A Unified And Empowered Europe Towards Modernization Essay Example for Free

A Unified And Empowered Europe Towards Modernization Essay No matter how historical events are being interpreted Europe’s history after World War II suggest just one clear reality: it has unified its countries which were once shattered by bitter invasion and had since then been trying to move towards an empowered modern Europe. For whatever reasons others cannot believe and accept such reality, there is one certain thing about Europe after World War II: Europe’s dream of modernization defied its diversity of culture and differing political ideals. Before the war, Europe has traditionally been divided into East and West based by different political system; Communism and Capitalism. A new blend of Europe has been the main path which directed its member countries after the war. It is for this reason that this writer proposed to integrate the concept of unity or unification in the thematic title of this course. There are several events that will justify this assumption. For example, the power of Communism has significantly weakened after the war and so were the influences it left in the formerly communist countries then known as the Eastern bloc. With the call for unification and reconciliation by Winston Churchill in 1946 and the creation of European Union of Federalists, the desire of the people to completely pin down Soviet Union arose and heightened. The call for the establishment of United States in Europe called for uprisings and movements to express their disgust to its proponents. These events, instead of creating conflict had provided the people the opportunity to block the domination of European Union of Federalists and the United Nations of Europe and so the European (Atlantic) model of government was born. With the nationalistic aim of Schumann and Benet, Europeans were encouraged to reconciliation. What is remarkable however in with Schumann and Benet was that they were against America’s entering into the scene. The two stood to their beliefs that the Franco-German reconciliation should be left to the sole responsibility of the Europeans and not with the help of any nation. With this we can say that these European leaders genuinely aimed for a long-term unity of European countries. Europe also took vital steps towards modernization and progress by means of allowing the spirit of reconciliation dominates them. On May 01, 1950, the famous Schuman Declaration occurred which brought hopes for progress to the unifying Europe. The establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community marked that date in the European calendar. Such community was vital in the initial steps taken by Europe in moving towards genuine progress. The declaration made Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg nod to the proposal of an authority. This is first time in the European history that these powerful countries agreed and united. Culture and religion were also major elements which played in the ideological division of Europe into East and West. However with modernization and the end of Cold War, Europe removed these walls. It is important to note that West Europe was then dominated by Western Christianity religion while the East bloc was dominated by Orthodox Christianity and Islam. Because of these, member countries of the two divisions clashed trying to display dominance over the other and genocide was the other’s most powerful tool. With the establishment of the European Union, eastern borders were extended through the countries dominated by Western and Eastern Orthodox civilizations. The memberships of most protestant and Roman Catholic countries in the European Union finally erased the mark of cultural conflict between the two divisions. The step by step movement of European countries towards unification brought considerably good results for the whole European nation. Despite the resistance of others to join the prominent European Union, Europe obviously is moving forward towards globalization. Although it is not the union which solely and ultimately unified Europe and its people, somehow the prominence of the European organization is of great help. As of May 2004, the European Union has 25 member countries after 10 countries joined including Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Cyprus and others. Such memberships are indications of the member countries’ willingness to extend help to each other. More importantly, these member countries now recognize a higher authority other than their own. With growing concerns on national security and issues of war and human aggression, European Union’s leaders have been criticizing each other point out the shortcomings of one another. Such disagreements do not however suggest that E. U. can no more live up to its dream of ultimate peace and unity. These situations especially in the political arena are indicative of the active participation and exercise of their power to choose and to independently decide for their people. Their unity as a legacy of the wars does not necessarily requires them to implement uniform laws and policies to their constituents. United Europe after the war had actually provided each member country the sense of accountability and responsibility by defending their stand over an issue that significantly affect them. Despite the diversity of culture and its bitter past, united Europe has been continuously moving towards a globally competitive and empowered nation. The wars undoubtedly left the enduring culture of hatred and violence behind. Europe was left with one vital responsibility to take: use its available time and resources to manage its economic, social and political affairs in the most prudent manner in such a way that it has secured its people and their future. There were no more walls in their midst, no more threat of genocide, and no more religious conflicts. Everyone is free to live a peaceful life in the land where no culture is regarded dominant over the other.

Solid Waste Management Techniques For Jalgaon City Environmental Sciences Essay

Solid Waste Management Techniques For Jalgaon City Environmental Sciences Essay Solid waste management in India has become a major environmental issue of study increasing environmental concerns and interest in material and energy conservation have lead to increasing advancement in management of solid waste over the past two decades. This paper attempts to put together available information and analyze the problem of solid waste. Proper management of solid municipal waste can play an important role in generation of social, economic and environmental benefits. This paper revolves around the urban solid waste also outlines a solid waste management in Jalgaon city. This paper discusses various future projections for estimating the growth of MSW and the impact of such growth. This paper concludes about collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste for Jalgaon city. The conclusion and recommendation will helpful in disposing of solid waste in scientific manner for Jalgaon City. Keywords: Solid waste management, Environmental issues, future projections. INTRODUCTION In last few years in Jalgaon city the increase in solid waste management plays significant role. This is because of rapid economic development and rapid increase in population in Jalgaon city. This trend is due to change in the living standards of Indian peoples, changing lifestyle and food habits. The municipal council in Jalgaon city therefore, facing the problem of reinforcing their available manpower, equipments and machineries for excellent municipal solid waste management. Solid waste management is undoubtedly an increasingly important element in terms of efficiency and profitability for any municipality, particularly in Jalgaon City. Its especially complex dimension is a result not only of the direct relationship with a number of factors that originate the living standard of a society, but also of our continuously rising consuming lifestyle which analogically enhances the existing operational difficulties. Waste collection transportation is one of the major parts of the process of solid waste management which consists of generation, collection, transportation, treatment and final disposal [3]. It is statistically proved that a major proportion of the total cost for solid waste management is spent into municipal solid waste collection transportation and disposal. Having pinpointed the economic significance of waste collection transportation