Abortion Essays (512 words) - RTT, Fertility, Abortion,

Abortion ABORTION Abortion is the expulsion of a nonviable fetus during the first twelve weeks of gestation. Many people think that abortion is a horrible thing. But if you find out the reasons why most people have abortions then you might change your mind. There is many different ways in order to do an abortion. Depending on the complications you will use different methods to have an abortion. Two ways to have an abortion are called either a D&X or a hysterotmy. There is also something called an incomplete abortion. One such complication is called a ectopic. One way to have an abortion is by D&X. A D&X is performed with in the first three months of the pregnancy. They are performed for health reasons most often mental health reasons. The cervix is dialated. The fetus is delivered feet first. Then the surgeon jabs a sharp object into the back of the fetus head, removes it and inserts a vacuum tube through which the brain is extracted. The head of the fetus contracts at this point and allows the fetus to be more easily removed from the womb. This simplifies the removal of the fetus with less damage to the woman. A bill banning D&X was reintroduced in to the house in early 1997. But the bill easily passed through with a vote 295-136. Another way of abortion is by a hysterotomy. This is a major surgery, essentially identical to a Calsaria Section. These are usually done in the case of a very young pregnant woman, or a pregnancy which resulted from a rape or incest. If this is not performed right it can lead to serious infection or even death. There is also something called incomplete abortion. This happens when fetal tissue is retained inside the uterus. The tissue can purify causing uterine infection wcich is a very serious situation. You need to be checked by a doctor and get helped right away. If you dont you can have serious problems, such as you uterus not returning to its normal size. One complication that leads to having an abortion is called ectopic pregnancy. This is where the fertilized egg becomes stuck in the fallopian tube. This is a life threatening situation. As the egg continues to grow the tube will rupture and death could be as little as fifteen minutes. There is so many reasons why people should be able to get an abortion. If a womans health or life is endangered. If not having an abortion a child might be born with a serious mental or physical defect. Also if a woman is raped or incest she should have the option to weather she wants an abortion or not. I know abortion sounds wrong. Killing a baby is not the right thing to do. But sometimes it is if your saving someone elses life. Or think if you had that kid they would not be leading a full life. So I think that women should have the choice of weather they can get an abortion or not. Speech and Communications

Sin essays

Sin essays A sin can be defined as the act of breaking a Religious law or purpose. Morals and how someone is raised can factor into their views on a sin. Everyone has a conscience, which is the ability to recognize right and wrong. A sin severity varies by intent, and results of the commented act. Some sins are taken more seriously than others are. For example if you choose to lie to your parents you may get grounded, but if you were to murder someone you would be condemned to prison. Usually after a person commits an iniquity it causes them to feel guilt and remorse because they know their action was wrong. In The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth is the worst sinner. Chillingworth is the greatest sinner because his sin is intentional, selfish, and continual. Chillingworth consciously commits two sins. His first sin is against nature by marrying Hester, knowing she does not love him. His selfish desire to have a lovely, young wife. He is aware of this by telling Hester Mine was the first wrong. When I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay. (Hawthorne, 153) But his worst offense is when he let the sin take over. Chillingworth sacrifices Dimmesdale to satisfy his own selfish need for vengeance. He focuses constantly to destroy Dimmesdales sanity. Being Dimmesdales doctor he knows he is causing Dimmesdale to be ill and he intentionally does not stop. Not only is Chillingworth aware of his sin, but he sins selfishly. When Chillingworth arrives in Boston and sees his wife on the scaffold he plans to break vengeance on the man who seduces his wife and fathers her child. Unlike Dimmesdales and Hester crime of passion, his is cold and plotted to only benefit himself. His constant poking at Dimmesdale wound with diabolical determination to increase his suffering and pain brings self-enjoyment. He enjoys tormenting him so much that he arranges to keep him in his selfish clutch...

Mozart Effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mozart Effect - Essay Example Participants who listened to a piece of Mozart music 10 minutes before completing a spatial ability assignment requiring mental concentration improved drastically than those who had 10 minutes of silence or those who had 10 minutes of verbal relaxation tape. The effect occurred when the participants were tested immediately and the improved ability disappeared within an hour. This brought another aspect of Mozart effect that it was temporal. The size of the effect when measured was an equivalent of 8 to 9 IQ points. Mozart effect can be described as the effect felt after listening to particular pieces of Mozart music. From the experiment, it is interesting to see how music can have effect on the reasoning of a human being. An improvement in the ability to contain mental images from physical objects within a short time is quite tremendous. During my listening experiment, I choose one of the Mozart’s compositions called Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major. The sonata is a melody and it consists of three movements; allegro con spirito, andante and molto allegro. The first movement allegro con spirito begins in a D major which sets the tone with a strong introduction. Both pianos set the theme simultaneously. In the second movement andante the pace is very relaxed and the melody played by both pianos. In this movement there is no strong climax. The third movement molto allegro begins with a racing theme. The reason for this choice is that the music is a melody. I wanted to feel the same effect felt during the Rauscher experiment. It is one of the Mozart’s piano compositions and it reflects the intelligence of the composer. It has no verbal phrases and it is quite fascinating when listening to it. Mozart music can be effectively used in improving learning abilities. Its ability to improve spatial and temporal reasoning tasks will be helpful in providing therapy. It can be used as a therapy for children with learning

The Effects Of Social Networks On E-Commerce Dissertation

The Effects Of Social Networks On E-Commerce - Dissertation Example Over the past years, the internet was used by majority of people as a medium for interaction and making fun by engaging in activities such as online gaming. With numerous improvements made on the internet, there has been an ever rising increase in trust in social links among the users. For this reason, online marketplaces have been augmented by many online business people as a way of developing and building honest and trust in their transactions with their partners as well as maximizing customer satisfactions. The outcome is the growth in the size of sales over the internet leading to a shift in demand. Through social links, customers can chart through forums with their clients, exchange useful business information concerning a particular company or product. Therefore, customers have a better bargaining power. This paper gives a deep exploration into how social media instruments affects the frequent purchasing behaviors and business transaction activities, notwithstanding the implica tions on the demand for products in the online-fashion industry. Like the trends in fashions, the tools of social media are innovative yet unpredictable because they are getting utilized and improved each and every time. The fashion industry is getting transformed by facets that are more related as a result of movement of more professionals of fashion in the online media, for this case the social media. The accessibility into the industry by has been made easy by these tools thus involving the general public and the entire customers of the fashion industry updated on the current fashion trends. Specifically this study explains the effects of social media on the behaviors of demand and customer inflow into the market. 1.0 INTRODUCTION In the recent years, the way people communicate with each other and share information has been revolutionized by social media. Initially the social networks were being used in large numbers by the teenagers for making new friends as well as keeping in t ouch with old ones. However, the situation has changed with now the focus being directed to online commerce for the purpose of generating solid and reliable revenues1. The e-mail which was earlier seen as the only method of communication electronically has been out-fashioned by the social media which is currently leaving its mark in the e-commerce, and the online fashion industry is not an exception. The fashion industry traces its roots to the traditional and old business practices hence making it lag behind in adopting new technologies. Almost everything done in the industry is more dependent on human labor rather than machines, beginning with designs sketches of designs to the process of purchasing. In most situations, the customers were the determiners of what kind of stock was to be put in stock because of their different tastes and preferences. However, with the existence of fast-acting technologies, fashion brands no longer seat back and wait for their customers to meet their needs. Social media is a to-way form of media under which users develop personal identities through dialogue and self-presentation.2 This has led to the social media receiving immense attention from consumers who go shopping online, specifically the fashion industry consumers. The global platforms such Tweeter, LinkedIn and Facebook creates room for designers to blog and keep their profiles updated with the aim of molding their brands and personalities on real-time basis. The interaction between

