Link Between Language Acquisition and Learning Disabilities Essay

Link Between Language Acquisition and Learning Disabilities - Essay Example Behavioral as well as public elements as well need mastery, together with expertise such as connecting, acting in response, and sustaining mutual relations with others. The nature and value of these communication abilities show a discrepancy and modify in due course for successful communicators. From the age of 1 year till 3 years, there is a broad deviation in the level of standard speech and language improvement. Even though the series of signs is expected, the precise timing of their attainment may differ from person to person. Receptive language expertise usually grows earlier than a kid’s capability to create logical expressions, words, and sentences. For a number of kids, the improvement of language skills continues in a standard order although at a sluggish rate than standard. This situation is known as a delay in language acquisition. On the contrary, other kids seem to pursue a different order of language acquisition, which is known as a â€Å"disorder of development † (Shipley & McAfee, 2008). Disorders of language acquisition may have an effect on communicative capabilities only or both communicative as well as receptive capabilities. For kids who have â€Å"normally developed nonverbal cognitive abilities† (Shipley & McAfee, 2008), language issues that are harsh and asserted during the nonexistence of apparent neurologic offense or hearing injury are known as specific language impairments. The occurrence of specific language impairments varies, but a rate of more or less 9 percent of school going kids is mentioned usually. Specific language impairment is more common in males as compared to females, with ratios between 3.7:1 and 5.7:1. The more conventional approximation probably applies to the common population. The point at which a pediatrician become worried regarding a kid’s language development and feels the necessity to as for additional assessment is not an insignificant issue when considering the occurrence of the t rouble as well as the â€Å"developmental sequelae† (Grassi & Barker, 2009) of language disorders. More or less, one third to half of kids having acute language acquisition problems at the age of 2 years carry on to have delays at the age of 3 years. In addition, 65 percent to 95 percent of preschoolers who have language setback and regular nonverbal aptitude keep on showing language troubles up to the age of 20 years after the preliminary analysis. Even though â€Å"average or above-average nonverbal cognitive ability is a good prognostic indicator among children who have specific language impairments† (Lipson & Wixson, 2010), this results on its own does not guarantee ultimate improvement of standard language acquisition. Besides, constant language problems, kids who have specific language impairments are affected in educational, communal, and psychosomatic areas. The sort of language setback seems to be linked with result. Kids who have talking and phonology problem s usually have an enhanced diagnosis as compared to those who have wider impairments of both creation as well as understanding of language. Even though view on the way of dealing with language and speech problems in young kids differs significantly, there are common guiding principles. Kids between the age bracket of one and a half and two years, whose language understanding as well as expression is delayed should be sent for and

American Law Enforcement - Ethical Dillemma Essay

American Law Enforcement - Ethical Dillemma - Essay Example Police ranks often pull together to support their own and when that does not work, the community will justify their actions by not holding them responsible for the outcomes of bad decision making. The ethics within the police rank appears to be teleological, supporting the concept of the means justifying the ends, despite all Constitutional efforts to dissuade this type of thinking. In a world that is becoming ever increasingly violent the service that is entered into by the police should reflect a higher standard of responsibility instead of a shield that protects them from the outcomes of their poor decision making processes. Incidents Death and Justification In the year 2000 Shannon Smith, a mentally disabled man of 27 who often forgot to pay for the gas he would pump into his Cadillac. The $15 dollars in gas was not the first that he had forgotten to pay, but he would remember and go back, or his father would take care of the bill for him when called. On this particular occasion, however, the clerk called the police and a slow pace pursuit began chasing the mentally disabled man across jurisdictions. ... Gabor was later charged with his murder (Reynolds, 2001). Despite evidence that Gabor had used his nightstick to pound on the car window and to kick at the car, he was acquitted of the charges. Smith’s family received $675,000 in a wrongful death settlement against Gabor from the police department who settled on Gabor’s behalf (Reynolds, 2002). On August 31st of this year Michael Vincent Allen was shot 41 times after a high speed chase that included a bashed in front end to a police vehicle. Police contend that at the end of a cul de sac Allen tried to make a u-turn which ended in the damage to the front of the police car, but witnesses contradicted that version and stated that it was the police car that rammed into Allen’s vehicle. The officer’s name, that has yet to be released, stood with his fellow officers and fired 41 times at the suspect while the other officers did not fire off a single shot (Peterson, 2012). The initial police reports supported th e officer through police accounts, but a wider investigation showed that he was aggressive and that he was the only one shooting is suspicious. Officer Mathew Jacob Marin, who has been a police officer for five years, shot and killed a man with only one arm and one leg in a wheelchair when he was cornered by the man who was waving around a metal object which turned out to be a pen. Marin was involved in a previous shooting death during his career when in 2009 he shot a suspect who was stabbing his neighbor and refused to drop the knife when confronted. In the same year, a poll taken by the Chicago Tribune found that 59% of police officers never fire their gun during their career. While the first incident seems justifiable for Marin,

Benefits of Sustainable Water Management in Bangladesh

