Food Waste in the U.K.

Wasted Food We have a lot of problems in the world today and one of these problems is food waste. I will be going over facts and statistics of one of the leading countries that produces food waste; the United Kingdom. There is another problem out there that could reduce this problem and that is United Kingdom citizens that are malnourished and starving to death. What if one problem was another problems solution? The amount of food waste worldwide could end world hunger and save thousands of lives.It is easy to sit at home with a full belly and full fridge and not think of these kinds of problems. If every time people were going to throw away perfectly good food and saw a starving family or child they would easily give that family or child the food. The problem is we do not see these family and children every day. The average United Kingdom family is wasting nearly 60 euros a month by throwing away almost an entire meal a day (Smithies). This is 24 meals a month, adding up to 4. 2 mil lion tons of food and drink every year that could have been consumed (Smithies).The UK food industry is wasting an estimated cost of 5 billion euros per year (GOB). Reducing the volume of food wasted in food manufacturing, retailing and foddering operations means reducing the overall costs of these operations. Efficient, cost-effective companies are best positioned to deliver affordable products to consumers, grow, create Jobs and support their communities (FAR). England itself has a huge hunger problem that people are not aware of. In 2008, 3,161 patients were admitted to hospital in England which went up to more than 5,400 in 2012 (Hope).The number of people fed by food banks has gone up from 26,000 in 2008 to 347,000 in 2012 (Hope). England is considered to have a surplus of food supply and from the evidence shown in the first paragraph these next statistics go back to my point of solving a problem with a problem. 78 percent of malnourished children live in countries that have a surplus of food and there is enough food being produced in the world today to feed every person 2,720 calories each day. Hunger is the world's number 1 health risk it kills more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined (Food Security and Welfare Politics).Food Waste does not only effect people who are malnourished and hungry but it also hurting our environment. When food waste decomposes in a landfill, it generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Keeping food waste out of landfills will result in reduced methane emissions. Also, growing food requires many resources, including water and energy. Wasted food is a waste of the resources used to grow it (FAR). Eliminating food waste at the source is the preferred approach.But when food waste is generated, it can be recycled into impost or energy, which offer a number of environmental benefits. Compost improves soil health and structure, increases drought resistance , and reduces the need for other fertilizer. Also, food waste doesn't create methane in a compost system the way it does in a landfill. Food waste can also be turned into renewable energy through anaerobic digestion, where the methane emissions from broken down food are captured to produce biogas, heat and energy (FAR).The solution to this problem of food waste has already started and there are a lot of great organizations out there that everyone should be aware of. The Food Waste Reduction Alliance is an example of a great organization that more people need to be aware of. The Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FAR) is a collaborative effort of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Food Marketing Institute, and the National Restaurant Association. The FARMS mission is to reduce the volume of food waste sent to landfill by addressing the root causes of waste, and securing pathways to donate or recycle unavoidable food waste (FAR).Large food producing companies in the United Kingdom have started to make progress Tests has agreed to reduce its multi-buy teems and other promotions after revealing that 35% of its bagged salad is being thrown out (Smithies). The United Kingdom is working with Waste and Resources Action Programmer's and businesses on voluntary agreements to reduce food and packaging waste as well as providing ideas and information to help waste less, through the WRAPS Love Food, Hate Waste campaign (GOB).Another great example of ways the United Kingdom government are reducing waste is the Courtyard Commitment a responsibility deal in the grocery retail sector which includes finding says to reducing household waste from groceries, and also the hospitality and food service voluntary agreement, which aims to cut food and associated packaging waste by 5 percent and increase the overall rate of food and packaging waste that is being recycled, sent to anaerobic digestion or composted to 70 percent by 2015.In conclusion food waste in the United Kingdom is Just a small portion of what is going on around the world. The United Kingdom itself is wasting enough food to feed Europe, imagine the statistics and facts of the rest of Europe and even the United States. This seems to be a problem that is so easy to solve that it's hard. There are a lot of great organizations out there doing the right thing and politicians who are trying to pass the laws to stop wood waste.

Non Perfoming Loans in Commercial Banks in Zimbabwe Is Now a Cause of Concern as It Is Threatening the Survival of Banks Bit by Bit

Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6): 882-886  © Scholarlink Research Institute Journals, 2012 (ISSN: 2141-7024 jetems. scholarlinkresearch. org Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):882-886 (ISSN:2141-7024) Journal of Emerging Trends in Insights on Non-Performing Loans: Evidence from Zimbabwean Commercial Banks in a Dollarised Environment (2009-2012) 1 Laurine Chikoko, 2Tendekayi Mutambanadzo and 3Takaiona Vhimisai 1 Department of Banking and Finance, Midlands State University, P Bag 9055, Senga, Gweru. Department of Banking, National University of Science and Technology P O Box AC939, Ascot Bulawayo. 3 Department of Banking, National University of Science and Technology P O Box AC939, Ascot Bulawayo. Corresponding Author: Laurine Chikoko ___________________________________________________________________________ Abstract This study was prompted by the gradual deterioration in asset quality in most commercial banks in Zimbabwe aft er the adoption of the multiple currency exchange rate regime. The poor asset qualities were reflected by the non-performing loans trending towards the watch list category.In this regard we investigated the commercial bank credit process with the objective of understanding the fundamental causes of the impaired assets that are bedeviling the Zimbabwean banking sector so that some of the mistakes are not repeated and correctional measures are put in place. The methodology adopted a survey research design with use of questionnaires and interviews with commercial banks head credit risk, head retail and head corporate banking division from 15 registered commercial banks in Zimbabwe.Research findings show that some banks were sitting on nonperforming loans due to poor credit analysis processes; wrong products offered to the clients; lending based on balance sheet strength instead of cash flow based lending; banks taking too much comfort in security; information asymmetry leading to moral hazard; economic environment and political influence. Key recommendations include an urgent setting up of the Credit Bureau; banks should not adjust clients request and the need for banks to consider the economic environment and adjust their credit culture.The central bank needs to tighten its supervisory role and ensure prudential guidelines are not violated. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Keywords: credit analysis, loan products, non-performing loans, Zimbabwean commercial banks, dollarised environment. __________________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION the watch list category. The implication is that Zimbabwe adopted a multiple currency regime in borrowers were struggling to repay loans leading to 2009.A multiple currency system allowed trade to be the problem of banks sitting on non-performing conducted using major trading currencies, for loans. example, the United St ates Dollar (USD), Pound Sterling, South African Rand, and the Botswana Pula. Each non-performing loan in the financial sector is After the adoption of the multiple currency system, viewed as an obverse mirror image of an ailing the banking sector experienced marked unprofitable enterprise.From this point of view, the improvements in the intermediary role which resulted eradication of non-performing loans is a necessary in improved financial support to the key productive condition to improve the economic status of the sectors of the economy (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe financial institution. Continuously rolling over non(RBZ), 2010). A research conducted by the performing loans locks up resources that could International Monetary Fund in 2010, indicated that otherwise be invested to profitable sectors of the the profitability of banks had improved following a economy.Intuitively this hinders economic growth more favourable economic environment during the and impairs economic efficiency . Consequently this new regime. While officially reported, aggregate study seeks to provide insights on Zimbabwean banking soundness indicators do not raise major red commercial banks non-performing loans. The flags, they mask vulnerabilities specific to a fully ultimate objective is to draw lessons from dollarised banking system experiencing rapid credit commercial banks lending in Zimbabwe during the growth, as well as a significant variation in prudential multiple currency regime.The paper is organised as indicators across individual banks. The Reserve Bank follows. In the second section, we present brief of Zimbabwe (2012) also noted that there has been review of literature. In the third section we present gradual deterioration in asset quality as reflected by the research methodology; in the fourth section a the level of non-performing loans trending towards 882 Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):882-886 (ISSN:2141-7024) discussion of the findings.Finally we present conclusions and recommendations. LITERATURE REVIEW A non-performing loan is an advance by a financial institution that is not earning income and full payment of principal. As such interest is no longer anticipated (Van Greuning, & Bratavonic, 2003). There is no global standard to define non-performing loans at the practical level. Variations exist in terms of the classification system, the scope, and contents. This pitfall potentially adds to disorder and uncertainty in the non-performing loans subject.For instance, as described by Park (2003), during the 1990s, there were three different methods of defining non-performing loans: the 1993 method based on banking laws; the â€Å"Bank’s Self-Valuation† in March 1996; and the â€Å"Financial Revival Laws-Based Debt Disclosure† in 1999. These measurements have gradually broadened the scope and scale of the riskmanagement method in the banking industry. The literature that examines non -performing loans has increased as more researchers attempt to understand the major factors that cause financial instability.This trend has arisen due to the role played by impaired assets in financial instability as evidenced by the strong association between nonperforming loans and banking crises. In most of the economies that collapsed, credit risk preceded financial crises. Khemraj (2005) revealed that the banking crises in East Asia and Sub-Saharan African countries were preceded by high non-performing loans. This stimulated research in trying to establish the causes of non-performing loans in banks.Caprio (1998) had earlier presented stylised evidence and found that inadequate regulation and lack of supervision at the time of the liberalisation could play a key role in explaining why deregulation and banking crises were so closely entwined. The analysis of Kaminsky and Reinhart (1999) provides interesting insights on the links between financial crises with financial liberalisa tion. The study found that the proxy variable for financial liberalisation which was the growth in domestic credit as a ratio of output, accelerated greatly as the crises emerged.Earliest studies to examine the causes of loan losses were by Keeton and Morris (1987). The study showed that local economic conditions along with the poor performance of certain sectors explain the variation in loan losses recorded by the banks. The study also reports that commercial banks with greater risk appetite tend to record higher losses. Garey (1991), also concur with the early studies of Keeton and Morris. Garey (1991) found that loan lossexperience of large commercial banks in the US was influenced by both internal and external factors.This study found a significant positive relationship between the loan-loss rate and internal factors such as 883 high interest rates, excessive lending, and volatile funds. Non-performing loans were influenced by gross domestic product growth, high real interest ra tes, lenient credit terms and excessive lending by commercial banks (Goacher, 2002; Howells and Bain, 2002; Heffernan, 2005; Freixas, 2007 and Machiranju 2008). Despite the abundant literature on non-performing loans, to the researchers’ knowledge, no study has been done on causes of non-performing loans on Zimbabwean commercial banks after dollarisation in 2009.METHODOLOGY A survey research design was used in this study. The survey allowed the collection of large amount of data in an economical way (Saunders et al, 2003). Data obtained through use of questionnaires was standard which allowed easy comparison. The limitation to the survey strategy was the fact that data collected may not be as wide-ranging as those collected by other research strategies. There is a limit as to the number of questions that any questionnaire can contain if the goodwill of the respondent is not to be presumed on too much. To mitigate this weakness, personal interviews were used in the survey stra tegy.Data was collected from 15 registered commercial banks in Zimbabwe. The key informants were departmental heads of credit risk, retail and corporate banking divisions. In addition account relationship managers were randomly selected in the survey. The study was carried out in Harare mainly because that is where all commercial banks are headquartered. Data from the survey was analysed using STATA version 11. Tabulations were used to show percentages and frequencies of respondents in each response category, with cross-tabulation tables showing percentages and frequencies between two given categories.Crosstabulations were computed together with correlation test between two variables by using Pearson chisquare. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY The issue of non-performing loans is a sensitive and confidential issue since it has a bearing on bank performance and reputation. To this end, we had challenges in getting a detailed account from some of the respondents. However, to overcome this we h ad to interview many respondents from the same institution in order to fill in the missing details. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS On average the banks were in business for thirty seven years but varied from five up to one hundred and eighteen years.Table 1 summarises the ages of the fifteen commercial banks. Table 1: Tabulated Zimbabwe Commercial Banks Years in Business Variable Years in business Observation 15 Mean 37. 5333 Std Dev 40. 2347 Min 5 Max 118 Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences (JETEMS) 3(6):882-886 (ISSN:2141-7024) From the survey, age had nothing to do with the problem of non-performing loans as reflected by a? statistic of 5. 86 (P=0. 210). Of the banks surveyed, 20% were internationally owned banks and 80% were locally owned banks.It was evident from the survey that locally owned banks had the problems of non-performing loans while internationally owned banks did not have problems of non-performing loans. This was shown by the observed differences i n ownership and non-performing loans which were statistically significant as shown by the of 17. 26 (P