Analyse the ideology of motherhood represented in distributed imaging Dissertation

Analyse the ideology of motherhood represented in distributed imaging spaces such as Instagram - Dissertation Example This is because more and more people share their life events on the social networks regardless of the events being sad or happy, says (Kivran-Swaine et al, 2013:1-5). Through one’s social media account most people are able to follow one’s transition through the years from one’s teenaged life to adulthood. Motherhood is only the kinship relation between an offspring and the mother. It is also one of the most life altering events that can be experienced and is often represented in the social networks. Most social media users usually cover their social pages with pictures of their experiences of pregnancy, and motherhood accompanied by status updated of about their daily events as mothers. Kivran-Swaine goes on to say that the ways in which motherhood is represented and enacted on the social networks is usually very broad, and does not effectively account for the complex content in which motherhood is understood and performed using new communications technologies. M ost information presented on the social networks about motherhood usually give the idea that motherhood is full of happy moments; where the mothers are always smiling holding their bundles of joy and updating how happy and blessed they feel to be mothers. The ideology of motherhood in the social media is often one-sided. Section II: The theoretical concept of â€Å"workface† Kivran-Swaine comes up with a theoretical concept of ‘facework’ that she uses to analyze the ideology of motherhood in the social media. Facework functions as a critical mode of self presentation and self expression on the social media where mothers create their own â€Å"mommy face†, a social space where they can showcase their motherhood achievements and their various standards of motherhood with the rest of the world. There are a number of mothers who have shown a good use of their facework, whose social media activities have incorporated their experiences as mothers that are if the y have not completely changed to motherhood experiences only. A good example of new mothers who have incorporated their motherhood experi

