidence that supports or contravenes their teaching strategies. The most exciting part of Action Research is the teacher can often observe student improvement during the project and can demonstrate, in a quantitative manner, the improvement of student learning. Sagor notes, â€Å"Seeing students grow is probably the greatest joy educators can experience† (2002, p. 5).... I chose this research topic because I became quite interested in the positive effects of â€Å"wait time† when the concept was first introduced early in this program. Through self-examination of my own teaching behavior and practices, I came to realize that I was not allowing sufficient time for all students to answer questions. I began to wait longer for answers and I noticed a definite improvement in the number and in the quality of answers provided by my students. I extended my "wait -time" in all areas of my classroom, talking circle, small group projects, full class lectures. I notice improvements in the number of answers, participation, and the engagement levels of my students. "Wait time" is one of several tools and techniques learned in this course that I am in the process of implementing in my effort to create a more inclusive and equitable classroom-learning situation. I endeavor to continuously develop as a teacher and I am committed to improving in a manner that in sures each student in my classroom learns and develops to their full potential. I have concluded that implementing "wait time" into my teaching behavior is an important aspect of this development. RESEARCH QUESTION: What are the effects of increased wait-time on the number of attempted responses and the number of correct responses from elementary ESL/ELL students? DEMOGRAPHICS DEMOGRAPHIC DATA: Where / What is the research site? Who is directly involved? How will statistics be acquired to give a clear understanding of the context and culture of the research site? (Do not use name as an identifier.) Provide references for sources used. The research site is ‘Iowa after-school program’ learning center where

Cancer (carcinoma or sarcoma) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cancer (carcinoma or sarcoma) - Essay Example In some cases the myeloma cells collect in one bone and form a single tumor known as plasmacytoma. In other cases, myeloma cells collect in many bones resulting in the formation of bone tumors. This condition is known as multiple myeloma. (â€Å"Stanford Cancer Center†) There are some cases, though, when myeloma develops from a harmless condition called monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance or MGUS. This condition is indicated by the presence of monoclonal proteins produced by abnormal plasma cells in the blood. (â€Å"Mayo Clinic†) Generally, the balance between proliferation and programmed cell death is maintained by firmly regulating these processes to ensure that organs and tissues are well functioning. However, mutations in DNA that cause cancer disturb these systematized processes by affecting the programming and regulating processes. The normal balance between proliferation and cell death is apparently disrupted. (â€Å"Carcinogenesis†) Particularly for myeloma, the group of abnormal plasma cells multiplies, thus, raising the percentage of plasma cells to more than 10%. Under normal conditions, plasma cells usually make up less than 5% of the bone marrow. (â€Å"Mayo Clinic†) Although the exact cause of myeloma is not known, doctors believe that this sickness begins with a single abnormal cell in the bone marrow. This aberrant cell would then multiply. It should be noted that abnormal cells do not mature and die in the same way as normal cells do. With this, they accumulate and eventually overwhelm the production of healthy cells. (â€Å"Mayo Clinic†) Myeloma cells can also populate the other bone marrow sites in the body since they can travel in low numbers in the blood. If the growth and spread of plasma cells remain uncontrolled, bones and surrounding tissues can be damaged. (â€Å"Mayo Clinic†) Moreover, research proved that there is common abnormality in the DNA of abnormal plasma

Answering Questions 1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answering Questions 1 - Research Paper Example Not only are they fundamental to him, but through his shared thoughts, the world is made aware of the effects of imperialism; the misfortune that inferior human races are made to go through against their own will, the slow death that faces innocent civilians who are made to bow to their colonial masters all in the name of political imprisonment and consequent incarceration. This is evident when the author recurs that â€Å"†¦but in reality, I was only an absurd puppet pushed to and fro by the will of those yellow faces behind†¦Ã¢â‚¬  critically analyzing this quote brings out the significance of the dying elephant in compiling of Orwell’s thesis. The elephant is used as an eye opener to enlighten the sub divisional police of the plight of the oppressed civilians. All along the officer is being driven by emotions and a subconscious mind which turns him into a puppet of his own self. Whereas he is subtle that the elephant has cooled down its temper, he is unsure of what step to take. He is more concerned with what the natives will have to say behind his back. In addition, the author is unsure of the impression he would create on the faces of the two thousand people behind his back. Though his motive was not to kill the elephant because it will be a big loss to the owner, he is driven by the unconscious thought of being a super hero. The author is more focused on portraying dominance over his subjects and that deters him from taking a second thought on shooting the elephant. That is the same way the colonial masters impose imperialism to unsuspecting police officers by turning them into their puppets. At first the author is content about his job. He fails to realize that he is a puppet being manipulated by the European government. His eyes are misted and his heart is too roughed up to understand the feelings of the Burma’s.

Biology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Biology - Coursework Example For example, the current UK Governmental recommendation is for an individual to consume at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, which an individual following the above diet would have achieved. It is also recommended that the fruit and vegetables consumed are not all the same colour, again something that this diet provides. Fruit and vegetables are one of the major food groups, the others being starch-based (pasta, rice, bread), protein (meat, fish, eggs), dairy (milk, cheese) and foods containing fat and sugar, although all are needed in different proportions (see diagram 1). Eating a variation of foods from these different groups is essential in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and the inverse is true – less than adequate quantities from these groups could lead to some serious health problems. Fruit and Vegetables As already discussed, the above diet would provide all the essential fruit and vegetable nutrition for the day. However, it is advisable to eat a wide variety within this group, and thus different combinations within this group should be used throughout the week. Starch The diet above includes three portions of starch – the breakfast porridge, the garlic and the whole meal pasta in the evening. It is recommended that starch in the diet should be whole meal and from complex carbohydrates. Consuming whole meal and complex carbohydrates has been proven to keep blood sugar more consistent throughout the day, as well as increasing insulin sensitivity which can help prevent overeating and obesity. We can assume that the garlic bread found in the diet above has less nutritional value than the other two starch portions and as such could be eliminated from the day and replaced to ensure that calorie input is adequate. Protein Protein is especially important in the human diet, because humans cannot synthesize all 21 amino acids and thus must obtain them nutritionally (Zoumbaris, 2009). Nutritional proteins, found in meat products an d egg albumin, for example, can be broken down into their constituent amino acids and as a result are important for the conservation of life. During the day specified above, the individual consumed chicken breast for lunch, and many of the vegetables will also contain amino acids. The chicken breast could be easily replaced for a vegetarian diet with an egg or some baked beans – both high in protein content. Dairy Dairy products are particularly important for obtaining calcium, a mineral that regulates muscle contraction and blood clotting, as well as ensuring that teeth and bones are strong. Calcium cannot be synthesized in the body and thus must be obtained nutritionally, thus making dairy products necessary. Contrary to popular belief (and diagram 1) it is not only dairy products that contain calcium and this food group can be replaced in the lactose intolerant by certain types of leafy green vegetables, almonds, sesame seeds or calcium enriched milk alternatives. Calcium is not needed in particularly large quantities and the portion of milk in the porridge mentioned above may be adequate. Fat & Sugar Fat and sugar are needed in smaller amounts than any other food type. Fat comes in two types, saturated and unsaturated, and it is currently recommended that saturated fat is consumed in quantities of less than 30g in adult men, with total fat intake being less than 90g a day. Although an excess of fat can be harmful, it should be noted that some fats are needed

Communicate effectively Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Communicate effectively - Assignment Example The company should avoid using women managers because males in China do not respect women’s ability to lead a company. KPMG is a company that faced cultural adaption issues in its relations with stakeholder groups such as employees and customers. To offset these problems the company has set up a program called Global China Practice to assist clients. The official language spoken in China is Manderin. Chinese people nod politely or blow slightly when greeting (Culturegrams, 2015). The use of handshakes is also an acceptable form of greeting another person. In general the Chinese prefer the use of formal introductions. Chinese do not like to be touched by people they do not know (Culturegrams, 2015). Older people in China do not like their person space invaded. Keeping a distance between a person and an elder person is a sign on respect. Gestures are not used to punctute conversations. To point out things Chinese people use an open arm instead of a