Hotel Rwanda

Roberto Cutout. It was released into the United States on December 22, 2004, but it released elsewhere in the world throughout 2005. The three main stars of the movie were Don Cheated, who plays Paul Reassigning the hotel manager, Sophie Conned, who plays Titian Reassigning, Pall's wife, and Nick Molten who plays Colonel Oliver, the United Nations peacekeeper.I watched this movie about a week ago on July 27th with a few of my friends who are also taking this course. The movie is not part of a series, but it is based on a true story. It is inspired by the novel An Ordinary Man by Paul Reassigning and Hotel Rwanda: Bringing the True Story of an African Hero to Film by Keri Pearson and Terry George. In Rwanda, there are two main ethnic groups, the Tutsis and the Huts , who are constantly fighting for power and control of Rwanda. Genocide constantly cleanses Rwanda streets as people turn away in fear.Paul Reassigning is a hotel manager for the Hotel Des Mille Isoclines in Kigali, Rwanda. He being a Hut helps his family and other people they know, most Tutsis like his wife, take refuge from the Hut army in his hotel. Before they even reach the hotel, they get taken by the Huts and Paul has to pay General Beginning one hundred thousand Francs to spare the lives of his Tutsis friends that first took shelter in their home and another ten thousand Francs for his wife and kids' lives.As they try to settle the few amounts of people they have in the hotel already plus the current guests, the Red Cross and other Huts and Tutsis arrive at the hotel taking refuge adding the total from one hundred to over eight hundred Rwanda. As the genocide increases, the Europeans staying at the hotel are flown out of Rwanda by the United Nations and sent back home to avoid the danger. Paul tries to get help from the Belgians and the French after the fighting grows, but the countries refuse to get themselves caught up in Rwanda problems. The U. N. Sakes a list of refugees able to leave the country and attempt to take them on trucks across the border, but Tutsis rebels ambush the trucks forcing them to return to the hotel. Paul and his family later get to escape to a U. N. Refugee camp where they find Titan's nieces, but her brother and sister-in-law nowhere to be found. They end up crossing past the rebel nine and drive to their new home in Tanzania, away from the war. In ten years, one million Rwanda, both Hut and Tutsis, were left for dead because of the genocide and hatred between these two ethnic groups.Which I believe is an unreasonably irrational thing to happen all due to hatred between human beings. The characters in â€Å"Hotel Rwanda† are based on real people and events that actually happened in Rwanda during the sass. Paul Reassigning was a real person that actually took care of hundreds of people in his hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. The people played in the film were accurate as to the real situation in the sass. The dates in the film were also right. So me online people, mostly Rwanda, say that the movie does not tell the story of the genocide correctly as it happened.These sources are not official since they are only people of Rwanda that live there and claim they fully and correctly know the story of the genocide and what happened with Paul Reassigning and his family. The events in the film were based on true events that happened in Rwanda during the sass, ending in 1994. â€Å"Hotel Rwanda† was mainly filmed on the spot in Kigali, Rwanda and Johannesburg, South Africa. The Hotel Des Mille Isoclines set was filmed in South Africa, but the original Hotel Des Mille Isoclines is located in Kigali, Rwanda.The scenes showing the city streets and most fighting scenes are shot in Kigali. The camp scenes along with some road scenes were filmed in South Africa. These locations were shown very accurately since they filmed part of the movie in the actual city where the movie takes place. The movie was filmed during 2004 and it releas ed on December 22, 2004. The wardrobes of the people shown in the film are accurately represented like the Huts, Tutsis, and militias wore during the sass in Rwanda. The ears and clothes of the people were portrayed very well as to how they were back then.The producers did a great Job of showing the time period during the movie Just by the clothes the actors wore. All around this movie was accurately shot and shown as the real actual thing. â€Å"Hotel Rwanda† was a very dampening movie because of the killing of innocent people and children, but it was very good. The actors were great, especially Don Cheated, playing Paul Reassigning, the most important role in the movie. The strongest points in the movie were how real they represented and filmed the Unicode as well as the emotions in the characters throughout each scene.The weakest point in the movie, I believe, is the ending where it ends with the Russianness on the road after they got off the bus. I was curious why they di dn't show the rest of their Journey to their new home in Tanzania and what happens after they get there. Which is most likely due to the length of the movie, which is understandable. It was kind of like a cliff hanger for me, so I did not really like the ending as much as I expected I would. I also enjoyed how the movie rose to a great lima and then stayed at a climax for a while until it dived towards the end once the family reached the U.N. Camp. The movie really kept me on â€Å"the edge of my seat† throughout the whole thing . After watching â€Å"Hotel Rwanda†, I was well aware of what happened with the Hut and Tutsis genocide. I did not realize how much damage was caused in Just one hundred days of the killings. The movie would have been better if it continued on about the Russianness' lives in Tanzania and how they managed to survive. I would definitely recommend â€Å"Hotel Rwanda† to anyone that enjoys watching historic events that keep you on the edge of your seat. Hotel Rwanda Textual Analysis: Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004) The horrible evidence of what Kant variously called the wickedness, corruption and perversity of the human heart is, unfortunately, not encountered only in memory, it is also met with among our current experiences. We are daily obliged to witness fresh atrocities as ethnic and racial hatreds seek to express themselves in the annihilation of their proponents’ enemies. Copjec, 1996;9) The above quote effectively demonstrates that debates on evil are not only still suitable for the issues emerging in a post-modern world, but are perhaps more suitable than ever before. The film which I will be discussing, Hotel Rwanda (2004), relates the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a man who sheltered over a thousand refugees in the hotel he managed during the Rwandan genocide of 1994.The film is useful as a focus point for the discussion of evil since the situation surrounding the events that took place during those months are often referre d to in terms of evil – not only on the part of the Hutu militia that perpetrated the atrocities, but also of the international community and the UN in particular, which did not intervene to stop the massacre – and it would be useful to analyse a couple of key points in this film more closely.After World War II, it was believed that the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis would never be allowed to happen again, but events in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, to name but two examples, have proven that the potential for acts of evil of this magnitude to occur are not specific to one culture or even to a place in time, but are expressions of – to use the words of Immanuel Kant – ‘a natural propensity to evil’ (1960;20) that is embedded in the human race.It might therefore prove useful to turn to psychoanalysis for a partial explanation with regards to how it is possible for people to change their behaviour in such radical ways, readily adopting new moral max ims that often oppose their previously adopted ones. According to Freud, when in a group situation, ‘the individual gives up his ego ideal and substitutes for it the group ideal as embodied in the leader’ The other members of the group are, according to this theory, ‘carried away with the rest by ‘suggestion’, that is to say, by means of identification’ (1921;161-162).According to this theory, the group – small or large – surrenders its free will to that of the leader, which makes them less likely to make their own moral judgements with regards to their actions and more likely to blindly follow the leader as well as the other members of their group. The issues of identity and legitimisation are also crucial to understanding how the Hutus felt justified in brutally murdering their former friends and neighbours. As is explained in the film, tensions between Tutsis and Hutus were virtually nonexistent prior to the arrival of the Belg ian colonists. The two ethnic groups are actually very similar – they speak the same language, inhabit the same areas and follow the same traditions†¦It was the Belgian colonists who saw Hutus and Tutsis as ‘distinct entities, and even produced identity cards classifying people according to their ethnicity’ (BBC News Website). In other words, there were no violent issues of ethnic difference until the Tutsis were made – to use the definition provided by Richard Kearney – into â€Å"aliens†.For Kearney, this term refers to ‘that experience of alterity associated with selection†¦or sometimes with suspicion’ (2000;101). He goes on to say that ‘Aliens proliferate where anxieties loom as to who we are and how we demarcate ourselves from others (who are not us)’ (2000;102). This means that, in order to legitimise their own identity, groups must necessarily create a group of ‘aliens’ with whom they ca n misidentify. The tendency to use members of this group as scapegoats and perceive them as threats is clearly demonstrated in the build-up to the Rwanda massacre.As the economic situation in the country worsened, Tutsis were used to divert anger from the Hutu government. Subsequently, when the airplane carrying the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down, the incident was used to make Hutus feel as if they were under attack. As one Hutu – who actively took part in the massacre – later relates; ‘Because the RPF were blamed for the death of President Habyarimana, we thought that they had started with the high-ranking officials and that they were going to end up doing the same to us ordinary people’ (BBC News Website).In other words, ‘When faced with a threatening outsider, the best mode of defence becomes attack’ (Kearney, 2000;104). The other side of evil as portrayed in the film, however, is the international community’s fa ilure to act. The UN soldiers in Rwanda are portrayed as good people who have their hands tied, yet their refusal to go against their orders is portrayed almost as cowardice in that they are failing to ‘do what is right’ and use their weapons in order to save lives.In a scene where the UN convoy – transporting refugees from the hotel to a secure camp – gets stopped at a militia roadblock, the refugees’ lives are in dire peril, and the fact that the soldiers will not shoot the Hutus that are about to kill unarmed men, women and children stands for what is now widely thought of as shameful unwillingness of the Western nations to recognise and stop the genocide. The outcome of this particular scene is that the UN soldiers do not use their weapons but most of the refugees are saved by the belatedly arrived local police force.The outcome of the lack of intervention from Western nations was the death of an estimated 1 million people. The crucial question for the purpose of this paper is whether the actions of those soldiers were evil. It could be argued that if they had used their guns against their explicit orders, many lives could have been saved, but it could also be said, on the other hand, that this act would have give the hostile militias a justification to kill the UN soldiers as well, which would have saved even fewer lives.In determining the evil nature of actions or people, should we consider first and foremost the intention or the consequence of action? It might prove useful at this point to outline a practical definition of morals in contrast to ethics in