Brexit: Causes and the Future of Britain

Brexit: Causes and the Future of Britain Abstract A referendum was held on June 23rd 2016, to decide whether the United Kingdom (UK) should leave or remain as a part of the European Union (EU). This vote is commonly referred to as Brexit merging words Britain and Exit. The 4 nations of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) voted to leave the EU. This paper explores the reasons for the Brexit, its global implications, the current situation and what lies ahead. Keywords:   Referendum, United Kingdom, Brexit, European Union. On June 23rd 2016, a referendum was held to decide whether the UK should leave or remain as a part of the EU, also known as Brexit. The 4 nations of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) participated in the referendum with leave winning by 51.9% to 48.1%, with almost 30 million people voting (Hunt A. & Wheeler B., 2017). To understand the reasons for the referendum and why the UK voted to leave the EU, a brief history of the relationship between the UK with the EU is studied. The reasons to vote for and against Brexit as also analyzed, along with its global consequences. Finally, the current situation and how much of the Brexit has been implemented is discussed. European Union and its History with the United Kingdom After the end of the Second World War, the European nations wanted to end the frequent and costly wars between neighbors. In 1957, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), or ‘Common Market’. (European Union, n. d., para 2). EEC was formed with the goal of economic cooperation between the European nations. The 1960s improved the economy of the EEC members as they started trading without charging custom duties when they traded with each other. On January 1 1973, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the EEC. Greece became the 10th nation in 1981, followed by Spain and Portugal five years later. In 1986, Single European Act was signed, with the intent of allowing free flow of trade across EU borders, creating the ‘Single Market’. (European Union, n. d., para 5). The Maastricht Treaty in 1993 established the European Union (EU), of which the EEC was a main component. The EU was formed with the goal of unifying Europe’s nations under one united foreign policy, common citizenship rights, trade rights and a single currency, called euro. (Pruitt S., 2016). Although the UK became a part of the EU in 1973, the relationship between the UK and the EU has been a turbulent one. The UK applied first applied for EEC membership in 1963. But France’s President Charles de Gaulle vetoed its application, on the worry that English would replace French as the main language of the community. But in 1973, UK was finally allowed into EEC under Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath. (The Telegraph, 2016). But within two years, UK was on the verge on leaving the EEC. In 1975, UK voted on the referendum to whether stay or leave the EEC. 67 percent voted to remain in the EEC. Tension again began in 1984, when UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wanted to reduce British payments to the EEC budget. At that time, the UK was the third poorest country of the EEC, but was paying a lot more to the budget due to its lack of farms. At that time, farm subsidies made up 70 percent of total expenditure. The UK, due to its relatively few farms, got a very small share of the farm subsidies. Margaret Thatcher with her tough talks managed to reduce Britain’s contribution to the EEC from more than 20 percent to about 12 percent. The UK also had issues with the EU regarding France’s ban of British beef during â€Å"mad cow† disease outbreak in the late 90’s, to the decision to allow British chocolates to be sold to rest of Europe in 2000, after a 27-year long dispute. Decision to vote for Brexit In 2011, David Cameron became the first UK prime minister to veto a EU treaty. This was done to protect London’s financial sector and stop a levy on banks. In 2013, he made a speech where he outlined the challenges faced by EU and committed to renegotiate UK’s membership with the EU. At the same time, a lot of support began among British people for the UK Independence Party (UKIP), which held a hard stance with the EU. An ongoing migrant crisis and an economic unrest in the Eurozone increased anti-Europe sentiments. With the increasing support for the UKIP, David Cameron made a pledge in 2013 that if the Conservatives were in power after the 2015 election, there will be an in/out referendum. (Wright O. & Cooper C., 2016) . After coming to power after the election, Cameron promised the vote by end of 2017. He continued his renegotiation with the EU and had managed to make new deals for Britain, which he said was a strong basis to back a Remain vote. To remove the EU vote from holding headlines in the political agenda, David Cameron set an early referendum date of 23rd June, 2016. Reasons for and against Brexit After the decision for the referendum date was taken, a lot of polarizing took place for both sides of the vote-leave or remain. Campaigns for both leave and remain had contrasting opinions of the issues at large. Views for both leave and remain campaign regarding the important issues are discussed below. Main issues of Brexit A lot of arguments for the leave campaign was based on the fact of economic freedom of the UK from the EU, control of UK border from the migrant crisis and trade deals. Arguments of remain was that the vision of the leave campaign lacked convincing detail. (Buttonwood, 2016). Economic Issues The leave campaign had the view that the UK’s links with the EU meant that it cannot make individual trade links with emerging markets like China or India. Leaving the EU would allow UK to diversify its trade deals. However, the remain campaign pointed the fact the 44 percent of UK’s export goes to the other EU countries. Leaving the free-trade agreement of the EU would hurt UK’s economy and leaving EU would be counterproductive. Remain also argued that leaving the EU will hurt the banking industry in UK as trading advantages of being inside the EU helps the banks make profit. The leave campaign rubbished those fears and believed that London would remain a financial capital outside of EU, and banks would still want to be based in UK due to low tax rates. Immigration and Jobs People for the leave campaign had the view that the UK cannot control their border as long they remained a part of EU. EU gives freedom of movement to other EU citizens and an automatic right to live in the UK. (Smith-Riley B., 2016). The immigration crisis also triggered very