Benefits of Sustainable Water Management in Bangladesh Food security and surface water management has become a critical need in Bangladesh because of growing demand of food and water. With vision of enhancing food production and employment generation, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Bangladesh gets involved at local level surface water management in 1962. As an apex public organization, LGED performs overall planning and management of surface water at local level by confirming people participation. With past experience, LGED started participatory Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP) in 1995 and built about 580 sub-projects where stakeholders involvement in decision making process has become an integral part of sustainable development in surface water management. The purpose of the paper is to explore the potential contributions of sustainable surface water management in socio-economic development through food production and employment generation at the rural level. It reviews relevant external secondary data sources and internal SSWRDSPs which include sub-project based field data obtained for formulation, implementation, and performance evaluation of SSWRDSPs. Primary sources included extensive field visits, household survey and sub-project beneficiary and Water Management Cooperative Association (WMCA) interviews. Transcripts of field visit, field notes, and relevant literature are analyzed on the basis of themes, patterns and datas of interrelationships among those that addressed the research goal. To ensure true reflection, quantity and quality of data gets highest degree of priority. It is found that well-designed management of surface water resources is vital and essential in ensuring food security and rural employment. 1. Introduction Peoples in the developing countries are in emergency of essentials—food and water, shelter, energy and health although the scenario is quite opposite in the developed nations where the people are facing the difficulties of affluence (Roome, 2002).To attain the food demands of 2050, food production is needed to increase by 3 times. Historically agricultural production is the most suitable way of food production and only that can provide better diets for the people all over the worlds (Avery, 2002).To meet the controversy on the sustainable way of food production this paper tried to established that the participatory approach in surface water management is the most sustainable way of using surface water to increase agricultural production as well as the food production for the future. Now, sustainable food production as well as food for everyones is a global demand. A rising population of Bangladesh with declining agricultural land has put the countrys future food security at risk, especially when salinity in the coastal belt, and droughts and depleting underground water level in the north have become constant realities (Palma, 2010). According to a projection of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics the countrys population will be 170 million by 2020 (BBS, 2001; Population Council, 2010). Bangladesh currently has 8.44 million hectares of cultivable land, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. With 1 percent decrease of arable land due to building of new houses, industrialization, and urbanization the cultivable land area will come down to a little more than 7.0 million hectares in 2020 (MoA, 2007a). Bangladesh had to import nearly 2.0 million tons of food grains in the last fiscal year on top of around 30 million tons of rice and wheat produced domestically (Palma, 2010). These factors might lead to a decrease in productivity as was projected by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007). Though presently the situation of food security appears quite satisfactory, but the scenario was significantly different in past and also its future may not look the same due to increasing population and climatic changes. In 1971-1972 the area under rice production was 9,278.00 thousand hectare and the production was 9889.20 thousand metric ton (BBS, 2008). Due to different initiatives by the government through different organization such as Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) cultivable areas and production increasing day by day such as in 2005-2006 the rice production areas augmented into 10, 529.09 thousand hectare and the production increased into 24, 569.27 thousand metric ton (MoA, 2007b; BBS, 2008). Past experience can be argued that those achievement due to better surface water management preservation and use of surface water, training of farmers to address the depletion of underground water. Otherwise, it was and will be difficult to ensure food security for the ever increasing population (Palma, 2010). However, it is stated that Bangladesh faces some significant challenges in the next century. A combination of population growth, a reduction of arable land and the increasing living standards, will place pressure on food and water security in the country (Khoo, 2010). Brundtland commission (1987) stated that the sustainable food production is the production which should meet the needs and desire of the people without negotiating with the natural resource for the next generation (Roome, 2002). In this light, Participatory approaches in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) for agriculture can be focused as the most sustainable eco-friendly farming as well as sustainable surface water management and food production system. The soil and Water Conservation Society of America stated that the Agricultural farming through surface water management is the most sustainable food production method as it has a unique capability of keeping the soil fertile without remarkable erosion by integrated management system (Avery, 2002). More steps for sustainable food production can be taken as the food production system does not create any negative impact on the environment (Heap, 2002). Moreover, in the face of rapidly changing national, regional and global ec onomic environment, Bangladesh agriculture is facing the challenge to reinvent itself to withstand competition and at the same time continue to provide food and employment opportunities for the vast majority of the population (MoA, 2006). 