relation to this particular example. I would argue that morals are result-orientated whilst ethics in the true Kantian sense are interested solely in the consistent obedience of the law, a maxim which once adopted by an individual must be followed for its own sake, regardless of consequence or relative circumstances.Whilst morals must consider a situation in light not o nly of the law, but also taking into account the surrounding circumstances and possible outcomes, ethics dictate that anything short of upholding the law for the law’s sake is evil. Within this framework it is then possible to argue that the soldier’s actions were ethical but not moral. While it would have been impossible for them not to consider the outcome of their action, we could conclude that their decision to uphold the law overrode their need to help the refugees.Operating under a law that dictated that they would not use their weapons to protect the refugees, going against that would be – in Kantian terms – evil, as they would be breaking the law, and even if countless lives were saved as a result of that, Kant’s unforgiving sense of ethics would not spare them in the least, for the outcome of actions simply does not feature in his theoretical framework. By choosing to uphold the law the soldiers fulfil another crucial requirement of Kantia n ethical behaviour (or as he calls it, the ‘moral law’); the categorical imperative.In stating that one should never act except in such a way that they should will that their maxim should become universal law, Kant established that the most important factor of his ethics is consistency, as no double standards can be tolerated. It would seem reasonable to assume that the moral maxim of the soldiers in question is that violence without due procedure and full backing of the law is never justifiable.With that in mind, it could be argued that they would be happy to see that moral maxim adopted as universal law, since a world in which this maxim was universally adopted would most probably not have seen the Rwanda genocide taking place. BIBLIOGRAPHY Copjec, J. (1996) (Ed. ) Radical Evil, Varso Books Freud, S. (1991) Civilization, Society and Religions: ‘Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego’, ‘Future of an Illusion’ and ‘Civilization and its Discontents’ (The Penguin Freud Library) Penguin Books Kant, I. 1960) Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone, New York, Harper Collins Torchbooks, Australia Kearney, R. (2000) ‘Others and Aliens: Between Good and Evil’, in: Geddes, J. (Ed. ) Evil After Postmodernism: Histories, Narratives, and Ethics, Routledge Singer, P. (2004) The President of Good and Evil: Taking George W. Bush Seriously, London, Granta Books ‘Taken Over By Satan’ http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/3582011. stm Accessed on 14/03/2006 ‘Rwanda: How the genocide happened’ http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/world/africa/1288230. stm Accessed on 17/03/2006 Hotel Rwanda Textual Analysis: Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004) The horrible evidence of what Kant variously called the wickedness, corruption and perversity of the human heart is, unfortunately, not encountered only in memory, it is also met with among our current experiences. We are daily obliged to witness fresh atrocities as ethnic and racial hatreds seek to express themselves in the annihilation of their proponents’ enemies. Copjec, 1996;9) The above quote effectively demonstrates that debates on evil are not only still suitable for the issues emerging in a post-modern world, but are perhaps more suitable than ever before. The film which I will be discussing, Hotel Rwanda (2004), relates the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a man who sheltered over a thousand refugees in the hotel he managed during the Rwandan genocide of 1994.The film is useful as a focus point for the discussion of evil since the situation surrounding the events that took place during those months are often referre d to in terms of evil – not only on the part of the Hutu militia that perpetrated the atrocities, but also of the international community and the UN in particular, which did not intervene to stop the massacre – and it would be useful to analyse a couple of key points in this film more closely.After World War II, it was believed that the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis would never be allowed to happen again, but events in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, to name but two examples, have proven that the potential for acts of evil of this magnitude to occur are not specific to one culture or even to a place in time, but are expressions of – to use the words of Immanuel Kant – ‘a natural propensity to evil’ (1960;20) that is embedded in the human race.It might therefore prove useful to turn to psychoanalysis for a partial explanation with regards to how it is possible for people to change their behaviour in such radical ways, readily adopting new moral max ims that often oppose their previously adopted ones. According to Freud, when in a group situation, ‘the individual gives up his ego ideal and substitutes for it the group ideal as embodied in the leader’ The other members of the group are, according to this theory, ‘carried away with the rest by ‘suggestion’, that is to say, by means of identification’ (1921;161-162).According to this theory, the group – small or large – surrenders its free will to that of the leader, which makes them less likely to make their own moral judgements with regards to their actions and more likely to blindly follow the leader as well as the other members of their group. The issues of identity and legitimisation are also crucial to understanding how the Hutus felt justified in brutally murdering their former friends and neighbours. As is explained in the film, tensions between Tutsis and Hutus were virtually nonexistent prior to the arrival of the Belg ian colonists. The two ethnic groups are actually very similar – they speak the same language, inhabit the same areas and follow the same traditions†¦It was the Belgian colonists who saw Hutus and Tutsis as ‘distinct entities, and even produced identity cards classifying people according to their ethnicity’ (BBC News Website). In other words, there were no violent issues of ethnic difference until the Tutsis were made – to use the definition provided by Richard Kearney – into â€Å"aliens†.For Kearney, this term refers to ‘that experience of alterity associated with selection†¦or sometimes with suspicion’ (2000;101). He goes on to say that ‘Aliens proliferate where anxieties loom as to who we are and how we demarcate ourselves from others (who are not us)’ (2000;102). This means that, in order to legitimise their own identity, groups must necessarily create a group of ‘aliens’ with whom they ca n misidentify. The tendency to use members of this group as scapegoats and perceive them as threats is clearly demonstrated in the build-up to the Rwanda massacre.As the economic situation in the country worsened, Tutsis were used to divert anger from the Hutu government. Subsequently, when the airplane carrying the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down, the incident was used to make Hutus feel as if they were under attack. As one Hutu – who actively took part in the massacre – later relates; ‘Because the RPF were blamed for the death of President Habyarimana, we thought that they had started with the high-ranking officials and that they were going to end up doing the same to us ordinary people’ (BBC News Website).In other words, ‘When faced with a threatening outsider, the best mode of defence becomes attack’ (Kearney, 2000;104). The other side of evil as portrayed in the film, however, is the international community’s fa ilure to act. The UN soldiers in Rwanda are portrayed as good people who have their hands tied, yet their refusal to go against their orders is portrayed almost as cowardice in that they are failing to ‘do what is right’ and use their weapons in order to save lives.In a scene where the UN convoy – transporting refugees from the hotel to a secure camp – gets stopped at a militia roadblock, the refugees’ lives are in dire peril, and the fact that the soldiers will not shoot the Hutus that are about to kill unarmed men, women and children stands for what is now widely thought of as shameful unwillingness of the Western nations to recognise and stop the genocide. The outcome of this particular scene is that the UN soldiers do not use their weapons but most of the refugees are saved by the belatedly arrived local police force.The outcome of the lack of intervention from Western nations was the death of an estimated 1 million people. The crucial question for the purpose of this paper is whether the actions of those soldiers were evil. It could be argued that if they had used their guns against their explicit orders, many lives could have been saved, but it could also be said, on the other hand, that this act would have give the hostile militias a justification to kill the UN soldiers as well, which would have saved even fewer lives.In determining the evil nature of actions or people, should we consider first and foremost the intention or the consequence of action? It might prove useful at this point to outline a practical definition of morals in contrast to ethics in relation to this particular example. I would argue that morals are result-orientated whilst ethics in the true Kantian sense are interested solely in the consistent obedience of the law, a maxim which once adopted by an individual must be followed for its own sake, regardless of consequence or relative circumstances.Whilst morals must consider a situation in light not o nly of the law, but also taking into account the surrounding circumstances and possible outcomes, ethics dictate that anything short of upholding the law for the law’s sake is evil. Within this framework it is then possible to argue that the soldier’s actions were ethical but not moral. While it would have been impossible for them not to consider the outcome of their action, we could conclude that their decision to uphold the law overrode their need to help the refugees.Operating under a law that dictated that they would not use their weapons to protect the refugees, going against that would be – in Kantian terms – evil, as they would be breaking the law, and even if countless lives were saved as a result of that, Kant’s unforgiving sense of ethics would not spare them in the least, for the outcome of actions simply does not feature in his theoretical framework. By choosing to uphold the law the soldiers fulfil another crucial requirement of Kantia n ethical behaviour (or as he calls it, the ‘moral law’); the categorical imperative.In stating that one should never act except in such a way that they should will that their maxim should become universal law, Kant established that the most important factor of his ethics is consistency, as no double standards can be tolerated. It would seem reasonable to assume that the moral maxim of the soldiers in question is that violence without due procedure and full backing of the law is never justifiable.With that in mind, it could be argued that they would be happy to see that moral maxim adopted as universal law, since a world in which this maxim was universally adopted would most probably not have seen the Rwanda genocide taking place. BIBLIOGRAPHY Copjec, J. (1996) (Ed. ) Radical Evil, Varso Books Freud, S. (1991) Civilization, Society and Religions: ‘Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego’, ‘Future of an Illusion’ and ‘Civilization and its Discontents’ (The Penguin Freud Library) Penguin Books Kant, I. 1960) Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone, New York, Harper Collins Torchbooks, Australia Kearney, R. (2000) ‘Others and Aliens: Between Good and Evil’, in: Geddes, J. (Ed. ) Evil After Postmodernism: Histories, Narratives, and Ethics, Routledge Singer, P. (2004) The President of Good and Evil: Taking George W. Bush Seriously, London, Granta Books ‘Taken Over By Satan’ http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/3582011. stm Accessed on 14/03/2006 ‘Rwanda: How the genocide happened’ http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/world/africa/1288230. stm Accessed on 17/03/2006