Understanding Young Adult Footwear Shoppers in India

Understanding Young Adult Footwear Shoppers in India Executive Summary ‘A man can be judged by the shoes he wears. Footwear today is much more than just an integral part of ones attire; it helps the modern day consumer make his or her unique lifestyle statement. This study was done to understand the footwear preferences was various categories of footwear and to understand the footwear shopping behaviour. The objective of the study was to segment young adult footwear shoppers into unique footwear shopping orientation groups and to develop a profile for each segment with respect to footwear benefits sought, importance of store attributes, patronage behavior and demographics. To start with, a secondary research was done to gain a broad understanding of the footwear industry in India, in particular footwear retail, and the modern Indian consumer. In-depth interviews of 10 young adults from metros, both males and females, were conducted to arrive at the parameters used in the evaluation of footwear, footwear retail stores and also to understand general footwear usage and buying behavior. This understanding and the parameters arrived at were then used in formulating a questionnaire consisting of 60 line items which was administered through online surveys. A total of 100 responses were achieved of which 85 were complete responses. The data of the complete responses was then analyzed through frequency distributions, factor analysis and cluster analysis. Factor analysis helped to reduce the number of variables to 8 factors. On the basis of these 8 factors, the 85 respondents were classified into 3 clusters with unique shopping orientations. The result of this study can be helpful to footwear retailers in customizing their merchandising, display, and other store attributes like space and availability of mirrors to gain maximum store loyalty and patronage. Introduction Footwear is much more than just an integral part of ones attire: while on the one extreme, it helps the modern day consumer make his or her unique lifestyle statement, it also helps enhances the performance of athletes and sportsmen at the other extreme. A brief history of footwear One of the first things made by our primitive ancestors was foot covering. It was primarily used to protect themselves from burning sand, rocks and rugged terrain. Records show that different civilizations like Egyptian, Chinese and other early civilizations, all contained reference to shoes. It is also mentioned in the Bible. The Hebrews also used it in binding a bargain (Shoe History, 2009). The first form of shoe consisted of a simple piece of plaited grass or rawhide which was strapped to the feet. During early times, sandals were the most common type of footwear. In Mesopotamia, during 1600 1200 BC, a particular type of shoes were used. They were soft and made of wraparound leather. Up to almost 1850, the method of making shoes was the same as that in 14th century B.C. in Egypt. Hand tools were used. Shoes were absolutely straight. There was no difference between the right and left shoe (Shoe History, 2009). In 1845, the first machine that found a permanent place in the shoe manufacturing industry was invented- the Rolling machine. In 1846, a sewing machine was invented. In 1875, a machine was developed which later came to be known the Goodyear Welt Sewing Machine (Shoe History, 2009). Rubber heels for shoes were patented in on January 24, 1895 by Humphrey OSullivan. These rubber heels on shoes outlasted the leather heels then in use (The History of Shoes, 2009). Keds were first mass-marketed in 1917 (The History of Shoes, 2009). They were positioned as canvas-top sneakers. These were officially the first sneakers. The word sneaker was coined by Henry Nelson McKinney, an advertising agent. This was because the rubber sole made the shoe stealthy. All other shoes, barring a few exceptions like moccasins, made noise when a person walked. Hence you could ‘sneak on anyone wearing Keds. Since the mid-20th century, the type of shoes being created has changed considerably compared to the traditional crafting techniques. This is due to advances in plastics, rubber, synthetic cloth, plastics and industrial adhesives. Leather, even though is still used in expensive dress shoes is no longer really used in athletic shoes. Soles, which were once hand stitched, are now machine stitched or simply glued on. A century ago, if a lot of effort was put in, a person might have been able to produce a few pairs of shoes. Today, automatic Toe Laster for Goodyear Welt shoes can produce 1200 pairs in an 8-hour day (Shoe History, 2009). Footwear industry in India Industry overview The Indian footwear and leather industry is amongst the top-10 foreign exchange earners. It is also amongst the top-12 focus manufacturing sectors in the country if we consider it in terms of competitiveness and untapped potential. The worlds largest footwear manufacturer is China. Next is India. India producs 16 billion pairs accounting for 13% of global footwear production. India produces 2065 million pairs of different categories of footwear (leather shoe uppers 100 million pairs, non-leather footwear 1056 million pairs and leather footwear 909 million pairs). India exports just 115 million pairs of footwear. Almost 95% of the production goes into meeting the domestic demand. Nearly 15 percent of Europes leading brands outsource their footwear, apparel and fashion accessories purchases from India. Indias domestic footwear market is better than others around the world primarily because of abundant raw materials, low cost of production and a huge consumption market. Indias major importers for Indian leather products: Country Share (%) Germany 14.12 Italy 12.82 UK 11.48 USA 9.98 Hong Kong 6.61 Spain 6.09 France 6.14 Netherlands 4.13 UAE 2.38 Australia 1.55 Total 75.30 The 10 countries mentioned above account for nearly 75.30% of Indias total leather products export. More than half of the Indian footwear market comprises of gents footwear. This is contrary to the world wide trend. The worlds major production is in ladies footwear. Hence, in India there is immense scope in the womens segment. In the unorganized sector, more than 80 percent of the sales happen in the mens segment. However this is might change soon. The footwear industry is extremely labor intensive- 90% of its production comes from SMEs (small and medium enterprises). There are in excess of 42,000 such SME units, there are primarily concentrated in two provinces in Uttar Pradesh up north and in Tamil Nadu down south. They are also present in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Punjab. Agra, Ranipet, Kanpur, Ambur, Jodhpur and Kolhapur are also traditionally renowned centers of excellence in the production of leather and footwear. In the last five years, footwear production in the country has increased by nearly 60%. Out of this, the rural areas consume 75% of the footwear production. It has become a necessity product there since till now, they have been majorly deprived of its usage. The Footwear sector has now been de-licensed and de-reserved. This has paved the way for expansion of capacities on modern lines using state-of-the-art machinery. In order to assist this process further, the Government has permitted 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through automatic route for footwear sector. Categorization or classification of footwear The Indian footwear market, in terms of quality offerings, has four main segments: 1. The super premium end- comprises the best of global luxury brands 2. The high-end or premium 3. The mid/economy ranges- comprises of formals, functional, casuals and party wear 4. The low-priced mass range- includes leather and plastic strapped slippers, as utility wear Apart from this, the genuine active sportswear segment with different price ranges also exists. The volume share of the economy/mid range has reduced. It was 61% in 2006-07. It has come down to 53%. The active sports-wear segment has increased its share from 7% to 9.6%. Premium leather and premium non-leather segments have both seen a rise from 7% and 3% in 2006-07 to 7.3% and 3.5% respectively in 2007-08. The super premium luxury segment has a 0.08% market share. In terms of sales value, this is a very significant number. Also there are four major categories of footwear: 1. Sports footwear 2. Semi-formal or casual footwear 3. Formalwear 4. Utility footwear The Indian footwear market mainly consists of casual wear. It occupies nearly two-thirds of the total footwear retail market. The other sub-segment that is doing well is the branded sportswear segment. It is estimated to be about Rs. 1,000 crore. The main players in this space consist of reebok, Adidas and Lotto. Compared to other segments, this segment is growing fast in terms of the number of outlets. Apart from footwear, these outlets also sell apparel. Major players in Indian footwear industry The top domestic and premium brands in India consist of: 1. Action It has a pan Indian presence. It consists of multiple branded outlets (MBOs), 135 exclusive branded outlets (EBOs). It commands a total of 175,000 square feet retail space. 2. Bata It is a household name in India. It was the brand that made branded footwear popular. Bata India Limited manufactures and markets various types of footwear, leather and footwear components. Apart from these, the company markets products related to footwear, garments, accessories, sports goods and other merchandise. Batas sub-brands consist of Dr Scholls, Hush puppies, Bubblegummer and Power. Till the first quarter of 2009, Bata India had 1,293 outlets. Bata India is currently looking to expand towards Tier I Tier II cities. 3. Khadims Currently, it has over 329 outlets. The area under it is approximately 148,000 square feet retail space. It is present in 22 cities across India. 4. Liberty After Bata, it is arguably the most popular domestic brand. It is the only Indian company among the worlds top 5 leather footwear manufacturers. It has EBOs as Revolutions and Liberty. Revolutions provides footwear, travel accessories, watches, leather accessories, sun-glasses and jewellery Its sub-brands consist of Footfun, Force 10, Senorita, Gliders, Tiptopp, Windsor, Coolers, June, Warrior and Perfect. Liberty has 360 EBOs, 40 Shop-in-shops and 150 distributors. It services 6000 MBOs. The total retail space under it is 1.26 million square feet. 5. Metro, Mochi These are two brands from Metro Shoes Ltd. They were launched in 1977 and 2000 respectively. It consists of over 85 EBOs and 76 MBOs. The retail space under it is 131,000 square feet. It is present in 32 cities. 