polarized views. EU had the belief that aiding the refugees was a moral obligation. (Mauldin J., 2016). But people who wanted UK to leave EU had the viewpoint that immigration was a national issue and each country should have their own say on whom they want to enter their country. Remain campaign were of the view that leaving would not solve the migration crisis, but simply shift border control from France to the UK. Regarding jobs, nearly 2.5 million people are employed in UK due to EU trade, which gives freedom of movement for EU citizens. The remain campaign held the view that closing the borders would result in loss of some of those jobs, raising unemployment in the country. Also, businesses may invest less in the UK as they may have to pay high taxes for import and export, outside of â€Å"free trade†. The leave campaign was of the view that the job loss claims were exaggerated. In fact, jobs may flourish in the UK if they can provide better incentives to new businesses like low corporation tax. Defense and Sovereignty Issues People for the leave campaign had the belief that the UK may have to contribute to a EU army to fight against terrorism and other threats. Such a contribution would take away funds and independence from UK’s own military. Remain campaign argued that countries working together would give the best chance to the EU to counter terrorism threats from ISIS and other countries which wants to undermine the EU. Many people who supported the notion of leaving the EU believed that multinational organizations take away control from the individual nations. There was growing mistrust between the countries, coupled with a simultaneous rise in nationalism. There were calls for further economic integration after the euro crisis, which was opposed by the euro sceptics. Remain campaign argued that in this age of globalization, countries must have common economic goals to sustain a healthy economy benefiting everyone. They argued that it is better to remain a part of EU and help change the rules from inside, rather than leave it altogether and have no say in any new decision makings. What happened on June 23rd 2016? How did UK vote? On June 23rd 2016, over 33 million people of the UK countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland cast their vote to either leave or remain in the EU. Leave won by 51.9% to 48.1%. But the voting pattern was different in the 4 countries. While England and Wales voted to leave the EU, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted remain. But the overall vote count had leave have more votes than remain. A breakdown of the vote for leave and remain for the individual countries is given below. Figure 1. Voting pattern for Brexit of the 4 UK countries- in percentages (Hunt A. & Wheeler B., 2017) There was a political fallout as the immediate result to vote for Brexit. Scotland, who had decided to vote to remain in the EU, were forced to leave as the UK voted as a whole. Scotland wanted to go for another referendum to vote and decide whether to remain as a part of the UK, or gain independence and apply to the EU as an independent nation. Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the remain campaign, announced to resign from his position. Theresa May was appointed as the new Prime Minister of UK on 13th July 2016. From the beginning, she was firm in her decision that no attempts should be made by UK to remain as a part of EU or to rejoin it after Brexit. On the other hand, Eurosceptic leaders celebrated as they strongly wanted to withdraw from European Union, or diminish the scope of EU’s legislative influence. There was a political uproar throughout the whole country because people plunged into the phase of uncertainty that could not only affect the global political situation, but also could impact the world economy. Economic & Global impact European single market is a trade bloc, that enables free trade between 28 countries (including UK) that come under the European union. This single market not only enables easy navigation of goods and services between the member countries, and easement of several trading barriers, but also boosts economic growth, helps in effective governance of trade practices, and improves the overall standard of living in the member countries. Brexit will not only hinder smooth trade practices but will also affect the financial markets. Currency Turbulence â€Å"Just a day after Brexit, it had been seen that pound fell sharply against euro. On June 24th, the pound fell to a 31 year low against the dollar.† (Allen K. and Monaghan A., 2016). Sterling also fell against euro. This weaker status of pound against euro brought tension among holidaymakers, tourists, and exporters because pound could then fetch lesser returns and made trading more competitive. Tourists from UK couldn’t travel Europe as comfortably like before as they got lesser money’s worth after Brexit. Reduced Trade The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, popularly known as OECD, which is an association for developed nations, has stated that Brexit would bring a â€Å"major negative shock† in UK. France, Germany and Italy are the stronger members of European Union. They are also key trading allies of UK. But now due to Brexit there will be reduction of trade with these countries due to stringent regulatory policies and lesser labor mobility. UK cannot easily access the European single market. By 2020, GDP would be over 3 percent smaller than otherwise in the U.K.† (Rafal Kierzenkowski et. al., 2016) Domino Effect UK has been the first state to withdraw membership from EU. Since no other state has withdrawn the membership from EU, this could frame a pattern or design that will enable the other member states to increase their momentum of membership withdrawal from EU. In fact, after Britain’s exit from EU, Alternative for Germany (AfD) chairman Bjorn Hocke said I know the German people want to be free of EU slavery.† On the other hand, there can be a different outlook towards exit. â€Å"For instance, Scotland might leave the U.K. to become a stand-alone nation within the EU (like the Republic of Ireland).