Arist Statement Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arist Statement Paper - Essay Example I have endeavored to depict these moments since they progressively change as life goes on. My prints are an attempt to establish a connection between the viewer and the images. Art is the driving force of my etchings and is lies within the contemplative illustrations. The function of color in my prints is to generate a sentimental instinctive reaction to personal themes like scenes from my childhood and family legacy. I intend to evoke a sense of familiarity in the viewer as I correlate with a specific image. Printmaking acts as vehicle for infinite combinations of color juxtaposition. A variety of techniques and various combinations offer innumerable new opportunities. I am particularly enchanted by the forms, colors and shapes in printmaking. The art of printmaking is all about anticipation and moments of admiration or distress as the paper or screen is separated to expose the image. I especially focus on intricate compositions, in an attempt to transform my ideas into magnificent prints to put across profound sentimental content. Since the beginning, the process of etching seemed magical to me. Over the years, it has assisted me in presenting my inner vision to outer reality and thus led to a sense of achievement. Story-telling has always been an integral component of Slavic folklore. I have delved in my family history and culture at length, struggling to create profiles based upon renewed memories and recollections from old relatives. The supreme inspiration behind this collection is my Russian grandmother, Marina who used to narrate invigorating and inspirational stories to us in our childhood. With the passage of time and migration, the content of these conventional tales have been modified to some degree, now I relate the same stories to my daughter, Millicent. Therefore, my aim is to deconstruct these stories, lullabies and family heritage that play an imperative role not only in our childhood but in our adult life too. Our perception and connection wit h subject matter evolves and assumes new significance as we pass through time. The conceived fabricated reflection of embroidered memories is the foundation of my figurative connection between past and present established on my lineage. Memories comprise of only selective chapters of our past, frequently concealing imperative features, revealing only fractured bits and pieces of the entire picture. Some are crystal clear while others are blurred and altered, making it difficult to discern reality from illusions. I aspire to rediscover our self identity by accessing and repossessing our memories. I have tried to direct the attention of the observers to rediscover their own memories by building up relationships with the prints presented and analyze the pliability of their memories. My work is targeted at recreating, deforming, exposing and obscuring memories. My prints encompass various patterns and denote personal associations and an aesthetic appeal which I feel for each object. Our minds formulate memories according to a specific configuration and then recognize segments of our inner emotional nature. My goal is to illustrate the various surfaces of memory by discovering the bond between physical remembrance and the subtle temporary sentiments that activate as well as summon our memories. Experience, sentiment and perception are reflected by the

Civil Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Civil Rights - Essay Example (King, 1963) Blacks in America suffered from slavery during the early days of the Colonial period until the Civil War, but in many areas racist statutes known as â€Å"Jim Crow Laws† prevented blacks from voting or enjoying other basic rights of society until Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led his movement for change. (King, 1963) In leading blacks to full political inclusion and equality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. built a path of civil disobedience based in the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and deep Christian understanding that focused on securing social justice through legislative change. This included removing â€Å"Jim Crow† laws from the books and passing new legislation nationally such as the Voting Rights Act of 1968 and Civil Rights Act of 1964 that officially guaranteed the human rights of African-Americans. (Infoplease, 2007) Dr. Martin Luther King was a Southern Baptist minister whose community included poor African-American families who h ad suffered the legacy racism and repression of Jim Crow laws, segregation in restaurants, hotels, schools, and other public facilities as part of an American â€Å"apartheid† doctrine similar to that in South Africa historically. Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Elizabeth Bowens The Demon Lover Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Elizabeth Bowens The Demon Lover - Essay Example The story ‘Demon Lover’ was entitled as â€Å"a complete successful explanation of what war did to the mind and spirit of the English people† by The New Yorker. Apart from this the story also brings forward some of the essential writing characteristics of Bowen. To assess the story ‘The Demon Lover’ as a psychological drama or a mere story with supernatural element, it is first essential to understand the background against which the story is written. Bowen wrote the story during the time of World War II after experiencing the Ariel bombardment in London inflicted by the Germans during the year 1940-41. After experiencing the events of World War I, it was quite scary and traumatic for the people of London to encounter another war in the face of World War II. At this juncture of social history, Bowen tried to captivate within the limited compass of her story, the neurotic breakdown and horror any war can bring through the story, ‘The Demon Lover’, raising its thematic parameters far from being a mere story with supernatural elements. The story ‘The Demon Lover’ does not revolve round the simple context of supernaturalism. The story deals with a sentiment obvious and evident in human psyche and life during the post-war situation highlighting the trauma and fear that prevailed in the London as an aftermath of post-Blitz disaster.The protagonist of the story Mrs Drover is shown hallucinated by the effect of the war and confuses World War II with World War I and the story opens with her return to the evacuated city and home where she goes to collect some of her belongings and consequently illusioned by the aftermath of the recent bombing thinks of her long-dead fiancà ©. ... uses World War II with World War I and the story opens with her return to the evacuated city and home where she goes to collect some of her belongings and consequently illusioned by the aftermath of the recent bombing thinks of her long-dead fiance. The identity of this character and events following the opening scene builds an atmosphere of ambiguity where it is not transparent whether the events in the evacuated house taking place with Mrs Drover is supernatural or consequential of neurotic trauma and psychological disorder. The eerie atmosphere, the supernatural consequences and the ambiguous and unveiled ‘troth’ adds perfectly to the unnatural element of the story. But there are many other features under consideration which proves the operation of the psychological elements throughout the story. The oscillation of Mrs Drover into the present and the past, the â€Å"panic and fear† of Mrs Drover after travelling back from the flashback where a young girl is sho wn departing from a soldier who probably is missing since the war are all indication of strong psychological elements operating within the plot of the story. In other words, Bowen takes the platform of the supernatural hallucination to culminate the psychological elements of drama within the story. The first expression after receiving a letter from someone very close and expected is beautifully described but at the very moment the attitude with which Mrs Drover rushes for a cab and the way she gets into it indicates some kind of disturbance evident in the surrounding atmosphere. The prevailing aura of foreboding, a sense of unknown chase by the demon lover, the hint of a threat, the inky darkness and calm scene with odd lights might seem apparently ordinary and very commonplace to any story with

Internet and Music Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Internet and Music Industry - Essay Example The music industry is not limited to the artists and the record companies. It also includes the composers, the musicians’ representatives, television and radio broadcasting companies, advertising agencies and so much more. It has, for the past 50 years, earned most of its revenues through selling its artists’ albums in the form of long play (LP) record albums, cassette tapes, compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs). Aside from these albums sold in record stores, revenue also comes from music videos played on television, music played over the radio, and, of course, concerts and tours. The music industry is considered to be one of the top industries as far as value and income are concerned. In the last few years, however, with the rise of the Internet, the music industry has found new ways to earn money. Record companies began to collect orders online and ship their products to any part of the world which has internet access. And even later, they learned to collect money in exchange for downloadable music. This meant that they needed less money to produce and store their products. It also meant faster service for the customers and, therefore, faster influx of cash. The internet became a very good source of income as it has a greater consumer reach, faster response time, and it presented a lot of choices for the consumers. But, as with many happy stories, there is a down side to this new technology. The internet also gave way to both small and large scale piracy. It allowed its users to violate intellectual property rights in a snap, that they do not even realize it until much later. The instant connection between people that the internet provided allowed its users to share files, especially music and other multimedia content. The rise of multimedia tools and social networks, such as YouTube, Facebook, Bebo, Friendster, and MySpace, made copyright infringement easier, faster and even harder to control. 39% of social network users embed copyrighted materials into their pages and 79% of them say that these embedded media reflect their personality. In the early part, consumers did not realize that this was a form of piracy and just enjoyed acquiring "free" music. Then after some time, when record companies started to feel the pain of illegal downloads, they started informing the world of how their properties are being stolen even if unintended. Still, illegal downloads have gone up from 36% in 2006 to 43% in 2007.4 The record companies

Race and gender assignment Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Race and gender assignment - Movie Review Example The film then cuts to another scene with different characters. In this scene two individuals are carjacked. The film then explores an instance where two undercover police officers, one white and one black shoot at each other, with the black officer being killed. Another scene has a Latin locksmith change the locks of an individual. The individual then indicates to another that they do not trust the locksmith because they could be a gang member. The next scene demonstrates two officers pulling over a car that matches the description of a car that was stolen earlier. The officers have the two people get out of the car and one of the officers molests the female passenger. The other officer then goes and requests the he be assigned a new partner, saying that his partner is a racist. The film cuts to a later time when the two passengers that were featured earlier are talking. The woman that was violated by the officer is angry with her husband because he did not do anything to intervene, while he claims that he acted appropriately. The film then cuts to a man talking to his daughter because she is hiding under her bed after hearing a gun shot. He then gets ready for his job as a locksmith, and its clear that he was the individual from earlier that the woman referred to as a possible gang member. The film then cuts to another scene where two men are in a stolen car. They are talking about race and lose track of what they are doing and hit an Asian man. They stop and then later leave the man in front of a hospital. The film then cuts back to the shop that was featured earlier in the film. Daniel the locksmith that has been featured throughout the film is at the shop and attempts to fix a door, but becomes involved in a conflict with the owner. Later the door is pa inted upon and the shop owner blames the locksmith. The officer featured earlier then goes and visits an insurance agent. He talks with

