Did Government Violate Laissez-Faire Essay

After the Civil War, many businessmen endorsed the Laissez-Faire concept of government in order to promote industry. In this concept, government did not interfere with industry. But what came with this concept was unlimited freedom for businessmen and high prices for consumers. While many businessmen supported a Laissez-Faire concept of government between 1865 and 1900, the people did not benefit from it, which led government to violate this concept with their policies, but only to a moderate extent overall. They violated laissez-faire to a moderate extent by issuing Railroad Land Grants before 1870 and eliminating them after, to a great extent by Regulating Interstate Commerce with the Interstate Commerce Act in 1886, and only to a limited extent by attempting to control trust activities with the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, producing a moderate government involvement overall. Government began to violate the concept of Laissez-Faire with its Railroad Land Grants. Laissez-Faire promoters believed that â€Å"†¦the government is best which governs least. † While industrialists promoted this concept, it was already being violated when the Federal Government gave thousands of acres of land to Railroad companies in return for building railroads. These subsidies, in the form of loans and land grants, totaled over 130 million acres of public land. (Doc D. ) The federal government issued these grants in hope that the railroad would increase the value of the land and provide better rates for carrying mail and transporting troops. More railroads continued to be built, including four other transcontinental railroads. Of these four, James Hill’s Great Northern Railroad was the only one to be built without federal subsidies. These grants benefited the Railroad financiers greatly, especially Jay Gould who went into the business to make quick profit by selling off the assets and watering stocks. The grants were justified by financiers by saying that the railroads provided for settlement of the west and attracted immigrants, giving the land more credit, which was the government’s main purpose to begin with. However, as more competition entered the industry, the railroad system began to fail, and, in the 1870’s the Federal government recognized this problem and terminated their policy of grants to railroads. This policy prohibited the issuing of subsidies to associations or corporations engaged in public or private enterprises. (Doc F) By issuing this resolution, Congress eliminated itself from the railroad industry, promoting the concept of Laissez-Faire. So while congress was a large part of industry before 1870, violating Laissez-Faire, they eliminated themselves from it, and promoted Laissez-Faire from that point on. This shows that congress violated Laissez to a moderate extent, because they violated it before 1870 but not after. Later, government violated Laissez-Faire in another way, by regulating interstate commerce. Before 1886, many states had Granges, social and educational organizations for farmers and their families who aimed to defend its members against the middlemen, trusts, and railroads. Grangers in many states successfully lobbied their state legislatures to pass laws regulating railroad rates. In the case of Munn v Illinois in 1877, the Supreme Court upheld the right of a state to regulate businesses of a public nature, like railroads. But these laws, called Granger laws, could only regulate local and short-haul rates within their states. In the case of Wabash v. Illinois in 1886, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not regulate interstate commerce: that was left up to the federal government. Because many railroad companied raised their long-haul rates after the granger laws were adopted, the federal government needed to respond to the outcry of farmers and shippers. It recognized that the railroad industry’s benefits had been attained to, in effect, â€Å"†¦ build up the strong at the expense of the weak†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Doc J. ) The federal government worked to fix this problem by passing the Interstate Commerce Act in 1886. This Act required railroad rates to be â€Å"reasonable and just,† and set up the first federal regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC. ) This law affected the railroad industry greatly, and the results were astounding. In effect, it increased railroad earnings, and put an end to rebates and drawbacks. (Doc L. ) This act was huge in government intervention in industry. By issuing this act, the federal government aimed to help the cries of the farmers and shippers, and in effect violated laissez faire by involving itself directly in the railroad industry from state to state, and also nullified previous laws regulating the railroad industry passed in individual states. This shows that the government did violate industry to a great extent when it came to regulating Interstate Commerce. As a select few became very wealthy by forming trusts in their particular industries, the government violated Laissez-Faire by trying to control trust activities. In the 1880s, many middle class citizens feared the power that trusts gave industrialists, and urban elites resented the increasing influence of the new rich men in America. Because so many businessmen were developing trusts and were the only ones benefiting from business, John Sherman, a Senator from Ohio, was inspired to pass the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 by reformers who failed to curb trusts on the state level. The Act prohibited any â€Å"contract, combination, in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce. Sherman believed the act would provide every man with his â€Å"†¦right to work, labor, and produce†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and to transport his production on equal terms. (Doc N. ) The Act, however, hardly did that. It was purposely written vaguely in order to promote loose interpretation. This was partly because those holding the trusts were bribing state legislatures. Since the state legislatures appointed senators, and senators were all represented equally in each state, monopolists would bribe the state legislatures in order to get the candidate they wanted in the senate, who in turn would affect the passage of anti-trust laws. There were very few federal prosecutions issued under the act between its passing in 1890 and 1901, a total of 17 in 11 years. (Doc Q. ) In one particular case of United States v E. C. Knight Co in 1895, the Supreme Court ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act could be applied only to commerce, not to manufacturing. (Doc P. ) Because of this case, the US Department of Justice secured few convictions until the law was changed during the Progressive Era. So while the federal government attempted to regulate the industry and prevent trusts, it barely did so. Because of the weak wording of the act, trusts failed to stop developing. The federal government involved itself in the industry because of the complaints and fears of the powers that those who held trusts had, and though it involved itself in the industry by issuing a law and enforcing it slightly, the supreme court rulings and loose interpretation of the law allowed little alterations to the industry, showing that the federal government only violated laissez-faire to a limited extent. As it can be assumed, the businessmen of industrial era promoted laissez-faire only when it benefited their business. They manipulated people in order to gain what they wanted-a monopoly. As economic problems began to surface with the laissez-faire system, government began to intervene. Though they were involved to a great extent in the railroad system initially, they eliminated themselves from it after 1870, only violating the laissez-faire system to a moderate extent overall. When it came to interstate commerce, the government violated laissez-faire to a great extent by issuing the interstate Commerce Act. And with this issue of trust activities, the government only intervened to a limited extent by passing the Sherman Antitrust Act and then failing to execute it. All of these things show that government violated laissez-faire to a moderate extent, and this was because the laissez-faire system did not benefit society as a whole and government needed to fix economic and social problems.

Phoneme Confusion Essay

An understanding of why students often confuse the phonemes /b/ and /d/ begins with understanding the fundamental difference between a phoneme and a grapheme. The term â€Å"phoneme† refers to a basic sound found within a language, such as the sounds that are represented by the letters /b/ and /d/. The grapheme represents the actual symbol used to denote those sounds (Reutzel & Cooter, 2004). In most Indo-European languages, the initial sounds of the words â€Å"ball† and â€Å"dog† are represented by these same symbols /b/ and /d/. The problem that children usually have with these sounds lies not in their confusion of the actual sounds or phonemes, but in the similarities between the two graphemes used to represent them (Goldstein, 2007). The problem that children usually have is in figuring out which sound goes with which letter—not actually in differentiating the sounds themselves (Macauslan & Quinn, 1976). This can be ascertained because it is often the case that children who make the mistake of mixing up the two sounds by reading usually manage to speak without replacing either phoneme with the other (Goldstein, 2007). It is usually the case, therefore, that the problem lies with the visual aspect of the grapheme itself. The letters /b/ and /d/ are both very similarly constructed: each is made up of a circle with a stick attached. When trying to differentiate between /b/ and /d/, children forget which side the stick should be on. Even in the phonologically aware child, each symbol sometimes succeeds in calling to mind both the sounds associated with the two letters (Goldstein, 2007). However, the child has a problem assigning the correct sound to the proper letter not because of an inherent â€Å"reading† problem, but because of an inability to properly orient the form of the letter in order to make the decision (Macauslan & Quinn, 1976). There as several formal and informal methods of dealing with this form of confusion. One method is simply to teach the letters separately. By teaching the phoneme-grapheme /b/ initially, the student is allowed to become thoroughly familiar with the letter and its formation. This familiarity will also extend itself to the sound or phoneme that is to be associated with it. Once the student can distinguish that this (b) is the letter â€Å"b† (â€Å"bee†), then that child will be less likely to confuse it with the other. Then, one it is established that the child knows /b/ and can distinguish it from all other letters and forms, the phoneme/grapheme /d/ can be introduced. Other methods of dealing with this issue exist to deal with a confusion that has already surfaced. Some teachers use mnemonic devices such as the formation of the letter with the hand. By holding the middle finger and the thumb together while allowing the forefinger to stand straight up, one can approximate the formation of /b/ on the left hand and /d/ on the right. By assigning a name to each formation such as â€Å"bull† to the left and â€Å"dog† to the right, the child might be prompted to remember which letter goes with each sound by listening to the onset of each word. It may also be helpful to point out the similarity between the lower and upper-case B’s. By reminding the student that the lower-case /b/ is merely a â€Å"B† with the upper semicircle missing, it might serve to remind him/her which letter corresponds with what sound. However, this may not prove generally helpful at the early ages, at which stage children are often likely to reverse all letters (including uppercase B) without readily noticing the difference. The child who is phonologically aware may still demonstrate confusion of the phonemes represented by the symbols /b/ and /d/ because of the similarity in the appearance of the two. These children may be otherwise quite able to perform the psychological and physical actions necessary to become good readers. However, such otherwise good readers may persist in confusing the two for quite a few years. The problem is not usually a great one and may be overcome using several mnemonic devices that serve to reinforce the distinction in the appearance of the two graphemes.    References Goldstein, E. B. (2007). Cognitive psychology: connecting mind, research and everyday   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   experience. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Macauslan, A. & V. Quinn. (1976). â€Å"The rotation of confusable letters in the writing of depressed children.† Child: Care, Health and Development. 2(6): 379-386. Reutzel, D. R. & R. B. Cooter. (2004). The essentials of teaching children to read: what every    teacher needs to know. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

A Study of Change Management in Coca Cola

A Study of Change Management in Coca Cola Introduction According to a Greek philosopher Heraclitus â€Å"there is nothing permanent than change†. He believed that change is the core of universe. This quote describes the importance of managing change in human as well as organizational life. A structured approach to transfer organization, its people and processes from current state to a desired future state is called change management. This process gives employees the ability to accept changes in the existing environment of the business. Change can be of different type for example, change in technology, operations or strategies etc. company needs to implement individual strategies to cope with each type of change. Organizations need to change and adopt dynamic survival strategies to stay alive in uncertain political, social and economic environment (Hiatt and Creasy, 2003). All environmental factors present in the nature experience change on continuous basis. Human nature resists change, so managing that resistance req uires well planned change management strategies. This report is aimed at describing the importance of change management for organization its motives and objectives, change management processes, how company can involve all the stakeholders for successful implantation of change management and the strategies that an organization can adopt to implement the successful change. Reasons for adopting change Organizations need change for the following reasons: To respond to the rapidly changing environment To improve the overall performance of the company To rapidly respond to the customers’ demands To improve the effectiveness and efficiency To increase the employee performance To create the best practices inside the organization and setting standards for the industry To improve profitability and return on overall investment Change management is needed for organizational survival. So the company should adopt to change management techniques in order to maintain its worth in the industr y. Importance of change management In a study 327 project managers had responded to the question that â€Å"if you had a chance to do it again, what would you do differently?† Most of them responded that we will implement an effective change management program planned way before starting the project. This study highlights the importance of change management in an organizational perspective. Change management moderates the risks that can cause failure (Jeff and Creasey, 2003). The change management process Change management is being studied by the philosophers, researchers and business experts for many years. A number of change management theories, approaches and philosophies are developed by psychologists and management professionals to implement successful change in the organization (Paton and MacCalman, 2008). There are three phases of change management i.e. preparing for change, managing change and reinforcing change. Preparation for change phase includes assessment of cha nge capabilities and capacity and developing a strategy that fit to those capabilities. Second phase i.e. â€Å"managing change† phase includes processes like planning and implementation of strategies made in the first phase. Last phase which is the reinforcement of change includes the processes like collection and analyzing of feedback data, finding out gaps and coping with determined degree of resistance from inside and outside the organization and taking corrective actions to successfully conclude the change management process (change management learning center, 1996-2011).