The Psychological World of the Artist Essay Example for Free

The Psychological World of the Artist Essay â€Å"Analyse the psychological world of the artist in relation to their artwork.† An artist’s psychological world can have a significant impact on their artwork, as is the case with many of the artworks done by artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol. Artemisia Gentileschi’s psychological world was greatly affected by her experiences as a female living in the seventeenth century where she would have faced discrimination and sexual harassment because of her gender, in particular the incident in which she was raped by her drawing teacher, Agostino Tassi, which was made considerably more traumatic by the fact that it was she, the victim, who was made to undergo torture to see if her story remained the same. Many of her artworks are depictions of scenes from the Bible or mythology, a common theme for artists of that time. However, Gentileschi’s depictions of these scenes are slightly different to those of her male counterparts as she does not depict the women as passive ‘objects.’ This can be seen in the artwork ‘Judith beheading Holofernes’ which features a Judith who is sawing at Holofernes’ head quite savagely and is not meant to be conventionally attractive. This painting of a strong, brave woman triumphing over a man rather than the other way around, as was the norm for that time could be interpreted as what Gentileschi wished would happen to Tassi after he raped her, and it contrasts with depictions of this scene by male artists like Caravaggio, who depicts his Judith as being pretty and delicate-looking, with a horrified expression as she watches the blood spurt from Holofernes’ neck, as well as a blouse that was semi-transparent, showing a more traditional depiction of a woman whose main purpose in the artwork is to be gazed upon by men. Gentileschi’s psychological world is likely to have contained frustration at the objectification of women of her time, and her desire The psychological world of Frida Kahlo that is represented in her artwork was influenced by a bus accident she was in when she was young in which she sustained serious lifelong injuries, and many of the events that occurred later in her life, such as her tumultuous marriage to the unfaithful painter Diego Rivera, and her miscarriage. In many of her artworks, she depicts herself as scarred, or bleeding, symbolising both her physical and psychological pain. In her painting ‘Henry Ford Hospital’, Kahlo paints herself naked and bleeding on a bed, emphasising her psychological state after her miscarriage- she would have been feeling vulnerable and in a lot of pain, both emotionally and physically. Her artworks can be seen as a search for her identity, in the context of her culture, religion and life experiences, as many of them are self-portraits that feature her dressed in traditional Mexican clothes with colourful ribbons in her hair, and a lot of symbolism. An example of this is her artwork ‘Self portrait with thorn necklace and hummingbird’, where she again depicts herself as bleeding because of the necklace of thorns she is wearing, which could be seen as a Catholic symbol reminiscent of Christ’s crown of thorns as she came from a Catholic family, or maybe a reference to Aztec religious rituals involving self-mortification with thorns. She also has a monkey on one shoulder (a recurring symbol in eight of her self-portraits) which appears to be a pet or comforting presence because it is playing with the necklace. The black cat on her other shoulder is a more ominous, threatening presence as it looks as though it is about to pounce and its eyes are a cold, uninviting grey. The juxtaposition of colour, and playful images with symbols of doom or death, and a bleeding body is a common theme in many of Kahlo’s works and has been interpreted as Surrealism; however Kahlo denied this, saying â€Å"I paint my own reality.† Andy Warhol’s childhood played an important part in the formation of his psychological world and personality that led to him becoming a central figure in the Pop Art movement that took place in America in the 1960s. As a child, Warhol was diagnosed with St Vitus’ dance, which caused him to spend a lot of time bed-ridden with nothing to do but draw, listen to the radio and collect pictures of celebrities from magazines to stick around his bed. This constant exposure to popular culture would have been extremely influential in the development of Warhol’s later work, in which he depicted easily recognisable images in American culture, including celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, and everyday items like Campbell’s soup. In his artwork ‘100 Campbell’s Soup Cans’, he explores the idea of mass production that was becoming such an important part of American culture, but says that he chose Campbell’s soup because that was what he had for lunch for most of his life. Warhol’s psychological world which was influenced by his childhood was depicted quite literally in his artworks- images of celebrities and mass-produced products like Campbell’s soup played a larger-than-normal role in his childhood in particular. Warhol clearly had a great deal and admiration and affection for these things, even going so far as to say â€Å"I want to be plastic.† Though all of these artworks were done in styles that were gaining popularity in the time that the artist was working, it was the artist’s psychological world that ultimately motivated them to create most of their artworks.

Is Neoliberalism A Force For De Democratisation Politics Essay

Is Neoliberalism A Force For De Democratisation Politics Essay Critically discuss with reference to the writings of Wendy Brown and other theorists of your choice. I will be looking at whether this argument by Wendy Brown has any real foundation and what other theorists say about neoliberalism. Theorists that I have chosen to include in this discussion are: M. Foucault, D. Harvey and P. Bourdieu. I will venture arguments in favour and against. I shall start from providing a brief definition of neoliberalism. According to Brown: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Neoliberalism is equated with a radically free market: maximized competition and free trade achieved through economic deregulation, elimination of tariffs, and a range of monetary and social policies favourable to business and indifferent toward poverty, social deracination, cultural decimation, long term resource depletion, and environmental destruction. Neoliberalism is most often invoked in relation to the Third World, referring either to NAFTA-like schemes that increase the vulnerability of poor nations to the vicissitudes of globalization or to International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies that, through financing packages attached to restructuring requirements, yank the chains of every aspect of Third World existence, including political institutions and social formations. (Brown, 2006) The product of neoliberalisation is de-democratisation. It is a very interesting process, especially when many people are not even aware of its existence. It affects human rights and the rights of workers, freedom and equality, respect for law and legal process, and citizenship. North America is a good example. De-democratisation developed almost by stealth and they failed to recognize it until some of the effects became apparent their jobs, and job security began to disappear. De-democratisation is a process, which is a partial reversal of democratisation. An example of neoliberalism was witnessed in the years under M. Thatcher in England, or Regans, Clintons or Bushs administrations. I will be analysing Browns account of de-democratisation first. Wendy Brown is an author of: American Nightmare: Neoliberalism, Neoconservatism, and De-democratisation, and Edgework: critical essays on knowledge and politics. She presents a very descriptive account of how the ideology of neoliberalism exists alongside neoconservatism. According to her, those rationalities together and separately produce a process of de-democratisation. Brown suggested that Americans are under neoconservative influence which is strongly associated with fundamental Christianity. Interestingly, fundamental Christianity reflects a basically democratic system, with elections for its leadership roles deacons, elders, stewards, and vote selection for senior positions bishops, elders, ministers etc. Aligning with fundamental Christianity could be seen as preserving democratic integrity. Moreover, many states in the USA reflect fundamental religious values, like the Mid West Bible belt, Amish or Mormon regions, where they can express their beliefs because they participate in a free and democratic system. Therefore, it could be argued that Brown is incorrect, and Christian Fundamentalism is not necessarily an undemocratic movement. Drawing from this a political election candidate in these states would have to secure backing from these religious quarters. This is a tactic which President Bush and others successfully developed. Her argument that neoconservatism is inherently de-democratising is not as strong as first suggested. Brown is not trying to get us to understand whether the ideology of neoliberalism needed to occur in the USA, but she is sending a clear message of what damage its presence can do. The first point of her argument is contrasted with Halls theory referring to Freuds dreams, which suggest that neoliberalism is an accident rather than a conscious and deliberate choice. She feels that neoliberalism is not an unconscious movement and therefore dismisses Halls account, which others would not necessary agree with, as it could be seen that neoliberalism is a choice driven by greed, need, power and capitalism. She examines dreamwork in perspective of suitability of political analysis, which by the end she dismisses because is not coherent. She tries to understand the implications of neoliberalism from a political perspective not economic, and she briefly describes economic issues in a differently to the way that Harvey analyzed them. It should not be suggested that neoliberalism is limited