and disposal, it is equally important to underline that it is also one of the most difficult operational probl ems faced by local authorities in Jalgaon city. The sheer enormity of the project dictates that well organized, well managed teams perform the necessary duties on a daily basis, in order to sustain the demanding hygienic standards that are expected by the Jalgaon citys residents. URBAN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Due to rapid industrialization in urban areas huge quantity of municipal solid waste and e-waste is generated. During the mid seventies the per capita solid waste generated lies in between 100 to 350 gm/day for Indian cities whereas in late eighties, it ranges in between 300 to 530 gm/day. Presently the per capita solid waste and e-waste generated daily in developing country like India ranges about 150 gm in small villages to 550 gm in large town [1]. The urban population is currently about one quarter of total population. The collection of waste is tedious problem as house hold waste are thrown outside in the streets and also due to narrow lanes, the smaller vehicles to collect the waste can reach only to the selected accessible points. Hence, unskilled labours are used to sweep the narrow streets and collect the waste and garbage. Though unskilled labours rates are relatively less due to large scale manpower it is estimated that India spends five times as much on sweeping as on refuse collection[2]. Poor motivation of workers, inadequacy of supervisory and management skills at local government levels are leading causes of low productivity. The problem needs to pay attention at proper levels. The three Rs of waste management namely Reduce, Recycle and Recover. The recycling is achieved through kabaries (peoples handling waste) who goes to door to door and collect bottles, broken plastics, metals, waste papers, etc. this material is recycled for manufacturing the secondary product. 2.1 Land filling Like other cities in Jalgaon city most of the waste is used for land filling. The methods followed are not in keeping with modern practices for sanitary land filling. The municipal solid waste is directly dumped on land filling area. This dumping is normally done in depressions which are prone to flooding. Due to this surface water contamination causes due to flooding of such low laying areas and also the ground water pollution causes due to dumping of such waste. Diversion of land for waste disposal is impossible since areas with the largest concentration of solid waste would also be the areas with serious scarcity of vacant lands. This causes ill-effect on the health on the community residing nearby, causes bad odor and the community nearby liable to fear of explosion of methane gas that can accumulated at land fill sites[3], which significantly contributes to global warming. 2.2 Composting The excellent option for solid waste management is composting for urban solid waste in India [4]. The composting may be by aerobic or anaerobic decomposition. In urban solid waste in India a huge quantity of organic content and moisture is present. Conceptually, the idea of composting is appealing as it helps to recycle the nutrients back to the land. Composting process requires segregation of material which is achieved by recycling by kabadies. The composting however still remains strong option for small and medium towns. Semi-mechanized aerobic composting is suitable to reduce the waste volume in the towns. 2.3 Incineration Incineration is the most important treatment method for destruction of all high calorific and highly toxic solid waste. High temperature incineration at 12000C mineralizes all kinds of organic material in solid waste [4]. Nearly 99.99% of various compounds are destructed. Incineration serves dual purpose of reduction of toxicity and the volume of the waste which is an important consideration when the disposal of waste is finally destined for landfills. The technology for incineration is not available indigenously and import options are highly capital intensive. 2.4 Anaerobic digestion [4] For high moisture and organic content of Indian Wastes, the anaerobic digestion is another suitable option. However, there are no ready technologies for processing heterogeneous material such as urban solid waste. The existing methods are suitable to homogeneous materials. The cost of cleaning and separating mixed heterogeneous wastes are likely to be high. A good way to avoid these problems is to intercept suitable wastes at the point of generation before it is mixed with other wastes. Kitchen and vegetable market wastes are largely suited for this purpose. These wastes can be collected and treated at source, if space permits. The resulting bio-gas can be used for captive energy use such as lighting and cooking etc. few bio-gas systems are currently available to treat wastes of fruit and vegetable origin. Though currently unfeasible as a large scale option, bio-gas systems can effectively handle localized and specific wastes and contribute to environment friendly disposal of wastes. THE CASE OF JALGAON CITY The Jalgaon Municipal limit covers an area of 68.24sqkm, out of which 11.45sqkm is the old municipal limit and 56.79sqkm is the extended additional area. This indicates that the Municipal territorial jurisdiction has increased more than four times i.e. from 11.45sqkm to 68.24sqkm. The overall population density of Jalgaon city, according to 2001 census5 is 53.94 inhabitant/hectares. The population of Jalgaon city will grow from 3, 68,000 in 2001 to 8,55,821 in 2033 as per the table 1 shown below. The population of Jalgaon city will increase nearly 43% till 2033. The municipal solid waste generated in the city is 226 tons/day as shown in Table (3). TABLE (1) Population Projection [6] Method Population Projection Geometric rate of increase 2001 2006 2011 2021 2033 368000 430903 530607 693214 855821 With rapid urbanization, industrialization and population growth the municipal solid waste (MSW) which has been a problem in past has become a serious threat in recent years and the situation is going to be worst in coming years if appropriate measures are not taken immediately, keeping in view the seriousness of the issue and its linkages with the economic growth, environmental degradation and health hazards. Dumping the waste as a waste has two fold negative implications. On the other hand, it pollutes the air, water and land resulting in diseases and destruction of human habitat. Garbage collection and disposal, as SWM was known earlier, constituted an obligatory function of the municipalities and continues to be so. As per the guidelines of Honorable Supreme Court of March 1999 and Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, September 2000, solid waste management system has been recognized. However, comprehensive rules at the national level came to be framed only after the Supreme Court passed orders in the public interest. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) notified the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules in September 2000 and they are applicable to every municipal body in the country. It was mandatory for the city of Jalgaon also to revamp its SWM services, since there is a need to make substantial improvement in the SWM practices prevailing in the city to meet the standards. It was necessary to address this problem systematically by going into all aspects of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) and devise a simple but cost effective system which must ensure desired level of collection, transportation and disposal. The civic services in the city of Jalgaon are managed by Jalgaon City Municipal Corporation. Managing solid waste generated in the city collection, transportation and its safe disposal is one of the most priority area of attention for improvement of the Municipal Solid Waste Management in light of the MSW Rules 2000. Like most of the cities towns in India, this service falls short of the desired level in Jalgaon as the present systems adopted are outdated and inefficient to meet the standards (MSW Rules 2000). Lot of factors contribute to this present status, the main being lack of knowledge and improper choice of technology coupled with a lack of long term planning. Jalgaon City Municipal Corporation has initiated the process of taking correctiv e measures by implementing a new collection and transportation system along with processing and disposal system comparable to those of modern era. Figure. 