†Ã‚  (Geewax M., 2016). In a nutshell, Brexit will keep bringing rippling effect that will not only bring disruption in political front or obstruction in the flow of labor, capital and commerce; but will also increase Euroscepticism among the present member states of EU. Brexit’s influence on various industries Housing and commercial property The unreliability and unpredictability of the market after the referendum’s result came out, freaked out the Investors, which also affected the commercial property sector. Estate agents were more affected than house builders. As per Anthony Codling, an analyst at Jefferies, housing sector would be comparatively less affected because government helped the first-time buyers with financial aids. In fact, demand for houses would be vigorous but the cost of construction would keep rising. Building shares kept declining and the most affected housebuilders were Taylor Wimpy, Barkley and Baratt. In FTSE 100, they lost more than 4% in addition to their land securities. (Inman P. and Farrell S., 2016) Retail Retail sector was badly hit, which was already going through a lot of pressure. In fact, before the voting results were even declared, an atmosphere of uncertainty was creeping up. The shopping habits of majority of consumers took a different path. They stopped spending on things that do not come under necessary products. For example, the fashion sales declined drastically and saw the biggest drop in their sales for seven years. As most of the fashion retailers purchase their raw materials from Asia and pay them in dollars, they have been affected more due to the drop in the value of pound.   But some companies have benefitted as well. We know that deflation is the situation in which the supply of money in an economy gets diminished. During this time the purchasing power of money is greater. So, Brexit would help to bring relief to Britain’s supermarkets, which couldn’t earn their desired revenues in last two years due to the deflationary environment. Also, FTSE 100 index is currently at 7343.08 compared to 6338.10 on the day of referendum. This index basically depicted many companies which earned in dollars and not in pounds in UK. Hence, when there was a decline in the value of the pound compared to dollar, their returns multiplied. Telecom â€Å"Vodafone’s announcement that it could  move its headquarters out of the UK  brought one of the most striking impacts of the referendum on corporate Britain.†Ã‚  (Rhiannon B. et. al., 2016).    Since EU has a pivotal role in regulating the telecom sector, Brexit has already put forward many questions against Britain’s own telecom industry. A Spanish telecom company called Telefonica also began their assessment and evaluation of their UK based subsidiary company named O2. An attempt was made to sell O2 to Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison, but that unfortunately got hindered due to concern over competition. Later in October 2016, Telefonica has also renounced their plan of listing O2 in the London Stock Exchange due to the tumult created by Brexit. Also, there could have been rise in the momentum of Vodafone’s merger with the company called Liberty Global, which had taken over British cable group Virgin Media in 2013 to branch out into Europe’s cable market. But due to the turmoil created by Brexit, the valuation of Virgin Media had significantly dropped. Insurance Insurance companies had to mandatorily comply with Solvency II directive of European Union Law. This rule aims in harmonizing EU insurance regulation. Solvency II consists of three pillars, viz., pillar 1, pillar 2 and pillar 3. Pillar 1 states the quantitative requirements and resources that insurance companies need to maintain for meeting the liabilities. Pillar 2 deals with risk management structure, which helps to foresee risk against which capital must be held. Pillar 3 deals with transparency and disclosure of risk and meeting the capital requirements. Lord Turnbull, the former civil service head who served as a board member of Prudential, believed that Brexit would help the global companies who wanted to disassociate themselves from the complex directive of Solvency II. Also, after Brexit investors were in dilemma because of its harm on balance sheets and regular business operations. That’s why insurers had to struggle to minimize the immediate problem of share price fluctuations. Legal & General’s stock declined substantially by 30pc in two days, before it reassured shareholders that its solvency and cash generation were retaining properly. (Williams C., 2016) Energy National Grid and SSE have both urged the Government to ensure Britain remains in the EU’s internal energy market (IEM) that will enable them to perform smooth trading of electricity and gas between UK and the European countries. (Williams C., 2016). Since EU laid an easy pathway for UK to make smooth dealing in regards to receive the utilities and benefits of energy sector, Brexit would bring disruption in the whole process that ran with a continuous synergy. Therefore, the UK consumers will now have to incur more costs for energy consumption because UK’s exit from EU could lead to 500 million pounds rise in the cost of procuring energy as a resource. Transport Airline industry has also been badly hit due to Brexit. Sterling’s sharp depreciation has brought perplexity in the aviation sector because this decline in the value of sterling would reduce the demand to travel. This drop in the value would make traveling more expensive. EasyJet has already speculated that they will have less passengers to travel during summer months, and this uncertainty has forced them to rethink whether they should carry on their business in UK or not. Positive Aspects Pounds weakness would increase tourism in UK. People from all around the world can visit and spend comparatively more than what it used to be before. UK’s hospitality industry can flourish more. Big touristy attractions like Madame Tussauds or Legoland can gain more foot traffic. Even the renowned restaurants and pubs can get more customers. Current Scenario of Brexit’s Implementation Theresa May, the current Prime Minister of the UK has stated that she will trigger Britain’s exit from the EU by end of March, 2017 and begin the two years of negotiations. To begin the negotiations, she must invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, and decide on what deals the UK will make with the EU. According to the deals to be made, people are terming it as either a â€Å"hard† Brexit or a â€Å"soft† Brexit.   