1.1 Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and its Involvement The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), whose origin dates back to the Rural Works Programme (RWP) initiated in the early 1960s, developed rapidly throughout the 1980s and 1990s. RWP was a component of the Comilla Model of rural development pioneered by the famous Aktar Hamid Khan at Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) nationwide this was started in the early 1960s (Rahman, Rahman Rahman, 2007). In 1982 RWP switched to the Works Programme Wing (WPW) under the Local Government Division (LGD) of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development Co-operatives (MoLGRDC) (MoLG, 1982). Subsequently the administrative decentralization act of 1982 converted it into the Local Government Engineering Bureau (LGEB) in 1984 (MoLGRDC, 1984). With the needs for rural infrastructure development in the country and the readiness of LGEB to take on more responsibilities, LGEB was upgraded as the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in August 1992 (LGD, 1992). It is widely recognised that the role of infrastructure in economic development is significant and often greater than that of investment in other forms of capital (World Bank, 1994). Mujeri (2002) argues that rural infrastructure including irrigation structure play an important role in the socio-economic development of rural areas. Rural works Programme (RWP) and the Thana Irrigation Programme (TIP) and micro-finance have been seen as two interrelated sub-strategies for achieving poverty alleviation (MoLGRD, 1979; MIP, 1998). Comilla Model tried to integrate these two strategies and considered that the breakdown of the interrelationship between the RWP, the TIP and the co-operative would result in undermining of the whole rural development effort through the Comilla experiment (Sen, 1996). With mission and vision of Comilla model of A.H. Khan, LGED got involvement in escalating food production and facilitating food marketing through surface water management by excavating/re-excavating drains and canals, digging new canals, repair and construction of bunds and embankments, reclamation of land for productive purpose, repair and construction of bridges, repair and construction of earthen and pucca roads meant for irrigation and communication in the name of Works Programme and Thana Irrigation Programme (GoEP, 1962). The TIP program gave responsibility to the Union Parishad (UP) members to find out available surface water resources to plan for utmost irrigation coverage by Low Lift Pumps (LLPs). UP members formed project committees under the RWP to re-excavate irrigation canals for better agricultural production (GoEP, 1962). With the same objectives as of TIP, LGED started Canal Digging Programme (CDP) in 1979 initially on voluntary basis and later on with the assistance from Food for Work (FFW) to de-silt sediment filled channels all over the country to boost-up water storage capacity of channels for irrigation. The CDP aimed to increase irrigation water supply, drainage improvement, tree plantation on canal bank and fisheries development. The program implemented 3,276 km of khal re-excavation, 429,597 pond re-excavation projects and 382 hydraulic structures. The benefited area covered under CDP was about 419,500 hectares (IWRMU, 2008). In parallel to CDP, under Rural Employment Sector Programme (RESP) funded by SIDA and NORAD, LGED initiated development of small-scale water resources schemes to increase agricultural as well as food production and rural employment generation in 1986 and the programme was continued up to 1996 (MPIUS, 1998). The project implemented 60 small-scale schemes in six districts (Kurigram, Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur, Gopalgonj and Shariatpur). IDP covered about 20,530 hectares of cultivated land benefiting 51,230 farm families (RESP, 2000; IWRMU, 2008b). LGED has performed excellently in implementing the rural infrastructures in collaboration with local users to increase food production and consequent employment generation (Faruqee Choudhury, 1996). With an aim to provide dry season irrigation facilities by using surface water in increasing rice and non-rice crops production especially in the coastal belt LGED first implemented two rubber dams in Coxs Bazar District in 1995 on a pilot basis. Inspired by the success of the pilot projects, the Government considered rubber dams for wide replication and, consequently, construction of more rubber dams was taken up all over the country. LGED has constructed eleven more rubber dams in 1999-2007 (DoAE LGED, 2005) and started to construct 10 more rubber dams in 2009-2014. Participatory irrigation management and OM have been adopted for the rubber dam projects (DoAE LGED, 2009). 2. Objectives To surface the initiatives of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in food security and employment generation through surface water management with participatory approach. To present the state of the art of the participatory surface water management process in sustainable socio-economic development by increasing crop as well as food production and thereby employment generation in the rural areas of Bangladesh 3. Methodology A detailed and systematic approach was followed to achieve the objectives of this study using two methods. First a broad review of external secondary data sources associated with the topic that included water and food production, irrigation, gender and development, employment generation, surface water management etc. and internal SSWRDSPs which includes the sub-project based field data obtained for formulation, implementation, and performance evaluation of SSWRDSPs were made. Pre-project data were compiled from sub-project appraisal reports while the monitoring and evaluation data were drawn from the Management Information System (MIS) unit of IWRMU, LGED and various project reports. Field information was fetched through befitting exercise supported by the SSWRDSPs and the IWRMU of LGED collected the post-project data after completion of the projects. Methodology of the study also involved two tier exercises. Firstly, information of the pre-status of the sub-projects areas were drawn from relevant published materials and field records and secondly the post-status of the sub-project areas from data obtained from MIS unit. Primary sources included extensive field visits, household survey and sub-project beneficiary and WMCAs interviews. Field workers of Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) were involved in the surveys and interviews. As the author is a fulltime employee of LGED and posted in the IWRMU as a Senior Assistant Engineer (Operation and Maintenance) and also in-charge MIS unit of IWRMU of LGED, got opportunity to involve in every steps of sub-project implementation cycle. Transcripts of field visit, field notes, and relevant literature were analysed on the basis of themes, patterns and datas of interrelationships among those that addressed the research goal. 4. Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Projects of LGED Taking lessons from the performances of the earlier water resources development projects, LGED facilitates sustainable use of water resources with the participation of local stakeholders along with Local Government Institutions involving public and private sectors, communities and individuals in the implementation of Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP) to improve the socio-economic condition that includes food production and employment generation. The Project is implemented in conformity with the National Water Policy (NWP) that stressed integrated water management. The NWP has defined the role of the Local Government Institutions and given the mandate of implementing flood control, drainage and irrigation (FCDI) projects having command areas of 1,000 ha or less to increase the food production and employment generation (MoWR, 1999). The NWP states that water resources management requires involvement of the public and private sectors, communities and indiv iduals that benefit from the delivery of water-related services. Because, the ultimate success and effectiveness of public water resources management projects depends on the peoples acceptance and ownership of each subproject / project (MoWR, 1999). The first project was in the name of Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP) (1995-2002). The project aimed at sustainable growth in agricultural production as well as food production and incomes of about 140,000 farm families in western Bangladesh through the establishment of about 300 small-scale water resources development schemes (LGED, 1995). The phase-1 of SSWRDSP finally completed 280 subproject covering 165,000 hectares of cultivates land that benefits 142,000 farm families in 37 districts (IWRMU, 2008c).The main objectives of the Second Small-Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP) are to enhance agriculture and fish culture and to take effective steps in poverty alleviation through improving the surface water resources in different regions of the country (Rahman, Rahman Rahman, 2007). With the success and gathered experience from SSWRDSP-1 LGED started the 2nd phase of SSWRDSP covering larger areas in 61 districts of the country in 2003(LGED, 2001). The 2nd phase of the project is completed in 2010 (LGED, 2010a) and implements 300 sub-projects all over the country covering 163,000 hectares of cultivates land that benefits 154,000 farm families. The 3rd phase is started in 2010 in the name of Participatory Small Scale Water Resources Sector Project (PSSWRSP) and implementing throughout the country with an aims to develop 300 new sub-projects and for rehabilitation of 160 existing sub-projects (LGED, 2010b). It could be mentioned that another Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Projects funded by JICA also implementing by LGED from 2008 covering 15 districts of greater Mymensingh, Sylhet and Faridpur having a plan to implement 300 sub-projects (LGED, 2010c). In implementing these projects, LGED is very much careful about participatory water management pro cess (MoWR, 2000). It has developed a very innovative framework of participation for addressing local peoples views in development initiative in water sector (LGED, 2009). The local people participate in all stages of the project cycle- identification and feasibility, design and institutional building, construction and first year OM (Operation Maintenance), sustainable O M and their participation is formulized through forming a Water Management Cooperative Association (WMCA) in each sub-project. After completion of the sub-project, the WMCA takes the responsibility of operation and maintenance of the subproject infrastructure (LGED, 2009). Capacity building of WMCAs is another important aspect of the project. Line agencies of the government imparted training to the WMCA members for their capacity building and LGED has signed memorandum of understandings with the agencies concerned (MoWR, 2000). Moreover LGED ensure the stakeholder participation to make the project effective and su stainable development as the interests of the community promotes a convergence among the government, development partners and other stakeholders, is considered as a key strategic step for sustainable investment (FAO, 2010). Monitoring of the completed 580 Sub-projects of the SSWRDSP shows increasing trend in cereal and non-cereal crop as well as food production. The increased crop/food production is due to increased cropping intensity in the subproject area and that intensity generates more employment in respective area. Evaluation of the project has been done by different agencies at different time. Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and WL I delft hydraulics, the Netherlands jointly evaluated the project. In addition Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) under Ministry of Planning Bangladesh also evaluated the project and their findings are very much positive. In general, the evaluation agencies concluded that SSWRDSP has shown a very encouraging development in developing Socio-Economic conditions that includes food production and employment generation in the Sub-project area (BUET, BIDS delft hydraulics, 2 003; IMED, 2005). The project follows a participatory approach of implementation where local people play vital role in all stages of the project cycle. 