1. Solid Waste Disposal Sites [5] 3.1 Existing Status of Collection and Disposal The Jalgaon City Municipal Corporation is responsible for collection, disposal and management of MSW within the city. Due to rapid urbanization and increase in population waste collection and its transportation and disposal is a challenging task to the urban local bodies. No specific land was reserved for compost depot in the sanctioned development plan of the old city limits. The waste generated is disposed in an unscientific manner. The manpower and transport system is inadequate for the waste management of the city. The solid waste generated in the city mainly consists of domestic refuse (including slum area), waste from commercial areas, vegetable and fruit markets, slaughter houses, bio-medical wastes, wastes from hotels and restaurants and industrial solid wastes [7]. The waste generation is large in the high-income groups followed by middle and low-income group. TABLE (2) Physical composition of solid waste in Jalgaon city[5] Sr. No. Physical Composition Income Groups (%) LIG MIG HIG 1 Compostable 45.0 72.2 68.0 2 Paper 4.5 4.25 5.5 3 Plastic 3.5 2.9 3.6 4 Glass 0.9 0.0 09.0 5 Metal 0.5 0.0 0.5 6 Rag 5.4 0.13 1.7 7 Earthen matter 40.0 20.3 11.4 8 Leather 0.2 0.22 0.3 The average collection efficiency for MSW in Indian Cities is about 72.5% and around 70% of the cities lack adequate waste transport capacities (TERI 1998). Open dumping of garbage facilitates the breeding for disease vectors such flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, rats and other pests (CPCB 2000) FUTURE SCENARIO Waste generation and its impacts in India, the amount of waste generated per capita is estimated to increase at a rate of 1% 1.33% annually [8]. The calculated value of per capita waste generation in 1997 is 0.468 kg. It is estimated that the total waste quantity generated in 2047 would be approximately above 260 million tones more than five times the present level. Generation of waste in Jalgaon City The Jalgaon Municipal area is subdivided in 16 health units for collection and transportation of waste. The average per capita waste generation is 0.491kg/capita/day [12]. The amount of waste generated is about 226 tons per day as shown in Table (3). Proposed Technological Inventions Jalgaon city has lagged behind in terms of adopting technologies for solid waste management. In particular, collection, treatment and disposal of waste require urgent consideration. Collection of waste The preferred option would be to revamp the existing collection service structure to provide community with waste bins, conveniently placed for the people to deposit domestic waste, and door to door collection of waste [9]. Solid waste treatment and disposal techniques Disposal is a no alternative option because it is the last functional element in the solid waste management system and ultimate fate of all waste that are of no further value. Proper segregation of waste would lead to better options and opportunities for its scientific disposal [10]. Recyclable for example, could be straightway transported to recycling units, which, in turn, would pay the corporation for it, thereby increasing their income. Finally, the inert material that will be required to be sent to landfill would be of much lower quantity compared to un-segregated waste, consequently increasing the life of our existing disposal facilities. Segregation should be done into following ways for Jalgaon city, Wet organic matter Composting Dry organic matter Fuel bricks Plastic items Recycling Construction waste Paving blocks Scrap materials Recycling Inert other materials Land filling Strategic Planning (Flow Diagram) For SWM For Jalgaon City Dry Organic Matter Plastic Items Construction Waste Scrap Materials Inert and other Building Materials Wet Organic Matter Composting Fuel Bricks Recycling Paving Blocks Recycling Land filling Segregation Waste Disposal Site TS- 1 TS- 1 TS- 1 TS- 1 HU-2 HU-12 HU-13 HU-14 HU-1 HU-3 HU-4 HU-16 HU-5 HU-6 HU-7 HU-8 HU-9 HU-10 HU-11 HU-15 Figure 2. Strategic Planning (Flow Diagram) For SWM For Jalgaon City Solid Waste Collection, Transportation Model for Jalgaon City Collection Home to Home Collection Mechanical Road Swiping Manual Road Swiping Bulk Generator Litter Bins Transfer Station (Compactor) Transportation Processing and Disposal Processing Unit Segregation Wet Organic Matter Wet Organic Matter Dry Organic Matter Plastic Items Construction Waste Scrap Material Inert and other Building Material Fuel Bricks Recycling Paving Blocks Recycling Land filling Figure 3. Solid Waste Collection, Transportation Model for Jalgaon City Composting Composting is one system which transforms the biodegradable organic material into biologically stable material and in the process reduce the organic volume of waste; to destroy pathogens, insects eggs and other unwanted organisms and weed seed that may be present in municipal solid waste and to retain the maximum nutrient (NPK) content and to produce a product that can be used to support plant growth and as soil amendment [11]. The solid waste from Jalgaon city has been found to contain on an average range of 30 to 40% biodegradable matter. Apart from it, the CN ratio of waste (i.e. 20) on average is within range required for composting i.e. 20 to 25% [11] It was estimated that depending on locality and climate 450 to 500kg of compost can be produced from 1 tons of waste. Based on above discussion it is recommended that composting can be considered as safe, economic disposal method of municipal solid waste generated from Jalgaon city. Dry organic matter may be used for preparation of fuel bricks as energy source. After segregation of solid waste recyclable items are separated out and resource can be utilized for paving blocks. Land filling Solid waste management may be used to improve natural features by raising the level of low lying land to enable it to be used for cultivation or industrial development. The percentage of inert, inorganic and non-biodegradable organic matter is present in adequate quantity in solid waste of Jalgaon city and as for as this quantity is concerned the use of sanitary land filling seems alternative to use as means of disposal land filling method is cheapest method of refuse disposal. TABLE (3) Total Waste Generation for Jalgaon City [5] Health Unit Nature of Generators And Expected Quantity in Kilograms 0.491 / Capita / Day Residents Families Commercial Property Hotels Road Sweeping Debris Nos Quantity of Waste Generated in Kg Nos Quantity of Waste Generated in Kg Nos Quantity of Waste Generated in Kg Length of the Road in Km Quantity of Waste Generated in Kg 1 7555 14221 22 5.87 4 72.28 21.37 1942.11 2 7020 10377 265 70.76 10 180.7 39.49 3588.85 3 5821 10474 2704 721.97 44 795.08 24.26 2204.75 4 5012 9019 4569 1219.92 45 813.15 15.6 1417.73 5 4456 8020 163 43.52 1 18.07 9.06 823.37 6 5714 10286 589 157.26 40 722.8 31.52 2864.54 7 3766 6639 1490 397.83 75 1355.25 16.81 1527.69 8 6166 11096 747 199.45 30 542.1 27.12 2464.67 9 3905 8604 379 101.19 5 90.35 22.07 2005.72 10 11565 20277 1354 361.52 18 325.26 30.62 2782.75 11 6633 11939 209 55.8 11 198.77 28.81 2618.25 12 8374 14653 372 99.32 40 722.8 34.67 3150.81 13 3430 6173 766 204.52 27 487.89 23.05 2094.78 14 10726 19307 383 102.26 9 162.63 29.23 2656.42 15 2375 3816 823 219.74 14 252.98 27.76 2522.83 16 6070 12066 144 38.45 9 162.63 38.12 3464.35 98588 176967 14979 3999.39 382 6902.74 419.56 38129.61 Total Waste Generation in Tones: 226 CONCLUSION Based on physical composition and characteristics of solid waste in Jalgaon city composting can effectively handle solid waste containing wet organic matter in Jalgaon city. For collection of solid waste door to door collection system will be effective one, vehicle. For that purpose Jalgaon city must be divided into 16 health units four transfer stations are recommended. After segregation of solid waste wet organic matter must be used for composting dry organic material to be used for for fuel bricks, plastic items, iron items, scrap material to be used for recycling pupose. Inert and other building material should be used for land filling. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The literature reviewed in this paper is the part of ongoing thesis work named Solid waste management techniques for Jalgaon city at SGB University, Amravati under the guidance of Prof. M. Iqbal. The author thanks the Principal, J. T. M. C. O. E. Faizpur, Dist- Jalgaon for extending all facilities for conducting the research work.