6. Pavers England It stated in India in early 2008. It was launched in Reliance stores. It is a Chennai based brand. It operates 40 MBOs. 7. Red Tape This brand belongs to Mirza International. It was launched in 1996 in the domestic market. It started its exclusive retail operations in 2006. By end-2008 it had 10 company-owned EBOs, 50 franchise-owned EBOs and also 135 Shops-in-shops. 8. Sreeleathers It was established in 1950. It is a very strong brand in Easten India. It has 5 company-owned EBOs and 28 franchise-owned EBOs. 9. Woodland It is looking to enter the junior and kidswear segment. It is also looking at apparels business very optimistically. It hopes that this business will contribute to half of its total sales in India. It operates 250 EBOs in India. 10. Lilliput It is a leading brand in kids footwear. By the end of 2008, it had 250 EBOs and also 100 shop-in shops. 11. MB Footwear It has 2 in-house brands, viz ID and Mercell. It has been operating for more than 21 years. It has tie-ups with brands like Lee Cooper. By the end of 2008, it had 32 EBOs and also 11 shop-in-shops. International brands in India 1. Adidas It is one of the biggest companies in the sports goods category. This nramd has acquired Reebok. It now consists of 3 brand divisions: Adidas, Taylormade-Adidas golf and Reebok. Adidas brand focuses on sports. It offers footwear, apparel and hardware in three divisions which include sport heritage, sport performance, and sport style. The sport performance division focuses on the hardcore sports player. The sport heritage division focuses on the casual sports man. The sport style division focuses the fashion-conscious consumers. The Reebok brand focuses more on style. Adidas entered India in 1977. It operates more than 450 EBOs. It has 340,000 square feet retail space. It claims a 20% market share in the active sports segment. 2. Lotto It currently has 10 flagship EBOs in India. It has plans to increase it to 100 by the end of 2010. It is present in 30 Indian cities. 3. Nike It has 107 EBOs in India 4. Guess (Premium) It was launched in 2005 by Planet Retail in India. It operates 19 EBOs and one shop-in-shop. 5. Carlton London (Premium) It currently operates 10 EBOs. It has 50,000 square feet retail space in India. It is concentrated in North India. It has plans to open up new stores in metros and in Tier I cities. MBO Retailers 1. Planet Sports It has 39 outlets and a retail space of 73,000 square feet. It is present in 21 cities across India. 2. Provogue It was launched in 2005. It consists of 55 EBOs and also 15 shop-in-shops. 3. Reliance Footprints It is a division of Reliance Retail Ltd. It started its operations in 2007. It currently operates 14 MBOs. It offers global brands like Ecco, Geox, Josef Siebel, Rockport, Florsheim, Hush Puppies, Lee Cooper and Clarks, Piccadilly, Dr. Scholls, Levis, Crocs, Disney among others. Apart from these, it sells handbags as well as accessories. 4. Shoe Factory It is a value format. It offers huge variety of footwear for a wide age groups. It started its operations in Ahmedabad in 2006. It is present in 16 locations and has a retails space of 48,000 square feet across 8 cities. 5. The Blues It is an exclusive licensee of major global brands like Corneliani (2006), Versace Collection (2005), VJC Versace Jeans Couture (2008), Cadini (2005), Versace (2008). By the end of 2008, it had 6 franchised EBOs, 3 shop-in-shops and also one MBO. Emergence of modern Indian retail Introduction In 2007, the Indian retail sector stood at $350 billion. It was predicted to increase to $427 billion by 2010 and $635 billion by 2015 (Morierty, 2007). Many Indian business houses are entering or have already entered this sector. The food and grocery sector is turning out to be a major contributer to this field. Even though it started slowly, it is now growing at a feverish pace. The other forms of retail have also evolved consistently. With the huge business houses entering into this business, the field has become extremely competitive between them. This is one sector that is looking to explode in the near future. Today, mega Indian business houses and corporate like the Future Group of Kishore Biyani (Food Bazaar), Reliance Group of Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Fresh Reliance Hyper), ITC Ltd (Choupal Fresh Choupal Saagar), Wadhawan Holdings (Spinach), RPG Group (Spencers Retail), the Aditya Birla Group (More), Subhiksha, the Godrej group (Natures Basket Godrej Aadhar), J Raheja group (Hypercity), etc. are driving the forays into retail through different models like single-format, multi-format or integrated urban-rural model. (Sengupta, 2007) However, the growth of the Indian retail space has been a long and ardous journey. Let us have a brief look at how the sector as a whole has evolved over the years. History It is popularly assumed that with the opening of the Indian economy in the early 1990s, the retail sector started opening up. This is when all the supermarkets and hypermarkets came into existence. However, the types of retail formats have existed in India since 1970s. In 1971, Nilgiris was set up in Bangalore. It was what one could popularly refer to as the ‘face of modern Indian retail. It was a supermarket. Since then, a lot of other business houses/ entrepreneurs have entered this sector. A few went national while a majority of them were restricted to a local scale. Popular among them were Trinetra from Hyderabad (now part of the Aditya Birla Group), Foodworld from Chennai, Margin Free from Kerala among others. A few others like Stop Shop from the TVS group in South India and Nanz in North India have shut down. In 1947, when India got independence, the per capita income was very low. People could not really afford any type of luxuries. Majority of them managed to live by getting their basic necessities. The main type of retail format prominent during those days was the mom-and-pop (kirana stores). They were run by individuals. The other format was the Bazaar. This trend continued up to the 1960s. Even post that, when supermarkets like Nilgiris opened up, the trend continued (Sengupta, 2007). It was during the 1990s and 2000s that this trend gradually changed. The growth story of the modern retail format in India is the early part of this millennium can be divided into 4 phases. Phase 1: This phase is characterised between 2002 and 2004. Lots of new entrants into the market were driving the top line growth. Phase 2: This phase is characterised between 2004 and 2006. The consumers were getting more and more aware of the possibilities that this retail growth could mean for them. They started demanding more and more variety in the organized retail formats. Phase 3: Post 2006, the retailers realized that in order to distinguish themselves, they would have to strengthen their back-end activities. The front end of almost all retail outlets were more or less the same. The thing that distinguished them from the rest were activities like inventory control, turnover time etc. Phase 4: This phase has been in progress since 2007. The retail players are in the process of consolidating their operations. (Srivastava, 2009) Organized retail is moving from being a ‘novel experiment to an expected back-end innovation and scale build up (Srivastava, 2009). Indian retail story First some facts (Srivastava, 2009): * The retail industry employs almost 21 million people * The Kearney study undertaken in 2006, ranked India 5th among 30 developing countries in the Global Retail Development Index * The study projects that India will overtake Russia and China to become the number one destination for foreign direct investment in retail India has over 12 million retail outlets. Out of this, about 95% of the outlets are less than 500 square feet (Srivastava, 2009). If we compare Indian retail with other countries, we see that the number of traditional retail outlets is still very huge. In 2005, US had about 15% traditional retail outlets and 85% organized retail outlets. India had 97% traditional outlets and only 3% organized retail outlets (Srivastava, 2009). (Srivastava, 2009) The organized retail in India is still at a very nascent stage. The opportunity for growth is enormous. Even though speciality stores in India are gaining prominence, almost 90% of all future retail development is predicted to be malls. The Indian consumer wants everything in the same place. One more trend that is being seeing is the marriage of retail and entertainment. Lots of multiplexes are opening up at malls. In fact, this seems to be the future trend. Sand alone places might not attract the crowd that such mergers could. Also, facilities like book stores, coffee shops, food courts etc. are being developed at these places. The major distinguishing factor of malls in India is that they have a mix of high-value items as well as mass branded items at the same place. In comparison, other countries have speciality malls. They either are of the high-value kind boutiques or the mass category. India has the highest shop density in the world. It has about 11 shops per 1000 people. This adds to one shop per 20-25 families (Srivastava, 2009). However in cities, this density is much higher. If we look at the money spent on various facilities, the urban-rural difference becomes very evident. About 33% of entertainment spends come from rural areas as opposed to 67% from urban areas. As opposed to this, when we talk about more basic necessities like food, clothing and footwear, over 60% comes from rural areas. (Srivastava, 2009) If we look at the share of the various things that are sold in the organized retail, we find that apparels and accessories is the maximum at 38%, footwear is at 9%, while others like mobile phones, books etc. are at 3% each (Srivastava, 2009). (Srivastava, 2009) Retail formats Both traditional as well regional retails constitute footwear retail market space. Along with these, new players like The Loft and factory outlets also constitute this space. These are category killers. The Loft offers over 130 brands, all under the same roof. It has completely revolutionarized the industry. In Mumbai, The Loft store has an area of 18,000 sq feet and also offers other services to the customers enhancing their experience. Factory outlets have also changed the industry. Pantaloon Retails Brand Factory, Reliance Footprints, Max Retail of the Landmark Group, and The Loot, are all offering a multiple footwear brands. 