Economic Environment 40 Marker Essay

Economic Environment 40 Marker Essay Economic Environment 40 Marker Essay The external environment in which businesses operate can have a significant effect on their success. To what extent do you think that the external environment in the UK is favourable for businesses at the moment? (40) The UK economy grew by 2.6% last year, the fastest pace since 2007, at which point the country was in a recession. The unemployment rate stands at 5.8% of the adult population. Although this is still high (1.91 million people are unemployed) it is the lowest in six years meaning that generally, consumers now have higher disposable income; this is particularly significant as average earnings including bonuses are now up by 1.8%, with wages rising faster than inflation. Inflation has also fallen to 0.5%, allowing for cheaper purchase of materials/supplies and more cost-effective production. However, the pound has weakened against the dollar and the euro, having implications for imports and exports. It could be argued that the UK environment is favourable for businesses at the moment in terms of Human Resources, as unemployment is high, meaning more people may be willing to work for a minimum wage. This allows businesses to reduce costs in areas such as wages, meaning they are more able to invest in other areas such as expansion in order to encourage growth. This will particularly benefit the economy as growth of businesses means a higher GDP for the UK due to increased output as a result of increased demand. High unemployment means that firms also have access to a wider pool of labour, allowing them to target a more specific demographic during the recruitment process. However, these people may not have the skills required, perhaps affecting productivity as well as quality, as goods may be made faulty or services may be delivered incorrectly. Issues with skills may be particularly significant as Rolls Royce are planning to make redundancies of 2,600 employees as part of a cost c utting programme to compete against bigger rivals such as General Electric. These are likely to have specialist skills, meaning they may struggle to provide skills for vacancies elsewhere. In addition, these people may only be able to take the job in the short term which will mean a business has to go through the recruitment process regularly. This will in the short term prove a cost to the business, something to be avoided during times of low demand as a result of unemployment or inflation. It therefore depends on Government intervention as this could lead to the implementation of education/training programmes for the unemployed, which will determine their skills set and their motivation to stay with a firm for the long term once employed. In turn, this will govern whether the employees are increasing costs for the business more so than they need to be, determining whether the UK environment is favourable for businesses in terms of HRM. The UK economic environment can also be considered favourable in terms of a firms marketing, as increased GDP indicates there is a high demand, allowing firms to market themselves as a brand based on pricing, something firms find difficult to do during a recession as consumers expect prices to be lowered. This could perhaps allow firms to increase profit margins so that profit could either be reinvested or distributed as dividends to shareholders, encouraging further investment. This increased investment could allow some firms to become much more efficient, creating a USP or even acting as a competitive advantage against other firms, which is particularly important in a growing economy as there will be a higher chance of business start-ups being successful. However, it could be argued that the UK environment is not favourable in terms of marketing as it is more expensive to advertise due to higher demand as a result of a higher disposable income. It may also be particularly difficult for businesses to differentiate themselves from other companies as most businesses will be advertising to try and increase