5. Framework of participation The overall participatory process in subproject development adopted by the LGED is a combination of two parallel but interrelated processes: â€Å"Institutional† involving software elements and Technical involving hardware elements Sub-project implementation is participatory and the whole cycle of subproject development process is sub-divided into four distinct stages as presented below (Figure-1) (LGED, 2009). Stage 1: Identification and Feasibility In consultation with local stakeholders, the Union Parishad (Council) kicks off sub-project proposals. The LGED Upazila Engineer submits it to the Upazila Development Coordination Committee for approval. If approved, the proposal is forwarded to the Integrated Water Resources Management Unit (IWRMU) and to the Project Management Office (PMO) through the LGED Executive Engineer at the district level. IWRMU pre-screens the proposal during a multidisciplinary field reconnaissance. This is followed by (i) Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and (ii) Feasibility Study (FS). Each subproject is reviewed and approved by District Level Inter-Agency Project Evaluation Committee (DLIAPEC). Stage 2: Design and Institution Building Following the approval of DLIAPEC, engineering design and establishment of Water Management Association (WMA) are done along with motivational awareness campaign among stakeholders. Process of establishing WMA is initiated under the legal framework of the Cooperative Societies Act (National Parliament of Bangladesh, 2001). Contracted NGO facilitator creates awareness, generates local enthusiasm in the local water resource systems, promote membership enrolment, assist in collection of beneficiary contributions, and conflict resolution. The WMA is registered with the Department of Co-operative (DoC) and becomes WMCA. The IWRMU undertakes engineering design work in consultation with stakeholders and discusses for their approval. This process concludes in the signing of a formal implementation agreement by the WMCA, Union Parishad and LGED Executive Engineer at district level before tendering for the works or contracting Labor Contracting Societies (LCS). To sign the implementation agree ment, the WMCA must have achieved (i) enrolment of at least 70% of beneficiary households; (ii) collection of beneficiary contributions equivalent to an annual OM requirement and deposited in a joint account by LGED and the WMCA; and (iii) approved plans in consultation with people-affected by the environmental mitigation and resettlement (land acquisition) (MoWR, 2000). Stage 3: Construction and First Year OM Civil works are tendered to contractor and earthworks awarded to LCS groups comprised of local landless, disadvantaged destitute males and females. The WMCA supervises construction through a 7-member committee trained on construction monitoring including one man and one woman from the concern Union Parishad (LGED, 2009). The WMCA forms OM sub-committee and prepares schedule, beneficiary list and maps, and plan comprising operating guidelines, and maintenance and resource mobilization plans. The IWRMU provides on-the-job training that helps WMCA to (i) undertake annual inspection, (ii) identify maintenance needs, (iii) prepare and implement annual OM plan, and (iv) collect OM fees. After observation of the infrastructures management performance during the first year of OM, the sub-project is handed over to the WMCA through a formal lease agreement with LGED (ADB LGED, 2009). The WMCA receives support of agricultural extension and fisheries departments to prepare agriculture and fishe ries development plans and to organize training for WMCA representatives who work as liaison extensions to beneficiaries (ADB, 2008). Stage 4: Sustainable Operation and Maintenance This stage starts after sub-project handover and continues throughout its lifetime. Continuous monitoring and support is provided by the IWRMU of LGED and other partner agencies. The WMCA and O M Committee receive regular training so that they are able to carry out O M of the sub-project. The WMCA Prepare O M Plan, Undertakes routine maintenance works and collects O M fees from direct beneficiaries in proportion to their land area benefited by the sub-project. (LGED, 2009) 6. Participation ‘Participation was first advocated in the context of development authorization in the 1950s due to failed development policies which were thought to lack integration of public concerns throughout their planning. Thus, participatory methods were encouraged as fundamental measures of development. In this process marginal groups (poor, women, indigenous and ethnic minorities) should come together with project authorities to share, negotiate and control decision-making processes (Lisk, 1981; WB, 1985). In each subproject of the SSWRDSP of LGED the organization in the name of WMCA is formed. The WMCAs play basic role to functionally represent beneficiaries in all processes of the sub-project cycle. The stakeholders participation is assessed by institutional and OM activities in the sub-project area. Institutional activities: Institutional activities are assessed by WMCAs functions. These include membership, beneficiarys contribution, capital formation and use and holding of meetings in each subproject. These are monitored quarterly through Upazila level Community Organizers (CO) and district level Socio-economist. WMCAs progress on institutional activities and their capability development in 580 subproject areas as monitored in December 2010 are as follows: WMCA membership: The WMCAs provide an excellent means to address the needs of a range of special interests. The membership in 580 WMCAs consists of 183,831 males and 70,723 females from an estimated total of 297,300 households. Average membership covers about three-forth of the total households. Women all over the world play an active role in agriculture, thus contributing to food security (IFAD, 2007). The WMCA members include marginal, small, medium and large farmers; landless; women and fishers. Women comprised one-third of the first management committee of each of the WMCAs and about 25% of the total membership as the National Policy for Womens Advancement, provides a significant commitments of the Government to equality of women and men which are also reflected in the national poverty reduction strategy that emphasizes the importance of womens rights and opportunities for progress in the battle against poverty (GoB, 2009; ADB, 2010). Each WMCA members elect a Management Committee with at least o ne-third women members. The Management Committee is supported by OM, agricultural, fisheries and credit management subcommittees. Regular Management Committee Meeting and Annual General Meeting are conducted by the WMCAs. Beneficiaryscontribution: the beneficiaries contribution construction of infrastructure in 580 sub-projects amounted (US$1,190.141) of which 89% was collected from the farmers beneficiaries of the water resources development. WMCA capital: These WMCAs have established a capital base in all sub-projects through shares and savings by the members. In 580 sub-projects, the capital accomplished well in excess of Tk 129.82 million (US$1,829). The capital is