Chinese Media & Culture Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Chinese Media & Culture - Term Paper Example Chinese media is commercial market and people are media addicted. Chinese people are highly media active and they socially interact more on internet than in person. Chinese people are creative and professionals and they use media effectively to benefit their lives. Chinese use media for education, information purpose, industry, art and entertainment. China is a producing country and many products and services are provided by them and use media creatively and they earn more benefits from it .China has more social media user than Face book has and it is very large. Chinese used Face book and Twitter for many purposed like educational, employment and entertainment but lately it is banned. The Chinese had been using radio and television for discussion matters of sensitive nature like politics and cultural issues. The media are advantageous in informing the Chinese people on crime, disaster and matters of human interests. The Chinese media activism is rigorous and hence been an integral part of their lives. The newspaper and radio had been the main media for the Chinese people to sell advertisement and compete in market place. Now internet and television has become a source for entrepreneurs to sell their products and services. The search engine Google is used by elite group of China and academics on a wide basis. Newspapers and radio had been a media extensively used by students and politicians. Now internet is a media which the Chinese use to learn local and international affairs. Online communication has become a vital part of Chinese society and people connect with world instantaneously with the use of media. The media in China is growing especially social media as it is the key way for individuals and businesses to communicate. They also use mobile internet because many people have smart phones and other wireless devices. The communication was Chinese have become much more open with internet and they have immediate

MKT5A5 Application coursework Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MKT5A5 Application coursework - Assignment Example The ‘open skies’ agreement with the US in 2007 and government deregulation in the 90s has seen the two major airline sections alter their strategies to stay in line with these changes (Data Monitor, 2014). There two major sections, one is the major global carriers for instance, British Airways and low budget carriers such as Ryanair. In addition to the 9/11 attack, the volatile economic effects and the rise in oil prices has seen a number of airlines go into liquidation. This essay analyses British Airway’s adverting strategy. British Airlines is the leading airline in the UK and its history can be dated back to 1919, however, the British Airways Group began its operations in 1974 (Data Monitor, 2014). During its years in operation the entity has moved from a government-owned entity to a private firm and has undergone a series of reorganisations making it the second largest airline in Europe and third globally. Currently, the airline has flights in over 300 destinations across the world and has over 33 million passengers (Data Monitor, 2014). It is clear that the airline has been adversely affected by the global economic crisis calling for the need to review their advertising strategy to reach a high number of consumers and manage its brand more effectively. British Airways launched a major campaign in eleven years with a  £20m funding by using its employees to promote the desirable qualities of the airline a few months after solving the controversial cabin crew dispute (Sweeney, 2011). The TV advertisement was displayed on British Airways Facebook page and was first aired in the UK and US markets before it was aired to other global markets. The outdoor campaign and supporting press was included in seven advertisements stressing on the skill and experience of the British Airways staff. One print advertisement was done on a baby jacket to draw attention to the fact that the staff members were trained to deliver babies if need be the

Read this document and after answer this 3 questions Essay - 2

Read this document and after answer this 3 questions - Essay Example Besides the teachers focus on the student thinking and concluding in the same way as they do, he also reports on the how the very teachers oblige their students to conceptualize facts in a snapshot by hinging their concerns on mere raw facts at the expense of understanding the concepts of what is at stake. This he compares with the notorious activity in the lower levels of study when the children are made to recite words before the class; this he says jeopardizes the morale of the students who are not sure of the words they are made to read as they want to avoid making mistakes before the class (Perry 76). This he says has made most of the children to associate reading books with other negatives and thus deem it as a way of punishment. In conclusion, Perry discusses the challenges the student and the teachers face in their endeavors to excel academically. He explores both implicit and explicit factors that are contributing to this and the mitigation that can be employed to curb the contributing factors to the

Emily Dickinson Essay Example for Free

Emily Dickinson Essay A poem, sonnet, short story, and other kinds of literature all seem useless if no one has ever read it. The true value of words can only be best appreciated when their meaning reaches other people. Emily Dickinson, one of the authors renowned to have produced some the finest literary pieces, has touched the hearts of many people all around the world through her works. Even today, years after she passed away, her works and influence linger for generations to come. There is no better way to understand the present without knowing and tracing the remnants of the past. Emily Dickinsons classics give people a better grasp of the kind of life that people lived during her time. Analyzing the writing style and the perspective of an author such as Dickinson will give the people a comparison of today and yesterday. Most authors write based on their experience or the surrounding environment, and studying these pieces of literature will provide a person with information about the author, his or her family, and daily living. Emily Dickinsons father was a lawyer and her mother was a housewife. She was born to a wealthy family in Massachusetts and was blessed with good education. She was proved to be an introvert yet an intelligent student. She started writing shortly after she attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (Famous Poets and Poems, 2009). Most of her works center on the issues of death, immortality, nature, and faith. She dedicated her poem entitled â€Å"Safe in their Alabaster Chambers† to her friend and fellow author Thomas Wentworth who participated in the Civil War (Famous Poets and Poems, 2009). â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death† is also one of her famous and well-talked about poems. It obviously talks about death and the afterlife. Some of the controversial lines are the following: â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death, / He kindly stopped for me. / The carriage held but just ourselves / And immortality† (Dickinson, 2000a, n. p. ). In the poem, the author uses the point of view of someone who has experienced eternity to describe it. She illustrates her lifes journey through childhood, maturity, and old age. Contrary to most views, the author describes death as a gentleman who came to take her towards the afterlife. Death is one of the topics she chose probably because it was during her time when the Civil War erupted, and all her loved ones were dying, like her friend Wentworth. Experiencing the death of a loved one makes a person contemplate about it. Emily Dickinson also gave breath to the famous quote, â€Å"love is life† and â€Å"If I could stop one heart from breaking† (Dickinson, 2000b, n. p. ; Dickinson, 2000c, n. p. ). Love is the shortest most powerful word that ever existed. The author is correct when she said that â€Å"love is life† because its power transcends death (Dickinson, 2000c, n. p. ). During the 19th century, people fought hard for life and love. That is why most works coming from these times talk so passionately and deeply about it. â€Å"If I Could Stop One Heart from Breaking† is another classic that talks about what a person can do to help another being. She expounds further by saying that her life would not be in vain if she could help ease a persons pain (Dickinson, 2000b). Life is too short to be wasted for selfish reasons, and as such, the life of an individual who takes the time to go an extra mile for others will not be in vain. Emily Dickinsons works are priceless because they will never go out of style, and her words of wisdom can be applied all throughout the ages. She had a rough life, and she clearly made her point using her words. She is one of the most acknowledged and successful authors of all time not only because of her unique and classical perspective, but also because she succeeded in giving the people of today a peek of what it felt like to have lived and loved in the 19th century. References Dickinson, E. (2000a). Because I could not stop for death. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. New York: Bartleby. com.Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http://www. bartleby. com/113/4027. html. Dickinson, E. (2000b). If I could stop one heart from breaking. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. New York: Bartleby. com. Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http://www. bartleby. com/113/1006. html. Dickinson, E. (2000c). That I did always love. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. New York: Bartleby. com. Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http://www. bartleby. com/113/3008. html. Famous Poets and Poems. (2009). Emily Dickinson Biography. Retrieved June 24, 2009, from http://famouspoetsandpoems. com/poets/emily_dickinson/biography.