to those two perspectives, as is it not. Another perspective which goes with this is environmental or political identity, which Brown does not really discuss. In her writings she refers to Regan, Clinton and Bush as those who are responsible for neoliberalism in the USA and abroad. In American Nightmare she asks whether democracy itself still has meaning in the modern world. She focuses on differences between neoliberalism and neoconservatism rather than trying to combine them and defining what works well and should be kept and what does not work and therefore should be challenged. There is a lack of deep economic and historical explanation, which we can see in Harveys account: A brief history of neoliberalism and Neoliberalism and the restoration of class power, although she touches on this in a limited manner. There is an immediate argument against Bushs administration, which delivers a one-sided view, effectively influencing the view rather then presenting positive and negative points in a balanced way so the reader can have an independent opinion. She seems to not see that neoliberalism could be seen as something which is already present in human nature. I would like to contrast her work with a quote from G. Becker, whose words were used by Foucault: Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as relationships between ends and scarce means which have alternate uses. Therefore: Everything for which human beings attempt to realize their ends, from marriage, to crime, to expenditures on children, can be understood economically according to a particular calculation of cost for benefit. This entails a massive redefinition of labour and the worker. The worker has become human capital. Salary or wages become the revenue that is earned on an initial investment, an investment in ones skills or abilities. Any activity that increases the capacity to earn income, to achieve satisfaction, even migration, the crossing of borders from one country to another, is an investment in human capital ( Foucault 2008).Because of this contra st it could be said that she might have ignored the effect on human nature or just simply omitted it in order to sustain her argument. Foucault sees a difference between liberalism and neoliberalism in the way that each of them focuses on economy. Classical liberalism focused on an exchange but neoliberalism focuses on competition. However, they share the general idea of homo economicus the consequence here is the shift between the exchange and competition, which has its own effects. Moreover, neoliberalism is not only a set of economic policies. Neoliberalism does bring some benefits, which are visible through privatized companies, especially if they are a manufacturer of similar goods. It offers consumers price competition. Businesses have to compete in order to survive, which results in a lowering of market prices. We are a consumer society. Brown(2006) says: But here it is important to remember that neoconservatism is also born in part as a response to capitalisms erosion of meaning and morality, and that the founding neoconservatives, while opposed to communism as a political and social form, were rarely ardent free marketeers According to Brown neoliberalism and neoconservatism go together. She suggested that Bushs administration, which originates in the Republican Party tries to be both the Party of Moral Values and Party of Big Business (Brown, 2006). She also says that imposing a moral order is undemocratic. Surely though, it could be argued that a moral order, imposed by a democratically elected government, for the overall good of the populace could be deemed as democratic. Surely, neoliberalism is only going to align with certain political persuasions not all are suitable such as extreme socialism, even if it is imposed by the IMF or World Bank or other external forces. In her opinion this does not work. Neoconservatism and neoliberalism fight against each other openly and ostentatiously. Big business comes before human beings. There also tensions in this relationship: about the sustainable level of federal debt generated by military expenditures: while neither rationality hews to the fiscal austerity and balanced federal checkbook promulgated by classic conservatives, neoliberals are more than a little unhappy about the military tab run up the neocons.(Brown, 2006) Another point that she touches on is that neoliberalism is reducing freedom of speech. Media sources such as newspapers and TV have come into the ownership of private individuals who have neoliberal persuasions. These individuals can influence media content to their own benefit. There is also a risk of media monopolisation. If we have corporate interest and free trade on one side and moral values on the other, this can create a dangerous mix which she describes as threats. There are different types of threats identified by her, such as threats to security for example seen in Irans nuclear program. Neoliberalism reduces human rights. She suggested China and Cuba as examples of countries who are violators of human rights. Of course, that is obvious, but it could be argued that human rights are being violated by the governing regime rather than neoliberalist rationality. Those countries do not value democratic ideals. The nature of the governance within those countries dictates how individuals are treated in society as a whole. In this sense her argument misses out depth of analysis within her examples, which can be contrasted with Harveys account on China. Harvey promulgates China as a strange case of neoliberalism. Firstly, the country is run under communist rules. However, the leadership of Deng Xiaoping brought significant changes to Chinas economy. Harvey (2009) says: This coincided and it is very hard to consider it as anything other than a conjunctural accident of world-historical significance with the turn to neoliberal solutions in Britain and the United States. The outcome has been a particular kind of neoliberalism interdigitated with authoritarian centralized control. As the formative case of Chile had early on demonstrated, dictatorship and neoliberalism were in no way incompatible with each other. Deng used a slogan: the concept of an ideal society that provides well for all its citizens in order to achieve his goal. He focused on specific areas to improve: industry, education, science, defense and agriculture. Harvey argues that the events which took place in China under Dengs rule were in their own way related to the rise of neoliberalism. But, in an interview he adds: Whether it was by an accident or design, I dont really know, but it certainly has made a huge difference to how the global economy is working today. (an interview with Harvey 2006). Another significant matter to be noticed here is that there was no involvement by the IMF, as was the case in Mexico, Chile and Bolivia. Harvey discussed many countries but for the sake of this argument I shall present the case of Mexico, as this illustrates a different type of neoliberalism to that of China. Moreover, the case of Mexico, Chile and Bolivia backs up the argument of Wendy Brown, who uses examples on how the powerful presidents of America influence other countries politics and economy in order to extract profit from them. And actually, the case of Mexico is important as it is the time when neoliberalism became a practical tool for Americas economy. The economy in 1974/75 was not doing well. Because of this economic depression a solution had to be found. So, the head of Citibank at the time; W. Wriston suggested that monies should be invested in countries, for a simple reason they cannot vanish. This seemed to be working for a time until fiscal crisis arrived. Subsequently, Volker increased interest rates. This was not everything, as the IMF was also imposing conditions which were in favour of the USA, on the countries which had taken loans. The agreement was that they will be helped out if they adopted neoliberal systems, which meant privatization and opening their markets to foreign investors. Initially, Mexicos interest rate was set at 5% but after the Volker changes, it rose to 17%. Mexico could not afford to service debts at this level. The country approached bankruptcy in 1982. Paradoxically, Mexico was suddenly on the Forbes list of countries with a significant number of personal billionaires. Neoliberalisation helps the rich increase their personal wealth, but at the expense of the poorer in society. Harvey is not saying that the USA forced neoliberalism on Mexico, but he says that the USA put pressure on Mexico and its elite classes, and they agreed that this is what they wanted to do. Therefore, this was a relationship between Mexicos elite and the IMF, and for this reason they both are responsible for the neoliberalisation of Mexico. Many years later, citizens in the Mexican city of Cochabamba faced a dilemma. In 1999 the Bolivian government was put under heavy pressure from the World Bank. As a result a water supply system was been privatised and placed under the control of a British company, owned by the US multinational Betchel. In this case there was no competition. A monopoly came into existence and prices were set at an exorbitantly high rate. The Director of the World Bank; Wolfensohn had the view that if public services were made free of charge to consumers, it would lead to considerable waste. Bolivians needed to pay a proper unsubsidised charge. He maintained that this was not designed to make poor people even poorer. People had different opinions about it, and protests ensued. Protest leader Oscar Olivera responded, In Mr. Wolfensohns view, requiring families who earn $100 per month to pay $20 for water may be a proper system of charging, but the thousands of people who filled the streets and shut down Cochabamba last week apparently felt otherwise. (Schultz, 2010) The World Bank again put profit before peoples welfare. This reflection of neoliberalist political economics proved once again that human beings have little value. After, this incident the Bolivian government was forced to reverse the privatization. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the democratic process must be allowed to take decisions on vital issues of service delivery, especially if the service is essential to the poor. (Coates, 2001) This message is being repeated on an ever more regular basis when people feel strongly enough, the democratic voice is powerful enough to overturn unpopular local decisions. This was also witnessed during the Thatcher years with the hugely unpopular riots against the Poll Tax in 1990. An additional account of neoliberalism could be illustrated by Bourdieus: Utopia of endless exploitation; the essence of neoliberalism In Bourdieus view he presents an abstract and ideological view which contradicts itself. If social welfare and workers rights are protected, neoliberalism by its definition can never succeed in its purest sense. For him (1998) neoliberalism is: A program for destroying collective structures which may impede the pure market logic. In neoliberalism rich people, whose political and economic needs are expressed, are able to exercise power within society. Moreover, those people have the knowledge that they would not face any consequences in the event that something went wrong. Thus, they also have a threat of losing their place in the market and the support of their stockholders, and because of this financial directives are needed in order to create rules in their favour. Flexibility is a keyword for them. Employees can be taken on with different types of contracts, specifically to fit in with a business need at time. Another condition is competition. It is not only on the business level but individual too. Competition also produces job insecurity in the work-place, which then produces the threat of unemployment. This is even more relevant at managerial level than at a basic job level. Bourdieu backs this up by saying: Organisational discourse has never talked as much of trust, co-operation, loyalty, and organisat ional culture as in an era when adherence to the organisation is obtained at each moment by eliminating all temporal guarantees of employment (three-quarters of hires are for fixed duration, the proportion of temporary employees keeps rising, employment at will and the right to fire an individual tend to be freed from any restriction). (Bourdieu,1998) Bourdieus (1998) words on the effects of neoliberalism: And yet the world is there, with the immediately visible effects of the implementation of the great neoliberal utopia: not only the poverty of an increasingly large segment of the most economically advanced societies, the extraordinary growth in income differences, the progressive disappearance of autonomous universes of cultural production, such as film, publishing, etc. through the intrusive imposition of commercial values, but also and above all two major trends. First is the destruction of all the collective institutions capable of counteracting the effects of the infernal machine, primarily those of the state, repository of all of the universal values associated with the idea of the public realm. Second is the imposition everywhere, in the upper spheres of the economy and the state as at the heart of corporations, of that sort of moral Darwinism that, with the cult of the winner, schooled in higher mathematics and bungee ju mping, institutes the struggle of all against all and cynicism as the norm of all action and behaviour. His account broadly goes with Browns. Harvey analyzed particular countries in depth and gives an explanation for their move to neoliberalism at the time. We know that neoliberalism works for a while, and it also works for some societies, and not all necessarily democratic. However, having said this we are living in a consumer society, which frequently places need before values. This is where Brown sees this contradiction of neoliberalism working with neoconservatism. Her example of Pfizers producing Viagra for its sex obsessed young society and yet at the same time dictating moral values emphasizes the dichotomy between neoliberalism and neoconservatism. Another issue that she raises involves political ethical scandals, such as that of Jack Abramoff. He was a former Republican lobbyist who was sentenced after pleading guilty to fraud, tax evasion and malfeasance. And the examples of corporate scandals such as Enron and World Com, where the banks made considerable loans, only to find that loose accounting procedures masked the real value of the businesses. The fact they were not discovered before is due to the effects of neoliberalism, which reduces the amount control and regulation of business. The banks lent them money until an error in accounting was discovered, which revealed a consider imbalance in stock value. However, since then, many more scandals have come to light. Browns account is very descriptive but seemed to look only from one perspective, which only underlined negative issues. She described very well how neoliberalism combines with neoconservatism. Moreover, it shows us how this duality is destroying the meaning of democracy. Decades of human history built a chain of separate events which when driven upon those economical, political, socio-psychological changes will develop a new form of governance. And this will fit in those strict contexts of that event and purpose of it. In her understanding democracy is endangered by neoliberalism and can be rebuilt by going back to values of classical liberalism. As we are now a consumer society the question here would be: Do all of people are happy to go back to classical liberalism? Classical liberalism is viewed in a positive light. However, the long and frequently unhappy history of liberal democracy in the USA has been littered with skeletons which seem to have been put firmly back in the cupboa rd. Or maybe people want something new? The majority of people still are happy to get cheaper and cheaper products and services. They do not necessary think that someone in a sweat shop in a developing country is competing with them. I can agree with Brown that because of neoliberal lack of regulation, financial scandals will frequently occur. My final point of this paper gives a recent example of the effect of neoliberalism in a democratic country but contrary to the perceived norm, democratic rule prevailed. Iceland is in financial crisis mainly because of a lack of regulation. The main bank operated a very competitive savings account, which took in billions of pounds from savers and investors. However, when the recent economic recession took hold, the bank failed. The Icelandic government were unable to assist the bank, so the governments of Britain and Holland provided financial assistance. The IMF also loaned them $10 billion. Moreover, they loaned monies under different conditions than they used to do in the past. The arrangement was that the Icelandic government would repay this loan at a later date. However, the people of Iceland felt that they should not be held responsible for the collapse of the bank, and objected to repaying the loans, which would amount to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬12,000 per head of population. In a way this is also reflecting the de-democratisating process, as certain groups of people benefited from neoliberal rationality, which resulted in losing jobs, reduced significance of union workers, and generally creating poverty. Citizens in a democratic manner protested, and their powerful voice was heard. Therefore, the Prime Minister, who was about to sign the repayment agreement, then refused ratification, and instead decided to put the issue to a public vote. At the end we can see that this is an exceptional example, which leads to the conclusion that neoliberalism is not always fully de-democratising. Icelandic Politician ValgarÃÆ' °sson said: Right now we have a chance to build a truly revolutionary society, which aims to benefit the whole of it, not just a privileged few, (Chataigne, 2009) He pointed out that the situation in his country is the beginning what will happen around the world in the near future. I think that he is indeed right. Another politician added:I hope this is the end of pure capitalism and we will see the rise of more humane policies. (Chataigne, 2009) In summary, it is clear that all presented accounts are emphasising consequences of neoliberalism. Harveys writings are more about connections between the power of specific classes, imperialism and capitalism, which concludes that this only benefits the minority at the expense of the majority. He analyses the theory and practice of neoliberalism purely on historical grounds. In Volkers and Wristons ideas, they were looking for a solution to political economics at the time. It cannot be argued that their intentions were to de-democratize societies. It is quite common in the history of humanity that society develops ideas which then turn into something very different than initially planned. Bourdieu is strong in his attack on neoliberalism. Bourdieu encouraged the emergence of some of the social movements in France, not only by writing but by action too. Finally, Brown strongly emphasises the negative issues associated with neoliberalism, without looking for any explanation of why this has occurred. I agree that neoliberalism is certainly de-democratizing. Media ownership, job security, worker and human rights, abrogation of the law are all de-democratising effects. However I feel that neoconservatism, which was born in part as a response to capitalisms erosion of meaning and morality. (Brown, 2006) has proven to be balancing and ameliorating force, even though not all of its effects can be seen as positive. Neoliberalism is a rolling bandwagon upon which many countries are jumping whether by intention or force protection of market share and jobs, or being pushed by external entities such IMF or World Bank. As neoliberalism gains strength, the danger is that the influence of neoconservatism will wane, leaving us open to the juggernaut of globalization and further devaluation of democratic influence. Eventually, as we have seen elsewhere, there must be a backlash against neoliberalism; an element of restraint must be introduced. Timing is crucial as neoliberalism eats away at the very fabric of democracy, the chances of a right and democratic change are reduced. Which neoliberal country would want to be the first to change direction? To deliberately put markets and trade at risk? To bring upon itself the spectre of unemployment, reduction of living standards, backlash from all classes of society against the medium-term austerity resultant on a conscious painful decision? What government would even survive? The change away from neoliberalism must surely be as gradual as the change to it. By stealth, and over time.