Indias Economic Engagements with Sub-Saharan Africa

Indias Economic Engagements with Sub-Saharan Africa INTRODUCTION Africa till recent past quite easily qualified for the unceremonious category of â€Å"hopeless continent† that largely failed to provide basic services to their people that have non-existent or fragile government and are subjected to regular outside interference. Decades of impoverishment, factional feuds, power struggles, natural calamities, harsh living conditions and exploitative attitude of global powers ravaged most of the countries of Africa pushing them to bottom of the third world, incapable of sustaining themselves despite enormous wealth of natural resources. A lot has changed recently, wherein democracy has not only found its feet but also, strengthened manifolds leading to economic growth. There has been renewed interest of many powers, world over to engage with Africa as its equal partner, while boundaries of power take a new shape. This has its roots in ever increase in positive narrative of Africa. The history indicate a long and ancient account of indo-African relations[1], with Africa being a host to Indian Diaspora for a reasonably long time. Recent times have witnessed a new set of dynamics emerging in the form of rapid expansion of relations. In 2010/11 Indo-African trade reached USD 45 billion and is expected to grow beyond USD 75 billion by 2015[2]. While carrying out any study on Africa it will be important to understand the human scene with an attention toward a general review of the kinds of peoples and social organisations that are to be found in Africa. In societies, such as those of traditional sub- Saharan Africa, which have a fairly simple socio-economic structure, the various sectors of human life which are organised and from which stem a measure of established authority are more closely interwoven than in more complex societies[3]. Each area of life is more sensitive to change and to influences emanating from every other part. Human life is simpler, because its needs are fewer and the methods of satisfying them are more restricted and more sharply defined. The native Africans need to be contrasted with millions of Europeans, Indians and Syrians apart from sprinkling of people from all over the world. A special character emerges owing to the disparity which has been impacted by outside world on its original form. Hence it becomes imperative that any evaluation of present situation on the continent and particularly any planning for the future, regard the indigenous African and his traditional way of life and thought as a major factor in determining the facts and assessing the probable results of change. While US shifts its focus on Asia-Pacific region, China competes with all emerging powers for energy resources and markets for finished products apart from a big time engagement in infrastructure development. India’s growth, though not as spectacular as China, its capitalist interests are ambitious to extend their commercial reach. The pursuit for economic growth has superseded previous outlook of Indian foreign policy which has provided drive to the commercial ventures in newer avenues. Africa, as portrayed by ex Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as ‘a major growth pole of the world[4]’, can be viewed for new investment sites, export markets and capital accumulation for Indian-based interests[5]. The launch of Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM) as part of its â€Å"Focus Africa† initiative can be regarded as a stepping stone towards upsurge in economic activity[6]. The project initially targeted Ethiopia, Kenya and Mauritius with extension of lines of credit i n support of goods export to these countries. Engagement is the buzz word for today’s world and involves many dimensions, to include politics, trade and commerce, security, infrastructure, capacity and capability building etc. India continues to deploy troops in Peace keeping missions in Sudan as well as Democratic Republic of Congo under UN flag apart from provision of expert advice as part of defence cooperation to many countries such as Nigeria, Zambia, Lesotho and Botswana in development and transformation of their militaries. The western analysts have propounded many theories with respect to nature of Indian engagement with Africa; some see it as a supplier of investment and aid donor whereas others narrate ‘benign and nuanced approach; while it lacks in foreign reserves to compete with Chinese cheque book diplomacy and futility of economic munificence alone. Ian Taylor in his paper titled India’s rise in Africa questions if â€Å"India is a scrambler or a development partner†, a self interested actor bent on exploitation or one that aspires to some level of mutual benefit[7]. Amidst these analyses the most pertinent factor which needs to be seen is how African leaders seek to leverage Indian engagements. Thus politics comes to fore, which has two related dimensions, the competitive pursuit of private interests, and the determination of public policy. Observing the priority of African elites to accelerate efforts to improve the conditions, develop institutions and enabling infrastructure for overall growth, a discussed/researched approach for symbiotic relationship holds the key to any engagement. While addressing its national interests in the area, a holistic study of all possible areas of mutually beneficial engagements will add to focussed betterment of the region at large. The mutually beneficial engagements should allow a lasting impact in polity as well as common public of sub Saharan Africa that their true interests and future lie with India. The skilled yet jobless youth of India can find meaningful engagements in these countries contributing to th eir capacities while earning goodwill, friendship and favourable environment for enhanced engagements. The study seeks to analyse existing engagements of India with sub Saharan Africa in fields like economy, military, education etc. with examination of feasibilities to enhance the same, as the opportunities, which emerge in contemporary times in the backdrop of highly competitive world may not arrive/ relent in times to come. The study has been organised into various chapters as under:- (a)Chapter I: India’s Africa Policy in Contemporary Times. (b)Chapter II: India-Africa Security Cooperation and its Evolution. (c)Chapter III: Economic Situation in Sub Saharan Africa. (d)Chapter IV: India’s Initiatives in Sub Saharan Africa. (e)Chapter V: Indian Diaspora and its Contribution. (f)Chapter VI: Way Ahead. CHAPTER I INDIA’S AFRICA POLICY IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES Post independence, seventeen years of Nehruvian era witnessed non-alignment as the corner stone of India’s foreign policy. This was adopted primarily as a visionary policy based on idealism. The geography as well as fragile economic conditions acted as material reasons for following a policy of non alignment, which certain academicians view as a safe path to seek cooperation of big powers and prevent any power bloc from turning hostile, apart from Nehru’s strong conviction against balance of power, military alliances and rush to exhibit military power. India became extremely inward looking during Cold war era as it was marred by its domestic problems. Persistent levels of poverty, rising corruption and poor governance during 1970’s and 1980’s along with tumultuous neighbourhood tied India to sub-regional and national issues, overlooking African Continent as being irrelevant to its National interests. Post cold war the policy mandarins in Delhi were compelled to reshape its foreign policy, taking into account the new impulses of global arena. In addition, India’s growth rates have averaged at around 6% per annum since 1990’s, after taking off in 1980’s[8]. India’s pro-business strategy followed by liberalisation in early 1990’s along with refocus of Indian Companies to fresh markets and investment opportunities in regions having large Indian diasporas resulted in consolidation of old ties. Impressive growth rates allowed India to address its internal problems and fine tune its foreign policy with economic ambitions. After a detailed arrangement to send envoys to sub Saharan countries during 1996-97 as a mark of reaffirmation of India’s assurance to strengthening cooperation with these countries in a spirit of south-south partnership[9], the Government of India increased its involvement with African states further in 2003. This was followed with announcement of Indian Development Initiative. India is in drastic need of finding new suppliers of energy and other primary resources. For India to become a global power it must grow above 8 percent annually for at least two decades. The assured availability of energy will be a key factor. India despite its domestic production of oil and natural gas will still incrementally require additional resources of energy. India’s hydrocarbon import dependency has been predicted to rise from current 70 percent to almost 92 percent by 2030[10]. As true to any Nation, the continued growth of India depends on availability of raw materials for industrial production and energy sources to support industries. As per reports till 2009, India imported 70% of its oil requirements and provided heavy subsidies on domestic prices, leading to double digit inflation figures after being under 6%[11] for 13 years. India’s Africa policy has laid emphasis on expansion and diversification of supply sources and to that end Indian national oil co mpanies have purchased equity stakes in overseas oil and