Article 50 None of the states have ever left European Union; Britain was the first to do so. This has created a lot of turmoil in global economy. The rules for withdrawal or exit is mentioned in Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon. Lisbon Treaty aimed to make EU more transparent and efficient in functioning. It was a treaty that was agreed by the head officials of EU member countries. But since UK has left the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May would trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017. Though the decision of the referendum was taken in a day, the process of leaving EU will be time consuming. After Article 50 is triggered, no directives or rules of EU that exercise control over its member states, will be applied to Britain. Britain and EU will then become two individual parties to any contracts or agreements, and will have to take every decision through bargains and negotiations. Many economists believe that creating future trade relationships or agreements on crucial policies like immigration or trade tariffs between UK and EU countries can become more difficult and burdensome. Figure 2. Steps to be taken for UK to leave the European Union (Hunt A. & Wheeler B., 2017) Hard and Soft Brexit A hard Brexit will be an arrangement where the UK will surrender its full access to the single market and customs union along with the EU. (Sims A., 2016). The trade relationship will be based initially on the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Going for a hard Brexit will give the UK full control of its border, and decide on trade deals on its own. A soft Brexit on the other hand will mirror the current deals the UK has with the EU as much as possible. It will lose having a seat on the European Council, but may keep access to the open trade market of the EU. The leave campaign members are more inclined towards going for a hard Brexit approach, while the remain campaign wants to take the path of a soft Brexit. However, both approaches come with their own pros and cons. International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, has said a hard Brexit approach would benefit the UK by making it a global trading nation. (Sims A., 2016). However, leaving the open market may subject the British goods and services to tariffs, as well as increase bureaucratic checks on goods. If the UK decides to go for a soft Brexit, London’s position as a financial hub may be kept intact if the UK decides to allow the EU rule of free movement of European nationals to work and settle in the UK. Supreme court ruling The latest update of Brexit’s implementation is the Supreme court ruling. Justices ruled that Prime Minister Theresa May cannot use the privilege to trigger  Article 50  of the Lisbon Treaty and begin the two-year process of negotiating the UKs separation from its EU partners. (Telegraph Reporters, 2017). Britain’s Supreme court has also ruled out that the UK government must hold vote in the Parliament before beginning the process of annulment. (Greene Allen R. & Dewan A., 2017). Though UK Government was dissatisfied with this new ruling but they would abide by it. Jeremy Wright, Attorney General of England and Wales, told reporters that they would agree to court’s ruling but would also take every measure to implement Brexit. Theresa May is playing the key role in enacting Brexit and she looks forward to execute all the plans by the end of March 2017, in association with all who voted for leaving EU. References   (1) Hunt, A. & Wheeler, B. (2017) Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887 (2) European Union. (n. d.) The history of European Union. Retrieved from:   https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/history_en#1945_-_1959 (3) Pruitt, S. (2016) The history behind Brexit. Retrieved from: http://www.history.com/news/the-history-behind-brexit (4) The Telegraph. (2016) Britain’s 40-year relationship with the EU. Retrieved from:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/16/britains-40-year-relationship-with-the-eu/ (5) Wright, O. & Cooper, C. (2016) Brexit: What is it and why are we having an EU referendum? Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/what-is-brexit-why-is-there-an-eu-referendum-a7042791.html (6) Buttonwood. (2016) Eu Referendum- The arguments for voting remain. Retrieved from: http://www.economist.com/blogs/buttonwood/2016/06/eu-referendum-2 (7) Smith-Riley, B. (2016) Leave or remain in the EU? The arguments for and against Brexit. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/16/leave-or-remain-in-the-eu-the-arguments-for-and-against-brexit/ (8) Mauldin, J. (2016) 3 Reasons Brits voted for Brexit. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2016/07/05/3-reasons-brits-voted-for-brexit/#1c8d5991f9d6 (9) Allen, K. & Monaghan, A. (2016) Brexit fallout- the economic impact in six key charts. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/08/brexit-fallout-the-economic-impact-in-six-key-charts (10) Kierzenkowski, R., Pain, N., Rusticelli, E. & Zwart, S. (2016) The economic consequences of Brexit- A taxing decision. Retrieved from: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/the-economic-consequences-of-brexit_5jm0lsvdkf6k-en (11) Geewax, M. (2016) Circle June 23. A vote that day in the U.K. could affect your wallet. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/10/481424109/circle-june-23-a-vote-that-day-in-the-u-k-could-affect-your-wallet (12) Inman, P. and Farrell, S. (2016) Pound hits 31-year low after disappointing service sector data. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/05/pound-hits-31-year-low-after-service-sector-data (13) Rhiannon, B., Dakers, M. & Martin, B. (2016) UK firms mull moves in wake of Brexit. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/06/29/uk-firms-mull-moves-in-wake-of-poll/ (14) Williams, C. (2016) What does Brexit mean for the key parts of the UK economy? Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/07/02/what-does-brexit-mean-for-the-key-parts-of-the-uk-economy/ (15) Sims, A. (2016) What is the difference between hard and soft Brexit? Everything you need to know. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-hard-soft-what-is-the-difference-uk-eu-single-market-freedom-movement-theresa-may-a7342591.html (16) Telegraph Reporters. (2017) Brexit ruling: The Supreme Court judgement in full. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/24/brexit-ruling-supreme-court-judgment-full/ (17) Greene Allen, R. & Dewan, A. (2017) Brexit ruling: UK Supreme Court gives parliament Article 50 vote. Retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/24/europe/brexit-article-50-supreme-court-ruling/

Political Reform in the Schools of Latvia :: Religion in Education Soviet Union Essays