Environmental Forces In The Indian Shipping Industry

Environmental Forces In The Indian Shipping Industry The global shipbuilding industry has changed in the last two decades, the demand and supply of goods in the international market, that many sectors in the market of shipbuilding in force. The transport of goods in bulk can only be transported by large commercial cargo ships. Shipping industry is a huge industry that requires a lot of skilled and cheap labour. Shipping industry requires expensive investments. In the 1960s Europe were dominant in this industry. Globalization and free trade have opened up opportunities for new life to the shipping industry. There are many factors that directly or indirectly affects to the present day companies such as government policies, regulations, laws, competition, technology, international organizations, institutions of world trade, minimum wage, accidents, risk, violence, safety, labour, supplies, etc. So for any company to survive they have to manage the strategies accordingly to overcome those factors. But in practice it is virtually impossible to consider all these various factors. There are certain forces like PEST that determine the external factors to the environments of shipping industry. Here I found that, the Indian government is providing enormous support to promote foreign trade for the economic development and from my personal experience in shipping industry under Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) gave me thrust to explore more about the Indian shipping industry. Here I analysed the Indian shipping industries growth and present situation using PEST forces. The four environmental forces [PEST] are discussed in this report are as follows 1. Political 2. Economic 3. Social 4. Technology 1 Introduction 1.1 MACRO ENVIRONMENT The major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organizations decision making, and affect its performance and strategies. These factors include the economic factors; demographics, legal, political, and social conditions, technological changes, and natural forces. A PEST analysis is used to analyze the external environment that affects al firms. PEST is a short form of political, economical, social and technological factors of the external macro environment. Changes in the external environment also create new opportunities and the letters are rearranged to construct the more optimistic term of STEP analysis. Many macro environmental factors are country specific and a PEST analysis will need to be performed for all countries of interest. Specific examples of macro environment influences include competitors, changes in interest rates, changes in cultural tastes, disastrous weather, or government regulations. 1.2 Indian shipping Industry In todays fast moving world of airplanes, traveling by sea is very slow, but when we talk about transporting heavy and mass delivery of goods, ships can be the only option. The marine and the sea trade have always been given the first preference in India and also all over the world. This is the main reason that, marine industry is considered the largest transportation industry. Shipping industry involves huge workforce, huge investment and modern technology for smooth running. Shipping is a time consuming process. As we know import and exports contribute the national income of the country, where major imports and exports are done through the sea. The main driving factor of this industry is the GDP growth. Over the past years the shipping industry has shifted its primarily base from the dominating nation like Europe to now Asia. The Indian shipping consists of about 616 vessels with a total capacity of 6.62 million gross tonnages (GRT). Of these, about 258 ships in overseas trade and the other layers operate domestic routes. After a period of decline, both tonnage and fleet size has grown recently with the addition of vessels tugs, survey vessels, towing vessels and pilot vessels one of the Ports and Maritime Board. These were recorded between April 2002 and March 2003. There are approximately 55 shipping companies in the industry, of which 19 are exclusively in the coastal areas of trade and 29 operating in the overseas trade. The rest operate in both types of trade. Â   A few major players dominate the sector. Of these, the State Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and the private sectors Great Eastern Shipping has mixed fleet. Other companies like Essar Shipping are focused on energy trade and mainly operates tankers. Chowgule Shipping and Varun shipping are two other major companies in the industry. Varun Shipping is especially deals with bulk, gas and chemical transport and Chowgule shipping moves bulk commodities like iron ore, grain, coal, fertilizer, etc Here we will analyze the overall Indian shipping industry using PEST analysis which refers to factors like Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors. 2 Political Factors Shipping industry in India is administered by central government through Ministry of Shipping with the individual responsibility to plan policies, programme and its implementation. Every port in India is governed under Major Port Trust Act 1963 and Indian Ports Act 1980 and administered independently by board of trustees under direct orders from central government. Due to the immense involvement of the government political force are more important in India. 2.1 Appointment of Custom House Agents Customs House Agent (CHA) is a person who is appointed by the government to act as an agent for operation of any business relating to the entry or departure of conveyances or the import or export of goods at any Customs station. These agents are governed by Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 1984 which involve responsibilities like filing bills of entry, shipping bills, submitting documents, helping in examination of goods, payment of duty on behalf of principal, storage and movement of goods. These agents act as an intermediate between importer, exporter, clearing agent and custom house due to the more involvement and technical behaviour of work involved in connection with the clearance of cargo. These agents are selected after clearing certain criterias like minimum qualification as graduation, practical working experience in customs for 3 years, consistency of applicant, financial soundness and completion of oral and written examination with maximum 3 attempts. This kind of agents affects positively in the Indian shipping sector, because it prevents the fraud and illegal entry and controls the activities of shipping business in a particular manner. 2.2 Infrastructure Development Maritime transport is a national social and economic development infrastructure. It will affect the speed, structure and mode of development. 90% of Indias foreign trade conducted by sea, unlike the existing port infrastructure and trade will not be sufficient treatment. In recent years, the Government has started in return for up to 100% of the tax exemption of up to 10 years to promote PPP model in infrastructure project investment up to 100% relief, ADIs incentives. As a result of this a huge amount of investments have been made by foreign companies like Maersk, PO Ports, Dubai Ports International and PSA Singapore for the development of port and operation activities. This type of activity helps to encourage the shipping industry for the new investors, while it also gives the benefit to the existing market players by providing loans and other facilities, and helps in development of sites, this factor is positively affect the industry. 2.3 Anti Sea Piracy: Government is actively involved in reducing the sea piracy in Gulf of Aden off Somalia coast. Pirates became a major problem in the recent time for the shipping industry, especially during the trade and transit between India and other counties like Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Egypt and Ethiopia. To protect vessels and crew from such pirate attacks, India has deployed its naval warship in Gulf of Aden since 2008 under informal Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS). This was accepted by 22 countries for securing their vessels from the coast of Somalia from pirates. Around 59 Indian vessels are hijacked in the year 2009 till date but none of the crew members or vessels has been held detained due to proactive and timely measures by government. This policy negatively affects the industry, because due to policy of government businesses in sea is not safe at Somalia coast. So the shipping business was suffering a lot because none of the companies want to do their business in such dangerous places. 2.4 Safeguarding Domestic Market: With the action of anti dumping and anti subsidy measures and comply with the WTO agreement, government seek to provide necessary relief and protection to domestic companies against dumping of goods and articles at cheaper rates by exporting companies of foreign countries. India has been a victim since long time against such unfair practices in items like import of chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, textile, steel and other consumer products which were dumped at cheaper rates than offered by Indian companies. Under these anti dumping measures government charges an additional duty on such cheap imported products making it equivalent to price offered by domestic market. These factors will effect negatively to the shipping business in India. This is because the anti dumping and high duty will discourage the foreign players to invest in Indian market, because of less opportunity and less import in such a situation. 2.5 Promoting Exports: To overcome shortcomings on account of multiple controls and clearances, absence of world class infrastructure, unstable fiscal regime and with a view to attract larger foreign investments in India, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy was announced in April 2000. This policy intends to make SEZs an engine for economic growth, employment opportunities, attract foreign direct investment, infrastructure development with attractive incentives like exemption from central and state taxes, 100% income tax exemption for 5 years, duty free imports, exemption from custom and excise duties etc. As a result there are presently 105 SEZ units operational in India with continuous growth rate of more than 50% annually. Even during the period of recession when global markets were struggling Indian SEZs were booming with growth rate of 93% and 50% in fiscal year 2008-2009 and 2009-20010 respectively. These factors will positively affect the shipping business in India. As the other benefits and tax saving in SEZ is more, the foreign companies are interested to invest in Indian Shipping Industry, which will improve the development of Indian shipping industry. Also 100% benefit in tax and other duty free schemes encourage the domestic companies to invest more and more and export as much as possible. This will result into high growth of industry. Overall, from the above factors, two factors will negatively affects the shipping industry and two will positively affect the shipping industry in India. All the present and upcoming governments are interested in development of shipping industry. So, the political factors are positively affects the shipping industry. 3 Economic Factors: Economic factors are as important as political factors that affect not only this industry but every industry in every corner of the world. Change in economic conditions at domestic or at international level mostly affects the functioning of each industry, following are some of the economic factors that may affect shipping industry. Exchange Rates are required for determining the custom duties and excise duties, assessment of import and export goods, payment of duties etc. These rates are not uniform and fluctuate daily in line with demand-supply factors existing in international markets. The Indian government used to inform the shipping authority about the monthly exchange rate, through monthly notification. This ensures that dealing and communication between trade bodies and government agencies, in respect of duties and value of goods is uniformed across all ports and across all custom houses throughout India, instead of different rates and different value. 3.1 Rationalization Measures With the incentives like minimal or zero custom duty, government is promoting trade of medical equipments, construction machineries, renewable sources of energy, bio degradable products, solar energy, export of species, tea/ coffee plantation and agricultural machinery etc. At the same time the Indian government demotes import of products like petrol, diesel, precious metals which add no value to the economy as a whole. These validation measures are available to improve infrastructure, quality of life of people, better facilities and environment friendly products. These factors affect positively to the shipping industries, as encouragement from the government for export, agricultural improvements etc will increase the export and increase the profitability of Indian shipping industry. 