being used in supporting micro-credit, procurement of agricultural inputs, and other small-scale business enterprises operated by the individual WMCA. WMCAs have set up micro-credit programmess and have loaned to 26,900 male and 12,937 female members. The average size of each loan is about Tk 2,500 (US$ 366). Since the capital formation the cumulative investments of the WMCAs is Tk 110.1 million (US$1.55 million). The DoC inspects and audits the accounts of the WMCAs. The WMCA members have increased their income with investment of micro-credit on quality seed production, poultry farming, milking cow, beef fattening, vegetable production, aquaculture, seasonal crop storage, and grocery shops. WMCA capability development: The WMCAs members are given training to increase their capability in institutional management, capital formation, credit management, sustainable agricultural and fisheries production, improved farm practices, environmental management and subproject OM. Relevant departments and institutes support the project in training need assessments, course development, materials preparation and organisation. LGED has signed memorandum of understanding with the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Department of Cooperatives (DoC), Department of Fisheries (DoF) and Department of Livestock Service (DLS) to support the subproject beneficiaries (LGED, 2006). The DoC supports subproject WMCAs in institutional strengthening and financial management. Field level official of DAE, DoF and DLS support the sub-project farmers and fishers in the preparation and implementation of agricultural and fisheries production plans and use of improved technologies. This has created opportunity for the integratio n and complementary of support services provided by the government departments and sustainable water resources uses for food production with the formation of cooperatives in the sub-projects areas. Three approaches are adopted to provide training to the WMCA members that included beneficiary farmers, fishers and women. The first approach is to identify and communicate with existing relevant programmes and to ensure that WMCA members have access to these programmes. The second approach is that where a need for a new programme is identified, the Project develops the material, testes it by conducting a number of programmes, and then transfers the training material to an appropriate institution. As an example, this is the approach used in establishing management training for the WMCA at the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development. A third approach is used especially for new programmes. The Project works with the relevant institution to jointly prepare the curriculum and training materi als. The training is then delivered by that institution and further developed based on feed-back from participants and monitoring systems. This approach is used in the training delivered by the DAE Agricultural Training Institutes. General improvements during the course of the Project attributable to training impact were observed, in the nature of the institutional support provided to the local stakeholders, in the type of agriculture practiced within the Project area, in aquaculture, and in homestead food production patterns. All of these activities are imparted and monitored by IWRMU LGED. Operation and maintenance (OM)activities: The sub-project beneficiaries prepare annual OM plans and budget and mobilise local resources for the OM costs. LGED initiated extensive training programs for the WMCA OM sub-committee members to perform regular OM for the completed sub-project handed-over to them. The OM sub-committee is responsible for the preparation of annual plan and collection and utilization of funds for OM. Annually each WMCA collects OM fund from the farmers at the rate of 3.0% and 1.5% of the total cost for the subproject earthworks and hydraulic structures, respectively (ADB, 2008; ADB LGED, 2009). Table 1: Operation and Maintenance (O M) Budget (Taka-million) Budget 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 Subprojects No. 233 254 260 289 331 297 372 580 Contribution of GOB 2.99 7.39 15.89 20.48 22.25 24.39 30.73 47.5 Voluntary Labor Contribution 0.41 1.12 2.06 2.53 3.32 3.49 4.19 5.94 Total Collection (Taka) 3.4 8.51 17.95 23.01 25.57 27.88 34.92 47.5 % of voluntary contribution 12.1 13.2 11.5

The Unforgetable A Rose for Emily :: A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner

The Unforgetable A Rose for Emily In "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, we see how past events effect the main character Miss Emily, especially her mental state. She seems to live in a sort of fantasy world where death has no real meaning. Miss Emily refuses to accept or even recognize, the death of her father or that of Colonel Satoris. She does not want to acknowledge the fact that the world around her was changing therefore Miss Emily surrounds herself with death. What Faulkner tries to state in this story is that you should not let death overpower your life. A person should try and let go of their beloved ones after they have passed away. He also tries to state is to always expect the unexpected, like when Miss Emily killed Homer. Faulkner chooses to use third person narration in this particular story for a couple of reasons. He tries to show Emily's world to us as seen through the eyes of a respectable resident, so we can understand the town life as if we lived there. This way we were able to understand how the people of Jefferson thought of her. If the story would have been told in first person we would not have been able to relate to Miss Emily. The reason for that would be, if she would have been the narrator we would have understood the story in a hole different manner. Faulkner used third person narration and from that we were able to find out many things about Miss Emily's past. For instance the death of her father, the love she had for Homer, and how she felt the need for affection. Those ideas she would have kept to herself, if she were to have told the story. The language and dialogue that Faulkner provides Miss Emily with enables the readers to understand how she feels about the town. She is not very pleased with the changes that have occurred therefore she lets everyone that she comes in contact with know how she views those specific changes. For example when the new Mayor tells her that she owes taxes in Jefferson, she just keeps on insisting that she does not owe any money.