Is good communication in the workplace important Essay - 2

Is good communication in the workplace important - Essay Example In the current times of rapid globalization, development of pluralistic society and diverse workforce necessitate cross-cultural understanding. Effective communication helps to overcome the barrier of cultural differences and promotes mutual respect. Consequently, good communication within workforce significantly enhances work productivity. Promoting and creating effective channels of communication within workplace has emerged as critical issue mainly because it helps to disseminate important information across the workforce. Various channels and tools of communication serve as vital linkages for the management and workers to keep abreast of changes within and outside the organizations. Technology has significantly widened the scope of communication and provided people with wide array of communication tools like computer, internet, emails, mobiles, social networking sites etc. The organizational communication thrives on technology-based tools to communicate across workers. The management exploits these tools to inform its workforce about its vision, mission, plans and policies. This helps workers to align their personal and professional goals for achieving organizational goals with higher efficiency. Moreover, effective communication between management and workers empowers workforce with relevant information and equips them with informed choices to make effective decisions. Feedback on work and organizational policies is also important communication strategy within workplace. The feedback system is important way that management exploits in order to encourage workers’ participation in developing strategies and plans for more efficient delivery of organizational goals and objectives. It promotes collective goals and shared learning. The informal chats with employees help management to understand workers’ expectations, ideologies and cultural competencies that can be exploited judiciously for higher personal and

Brand Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Brand Management - Essay Example (Ehrenberg & Scriven, 1997) Brand users comment that the brand â€Å"tastes nice† than the non-users would say. But a popular brand has more users than a not-so popular brand. Therefore more people say that it â€Å"tastes nice† for popular brands than the not-so popular brands. The belief of â€Å"brands are brands† is supported by many ads, for example, ads create ‘attention, impact, memory traces for the brand’ but not because they are persuasive. Advertisements are used to remind people of the brand, or that such brands are still in existence or leading in the market, but ads are not used to persuade consumers to buy. Brand advertising is a creative way of informing the public but it is made not to persuade customers to buy or differentiate it from other brands. There have been only a few advertisers who do it as a way of persuasive inducements to buy the brand. When Coca-Cola advertises, it demonstrates how refreshing the soft drinks but not made to persuade to buy because it has always been a popular product bought for its refreshing taste. That is the way of publicising or informing its loyal customers. But the customers are knowledgeable people; they already know the taste of Coca-Cola and don’t need to be persuaded to buy because they already are loyal customers. An example of advertising as publicity is when a firm announces new innovations – a price cut or a new brand. But most of the time, advertisements are about issues which the ad elaborates and that the public already knows. Known brands such as Coca-Cola or Nike advertise some information to millions, even billions, of consumers around the world and yet the consumers already know what the advertisements mean. This form of advertisement is known as standard advertisement; meaning it is the same advertisement in any country. The belief that advertising is a form of persuasion is very common in the United States advertising

Letter to the Instructor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Letter to the Instructor - Essay Example Similarly, your classes provided me with opportune period to improve on my grammatical weaknesses such as punctuation and sentence structures. The awareness of my strengths and weakness as a writer have facilitated my personal development through optimization of my excellent skills and mitigation of my writing weaknesses. I was most driven and pleased by the narrative essay among the four forms of essay that we covered in the course work. The utmost level of creativity and anecdote pertaining to the narrative essay demanded prolific and versatile writing skills from the writers hence I found it more interesting to work on. On the other hand, summary and response essays did not elicit my creativity and hence were less pleasing to me. In addition, summary and response essays proved cumbersome as one had to critically understand the subject topic and related metadata such as the author’s name and the context of the narrative. Additionally, my examination of the four forms of essay that we covered, revealed varied level of difficulty for each. Personally, I classified the narrative essay as the most complex and challenging. The skill of conceptualization which is the foundation of every spectacular literary work was highly demanded in the development and completion of the narrative essay. Closely related to the narrative essay was the explanation of the concept a research paper which was basically the theoretical framework of a research paper. The theoretical framework is characterized by robust research concerning information from other sources, theories and concepts pertain to the subject topic, followed by elaborate synthesize and synergy of the varied information to develop a single holistic viewpoint. I found the difficulty level of the summary and response essay to be moderate. Unlike other forms of essays, I was readily provided with materials

Does God Exsist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Does God Exsist - Essay Example Aquinas' five reasons for the existence of God are: the principle of motion, efficient cause, possibility and necessity, gradation of things and finally the governance of the world. These principles are used to counter two earlier mentioned objections as to the existence of God. These objections question the probability of an all-good God allowing evil in the world and whether or not God is the true source of creation. The main argument for the existence of God is that the source of all in existence is best explained by an original source with no limits and that is God. This paper aims to examine both objections to and arguments for the existence of God by examining the five points presented by Aquinas and cross examining these points with Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych and Anselm's Proslogion. After examining both sides of the issue the paper will determine how Aquinas successfully argues the existence of God. The main argument that Aquinas presents is clear: God exists. Aquinas argues this by first, outlining two objections to the existence of God. These objections will be discussed in more detail later. He then, counters these objections by outlining five reasons for God's existence. The first reason Aquinas g... hot, to be actually hot, and thereby moves and changes it." The wood has a potential to become hot; however it needs fire in order for it to actually become hot. Aquinas argues that there must be a first mover and that first mover is best understood as God. The second reason is concerned with causality. Aquinas argues that nothing can exist by itself nor can it cause itself. Something else must cause it. The third reason argues that everything has a potential to exist only if something else will cause it to exist. These things are necessary, just as a male and female are necessary to produce offspring. However there must be an original cause of these necessities. This ties in with Anselms,' Proslogion in which he ponders God's existence by considering an understanding of God's existence. He argues that if God exists only in one's mind than something greater than God could be conceived, however it can't. Thus Anselm states, "Hence there is no doubt that there exists a being, than which nothing greater can be conceived, and it exists both in the understanding and reality". Something must be the greatest and thus the source of all that can be conceived and that something is God. The fourth argues that everything has a position on a scale f rom worst to best, slowest to fastest and other such extremes. Everything has a maximum or perfection to be reached and so there must be an original source of perfection and this source is God. The fifth reason is that everything in the world that is unintelligent, such as plants, landforms, the ocean and the like all work towards a particular purpose. The ocean provides a home for marine life and the source of rain; plants clear the air and provide food and shelter for animals. If each of these things serves a purpose, then something

Time Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Time Management - Essay Example Instead, it focuses on implementation of strategies that are involved in the process of time allocation. This paper explores issues regarding time management in nursing profession, through elaboration of strategies involved. Numerous empirical investigations have indicated that nurses should develop a habit of arriving early in their workplaces. Therefore, by arriving early, nurses get enough time to read reports, hand cover sheets, organizes their work and settle their minds (Woogara, 2012). Moreover, apart from arriving early, they can also develop a habit of making notes for their personal use. These notes are obtained from hand cover sheets and reports. In fact, they can also develop lists or grids containing patients’ names and related tasks. Besides, these notes incorporate a list of activities to be undertaken during the day, and objectives that should be achieved (Woogara, 2012). Nonetheless, nurses should estimate time required for completing each task, and this can p revent misallocation of time on some tasks, thereby neglecting others. Given that nursing is a highly challenging profession, there are chances of having numerous tasks, which cannot be completed within the working hours. Moreover, this leads to increases changes in prioritization of these tasks (Fedor, 2013). For instance, changes in prioritization of tasks occur in situations where patients need urgent attention. Nevertheless, it is wise to consider the pace of tasks in nursing practice, which can lead to burning out and stress. Therefore, time management techniques are designed in ways that facilitate achievement of objectives and preventing burning out or stress (Fedor, 2013). In this case, time management techniques are subdivided into seven strategies, which include: Planning Nursing profession has an aspect of unpredictability; thus, it calls for setting strategies and planning on ways to undertake various tasks (Tucker, 2013). The nurse is required to make necessary plans su ch as competing patients’ paperwork, establishing ways to deal with patients’ needs, making submissions of laboratory requests and attending staff meetings (Tucker, 2013). Task that are completed are noted in a â€Å"to-do-list,† thereby helping nurses to stay focused. In this case, nurses are able to ensure that time is not wasted. Nurses are urged to assess their lists in order to modify it through deletion or addition of items based on their importance and urgency (Tucker, 2013). Therefore, planning enables nurses to manage their time and reduce chances of forgetting important things. Prioritization Prioritization of tasks can facilitate management of time, thereby enabling nurses to attend to their tasks depending on level of urgency (Woogara, 2012). In this case, nurses should arrange tasks to be undertaken during the day based on their priorities in order to allow them identify tasks that can be postponed (Woogara, 2012). For instance, care of patients and their satisfaction should be highly prioritized by nurses. Therefore, they are supposed to complete tasks that are highly prioritized, thereby eliminating chances of forgetting or delaying tasks (Woogara, 2012). On the other hand, nurses are urged to revisit

Provide a critical review based on a Reading dealing with the Essay

Provide a critical review based on a Reading dealing with the agencystructure relationship by any one of these theorists Anthony Giddens, Bourdieu, P., or Habermas, J., - Essay Example According to Heiskala (1990), competing epistemological frameworks prevalent before Haberman, generally revolved around structural functionalism and action theory. [Through his work, Habermas] tried to fit together social structural functionalism (Parsons in particular) and action theory (Mead and phenomenology in particular) by creating the distinction between life system and the life world to correspond to them in social reality [and highlight] the distinction between the perspective of the external observer and the perspective of actor to correspond to their theoretical ways of study. 1 By integrating structure and action through communication and other factors in the public and private realm, the current paper will illustrate significant elements of Habermas's works in order to demonstrate its' profound impact on social theory that continues to this very day. We begin the critical review by summarizing elements found in the public sphere. Habermas makes the powerful linkage between action and structure explicit through his notion of "mutual infiltration of public and private spheres" (1989, pp. 141-151). Here, Habermas suggests that it is the bourgeois, rather then any other class, that influences structures composing state and society. Legal, political, social and other specialized elements of public life come to fore as they impact the constructions of society in powerful but distinct ways. The fundamental separation of state and society in the bourgeois world was the result of a variety of phenomena within society, including legal, political, and social aspects. The interaction of these brought about a fundamental separation within various spheres of life. Specifically, the lack of political dominance also transformed the economic phenomenon and manifestation of production. In the legal and economic field however, the public and the private realms gradually became equal, with the state no longer dominating many aspects of life and production. The public and the private could not, however, remain separated as a result of civil society, as conflicts of interest often made it necessary for formal regulatory interventions to take place. Habermas refers to this as neomercantilism, which means that the political public sphere integrated with the interests of civil society in terms of interventionism. It is therefore a type of post-separation reintegration of the private and the public, but without any particular dominance of one over the other. The economic world begins to merge with the political world, where the state and business shared political and economic power reciprocally. By necessity, these circumstances stimulated state intervention [public sector] in business activities [private sector], in order to assure that certain interests were not threate ned. The purpose of interventionism in this regard was to maintain equilibrium within the system, whereas in the past it had been to maintain the power of the political elite. Habermas argues that under new systemic institutional arrangements, more political and legal power is being reciprocally exchanged and reinforced among these public authorities than ever before. Another