3.2 Push n Pull Factors Due to global recession for the last few years liquidity of countries around the world has affected badly. As a result of the recession many governments have increased the percentage rates on fixed and saving deposits to pull out money from its people to fund the shortage. This move was successful to some extent which was further boosted by relaxation in income tax slabs. For example, individual in India earning 5 lacks (0.5 million) or more was paying 30% tax under previous rules which is now decreased by 20% under Union Budget 2010-11. This means saving of Rs 50,000 by way of tax annually which has indirectly increased the buying power of that individual. Government also made tax relaxations, if the investment is made in national health care, medical and infrastructure projects. These new procedures and relaxations have provided relief to around 60% of taxpayers by way of savings in taxes. This factor is also positively affects the shipping industry indirectly, as the circulation of money getting high, the demographic pattern of people will also change like income, purchasing power etc. which will increase the business of shipping by more movement of goods and services for meet the high demands. 3.3 Inflation The inflation rate reflects changes in supply and demand conditions in economy. Inflation management therefore involves controlling demand and supply factors by various monetary and fiscal measures respectively. Before global recession wholesale price index (WPI) inflation was high due to the raw material and fuel prices increase, resulting decreased due to meltdown in the global economy, which has resulted in the sharp decline in commodity prices. Due to the above factors the inflation rate in India during the period 2008-09 was 10.20% which has reached to 1.63% in 2009-10. As regards food inflation, the continuous increase in inflation rate from start of 2009-10 was majorly due to unfavourable monsoon in India which was worst since 1972. Food inflation has reached double digits because of shortage in supply of wheat, rice, pulses, sugar, onions and potatoes. Government initiated several anti-inflationary measures such as exempting duties on import of rice, wheat, pulses, edible oils to bring more imports to country and also allowing distribution of rice and wheat to consumers through public distribution centres (PDS). So to control the increase in price further trading, exports have also been suspended for rice, wheat and onions. However inflation in India was much better and inactive compared to other countries of world. Inflation rate negatively affect the Indian shipping industry, because high rate of inflation will resulted into high prices and high rate of transfer of goods will decrease the business of shipping. Overall, economic factors are positively affects the shipping industry. Except inflation all factors are positively affects the shipping industry and growth rate is also high. 4 Social Forces 4.1 Quick Facts Indian civilization can be traced back to 3400 BC during the development of Indus Valley Civilization. India lies to the north of the equator between 6Â °44 and 35Â °30 north latitude and 68Â °7 and 97Â °25 east longitude. Indias coast is 7,517 kilometres long which consists of 43% sandy beaches, 11% rocky coast including cliffs, and 46% mudflats or marshy coast India has a GDP of over USD 1.367 trillion, the 11th largest in the world. It is the 4th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. Its per capita income is USD 1124, 139th in the world. Population in India is second highest in the world. As of 2010, Indias population is estimated to be 1.18 billion. India ranks 139th globally under medium human development category according to human development index (HDI). Due to significant changes in economic reforms undertaken during the industrial revolution in 1991, India has transformed itself to one of the fastest growing economies in world. India is also a strong member of Commonwealth of Nations, SAARC, and WTO. Indias strong 55,000 military personnels are serving in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across 4 continents. 4.2 Demographics India has more land than any other country except United States, and largest water covered area after Canada and United States. Indian life revolves mostly around agriculture and allied activities in small villages, where the vast majority of Indians live. As per the 2001 census, 72.2% of the population lives in about 638,000 villages and the remaining 27.8% lives in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban areas. In languages Hindi is used by over 80% of population in India followed by Muslim (13.4%), Christian (2.4%) and Sikhs (1.3%). Muslim population in India is third largest in world after Indonesia and Pakistan. 57% of population in India is between age group 15-59 years while around 35% of population is below 15 years. Literacy rate in India is 64.8% overall distributed between urban (79.9%) and rural areas (58.7%). This factor is positively affects the shipping industry, as difference in location, demand people will demand different things and import of it will increase the s hipping business. 4.3 Cultural Trends Trends are a sign of new enablers unlocking existing human needs which are constantly changing with time. Cultural trend reflects in many tangible aspects ranging from architecture to attire to food to culture which are deeply embedded in the rich historical and geographical elements of the country. In the past two decades, India has seen number of changes, more seen as an after effect of globalization. A nation of thinkers has become a nation of makers, eco sensitivity is on the rise, and all this has translated into a new language of patriotism, and speaks of a newly defined culture. This cultural shift has definite impacts on the Indian work scenario. Start-ups today have fresh innovative concepts and exciting working models which highlights the key socio-cultural trends in India. Businesses are increasingly catering to rational, practical and current cultural needs and are not based only on traditional models and offerings. Indian society is defined by relatively strict social hi erarchy because of high degree of syncretism and cultural pluralism. Marriage is considered to be a thought for life and therefore divorce rate is extremely low in India. 4.4 Recent Trends in 2011 Government has started its long awaited prosperous plan to provide unique identification number to every citizen which would be used primarily as the basis for efficient delivery of welfare services. It would also act as a tool for effective monitoring of various programs and schemes of the Government. This program of unique identification will strengthen transparency and accountability. Plans are also underway to improve literacy rate of 60mn females among 70mn illiterate adults through introduction of Saakshar Bharat (Educate India) scheme enhancing post metric scholarships schemes for scheduled cast students. National Social Security Fund for unorganized sector workers to be set up with an initial allocation of Rs. 10,000mn. This fund will support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers etc. Various such measures are being taken by government to improve the education level in rural areas, improving the health of rural people and those living below poverty line, develo ping rural infrastructure and rural housing. Overall, socio cultural factors positively affect the industry. Because people are more relay on shipping and this will increases the growth. 5 Technological Factors Technologies significantly affect humans ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. Technological development like printer, telephones and internet to name a few have narrowed physical barriers to communication and allowed human to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology innovations are good for society like development of nuclear and other weapons which only create destruction. In recent times, more encouragement is being given to new technologies which are environment friendly. Shipping industry is majorly dependent on technology which fastens the movement of goods and ships data processing, control the increased throughput, better delivery and communication, reducing fuel consumption and costs. We will see some of the benefits of technology to revolutionize the shipping industry. 5.1 Faster Data Processing Traditional methods of manual data entry with typewriters for the preparation of shipping documents, invoices, the survey reports, and load / discharge list were taken over by computers and the Internet. Now customers prepare shipping instructions in their own office with computers and direct delivery to shipping companies for the preparation of bills of lading using the internet. Customers also receive web invoices and payments to shipping companies with online banking. This technology has improved in changing the way people have traditionally been the work with greater ease, flexibility and efficiency. Customers can also track estimated arrival / departure of cargo to / from Terminal Operators on site because of the synchronization between companies system and the Internet. CHA and shipping companies have also benefited with this technological improvement. They are now able to communicate with customs, government offices easily through mails and can send official shipping documents using encrypted data transfer channel. These e-business solutions, organizations benefit through low costs, reduction in errors, short processing times, reusable data, real time information, less rekeying, saving of phone, fax and courier costs, secure solutions, seamless flow etc. These e-solutions have been further boosted in shipping with the introduction of INTTRA (Third E-business platform), which has allowed customers to send the same data to multiple operators, rather than sending each data individually to each operator. Now almost every shipping communication between customer and shipping lines are being done using this system. Another breakthrough in this area was the implementation of customs EDI system (electronic data interchange), which connected Indian customs with companies in international trade electronically. The main purpose for its implementation was to respond quickly to the needs of trade, the reduction of trade interaction with authorities, uniformity of assessment and evaluation across all custom stations, providing quick and correct information and statistics to policy makers. Due to the increased data accuracy, security and management the paper work, operational time and costs reduced drastically. 5.2 Ship Technology Changes in shipbuilding and engineering design technology and material changes made to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, thereby reducing erosion to save marine ecosystems and to increase fuel efficiency. One innovation which is underway in field of recirculation of exhaust gases in ships, which will reduce pollution of nitrogen oxide in atmosphere. A company named MAN has produced the diesel engine using exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system that can reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 50% today and 80% in near future. The system works by directing part of a vessels exhaust gas back into the engine scavenge air, reducing the oxygen content in the combustion chamber. The reduced lower combustion temperature in turn reduces the formation of nitrogen oxide. Testing of this prototype system will be done in of the container vessel in current year (2011). Another technology is developed by SISTEMAR, in design of propeller which is expected to increase efficiency of the ship by 5% to 8%. This contracted and loaded tip (CLT) propeller is an unconventional propeller which will reduce tip vortex, reduce cavitations, improve manoeuvring and will reduce emission by 5% to 8% compared to conventional propellers. After the initial testing it has been found that new propeller has significantly reduced vibrations onboard the ship, increased the efficiency and the propeller is causing low induced pressure pulses. Overall, technological factors positively affect the shipping industry, because the development of technology will reduce the time of process and useful in timely decisions. New technological advances will increase the business by improving service quality and high performance processing. 6 Conclusions and Recommendation Container line business is a flamboyant industry not only in India but in whole world. Due to fast economic growth as in the past, trade between India and developed countries has increased appreciably. India is now seen as export making country from its traditional tag of import specific country. As a result of this development, shipping industry is progressing at average rate of 10% during the last 3 years. It is also important that government of India and Ministry of Shipping in particular should take more positive steps like setting up automated container terminals, increasing more dry cargo berths, liberal regulations in free movement of foreign exchange and international trade, easing export/ import duties to make this industry work more freely and contribute even more to economic development of the country. Companies at same time should adapt more technology to make easy and efficient work environment for customers and employees. Looking ahead it seems strong prospective in growth markets, where the number of middle-income consumers is booming. In 2011, government should focus the main part of its attention and investments in these markets. In the start of the worst year ever for container activities is in 2008 2009 due to recession, the Indian government continued its focus on strengthening competitiveness.