The Ultimate SAT Spanish Subject Test Study Guide

The Ultimate SAT Spanish Subject Test Study Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Applying to highly selective schools often means submitting SAT Subject Test scores along with your regular SAT or ACT scores. Si espaà ±ol es pan comido para usted, then taking the SAT Spanish Subject Test is a great way to fulfill part of the subject test requirement. Read this guide to learn more about what’s on the SAT Spanish Subject Test and whether or not you should take it. We’ll go over format, test content, where to find good practice material, and tips to help you when studying and taking the test. Table of Contents What’s the Test Format? When Can You Take It? Should You Take the SAT Subject Test in Spanish? Choosing the Right SAT Subject Test: Spanish or Spanish with Listening? What Does the Test Cover? Part A: Vocabulary and Structure Part B: Paragraph Completion Part C: Reading Comprehension SAT Spanish with Listening Question Styles Where to Find SAT Spanish Practice Tests 4 SAT Spanish Study Tips Test-Day Tips En Conclusià ³n What’s Next? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or more? We've put our best advice into a single guide. These are the 5 strategies you MUST be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download this free SAT guide now: What’s the Test Format? There are two different SAT Spanish tests you can choose from. The regular SAT Spanish Subject Test is like most other standardized tests- you’ll be asked multiple choice questions about what you read in the test booklet. The Spanish with Listening Subject Test is a little different because the test starts by asking you to answer around 30 multiple choice questions based on listening to recordings (followed by ~55 questions you’ll answer based on what you read). SAT Spanish SAT Spanish with Listening What’s it out of? 200-800 points 200-800 points How long is it? 60 minutes for reading questions 60 minutes total (20 min for listening questions, 40 minutes for reading questions) How many questions is it? 85 Around 85 (around 30 listening questions, 55 reading questions) For both of these tests, you’ll need to answer about 85 multiple choice questions (each with four possible answer choices). Each correct answer is worth one point, each skipped or unanswered question is worth 0 points, and each incorrect answer is worth negative 0.25 points (to discourage random guessing). When you take the Spanish with Listening Subject Test, you’ll need to bring along an approved CD-player to use for the listening questions. Return to the table of contents. Robert Leverington/Flickr When Can You Take the SAT Subject Test in Spanish? The regular SAT Spanish Subject Test is offered in August, October, December, May, and June. The Spanish with Listening Subject Test is only offered in November*. Here’s a snapshot of what the SAT II Spanish test dates look like for the school year 2019-2020: SAT Spanish SAT Spanish with Listening August 24, 2019 âÅ"” October 5, 2019 âÅ"” November 2, 2019 âÅ"” December 7, 2019 âÅ"” May 2, 2020 âÅ"” June 6, 2020 âÅ"” In future years the dates may shift around a little, but the SAT Spanish Subject Test will always be offered in these months around the same dates. You can find the most up-to-date information about SAT Subject Test dates here. *SAT Language tests with listening will be offered in November up through November 2020; after that, they will only be offered in May (starting May 2021). Return to the table of contents. Should You Take the SAT Spanish Subject Test? The College Board recommends that you should only take the SAT Spanish Subject Test if you’ve studied 3-4 years of high school Spanish (or two years, if you’re an advanced student). To be blunt, SAT Language Subject Tests are extremely difficult to do well on for non-native speakers because your performance is being compared to that of native speakers who take the test. The curve isn’t quite as bad on Spanish as it is for some of the other language tests, but in general, there are only three cases in which you should think about taking a SAT Subject Test in Spanish. Case 1: Spanish Is Your Strongest Subject Some highly selective colleges require or recommend students to submit at least two SAT Subject Test scores along with their applications. If application requirements are why you’re taking an SAT Subject Test, Spanish should only be your choice if it’ll be one of your best scores. To know if you'll be able to do well on the SAT Spanish Subject Test, we've put together this table with what it takes to get a good score on the SAT Spanish Subject Test (excerpted from our article on what’s a good Subject Test score). 70th+ %ile score 80th+ %ile score 90th+ %ile score Spanish 730-740 760 790-800 Spanish with Listening 750-760 770 790 If you’re going to be able to hit a higher percentile score on the SAT Spanish Subject Test than you will with any other Subject Test, then you should take it. Otherwise, it's better to send colleges an excellent score in another area than to send them a mediocre Spanish SAT II score. Case 2: You’re Not Taking Spanish but Want to Show Fluency If you’re not taking AP or IB Spanish B and want to show you have a high level of fluency and ability in Spanish, then it makes sense to take the SAT Spanish Subject Test. Students who might fall into this category include native Spanish speakers or students who’ve taken a lot of Spanish outside of their high school and want to demonstrate their abilities. In fact, if you have a lot of experience and familiarity with spoken Spanish, the College Board particularly recommends taking the Spanish with Listening Subject Test to showcase your listening skills. Case 3: You Want to Place Into the Correct Level of Spanish Colleges often use standardized test scores to place you in the right level foreign language classes. If you’re not planning on taking the Spanish AP or IB test, then taking the SAT Subject Test in Spanish is a good substitute. Most colleges also have some kind of free placement exam, so if you don’t want to spend the time and money on a SAT Subject Test, you don’t have to. One bonus of taking the SAT Spanish Subject Test, though, is that all the questions are multiple choice- you won’t have to write any essays or even do any free-response questions. If you’re only taking the test to place into the correct level of Spanish and will be submitting other, likely higher, SAT II scores with your college applications, you should wait until you’re as far along in your Spanish classes as possible to take the Spanish SAT. You’ll need to double check with the colleges you’re applying to, but as a rule, if you’re only taking SAT II Spanish to place into the right level Spanish class, you should hold off on taking it until May or June of senior year. Return to the table of contents. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Choosing the Right SAT Subject Test: Spanish or Spanish With Listening? We briefly went over the big difference between the two tests when discussing their formats, but that might not be enough information for you to decide which test to take. The difference between the two tests boils down to how comfortable you are with understanding spoken Spanish. On the informational page about the Spanish with Listening Subject Test, College Board states that â€Å"many colleges indicate the Spanish with Listening test gives them a fuller picture of your ability and may be more useful for placement purposes.† So if you can excel on Spanish with Listening, you should absolutely take that over the regular Spanish Subject Test (kind of like how you should take the Math 2C Subject Test over Math 1C). But if you’re not confident your Spanish listening comprehension skills are at a high enough level or are worried that anxiety about the listening section will negatively affect your score, you should take the regular SAT Spanish Subject Test. 40% of the questions on the Spanish with Listening Subject Test involve listening to spoken Spanish and answering questions on it. The three tasks you’ll be asked to perform are: Explaining a picture ("Pictures"). You’ll have to identify either what’s presented in a photograph or the most likely thing someone in the photograph would say. Continuing a conversation ("Rejoinders"). You’ll have to choose the answer that would be the best next line in a short conversation. Demonstrating listening comprehension ("Selections"). You’ll need to answer questions that demonstrate you’ve understood what was said in a longer spoken selection. Keep in mind that both exams test you on your knowledge of vocabulary and structure, paragraph completions, and reading comprehension. It’s just that answering questions based on written material makes up 100% of the SAT Spanish Subject Test, but only about 60% of the SAT Spanish with Listening Subject Test. For Rejoinders questions, if one person in the recording asks  ¿Dà ³nde est el baà ±o?, you'll need to choose an answer that makes sense in context. Return to the table of contents. What Does the Test Cover? The SAT Spanish Subject Test is designed to cover skills and topics that are taught in most high school Spanish classes. Specifically, the following three areas are heavily emphasized: Vocabulary (in the context of a sentence as well as throughout the test) Parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.) Idiomatic expressions The test itself is divided up into three sections, each with roughly equal numbers of questions. Part A: Vocabulary and Structure Part B: Paragraph Completion Part C: Reading Comprehension In the next three sections of this guide, I’ll go over what’s on each of the three parts of the test. All sample questions come from the SAT Subject Test Student Guide 2016-2017. Return to the table of contents. Part A: Vocabulary and Structure The first part of the SAT Spanish Subject Test is the Vocabulary and Structure section (33% of the test). This section is made up of fill-in-the-blank questions which test your knowledge of both what word or phrase is correct grammatically and what makes sense in the context of the sentence. Here’s an example of a vocabulary and structure question you might see on the SAT II Spanish Test: Directions: This part consists of a number of incomplete statements, each having four suggested completions. Select the most appropriate completion and fill in the corresponding circle on the answer sheet. Si en el Brasil, hablarà ­amos portuguà ©s y no espaà ±ol. (A) vivamos(B) vivimos(C) vivà ­amos(D) vivià ©ramos Answer: D Return to thetable of contents. Part B: Paragraph Completion The next section on the Spanish SAT Subject Test is the Paragraph Completion section (33%). This section is very similar to the vocabulary and structure section, but instead of testing grammar and usage with isolated sentences, you’ll be given longer paragraphs and asked to complete them with the appropriate vocabulary or phrase choice. Here’s a sample paragraph and a paragraph completion question about it: Directions: In each of the following paragraphs, there are numbered blanks indicating that words or phrases have been omitted. For each numbered blank, four completions are provided. First, read through the entire paragraph. Then, for each numbered blank, choose the completion that is most appropriate given the context of the entire paragraph and fill in the corresponding circle on the answer sheet. La mquina ms infernal de hacer dinero se llama â€Å"Pedroso,† un osito electrà ³nico que (4) ha derramado sobre sus fabricantes beneficios superiores a los 100 millones de dà ³lares en el (5) aà ±o. La (6) de Pedroso es que habla. Claro, no hay ningà ºn misterio en la cinta sin fin y el grabador (7) en el interior del osito. Pero lo (8) novedoso es que (9) hablar su boca se mueve en sincronà ­a con las palabras y sus ojos pestaà ±ean. El juguete (10) vende a precios que oscilan entre 60 y 80 dà ³lares. (4): (A) todavà ­a(B) nunca(C) ya(D) tampoco Answer: C Return to the table of contents. Part C: Reading Comprehension The last third of the SAT Spanish Subject Test is Part C, the Reading Comprehension section. The questions in this section are based on short selections from: prose fiction historical works newspaper and magazine articles advertisements, flyers, and letters You'll be tested on your understanding of the passage or image with questions that ask you about: main and supporting ideas themes style tone spatial and temporal settings of the selection (where and when do the events described in the passage take place?) Below, you can try out a sample Reading Comprehension question based on an advertisement. Directions: Read the following texts carefully for comprehension. Each text is followed by a number of questions or incomplete statements. Select the answer or completion that is best according to the text and fill in the corresponding circle on the answer sheet.  ¿Quà © caracterà ­stica se destaca ms de la compaà ±Ãƒ ­a anunciada? (A) Su precio(B) Su cortesà ­a(C) Su rapidez(D) Su amplitud Answer: D Return to the table of contents. SAT Spanish With Listening Question Styles If you choose to take the SAT Spanish with Listening Subject Test, you’ll encounter three additional types of questions, all listening-based. For Pictures questions, you’ll be shown a printed picture in your test booklet and asked to listen to four sentences. The recording will specify whether the sentences are meant to illustrate what you see in the picture or be an example of what someone in the picture might say. The full sentences you listen to for the Pictures questions are not written out in your test booklet, just the answer choices (A), (B), (C), or (D). For an example of a Pictures question, try the first or second question in this set of official practice questions. The next type of Listening question is called "Rejoinders." You’ll hear either several short conversations or parts of conversations and then be asked to listen to four possible choices for how the conversation could continue. Again, only (A), (B), (C), or (D) will be in your test booklet, not the full text of the choices. To see an example of a Rejoinders question, try question #3, 4, or 5 in this set of official practice questions. The last type of Listening question, Selections, asks you to demonstrate you’ve listened to and understood a longer listening selection (around 10-25 seconds). For an example of this type of question, try any of the last four questions in this set of official practice questions. Return to the table of contents. Where to Find SAT Spanish Practice Tests The best source of realistic SAT Spanish Subject Test practice materials is the College Board, the maker of the test. If you want to practice with a full-length official SAT Spanish practice test, you’ll have to buy The Official Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests, 2nd Edition, which costs around $18 and includes an audio CD for the Spanish with Listening practice test. Both of the SAT Subject Tests in Spanish ask you questions based on what you read, so you can use the reading section of the practice test you’re not taking for extra practice questions. If you’re taking the†¦ Take the†¦ Get extra practice questions from the†¦ Spanish Subject Test Spanish Subject Test practice test Spanish with Listening Subject Test practice test Spanish with Listening Subject Test Spanish with Listening Subject Test practice test Spanish Subject Test practice test The best free resource for official SAT Spanish practice is the College Board website, which allows you to answer 33 practice questions online and view your results (with answer explanations). Here's a breakdown of how many types of each question the College Board website has for the SAT Spanish Subject Test: Section Type Number of Questions Vocabulary and Structure 5 Paragraph Completion 15 (across two different paragraphs) Reading Comprehension 13 (across three different passages/ads) If you’re taking the Spanish with Listening Subject Test, you can also try out nine official online listening practice questions for free. If your browser supports Adobe Flash Player, you can actually listen to the questions, rather than just reading the written-out script, which is great practice! Here's a breakdown of the number of Spanish with Listening questions College Board has up online (spoiler alert: there are only nine questions total): Section Type Number of Questions Pictures 2 Rejoinders 3 Selections 4 Other Practice Resources The free SAT Subject Tests Student Guide PDF is useful if you want to print out the questions and take them on paper for more realistic practice, but it only includes some (not all) of the free online practice questions linked to in the previous section. If you want more practice tests, you can supplement your studying with non-official practice materials. The best of these seems to be Barron’s SAT Subject Test: Spanish, which includes ten full-length practice tests as well as review materials for specific topics. Return to Table of Contents 4 SAT Spanish Study Tips Now that you're fully equipped with information about what the test covers, what the question formats are, and what practice materials are out there, it's time to jump into studying. We've come up with four fundamental tips to help you as you prep for the SAT Spanish Subject Test. #1: Listen and Watch Spanish-Language Media A great way to get comfortable with colloquial Spanish is to listen to Spanish-language music and watch telenovelas or other Spanish-language media. This is one time where watching TV is a valid studying technique! Get on your online streaming service of choice and search for Spanish-language music and film/TV. Make sure to turn off English subtitles if you’re watching something in Spanish, or that will defeat the purpose. If you're looking for specific movie suggestions, Spanish teacher Carla Staffaroni suggests watching Diarios de motocicleta, La misma luna, Valentà ­n, and La historia oficial. #2: Memorize Irregular Verbs One thing the SAT Language Subject Tests love to test you on is irregular verbs, particularly ones that are commonly used. Study them and learn them well so you’re not unpleasantly surprised on test day. Here's a list of the top 25 most common irregular verbs: Spanish verb English meaning ser to be haber to have estar to be tener to have hacer to do, to make poder can, to be able decir to say, to tell ir to go ver to see dar to give saber to know querer to want, to love llegar to arrive, to reach, to come (to) poner to put, to place, to set parecer to seem creer to believe seguir to follow, to continue encontrar to find, to encounter venir to come pensar to think salir to leave, to go out volver to return, to go back conocer to know (people or places) sentir to feel, to regret contar to count, to tell We have an article specifically about ser for every tense, as a good starting place. For more irregular verbs, search online for "common irregular Spanish verbs." #3: Memorize the Question Formats Just knowing Spanish won’t be enough to ace this test if you are caught off guard by the ways you’re tested on your knowledge. Familiarize yourself ahead of time with the different question formats that will be on the test to avoid getting surprised on test day. To recap, those formats for the regular SAT Spanish Subject Test are: fill-in-the-blank vocab questions, paragraph completion questions, and reading comprehension questions. In addition to those three question formats, the Spanish with Listening test also has Picture, Rejoinder, and Selection questions. #4: Take Realistic Practice Tests Even if you’re completely fluent in Spanish, you should take at least one realistic practice test to familiarize yourself with the layout of the test. To get the most realistic practice-test experience, you’ll need to make sure you take the test in one sitting, stick to the 60-minute time limit, and don’t re-listen to audio recordings you’ll only get a chance to hear once on the real test. If you take a realistic practice test and ace it, then congratulations! You don’t need to spend extra time studying. If you take it and don’t do as well as you expected, that’s still helpful, because the questions you got wrong will tell you where you need to focus your studying. Part of making sure your practice test is realistic if you’re taking the Spanish with Listening Subject Test is using an approved CD player, preferably the one you’ll be using on test day. Yes, it’s easier to just pop the CD into your computer’s disc drive, but that won’t give you the most realistic testing experience. Make sure you have and practice with a CD player that: has headphones is handheld (no boomboxes or computers) is battery operated (no power cords permitted) can’t record or duplicate Return to the table of contents. You also cannot take a realistic practice test using your car's CD player. Test-Day Tips All of the usual test-taking tips apply to the Spanish Subject Test: get lots of sleep, bring a snack, get there early, and so forth. However, we’ve also compiled four tips below that are particularly helpful for taking the Spanish SAT II. #1: Only Guess Between Two Answers As with all SAT Subject Tests with questions with four answer choices, the Spanish and Spanish with Listening tests take off a third of a point for every wrong answer. Unless you can narrow your choices down to two possible correct answers, it’s too much of a risk to guess. You’re better off skipping the question, which leads right into the next test-day tip. #2: Skip Hard Questions Save time by skipping over harder questions and coming back to them later. Each question is worth the same amount of points, and there’s no rule that says you have to go through the test in order. It's much better to skip and come back to a difficult question than it is to burn five of your precious test-taking minutes staring it down. Unfortunately, if you want to get a good score on the SAT Spanish Subject Test, you're going to have to answer almost every question correctly. But it's better for your score to answer 81/85 questions correctly and leave four blank than it is to answer 85/85 and get four questions wrong. The next two tips are for the Spanish with Listening Subject Test only. #3: Don’t Forget Your CD Player! There is nothing worse than getting to a testing center and realizing you’ve forgotten some essential test-taking tool, whether it's your lucky number two pencil or your graphing calculator for SAT Math. All this is to say that if you're taking the SAT Spanish with Listening Subject Test, make sure you bring your College Board-approved CD player with you to the test. You might want to pack it (along with headphones and extra working batteries) the night before, just to be safe. Before test day, you’ll also want to check to make sure the CD player is working well and put in fresh batteries (no need to be changing your batteries out during the test). Similarly, make sure that the backup batteries you bring with you are functional. College Board even suggests bringing a backup CD player if possible, although that seems a little over the top. Still, you should do whatever will make you feel the most confident that you won’t encounter technical difficulties during the test. #4: Stay Calm During Listening Because it requires not just reading, but listening, some students can get very anxious about the listening section of the test, particularly since it’s the first 20 minutes of the test. You can do things ahead of time that will lessen this anxiety, like making sure you practice with the same CD player you’ll be using on the test so you can get familiar with it in the test-taking environment. We also have some great tips on decreasing test-taking anxiety in general here. Ultimately, though, even if you finish the listening section and feel like you’ve completely failed it, try not to let it faze you too much. You need to put your game face on and concentrate on hitting the next 55-ish written questions out of the park! Postpone your self-doubt and worrying for 40 minutes until you put down the pencil at the end of the test. Return to the table of contents. En Conclusià ³n The SAT Spanish Subject Test is 85 multiple choice questions taken over the course of 60 minutes. If you’re fluent in Spanish or know that your strongest SAT Subject Test Score will be in Spanish, you should take the SAT Spanish Subject Test. Consider taking the Spanish with Listening Subject Test if you have a good understanding of spoken Spanish, as it will give colleges a better idea of your Spanish abilities. Use the College Board website for free practice questions, or buy The Official Guide for ALL SAT Subject Tests, 2nd Edition for a complete official practice test. Try the Barron’s SAT Spanish Subject Test book for more non-official practice tests. You can also prepare for the SAT Spanish Subject Test by listening to Spanish-language music, watching Spanish-language TV and films, and memorizing common irregular verbs. On test day, remember to skip hard questions and come back to them later and only guessing if you can narrow it down to two choices. If you’re taking Spanish with Listening, don’t forget your CD player and try not to sweat the listening section after you’ve finished it.  ¡Feliz estudios! What’s Next? Want more in-depth information about the difficulty of the test before you make any decisions? Read our analysis of how hard the SAT Spanish Subject Test is here. Still trying to decide if it makes sense to take the SAT Spanish Subject Test? Take a look at our discussion of which SAT Subject Tests you should take. Not sure if you need to take an SAT Subject Test for the colleges you're applying to? Use our complete list of colleges that require SAT subject tests to figure out the answer! Need a little extra help prepping for your Subject Tests? We have the industry's leading SAT Subject Test prep programs (for all non-language Subject Tests). Built by Harvard grads and SAT Subject Test full or 99th %ile scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so that you get the most effective prep possible. Learn more about our Subject Test products below:

Starting with approximately 1900 and going to the present, how has Essay

Starting with approximately 1900 and going to the present, how has international relations changed over this period Identify th - Essay Example (Devetak, Burke and George) The era starting from the 1900 till present witnessed a systematic change in the international relations and the overall role of states within the overall global scene. From the rise of the nation-state to the emergence of sole superpower of the world, international relations drastically changed. The advancement in the technology and improvement in the military power coupled with global power of large corporations, international relations are not what they used to be in the 19th century. There has been a gradual shift towards redefining the roles and responsibilities of major nations along with that of the other nations. This paper will discuss and explore as to what changed in international relations since 1900. This paper will explore as to what were the major changes and the causes of such changes taking place at the global stage of international relations. International Relations since 1900 Starting with 1900, Germany started to emerge as one of the le ading players in the world stage. With increasing military power, it started to engage with Britain and France, two of the other most important players in the international arena. ... The rise of Germany resulted into the wars between the European superpowers which also resulted into the weakening of the power of the European States. The Balkan Wars, the Bosnian crisis, the outbreak of first and Second World War has created significant change in the international relations. The period after 1919 is considered as an important period in which the World actually made a transition into a new era owing to the efforts of Woodrow Wilson. The creation of League of Nation is considered as one of the most important change in the international relations as it signaled a systematic introduction of the role of global institutions in the overall domain of international relations. The League of Nations started a new direction in the international relations wherein institutions like League of Nations and subsequently United Nations become significant influencing authorities in international relations. (Lawson) It is also important to note that with the weakening of the European P owers due to World War II has resulted into creation and independence of new countries in the world. This has further increase the number of regional players to dominate the regional politics as well as influence the international politics. Countries like India emerged in the mid of the 1900 and quickly became the regional powers with the ability to withstand the pressure from the bigger superpowers of the world. The increase in the number of independent countries has also resulted into further conflicts at the regional level. The issue of Middle East and Palestine emerged as one of the important issues involving many regional as well as global players. Besides, the conflict between India and Pakistan and subsequently between India and China also

Current event summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Current event summary - Assignment Example ents the global political scenario as the underlying cause of the widespread fear of inflation many people with philosophical mind are currently suffering from. Krugman negated all assumptions leading to the fear of inflation and tried to dilute the fear potion further by identifying deflation as a bigger danger than inflation. Krugman confesses that Federal Reserve is printing more money that apparently makes the circumstances favorable for inflation, yet there remains little chance of any rise in inflation given the banks are not willing to circulate the cash because of the widespread economic recession. This attitude of banks all over the world itself forwards a discouragement for the Federal Reserve with respect to printing more money. The author reiterates that the influence of debts on economical strength is very little and gives the real example of the Bank of Japan, that incurred large debts in the period between 1997 and 2003. Despite that, the consumer prices declined. Kurgman also put forward the examples of Canada, Belgium and Japan whose debts significantly crossed their G.D.P.s and still, the governments never thought about inflating the debt in order to finish it. Krugman emphasizes that the fear of inflation among public has been mainly inculcated by the economists who have adopted a biased approach towards the matter. Present age is an age of economic decline that has occurred globally. The global economic decline has fundamentally surfaced as a result of upsets in the political scenario all over the world, and the economical health of many countries has deteriorated. The area that has suffered the most because of the present economic recession is corporate business which has declined to extinguishment in many countries. People are not willing to invest money and other resources in business because they see little room for the expansion of business. People are aware of the fact that market is currently suffering from a scarcity of dollars.