Digestion and Food Essay Example for Free

Digestion and Food Essay Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble food molecules into smaller molecules so they can pass though the intestinal wall into the bloodstream and be transported throughout the body. There are seven different food groups in a balanced diet which should include Carbohydrate, fat, water, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Although most foods contain these in some shape or form the foods that contain most of one type fall into that category, a chicken fillet for example would fall under the protein category because it contains more protein per hundred grams than any other nutrient. This assignment will explain the systems and processes necessary for the digestion of a Beef sandwich and a chicken Tikka Masala with rice. In the digestion of a beef sandwich containing sliced Beef, bread, butter and a chicken Tikka Masala there are different stages of where food is broken down. Enzymes are added at different times to ensure the food is absorbed properly. Digestion technically starts in the brain. Even before food touches your lips the stomach is already preparing for the food about to be ingested. The ingestion process starts with taking food into the mouth (eating and drinking). The purpose of this is so the food can be cut into smaller pieces and saliva is added before it is swallowed. This is where the first enzymes start work. There are two enzymes found in the saliva of the mouth, salivary amylase and lingual lipase. Amylase breaks down dietary carbohydrates such as monosaccharides, disaccharide sugars and complex polysaccharides (starch). Monosaccharide’s can be easily absorbed into the bloodstream so the others need to be broken down into these before they can be absorbed (Derrickson, Tortora 2006 p906). The salivary amylase starts to break down the polysaccharide starch found in the bread of sandwich and the rice in the chicken Tikka meal while it is being chewed. Once the food has been swallowed it slides down the throat which extends into the esophagus. The smooth muscle, mucus and secretions in the esophagus enable the food to slide down easily into the stomach. At the end of the esophagus is the lower esophageal sphincter which connects to the stomach. The stomach is a j-shaped organ where food is mixed with gastric juices secreted by the lining. The gastric juices consist of water, enzymes and hydrochloric acid to kill any harmful bacteria (Parker 2007 p176). The main enzyme in the stomach is called pepsin which specialises in the break down of protein. Gastric pepsin breaks proteins into polypeptides, pancreatic trypsin, chymotrypsin and carboxypeptidase which change the polypeptides into peptides (Lippincott, Williams, Wilkins 2005 p224). The proteins in the beef part of the sandwich and chicken part of the Tikka Masala are broken down by theses enzymes in order to extract the essential amino acids found in the peptides so that they can be easily absorbed in the small intestine where the food moves to after the stomach has done its work. The intestinal mucosal peptidases in the small intestine break the peptides down into amino acids allowing this to happen. As the carbohydrate (rice and bread from the two meals) enters the stomach the salivary amylase is deactivated by the ph level. As the food then enters the duodenum which is the first part of the small intestine, another type of amylase is then added from the pancreas which changes the carbohydrates into simple sugars (Parker 2007). The simple sugars are maltose lactose and sucrose. As these are pasted further into the small intestine ‘the enzymes maltase, lactase and sucrase chop maltose, lactose and sucrose into smaller bits, more easily absorbed, which are eventually converted to glucose and absorbed through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream’ (Collins 2007). Once this has happened the glucose is transported to the liver where it can be where it can be stored or distributed to cells throughout the body (Collins 2007). Fats fall under three categories, saturated (mainly found in animal products); Unsaturated (fish, nuts) and Trans fats which are mainly found in vegetable oils and processed foods made from hydrogenated vegetable fats. Fats or lipids as there also known ‘are diverse compounds that are grouped together because they are insoluble in water, but soluble in nonpolar solvents’ (Bailey 2008). This means lipids take longer to digest than carbohydrates and proteins. The fat content of the two meals comes mainly from the butter of the beef sandwich and the cream of the Masala sauce. The Short chain triglycerides found in these are digested by gastric lipase in the stomach. The majority of fat digestion though is done in the small intestine where pancreatic lipase and bile salts are added. The bile salts emulsify fat into droplets which makes them water soluble allowing them to be absorbed more easily. The pancreatic lipase ‘breaks down fats and phospholipids into a mixture of glycerol, short and long-chain fatty acids, and monoglycerides’ (Lippincott, Williams, Wilkins 2005 p224). Small finger like projections on the small intestine called Villi give it a large surface area making it easy for the absorption allowing the fatty acids and monoglycerides to pass through into the blood stream. Nearly all vital nutrients from food are absorbed in the small intestine and the left over waste that passes into the large intestine afterwards is known as the chyme. The chyme descends through three main regions of the large intestine called the caecum, colon and rectum. During this journey sodium, chloride, and water are absorbed through the lining of the colon into the blood making less watery faeces to be excreted out of the anus.