Cracks Detection using Digital Image Processing

Cracks Detection using Digital Image Processing Cracks detection using digital image processing   in MATLAB Usually visual investigation methods have been used for inspection and monitoring of concrete infrastructures. Huge and tall structure such as cables bridges, high rising towers, dams and industrial power plant are known to have an inaccessible area and limitations in inspection field due to its geometry structure which is often dangerous , labor -intensive and involves lot of risks. So, with rapid development in technology and its uses, researcher   are trying to overcome these problem. Every now and then some research is going regarding these problem and trying to overcome it. So, I also have come with the idea of using digital Image processing   in mat lab to detect the cracks in such structure. Literature   Review:- As   of todays world, digital Image processing is getting better and better   and used in all areas of science. With   the help of digital image processing tools, various image processing can be applied to detects the cracks in structure. Not only in structures but also for   bridges, towers, power plant and also in structure   like steel ,roads, fatigues and sewer pipes. A number of research studies have been conducted regarding   detection of cracks by using Digital   image processing .(1)The author of Korea Institute   combines UAV technology in the process of recent breakthroughs and digital image analysis techniques   to detect cracks in structure. In this study, the crack detection program with digital image analysis techniques was developed in order to the crack and width of the structure automatically. The developed program attempted to perform the image analysis for crack detection with Morphology method based morphological hydraulics and specially designed Morphological link for crack(Morph link-C)algorithm for S/W development was applied to the program. The digital image was acquired in order to evaluate UAV applicability and performance and field application of the crack detecting program after targeting the bridges in common use. Comparing with the measured values in order to verify reliability of the new structural inspecting system for application in this study, it is verified that the accuracy above a certain level is secured. Also, The below three core technologies shall be considered to develop the technology possible to detect cracks and calculate crack width of large structure through the digital image analysis and to put this technology to practical use. Optimal digital image acquisition and filming equipment configuration Crack analysis technique of a number of mass digital images Combining technique of multiple images that different positions are captured And also the author from china(2)  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   proposed   inspection system for measuring cracks in concrete structure and providing objective crack data to be used in safety assessment. The system consists of the mobile robot system and crack detecting system. The mobile robot system is controlled to keep a constant distance from the wall to acquire image data with a CCD camera on scanning along the wall. The crack detecting system extracts crack information from the acquired image using image processing. To improve accuracy of crack recognition, the geometric properties and patterns of cracks in a structure were applied to image processing. Also,   an inspection system using an image process, which can be a solution to the problems of crack detection in concrete structure, slow rate, subjectivity, and the inefficiency in managing data. Also, the system ensures the validity and possibility based on the experiment in the indoor structure, road tunnel, and subway tunnel. However, an erroneous recognition of a crack as non-crack and vice versa prevails. Therefore, the system is semi automated to get rid of wrong recognition of non crack as crack, and to identify crack by a graph search method using the user-based input of the start point and end-point of crack. In order for a crack inspection system to develop into an expert system, there needs to be further study of the characteristics of cracks and the algorithm must move towards complete automation. Similarly,(3) The Komatsu Engineering Company has developed and commercialized an image acquisition system that can acquire the images of road and tunnel lining by using a laser-scanning device .(4) The Railway Technical Research Institute in Japan developed an image acquisition system of railway tunnel lining by using line CCD cameras. (5)Road ware Group Inc., Canada commercialized a system that acquires an image of the road with a CCD camera, an ultrasonic sensor, and a gyro-sensor with a speed of80km/h and a resolution of 3~4cm [7]. Those systems are useful to collect data of cracks, leakage, scale, and spall but only by using the image acquisition, and not through automatic defect detection. The algorithm for crack detection and measurement is required for fully automatic inspection system. It is necessary, therefore, to develop the automatic crack detection and measurement algorithm to obtain both fast inspection and objective crack data. From the author of University of central Florida , paper describes the mechanism of non-destructive bridge inspection methods using HRDI and HDV digital crack detection and IR thermograph   technology and the benefits of the combination thereof. The feasibility of applying these technologies for in-service bridge inspections are demonstrated and evaluated in the State of Florida under  the university-government-industry collaboration research program. The purpose of the joint research effort is to utilize the innovative technology for more efficient bridge inspection programs and bridge management in Florida by developing a new quantitative performance measure for long term bridge monitoring, such as crack ratio and delaminated area, and the use of objective data resulting in more efficient and scientific bridge inspection database and management system. With the quantity of roadway structure assets increasing annually, coupled with concurrent increasing rates of deteriorati on being experienced by many of the existing structures, bridge owners need to find new and creative ways to ensure the structural safety of their bridges while they all too often face problems of reduced budgets and dedicated bridge inspection resources. Currently, the determination of bridge condition ratings in  many countries is generally subjective depending on individual inspectors knowledge and experience, as well as varying field conditions. For the evaluation and documentation of concrete deterioration (cracks, efflorescence, delaminating, spalls, etc.) and changes overtime, the current practice of visual inspections can be lacking in accuracy and completeness, as well as time consuming and costly if road closures and access equipment  are required for the inspection. Using the proposed new non-destructive technologies, bridge engineers can quickly and efficiently obtain objective current bridge condition information that has traditionally been obtained by more time con suming and more subjective close-up visual inspections and sounding tests. The digital output of these NDE inspection techniques improves on-site inspection safety and objectivity and contributes to improved inspector efficiency by significantly reducing the amount of inspection time in the field. However, it must be noted that while most of the NDE or sensor technologies do offer new efficiencies and/or additional objective assessment results to the bridge inspection process, they are not a substitute for inspectors conducting on-site specific follow-up and detailed structure investigations. While improved efficiencies in bridge inspection methods resulting from the application of the above NDE technologies bring significant benefits to the overall bridge inspection process, they are not a substitute for the continued need for sound and experienced engineering judgment. The authors believe that by offering new and improved inspection technologies to experienced bridge engineers and inspectors, bridge inspection programs will be strengthened through enhanced inspection data and will be more objective, consistent, scientific, and efficient. Based on the nature of calculation   and development of technology approach to process image, Image Processing Technique for crack detection can be divided into several categories. Each image consists of pixel which are represented by its integer values from 0 to 255. Based on these pixel values Operation technique conducted is accomplished in the spatial domain. However , desirable outcome cannot be obtained in spatial domain. So in this case ,usually Fourier or wavelet transformation is performed on the image. Again, the outcome image is processed in frequency domain. After wise, to reconstruct the image in spatial domain   an inverse transformation is applied. Another procedure to detect cracks using image is based on the training algorithm to solve a problem. In this process ,some technique directly deal with image without any training while other first construct   a database which is divided into two subsets, the subset with crack image and subset with un-cracked images. For each subset ,a decision line is defined to represent the characteristics index, such as shape factor. With the help of these image , a program is used which is capable of comparing new images with decision line and assign it to the subset where it belongs. Especially Neural network and clustering   method are widely used among the popular training techniques to learn the decision line. Basically, two approaches have been applied to detect cracks from the images.   Using dye solution and the other is without using dye solution to the surface material. Usually ,In this dye based detection process, a particular dye solution such as fluorescent is injected on the surface of concrete or other material. Depending on the solution type   and color special or ordinary cameras are used to scan the surface of the material. These dye based method were used in past for detection of mini or micro cracks in different types of material like concrete ,ceramics tiles etc and also any kind of structure. The other approach for finding crack   is based on the color image without using dye solution. Since these method is less costly and less time consuming it is currently more popular. A number of research studies have been conducted regarding the surface   crack detection technique in different material. One of these attempts can be seen in work of Kittler at al. They proposed an idea of training based algorithm to get samples of the region, which are void of defects in the spatial domain. In this process, the new pictures were analyzed for the presence of any defects and also to find the location of the defects. In this method, clustering technique and morphological operation were performed to analyze the images. The experimental output of this method is shown in the figure below.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Figure . Crack detection on ceramic tiles (Kittler, Marik, et al. 1994) Image processing technique has been used for inspection of cement based materials for micro cracks and other micro defects (Ammouchea at al 2000). In this process, a red dye solution is used with the surface. So the dye solution can penetrate the porous region of the surface while the excessive solution are   removed by polishing the sample surface. Once the dye solution is injected, a color image of 256 x 265 was taken from camera of the surface. The following operation is carried out on the taken image. O(x,y) = max { R(x,y)0 G(x,y) } Where, O(x,y) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Intensity of the output gray level image at (x,y) co-ordinates R(x,y) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Intensity of the original image at (x,y) co-ordinate in red region. G(x,y) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Intensity of the original image at (x,y) co-ordinate in gray region. Afterward, using a thresholding value, the gray level   image is converted to the binary image. Then, using entropy maximization method value of the thresholding is evaluated. This method is based on maximization of the entropy function à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã¢â‚¬Å" of gray level pixel. à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã¢â‚¬Å"(k)=   [  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   ] where, Pà ¡Ã‚ µÃ‚ ¢ is the probability of a given pixel to have an intensity of i (Pà ¡Ã‚ µÃ‚ ¢=Nà ¡Ã‚ µÃ‚ ¢/N)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Ni Number of pixel having i intensity   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   N Total no of pixel   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Wà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ W1 Lower and upper bound of the probability to find pixel intensity And also computed as:-   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   k Based on the threshold to obtain binary image, a lower bound thresholding operation is performed. Then , using two morphological operations of eroding and rebuilding the binary image is post processed. This operation is conducted to eliminate noisy and small objects (i.e. Less than 10 pixel) from the image. However, second series of operation are needed to obtain the shape factors which are used to decide whether the pixels in a binary image are associated with cracks or other defects. To do so, a dimensionless packing density index Fc is defined. Fc = (2-4) Where, Aab=Object area Aac= Area of its circumscribed circle The value of Fc is equal to 1 for a circle and tends towards 0 for a very elongated object.Fig below shows results obtained in this method Fig. Also, Abdel-Ghader (_Abdel,Osama and kelly 2003) proposed an idea to find cracks on concrete surface using image processing technique .In this work, they implemented   and compared 4 cracks detection method   which include Fast   Haar Transform( FHT), Fast Fourier Transform( FFT),Sobel edge detector   and canny edge detection. They used 50   concrete image from a bridge deck of which 25 pictures with cracks and 25 pictures without cracks for   their research .From their research ,they concluded that FHT was more efficient and effective method rather than other 3 method. Basically, FHT, a simplified   Wavelet transformation decomposes the image into low and high frequency components, the mother Wavelet à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ª(t) of Haar function and scaling à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã¢â‚¬Å"(t) are defined as: à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ª(t) =   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Relationship between Haar wavelet and scaling function and scaling function with itself is shown below   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ª(t)=)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (t)=) In this process, to detect crack the three quadrants of the first level transformation i.e. 2,34 are passed through a high pass filter to reduce nose and   combined together to get magnitude of images. To decide whether crack exists or not, an empirical thresholding value is used. Fast   Fourier transfer motion (FFT) are used to derive the frequency component of the image intensity. The transformation and   the inverse transformation were carried out using: F(u, v)= F(x, y)= The canny edge detection is a convolution filter to detect filter noise from the image while processing. In addition, thresholding value is defined to see if a pixel belongs to an edge region or not. The   Sobel edge detection is also a convolution filter defined for vertical and horizontal edges in images. This edge detection technique helps to detect the change in the image intensity in neighboring pixels. Filtering was done using convolution operation for each filter separated. Then, two filtered images is combined together at each location and result is a gray level image with enhanced edges. G x =   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   G y= Default value of thresholding is defined as  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   where Another attempt to detect cracks in concrete specimen using optical fluorescent microscopy can be found in   this research( Litorowicz   2006). To continue these processes, a fluorescent dye solution   was used. The specimens were then light using Nikon optical microscope at a magnification of 10 times. The images were captured using a Sony DXC 350 P video camera. Then, image pro Plus analysis software was introduced to perform the image processing operation. Then, using segmentation method, the RGB images is connected into a binary image. The threshold level was calculated based on the effect of the dye solution to the surface. To distinguish cracks pattern, several parameters were introduced: Angle between the vertical axis and the major axis of the ellipse covering   the connected component Area of each connected component Dendritic   length, which is the total length of all the one-pixel thick branches.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   4. Area ratio (i.e. of the area of the counted object and the entire area of the active image.)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   5.Radius ratio (i.e. The ratio of maximum radius and minimum radius for each connected component)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   6. Roundness using perimeter 2/4à Ã¢â€š ¬2 x Area. Intelligent crack detection on the concrete crack image using neural network was proposed in Moon and Kim paper (2011). This research was conducted to develop an automatic detection system that analyze the concrete surface and visualize the crack more effectively and efficiently. Basically this research consists of two parts: Image processing and image classification. First stage include image processing tools like filtering, subtraction and morphological operation in order to extract cracks from the background image (i.e. data such as the number of pixel and the ratio of major axis to minor axis for pixel area. While in second step, existences of cracks are identified using neural network to automate the image classification. In this process, 105 images (cracked and non-cracked) of concrete were used as a trained image including every kind of cracks. Following steps were carried out for image processing : Fig. Image processing steps   to detect cracks First step in image processing is to convert RGB image into gray level intensity image followed by a subtraction transformation as follows: à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- ) = à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¡Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ½Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥ {à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¡Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ½Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-à °Ã‚ Ã…“-à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- [à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼(à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- ) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼(à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- )], 0} Where ,I(xi)   and I(xj) are   the intensity pixel of xi and X j respectively.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Ri Neighborhood of that pixel xà ¡Ã‚ µÃ‚ ¢ . When the subtraction is negative number, it is represented as zero. Once improved subtraction method is used, threshold value is defined to detect cracks more effectively. The thresholding operation is given as: à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥, à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦) = {2 ÃÆ'- à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥, à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦) à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬Å" à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   > à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ¡   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥, à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦)  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬Å" à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ¡ To further smooth the image, a Gaussian law pass filter was applied. Then, an input gray level image is converted to a binary image where the values are represented as 0 or 1. Using Otsus   method or valley emphasis method, the threshold value was selected. Morphological image processing including closing and   labeling were applied to the image to extract image component such as shape of crack. The optimal parameters and their level associated with above operation are   mentioned below:   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Fig. Parameters and their levels Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) crack images were distinguished from non-cracked images. Also images were automatically identified as the crack or non-cracked images using ANN. The output value was represented either cracked (value 1) or non-cracked (value 2). Another example of tracing based image processing technique can be found on Nishikawa research paper (2012). A robust automated image processing method was applied to crack detection on concrete surface. This method consists of two parts: First part consists of automatic construction of a filter for crack detection while the other part consists of noise removal and determination of indistinct cracks using iterative process. Using generic algorithm the part is conducted, where genetic individuals was represented as a tree structure. Using a trained   program, a large number of images were combined and several images filtered were converted into a tree structure. An illustration of tree structure concept is shown below.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Fig. Construction of Tree structure   with multiple filters(Aoki and Nagao 1999) A combination of generic program was computed to train the program and results were compared to the target image (i.e. image generated by visual inspection. The comparison was between the distinct distributions of brightness between the images. To measure the filter performance the following formula was used. E= Where,    N- No of training images in database K-th target image -Output image -weighted image . -   Brightness of the weighted image in crack region )- brightness of k-th target image at position (i,j) To reduce the false negative result, a superimposition operation using low resolution image was implemented. Figure below shows the algorithm used in above algorithm. { algorithm}