Political Reform in the Schools of Latvia Cataclysmic events sometimes spur educators to reconsider the role of schools in preparing children for citizenship. In the United States, the Great Depression of the 1930's prompted educators to address the appropriate place of the schools in developing citizens for an industrial democracy. In the tiny Baltic nation of Latvia, the sudden breakup of the Soviet Union caused educators to consider the same questions. A remarkable chain of events at the turn of the last decade raised the Iron Curtain and paved the way for a revival of liberal democracy throughout Eastern Europe after fifty years of dictatorial Soviet communism. In 1992, Latvia followed many of its neighbors in declaring its independence. It then turned to the creation of a new government and developing citizens to ensure its continuation. Religion was to play a prominent role. The Church had traditionally been a significant factor in Latvian political and social life, but the early 1990's saw a new religious force in Eastern Europe. Western missionary organizations were searching for footholds from which to evangelize the newly independent nations of Eastern Europe. Two conflicting goals of this evangelism rapidly surfaced. On the one hand, the Church certainly intended to gain converts to Christianity, but it had a political mission as well. Missionaries and their host governments envisioned Christianity as a vehicle to reinstitute a public morality lost under decades of communist rule. In the minds of many, Christian virtue spread throughout the populace would form a necessary foundation for the growth of liberal democracy. Both the Church and the State targeted the schools as the delivery system for moral instruction. However, this use of the schools put them in the untenable position of serving two masters-the Church and the state, two institut ions whose ideologies and goals are ever at odds. Marxist and Christian Worldviews and Education In "ten days that shook the world" in 1917, Lenin's Bolsheviks co-opted the Russian Revolution and ushered into existence a Marxist government. Fundamental to the implementation of communism in Lenin's view was control of the schools. He declared that "The school must become a weapon of the dictatorship of the proletariat" (in Counts, 1957). Under Lenin's successor, Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union expanded its influence into Eastern Europe. In 1945, the Soviets annexed Latvia and restructured the schools in accordance with Stalin's view that education is ".

Coconut: the most economically important member of the great palm family Essay

CHAPTER 1 (BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY) In this modern world considered as the era of comforts, we also face poverty and scarcity of resources because of over population. So, people today are searching for some easier and better ways to save money through substituting commercialized products with improvised and homemade products, economizing, etc. In short people today are just being practical on what they will buy or what they will do to meet their needs. The coconut is the fruit of the most economically important member of the great palm family, Palmae. The genus Cocos are Southeast Asians and contain only one species, Cocos Nucifera.  Cultivated in tropical lowlands, almost always near the sea, the coconut has long been distributed throughout Southeast Asia and along the Tropical African and American coasts. The coconut is known for its great versatility as seen in the many uses of its different parts. For centuries, the coconut pal has supplied the people of the Pacific Islands with food, drink, shelter, and most of their needs. The durian is the fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio. There are 30 recognised Durio species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. Durio zibethinus is the only species available in the international market: other species are sold in their local regions. Regarded by many people in Southeast Asia as the â€Å"king of fruits†, the  durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odor, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow as large as 30 centimeters (12 in) long and 15 centimeters (6 in) in diameter, and it typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb.). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the color of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale yellow to red, depending on the species. Corn (Zea mays) has been grown in the northeast for generations, and is a demanding crop but one that is highly-valued for its use. Corn, Zea mays, is an annual grass in the family Poaceae and is a staple food crop grown all over the world. Corn is the second most important crop in the Philippines. About 14 million Filipinos prefer white corn as their main staple and yellow corn accounts for about 50% of livestock mixed feeds. Some 600,000 farm households depend on corn as a major source of livelihood, in addition to transport services, traders, processors and agricultural input suppliers who directly benefit from corn production, processing, marketing and distribution. Shoe shining is the process of applying an external substance to the surface of a shoe to improve the materials and make it shinier. Shoe shining has been a part of shoe care for hundreds of years. Adding a shine to a shoe brings polish to an outfit. Shoe polish products are low-value items are frequently purchased as a single but might last for several days. The researchers wanted to produce shoe polish out of the coconut husks, durian husks and corn cobs because we found another use for them. This leads to conduct an experiment using the ashes of coconut husk, durian husks and corn cobs for shoe polish. If these products would be successful, it can help in recycling coconut husks, durian husks and corn cobs and can lessen them to avoid them scattering all over our community. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM This study aims to make an effective shoe polish out of ashes from burned coconut husks, durian skins, and corn cobs. Specifically, the study would like to answer the following: * What are the components that are present in the ashes? * How effective is the shoe polish in terms of: – Shine that it could give – Life Span – Color of Polish compared to other brands * What is the difference between the commercial shoe polish from the shoe polish out of ashes from the coconut husks, durian skins, and corn cobs? ASSUMPTION The researchers believed that Coconut husks, Corn Cobs and Durian Skins are effective alternative shoe polish and can make it a source of income. HYPOTHESIS There was no significant difference between the efficiency of our product to the commercial shoe polish that was sold on the market. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY One of the main benefits of a shoe shine is that it helps preserve the material that shoes are made out of. Polishing products also provides the coating of wax on the leather that helps in keeping it waterproof and reduces the dirt accumulated on the leather. Shoe polish also gives a moisturizing effect to the leather and proper care may help in lasting the shoes for several years. Since coconut, durian, and corn is abundant in our country, people can make it a source of livelihood. SCOPE AND LIMITATION The study is focused on the effectiveness of the alternative shoe polish and aims to shine shoes at a long period of time. Furthermore, this study is only limited to the effectiveness, color, shine, duration, and the odor it can give. METHODOLOGY The purpose of this chapter is to present the experimental assumptions underpinning this research, as well as to introduce the research strategy and empirical techniques applied then the materials used in conducting this  study. The chapter defines the scope and limitations of the research design. Materials The researchers utilized the following materials in accomplishing the project: Coconut husks, Corn Cobs, Durian Skins, Coals, Matchsticks, Ashes, Tongs, Strainer, 3 Basins, Pitcher, Water, Measuring Cups, Detergent Bar Soap, Knife, Frying Pan, Spoon, Citric Acid, Glycerin, Dye, and Kerosene. The sun was used as the source of heat to dry the Coconut husks, Corn cobs and Durian skins. The coals and matchsticks are used to burn the three different fruit shells and tongs was used to protect our hands from getting burned. The strainer was used to remove big particles and for us to gather fine ashes. The 3 basins were used as containers of the ashes. The pitcher was used as a container for the water. The measuring cups were used to measure the quantity of the water, citric acid, glycerin, dye and kerosene needed. The knife was used to cut the bar soap. The frying pan and spoon were used in heating up the whole mixture. Procedure The researchers gathered (1) one sack coconut husk, (1) one sack corn cobs and (1) one sack durian skin. After collecting the three different fruit shells the researchers let them stay under the sun for three days to get totally dry. Then after three days the researchers prepared the materials for the burning process. The researchers burned the three different dried fruit shells separately and collected the ashes. Afterwards, they inspect the ashes and they remove the big particles using a strainer. 1.Burn the dried coconut husk, corn cob, and durian skin separately and collect the ashes. 2.Inspect the ashes and remove the big particles. 3.Measure a certain amount of water. 4.Cut the bar soap into small pieces and dissolve it on water. 5.Add the ashes. 6.Heat the mixture until it boils, then stir evenly. 7.After few minutes add the citric acid and the glycerin. 8.Pour into a container. The mixture needs to settle for a number of hours before used.

Communicating with multimedia Essay

Audience (who is it aimed at? Age? Gender? Profession? Etc) This website is aimed at teenagers between the ages of 13-19 and young women between the ages of 20-30 years of age. This website is aimed at ladies between the ages of 14-30 years of age. Purpose (what message are they trying to put across to the audience?) The purpose of their website is to attract both teenagers and young women to buy their latest trends at very keen prices. The purpose of their website is to make the target audience aware of their location, where you are able to get more information about the store and about what they have to offer. What media components are used (e.g. text, pictures, sound, and video?) This website uses text to explain what new look is about and pictures to show users what latest trends are available in their stores. This website uses the media components of text where they make the audience aware of where to find them and what they are all about. Intended impact on audience e.g. to inform, to shock to amuse? Their intended impact on their target audience through the website is to inform their users what they specialise in, the fact that new look is a nationwide company and that their latest trends is available at unbelievable prices. Their intended impact on the target audience is to inform their users of their store locations in different places, their card and certain career options which are available in their store. Tactics used e.g. use of stereotype images to appeal to certain age groups The tactics which New Look uses is that they have more pictures on what they have to offer which attracts the users to what they have in terms of latest trends. Krisp doesn’t really use that many tactics, but only uses text to explain to the target user where the store is and what it has to offer. Is there enough information given? Is it too much or too little or just right? The information which is available on their website is just enough informing their users of basic facts about their stores in the UK. There is very little information about what the store has to offer to the user in terms of fashionable trends and the prices which they are at. Is there enough time to take in the message or is there too much or too little time? E.g. is the speed of the video, slideshow etc too, fast or too slow There is plenty of time for the user to take in the information because once you click on a hyperlink which you wish to go to the in formation stays there so it doesn’t appear or disappear so the users have enough time to take the information in. There is a lot of time for the target user to take in the message in which the website is trying to put across although there is a lot of information to take in. Therefore I would say that the time for the users to take in this message is just about enough. User Interaction. How easy is it for the user to choose where they want to go i.e. from one section to another? It is very easy for the users to be able to interact with their website because they have hyperlinks which inform the users of where they wish to go in the website. It is very easy for the user to link from one page to another, so there are able to find out about the different sections by clicking the big hyperlinks provided by the side of the website. Appearance of the screen. What sorts of backgrounds are used? What colours are used? Is there too much text or too many graphics? How could the layout be improved? The colours which are used for the background of their website are black, pink and white; there is not a lot of text but many more graphics. I think that they should have bolder colours for their website in order to attract more of their target audience and use up a little more space for text instead of leaving wide spaces. The colours in which the website uses for the background is a combination of turquoise, white and blue, I would suggest bolder colours to the background of the website to keep