Equity and Trusts Problem Questions

Equity and Trusts Problem Questions The first step we should attend to briefly is to define what a trust is. Simply put, a trust is a relationship under the law of equity[1] that arises when one person (the settlor) vests the legal title in another person (the trustee) for the benefit of a third-party called a beneficiary. The trustee holds the legal title and the beneficiary-(ies) possess the equitable title and as such the trustee owes them a duty to carry out the duties as defined by the settlor[2]. The most basic species of trust is an express private trust; this is a â€Å"trust which is declared intentionally by the settlor†[3]. There is no fixed mechanism or form of words for creating such a trust because â€Å"equity looks to intent rather than the form†[4]; see Paul-v-Constance[5]. Hudson (p.72) speaks of â€Å"exposing† a trust which demonstrates that it exists by law and is not created by the courts retrospectively. Express trusts can be established during the life of the settlor or as i n this case, via instructions placed in their will.[6] There are two basic sets of requirements for valid trusts; the first is that there needs to be three basic certainties as per Knight-v-Knight[7]; defined as certainty of intention, subject matter and object – if any one fails then there is no trust. The first of these requires that there was a certainty of intention by the purported settlor â€Å"that the person receiving the property is under a mandatory legal obligation to carry out the wishes of the settlor†[8]. Secondly and only logically, it must be certain what the subject of the trust is i.e. the property. Finally, there must be certainty of object i.e. there needs to be someone with equitable ownership to enforce the trust, see Re Endacott[9]. The second basic requirement is that the trust must be constituted i.e. the legal title must pass to the trustee(s). This should not be an issue here because as executors Edward and Sandra would have already acquired legal title of all Alice’s estate[10]. DISPOSITION A Alice’s disposition is potentially void as a trust due, firstly to uncertainty of intention; the disposition does not suggest Alice intends to impose a legal obligation on Edward to carry out her wishes. Rather it potentially suggests she was imposing on him a â€Å"power†. In essence, trusts impose an obligation to act and powers authorise people to carry out certain tasks with a lower level of compulsion.[11] The task we have is to decide what Alice intended and according to Dixton (p.67) â€Å"it is very easy to confuse trusts and powers, especially since most power are given to people who are otherwise trustees†. Edwards (p.80) advises that to differentiate between them is â€Å"a matter of construction for the courts, based on identifying the intention from†¦the language and the document as a whole† He further suggests that a significant indicator would be â€Å"existence of a gift in default of appointment† and wide discretion. Applying t his to our facts, we see that Alice grants him à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤10,000 to buy a small memento for â€Å"such of my relatives as have not received anything under the other provisions† and after doing this â€Å"to keep what is left†. It is submitted that this does not meet the necessary level of certainty, especially as Edward keeps what is left over, it is merely a power; a power of appointment[12], outside of a trust instrument[13].To impose a trust situation in this case would be to ignore the warning in Re Hamilton to â€Å"take the will you have to construe and see what it means, and if you come to the conclusion that no trust was intended then say so†. The next issue is what kind of powers these are and what level of compulsion exists on Edward to carry out the tasks. This could be a personal power[14] or a fiduciary power and this will turn on whether he was given the power in his capacity as a son or executor. Wilkie (p.52) says if it is a personal power he could distribute â€Å"spitefully, or capriciously, or even go to sleep and forget about exercising the power at all†. You could argue that Alice gave the power to her son in his capacity as a son; and so considering the remainder goes to him then it is all but an absolute gift. He could just buy a few relatives key-rings as mementoes and be done with it. The beneficiaries would have no equitable interest in any property as its quantum is unknowable. The second view you could argue is that he has to exercise the power in his capacity as executor and so he has a higher level of onus upon him. It is submitted that as such, this power of appointment would be what is known as a hybrid or intermediate power[15] in that he is authorised to distribute it to a certain category of objects, relatives, excluding those who have already benefited. The level of compulsion or onus is debatable. In Re Hay’s Settlements[16], it was held that he just cannot ignore this power to appoint randomly, he must make efforts to complete it. And in McPhail-v-Doulton[17] the leading case in this area it was said he â₠¬Å"must act in a responsible manner according to its purpose† and â€Å"make survey of the range of objects† that† will enable him to carry out his fiduciary duties.† Wilkie (p.52) says that there is much lessor onus is on a donee[18] of a power to locate those who may be objects. However, other commentators, see Penner (58+) say the onus depends on the type of power as well as who has been granted it. However, even with ‘powers’, the subjects and objects need to be ascertained and Alice has simply defined â€Å"small memento of me† and â€Å"relatives† minus those who benefited from the will; these are problematic. Firstly, the subject matter is conceptually uncertain[19]; as per Palmer-v-Simmonds[20] and so potentially void; what is ‘small’ and what is a ‘memento’[21]. Secondly, â€Å"relatives† could be taken to be anyone with a common ancestor and as you work back far enough this could include almost anyone. However, in Re Baden’s Deed Trusts (No.2)[22], relatives was equated to next-of-kin and held to be conceptually certain; a strange decision considering how rigid the court has been on conceptual uncertainty. Furthermore in McPhail, the test to ascertain objects for a power was decided as the ‘is or is not’ test described by Wilberforce as, â€Å"can it be said with certainty that any given indi vidual is or is not a member of the class?† Thus it appears possible that we could, if necessary, reach a legal definition of the objects although the problem is the subject of the power. The advice to Edward is pretty clear; as a trust this fails and so based on Curtis v Rippon[23], he could take the entire amount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤20,000 seeing that the amounts to be given to relatives are uncertain and so the absolute gift to him takes effect over the failed trust. However, if viewed as a power, he may be under compulsion to distribute some of the à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤20,000 buying small mementos for relatives once he complies with the above; although, in practice few would be willing, or able, to compel him to execute this power. DISPOSITION B Does the phrase â€Å"fullest trust and confidence† indicates certainty of intention to create a trust? In Re-Adams-and-Kensington-Vestry[24] a husband gave property to his wife in â€Å"in full confidence that she will do what is right†, yet this was held to only impose a moral obligation upon her. However, in Comiskey-v-Bowring-Hanbury[25] the phrase â€Å"in full confidence† was held to impose a trust. The similarity in these cases is superficial and it is apparent that each was judged on its individual merits and potential settlor’s intentions. Hence, the mechanical application of phrase simply turns the law on its head. It is much more insightful to follow Re Hamilton comments listed above in part A and use common sense. Applying this, it is submitted there is potentially a certainty of intention, but we also need to examine the other certainties. On ‘certainty of subject’; it is trite law that, as per Re-London-Wine-Co[26] that trust property must be ascertainable. In that case un-segregated wine voided certainty. This was supported in Re-Goldcorp-Exchange-Ltd[27] . Mustill[28] said â€Å"rights in property, whether equitable, cannot exist in the air†¦ it can only exist in relation to property which is specifically ascertained†, i.e. physical segregation is necessary[29]. However we are not dealing with a situation exactly similar to Re-London-Wine. Under a will, the executor takes full title to the property on the death and according to Martin(p.60) the â€Å"equitable ownership is in suspense† – the trust has not yet been constituted whereas it allegedly had in London-Wine. All the executors need to do is to walk down to the cellar and physically segregate fifty bottles of wine and identify them as trust property and transfer legal title from Edward/Sandra, as executors, to Edward pers onally. It is obvious Alison knew what was in her wine cellar so the property she is referring to really was not a specific 50 bottles of wine, but 50 of the 80 wine bottles I know I have in my cellar. How else could she describe them if they were homogeneous, was an 80 year old woman close to death meant to go down to her cellar and move bottles around? However, it is the â€Å"old friends†, the potential objects of this trust, which poses more serious problems. The phrase â€Å"my old friends† is conceptually uncertain[30]; both words are subjective; what is a ‘friend’ and what is ‘old’? With the knowledge that this would be a fixed trust if the three certainties were present; i.e. each beneficiary entitled to an â€Å"equal† share then IRC-v-Broadway-Cottages-Trust[31] states that all the beneficiaries must be able to be listed and there is no room for any conceptual uncertainty. The disposition states that Edward should cure any uncertainty and his word is â€Å"final†. However, this is not likely to be accepted by the courts. In Re-Tuck’s-Settlement-Trusts the court allowed a Rabbi, as per the trust document, to cure an issue of uncertainty i.e. whether someone was of â€Å"Jewish blood†[32]. However, the Rabbi was acting in his capacity as expert on the Jewish faith and evidencing the meaning of the words not defining them. You could make a good argument that Edward could define his mother’s old friends just like the Rabbi defined Jewish blood, but it would go against current legal and academic opinion so as a trust it would likely fail. However, the advice in this case might be that this could be treated like above, as a power. This is because, as a power Edward could use the â€Å"is or is not test† rather than the â€Å"complete list† test and so circumvent this issue and give Edward much more leeway to carry out his mother’s intentions. Remember the preference of the courts will be to see Alice’s wishes carried out rather than not. DISPOSITION C There is clearly an intention to create a trust with the subject matter of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤20,000, because it is stated. It is further obvious that it is a discretionary trust[33]; this is a type of express trust where the trustee has what is called ‘dispositive discretion ’ i.e. an ability to decide the quantum of trust property, if any, goes to each beneficiary[34]. It is important to note the difference between this and a fixed trust; in a fixed trust the beneficiaries have a severable equitable claim on the property because they can usually calculate what they are entitled to. In a discretionary trust the trustees can exercise discretion; and in this case the basis of this discretion is those â€Å"they find most deserving.† The real issue is who exactly are the objects of the trust; that are subject to this discretion?[35] We are given no names but rather a class description â€Å"such of the first 300 people to have crossed the Victoria Bridge on the 24th of October 2008†. Such descriptors in theory pose no problems. However, if we assume that this date has passed[36], then we are presented with a difficult evidential problem. It is important to point out that the names of the 300 people who were first over Victoria Bridge is a fact; they are an absolute certainty; it is just the trustees don’t know who they are yet. Hence, it is not an issue of ‘conceptual certainty’ as to the class descriptor; it is not like â€Å"old friends†. The issue is one of evidential uncertainty in that the trustees do not have enough evidence to write down a complete list. The courts have grappled with this problem but it is now clear from McPhail-v-Doulton that previous requirements for a c omplete list, like for fixed trusts, are no longer valid. The test now is the â€Å"is or is not† test as outlined above. Hence, the trustees do not need to know the 300 people who crossed the bridge, they only need to meet the test set by Wilberforce in McPhail; â€Å"can it be said with certainty that any given individual is or is not a member of that class†. The issue now is could anyone do this with sufficient certainty. It would not be enough to show you crossed the bridge on the day but that you were one of the first three hundred to do so[37]. This turns on facts we don’t have; considering the coverage of police cameras in London it is likely there is one focused on Victoria Bridge so this might help candidates prove their claim. To conclude this section, the advice is whoever can prove with sufficient certainty that they fall within the class, and then they will become beneficiaries of the trust. However, if no one can prove then the trust will fail for lack of certainty of objects and the à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤20,000 result back to Alice’s estate. There are a number of other issues which should be covered briefly for Edward and Sandra. Assuming the three certainties are present, then the trust is properly constituted (as the potential trustees they are also executors and have legal title). To be a trustee you need to have reached the age of 18; we are not told Sandra’s age but presumably she complies with this. The trust is defined to be for 21 years i.e. 21 years after Alice’s death and this is permissible under Section 13 of the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964. However, it is worth pointing out to Edward and Sandra that the trust is unlikely to last as long as 21 years. Although the beneficiaries would have no rights severally because as Penner (p.85) describes them they are â€Å"mere postulants, seeking the trustees’ largesse†; they could have rights jointly because it is an exhaustive trust[38] i.e. Alice appears to have instructed them to spend all the 20K and there are no devices to return unspent money to the estate. As such the beneficiaries may have rights jointly to petition the court to simply give them the trust property, see Martin (p.211) which presumably they would have agreed to divide equally[39]. References – Bibliography Burn, E, Trusts Trustees Cases Materials 6th Edition, Oxford University Press. Dixon, M, 2005, Equity and Trusts Q A, Cavendish Publishing. Edwards, K, 2000, Essential Equity and Trusts, Routledge. Duddington, J, 2007, Equity and Trusts Law Express, Pearson. Hudson, A, 2005, Equity Trusts, Routledge Cavendish. Mohamed, R, 2004, Cases Materials on Trusts, Routledge Cavendish. Martin, J, 2005,Hanbury Martin, Modern Equity 17th Edition, Sweet Maxwell. Penner, J, 2005, The Law of Trusts Core Text 4th Edition, OUP. Wilkie, M, 2008, Equity and Trusts Blackstones Q A 2008/2009, OUP. 1 Footnotes [1] Space precludes a discussion on the fundamentals of equitable law see Duddington(p.2+). [2] A trust is an onerous obligation and should not, and will not, be imposed casually by the courts if any doubt exists; especially as the courts may ultimately be called to adjudicate upon its operation [3] Hudson(p.38) [4] Re Williams 1897 [5] On the other hand you can use the word â€Å"trust†, as per Tito v Waddell (no2) and this might not create one. [6] They are often known as ‘testamentary trusts’; but not substantially different to inter vivos trusts. [7] 1840 [8] Dixon(p.61) [9] 1960 [10] We are told the will is valid and that is all we need to concern ourselves about with that matter. [11] Martin(p.171) [12] appointment in this sense means the power to give or to appoint the property to someone. [13] Powers can operate „insideâ€Å"or „outsideâ€Å", those outside are known as bare powers i.e. less encumbered by the obligatory nature of the trustees duty. [14] Beware of terminological problems with these phrases, see Wilkie(p.51) [15] See Mohamed(p.118) [16] 1982 [17] 1982 see Burn(p.84) for a discussion of the case and test. [18] The person who is authorised to exercise a power. [19] see Disposition B and C for more details and Duddington(P.15,16) [20] 1854 [21] see below for more detail [22] 1973 [23] 1820 [24] 1884 [25] 1905 [26] 1986 PCC 121 [27] 1985 [28] Quoted in Penner(p.205) [29] It is worth noting the ruling in Hunter v Moss which appears to run contrary to this albeit with intangibles. [30] Penner(p.197+) In Re Gibbard’s Will Trusts 1967 and RE Barlow’s Will Trusts 1979 â€Å"friends† was held certain but the former has been overruled and the latter referred to different legal circumstances. [31] 1955 [32] see Duddington(p.20) [33] see Dixon(p.65+) [34] See Martin(p.104+), see also Edwards(p.77) for concise analysis. [35] I am interpreting the will as meaning there is a potential class size of 300 and over these discretion is exercised. [36] It is not 100% clear from the rubric that his date has passed, although the use of â€Å"to have crossed† clearly infers it. [37] A suggestion of administrative un-workability might arise here [38] It is interesting to note that discretionary trusts presents theoretical problems in that you can ask the question ‚who holds the equitable rights to the property?’ without beneficiaries who enforce the terms of the trust; there is an obvious risk that trustees can become slack in their duties. See Penner(p84+) [39] Space precludes a detailed analysis of these issues

Through A Narrow Chink: An Ethical Dilemma :: essays research papers

Through A Narrow Chink: An Ethical Dilemma In 1951 Carl Djerassi, with the Mexican pharmaceutical company Syntex, developed the first oral contraceptive by synthesizing and altering the natural hormone Progesterone into a superpotent, highly effective oral progestational hormone called "norethindrone". Admittedly, the dynamics and importance of this find were astounding, since before this the only means of contraception was abortion, and even that was not legalized at the time. The race to produce this synthetic agent was highly competitive, being sought after by many pharmaceuticals throughout the world, and for a small fledgling company in Mexico of all places to find it first only added to the excitement of the achievement. Yet aside from all this excitement and competitive fervor something great and disturbing was being bypassed. Science, in my view had done something great without looking into the possibilities of where this would lead. I believe Djerassi, similar to most scientists of his day, was so entranced by the excitement of synthesizing his product and achieving his goal that he did not stop to think of the ramifications of his accomplishment. The ethical dilemma was not explored before hand, and this to me is the great tragedy of most scientific discovery, since I firmly believe each scientist is responsible for that which he creates. Djerassi does confront a few questions of ethics and morality after the fact. On page 61, in chapter 6, he reflects on the argument of the use of poor Mexican and Puertorrican women for preliminary experiments. Is this just another manifestation of exploitation of the poor? Djerassi says absolutely not. Yes, the poor our the initial guinea pigs for research but this is no different from what dentists, barbers, and young surgeons do. All of these groups use the poor to hone their skills, not because of the poor women's ignorance but because middle class, suburbanite, white women are unlikely to volunteer their services for the sake of science. My main problem with this is that he claims they will not "volunteer" their services. Of course not, they are aware of the possible detrimental effects of such experimentation. This is obviously because they are probably more highly educated the poor Hispanic women. Poverty often precludes a lack of good schooling and education. Thus the awareness of such a group to scientific studies will most likely be much lower. They probably knew nothing of scientific research at all, let alone how to read a consent form that leaves them without legal recourse. Djerassi mentions this as well, the idea that he can not offer them consent forms because they can't read. That seems preposterous to me! If he can not inform his patients of the possible side effects then what