1) Hypermarket This format of stores has seen a huge growth in India. Most of the stores in this format are making money. The costumers find it very comfortable as they can get almost all their daily necessities like food, clothing, shoes, utensils, home appliances, durables etc. under one roof. It is like a one stop shop for all necessities. 2) Departmental Store Similar to hypermarkets, these shops also offer all the requirements under one roof. The difference is that these outlets have a more luxurious setting. The Indian consumer likes the idea of shopping in a better way with entertainment, novelty, variety and an international setting, all under one roof. 3) Single brand/ Stand Alone Outlet As the name suggests, these outlets consist of only one brand. They are generally run by the brand itself or are run as franchisee. The consumers do not have much choice here in terms of the number of brands but, generally, most of the variety of items, even the rare ones, of the brand are present here. 4) Multi-Branded Outlet A huge variety of brands are present here. The consumer has a wide array of brands to choose from. The only drawback of such outlets is that only the popular items of a brand are present here. So if a consumer has a very specific requirement, he/ she might not be able to find the item here. 5) Factory Outlet A factory outlet is a retail store where the manufacturer sells his brand directly to the customer. The store might have a warehouse attached to it. The biggest advantage of such stores is that there are no middle men. Hence the end customers get the brands at a very low cost. They are also called ‘Best Saving Outlets. Footwear retail AT Kearneys eigth annual GRDI (Global Retail Development Index) in 2009 ranked the Indian retail sector as the ‘most attractive emerging market for investment. Indian retail market is the fifth largest retail destination globally. In the footwear retail market, only 5.9 percent of Indias total retail market is organized. This comes to Rs. 13,300 billion. The total footwear retail market stands at Rs. 160 billion. Out of this, 48.4% of the footwear retail market is organized and is dominated by brands. The Indian Retail report of the year 2009 maps the growth of the organized retail since 2004. The findings indicate that compared to the other retail categories, footwear category has grown at a much faster pace. In 2004-05, only 25% of the footwear retail sector was organized. In 2009, it grew to 48.4%. The overall retail market share in the organized sector has only increased from 3% to 5.9% in the corresponding time frame. Emerging trends The performance of the footwear market is forecasted to accelerate with an anticipated CAGR of 10.2% for the five-year period 2008-2013. This is expected to drive the market to a value of $5,791.4 million by the end of 2013. Comparatively, the Chinese market will increase with a CAGR of 8.3%. (Singh, 2009) The organized retail sector is also seeing many changes. This sector occupies about 5% of Indian retail market. Large format stores and branded retail stores are coming up. This trend was first seen in South India and now in North India, West India and East India in the next couple of years. The retail sector is also opening its operations in Tier II cities like Gurgaon, Noida, Kochi etc. A market research report ‘Booming Retail Sector in India predicts that Indian organoized retail sector will reach US$ 50 billion by 2011. This study was carried out by RNCOS. The number of shopping malls is also set to increase between 2007 and 2015 by a CAGR of 18.9%. The Indian consumer On the World Map, India is placed 5th in the list of consumer markets of the world. Improved communication systems and the exposure to popular international brands has brought about a huge difference in the cities. People have become more indulgent. They want to acquire more and have also become very ambitious. According to a McKinsey report, the size of the Indian consumer market is expected to grow 4 times by 2025. This report is aptly titled ‘The rise of Indian Consumer Market. The youth population in India is huge. 33% are below 15 years of age. The consumer spending has increased as the disposable income among the youth has increased. The consumer spending in India has increased by 75% in the last 4 years. The share of wallet for products like footwear, clothes, transport, entertainment, education, medical services, housing and renting etc. has increased significantly. In fact, the Indian middle class has also started consuming luxury goods like air-conditioners and cars. The Indian demographic profile is changing rapidly. The upper class is growing much quicker than the lower class. The ‘deprived class is shrinking. The middle class is expected to touch 28 million by 2010. One third of the total middle class population will be from the rural areas. Lifestyle category goods are expected to be the future. With the increasing number of working women and fashion conscious males, they will look for a better quality of life. The Nielsen Retail Index 2007 reveled that consumers are switching to branded products. Also due to impulse buying by young consumers with disposable income, brands like Reebok and Adidas saw their semi-urban and rural sales increase by more than 70%. According to Kishore Biyani (Biyani, 2007), the typical Indian consumer can be classified as follows: The serving class consists of 55% of the population. This indicates that the retail outlets should target this group as well instead of mainly targeting the consumer class, which consists of only 14% of the population, as it currently does (Tripathi). Literature Review Indian footwear consumer The basic understanding of fashion and change in consumer perceptions has given a huge boost to the footwear industry. There is more exposure for Indians due to global travel and media penetration. The new retailing formats and distribution systems have capitalized on this. Branded footwear from overseas has become popular. Of course, the cost for the consumer is still a concern, due to which even the international brands have had to bring down their prices drastically in order to achieve break-even sales. Comfort is very essential for the Indian footwear consumer. The branded and organized sector has taken advantage of this. However, the awareness about more specialized products like performance enhancing and fitness assisting is still very low in India compared to other South East Asian countries. This could increase with time. Also, the young working population is seeing a shift in preference to international trends and lifestyles. One more fact is that women buyers buy more frequently compared to their male counterparts. About 29% women go shopping at least once every quarter. Men account for about 19% of the total purchases of that segment (Indian Retail Report, 2009). As per a study on how consumers divide their wallet spends, about 44% of the urban Nupscale (short for Nielsen Upscale, based on the usage of 12 consumer durable products by the consumers households) buy mens footwear. 41% buy womens footwear. The average annual spend on the products is Rs. 2318 and Rs. 1336 respectively. This study was conducted by Images- AC Neilsen. Women had a role to play in the purchase of mens footwear (26% women to 56% men). Men had a bigger role to play in purchase of womens footwear (34% males to 51% females). Men spent more lavishly on footwear irrespective of whether they were buying for themselves or others or gifting. Males spend on an average Rs 2,459 in a typical year on purchase of mens footwear and Rs 1,428 on purchase of womens footwear. Comparatively, women spend on an average Rs 1,875 on mens footwear and Rs 1,265 on womens footwear in a typical year (Indian Retail Report, 2009). Research articles ‘Shopping Orientation in the Evolving Indian Market, a research article by Piyush Kumar Sinha, attempted to understand shoppers from their disposition towards shopping. This was very useful because it has been noted that the differences between retailers are not really significant in terms of the value they deliver. The study managed to bring out the shopping orientation of the Indian shoppers. It said that emotional value matters more than the functional value while shopping. They are also more oriented towards the entertainment value. Based on this orientation, 300 shoppers were divided into 2 segments: Fun shoppers and Work shoppers. These two segments had different demographic and behavioral profile. This orientation was primarily affected by the frequency of buying, type of store, and to some extent by the SEC (socio-economic classification). These findings were finally used in order to draw implications for store format, merchandising and pricing (Sinha, 2003). ‘A Typology of Apparel Shopping Orientation Segments among Female Consumers, segmented female apparel shoppers into unique apparel shopping orientation groups. It then developed a profile for each segment by taking into consideration the information sources, lifestyle activities, importance of store attributes, demographics and patronage behavior. Then by using cluster analysis of apparel shopping orientation factors, three groups were identified: 1) Highly Involved Apparel Shopper 2) Apathetic Apparel Shopper 3) Convenience-Oriented Catalog Shopper They were further compared through MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance) and chi-square statistics. The results indicated that shopping orientations are a base for segmenting female apparel shoppers. These groups are unique in consumer buying characteristics. They include: * 3 factors of information sources (Fashion Publications, Store Fashion Service/Promotion and Mass Media) * 5 factors of importance of store attrib