the users interested, also I would suggest a lot more graphics and pictures to inform the target audience of the latest fashion they have in stock and what they look like. Are there any user instructions in the presentation? Do they work well? Could they be made clearer? There are no specific user instructions for the user therefore the user is free to use the website in the way they would wish to use it. There are no user instructions as to how they are able to interact with the website, because they are able to do this freely, as they would wish to interact with the website. Do you think the presentation is effective i.e. does it put its message across clearly and in a way that the viewer will remember? Explain why. I think that the presentation is effective in putting their message across because their target audience seem to keep going back because of their latest trends and in terms of what they have to offer their target audience. I don’t think the presentation is that effective, because the message that they put across to the target audience is not clear, it only gives information as to where the stores are locations and how you are able to contact them about finding out more. I think there should be a lot more information about the stores fashion trends and how they are able to get hold of them. Do you think that one of the presentations is more effective than the other? Explain why. (Remember to take into account who the presentation is aimed at.) The presentation which is most effective to their target audience is New Look because they have a lot more pictures and graphics which show the users what they have to offer and all of their latest fashion trends. Whereas the other presentation doesn’t have any graphics or pictures at all, and this isn’t guaranteed to keep the target audience interested in the presentation. Problem Statement. An age group of 14 – 16 years olds are interested in Information Communication Technology and finding out what it all entails. They are particularly interested to know how a computer operates and the different areas which help them to find out more about this. Design Brief. For this project I have been asked to present a multimedia presentation which is targeted at an age group of 14 – 16 year olds. Concerning this certain age group I will present this presentation in an interesting and sensible way in which the appropriate language technique is used. Specification. This multimedia presentation will be aimed at both male and female students aged between 14 – 16 years. The media in which I intend on using includes pictures and text, in order to explain each section of the presentation through written text and diagrams. I also intend to use sound to attract the target audience to this multimedia presentation. Background For the background of the slides, I plan to have the same coloured background for all of the slides produced in order to make it clear the each slide follows on from the previous slide. I also plan on using a coloured background which stands out, so that people are intrigued by the slides and want to know more about each slide. Colour I will use a combination of a few colours in order for the target audience to be attracted to the slides and to keep the users interested in the slides. Pictures I plan to use clipart pictures so that the presentation keeps the intended user interested in the presentation, also so that I am able to show simply how they are useful in the presentation. Sound I intend to include sound on the presentation but not too much so that the intended user doesn’t get distracted by the background sound. I intend to keep it simple on the subject matter of the presentation using the sound for the interaction of the buttons. Interactivity I will use action buttons on the presentation to allow the user to move backwards and forwards throughout the presentation. Evaluation. I have produced a multimedia presentation based on the subject matter of Information Communication Technology. It is aimed at 14-16 year olds, and uses the most suitable media components including text, pictures, diagrams and sound. The multimedia presentation consists of eleven pages which all have one purpose in the presentation. The first slide is the one in which introduces what the subject matter is about, with a clipart picture and a hyperlink to link the target user to where they are able to find out more about I.C.T. The next slide is an introduction slide stating clearly what I.C.T. about, why it is important and how it can be of usefulness to people in everyday life. The third slide explains how the structure of a computer operates, and you can understand how this works. The fourth, fifth and sixth slides and about input devices, what they do and how we can get access to them with clipart pictures showing you what they look like. Also the seventh, eighth and ninth slides are about Output devices how they operate what they do and clipart pictures to follow these explanations. The tenth and eleventh slides are about where we can store information and the types of different disks which help us store information on and pictures to follow this also. In this multimedia presentation the target users are also able to navigate the slides by using the action buttons provided at the bottom of the slides to link from on slide to another. There is also background sound on each of the slides to amuse the target audience, and to keep them interested in the multimedia presentation. I think that I could improve this multimedia presentation by changing the colour of the background of each slide to make them stand out. However before deciding on what I may be able to improve I plan on getting feedback from the target audience and testing the presentation on them to see what they think and if necessary make any improvements that need to be made. Questionnaire. 1. Did you enjoy the subject matter of the presentation? Yes No 2. How did the layout of the presentation appealed to users? Good Satisfactory Not good 3. What did you think about the colour of the background of the presentation? Good O.K. No good 4. Did you think the language was appropriate for 14 -16 year olds? Yes No 5. Was there too little information? Yes No 6. Were there enough images in the presentation? Yes No 7. How where the sound effects on the presentation? Loud O.K. Faint 8. Was the presentation easy to navigate? Yes No 9. Do you think that the presentation furthered your knowledge and understanding of the presentation on the whole? Yes No Thank you for your time and patience. Changes made to presentation from feedback. Backup folder of Unit 5: Communicating with Multimedia.