Louis Pojman’s We Don’t Deserve What We Earn Essay Example for Free

Louis Pojman’s We Don’t Deserve What We Earn Essay Merit and desert are two terms that are always in opposition to one another. While merit measures value in terms of success or failures, desert presupposes that value is not only measured in terms of success or failure but also the intentions must be assessed. Desert asseses â€Å"whether or not one had good or bad intentions, whether or not one was responsible for the success or failure†. While it is tempting to decide on issues with regards to their value in terms of the intentions of doing them as well as the success or failure of the object to meet our specific demands, I do believe that we merit is the best way of making a decision; we deserve what we earn. Athlete who has been training for long hours everyday deserves to win a race because of his attempt to train, and not marely because he is tall or has some long strides. Merit presumes that a person deserves something provided that he has some qualities. This is in contrast to desert which assumes a person to deserve something given that he attempts or does something. The criterion for deciding whether we deserve what we earn may be either through merit or desert, but one fact is that we generally deserve what we earn. The society itself is full of pointers to the fact that we get what we â€Å"saw†. To begin with, the laws governing our actions in the society show a justice. The concept of justice is found in most cultures and religious institutions. An ancient Greek poet, Simonides, defined justice as â€Å"giving each person his due† an idea which is unequivocal in the ancient Greek laws which also defined justice as giving the people what they merited. This idea of justice is also evident in most religions. The concept of the final judgment done on the basis of ones goodness or badness cuts across all religions; in the Hindu scriptures the notion of reward got after reincarnation is portrayed as being proportional to the person’s deeds. This same idea is also exemplified in the Quran and explicit in the Hebrew and Christian bibles. The bible for example states that what a person sows such shall he reap. In the current world affairs, we can look at the US election as one indicator of the criteria by which the society measures its values. We can decide to look at Obama as deserving the win from two perspective, from a meritorious point of view or from a desert based point of view. If we look at it from a merit-based point of view, then we can say that Obama deserved the win because he planned well, mounted a successful campaign machinery and was successful in convincing the young people, many of whom voted for him. On the other hand, we can decide to say that Obama deserved to win because he represented a minority community which has been oppressed and so deserved to win the election on this ground. Reference Pojman, L. Merit: Why do we value it. Journal of Social Philosophy. New York. Vol 30:83-102.

Abortion Around the World :: Informative Essay

Procedure of abortion is known since ancient times. The word abortion is came the Latin abortus where â€Å"ab† means â€Å"amiss† and â€Å"oriri† means â€Å"likely to be born, arise†.(1) Along with infanticide it has existed in many societies, both primitive and advanced. The earliest records of an abortive technique go back about 4,600 years to an ancient Chinese work, purportedly the work of Emperor Shen Nung which prescribes the use of mercury to induce an abortion. (3) In ancient ages pessaries or vaginal suppositories were used as an abortifacients.(1) They are generally more effective than oral drugs and included substances such as juice of the wild fig, a â€Å"dairy liquid† ,which caused irritation, soapwort, myrrh, myrtle, lupine, cedar-oil mixed with water, wine, or hot oil.(1) Ancient doctors also suggested smearing on the uterine opening goose fat, mashed leek and celery, rose oils, pine resin, copper scum, boiled honey, sodium carbon ate, and even mouse dung.(1) The Egyptian Kahun Papyrus, which dates to 1850 B.C., recommend crocodile feces either for preventing conception or as an abortifacient.(2) The Ebers Papyrus, which dates to 1550 B.C., contains several recipes that â€Å"cause a woman to stop pregnancy in the first, second, or third period.† (2) One recipe for a vaginal suppository includes mixed the unripe fruit of Acacia, colocynth, dates, and 6/7 pints of honey and pouring the mixture onto a moistened plant fiber. (2) Modern Arabic women still take colocynth as an abortifacient, though one woman who took 120 grains in a powder died 50 hours later. (2) In Arabic medicine, elephant feces were frequently recommended. (2) Aristotle suggests that the conceptus had a â€Å"soul† after 40 days from conception if a male and 90 if female. (2) In addition there are similar differentiations in the Bible. (2) Later, Aristotle says that the foetus develops gradually and that it is impossible to mak e a fine judgment. Famous doctors such as Pliny the Elder, Dioscorides, and Pseudo-Galen mention more â€Å"superstitious† abortifacients, like passage over the root of a cyclamen, the egg of a crow, a snake, or a stone which was bitten by a dog. Ancient physicians also used pessaries, or vaginal suppositories, as abortifacients. They were usually more potent than oral drugs and included substances like the juice of the wild fig, a â€Å"milky liquid† which caused irritation, soapwort, myrrh, myrtle, lupine, cedar-oil mixed with water, wine, or hot oil. Physicians also recommend smearing on the uterine opening goose fat, mashed leek and celery, rose oils, pine resin, copper scum, boiled honey, sodium carbonate, and even mouse dung.

Fair Election Process in India Essay

India has an asymmetric federal government, with elected officials at the federal, state and local levels. At the national level, the head of government, Prime Minister, is elected by the members of Lok Sabha, lower house of the parliament of India.[1] All members of Lok Sabha except two, who can be nominated by president of India, are directly elected through general elections which takes place every five years, in normal circumstances, by universal adult suffrage.[2] Members of Rajya Sabha, upper house of Indian parliament, are elected by elected members of the legislative assemblies of states and electoral college for Union Territories of India.[3] In 2009, the elections involved an electorate of 714 million[4] (larger than both EU and US elections combined[5]). Declared expenditure has trebled since 1989 to almost $300 million, using more than one million electronic voting machines.[6] The size of the huge electorate mandates that elections be conducted in a number of phases (there were four phases in 2004 General Elections and five phases in 2009 General Elections). It involves a number of step-by-step processes from announcement of election dates by the Election Commission of India, which brings into force the ‘model code of conduct’ for the political parties, to the announcement of results and submission of the list of successful candidates to the executive head of the state or the centre. The submission of results marks the end of the election process, thereby paving way for the formation of the new government.