The Seriousness of in Shakespeares Comedy of Errors Essay -- Shakespe

The Seriousness of The Comedy of Errors      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Comedy of Errors has often been dismissed as a mere farce, unworthy of any serious attention. Yet, when the author is Shakespeare, even a "farce" is well worth a second look. Shakespeare himself may have takent his comedic work quite seriously, for audiences expected comedy of his day not only to entertain, but also to morally instruct. It is not surprising, therefore, that for one of his earliest comedies, Shakespeare found a model in the plays of Plautus and Terence, which were studied in all Elizabethan Grammar Schools, praised by schoolmasters, and critically respectable. (Muir 3)    The Menaechmi was the first Plautus play to appear in translation, and was a popular school text (Muir 16). Amphitruo, the second Plautus play informing The Comedy of Errors, was available in English translation by 1562-63, and was similarly taught (Miola 22). Plautus and Terence texts served the schools not as entertainment, but as teaching tools for literature and both oral Latin and vernacular languages. Schoolmasters even used prepared study guides to the plays in their instruction:    The academic approbation of Roman comedy in the Renaissance was largely a linguistic, rhetorical, and didactic enterprize: commentators provided lexical and metrical information, expository paraphrase, grammatical analysis, explanatory notes, classical cross references, and the identification of rhetorical figures. (Miola 4) Richard Bernard, for example, translator of the first complete bilingual edition of Terence, organized from the text a helpful list of Formulae loquendi (phrases useful for Latin conversation) and Sententiae (wise sayings) to accompany each scene (Muir 4). If no w... ...owever, indicates that Shakespeare meant The Comedy of Errors to provide more than just a good laugh.       Works Cited and Consulted    * Brockett, Oscar G. History of the Theatre. Fifth ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1987. * Epstein, Norris. The Friendly Shakespeare. New York: Viking, 1993. * Miola, Robert S. Shakespeare and Classical Comedy: The Influence of Plautus and Terence. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. * Muir, Kenneth. Shakespeare's Comic Sequence. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1979. * Riehle, Wolfgang. Shakespeare, Plautus, and the Humanist Tradition. Cambridge: Brewer, 1990. * Shaheen, Naseeb. Biblical References in Shakespeare's Comedies. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1993. * Shakespeare, William. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans, et al. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974.  Ã‚   The Seriousness of in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors Essay -- Shakespe The Seriousness of The Comedy of Errors      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Comedy of Errors has often been dismissed as a mere farce, unworthy of any serious attention. Yet, when the author is Shakespeare, even a "farce" is well worth a second look. Shakespeare himself may have takent his comedic work quite seriously, for audiences expected comedy of his day not only to entertain, but also to morally instruct. It is not surprising, therefore, that for one of his earliest comedies, Shakespeare found a model in the plays of Plautus and Terence, which were studied in all Elizabethan Grammar Schools, praised by schoolmasters, and critically respectable. (Muir 3)    The Menaechmi was the first Plautus play to appear in translation, and was a popular school text (Muir 16). Amphitruo, the second Plautus play informing The Comedy of Errors, was available in English translation by 1562-63, and was similarly taught (Miola 22). Plautus and Terence texts served the schools not as entertainment, but as teaching tools for literature and both oral Latin and vernacular languages. Schoolmasters even used prepared study guides to the plays in their instruction:    The academic approbation of Roman comedy in the Renaissance was largely a linguistic, rhetorical, and didactic enterprize: commentators provided lexical and metrical information, expository paraphrase, grammatical analysis, explanatory notes, classical cross references, and the identification of rhetorical figures. (Miola 4) Richard Bernard, for example, translator of the first complete bilingual edition of Terence, organized from the text a helpful list of Formulae loquendi (phrases useful for Latin conversation) and Sententiae (wise sayings) to accompany each scene (Muir 4). If no w... ...owever, indicates that Shakespeare meant The Comedy of Errors to provide more than just a good laugh.       Works Cited and Consulted    * Brockett, Oscar G. History of the Theatre. Fifth ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1987. * Epstein, Norris. The Friendly Shakespeare. New York: Viking, 1993. * Miola, Robert S. Shakespeare and Classical Comedy: The Influence of Plautus and Terence. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. * Muir, Kenneth. Shakespeare's Comic Sequence. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1979. * Riehle, Wolfgang. Shakespeare, Plautus, and the Humanist Tradition. Cambridge: Brewer, 1990. * Shaheen, Naseeb. Biblical References in Shakespeare's Comedies. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1993. * Shakespeare, William. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans, et al. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974.  Ã‚  

Hamlet: Tragedy of Failure :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet: Tragedy of Failure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's, Hamlet is a tragedy of failure, the failure of a man placed in circumstances and faced to deal with them successfully. Shakespeare uses different techniques to develop the characters in Hamlet. Throughout the play dramatic irony is used by allowing the audience to view the true actions of the characters before the characters disclose them. Shakespeare toys with the idea of appearances versus reality in the play, among these are Claudius, the play within the play, and Rosencrantz and Guildernstern.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet's father, the king of Denmark, has suddenly died. Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, hastily marries Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and more importantly they become the new king and queen. King Claudius is viewed as legitimately gaining control of the throne by everyone except Hamlet. Hamlet knows that there is "something rotten in the state of Denmark." His belief is verified when the guards inform him of a ghostly figure with close resemblance to the late king. The ghost reveals to Hamlet that while in the garden, Claudius poured poison in his ear. Claudius prays to be forgiven but his prayers are not sincere. Claudius, overcome with guilt, would prefer to keep his status then reveal what he did to King Hamlet.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The play within the play is useful because it allows Hamlet to verify the validity of the ghost. Usually plays are intended for entertainment purposes. The play is not real and the actors are playing a role.   In reality Hamlet makes it so that it is similar to what really happened to his father. Hamlet even goes as far as to instruct the actors appropriately.   He will prove that the ghost is truthful by the reaction on Claudius' face. The play appears to be harmless but it has a close parallel to what really happened to the late King Hamlet.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rosencrantz and Guildernstern, who are the king's spies, pretend to be friends to Hamlet. The king has sent for them to investigate Hamlet's madness and what he suspects about his father's death. This is a contradiction because later Claudius says that Hamlet's troubles are unknown. Hamlet not being the fool also pretends to be friends to Rosencrantz and Guildernstern. He reveals to them that he is aware of their intentions when he says "were you not sent for." Claudius, fearing Hamlet knows too much sends him with Rosencrantz and Guildernstern to England to Hamlet: Tragedy of Failure :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays Hamlet: Tragedy of Failure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's, Hamlet is a tragedy of failure, the failure of a man placed in circumstances and faced to deal with them successfully. Shakespeare uses different techniques to develop the characters in Hamlet. Throughout the play dramatic irony is used by allowing the audience to view the true actions of the characters before the characters disclose them. Shakespeare toys with the idea of appearances versus reality in the play, among these are Claudius, the play within the play, and Rosencrantz and Guildernstern.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet's father, the king of Denmark, has suddenly died. Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, hastily marries Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and more importantly they become the new king and queen. King Claudius is viewed as legitimately gaining control of the throne by everyone except Hamlet. Hamlet knows that there is "something rotten in the state of Denmark." His belief is verified when the guards inform him of a ghostly figure with close resemblance to the late king. The ghost reveals to Hamlet that while in the garden, Claudius poured poison in his ear. Claudius prays to be forgiven but his prayers are not sincere. Claudius, overcome with guilt, would prefer to keep his status then reveal what he did to King Hamlet.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The play within the play is useful because it allows Hamlet to verify the validity of the ghost. Usually plays are intended for entertainment purposes. The play is not real and the actors are playing a role.   In reality Hamlet makes it so that it is similar to what really happened to his father. Hamlet even goes as far as to instruct the actors appropriately.   He will prove that the ghost is truthful by the reaction on Claudius' face. The play appears to be harmless but it has a close parallel to what really happened to the late King Hamlet.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rosencrantz and Guildernstern, who are the king's spies, pretend to be friends to Hamlet. The king has sent for them to investigate Hamlet's madness and what he suspects about his father's death. This is a contradiction because later Claudius says that Hamlet's troubles are unknown. Hamlet not being the fool also pretends to be friends to Rosencrantz and Guildernstern. He reveals to them that he is aware of their intentions when he says "were you not sent for." Claudius, fearing Hamlet knows too much sends him with Rosencrantz and Guildernstern to England to