Effects Of Barapukuria Coal Mining On Environment Environmental Sciences Essay

Effects Of Barapukuria Coal Mining On Environment Environmental Sciences Essay The over increasing gap between supply of and energy is problem for many countries around the world. Governments are forced to examine different sources of energy in an attempt to create secure energy supply. The results of these examinations cover a large range of energy sources, not only traditional ones such as oil and gas, also nuclear-power and renewable resources. In addition governments are looking at increasing energy efficiency Because of the pressing need; there has also been a strategic shift in some countries back to using traditional fossil fuels. This has become more prevalent and widespread in developing countries where coal is the most dominant of traditional options used. There are two key reasons for this choice: first, there is abundant supply of coal; it is one of the cheapest ways to create electricity (Jaccard, 2005). The resurgence coal as an energy source may come as a shock to some because of environmental impacts it has had in the past .However, some countries that have remained dependent on coal for energy, such as the United States, have mitigated the environmental impacts with new technologies stringent regulation. The economic development of the country requires different types of fuels and energy. Because of deforestation, supply of traditional fuels are decreasing and becoming expensive day by day. Significant portion of export earning is being used for import of petroleum products and coal (Hamilton 2005). The key to creating reliable sources of energy is diversification. Since there are significant reserves of coal located in the northwest region of the country, and a belief within industry that further exploration may lead to the discovery of additional coal fields, this is a source of energy to consider. However turning to coal brings important concerns of policy makers, particularly about how to balance coal development with environmental concerns. The total national reserves of coal in 5 coal fields are estimated about 2.9 billion metric tons. Recovery rate of coal from reserves depends on the availability of technology and method of mining. Modern mining technology can ensure up to 85% recovery of coal from different reserves (Hamilton, 2005). Coal is a very important but dirty fossil fuel. Coal mining has severe environmental, ecological, human-health consequences. If not done properly, coal mining has potential to damage landscape, soils, surface water, groundwater, air during all phases of exploration and use. Coal mining has some unavoidable negative impacts on humans and the environment. In its review of the mining industry of Bangladesh, the U.S. Geological Survey states that the country has small reserves of coal, natural gas, and petroleum. In May 2011, the countrys overall coal production was around 3,000 tons a day, from the lone operational state-owned Barapukuria coal mine in Dinajpur. There are five coal field discovered such as Khalashpeer, Rangpur (1995) coal field depth at 257-483 meter which is about 12 Km2 in area and proven reserve coal is 143 (GSB), 685 (Hosaf) in million tones. Phulbari, Dinajpur (1997) coal field which is about30 Km2 in area and depth at 150-240 meter and reserve coal is 572 million t ones. Jamal gong, Jaipurhat (1965) coal field which is about 16 Km2 in area and depth at 900-1000 meter and proven reserve coal is about 1050 million tones .Dighirpar, Dinajpur (1995) coal field is at 327 meter depth and area not yet to known and reserve coal is about 200 (partly evaluated) million tones. The major findings were as under about Barapukuria, Dinajpur Coal Field Reserve of coal 390 Million tones, Depth of coal is 118-509 meter, Nos. of coal layer is 6, Average thickness of coal seam is 36 m, Composition of coal: ash 12.4%, Sulphur 0.53%, Moisture 10%, Rank of coal is Bituminous (high volatile), Calorific value of coal is 25.68 MJ/KG (11040 BTU/lb), Yearly Production is 1 million tones, Coal extraction method is Multi-Slice Long wall, During development of Barapukuria Coal Mine as well as load testing /trial run , coal as obtained from the mine, on the chemical analysis, confirmed composition of coal, Rank of coal and Calorific value of coal as predicted (Petrobangla, G ovt. Bangladesh, 2005). The state-owned company, Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, which is commonly known as Petrobangla, is involved in oil and gas exploration, production, and distribution. It is also involved in the exploration for and production of such minerals as coal, granite, and limestone for the manufacture of cement. Nearly half the Bangladeshi population is food insecure, and nearly one quarter severely food insecure. Local food production should be strengthened, not sacrificed for industrial projects, said the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter. The land under threat is located in Bangladeshs most fertile agricultural region where production of staple crops such as rice and wheat allows subsistence farmers to feed their families, and supports the entire countrys food needs. In addition to the destruction of agricultural land, waterways supporting over 1,000 fisheries and nearly 50,000 fruit trees may be destroyed. The water table may be lowered by 15-25 met ers over the life span of the mine. Access to safe drinking water for some 220,000 people is at stake, stated Catarina de Albuquerque, the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. The mine would cause noise and dust pollution through dynamite explosion. Coal dust will pollute the air. Water will be polluted from washing the coal, risking pollution of surrounding water bodies. Bangladesh has networks of hundreds of small rivers, meaning that water pollution in one area can spread over a large area (Petrobangla, Govt. Bangladesh, 2005). To prevent the mine from flooding, huge pumps would run 24 hours a day for the 30 years of the mining project, pumping up to 800 million liters of water a day out of the mine. Groundwater in an area covering about 500 square kilometers would be lowered. Wells would no longer provide enough water for farmers. Asia Energys solution is to distribute the water pumped out to farmers. Once the mining is finished, Asia Energy plans to create a huge lake, providing fresh water, fisheries and recreation, according to the company. But after 30 years of digging, the water will be toxic. As the civilization has advanced tremendously over the last century, the alternative source of power generation came in effect like nuclear power, which certainly replaced coal in the west. Assessing the coalmine and its versatile impact over the industrial revolution time, the researcher, end of the 20th century revealed that there is huge risk of health, potential air pollution, noticeable change in landscape, political and social problem, overall sustainability of the environment could get seriously affected by coal mine operation. Therefore, it is obvious that an assessment of the local environment should go prior and along the project of Barapukuria before any unexpected consequence over whelms this project. Energy is vital element of our daily lives, no matter where one lives (Petrobangla, Govt. Bangladesh, 2005). Regionally, the Barapukuria coal basin is located in the Dinajpur Shield of Bangladesh and is surrounded by the Himalayan Fore deep to the north, the Shillong Shield/Platform to the east, and the Indian Peninsular Shield to the west. The geologic and structural conditions of the basin were illustrated in details by Islam and Hayashi (Khan, 1991; Khan and Chouhan, 1996; Alam et al., 2003; Islam and Hayashi, 2008a; Islam et al., 2009). Structurally, the Barapukuria basin is a long, narrow, and shallow Permo Carboniferous rift basin. The basin trends