Burglary & distinguishing characteristic

Burglary, larceny, and robbery all involve theft or the possibility and/or likelihood of theft, but there are some important distinctions between the three. Burglary is essentially the act of breaking into a premesis with the intention to commit a crime – usually theft, but other offenses are also included. A charge of burglary can be made whether or not a crime takes place inside the building or premesis; the act of trespassing is what sets burglary apart from the other two crimes.Robbery involves taking property which belongs to another person, by use of force or the threat of force or violence. The distinguishing characteristic of robbery is the use or threat of force; without this element, the crime committed is simple theft. In the case of robbery, the property is taken with the intent to permanently deprive the rightful owner of that property. But where burglary can be levied as a charge whether or not the crime took place, robbery can only stand as a charge if an actual theft did occur.Larceny is itself a type of theft, but with a handful defining conditions which must be met. The threat or act of violence is not present, as in robbery; however, the larcenist must be in complete possession of the taken item and remove it from its original location. The length of time that the victim is deprived of his or her property (whether temporary or permanent) does not have bearing on the charge. Also, the theft qualifies as larceny whether the theft is carried out directly (by the larcenist) or indirectly (by a third party).The controlling factor in identifying larceny is possession – whether or not the accused larcenist takes complete possession of the property and removes it from the possession of its rightful owner. In addition, the thief must have intent to steal, and the item stolen must have value. In virtually all jurisdictions, all three offenses are subclassified in varying degrees of severity. Works Cited Mansfeld, Yoel and Pizam, Abraham. (2006) Tourism, Security and Safety : From Theory to Practice. Burlington, MA : Elsevie