Study on Mutual Funds

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The main objective of the present study to understand how mutual funds function in India. Specifically the study seeks to answer the following question: 1. What is the present status of mutual funds industry in India? How does it compare with mutual funds in foreign countries? 2. How mutual funds operate to create value for their investors? 3. What consideration an investors should keep in mind while making investment in mutual funds? 4. What is the regulatory frame work for mutual funds in India? 5. What are the problems faced by mutual funds industry in India & what are its future prospects? RESEARCH DESIGN & METHADOLOGY The Present study has been completed on the basis of secondary data colleted from internet and from various books, publicity materials and brochures issued by various mutual funds co. Reference has also been made to the regulations issued by securities and exchange board of India in regard to mutual funds. The data and the resource material so collected have been analysed within the frame work of 5 sections each focusing on a particular questions the study seeks to answer. PLAN OF THE STUDY The Study has been completed within the frame work of five sections. The Section wise plan is as follows:- I. PRESENT STATUS OF MUTUAL FUND INDUSTRY II. OPERATION OF MUTUAL FUNDS III. INVESTMENT CRITERIA IV. REGULATORY FRAME WORK OF MUTUAL FUNDS V. PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTUS I PRESENT STATUS OF MUTUAL FUNDS IN INDIAN CAPITAL MARKET Retail investors usually want to participate in the capital market, but due to paucity of funds, lack of expertise knowledge and limited risk-bearing capital, they have limited access to capital market. Mutual funds provide a mechanism that helps the retail investors enter the capital market. the mutual funds manage their funds for maximum gain with minimum risk and in the most professional way and work as agent for growth and stability of capital market. Till 1964, there were no mutual funds in India. In 1963, UTI Act, 1963 was enacted for the establishment of first mutual fund. The UTI launched its first scheme, US-64; in1964 which later became the most popular unit scheme in India. In1987, the RBI issued guidelines for bank-sponsored mutual funds. The evolution of mutual funds in India is consisting of different phases as follows: PHASE I: History of mutual funds started in India in 1964 when the first mutual fund in the name of Unit Trust of India was established in July 1964. UTI launched its first scheme US-64 which eventually became the most popular scheme and could accumulate the largest corpus. After 1964, it started several other schemes also. Till 1987, UTI remained the synonym for mutual fund in India. It was a sole player and gathered shape of monolithic mutual fund with millions of investors in several schemes. PHASE II: In 1987, the Government allowed the public sector banks to establish mutual funds. SBI Mutual Fund in 1987. Other mutual funds to follow suit were Canbank Mutual Fund (1987), PNB Mutual Fund (1989), IndBank Mutual Fund (1989), LIC Mutual Fund (1989), GIC Mutual Fund (1990), etc. The position continued till 1992 and other mutual funds were also established. PHASE III: There was a historical change in 1993 when the government allowed private sector mutual funds also. The first mutual fund in the private sector was Kothari Pioneer. Thereafter, in 1994, the foreign mutual funds were also allowed to operate schemes in India, and Morgan Stanley was the first foreign mutual fund in India whose initial issue of units was overwhelmingly subscribed by the investors. In 1992, SEBI was established and it issued guidelines for the working and supervision of mutual funds. PHASE IV: In 1966 a need was felt for the modification of SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations. On the basis of ‘Mutual Funds-2000’ Report, SEBI framed new Regulations in 1996. There have been several amalgamations of mutual funds. After 1996, a number of foreign mutual funds as well as Indian mutual funds have been established. At the end of march 2004, there were 33 mutual funds and Assets Under Management of Rs 1,39,616 crores. After 1996, mutual funds have become very popular among retail investors. The increase in number of mutual funds and their schemes speak of the underlying strength of the investors’ confidence in them. As in April, 2005, there were 28 mutual funds operating in India. Some of the mutual funds operating in India at present are as follows (in alphabetical order): ABN AmroDSP Merril LynchJM Sahara Bank of Beroda Escorts Kotak Mahindra SBI Benchmark Fidelity LIC Standard Chartered Birls Sunlife Franklin Tempelton Morgan Sundarum Canbank HDFC Principal Tata Cholamandalam HSBC Prudential Tauras Deutsche ING Vysya Reliance UTI A large number of mutual funds have intensified competition and led go to product innovation. Each of these mutual funds has a number of schemes operating with different features and characteristics. There are more than 500 schemes in operation at present. II OPERATION OF MUTUAL FUNDS A mutual fund is a financial intermediary which acts as an instrument of investment. It collects funds from different investors to a common pool of investible funds and then invests these funds in a wide variety of investment opportunities. Small investors who are unable to participate in capital market, can access the stock market through the medium of mutual funds which can manage their funds for maximizing return. The investment may be diversified to spread risk and to ensure a good return (dividend or capital gain or both) to the investors. The mutual funds employ professional experts and investment consultants to conduct investment analysis and then select the portfolio of securities where the funds are to be invested. Thus, a mutual fund is a pool of funds contributed by individual investors having common investment preferences. FEATURES AND CHRACTERISTICS OF MUTUAL FUNDS A mutual fund is a financial intermediary and works as an investment company. It has distinct features and characteristics which differentiate it from other financial intermediaries. Some of the features of mutual funds are: (i) Mutual fund is a pool of financial resources. Investors bring their individual funds together. Sometimes, the funds which otherwise may not come for investment in the capital market, are invested through mutual funds. (ii)Mutual funds are professionally managed. The resources collected by mutual funds are managed by professionals and experts in investment. These professionals can undertake specialized investment analysis such as fundamental analysis, technical analysis, etc. , which are not otherwise expected on the part of individual investors. (iii)Mutual fund is an indirect investing. The individual investors invest in the mutual funds which in turn invest in the shares, debentures and other securities in the capital market. The proportionate funds given by an investor are represented by the units of mutual fund. Investors own these units. The shares, debentures are owned by the mutual fund. Investors have no direct claim on these securities. In case of closure or liquidation of the proceeds of these securities are proportionally distributed among the unitholders. (iv)Investment in mutual fund in not borrowing-lending relationship. Investors do not lend money to the mutual fund. Consequently, the investors have to share the gains or losses of operations of the mutual fund. (v)Mutual fund is a representative of investors. The mutual funds collect the funds from investors under a particular investment scheme. as a representative, the mutual fund has to invest these funds as per the designated scheme only. MECHANISM OF MUTUAL FUND OPERATIONS A mutual fund represents pooled savings/funds of individual investors. Professional managers of the mutual fund invest these funds in different types of securities. They have to take different decisions from time to time. The revenue returns may be distributed by the mutual funds to the unitholders. Capital appreciation in the mutual funds also belong to the investors. MUTUAL FUND SCHEMES One of the main objectives of mutual funds is to provide better returns to investors at minimum risk. Mutual funds issue units to the investors in proportion to the funds contributed by the investors. The income of the funds are shared by the investors in the proportion to the number of units held. These mutual funds offer different types of schemes from time to time to attract investors and to take care of their needs, on the basis of nature of investment, type of operations and type of income distribution. Mutual funds may launch different schemes to offer one or more of the following: (a)Regular and steady flow of income, (b)High capital appreciation, c)Capital appreciation and regular return,and (d)Return with tax benefits. There are different ways in which various mutual fund schemes can be classified. Following shows the classification of mutual fund schemes with reference to schemes being offered in India: 1. On the basis of Life Span. (a) Close-ended Schemes (b) Open-ended Schemes 2. On the basis of Income Mode (a) Income schemes (b) Growth schemes 3. On the basis of Portfoli o (a) Equity schemes (b) Debt schemes (c) Balanced schemes 4. On the basis of Maturity of Securities (a)Capital Market Schemes (b)Money market Schemes 5. On the basis of Sectors Different Sectoral Schemes 6. On the basis of Load (a) Load Schemes (b)No Load Schemes 7. Special Schemes: (a) Index Schemes (b)Offshore Schemes (c) Gilt Securities Schemes (d) Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) (e) Fund of Funds. Some of these schemes have been explained below: OPEN-ENDED AND CLOSE-ENDED MUTUAL FUNDS SCHEMES As per SEBI Regulations, 1996, open-ended scheme means a scheme of mutual fund which offers units for sale without specifying any duration for redemption. On the other hand, close-ended scheme is one in which the period of redemption is specified. The open-ended mutual fund scheme sells and repurchases the units of mutual fund on a continuous basis. Any investor can become a member (by purchasing units) or can exit (by selling these units back to the mutual fund). These sales and repurchases of units take place at a price called Net Assets Value (NAV) which is calculated periodically on the basis of the market value of the portfolio of the mutual fund. The sale and repurchase prices are announced by the mutual fund on a periodic basis. The Unit Scheme-1964 (US-64) was an open-ended mutual fund scheme. The essential feature of open-ended scheme is the liquidity. On the other hand, close-ended mutual fund scheme is only one in which the limited number of units are sold to investors during a specified period only. Thereafter, any transaction in these units can take place only in secondary market, ie, the stock exchanges. So, after the initial public offering, the mutual fund goes out of the picture and subsequent sale and purchase take place among the investors. The market price of the units of a closed-ended mutual fund scheme is determined by the market forces of demand and supply. The liquidity to investors provided by the market. However, all the closed-ended mutual fund schemes are redeemable at the end of a specified period when all the investment of the scheme are sold and the proceeds are distributed among the unit holders on a proportionate basis. There are several close-ended schemes such as Master Share Scheme of the UTI. INCOME FUND AND GROWTH FUND The mutual funds are called income funds when they promise a regular and/or guaranteed return in the form of dividends to the investors. For example, UTI launched several Monthly Income Schemes. The portfolio of these schemes is usually consisting of fixed income investments such as bonds, debentures, etc. The income schemes are also known as dividend schemes. These schemes are ideal for investors who need or seek intermediate cash flows in the form of dividend payment. A growth fund scheme is one which offers capital appreciation as well as a variable dividend opportunity to the investors. The investors may get dividend income from the mutual fund on a regular basis and the capital appreciation is available in the form of increase in market price. Growth schemes are good and suitable for investors having long-term investment perspective. In addition, there may also be income-cum-growth (hybrid funds) where the investor may be offered fixed incomes as well as growth opportunities. An example of a growth fund is UTI Growth and Value Fund which is an open-ended equity oriented scheme. The objective is to seek capital appreciation by making investments primarily in listed securities of Indian companies. A variant of income fund is known as Dividend Yield Fund. These invest funds in shares of those companies that pay high dividends. In addition, any appreciation of share price adds or subtracts investors return. DOMESTIC FUNDS AND OFF-SHORE FUNDS The domestic funds schemes are those which are open for subscription by the investors of the country of origin only. Most of the mutual funds launched in India are domestic mutual funds. The off-shore mutual funds bring funds (in the form of foreign exchange) to the capital market. At present, several off-shore mutual fund schemes have been floated in India. Ind Bank Off-Shore Mutual Fund, 1993 and Common Wealth Equity Mutual Fund, 1993 are examples of off-shore mutual fund schemes. TAX-SAVING SCHEMES These mutual fund schemes are designed to avail tax exemptions and concessions to the investors. These schemes help individual investors in their tax planning. CANPEP MEP 1994, PNB-ELSS were some of the tax-savings schemes. These schemes are also known as Equity-linked savings schemes were entitled to tax benefit under Section 88 of the Income Tax Act. Recently, private sector mutual funds have also launched these schemes such as HDFC Tax Plan, KP Tax Shields, etc. MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS (MMMF) SEBI Regulations, 1996 define an MMMF, as one which has been set up with the objective of investing in money market investments which include commercial papers, commercial bills, ‘T-Bills, etc. The funds collected by these mutual funds are invested exclusively in money market instruments. Money market mutual funds are a part of short-term pooling arrangement of funds. These are open-end funds. These funds are very liquid and risk free because of nature of their investments. MMMF provide better returns than short-term bank deposits and are often considered to be good alternative to bank deposits. The Reserve Bank of India has announced Guidelines for money market mutual fund in April 1992. However, at present, the MMMF are also regulated under SEBI Regulations, 1996. SPECIALISED SECTOR FUNDS Sector funds schemes are those under which the funds are planned to be invested in a particular region, industry or sector. For example, Pharma (D) Scheme of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund, Technology Company Scheme of DSP Merill Lynch Mutual Fund, Banking (D) of Reliance Mutual Fund are some specialised sector schemes of mutual funds. INDEX SCHEMES In this case, the funds collected by the mutual funds are invested in the shares forming the Stock Exchange Index. These funds are also known as growth funds. The funds are allocated o the basis of proportionate weight of different shares in the underlying Index. For example, Nifty Index Scheme of UTI Mutual Fund, Index Fund (Sensex) of Tata Mutual Fund, Index Fund (D) of Principal Mutual Fund are Index Schemes. There are 13 Index Funds which use S & P CNX NIFTY as the underlying index. EQUITY FUNDS SCHEMES Under these schemes, the funds are invested primarily in equity shares only. The equity fund schemes are high on the risk scale as the share prices are volatile. These funds try to reduce the risk by diversifying the investments in different types of shares. If invested rationally and properly, these schemes may give high returns commensurate with risk taken. The choice of investee companies is made by the mutual fund. These schemes may be income schemes or growth schemes. Fidelity Equity Fund is an open ended equity growth scheme with the objective of generating long term capital growth from a diversified portfolio of equity and equity-related securities (95%) and Money Market Instrument (5%). DEBT FUNDS SCHEMES In case of debt funds, the collected funds are invested in debt securities. A variant of debt funds schemes may be in the form of government