gas fields to ensure reserves and provide a boost to production capability. These include fields in Africa, Southeast Asia South, America and Caspian Sea region. Despite these efforts the majority imports arrive from Middle east where Indian companies struggle for direct access or investments[12]. The tilt in relations of immediate neighbours of India towards China, tensions with Pakistan, competition with China and demonstration of African partners as all weather friends during world wide sanctions post nuclear tests were the major motivators for India to reformulate its foreign policy. While India is seeking to be a more dominant power and credibility in global scene, it is increasingly relying on Southern backing. Objectives of Indian National interests appear to be fulfilled through newly identified means of â€Å"Aid†. On one hand India rejected foreign aid from most of its donors in 2003 to draw attention of world order to its self sufficiency in tackling its internal problems of poverty, corruption etc. and on the other hand to reflect its role as a new donor. India initiated its development assistance way beyond its immediate neighbours along with scaling up of diplomatic initiatives within Africa, increasing the number of Indian embassies in the continent. It a lso covered the regional divisions of Africa by creating three joint secretaries[13]. Historical and ideological linkages between India and African countries have been important factor, too.1950s witnessed south-south cooperation as a platform for struggle by former colonies for independence and greater autonomy. Bandung conference of 1955 brought together 29 Asian countries with Africa to promote cultural and economic cooperation in Asian-African region. Mutual interest and respect for national sovereignty was the basis of this conference. NAM came to being in 1961 and Group of 77 in 1964, which were viewed as anti hegemonic. India and China championed these movements and have been in competition to lead the representation of Southern states, since then. While China provided military assistance for liberation movements, India was assisted in anti- apartheid struggles in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Ideals of Mahatma Gandhi were integral to India’s foreign policy, who has been quoted to have said that â€Å"ideas and services will be drivers of commerce between India and Africa unlike Western exploiters busy in trading manufactured goods against raw materials†. This resulted in emergence of India’s philosophy of developmental assistance to Africa which culminated in creation of ITEC programme[14]. This placed training and capacity building ahead of financial assistance. During Delhi declaration of India-Africa Forum Summit in 2008 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, announced that: â€Å"The time has come to create a new architecture for our engagement in the 21st Century. We visualise a partnership that is anchored in the fundamental principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit. Working together, the two billion people of India and Africa can set an example of fruitful cooperation in the developing world†[15]. The Indian policy makers identified the pre conditions of Western donors which was attached for a long time on any aid without aligning it with the aspect of developing the productive ‘supply side’ of economies. A model of developmental assistance with minimal conditions and respect for the national sovereignty worked out by Indian policy makers appeared to be more acceptable and less imposing. A new body for governing India’s outgoing development assistance, called development Partnership Administration (DPA) has been set up under the Economic Relations Division of MEA, which is just short of an â€Å"aid† agency. It is mandated to streamline administrative issues of entire process apart from assessing the effectiveness of credit lines that India is extending to its partners.[16] It primarily allowed African states to set terms of agreement and overall purpose of aid. In 2009, Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, announced his desire that:- â€Å"All would benefit if the world focused on increasing investment in Africa, and if Rwanda and the rest of the continent worked to establish more equitable international partnerships. A trade relationship built on this new approach would be more helpful in reaching what should be our common goal: sustainable development, mutual prosperity and respect†[17] Value and Sector based distribution of Lines of Credit   Source: Indian Development Cooperation Research at Centre for Policy Research India’s security concerns and contribution into stability of African security are also related issues with an aim to secure its National interests. Owing to deteriorating conditions of piracy at sea on West Africa and existent threat off the coast of African horn, there lies an opportunity to exercise its well espoused maritime doctrine published in 2004 and revised in 2009[18]. India’s experience in UN peace keeping missions especially in Africa has its origin in contributions to ensure stability of the region. There exists a framework for defence cooperation in the form of training teams to evolve better training programmes for the countries it is engaged with. India’s naval presence is largely restricted to anti piracy in the gulf region, but there exists a wider scope for enhanced engagement in operations as well as training with a broader aim of addressing strategically important Indian Ocean rim. Analysis What emerges from the study of evolution of India’s foreign policy with respect to Africa, is that the main drivers of India’s relations with Africa present a tricky mix of strategic, economic and political factors based on national interests of India with complex set of internally diverse actors and historically stated policy of non alignment generally understood as non interference, thus providing enough space for the other partners to have a say in engagements. In effect, India has sought to develop and pursue a strategic partnership simultaneously maintaining bilateral policy objectives. African relations are suggestive of being a conduit to India’s wider international objectives with a focus on improving trade as well as political conditions not only for itself but also developing nations at large employing its economic and political muscle. As part of revisionist approach India has pushed hard for reconfiguration of some of the institutions of global govern ance. African nations have been observed as useful allies in such ventures, as almost all of them have backed India in its bid for permanent seat in UN Security Council. The critics of the subject have highlighted certain specific issues with respect to hidden intent of India, incoherent policies, pitfalls in thought process by way of over reliance on nostalgia of Nehruvian era and over stretched MEA with limited staff to address a huge area and lack of decentralised agency to ensure correct and transparent implementation policies on ground. A relatively ad-hoc system of overseeing various policy issues have led to significant gaps in implementation of identified thematic areas. Though India’s private sector actors drive numerous commerce related agendas, businesses haven’t progressed based on the regional strengths against the backdrop of fragile security conditions. Issues of poor infrastructure, lack of access to finance for small traders and limited logistic support act as impediments that need to be addressed to harness unprecedented opportunities that emerge for Indian companies. The experts also point at pitfalls in public-privat e economic diplomacy approach to Africa largely due to poor coordination, lack of long term vision and enthusiasm to pursue apart from poor market intelligence. Despite provision of Lines of Credit commitments, in consonance with the principle of mutually beneficial development cooperation, engagement on economic affairs also should seek enhanced role and integration of Confederation of Indian industries, with pan-African mechanisms such as NEPAD (The New Partnership for Africa’s Development), AU (African Union) and AfDB (African Development Bank Group). As more and more oil imports are planned from traditional oil producing countries in Africa, security strategies need to be put into place in greater details. Countries like Nigeria which are one amongst the largest oil suppliers to India from Africa face internal as well as external security crisis. While groups like Boko Haram pose threats closer home to various oil producing infrastructure, emerging piracy in the west coast of Africa pose threat at sea. The scrounge of piracy has been addressed in a very limited manner by certain groupings like Economic community of West African States(ECOWAS), India’s capabilities in defence and familiarity with wide ranging security concerns can empower ECOWAS to address insecurity caused by rising piracy on the region. India needs to consider initiating economic diplomatic strategy including maritime defence cooperation and innovative infrastructural financing mechanism aimed to benefit local development in gas and oil producing countrie s in Africa while securing imports that could assist in India’s need for fuel. To sum up the analysis it is felt that India has tremendous potential and value to stimulate development and economic growth across Africa, but it has lacked to articulate a coherent Africa Policy which appeals Africans. In addition, more clarity needs to be brought into the actual agencies dealing with India’s development