approximately north-south for over 5 km, ranges from 2 to 3 km wide, and is over 550 m deep. Below a prominent unconformity, covered by an unstructured Pleistocene through Tertiary classic sequence, steeply dipping normal faults bound tilted half graven fault blocks. The northern, western, and southern boundaries of the basin are also truncated by several small-scale normal boundary faults. The faults and igneous dyke decrease the cohesion and friction angle and reduce the shear strength through fault plane and filling materials. The overall structures of the Barapukuria Basin imply a tectonically active highly disturbed zone (Wardell Armstrong, 1991; Bakr et al., 1996; Islam, 2005; Islam and Hayashi, 2008a; Islam et al., 2009). The Barapukuria half-graven basin is assumed to be related to its tectonic origin. The basin area is very close (about 200 km) to the convergence boundary of the Indian and Eurasian plates. As a consequence, the far field tectonic stress field is highly significant to the structure of this basin. A 5 km long Eastern Boundary Fault of the Barapukuria basin is the best structural evidence for recent tectonic activity. However, the basin geometry and its stress field are directly related to the tectonic displacement gradient. Usually, the Barapukuria type intracrationic half graben basin in a convergent regime is developed due to local crustal weakening, where archeology strongly affects the dynamics of basin formation (Buck, 1991; Cloetingh et al., 1995). In a gross sense, for the Barapukuria type half graben basin, displacement is greatest at the center of the fault and decreases to zero at the fault tips. The displacement of an initially horizontal surface that intersects the fault is greatest at the fault itself and decreases with distance away from the fault . This produces footwall uplift and hanging wall subsidence, the later which creates the sedimentary basin (Gibson et al., 1989; Contreras et al., 1997). It is apparent that the basin geometry is affect-ted by fault propagation and displacement is accumulated on the boundary fault. About 200 m vertical displacement occurred with 73oC dipping. Along the basin the fault length is about 5 km. The fault length: vertical displacement ratio is about 25:1. About 60 m horizontal displacement indicates recent tectonic activity and the basin is developed due to 60 m horizontal displacement of the boundary fault towards the east (Islam et al., 2009). The objectives of the research were: To know the chemical properties of the of the coal, coal water and nearby agriculture field and To know that whether these chemical parameters are polluting the environment of the area or not. Chapter 2 Review of Literature Global Coal Management policy continued to wait for approval from the Government for its Barapukuria coal projects plan of development. The projects environmental impact and feasibility studies had been completed, and mining operations could be done by open pit method. After coal preparation, the final product would be coking coal and thermal coal for both export and domestic use. The bituminous coal resource of 572 million metric tons was large enough for the mine to last more than 30 years at a mining rate of 15 Mt/yr. There are major environmental issues in the mining of coal that include land disturbance, water pollution, and impacts on air quality (World Coal Institute, 2007). There are number of environmental issues linked to both underground and surface mining and they concerns mostly the impacts on water and air quality. First acid mine drainage (AMD). It is caused by the oxidation of pyretic sulphur due to exposure of pyrite (FeS2) to air and water, it can cause acidity (or a decrease in the pH of water) and subsequent elevated concentrations of metals that are associated with sulphide mineralogy (Management Brent, 2005). AMD causes contamination if it gets into the water system. A second environmental concern related to mining is the leaching of metals into the water in the area. AMD and leaching of metals result in fish dying and negatively impact the plant life in the water .A third concern is the emissions of particulates from the mining process that degrade air quality. The primary causes of these particulates are dust due to the movement of vehicles used at all stages of the mining process. A fourth concerns is methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas released from the coal seams. Technology has been developed that captures and uses methane for heating or electricity generations (The Coal Authority, 2007). As of 1994, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) requires that Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) be completed (Rajaram et al., 2005). These EIA consist of a two-stage clearance. First, a site clearance, followed by an environmental clearance. The complete process includes the following components: screening; scoping and consideration of alternatives; base line data collection ;impact prediction; assessment of alternatives; outlining of mitigation measures and an environmental impact statement; public hearings; environmental management plan; decision making; and monitoring (MoEF, 2001). In addition to conducting an EIA prior to operations, environmental statements must be submitted on an annual basis. Guidelines for reclamation activities are supplied under the EIA process, and reclamation is expected to proceed concurrently with mining operations. Although the planning of mine closure and reclamation is recognized as important, and thus should be incorporated into the mining plan, in India this is still at the embryonic stage (Rajaram et aI., 2005). The permission of the surface landowner must be sought prior to leasing of the subsurface minerals. There are two main options to obtain this consent: through written consent from the surface owner or a bond posted by the mine operator to cover any damages that might occur to the surface of the land (Hamilton, 2005). Evaluation of possible environmental impacts for Barapukuria thermal power plant and coal mine: In this study, an attempt was taken to conduct environmental impact assessment of Barapukuria thermal power and coal mining project through environmental, socio-economical and meteorological study. The analysis showed that, the Mn concentration was found in the satisfactory range. The pH was found slightly alkaline and surface water was bacteria contaminated. SO4 concentration was in the range of WHO standard. Calculated Sox loading was almost same of monitored emission. Corresponding estimated concentration of Sox was in acceptable range, which may not bring any matter of concern. In the study, an attempt was also made to evaluate the health impacts of SPM (suspended particulate matter) emitted from the combustion of coal in the power plant. The socio economic condition was also considered a dominating factor, for the EIA along with the chemical parameters since increased employment for t he project (Alam et al., 2011). Analysis of orientation of maximum horizontal tensional stress of the Gondwana Barapukuria coal basin, NW Bangladesh: By means of finite element modeling: This paper uses two-dimensional Finite Element Method (FEM) numerical modeling to analyze the orientation of maximum horizontal tensional stress of the Barapukuria coal basin in Bangladesh. An elastic plane stress model incorporating elastic rock physical properties for the coal basin area was used consisting of 2916 elements with a network of 1540 nodes (Md.Rafiqul Islam, 2009).The stress field at any point of the model is assumed to comprise gravitational and tectonic components. The tectonic component is assumed to act entirely in the horizontal plane in the far-field and at the model eastern boundary. Modeling results are presented in terms of four parameters, i.e. orientation of maximum horizontal tensional