Bless Me Ultima :: essays research papers

Talfud once said that, “Men see in their dreams only that what is suggested by their own thought.'; In Bless Me Ultima, the passage after Narciso’s death is crucial in understanding that Antonio processes his conflicts in his dreams. This passage is key for the understanding that Antonio’s dreams are his way of processing his conflict between the Catholic God and the Golden Carp. With the processing of Antonio’s conflicts, Anaya uses extremely vivid imagery to help us understand the meaning of this passage This Passage is key in realizing Antonio resolves his conflicts between the Catholic God and the Golden Carp. The Catholic God refuses to let Antonio in to heaven during his dream because he worships the golden carp before God. God deems that “I can have [one] who has golden idols before [me]'; (165) thereby forbidding Antonio from heaven because he had an idol, the golden carp, before God. God does not forgive Antonio because he is a “not a God of forgiveness'; but when he does offer forgiveness God claims that Antonio must ask for Tenorio’s forgiveness also. “No! No! I cried, it is Narciso that you must forgive,';(65) Antonio refuses the idea that he, Narciso and Tenorio could all be in heaven together. While Narciso was protecting Ultima from Tenorio, Tenorio claimed that she had put a curse on Tenorio’s three daughters who were each slowly dying. After Antonio yells at God and the Virgin for wanting him to ask for forgiveness for Tenorio, too, God de cides to burn the entire village for their sins. The Golden Carp comes after the fires of the Catholic God and swallows the remains of the citizens of the burnt valley up and then changes them into new perfect beings. The dream after Narciso’s murder helps Antonio settle the conflict between the Catholic God and the Golden Carp, Anaya also uses extremely vivid imagery to show that dreams help Antonio settle his conflicts. Anaya uses extremely vivid imagery to show us that Antonio’s way of dealing with his conflicts is through his dreams were he settles the conflict between the Catholic God and the Golden Crap. “I held my bloodied hands out to touch [my brother’s foreheads],'; Antonio tries to save his brothers from hell because they had sinned at Rosies the “house of sinful women.'; With the words “Bloodied Hands,'; Anaya shows that Antonio is trying to sort out the conflict of Narciso’s death, while Narciso was trying to warn Ultima about Tenorio.

Football After School Essay Essay

What Parental feelings does McCarthy explore in the poem and how does she use language to present them to you? Football after school is a poem about a mothers, or the poets’, struggles in the harsh realisation of her son maturing, and having to experience school. Patricia is feeling powerless and worried about her sons inevitable future of him going to school which he has to endure. We observe the poet sharing her thoughts, and images, in each verse her view changes on how she thinks her son will combat â€Å"Football After School† . The theme of football fears her, as he â€Å"dribbles the sin about the place†, which conveys how she thinks the football as the â€Å"sun† will become his life, and will become his focus rather than his mother before. We see her worries change, from be concerned about how she can help him and how his attitudes will change when he matures into a teenager. The mother is caring for her son, but we don’t know how the son feels towards the mother. Insecurity is a key role in how the mother feels, as she becomes more distant to her f ragile son growing up. McCarthy explores the idea of growing up is inevitable, and insists to the son that he is going to mature and play football with the repetition of â€Å"You’ll† and â€Å"you† secures the certainty of her son having to grow up, and the mother is understanding this by empathising on it, particularly in the begining as the perfect rhyme empathises this imminent future, and how convinced McCarthy is that her son is going to grow up to be â€Å"common†. There is a continuous theme of worry that the world of school will be violent and aggressive. The use of alliteration produces an image of potential violence â€Å"stiff striped dagger†, the alliteration has harsh continents adding to the aggression of the â€Å"dagger†, as they are â€Å"stiff† is describing the harsh strength of the dagger and â€Å"striped† makes the imagery of the â€Å"dagger† pain. The image of â€Å"warpaint slicked over your face†, this imagery is symbolising battles within school, and how this paint makes you look stronger and confident. The use of harsh sounding images, and actions â€Å"butting it with your head† adds to the violence of the boys later life. Football, being a sport which is sometimes competitively aggressive, making the mother fear her sons teenage development, â€Å"with the premature swagger of manhood†, showing the bravado attitude, and false over confidence, along with â€Å"language jeers†, which describes the pretentious and arrogant teenage future mindset compared to now being young and having â€Å"porcelain skin†. The metaphor of â€Å"Dwarf a tree, stab a flower† illustrates the violent contrast of images, he does this by a â€Å"kick†, this is portraying how his actions reverse what they were previously were, which reflect how he is going to develop, transform and switch characters. As now he is fragile, and later he will have â€Å"premature swagger of manhood†, evoking him growing up and becoming a ‘man’, further to the point she adds that it is â€Å"premature†, which echoes the fact that she thinks he will be too young to mature, ripen and have â€Å"granite jowls†. The poet negatively looks on violence and aggression, doubting her sons ability as the poem moves on. In the 3rd and 4th verses we see the mother apprehending, which is contrasting with before as she expected her son to be involved in bullying, rather than now fearing her son will be the victim of bullying no longer having â€Å"stiff striped dagger†, as he would have to â€Å"tackle fouls with ink stained fists and feet†. The alliteration of the â€Å"f† is adding to the aggression of the language, and the voice sounds like it is struggling to overcome emotions along with the imagery conveying the boy as more of an academic child who had been studying, than being a football player. We can  see that he would â€Å"be clever enough†, which shows the mother has hope in her son, even if he is a ‘geek’. In the previous verses Patricia had started on positive comments, however as she sees the weaker side of her son she says, â€Å"Yet† and â€Å"not hooligan enough†, which are showing how she thinks her son may turn out to be skimpy and lacking in courage. This is a clear change in the tone of her voice as she begins to fear her sons vulnerability, reflecting how her son may turn out to be. This image of the boy having â€Å"to sample punches below the belt†, portrays the image of being bullied, and being an​  illegal ​  boxing move, it will still be allowed in schools,  and some children have to â€Å"sample† it, and put up with it as they can’t fight back, and usually â€Å"sample† means you are trying something because you want to rather than having to be forced, this juxtaposes . Patricia McCarthy successfully uses enjambment to convey her ideas running on as the lines progress, because her ideas are building up and becoming stronger in what she believes will happen. McCarthy says â€Å"punches below the belt from one you know†, the next line â€Å"Without flinching. I can’t prevent† , as she advances in the foreshadowing future, and her feelings are overflowing, which is stopped by the sudden caesura which make her ideas change, and she puts herself in to shelter her son. The mother is constantly trying to protect her sons future, as he would be exposed to the life of school. Patricia doesn’t want to imagine her child growing up as he has â€Å"porcelain skin†, showing he is delicate, precious and cant be touched or harmed, compared with â€Å"their granite jowls†, which are opposites, and show life can toughen you, and you will crack if you stay porcelain. Later on in the poem, Patricia uses juxtaposing ideas to, â€Å"turn bullies into cement†, the use of a more modern material later shows as time goes on the material becomes modern and he toughens up. The mother admits that she thinks her son is, â€Å"too vulnerable for living†, showing she â€Å"can’t prevent crossbones on your knees†, this creates an image of poison and evil on her sons knees which she wishes she could help, but  she can’t protect him at school, therefore he is defenceless. McCarthy is hoping for her son, to stand up for himself, and not â€Å"to trample into the sod your shadow that grows twice as fast as yourself†, because she doesn’t want him to be in the darkness that developes quicker around him and have no friends, and the violent gesture of ‘trampling’, shows her concerns for the constant aggression at schools if he is alone in gloom, people will be able to hurt him as he has nobody to protect him. She also says she can’t â€Å"confiscate the sun†, further repetition of the â€Å"sun† being the football or life, she is saying she can’t be liable for what happens at school, as it i not the end of life even if â€Å"they’ll punter and put out†. However she says â€Å"you’ll be picking scabs of kisses off your skin†, she is telling him that he will have to stand up for himself, but there is juxtaposing imagery of scabs and kisses, this maybe describing how he is growing up, no longer needing kisses son consequent get â€Å"picked off† as he gets â€Å"kicked†. Being oxymoronic plays with the comparison of changing images and how the mother is actually feeling inside as she still  anxious about the prospects of violence in the school, as using emotions of â€Å"kisses† reminds her of wanting to protect him. The rhyming pattern throughout the poem does not stay constant, as the poets feelings change and thoughts develop. The first verse is a confident perfect rhyme as she is projecting her certainty as to how her son will turn out to be. Her assurance changes as the rhyme stops being so constant in the rhyme, but still including two lines of perfect rhyme until the fourth verse when it isn’t as perfect compared to the first. this reflects how the mothers hope changes, until the last paragraph where it is perfect until she projects her own thoughts. Her realisation at the end has no rhyme, illustrating the change in her emotions. The poets has an insight into her concerns for her son as she has regrets in her school life, the poet reflects the mood of the mothers thoughts. She doesn’t want him to idolise her previous life at school, as she wants him â€Å"not to inherit her  fragility†, so he can stick up to bullies, as he will still be delicate with â€Å"porcelain skin†, which will break as he has not developed â€Å"granite jowls†. Overall McCarthy burrowed into all of her parental feelings, justifying her fears which many other parents understand and do not like to have to experience. Being a woman she expresses her emotions more, making the poem test her affection in the rhythm of the poem.