cooperation to Africa along with a vibrant spokesperson who clarifies any ambiguities which are perceived in daily discourse of business. A greater coordination of Indian private sector with African regional and continental governance frame works rather than bilateral engagements will bring better prospects. [1] Beri R, ‘India’s Africa policy in the post-Cold War era: an assessment’, Strategic Analysis 27: 2, 2003, p 216–32 [2] Noury V, ‘Trade levels grow by 400% in five years’, African Business, Jan. 2012, p. 35. [3] Peter FM Mc Ewwan and Sutcliffe Robert B, ‘The Study of Africa’, p 13. [4] Times of India, 24 May 2011. [5] Agrawal S, Emerging donors in international development assistance: the India case (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, Partnership and Business Development Division, 2007), p.7 [6] Noury Valerie, ‘Trade levels grow by 400% in five years’, African Business, Jan 2012, Issue 382, p. 35. [7] Corkin L and Naidu S, ‘China and India in Africa: an introduction’, Review of African Political Economy 35: 1,2008, pp. 115–116. [8] Jenkins Edwards, 2006:2007 [9] En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_India#Africa, accessed on 03 Nov 2014. [10] Gupta Ranjit, Special Commentary, India and Gulf: Looking beyond Energy, Islam and the Diaspora, www.ipcs.org, accessed on 03 Nov 2014. [11] Mc Carthy Tom, Assessing China and India’s New Role in Africa, www.e-ir.info /2011/07/26, accessed on 03 Nov 2014 [12] Independent Statistics and Analysis by US Energy Information Administration, www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=in , accessed on 03 Nov 2014 [13] Mc Carthy Tom, Assessing China and India’s New Role in Africa, www.e-ir.info /2011/07/26, accessed on 03 Nov 2014 [14] 50 years of ITEC, www.mea.gov.in / uploads/PublicationDocs/24148_Revised_50yrs_of ITEC_brochure.pdf, accessed on 03 Nov 2014 [15] www.idsa.in, 9 April 2008, accessed on 04 Nov 2014 [16] www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/aid-from-india-coming-to-a-country-near-you/article 3859607.ece , accessed on 04 Nov 2014. [17] www.paulkagame.com/speeches_main_3.php, accessed on 04 Nov 2014 [18] Indian Maritime Doctrine release (release ID: 52223), Indian MoD, 28 August 2009, pib.nic.in /newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=52223, accessed 04 Nov 2014 ; News article titled â€Å"Maritime doctrine makes subtle changes in principles of war†, published in THE HINDU, on 30 Aug 2009, accessed on 04 Nov 2014 www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/maritime-doctrine-makes-subtle-changes-in-principle-of-war/article216179.ece

The House on Mango Street :: House Mango Street

The House on Mango Street This book is so powerful because Sandra Cisneros gives a first-hand account of the everyday magic and misery of young Esperanza, simultaneously applying themes of her desire for escape and love for the people and bittersweet childhood of Mango Street. In many other novels of this sort, the dialog comes across as an extended complaint, a long and tiresome negative report of how down-trodden and hopeless is a given situation, and how arrogantly nonchalant are those who benefit from or cause it. The beauty of this book is Cisneros' deft mingling of Mango Street's poverty and low social status with its inherently human beauty and magic when seen through the eyes of a young girl. Mango Street's humanly rich qualities are what will bring Esperanza back. The mayor won't help Mango Street, so who will? Clearly, at the end of the book, she will. Her telling of their story in such a positive and invigorating light might change the mayor's mind. Reading Cisneros' brief biography on the last pag e says that she taught high school drop-outs, probably not from towns like Amherst or Acton, but from neighborhoods like Mango Street. Seldom can an author make a pointed social and political statement about poverty and social stratification without making it oppressive and depressing. Esperanza realizes her situation enough to want to escape it. She sympathizes with her father who wakes up in the dark every morning and is gone before the rest of the house is awake. But she is at the same time wonderfully innocent. She and her friends believe that the Earl of Tennessee's prostitutes are his wife, and no one can agree on what she looks like. This book is like a photo album, there is no chronological story, but each snap-shot a whole story in itself. Interspersed throughout the Mango Street-specific bits, are pieces of timeless relevance, like "A Rice Sandwich." This sketch tells the timeless truth that you always want what you don't have, but once you get it, it's not so great anymore. "Canteen! Even the word sounds important!" She doesn't belong there, and the kids who do are probably wishing they could go home for lunch.

Wicca Essays -- essays research papers

Wicca/Witchcraft   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wicca is an Old English word that means 'The Wise Ones'; or 'Keepers of Knowledge';. Wicca is one of the most ancient followings. Wicca is a Neo-Pagan following with many traditions that date to pre-Christian times. It is based on a deep respect for nature and the knowledge that we should not exploit it for our own gain. Wicca is not recognized as a religion by anyone other than its followers. Wicca is not a cult. Many Wiccans are independent and worship on their own or with a group of Wiccans, but they do not follow any one person. There are many types of Wicca, as many as 13 different traditions have been founded. One of the oldest unchanged traditions is the Strega Witchcraft. A witch named Aradia founded this tradition about 1353 CE. Two other large traditions include Gardnerian and Celtic forms. The Gardnerian tradition is based on the works of Dr. Gerald Brosseau Gardner. He researched much of the history of witchcraft and wrote The Book of Shadows with that knowledge. The Book of Shadows is used as the basis for ritual practice in the Gardnerian tradition. The Celtic Wicca is also a very old form. It is based on Celtic/Druidic practices and uses many of the Celtic deities, elements, and nature. Wiccans believe that both animate and inanimate objects possess a spirit, which forms part of the Whole, or 'The Cosmic Web';. The term spirit does not mean ghost, it means that which links something to nature so that it is rec...

Extreme Sports Motivation

Extreme Sports Motivational Factors Lawrence Cannon December 4, 2011 PE 5880 Abstract In the 1970s, extreme sports had been growing rapidly since its introduction. However, there has been little research done on extreme sport participants. In specific, the reason why consumers participate in extreme sports has not yet been investigated, although the number of participants and spectators of extreme sports is rapidly growing. Since motivation is a significant factor of sport participation behavior, it is essential for the sport marketer to understand psychological needs and motivations of extreme sport participants.The purpose of this study is to analyze motivational factors of people who become involved in extreme sports. The researchers modified and applied the scale of sports participant motivation. The original scale includes forty one items which represent many motivational factors like achievement, competition, social facilitation, skill mastery, physical fitness, risk-taking, af filiation, aesthetics, aggression, value development, self-esteem, self-actualization, and stress release.A total of several samples will be included in the current study. The researcher collected the cases at the X Game Sports and Freestyle Motocross World Championships held in the United States. A chain of ANOVA and MANOVA tests will contain the data analyses. The hypothesis will suggest that extreme sport participants have a high level of motivation in fun and imitation, which are two more structures added to the original scales.The analysis of the data may also reveal that motivation of extreme sport participants vary across gender and past experience. This study will advance the knowledge base of consumer motivation research in the field of sport marketing and provides leaders in the extreme sport industry with meaningful implications. At the end of the day, the result of present studies will support the extreme sports industry in predicting the trend of action sports consumer behavior. IntroductionExtreme sports are â€Å"activities that either ideologically or practically provide alternatives to mainstream sports and mainstream sport values† (Rinehart, 2000, p 506). The increased number of events and participants in extreme sports support the trend of growth in extreme sports (Liberman, 2004; Ostrowski, 2002). In the 2002 statistics, about eighty-six million people were participating in extreme sports (Ostrowski, 2002). According to American Sports Data, within the U. S. port industry, extreme sport generated one-third of sporting goods sales, which totaled to more than $14 billion (Liberman, 2004). Although the overall number of sport participants in the U. S. has increased about ten percent over the last decade, the number of participants and spectators in dominant sports such as basketball and volleyball has decreased (Stotlar, 2002). This trend in the sport industry further supports that emerging sport activities such as extreme sports gain t heir popularity by becoming mainstream sports (Kress, 2003; Ostrowski, 2002).While the increased interest in motivational factors draws scholars to conduct research to investigate psychological principles of dominant sport participants, research on sport consumers in extreme sports has not been a main focus of investigation within academic area of sport management and marketing. Hereafter, there is very little information in the literature regarding the characteristics of extreme sports and its consumer’s behavior. Considering the current trend and the future prospect of extreme sports, scientific and systematic analysis of sport consumers in the extreme sport industry needs to be conducted.In particular, in order to continue and improve the profitability and productivity of the extreme sport market, sport marketers should have better understanding of the fundamental needs and wants of extreme sports participants. Needs of Study The study of motivation in sports has been cond ucted in various segments such as general physical activities. As the market becomes competitive within the extreme sport industry, the lack of experiential research on sport consumers, the results will widen the gap between the academic and the practical field of knowledge regarding extreme sport consumers.To fill this gap within the sport industry and sport study, there is just as much need to explore the motivation of sport consumption. Without any understanding of the motives of sport customers, sport marketers cannot successfully achieve their marketing outcomes. Thus, an investigation of what motivates sport consumption would be the first step for future development of the action sport industry. Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze motivational factors of people who become involved in extreme sports.This study will advance the knowledge base of consumer motivation research in the field of sport marketing and provide implications for sport marketers within the emergi ng sport industry. This study is meaningful because the consumption motivation provides a more in-depth useful tool for determining the behavior of consumers than asking â€Å"why† (Beck, 1990). The Significance of the Study The goal of this study is to develop a better understanding of extreme sports consumers and action sport itself, then further investigate motivational factors of participants in action sports.Moreover, this research contributes to the extreme sport industry and the field of sport marketing by developing a knowledge base of extreme sport participants. Literature Review The literature review on the extreme sports industry regards the demographics, trends, characteristics of the sport consumer behavior and motivation of spectators, as well as participation in general sports. Through the process of reviewing motives of sport participants, the researcher will investigate the growth factors of extreme sports in business and the following importance of the motiv ation study: What is extreme sports?Who are targets? Why do people participate in extreme sports as consumers? What is the value of the motivational factors in sport concepts? Extreme sports are defined as a relatively new form of sport or â€Å"a combination of extraordinary individual achievement and unmatched personal enjoyment† (Rinehart & Sydnor, 2003, p. 3). Another interpretation for extreme sports is mostly individual sports that have risk, danger or unconventional rules or techniques which differ from dominant team sports (Bennett, Henson & Zhang, 2002). While dominant team sports like ootball and baseball are rooted in a traditional value such as cooperation, teamwork, character-building and group competition. The various types of sports that are called extreme sports are roller-blading, windsurfing, sky diving, dancing, surfing, BMX, mountain biking, eco-challenging, kayaking, white water sports, climbing, surfing, skateboarding, extreme skiing and snowboarding (Ri nehart & Sydnor, 2003). Thus, extreme sports participants or athletes often perform daredevil acrobatic stunts which are dangerous at high speed.They tend to show off skills for spectators and stimulate viewers to try to be like. Motivation is defined as an act of instance of motivating, or providing with a reason  to act in a certain way which serves as a factor in determining an individual’s behavior or social conduct in a given situation. As a mentioned that the motive of motivation study for consumers is based on aim to discover how influences the past or present behavior on current decision making of the consumer. In general, motivation is important tool for understanding consumer behavior.There are some words that have been introduced to the general public, such as; â€Å"dizzying,† â€Å"hyper caffeinated,† or â€Å"edgy, adrenaline- inducing pursuits† are used to describe their experience with extreme sports. They are conversant with the languag e of dominant sports (Spiegel, 1998). In the year 2003, Howe describe some extreme sports as having grown out of the board sport culture of snowboarding, derived from surfing and skateboarding (Howe, 2003). In the same way, there are many examples of new unoriginal typical sports like; BMX racing and mountain biking are rooted in cycling.Others are barefoot water skiing stems from traditional water skiing. In-line skating was developed from roller skating. In the journal article â€Å"Gender Differences in Beliefs about the Influence of Ability and Effort in Sport and Physical Activity† their study was to explore the different gender in reasoning about the relationships between natural ability, effort, practice, and final skill level, performance across sixteen physical activities at both recreational levels. Their participants were one hundred fifty three college students that had enrolled six physical activity classes.They completed two questionnaires. Their results indicat ed that in physical activity domains, male students tended to have a much better natural tempo ability that as a more significant for successful skill level and performance as female students did. Their beliefs seemed to vary for activities that are gender-linked. For all the participants, natural ability was viewed as more important at the recreational level. A strategy for practitioners and coaches was to use encouragement beliefs for effectiveness of developing a challenging for conception of sports as gender-typed and promoting the concept of sports for all.In the journal article â€Å"The Extreme Sports of Research†, Mr. Bartoletti discusses the steps shared from several members of the â€Å"Team Extreme Research† group and how their methods and practices went. The group talked about how extreme sports are having a major impact on youth sport activities. School-age athletes are attracted to the fun and excitement of extreme sports such as snowboarding, BMX cycling , and skateboarding. One of the original extreme sporting events, pole vaulting, is a unique and exciting event that has been part of the scholastic track and field program for more than half a century.What I found in â€Å"Situational state balances and participation motivation in youth sport: A reversal theory perspective† Their purpose of their study was to examine the relationship between situational state balances and motives for sport and physical activity participation in adolescents using the theoretical framework of reversal theory. Their participation motives and the interacting factors of their situational state balances, gender, and level of participation were examined. The secondary school students were ages about fourteen to twenty years old who participated in competitive or recreational sport.The factor analysis were the participation motives yielded factors to which ANOVAs and MANOVAs were applied with situational state balance, gender, and participation leve l as independent variables. Their factor analysis resulted in seven motive factors: status, team, friend, excitement, challenge, skill, energy release, fitness, and situational factors. Their ANOVAs and MANOVAs indicated significant differences in the sport motives between the situational state balances, genders, and levels of participation, and between pairs of situational state balance groups in males and females of competitive and recreational level.Methodology The purpose of this is to identify suitable methodological procedures. The methodology is described be the relation to the following aspects of the study: survey instrument scale, the research of the questionnaire and ANOVAs and MANOVAs data analysis procedures. Questions 1) What are the extreme sports motivational factors for the participants? 