Danone Governance Structure Essay

Board of Directors terdiri dari 14 anggota, dengan delapan diantaranya merupakan anggota independen yang dipilih melalui rekomendasi dari Nomination and Compensation Committee. Di dalam Board of Directors termasuk diantaranya Audit Committee, Social Responsibility Committee, dan Nomination and Compensation Committee. Anggota dari Board of Directors per Mei 2012, adalah: †¢Franck Riboud Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Danone †¢Emmanuel Faber Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Deputy General Manager †¢Bernard Hours Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Deputy General Manager of Danone †¢Bruno Bonnell Chairman of Sorobot SAS †¢Richard Goblet d’Alviella Executive Chairman of Sofina SA †¢Yoshihiro Kawabata Senior Managing Director and Head of International Business Division of Yakult Honsha Co. , Ltd. †¢Jean Laurent Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fonciere des Regions †¢Benoit Potier Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L’Air Liquide SA †¢Isabelle Seillier Chairman of J. P. Morgan for France †¢Jean-Michel Severino Managing Partner, â€Å"Investisseur and Partenaire Conseil† †¢Jacques Vincent Chairman of Compassionart †¢Jacques-Antoine Granjon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of vente-privee. com †¢Mouna Sepehri Member of the Executive Committee, Executive Vice-President of RENAULT SAS †¢Virginia A. Stallings Professor of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Secara umum, kami berpendapat bahwa Struktur Corporate Governance dari Danone adalah di bawah rata-rata. Posisi chairman dan CEO telah dijabat oleh Franck Riboud sejak 1996, dan struktur tersebut memberikan kekuatan yang terlalu besar bagi seorang individu. Lima director telah menjabat di Board of Directors selama kurang lebih 12 tahun. Menurut kami, posisi yang hampir permanen dari CEO dan beberapa director dapat menyebabkan hubungan yang nyaman antara mereka dan dapat berakibat pada hilangnya fungsi professional dari board. Misalnya, pada penentuan besaran kompensasi bagi para director sebesar 30% dari nilai saham. Hal tersebut dapat menjadi salah satu pertimbangan dari potential shareholders untuk mengurungkan niatnya menginvestasikan dananya ke Danone.

Jihad Religion and Theology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Jihad Religion and Theology - Research Paper Example Jihad therefore means fighting to have a positive attitude towards Allah’s teachings, and determining to follow them (Khan 48). There are four known form of jihads according to Islamic scholars’ opinions. There is the Jihad of the heart, Jihad of the tongue, jihad of the hand and jihad of the sword. Some people have taken the word to mean â€Å"Holly War†. They therefore have taken advantage of this word, to expand Islamic boundaries and influence. Some Muslims have used such war to fight physically against other non-Muslim people and countries. Jihad started back in the time of Prophet Muhammad. At that time, Muslims had to protect themselves when Prophet Muhammad was moving from Makkah to Madinah where he lived until he died. At that time in Makka, Muslims were in extreme danger, and the chances of their eradication were high. At this point, they gave them permission to guard themselves by afflicting those who were oppressing them violently. The holly Qurâ€⠄¢an allows Muslims address the concerns of aggressive neighbors since God will sustain them. However, it outlaws them thus; they should not exceed their limits. They should maintain discipline by avoiding hurting the blameless. Apparently, according to Qur’an, the Jihad that necessitates the fight within one’s self is the greatest Jihad. ... Muslims should pray for their enemies and those who shun God. Additionally, the jihad of the heart requires that, Muslims should love their fellow Muslims, and feel the brotherhood of faith, which connects them with other Muslims worldwide. Through faith, Muslims should believe that the people of devotion to Allah are in one tent that is different from those of unbelievers. This is so, until God grants the Islamic nation, one regime, which will join all Muslims under this nation, God willing (Anwar 219). The jihad of the heart is a reticent kind of jihad. This happens when Muslims see a person sinning and they think that confronting the person is not wise; they can just silently reject the injustice. Furthermore, Muslims can engage in this kind of jihad by praying constantly, fasting accordingly, and memorizing the Koran. Apparently, Muslims believe that by practicing all this, Allah with his angels will always be close to them. According to Islam, these practices are jihad because; they are all efforts to bring a believer close to Allah. Jihad of the Tongue After the Muslims have achieved purity of spirits, they can conduct the Jihad of the Tongue. This is the kind of jihad where Muslims spread the word of Allah by preaching to other Muslims and non-Muslims. This Jihad is for the most daring Muslims, as they ought to tackle the non-believers with the use of Koran. They ask the non-believers to try to read Koran expecting that they will believe whatever it says. Since this kind of Jihad requires more effort than the Jihad of the heart, which involves keeping to thoughts to ones self, Muslims believe that it receive more reward in heaven. Jihad of the hand After Muslims have successfully gone through the â€Å"Jihad of the heart†, and the

Safety And Danger Of GM Food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

Safety And Danger Of GM Food - Essay Example Using findings from studies that have been conducted and an analysis of the genetic makeup and the number of chromosomes of various organisms, this paper will establish facts about the concept of genetic mutations. It will examine and establish the facts behind the allegation that genetic engineering techniques are the reason behind the increased number of cancer cases globally. Cancer is caused by the existence and persistent growth of cells which are unregulated. It occurs where there is an unregulated growth of cells after cell division in a certain area of the body and the cancerous cells are capable of spreading to other parts of the body. The concept that genetically modified foods are carcinogenic is disputed because the predisposing factors to cancer are vast and their scope is not well understood by experts. Arguments for the case are for the opinion that the genetic composition of humans could be altered the same way that of plants is altered by the introduction of foreign genes thus causing the growth of cancerous cells. Even though there are scientists who see it as baseless, some have still gone ahead and conducted a number of experiments to determine the real effects of genetically modified foods have been conducted using rats. In this particular experiment, a group of rats is fed on a lifelong diet of some of the best selling genetically modified corn while the control experiment was fed with normal nongenetically modified meals. A report by Poulter, 2012, on the studies conducted showed that the rats that were fed with genetically modified corn developed tumors and some of their organs stopped functioning properly. 65 percent of them had developed tumors by the twenty-fourth month. On the other hand, the tumor rate of the rats that had been fed with normal food was at thirty percent (Poulter, web).