stress, displacement vector, strain distribution, and maximum shear stress contour line within the model. Results show th at the orientation of the maximum horizontal tensional stress axis is almost N45oE, which coincides with the regional stress field as studied by Gown et al. (1992). Coal mining impact on land use/land cover in jainta hills district of Meghalay, India using remote sensing and GIS technique: K. Sarma and S.P.S. Kushwaha conducted their study was undertaken to analyze the process of human-induced landscape transformation in the coal mined affected areas of Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, northeast India by interpreting temporal remote sensing data using geographic information system. The study revealed that most of the areas were dominated by grassland/non- forest in all the time sequence period of the study. Impact of surface coal mining on three Ohio watersheds ground water chemistry: Bonta et al. (1992) conducted a study to determine the effects of surface mining and reclamation on ground-water chemistry in three saturated zones in each of three small East Central Ohio water-sheds. The extensive disturbances of mining and reclamation: i) caused more changes in constituents concentration in the upper zone than the lower zone. Most of which were statistically significant increases, ii) affected ground-water chemistry in lower zones those that were not physically disturbed, iii) tented to increases the frequency of exceedance of regulated constituents in all saturated zones and (4) affected the chemistry of surface base flow water at the watershed outlets. Several constituents were still changing at the end of the project within all sites and zones (Anhaeusser and Maske, 1986). Mine-water chemistry: the good, the bad and the ugly: The mine discharged water and wastes for several times. They collected huge amount of water samples from different mine discharge and worked on them. They found that the discharged water could be useful sometimes but most of the times the nature is ugly (Banks, 1997). Trace elements emission factors from coal combustion: A research on increase in the mobilization of trace elements in the environment especially in the atmosphere. An accurate knowledge of factors related to the mobilization, particularly the enrichment mechanism of trace elements in the emitted particulate, is of fundamental significance for environmental impact assessment studies. In this work an analytical method is presented to calculate the trace element emission factors taking into account the enrichment of trace element (Cernuschi, 1987). Trace metals from coal-fired power plants: Derivation of an average data base for assessment studies of the situation in the European communities. The potential impact on different part of the ecosystem and man from the release of trace element from the coal fired power plants, they use twenty nine coal samples for their research, using the derived main values as well as taking into account of coal to be burnet in power plant of EC. The average trace element mobilization was predicted for fifteen elements for the year 1990, the global release so estimated range from 66.5 to 19,420 metric tons from Hg Zn, respectively (Sabbioni, 1983). Criteria for determining when a body of surface water constitutes a hazard to mining: Kendorsky et al. discussed that there are various criteria for determining the quality of surface water body. They worked hard in determining the water constituents that are exposed in mining activities (coal mining). The surface drainage (acid mine drainage, heavy metal contamination etc.) causes several environmental impact (Molinda, 1999). Various research work carried out on hydrogen ion concentration and nutrient status in soil: Soil pH varied widely from one soil series to another. Soil pH ranged from 4.32 to 7.64 in 0 15 cm depth and the soil pH ranged from 4.55 to 7.81 in 15 30 cm at Sonatala series (Huq, 2005). In dry season the soil pH of coastal areas of Bangladesh were recorded between 6.25 to 8.34 and in the wet season the soil pH of coastal areas were recorded between 5.74 to 7.96 respectively (Alam, 2004) The soil pH of Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 5.54 to 5.90 and the pH of Jaonia series were ranged from 4.82 to 6.09 under AEZ-6. Both of the series were in acidic in nature (Alam, 2005). The pH of the old Brahmaputra Floodplain soil ranged from 6.02 to 7.10 and that of Madhupur tract from 6.99 to 7.02 under different cropping patterns and tillage (Hossain et al., 2003).The optimum soil pH for crop production was considered to be between 6.5 to 7.0 (Tisdale et al., 1999). The pH of the soil class high land and medium high land under soil series Amnura was 4.2 to 5.7 and 4.7 to 6.3 respectively in upland which was acidic than wet land (SRDI, 1999). The soil pH of the high, medium high and medium low under Sathi upazila ranged from 7.4 to 7.9, 7.3 to 7.6 and 5.0 to 7.8 respectively (SRDI, 1992). The organic carbon content of soil at Sonatala series ranged from .58% to 1.08% in 0 to 15cm depth the organic carbon content of soil at the same series ranged from 0.58% to 0.89% in 15 to 30cm (Huq (2005). The organic matter content of soil of the Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 1.26% to 2.42% and the organic matter content in the Jaonia series were ranged from 1.68% to 2.52% under AEZ-6 (Alam, 2005). In the dry season the organic matter content of the coastal area of Bangladesh was recorded at the ranged between 0.29 to 1.08% and in the wet season the organic matter content in the same areas were ranged from 0.34 to 1.27% respectively (Alam, 2004). Organic matter values of the old Brahmaputra floodplain ranged from 0.64 to 1.77% and that of Madhupur tract from 0.21 to 1.69% under different cropping patterns and tillages (Hossain et al., 2003).The organic matter content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 1.31%, 1.89% and 2.59% respectively (SRDI, 2001a). The organic matter content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Madhupur upazila values from 2.45%, 1.24% and 2.31% respectively (SRDI, 2001a). The organic matter content in varied from 0.58 to 2.13% of BAU Agriculture farm and also found that the organic matter contents were relatively higher at the surface layer but decreased at soil depth (Mondol, 1998).The organic matter content varied from 0.79 to 2.35% in ten selected soil series of Bangladesh and also observed that the organic matter contents relatively higher at the surface but decreased at soil depth (Fakir, 1998).Present organic Carbon of some non- irrigated soils of Madhupur upazila ranged from 0.5 to 0.85% (Zaman and Nuruzzaman, 1995). The available P content ranged from 9.8 to 12.75ppm at 0-15cm in depth in Sonatala series and the same series the available P content ranged from 5.75 to 9.24ppm at the depth of 15 to 30cm (Huq, 2005). The available P content of the Taras series under AEZ- 5 ranged from 5.04 to 24.9 mg/kg and the available P content of the Jaonia series under AEZ- 6 ranged from 6.48 to 8.58 mg/kg (Alam, 2005). Available P values of the old Brahmaputra floodplain soil varied from 7.0 to 20.0 Â µgg-1 under different cropping patterns and tillages (Hossain et al., 2003). The available P content ranged from 6.7 to 10.4 mg/kg in Barkol series, 8.0 to 11.9 ppm in khadimnagar series, 9.6 to 13.2 ppm in Subalong series, 13.9 to 16.2 ppm in Tejgaon series, 16.2 to 17 ppm in Belabl series, 10.1 to 17.4 ppm in Sonatala series and 11.9 to 17 ppm in Silmondi series (Ahamed, 2002). The available P content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Mymensingh Sadar upazila values from 32 Â µgg-1, 410 Â µgg-1 and 1150 Â µgg-1 respectively (SRDI, 2001a). The available P content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 7.33, 7.20 and 60 Â µgg-1 respectively (SRDI, 2001a). Available P