securities funds scheme wherein the funds are invested in government securities only. Debt schemes are generally income scheme. A debt fund scheme is an ideal option for investors who are averse to risk which is associated wit equity schemes. BALANCED FUNDS A balanced fund provides both growth and regular incomes as these schemes invest both in debts and equity instruments in the proportion as disclosed in the offer document. These schemes are appropriate for investors who look for moderate growth. The NAV of these schemes are likely to be less volatile than the pure equity funds. GILT FUNDS The funds of these schemes are invested exclusively in government securities. These funds are low return and low risk and popular among the risk averse investors. Some of the gilt funds operating in India are Gilt Plus (Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund), Gilt Investment (Cholamandalum Mutual Fund), FT Gilt (Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund), Gilt long-term (HDFC Mutual Fund), Gilt Treasury (Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund), etc. SCHEMES BASED ON MARKET CAPITALIZATION In recent past, mutual funds in India have launched several schemes with a focus on market capitalization of companies. For example, UTI Large Cap Fund, UTI Small-Cap Fund, Chola Multi-Cap Fund, HDFC Premier Multi-Cap Fund, etc. are schemes based on market capitalization. It may be noted that the classification between large, small and mid-cap is arbitrary and can vary from market to market. In India, the National Stock Exchange defines mid-cap companies as those having average 6-months market capitalization between Rs. 75 crores to Rs. 750 crores. In Case of multi-cap or flexi-cap schemes, the investments ar e made across companies with different market capitalization-large, small or mid. LOAN AND NO-LOAN FUNDS A load fund is one that charges a % of NAV (Net Assets Value) as entry or exit fees. Whenever an investor buys or sells the units, a fee is charged by the fund to meet the administrative expenses. On the other hand, a no-loan fund is one which does not charge any fees for entry or exit. In case of no-loan fund, all transactions of sale and repurchase of units are done at NAV while in case of load funds, the repurchase is made at a price less than NAV and sale is made at a price more than NAV. FUND OF FUNDS A fund of funds scheme means a scheme that invests primarily in other schemes of same mutual fund or other mutual funds. Benchmark Mutual Fund has started a FOF under the name of FOF Junior BeES. EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) refers to basket of securities that are tradeable at a stock exchange. They are somewhat similar to Index Fund Schemes. The ETFs are so called because they are listed on a stock exchange and are traded as any other listed security. So, ETFs have characteristics of open-ended mutual funds as well as that of listed shares. ETFs do not sell their units directly to the investors. Rather, a security firm creates an ETF by depositing a portfolio of shares in line with an Index selected. The security firm creates units against this portfolio of shares. These units are sold to the retail investors. So, the ETF has portfolio of shares as well as a liability towards the holders of ETF units. ETFs are different from Mutual Funds in the sense that ETF units are not sold to the public for cash. Instead, the Asset Management Company that sponsors the ETF (fund) takes the shares of companies comprising the index from various categories of investors like authorized participants, large investors and institutions. In turn, it issue them a large block of ETF units. Since dividend may have accumulated for the stocks at any point in time, a cash component to that extent is also taken from such investors. In other words, a large block of ETF units called a â€Å"Creation Unit† is exchanged for a â€Å"Portfolio Deposit† of stocks and â€Å"Cash Component†. The number of outstanding ETF units is not limited, as with traditional mutual funds. It may increase if investors deposit shares to create ETF units; or it may reduce on a day if some ETF holders remeed their ETF units for the underlying shares. These transactions are conducted by sending creation/ redemption instructions to the Fund. In case of mutual funds, the portfolio of the investments made under the scheme may change, but in case of ETF, this is not so, because the ETF portfolio created once does not change. The market value of the units of ETF changes in line with the Index automatically. The funds managers are not required to actively manage the portfolio resulting in lower expense level of the fund. Consequently, the NAV of the ETF would be higher than the NAV of the Index Fund with the same portfolio. As the ETFs are listed on a stock exchange, they provide a lot of liquidity and price is determined by the demand and supply forces and the market value of the shares held. As opposed to ETF, the sale/ purchase prices of the units of a mutual fund are based on the NAV. A comparison of ETF, Open-ended funds and close-ended funds has been presented in table below: 1. Parameter Open-ended Fund (OEF) Closed-ended Fund (CEF) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) Find Size Flexible Fixed Flexible 2. NAV Daily Daily Real Time 3. Liquidity Provider Fund itself Stock Market Stock Market/Fund itself 4. Sale price At NAV plus load, if any Significant Premium/Discount to NAV Very close to actual NAV of Scheme 5. Availability Fund itself Through Exchange where listed Through Exchange where listed/ fund itself. 6. Portfolio Disclosure Monthly Monthly Daily/Real-time ETFs have edge over the ordinary mutual funds. In case of latter, an investor cannot take the benefit of intra-day movement of price of shares because the mutual fund units can be traded at the closing NAV based rate. However, the performance of ETF is based on the underlying index and ETF can be traded through out the day taking benefit of intra-day movement in price. In India, several ETFs, have been created so for. Bench Mark Mutual Fund has created 5 ETFs. 1. Liquid BeES 2. Nifty BeES 3. Nifty Junior BeES 4. Bank BeES, and 5. FOF Junior BeES All these 5 ETFs are listed and traded at the capital market segment of the NSE. Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund has launched SPICE which tracks the Sensex. It combines features of both open-ended scheme and exchange traded share. It is listed at Mumbai Stock Exchange and can be traded in a lot of one unit. Value of one SPICE is 1/100 of the Sensex value. UTI Mutual Funds has launched SUNDERS, which is also listed at Mumbai Stock Exchange. Certain ETFs traded at American Stock Exchange are QUBES (Representing NASDAQ-100), SPIDERS (representing S&P 500), DIAMONDS (Representing Dow Jones Industrial Average), etc. NET ASSETS VALUE (NAV) OF A MUTUAL FUND Investors are the owners of the mutual fund. Funds collected under a particular scheme are invested in different securities. So the ownership interest of the unit holders is represented by these securities. Net Assets Value (NAV) refers to the ownership interest per unit of the mutual fund, i. . , NAV refers to the amount which a unit holder would receive per unit if the scheme is closed. NAV is represented as follows: An amount of Rs. 50,00,000 has been collected by a mutual fund by the issue of 5,00,000 units of Rs. 10 each. The amount has been invested in different securities. The market value of these securities at present is Rs. 56,00,000 and the mutual fund has a liability of Rs. 4, 50,000 in respect of expenses, etc. The NAV of the fund is: The units of an open-ended mutual fund scheme are sold and purchased by the mutual fund at a price based on NAV. The NAV of a mutual fund scheme is calculated by dividing the net assets of the scheme by the number of outstanding units under that scheme on the date of valuation. SEBI Regulations, 1996 provide that while determining the price of the units, the mutual fund has to ensure that the repurchase price is not lower than 93% of the NAV and the selling price is not higher than 107% of the NAV. Further that the difference between the selling price and the repurchase price shall not exceed 7%, calculated on the selling price of the units. The NAV varies from time to time and is published in newspapers so as to enable the nvestors to know the value of their investments. SEBI Regulations, 1996 require that the NAV of a mutual fund scheme shall be calculated and published at least in two daily newspapers at an interval of not exceeding one week. III INVESTMENT CRITERIA MAKING THE INVESTMENT DECISION Ones main considerations as an investor, besides choosing which vehicles are right, lie in the a reas of risk management, taxes and inflation, and asset allocation. In order to reach your financial objectives, you must choose from diverse investment alternative – all of which vary greatly in the degree and type of risk and potential return. The key to developing a sound portfolio is to strike the right balance between potential reward and risk, based on your financial objectives, financial situation and investment style. We’ve all heard the expression, â€Å"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. † Perhaps nowhere does this maxim hold truer than in the financial markets, where pursuing potentially higher returns means accepting higher levels of risk. Before you venture anything, you should determine your personal level of risk tolerance, given your needs and goals. To do this, you should familiarize yourself with the various kinds of risk and how they affect different types of investments. THE MANY OF FACES OF RISK Risk is the possibility that one may lose some or all of his investment in real terms, or that his investment may not increase in value. Several factors may influence the amount of risk one can comfortably accept, including ones age, family situation, income, time horizon and financial goals. When investing, one faces the following key risks: †¢Market Risk: This is the possibility that an investment (e. g. , a stock) will decline in value. As a result, if you sold the investment, you would receive less than what you initially paid for it. †¢Credit Risk: This is the possibility that the issuer of an investment (e. g. , a corporate bond) may not live up to its financial obligations. A default by the issuer could mean that you lose your invested capital and the expected interest payments. †¢Inflation Risk: This is the possibility that the value of a long-term asset (e. g. , a government bond) may not grow enough to keep up with inflation, reducing your purchasing power as a result. †¢Reinvestment Risk: This is the possibility that interest rates will fall as an investment (e. . , a bond) matures. If this occurs, you may be unable to reinvest matured assets at the rate of return you were accustomed to receiving. This type of risk also applies to reinvesting the coupon payments received from bonds and other fixed-income payments. †¢Liquidity Risk: This is the possibility that you will be unable to liquid ate an asset (e. g. , real estate) when you want and at the price you want. As a result, you may be forced to retain the asset or accept less than you wanted for the sake of liquidity. †¢National, International, and Political Risk: The possibility that a country’s government will suddenly change its policies. Events such as wars, embargos, coups, and the appointments of individuals with unfavorable economic policies can impact the financial markets, especially concerning investments related to that country. Possible results changes in tax structures and changes in bond or stock ratings. †¢Economic Risk: The risk that the economy will suffer a downturn as a whole. Such an event generally affects all the financial markets across the board, from product prices to the job market. †¢Industry Risk: The risk that a specific industry will suffer a downturn. Often, industries related to the one that experiences problems will suffer as well. Tax Risk: The risk that high taxes will make investments less profitable for both businesses and investors. Businesses that have no pay expand or improve. Investments that carry heavy tax baggage generally lead to lower dividends for an investor. How Much Risk Is Right? The amount of risk that is right depends upon person to person. To determine the r isk comfort level, one may ask this himself: Am I willing to tolerate greater volatility for potentially higher returns from my investments, or do I place more emphasis on quality, with less risk? Several factors may influence the amount of risk one can comfortably accept in ones portfolio, including: †¢Age †¢Family situation †¢Income †¢Financial goals In addition, the markets evolve and ones personal goals will inevitably change with time. One of the best ways to keep ones investments on target is to meet with financial professional regularly. In these meetings, the investor and his financial professional can discuss the investment objectives, determine the individual risk tolerance level and help to understand the various risks associated with an investment. The financial professional can also help an investor build a portfolio that has the potential to provide the highest returns consistent with the amount of risk one wish to assume. HOW TO CHOOSE WHICH RISKS TO TAKE? Whenever one considers a new investment, he may wish to ask his financial professional the following questions: †¢What types of risk are involved? Once the financial professional has explained the risks, one must ask how he or she can help to manage or minimize the different kinds or risk for the investment one is considering. Not all kinds of risk will apply to every investment. †¢What could happen to the principal in a â€Å"worst-case† scenario? The financial professional can explain how diversifying ones portfolio can help mitigate the effect of a downturn in any one market or industry. For example, assume you invested in the stock of a highly speculative biotechnology company. The stock’s trading price could fall substantially if the company’s only product fails to get FDA approval or is shown to be inferior to a competitor’s product. Spreading ones money across different asset classes – stocks, fixed – income investments, and cash equivalents – could help one manage the risk better than investing all his funds in this one stock. †¢How will adding this investment to the holdings help to manage the portfolio’s overall risk? Managing market risk through a balance of financial assets in ones portfolio is a significant component of long-ter m investment success. Ideally, ones portfolio should offer a measure of protection during inevitable market downturns and be positioned for opportunity when markets heat up. In addition to risk there are other factors also which need to be considered before investing, as stated below: INFLATION: Inflation taxes are two factors always on the minds of investors. Inflation is the persistent increase in the cost of goods and services, and the reason why the same loaf of bread that costs you $1. 00 today will probably cost you $1. 