Challenges of Hong Kong Essay

Topic: Challenges of Hong Kong’s full service airlines facing today This essay examines the challenges faced by Hong Kong’s full service airlines nowadays. Air transportation serves not only to encourage trade and growth in the tourism industry in Hong Kong, but also to improve people’s mobility and to form a modern society. In this essay, full service airline is defined as traditional airline that provides services such as allocated seat, transfer of baggage between flights, blankets and meals. Full service airlines suffer several challenges in the aspect of production cost for developing advanced system and competition with low-cost airlines nowadays. For this reason, I would like to investigate the challenges in depth according to the above aspects and figure out possible solutions. Challenge 1: Low-cost airline invasion In recent years, the airline industry has undergone a revolution caused by the growth in population of low-cost carriers, which are airlines that provide discounted fares and no-frills service to passengers, and the increase in the number of low-cost carriers caused a huge growth in departure and arrival of regional airports and established a brand new market in short-break tourism. While low-cost airlines are gaining an increased market share within the industry, the full-service airlines are struggling. Numbers of full-service airlines are on the edge of bankruptcy, and some even had to sign agreements or mergers to ensure their long-run existence. To compete with the no-frills airlines, some full service airlines had set up their own low-cost subsidiary, but a few of them ended up in operational losses, forced to sell their subsidiary. Pels (2008) describes full service airlines as aiming to offer ‘quality’, whereas no-frills carriers aim to keep costs low. He states that although it may be difficult for low-cost airlines to earn money on ticket sales, they may gain profit on board by selling snacks and beverages, and from the airports depart from or land on. Moreover, most low-cost airlines promote themselves for their transparency in the pricing system, thus keeping air travel remarkably affordable, despite the high cost of jet fuel. As low-fare airlines ‘invades’ the airline industry, full service airlines will not only encounter fare pressure, but will also have to progressively  fight with the upstarts for takeoff, landing slots and gate space in Hong Kong or other crowded airports in Asia. In order to encounter this challenge, the airline should emphasize on the services it provides, and focus on improving their flights operations both in the air and on the ground, utilizing optimum flight management procedures and providing customers with sustainable products and services, in order to compete with the rising trend of low-cost airlines. Challenge 2: Managing destinations Full service airlines use the Hub and Spoke System, which enables passengers to travel from one smaller city to another smaller city via a hub or even two hubs. This system not only service more cities at a lower cost, but also maximizes passenger loads, thus saving fuels. Low-cost airlines use ‘simple’ point-to-point networks, as they operate routes which originate or end at a major airport, which allows them to enter any market they see fit. Thus, if the route turns out to be unprofitable, the low-cost carrier will close it down. According to Pels (2008), full service airlines cannot easily withdraw from a market, even if it is hardly profitable, because a full-service carrier’s link between a hub airport and spoke airport serves many different indirect markets. If this route is closed because of the decrease in load factor due to competition on the market between the hub airports and spoke airports, passengers and profits, in all other markets using this link a re lost. According to a survey by the Company Barclaycard, a relatively large number of the business travellers (71%) used low-cost airlines for business trips. This indicates that passenger preferences may be shifting to low-cost, less service airlines. The low-cost carrier attracts passengers from the full-service airlines, thus causes competition and reduces load factors and profits for the full-service airlines. In order to solve this problem, full-service airlines can offer more low-fare tickets on short-haul routes, and use short-haul routes as feeders for the global markets where they make most profits. Even though the competition for indirect travellers is very intense, they will allow conventional airlines to maintain a large network with relatively high frequencies. Challenge 3: Investment on the advanced technology With the rapid development in advanced technologies and popular use in mobile gadgets, reserving a seat on the plane is just one click ahead. Simply by browsing the website of their desired airline, customers will be able to get all the relevant information they will need to plan their trip, including the list of fares in specific dates and allocation of the seats on the aircraft. In addition, systems like automatic airport check-ins and ticketless air travel are getting more popular, and will be the future trends in the airline industry. Therefore, in order to provide the passengers accessibility in online reservations and to build up the image of a green airline, investments are needed to be made on improving the systems. Acknowledging the numerous benefits provided by the internet, airlines have been investing resources in their websites. Standing (2000) claimed that the Web has changed from pushing firms and services to pulling clients into value-added opportunities that a company provides. Airlines do not only compete among each other, they also compete with online travel agents such as Expedia. Thus, to solve this challenge, the airlines should entice travellers to book their trips via the airline’s website, by providing extra benefits to customers when they purchase online. Conclusion To summarize, the challenges that full service airlines in Hong Kong faced are the rising of low-cost airlines, the managing of destinations and huge investments made on developing and improving the systems for reservation and check-ins. It is crucial for airlines to understand that when passengers purchase an airline seat, they are not just paying for a seat in the aircraft; they also purchase the service behind. In order to attract a consumer’s attention, benefits or attributes of using full service airlines and low cost carriers such as price, safety, network connections, and service will be important. REFERENCES: Cooper C. and