Import Export Financing Essays

Import Export Financing Essays Import Export Financing Paper Import Export Financing Paper IMPORT FINANCING Background Like other developing countries, Pakistan’s import bill exceeds exports. Therefore, it faces scarcity of foreign exchange to meet its import requirements. According to daily â€Å"DAWN† dated 18th November 2012, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves were USD 13. 84 Billion at the week ended as on 9th November 2012. Gap between the import and export bills is partially covered by regulations, controls and measures exercised by State Bank of Pakistan and partially by the international credit, aid, loan agencies like International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB). State Bank of Pakistan keeps control at a time, over this imbalance by imposing cash margin restrictions on import of general items from time to time. This is done in order to restrict imports and to allow import of only necessary items to fulfill genuine requirements and to discourage import of non-commercial and luxury items. CASE STUDY: On 1st February 2012, restriction on import of CNG cylinders and kits was imposed by Government of Pakistan in view of government policy to discourage use of CNG as a fuel due to its short supply and ever rising demand. No importer is allowed to import CNG cylinders kits up till now which is being restricted by SBP custom authority. Foreign trade involves many risks because of different locations /countries of importer and exporter. Both the parties are doing their businesses in different countries where different laws regulations apply and it is difficult to settle any dispute regarding goods quality and payment settlement between importer and exporter. For safeguarding interest of both importer and exporter, banks involve in these transactions for smooth settlement between the parties. IMPORTERS Any body who imports the required goods into the country is called an importer. The importer has to pay the exporter for the value of goods in foreign exchange. Importers are classified into three categories: i) Commercial sector importer i-e. a firm, institution, organization, person or group of persons registered as an importer is called commercial importer. ii) Industrial sector importer i-e. any industrial unit which is registered as importer comes under this category. iii) Public sector importers i-e. the organizations owned by the government which import capital / consumer commodities as per their requirement. Usually, these organizations are not registered as regular importer and their requests for opening letter of credit is routed through SBP. Letter of Credit (L/C) Letter of Credit is a written undertaking by a bank given to the seller/exporter (beneficiary) at the request and instructions of the buyer/importer (applicant) to pay at sight or at a determinable future date a stated sum of money against the required documents. The documents include commercial invoice, certificate of origin, transport document relating to the mode of transport used (Airway Bill, Bill of Lading, Railway Receipt, Truck Receipt, etc. and other documents required as per terms of letter of credit. Parties to Letter of Credit In documentary credit operations, maximum number of parties involved are as under: i) Applicant (Opener of L/C): The applicant of a credit is an importer or buyer who requests his bank to issue documentary credit in favor of the seller /exporter. ii) Issuing Bank (Opening Bank): The issuing bank is also called importer’s bank. At the request of the applicant, this bank issues the credit in accordance with the instructions of the applicant in favor of the exporter. The letter of credit is sent to the bank in the exporter/seller’s country. ii) Advising Bank: Advising bank is also known as transmitting or correspondent bank in the seller’s country. Issuing bank forwards the advice of the credit by mail or by any means of tele-transmission (i-e. cable, telex, SWIFT, etc. ) to a correspondent bank where the beneficiary business exists. Normally, all L/Cs are sent via SWIFT i-e. Society for Worldwide International Financial Transactions. iv) Beneficiary (Seller or Exporter): The person or body receiving the letter of credit from the importer and/or in whose favor letter of credit is issued is called beneficiary. v) Confirming Bank: Confirming bank is the bank which at the specific request of the issuing bank adds its confirmation to a letter of credit. Adding confirmation constitutes a definite undertaking of the confirming bank, in addition to that of the issuing bank. vi) Negotiating Bank: Negotiating Bank is the bank which receives the documents against letter of credit as authorized bank. This bank has to give value for drafts and/or documents under L/C conditions. Negotiating Bank may or may not be the Advising Bank. This bank examines the documents against L/C, and if found in order, negotiates the documents and makes payment to the seller. The negotiating bank dispatches the documents to the Issuing Bank claiming reimbursement from the bank as mentioned in the L/C and as agreed between the two banks. The Negotiating Bank should ensure before lodgment of reimbursement claim that all terms of letter of credit have been complied with. vii) Reimbursing Bank: Reimbursing bank is the bank which, on behalf of the opening bank, honors the reimbursement claim lodged by the Negotiating Bank. MODES OF PAYMENT OF L/Cs There are four modes of payments of letters of credit as detailed under: (i) L/C available by Negotiation: If L/C provides for negotiation to pay without recourse to drawers and/or bonafide holders in terms of credit. Negotiation means the payment of value for draft(s) and/or documents by the bank authorized to negotiate complying with the terms of L/C. (ii) L/C available by Acceptance: In case the credit calls for a usance draft and is available by acceptance on the issuing bank, and the seller submits all the documents including usance bill of exchange to a nominated or another bank complying all the terms and conditions of the credit, the seller receives acceptance of the payment at maturity date. However, under a separate arrangement, he may get his usance draft discounted by the bank in order to meet his cash flow requirements. In such case, seller has to bear discount charges. (iii) L/C available by Sight Payment: If the beneficiary of letter of credit is to obtain payment immediately on presentation of stipulated documents, it is the sight letter of credit. In this case the exporter draws a sight or demand draft payable at the counters of the advising bank or the bank specified in the letter of credit. The draft is paid on presentation provided that all the other terms of L/C have been complied with. (iv) L/C available by Deferred Payment: In this case, L/C opening bank has to effect payment after a period specified in the L/C, calculated as to the number of days after the date of presentation of documents or after the date of shipment. Such L/C does not require drafts to be drawn or presented alongwith other documents. RETIREMENT OF DOCUMENTS When the documents are received from foreign bank, L/C opening bank affixes â€Å"Dak Received† stamp and enters the same in â€Å"Dak Received Register†. The duplicate set of documents, received by the bank, is kept with original set of documents and duplicate should be separate from the original. The bank verifies that all the documents are received as specified in the forwarding schedule of the negotiating/exporter’s bank. While scrutinizing the documents, it is also ensured that all the documents have been received as per terms of L/C. The retirement of documents can be made by the following means: Through debit to the customer’s account Through Trust Receipt Facility (FTR) offered by the bank. Through Finance against Imported Merchandise (FIM) THROUGH DEBIT TO CUSTOMER’S ACCOUNT In case customer/importer has sufficient funds to settle the bill, Cost Memo is prepared and amount in foreign currency is converted into Pak Rupees at Selling TT OD rate of exchange. Any foreign correspondent charges and service charges are added to it. Customer issues cheque / authority letter to debit his account for bill amount plus mark-up and other charges. After receiving the amount, title documents are endorsed by two authorized signatories and the same are delivered to customer against proper acknowledgement. In case, importer has not sufficient funds to settle the bill, he can avail finance from bank to settle the claim. Credit facilities available to the importer are explained hereunder: A. FUND BASED FACILITIES 1. FINANCE AGAINST TRUST RECEIPT (FATR) If customer desires to retire the documents through Trust Receipt facility, a request letter to this effect is obtained from him. In this case, bank releases documents of the goods to importer so that he may clear the goods from custom authorities. Payment is settled by the bank and reimbursement is made to foreign bank. The bank has lien on receivables in this case and importer repays the bank finance after sale of the goods. Trust Receipt should not be allowed against Usance L/C unless specific approval from the authority is held. Following documents are obtained before releasing the documents on Finance Against Trust Receipt: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Bill of Exchange duly accepted by the party ? Demand Promissory Note ? Trust Receipt ? Collateral (if any) as per limit approval ? Invoice ? Agreement of Mark-up The Trust Receipt facility can only be extended upto 45/60 days or as per terms of sanction. . FINANCE AGAINST IMPORTED MERCHANDISE (FIM) This is a sale transaction at a price mutually agreed upon between the bank and the importer. The sale price consists of value of goods or documents of title to goods and margin of profit. The sale price is payable by the buyer on deferred payment basis either in part or in lump sum. This facility is granted for a period of 60 days or as per sanction advice. Following documents are obtained from the party: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Demand Promissory Note ? Letter of Indemnity for clearance of consignment ? Letter of Pledge ? Agreement of Mark-up This type of facility is against pledge of imported stocks and its process / transaction flow is similar to that of Self-Liquidating Inventory Finance. TRANSACTION FLOW: Goods imported through L/C, when reach the port in importer’s country, there is a process of releasing the goods from custom authorities. For this purpose Clearing Agents on the panel of bank. The clearing agent after clearing the goods, transports the same via Goods Transport Companies to the destination of the importer. At importer’s business premises / factory, etc. Bank Muccadam is available to take over the custody of the goods as soon as these are received at the site. These goods are kept under pledge arrangement and bank takes effective control possession of the imported goods. B. NON-FUND BASED FACILITIES 3. USANCE LETTER OF CREDIT This type of letter of credit is issued with a condition that payment will be made after some specified period of time i-e. 180 days, 365 days, etc. The bank undertakes to pay the exporter for the value of goods at some later date in order to facilitate the importer to arrange funds for settlement of the transaction. Usance letter of credit is very useful facility in which importer not only avails the opportunity of time available to pay his liabilities but also he saves borrowing costs due to difference of LIBOR and KIBOR. At present KIBOR is upto 10% whereas LIBOR is ranging from 0. 5% to 1% for the last two to three years. In case of Usance L/C, the importer will have to pay the value of goods alongwith some additional profit/surcharge levied by the exporter (which is included in the Invoice Value) for allowing repayment period to importer. Exporter will calculate this additional profit on transaction on the basis of LIBOR (0. 70%) instead of KIBOR (10%). In case importer avails the credit lines to settle the import bill from his local bank, he will bear the borrowing/financing cost on the basis of KIBOR which is far above than LIBOR. 4. SHIPPING GUARANTEE The shipping guarantee is issued in favor of the local shipping agents for obtaining delivery order to clear goods from port / customer authorities in the absence of original shipping documents of L/Cs. This guarantee is issued on prescribed from provided by the shipping company. This guarantee is signed by the importer and counter-signed by the bank. Following documents are required from the customer at the time of issuance of shipping guarantee: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Copy of Invoice ? Copy of Bill of Lading / transport document ? Format of the shipping guarantee to be issued ? Counter guarantee in favor of the bank duly signed by the customer ? Letter of undertaking regarding exchange rate fluctuation ? Undertaking to accept the draft in case of usance L/C ? Undertaking to accept all discrepancies in the documents Liability under the shipping guarantee shall be reversed only after the surrender of the original bill of lading against which guarantee has been issued and the receipt of original guarantee from the shipping company. On receipt of original bill of lading, this is forwarded to the shipping company alongwith request to return the original guarantee. This facility is very short term nature normally 30 days. B. EXPORT FINANCE In order to strengthen its position in the international markets, Pakistan has to strive for improving its balance of trade by increasing its exports. As such exports have been the top priority of the government’s agenda to improve the position of foreign exchange earning of the country. Banks have a very important role to play in trade activities of the country. Banks act as agents for both the importers and exporters and play important role in the development of country’s trade. While handling export transactions, Credit Manager and/or Export staff of the bank must always keep into consideration the following: ? Export Policy Order of the government for the financial year ? Guidelines/instructions of Export Promotion Bureau ? State Bank of Pakistan Foreign Exchange Circulars ? Bank’s Foreign Exchange Regulations and FEX circulars ADVISING OF EXPORT LETTERS OF CREDIT Letters of credit received from foreign banks are advised to the beneficiaries in Pakistan through L/Cs advising departments of the bank. All L/Cs received are carefully scrutinized for their authenticity adhering to the terms conditions and complying with our Foreign Exchange Regulations and International laws publications (UCP 500). FORM â€Å"E† No person can export any goods from Pakistan unless he is duly registered as an exporter with Export Promotion Bureau under the registration â€Å"Importer Exporter Order 1952†. Blank â€Å"E† Forms are issued to exporters, against written request, free of any charges. In order to export, the exporter will provide details on â€Å"E† form in respect of goods, quantity, invoice value of goods, terms of sale, destination and name address of the importer. This â€Å"E† form is the main document to calculate value of goods exported and is used to control the export of any item from Pakistan. CASE STUDY: During October 2012, Government of Pakistan allowed export of 200,000 tons of sugar from Pakistan with a condition that one sugar mill can export maximum upto 10,000 tons of sugar. This maximum quantity of sugar (10,000 tons) exported by any single sugar mill to be controlled by the â€Å"E† Form submitted by the exporting sugar mill. In case of any effort of sugar mill to exceed export from 10,000 tons, SBP can very easily trace this from the record of â€Å"E† form available in its record. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss the types of financing available to exporter. . FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY BILLS PURCHASED AGAINST L/Cs This type of financing is referred to as Foreign Bills Purchased (FBP). Only those documents are purchased which are negotiable and which conform to the terms of letters of credit. The documents are forwarded to the L/C opening bank and payment is received through bank’s foreign correspondents maintaining NOSTRO account in v arious currencies. Following documents are submitted by the exporter for negotiation: ? Original Letter of Credit (L/C) ? Documents of title to goods (Bill of lading, Airway bill, etc. ? Bill of Exchange (B/E) ? Commercial Invoice ? Certificate of Origin ? Packing List ? Insurance Policy ? Any other document as per terms of L/C FBP is practical example of â€Å"Factoring† in which bank purchases the receivable of the client/exporter after making payment and takes the responsibility of collection of the receivable at its own end. The exporter transfers all rights of ownership of the documents to the bank and authorization to claim reimbursement from the L/C opening bank. This transaction is to be handled with extreme care, vigilance and diligence. All the financial and commercial documents are scrutinized as per terms conditions of L/C. Documents after careful scrutiny are forwarded to the L/C opening bank and claim of reimbursement is made as well. On realization of the bill, FBP is settled /adjusted. 2. FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY BILLS FOR COLLECTION Financing against foreign bills is made on export bills which are drawn under Letter of credit and are sent for payment under documentary collection. This is a sale transaction at a price mutually agreed upon between the buyer (bank) and seller (exporter). The documents are sold to the bank and sale proceeds will be credited in the account of seller (exporter). This type of export finance is termed as â€Å"Finance against Foreign Bills† (FAFB). All other procedures of FAFB are similar to FBP except that under FAFB in the event of non-payment of the bill by L/C opening bank or importer, the exporter undertakes to repurchase the same documents at bank’s marked up price. FAFB is the practical example of â€Å"Lien on Receivables†. 3. FINANCE AGAINST PACKING CREDIT (FAPC) Packing Credit is a sort of pre-shipment or pre-export finance, extended to prime valued customers (exporters) against valid letter of credit / firm contract order. The finance is provided to the exporter for the following: ? Purchase of goods ? Freight charges ? Clearing forwarding charges ? Export duty, etc. ? Packing requirements Finance against packing credit is granted for 180 days or upto the period the shipment of goods is affected whichever is earlier. Lien is marked on the Letter of Credit / Firm Contract in order to prevent negotiation of documents.