Birthday Customs and Traditions in Germany

Birthday Customs and Traditions in Germany Many people, both young and old, love celebrating their birthday. In Germany, like in most countries around the world, cake, presents, family, and friends bring in the fun for such a special day. In general, birthday customs in Germany are similar to American birthday celebrations, with a few peculiar exceptions sprinkled here and there throughout German-speaking countries. German Birthday Customs and Traditions(Deutsche Geburtstagsbruche und Traditionen) Never wish a German a happy birthday before their birthday. It is considered bad luck to do so. There are no well-wishes, cards or presents given before a German’s birthday. Period. On the other hand, if you live in certain parts of Austria, it is customary to celebrate your birthday on the eve of. If somebody in Germany invites you out for their birthday, the tab is on them. And don’t try insisting on paying for yourself - it won’t work. If you live in northern Germany and happen to be single going on thirty, a few chores may be expected from you. If you’re female, your friends will want you to clean a few doorknobs for them with a toothbrush! If you’re male, then you’ll most likely be sweeping the stairs of town hall or some other busy public place.There is a way to be freed from such menial tasks, however - by a kiss from someone of the opposite sex. Of course, if you dont want to be so mean to your friend, there are alternatives. For instance, the doorknob chore is sometimes executed by having the birthday girl clean a series of doorknobs attached to a wooden board instead, right at her party and not in public. But you cant let them off so easy; it is also tradition to comically dress the birthday girl and boy as they perform their tasks. Other birthday customs include: 16th Birthday: This birthday child should run for cover as his or her friends will undoubtedly pour flour on top of his or her head. Common in northern Germany.18th Birthday: Cracking eggs over the head of someone turning 18.25th Birthday: Once again, if you are an unmarried man, the whole town will know! A Sockenkranz, a type of garland of socks is strung outside the home and around the birthday boy’s property leading to his party. As he follows the garland of socks, he’ll down an alcoholic drink every few meters. Why socks? In German, you have the expression alte Socke (an old sock), more of a derogatory way of saying confirmed bachelor.† A similar experience awaits unmarried women turning this age. They follow a garland of cigarette cartons instead (or other similar-sized cartons if they are non-smokers). These single women are nicknamed eine alte Schachtel (an old box), similar in meaning to old maid. Geburtstagskranz These are beautifully decorated wooden rings that usually contain ten to twelve holes, one for each year of life as a child. Some families opt to light candles in such Geburtstagskrnze instead of on the cake, though blowing out candles on a birthday cake is frequently observed in Germany as well. A bigger Lebenskerze (life candle) is put in the center of these rings. In religious families, these Lebenskerzen are given at the time of the child’s christening.