2) How many different motivational factors are there in extreme sports by gender and experience? Proceed of Study I will apply a survey instrument which was developed by McDonald, M ilne and Hong, in 2003.This will be examined to measure motivational factors of extreme sports participants because the existing scale is focused on motivations of both several sports participants and spectators. The survey instrument was modified by wording changes from existing scale through a field test and panel of experts and item purification through a trial test. As a second step for modifying the existing scale, a trial test was employed to test reliability of the survey instrument.The revised instrument by panel of experts was administrated to a representative sample of the target population. The researcher selected a convenience sample of students from the Sport Management classes of a large University. The participants of trial test will not be included in the final sample. The format for the survey instrument will be a seven-point format ranging from â€Å"1-10 grading scale. † With one being the lowest and ten begin the highest. Then a questionnaire will be appli ed of two parts.First, respondents will be asked to provide their demographic information and experiences regarding to extreme sports, such as gender, ethnic background, age, level of participants in action sports, a period of time that participation in extreme sports and type of extreme sports what they have participated in. The second part contained items of motivational factors in relation to participation in extreme sports. The survey instrument contains several items with many motivation scales. The researcher will scheduled for data collection from extreme sport competition at the X Game Sports, Freestyle Motocross World Championships.This competition, part of the Extreme Sports Championships, features the season-ending World Championships events for skateboarding, BMX, inline skating and freestyle motocross. The researcher sampled from the audiences who are interest in participating in extreme sports. The size of sample will deal with the age ranges between13-35. The research er employed trained staffs to survey at the competition. Each staff will provide survey packets, each containing a questionnaire, a cover letter explaining the purpose of the study and directions for completing the questionnaire, and pens.The survey instrument includes the following information: personal information, the purpose of the study, confidentiality, directions on responding to questions, and appreciation for the respondent’s cooperation. In the actual survey, the trained staff for the survey introduces the purpose of the study and explains specific procedures and methods to the subject before the data collection to minimize the non-response data missing. At this point, the collected data will be analyzed by using ANOVA and MANOVA to identify the significance of motivational factors of action sports participants. DiscussionsIt is important for sports marketers to understand basic needs of sport consumers. In particular, it is necessary to investigate the sport consum ption motivation in extreme sport based upon their demographic and psychographic characteristics (Bennett, Henson, & Zhang, 2003). However, there has not been organized research on extreme sport consumption motivation. This study examined motivation for extreme sports participants. Sport marketers may utilize this proposal to develop effective marketing strategies like market segmentation, differentiated program service offering to satisfy the needs and wants of extreme sports consumers.These results strengthen the relation between each groups and motivation factors to contribute to sport motivation studies. The unique contribution of the present study is verifying two new motivational factors; fun, enjoyment, trend and imitation. I think that the results may show that the mean score of fun and enjoyment will be the highest for both male and female groups although there was no significant difference between these two groups. Extreme sports participants will rate their fun and enjoym ent as the most important motive and considerable effects.Thus, that I did hypothesized that some participants in extreme sports might be involved in the activities based upon their elective choice for fun and enjoyment. Also, the mean score of trend and imitation may be somewhat high for gender groups and experience groups. I have recognized that younger people who are interested in winter sports such as skiing or skating move to new sports such as snowboarding and extreme skiing. The researcher considered that younger people attempt to follow their peer group not only for fashion or music trend but also for sports activities.With this happening the researcher made a decision to try to investigate by adding the trend and imitation to the existing motivation scale. Another important finding is that different characteristics of extreme sports like fun, enjoyment, risk-taking and aesthetics were rated higher than other motivational factors by extreme sports participants including, par ticularly among male and the expert-level experience groups. This outcome suggests that sport marketers in extreme sports should develop differentiated marketing strategies focused on male participants and expert-level participants.In general, an extreme sport has been considered to be emerging sports just for our generation. However, this study suggests different point of view for sports marketers and scholars. Interestingly, all board-sports like snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing in this study, these extreme sports ranked top three among thirteen types of extreme sports. It will allow academics and practitioners in extreme sports to accompany with other leading or traditional sports because extreme sports have its origin to the board culture, which has a long history (Howe, 1998).For this reason, sport marketers at the extreme sports industry may able to use the marketing strategies for leading sports as cross-promotion for extreme sports focusing on the targeted consumers. At the end of the day, the discussion of the present study will support practioners in the extreme sports industry in predicting the consumption behavior of action sports participants. Further, the present study may lead sports marketers and managers to utilize the motives found for effective marketing strategies. Accordingly, sport marketers in extreme sports could highlight their targeted promotion with present study ideas.To promote and move the sports consumer for successful sport marketing, the motivation based knowledge is the first step to be studied by scholars. For the future studies, I will apply ethnic background groups and different extreme sports events participant groups regarding extreme sports consumption behavior. Conclusion In conclusion, understanding consumer is fundamental to the marketing concept. This research of motivations factors are an important determinant of extreme sports consumer behavior. Future research is needed to better develop these constructs an d explore how motivation can be utilized as a segmenting tool.Such an understanding might lend itself to predicting the possibility of an individual engaging in various extreme sporting activities. Finally, sport consumption is a complicated activity in which participation and imputer are often twisted. While this study examined participation and imputer separately, future research is needed to under the relations and connections between these consumptions territory. References Bartoletti, S. (2011, April, May). The extreme sport of research. The Horn Book Magazine 87. p. 24-30 Beck, R. C. (1990). The nature of motivation theory.Motivation: theories and principles (3rd ed. ). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Bennett, G. , Henson, R. K. & Zhang, J. (2003). Perceived status of the action sports segmentamong college students. International Sports Journal, 7(1), 95-138. Cindy, H. P. , & Lindner, Koenraad, J. (2006). Situational state balances and participation motivation in you th sport: A reversal theory perspective. British Journal of Educational Psychology 76 , 369-384. Howe, S. (1998). (Sick): A cultural history of snowboarding. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Kress, A. (2003). To the extreme.The business Journal Phoenix. 23(48). 3 Li, Weidong; Lee, Amelia M; Solmon, Melinda A. (2006). Gender differences in beliefs about the influence of ability and effort in sport and physical activity. 147-156. Liberman, N. (2004). New heights or a crash landing? Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal,July 12-18, p 25. Ostrowski, J. (2002). Corporate America makes pitchmen of pariahs. Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal. Aug. 12-18, p. 19, 26. Rinehart, R. E. (2000). Arriving sport: Alternatives to formal sports, in Jay Coakley and EricDunning (eds. ), Handbook of Sports Studies.Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publication. Rinehart, R. E. & Sydnor, S. (eds. ). (2003). To the extreme: Alternative sports, inside and out. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Spiegel, P. (1998, December 14). Gen-X-tremist pitchmen. Forbes, 188. Sporting GoodsManufacturers Association (SMGA). (2001a). Sports Participation Top Line Report2000. North Palm Beach, FL: Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association. Stotlar, D. K. (2002). A decade of evolution: The sport industry. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 11(1), 55-58. http://www. dissertations. wsu. edu/Thesis/Fall2004/h_park_122104. pdf

BF_case

In order to get feedback on their best Investment bets to verse industry' s steady decline and increase company' s profits by 3% next year. Industry sales have been decreasing. Some categories, such as â€Å"dry soups†, â€Å"ready to serve broth†, â€Å"refrigerated soups†, â€Å"frozen soups† and â€Å"deli soups†, are growing. The declining trend of the industry relies essentially in decreasing sales of the two largest categories: â€Å"ready-to-serve wet soup† and â€Å"condensed wet soup†. The most profitable category Is the RET. Barbarian has 60% share of the RET market with RET ‘s soups and broths providing 78% of the dolls ‘s sales; 86% of Its profit.These mature products, however, are facing a decline In sales (1-2% per year In S, and 2-3% In volume). Nevertheless, Barbarian Is the market leader in this category and price increases over the last years had helped to keep profit declining as much as sales. Target pro ducts to baby boomer generation (largest and brand loyal segment); lead these changes in market trends that are being reflected in rapidly increasing sales of convenient categories; Maintain shelf-space and Increase partnerships with retailers.