content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Madhupur upazila values from 6, 5 and 8 Â µgg-1 respectively (SRDI, 2001a). The available P content of the non-irrigated surface sub surface soil of Ghatail and Kalihati upazila were 4 to 4.2 ppm and 2 to 26 ppm respectively (Razzaque et al., 1998) The P content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Shahzadpur upazila values from 7 Â µgg-1, 9 Â µgg-1 and 6 Â µgg-1 soil, respectively (SRDI, 1997). Available P contents in Soan River valley soils of lower Shiwaliks of Himachal Pradesh were 2.0 to 29.0 mg Kg-1 (Kumar et al., 1995). The P content of high land, medium high and medium low land under Sathi upazila values from 34Â µgg-1, 34 Â µgg-1 and 17 Â µgg-1 soil, respectively (SRDI, 1992). The Exchangeable Potassium content ranged from 0.09 to 0.93me/l00gm soil at 0-15 cm depth in the Sonatala series and the same series the Exchangeable Potassium content ranged from 0.08 to 0.71me/l00gm soil at the depth of 15-30 cm (Huq, 2005). The Exchangeable K of the Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 0.14to 0.27cmol/kg soil and the Exchangeable K of Jaonia series were ranged 0.33to 0.50cmol/kg soil under AEZ-6 (Alam, 2005). In dry season, the potassium concentration of coastal area of Bangladesh were recorded at the ranged between 0.20 to 1.17me/l00g soil and in wet season the potassium concentration of the same areas were recorded at the ranged between 0.08 to 0.83me/ l00g soil respectively (Alam, 2004). The available K content of the Brahmaputra flood plain soil varied from 0.10 to 0.27meq 100-1 soil and that of Madhupur Tract soil from 0.10 to 0.21meq 100-1 soil under different cropping patterns tillages and depth (Hossain et al., 2003). The K content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 0.27meq l00g-1 soil, 0.30meq l00g-1 soil, and 0.34meq l00 g-1 soil, respectively ( SRDI, 200la). The K content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Madhupur upazila values from 0.21meq l00 g-1 soil, 0.13meq l00g-1 soil, and 0.16meq 100 g-1soil, respectively (SRDI, 200Ib).The K content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 0.16meq l00g-1 soil, 0.19meq l00 g-1 soil, and 0.13meq l00g-1 soil, respectively (SRDI, 200Ic). The exchangeable K of old alluvial soils of some basin was 0.04 to 0.87meq l00g-1 soil (Singh et al., 2000). The series with high clay content required higher level of exchangeable K than a sandy soil to reach the same concentration of soil solution (Ray chaudhuri and Sanayl, 1999). An experiment on some soil properties and found that the water soluble K positively and significantly correlated with exchangeable K (Yadav et al., 1999). The available S content of the Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 16.8 to 17.8 mg/kg and the available S content of Jaonia series were ranged from 12.8 to 19.8 mg/kg under AEZ-6 (Alam, 2005). The available S ranged from 4.20 to 33.9 ppm at 0-15 cm depth in the Sonatala series and the same series the available S content ranged from 1.30 to 30.70 ppm at the depth of 15-30 cm (Huq, 2005). The available Sulphur (S) of soil decrease with increasing the depth of soils. The available S of the Old Brahmaputra Floodplain soil varied from 4.00 to 20.00 Â µgg-1 (Hossain et al., 2003). A laboratory experiment conducted on selected ten soil I series and reported that the available S of Barkol, Khadimnagar, Subalong, Tejgaon and Belabo series ranged from 12.11 tol3.39 ppm, 11.55 to 13.85 ppm, 13.00 to 15.76 ppm (Ahamed, 2002).The S content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Mymensingh upazila values from 16Â µgg-1, 16 Â µgg-1and 13 Â µgg-1 soil, respectively (SRDI, 200Ic). The S status of the non-irrigated surface and sub-surface soils of Ghatail and Kalihati upazila were 2.5 to 47.5 and 2.0 to 30.00 mg/kg, respectively (Razzaque et al., 1998). The S content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Shahzadpur upazila values from 13Â µgg-1, 23 Â µgg-1 and 7 Â µgg-1 soil respectively (SRDI, 1992). The Exchangeable Ca2+ content ranged from 5.74 to 8.23me/l00gm soil at 0-15 cm depth in the Sonatala series and the same series the Exchangeable Ca2+ content ranged from 4.13 to 6.16 me/l00gm soil at the depth of 15-30 cm (Huq, 2005). The Exchangeable Ca content of the Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 5.50 to 14.7cmol/kg soil and the Exchangeable Ca content of Jaonia series were ranged 12.7 to 14.0cmol/kg soil respectively under AEZ-6 (Alam, 2005). The exchangeable Ca content of higher land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 10.20meq l00g1, 15.21meq l00gl and 19.41meq 100g! soil, respectively (SRDI, 200la). The exchangeable Ca content of higher land, medium high land and medium low land under Madhupur upazila values from 0.8meq l00/g, 1.3meq l00/g and 1.3meq l00/g soil, respectively(SRDI, 2001b). The Ca content in non-irrigated surface and sub-surface soil of Ghatail and Kalihati upazila were 1.34 to 6.66meq l00/g and 1.9 to 5.62meq l00/g soil, respectively (Razzaque et al., 1998). Available calcium (Ca) content in some non-irrigated soils of Madhupur ranged from 0.37 to 3.73meq l00/g soil and the mean value was 2.52meq l00/g soil (Zaman and Nuruzzaman, 1995). The cation such as Ca2+ and Mg2+ at the concentrations of 0.68 to 1.98meq l00/g and 0.62 to 3.45meq l00/g soil, respectively (Matin and Anwar, 1994). Exchangeable Mg content in the non irrigated surface and sub surface soils of Ghatail and Kalihati Thana were 0.53-1.35 and 0.5-1.16emol/kg respectively. Portch and Islam (1984) reported that 21% soils of Bangladesh contain Mg below critical level and 25% below optimum level (Razzaque, 1995). Sewage sludge containing domestic wastes can have significant amount of Zn and Cu. The accumulation of Zn was found to affect microbial pollution in soils (McGrath et al., 1995). The range of available Zn content in some non-irrigated soils of Madhupur was 1.05-3.57 Â µgg-1and the mean value was 1.94Â µgg-1 (Zaman and Nuruzzaman, 1995). The Fe status of some soils of Rajasthan (Udaipur district) was 1.32-20.5 ppm (Mehra, 1994). An observed that 8% soils of Bangladesh contain Fe below optimum level (Porch and Islam, 1984). A general and specific investigation conducted across China soil and crop heavy metal contamination. He investigated Cd level in soil in contaminated areas throughout 15 provinces of the country. The results indicated that levels of Ch, Hg and Pb in soils were greater than the governmental standards. Cadmium ranged from 0.45 to 1.04 g/kg on average in the four cities and was as high as 145 mg/kg in soil (Wang et al., 2001). An experiment conducted on the status of separate components of natural ecosystems in the impact zone of the Nizhnekamsk industrial complex in the Tatar Republic, Russia. It was found that the contents of heavy metals in soils and plants of the impact zone were low. However, negative effect of heavy metals on the growth of lichens was observed. Changes in the degree of moistening of the study the Nizhnekamsk industrial complex have resulted in the transformation of the plant cover structure (Changes in species composition of the grass dwarf shrub later, appearance of hygrophytes, increasing role of mesohydrophytes in the phytocenosis, and the decay of trees) and in changes of population characteristics of common red backed vole (Morozkin et al., 2001). The total and available Pb concentrations of road dusts at city areas varied from 57.7 to 212 mg/kg and 0.030 to 2.03 mg/kg but from rural areas 6.2-1.7 mg/kg and 0.02-0.06 mg/kg, respectively. Usually, low Pb was observed from rural areas (Sattar and Blume, 1999). An studied on 30 soil samples from different parent materials in Bangladesh to determine the usual range of the quantities of trace elements and reported that DTPA extractable copper and iron ranged from1.0 to 14.2 mg/kg and 7 to 296 mg/k