Free Essays on Roughnecks

ROUGHNECKS by, Thomas Cochran Setting: Oil Camp, Louisiana, in the late fall. Character: Travis Cody, the main character, high school football player, Glen Cody, Travis’ older brother, who has graduated from high school, Travis’ mother, a nurse, â€Å"Lunk,† Travis’ close friend and fellow teammate, and Jerico Grooms, Travis’ arch rival, who plays for Pineview. Point of View: This story is told from the view of Travis Cody, the main character. Which makes this story told in first person point of view. Theme: This story tells of the day of the main character, Travis Codys', big game. The game is against Pineview, the Roughnecks arch rivals. It is the state championship, and Travis’ second chance to prove himself against the best nose guard in the state, Jerico Grooms. The first time these two met Grooms beat one of Travis’ assignments that cost the Roughnecks an undefeated season. All day Travis has doubted himself against Grooms. At the end of the book, Travis beats Grooms and the Roughnecks go on to win the state championship. Once he beat Grooms, his doughts in himself were gone. So I think that the theme of this story is that when Travis learned that sometimes when you dought yourself, you need to give it that litter extra effort to prove it to yourself. Plot: This story is about Travis Cody, a high school football player. The whole story is about the day of Travis’ big game against Pineview. It tells about everything that he does all day. This game is his big second chance against Pineview. Earlier in the season, when they played Pinview, their star nose guard, Jerico Grooms, breaks through Travis’ blocking assignments that cost the Roughnecks an undefeated season. Travis has been worrying about his talents against Grooms for the past week. In the final seconds of the game Grooms admits to Travis that he has been worrying about him for a long time, and Travis admits the same thing. T... Free Essays on Roughnecks Free Essays on Roughnecks ROUGHNECKS by, Thomas Cochran Setting: Oil Camp, Louisiana, in the late fall. Character: Travis Cody, the main character, high school football player, Glen Cody, Travis’ older brother, who has graduated from high school, Travis’ mother, a nurse, â€Å"Lunk,† Travis’ close friend and fellow teammate, and Jerico Grooms, Travis’ arch rival, who plays for Pineview. Point of View: This story is told from the view of Travis Cody, the main character. Which makes this story told in first person point of view. Theme: This story tells of the day of the main character, Travis Codys', big game. The game is against Pineview, the Roughnecks arch rivals. It is the state championship, and Travis’ second chance to prove himself against the best nose guard in the state, Jerico Grooms. The first time these two met Grooms beat one of Travis’ assignments that cost the Roughnecks an undefeated season. All day Travis has doubted himself against Grooms. At the end of the book, Travis beats Grooms and the Roughnecks go on to win the state championship. Once he beat Grooms, his doughts in himself were gone. So I think that the theme of this story is that when Travis learned that sometimes when you dought yourself, you need to give it that litter extra effort to prove it to yourself. Plot: This story is about Travis Cody, a high school football player. The whole story is about the day of Travis’ big game against Pineview. It tells about everything that he does all day. This game is his big second chance against Pineview. Earlier in the season, when they played Pinview, their star nose guard, Jerico Grooms, breaks through Travis’ blocking assignments that cost the Roughnecks an undefeated season. Travis has been worrying about his talents against Grooms for the past week. In the final seconds of the game Grooms admits to Travis that he has been worrying about him for a long time, and Travis admits the same thing. T...

Religion and Violence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Religion and Violence - Research Paper Example Only intensive and concrete planning, prevention and interventions can help to reduce violence caused by religious extremism and misinterpretation of holy doctrines in adverse ways. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate religion and violence by examining the historicity of religious violence, the ways religions promote or oppose violence, and effective initiatives to support inter-religious harmony. There are four historical moments that reveal the origins of religious violence. The first is associated with the diffusion of world religions during the 4th to 7th centuries of the Christian era. Christianity became the dominant religion of Europe through displacement of the religions native to the continent, and through the officialization of the new religion in the Roman empire. While Christianity spread to Ethiopia in Africa and to South Asia, Hinduism spread to Indonesia, Buddhism to China, Korea and Japan from India. By the beginning of the 8th CE, Islam covered Spain and the Arab world, and went to Sind in the Indian subcontinent. â€Å"Much violence was involved in the transcontinental spread of the world religions†2. Although most of the pre-colonial spread of religion was associated with political conquest and physical violence, this was not always the rule. For example, violence did not characterize the spread of Hinduism. Christianity scarcely used violence in spre ading to South Asia. King Ashoka converted to Buddhism, unable to bear the carnage of the Kalinga war, and propagated the religion through peaceful means. The second historical moment was colonialism characterized by racial superiority and cultural conquest through the â€Å"civilizing mission†. This was in addition to political and economic domination, and was charged with religious violence. â€Å"The European missionaries did not even recognize the religions of the New World as religion†3, not even as human beings. Not only were the First Nations not allowed their cultural identity, they were physically liquidated. The people of Africa were considered as primitive, without history and without religion. Hence it was thought to be necessary to convert them to Christianity in large numbers. However, in the case of Islam, they put up a stiff resistance, resulting in violent conflicts between the two imported religions. Today, the leading religion of 50 percent of the Af rican states is Christianity, the other main religion being Islam, thereby relegating native religions to the background. In the Orient composed of the three great civilizations of China, India and Egypt, dominant religions prevailed, related to Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam respectively. Therefore, the scope of Christianizination of these regions through colonialism was limited. The third historical moment is that the European model of the nation-state has been endorsed by religious nationalists in most parts of the world, establishing political hegemony by the religious majority, and the cultural assimilation of the religious minorities into the â€Å"nation†. The diasporic Jewish community in Europe which was economically prosperous, were the object of European wrath through the holocaust4. The cold-war era which saw a rapid spread of the concept of the nation-state experienced great violence based on religion, by Christians. Homogenization that erases the cultural identity of peoples and nations is a violent process. The cold-war period which occurred for four decades, divided the world into three: the capitalist democracies of the world, the socialist one-party system of the second world, and the

What main objectives did the British and Russian Empires pursue in the Research Paper

What main objectives did the British and Russian Empires pursue in the course of the Great Game in Central Asia and Afghanistan - Research Paper Example This rivalry spanned years and periods in the lives of the people affected by the rivalry. It also went through different phases in for the countries concerned. This paper shall now discuss the objectives which the British and Russian Empires had in the course of the Great Game in Central Asia and Afghanistan. It shall provide the historical beginnings of the rivalry, including its highlights and significant events. It shall also discuss the significant objectives which the empires had in the Great Game. It shall also highlight the rivalry of the empires in Afghanistan and in Central Asia, as well as the impact and the overall goals achieved in these nations by these empires. Body Britain and Russia were involved in a major rivalry in Central Asia at the start of the nineteenth century; this went on to the early 1900s (Szczepanski, 2011). Much of Britain’s reasons for wanting control and influence over Central Asia have been tied in with its goal to establish a British India. Russia, on the other hand, was seeking to increase its territory as a means of establishing the largest empire in the world, and if gaining India from Britain would ensure this goal then it was willing to secure any means to conquer India (Szczepanski, 2011). ... This convention also set forth the border zone between these two empires, and later declared Afghanistan part of the British protectorate. Despite the establishment of this convention, the relationship between these two empires remained strained and tension-filled. This tension was somehow minimized when these territories allied with each other during the First World War. Specific details of this â€Å"Great Game† shall be discussed forthwith. In the latter part of the 19th century, the Russian and British Empire showed stirrings of a conflicting and tense meet-up. As Russia was expanding its power and territories to its east and southern borders, Britain’s power over its empire and territories was being threatened (Johnson, 2006). When British interests in India were also threatened, Britain became fully determined to secure its interests. This period marked a major rivalry between these two empires, and this ‘Great Game’ became clearly apparent in Europe and well into the Far Eastern region of Asia (Johnson, 2006). Prompted by Russia’s seeming interest in India, Britain increased its military activities in Afghanistan and Tibet, and many of these military activities were often disastrous for the countries involved (Johnson, 2006). From the early 18th to mid-19th centuries, Russia exercised its power over India which was then under British control. The Russians were not able to gain as much progress in terms of empirical conquests in the 1700s and 1800s, but in the 19th century, they were seriously posing a threat on India. The distance between the British and Russian empires was also starting to close in, and both empires were now aiming to conquer as much land as the land that lay between