et al. (1999) Tourism: Principles and Practice, 2nd ed., Longman Publishing: Harlow. Driver, J. (1999). Developments in airline marketing practice. Journal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science, 5 (5), 134–150. Law, R. & Leung, R. (2000). A Study of Airlines’ Online Reservation Services on the Internet. Journal of Travel Research, 39 (2), 202-211. Moiseiwitsch, J. (2012). Budget airlines find Hong Kong a tough market to crack. In South China Morning Post. Retrieved November 6, 2014 from http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1404255/budget-airlines-find-hong-kong-tough-market-crack Pels, E. (2008). Airline network competition: Full-service airlines, low-cost airlines and long-haul markets. Research in Transportation Economics, 24 (1), 68-74. Sigala M. (2003) The Information and Communication Technologies Productivity Impact on the UK Hotel Sector, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 23(10), 1224-45. Wang, J. & Lee, S. (2014). Asia’s Budget Airline Invasion. In Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved November 6, 2014 from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-13/asias-budget-airline-invasion-cathay-pacific-defends-hong-kong

Are Filipinos Ready for Globalization? Essay

Globalization deeply affects the values and structure of Philippine society. The State has a responsibility of protecting its citizenry and environment to the possible effects of it. Globalization is not the cure-all answer for our economic woes. There are more things to life than a competitive market or liberalization. It does automatically lead to economic growth, much less societal development and progress. There are other dimensions and considerations in the development of a nation. There needs to be a societal framework and a set of institutions to ensure the appropriate and justified working of an open market economy. Economic performance is heavily dependent on the vitality of institutions outside the economy – the institutions of political, cultural, and social life as well as institutions that ensure the integrity of nature. The economy dies if society around it dies. Markets are important but they need the support of the appropriate institutions to function properly and effectively. A vibrant culture and a just polity are essential for an efficient economy. The Philippine Agenda 21 is the unique response of the country to global challenges. It embarked on a threefolding stakeholdership as a means to achieve a more compassionate economy within the context of sustainable development. This participatory activity involves the civil society representing culture, government representing polity and business representing the economy. This development approaches have more chances of working since the development perspective encompasses all dimension of society. In order to fully participate in globalization without sacrificing national interest and patrimony, the State must address the five goal elements of PA 21 namely, poverty reduction, social equity, empowerment and good governance, peace and solidarity and ecological integrity. Globalization brings fears to the Filipino workers. The fall of protectionism and other barriers to trade contribute much to the uncertainties that workers face today. The State has a vital role in developing the skills and improving the welfare of the Filipino workers for them to face globalization squarely. He must have the necessary training and equipment to protect him against the dislocations and uncertainties emerging from globalization. Meanwhile, rather than toe the line of rich nations pursuing globalization as a way out of their economic crisis or stagnation, the government can curb landlessness, joblessness and homelessness instead. Protecting national patrimony, pursuing genuine land reform and developing basic industries are among the best alternatives to take for now. The greatest challenge posed against the country in this whole globalization phenomena is keeping the solid of identity of Filipinos. More than the basic needs, it is primary that the Philippines be wary of the whole system of globalization which seems bent on eating up what is left of the country. In these times when the trend is outward looking, it is important for us to keep our eyes on what is here and what must be done here now. The interest of the Filipinos above all must be our priority. When we have done our duty to each and every Filipino, then we are ready and capable to face global challenges. The key to a competitive future lies in working for and engaging in an integrated community and working aggressively to make ourselves a dynamic and productive economy in our own right. We must band together and integrate our efforts to prove our worth to our neighboring countries. We, as a country must prove itself equal to the challenge of global competition. Perhaps, I am quite pessimistic about this whole globalization thing as I feel we have burned many times over by the domination of the Western world. A part of me could sense that globalization is another form of Western conquer in disguise. But then, I also know that globalization is inevitable and our country escaping the trend of globalization is even more inevitable. I am amazed by the fact that today, a whole realm of information is right at every person’s fingertips. If we look through history, power and authority took many forms. At first, power lies with he who has the land. Eventually, he who has the political position has the authority. He who manages most of the resources was regarded as the most powerful. Today, it is a battle of who holds the most and right information at the right time. And the battle for information takes on many dimensions. I guess this is one phase of globalization that continues to enthrall me. And in this world of information, I see Filipinos positioning themselves as brilliant instruments of technology. It is undeniable that in every country is a Filipino community. It is my pride that in the ICT industry, Filipinos are one of the premiere service providers. With this as our strength, maybe capitalizing on our human resources can be the answer to addressing the negative travails of globalization. With a Filipino in every corner of the world, who really knows how we can go in changing the world? The Chinese have done it. Every Chinese community in every country is regarded as a thriving community. Maybe we can do the same. As globalization is inevitable, Filipinos must find ways on how to adapt to the new system and still make a mark, not leaving behind the Filipino identity.