Danielle Steels New Book Releases

Danielle Steel's New Book Releases Danielle Steel is one of the most prolific authors in the world. She is best known for romance novels  but has also written nonfiction and childrens books. The books listed here are Steels newest novels. If you want to check out her other books, you can find information about everything she has written on the Danielle Steel website. Danielle Steels Book Releases in 2016 and 2017 March 2017 - Dangerous Games.   Follow TV correspondent Alix Phillips as she reports important news from dangerous riots in America to protests in Tehran. When her assignment turns to investigating the Vice President of the United States, threats begin and stakes rise.2017 -   The Mistress.  The Mistress centers around a young woman who is rescued from the streets of Moscow by a Russian billionaire. She lives under his protection and is unfailingly loyal to him. The book frequents Paris, London, the Riviera and Moscow and immerses readers in a tale of vast wealth, courage and cruelty, as the characters approach an inevitable collision.2016 - The Award.  The Award follows the life of young Gaelle de Barbet, who is 16 years old when the German army occupies France in 1940. Following the death of her father and brother at the hands of the Germans, and her mothers descent into madness, Gaelle joins the French Resistance, at great personal cost. Years later, Gaelles path eventuall y leads to the Legion of Honor Medal. 2016 - Rushing Waters.  Set amid a catastrophe and its aftermath, Rushing Waters chronicles the experiences of characters who are thrown together by Hurricane Ophelia as it approaches New York City and the subsequent horrific flooding. Follow the exploits of an interior designer, a British investment banker, an ER doctor and two NYU students as their lives change in a second.2016 -   Magic.  Magic starts in Paris at the annual White Dinner outside a spectacular landmark that changes each year. The dinner is accessible only by secret invitation, and all guests dress in white. The book follows the experiences of a group of close friends who attended the White Dinner as they travel around the globe during a year of heartbreak and success.2016 - The Apartment.  Four young women come together by chance to share a spacious loft apartment in New York City. Over a span of years, the women share life in the apartment and become a family of friends, supporting one another through tryin g times and celebrating individual successes. 2016 - Property of a Noblewoman.  A law clerk at surrogates court and a fine arts expert for Christies auction house are drawn together to unravel a mystery launched by an abandoned safe deposit box in a New York City bank. Through their efforts, the life of the owner is reconstructed as they follow clues from New York to London, Paris, Rome and Naples. Eventually, the womans legacy is honored and transforms lives long after she is gone.2016 - Blue.  Ginny Carter is an on-air reporter who has it all with her husband and young son are killed in a car accident. She becomes a human rights worker in New York where she meets a homeless boy named Blue on the anniversary of her familys tragedy. Thirteen-year-old Blue changes her life. Steel has been a bestselling author for more than four decades, so you can easily find copies of her books.

Singapore airline Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Singapore airline - Literature review Example Singapore Airlines holds the honour of operating as the national airlines of Singapore. The airlines company operates from one of the main stations located in the Changi airbase of Singapore. From its central airbase the airlines company conducts its flights along several regions of the world pertaining to both Asiatic and other foreign nations. The Asiatic nations comprise of both South East Asian and other East and South Asian countries while the foreign flights consist of moving over to Australian and American regions. In terms of market capitalization the Airlines Company occupies the largest market share in the international domain. However in regards to Asian countries Singapore Airlines ranks eleventh. The Singapore Airlines had its birth during 1947 under the name of Malayan Airlines. It took the name of Singapore Airlines during 1972 and gradually started occupying the flying space in the Asian skies. By the end of 2010 the company grew to possess around 108 airplanes to ren der services on an expanded sphere. The company now also possess a subsidiary unit known as SilkAir and also helps the regular passengers avail offers and discounts. This policy of the flying company has helped it to gain a large number of consumers on a worldwide basis.According to a report published by Datamonitor (2010), Singapore Airlines operating in the international markets works on some key strengths and also suffers from certain weaknesses in the light of external opportunities and threats. Singapore Airline’s key strengths occupy its operation based on a diversified marketing base which helps the company to counter the potency of business risks. Further Singapore Airlines operates based on highly productive airplanes which helps the company to render enhanced services to the consumers. The company has also a large number of productive workforce which helps in enhancing the revenue and profitability position of the concern. The company also works on a diversified ser vice and product portfolio which helps it to minimise the chances of business risks. Internal strengths of the company helped it to gain a huge chunk of revenue of around $15,996.3 million. However in regards to other airline companies like All Nippon Airways and Air France the number of flight resources which Singapore Airlines possess is found to be quite low. Due to the low number of flight resources Singapore Airlines fails to gain large number of passengers as compared to the other competitors. Significant opportunities which are emerging in the external market consist of growth in the number of airline passengers for expansion of tourism activities and also in the use of flights for