05 next year. For your purchasing power to grow in â€Å"real† terms, your returns must outpace the inflation rate. TAXES: Additionally, taxes must be a consideration. There are investments available that are both taxable and tax-free; others are tax-deferred or tax-deductible. The differences are significant, but not as dizzying as they seem. ASSET ALLOCATION: Asset allocation refers to the diversification of your portfolio across all the different classes of assets. The goal of effective asset allocation is to develop an appropriate mix of investments based on your specific investment objectives that maximizes performance potential with an acceptable level of investment risk. The goal is more consistent returns, lower volatility and a greater chance of achieving financial objectives. SELECTION OF A MUTUAL FUNDS There are thousands of funds to choose from, but there are some general guidelines that can help you choose a fund. †¢Define your investment time horizon and financial goals. Meeting a long-term goal (e. g. , starting a college fund for a newborn) will require different investments than in meeting a short-term goal (e. g. , accumulating money to purchase a car). †¢Understand your risk tolerance and the risk of different mutual funds. Risk tolerance is based on your comfort level in the fluctuation of price, which will affect your investment principal. Once this is determined, you can match fund types that have historically shown commensurate price movement. Keep in mind, however, that past performance is no guarantee of future results. †¢Combine your goals, time horizon and risk tolerance and find a fund category that matches these objectives. This will help in deciding what types of funds you may want to consider. You will find that there are still many funds to choose from within a specific category. Your prudential financial professional will be able to perform a comparative analysis of the individual funds to find the most appropriate choice. Check with your tax advisor prior to investing in a tax-exempt or tax-managed fund. Match the term of the investment to the time you expect to keep it invested. Money you may need right away (for example, if your car breaks down) should be in a money market account. Money you will not need until your retire in decades (or for a newborn’s college education) should be in longer- term investments, such as stock or bond funds. Putting money you will need soon in stocks risks having to sell them when the market is low and missing out on the rebound. Expenses matter over the long term, and of course, cheaper is usually better. You can find the expense ratio in the prospectus. Expense ratios are critical in index funds, which seek to match the market. Actively managed funds need to pay the manager, so they usually have a higher expense ratio. Sector funds often make the â€Å"best fund† lists you see every year. The problem is that it is usually a different sector each year. Also, some sectors are vulnerable to industry-wide events (airlines do come to mind). Avoid making these a large part of your portfolio. Closed-end funds often sell at a discount to the value of their holdings. You can sometimes get extra return by buying these in the market. Hedge fund managers love this trick. This also implies that buying them at the original issue is usually a bad idea, since the price will often drop immediately. Mutual funds often make taxable distributions near the end of the year. If you plan to invest money in the fund in a taxable account, check the fund company’s website to see when they plan to pay the dividend; you may prefer to wait until afterwards if it is coming up soon. Research. Read the prospectus, or as much of it as you can stand. It should tell you what these strangers can do with your money, among other vital topics. Check the return and risk of a fund against its peers with similar investment objectives, and against the index most closely associated with it. Be sure to pay attention to performance over both the long-term and the short-term. A fund that gained 53% over a 1-yr. period (which is impressive), but only 11% over a 5-yr. period should raise some suspicion, as that would imply that the returns on four out of those five years were actually very low (if not straight losses) as 11% compounded over 5 years is only 68%. Diversification can reduce risk. Most people should own some stocks, some bonds, and some cash. Some of the stocks, at least, should be foreign. You might not get as much diversification as you think if all your funds are with the same management company, since there is often a common source of research and recommendations. The same is true if you have multiple funds with the same profile or investing strategy; these will rise and fall together. Too many funds, on the other hand, will give you about the same effect as an index fund, except your expenses will be higher. Buying individual stocks exposes you to company-specific risks, and if you buy a large number of stocks the commissions may cost more than a fund will. The compounding effect is your best friend. A little money invested for a long time equals a lot of money later. The decision to invest in a mutual fund is one you have to make on your own. However, when you try to choose an investment, it’s usually best to seek the guidance of an investment representative. Why? Consider that there are more mutual funds than there are stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange. While many of these funds share the same objectives, no two are exactly alike. Similarly, as an investor, your goals are unique. An investment representative can help you determine the fund that’s right for you. A mutual fund investor has more options than ever before – stock, bond, and money market funds to satisfy all outlooks, from the most conservative to the most venturesome. Generally speaking, in investment management, intelligently assumed risk creates the opportunity for greater returns. †¢A money market mutual fund aims for current income at minimal risk. †¢A municipal bond mutual fund aims for current tax-free income. †¢Government income funds aim for current income with principal security. †¢Corporate bond funds aim for a high rate of current income. †¢An income fund aims for a higher rate of current income. A balanced fund aims for current income with some capital appreciation. †¢Growth and income funds offer the possibility of more growth than a balanced fund, but probably less income. †¢A growth fund aims for the accumulation of capital, with little or no current income. †¢Aggressive growth funds offer the prospect of maximum capi tal appreciation, with more than average risk. In addition, specialized funds are available – for instance, those that invest only in certain geographic regions or in certain sectors or industries (like health care, technology, or energy). There are even funds that have adopted certain social objectives or that follow specific investment philosophies. For more complete information, including charges and expenses, obtain the mutual fund’s prospectus. Read it carefully before you invest or send money. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires every open-mutual fund (where the fund’s managers issue new shares on demand) to provide you with a copy of its prospectus before – or coinciding with – a purchase of shares. A prospectus is a key source of information regarding a mutual fund and often is the best place to start when you are considering investing in one. It will describe the fund’s objectives, risks, and operations. TURNOVER Turnover is a measure of the amount of securities that are bought and sold, usually in a year, and usually expressed as a percentage of net asset value. It shows how actively managed the fund is. A caveat is that this value is sometimes calculated as the value of all transactions (buying, selling) divided by 2; i. e. , the fund counts one security sold and another one bought as one â€Å"transaction†. This makes the turnover look half as high as would be according to the standard measure. Turnover generally has tax consequences for a fund, which are passed through to investors. In particular, when selling an investment from its portfolio, a fund may realize a capital gain, which will ultimately be distributed to investors as taxable income. The very process of buying and selling securities also has its own costs, such as brokerage commissions, which are borne by the fund’s shareholders. The Dalbar Inc. consultancy studied stock mutual fund returns over the period from 1984 to 2000. Dalbar found that the average stock fund returned 14 percent; during that same period, the typical mutual fund investor had a 5. percent return. This finding has made both â€Å"personal turnover† (buying and selling mutual funds) and â€Å"professional turnover† (buying mutual funds with a turnover above perhaps 5%) unattractive to some people. IV REGULATORY FRAME-WORK OF MUTUAL FUNDS Immediately after its constitution, SEBI issued the Mutual Fund Regulations in 1993. However, with the growth of mutual funds, it was imperative that they should follow prepared a ‘Mutual Fund 2000 Report’ and on the basis of this report, it prepared more stringent and comprehensive regulations in 1996, known as SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations, 1996. ince then, there have been number of amendments in Regulations, 1996. Besides, SEBI has also issued several guidelines in respect of working of mutual funds. Some of the provisions of the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations, 1996 (as amended from time to time) have been summarized hereunder: 1. The sponsor, who wants to establish a mutual fund, should have a sound track record and a general reputation of fairness and integrity, i. e. , must be in business of financial services for 5 years, and must have contributed at least 40% of the net worth of the Asset Management Company. 2. A mutual fund is constituted in form of trust. The trust shall incorporate an Asset Management Company (AMC). The trustees shall ensure that the AMC has been managing the schemes independently of other activities. 3. Two-thirds of the trustees shall be independent persons and not be associated with the sponsor. 4. The trustees shall ensure that activities of the AMC are in accordance with the Regulations, 1996. 5. The trust shall periodically review the investors’ complaints received and shall be redressed by the AMC. 6. The mutual fund shall appoint a custodian to carry out the custodial services for the schemes. The sponsor or its associates shall no have 50% or more of the share capital of the custodian. 7. No scheme shall be launched by the AMC unless the offer document contains disclosures which are adequate in order to enable the investors to make informed investment decisions. 8. Advertisement in respect of every scheme shall be in conformity with the Advertisement Code. 9. Every close-ended scheme shall be listed at a recognized stock exchange, or there will be a repurchase facility. 10. The close-ended schemes may be converted into open-ended schemes under certain conditions. A close-ended scheme may be allowed to be rolled over if necessary disclosures about NAV, etc. , are made to the unit holders. 11. In case of over-subscription for a new scheme, the applicants applying for upto 5,000 units shall be allotted full. The refund to applicants, if any, shall be made within 6 weeks from the data of closure of the list. 12. No guaranteed return shall be provided in a scheme, unless such return is fully guaranteed by the sponsor or the AMC. 13. An open-ended scheme shall be would up after the expiration of the mixed period, or in case, 75% of the nit holders decide so, after repaying the amount due to the unit holders. 14. The money collected under any scheme shall be invested only in transferable securities in money market or capital market or private placed debts or securitized debts. 15. The mutual fund shall not borrow any money except to meet temporary liquidity needs and borrowing, if any, need not be more than 20% of NAV of the scheme, and for period o f less than 6 months. 16. The funds of a scheme shall not be used in option trading or a carry forward transaction. However, derivatives can be traded by a mutual fund at a recognized stock exchange for portfolio balancing. 7. A mutual fund can enter into underwriting agreement. 18. NAV for each scheme shall be calculated by dividing the total assets of the scheme by the number of outstanding units. The NAV of the scheme shall be published in two daily newspapers at interval of not exceeding one week. 19. In case of open-ended schemes, the repurchase and sale price shall be published at least once a week. 20. The mutual fund shall ensure that the repurchase price of a unit is not less than 93% of NAV and the sale price is not more than 107% of NAV. In case of close-ended schemes, the repurchase price shall not be less than 95% of the NAV. 1. The AMC may charge the mutual fund with investment and advisory fees as per rates prescribed in the Regulations. The issue expenses and redempt ion expenses of a scheme shall not exceed the limits given in the Regulations. 22. The mutual funds are required to raise at least Rs. 20 crores or Rs. 50 crores (for close-ended and open-ended schemes respectively) or 60% of the target amount, otherwise the entire subscription be refunded. Each scheme should have a minimum of 20 investors and not single investor should account for more than 25% of the corpus of the scheme. 23. The unquoted debt instruments shall not exceed 10% in case of growth funds and 40% in case of income funds. 24. Investment in one company under any scheme should be restricted to 5% of the corpus of the scheme. Under all schemes, the investment in one company should be restricted to 5% of the paid-up capital of the company. Total investment in all securities (debts and shares) in one company shall be restricted to 10% of the corpus of the mutual fund. 25. Funds under the same AMC mutual not be lent or invest from one scheme to another, unless the funds are transferred at the prevailing market price. 26. All mutual fund must distribute a minimum of 905 of their profits in any given year. The e3arnings must be segregated as current income, short-term capital gain and long-term capital gain. 27. Trading by mutual funds shall be restricted to hedging and portfolio balancing purposes only. The securities held shall be marked to market by the AMC to ensure full coverage of the investments made in derivative products. 28. Mutual funds are permitted to participate in the Securities Lending Scheme of SEBI under certain guidelines. 29. Mutual funds are allowed to invest in ADRs/GDRs issued by Indian companies. They can also invest in foreign securities under certain conditions and within limits. 30. Mutual funds can also invest up to 10% their funds in equity of listed overseas companies which have a shareholding of at least 10% in an Indian company listed on a recognized stock exchange. 31. The AMC and the trustees are required to review and disclose the performance of their schemes. They are also required to disclose the performance of the benchmark indices. Any of the following indices may be selected for this purpose: BSE Sensex, S&P CNX Nifty, BSE 100, BSE 200 or S&P CNX Nifty 500. 32. Several Guidelines have been prescribed in respect of Advertisement to be issued by mutual funds. Any advertisement, communication, sales literature, or presentation, etc. , should not be misleading. 33. Detailed guidelines are prescribed for valuation of investments. For this purpose, the investments are classified into traded, thinly traded and non-traded investments. 34. Guidelines for identification and provisioning for NPA are also provided. For this purpose, an asset is NPA if the principal/ interest is not received for one quarter. On NPA, no interest shall be accrued. If any interest is already accrued, it shall be provided. A provision @ 10%, 20% or 25% of the book value of NPA is required depending upon the period for which it is NPA. 35. A mutual fund and the AMC shall, before the expiry of 1 month from the close of half year, shall publish its financial results in respect of that half year. MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENT AND INVESTORS’ PROTECTION IN INDIA In case of mutual funds, small investors park their funds in expectation of a suitable return and safety of their funds. Mutual funds take decisions on behalf of the investors. There is a relationship of trust between the mutual fund and the investors. Market regulators should take a cognizance of this fact. The interest of the investors should be protected by framing a comprehensive set of regulatory provision. As the first mutual fund in India, the UTI was created as a statutory body under the UTI Act, the relevant provision regarding investment policies, etc. were all given in the UTI Act itself. However, the position changed after 1992 with the constitution of SEBI. The basic objective of SEBI is to â€Å"protect the interest of the investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate, the securities market and for matters connected therewith or incidental therewith. So, the regulation of mutual funds activities was make a matter under purview of SEBI. SEBI issued the Mutual Fund Guidelines, 1993 as a first attempt to provide for a regulatory framework to give directions to the functioning of mutual funds and to protect the interest of the mutual funds investors. Keeping in view the changing scenario, SEBI issued a new set of Mutual Funds Guidelines in 1996. A detailed list of the provisions of Guidelines, 1996 is already given in this chapter. Some other provision specifically dealing with investors protection are: (i)Each mutual fund must be registered with SEBI. The sponsor must have a sound track record and experience in financial services of at least 5 years. (ii)Number of terms and conditions have been provided in respect of Asset Management Company (AMC). The Directors of the AMC should here adequate professional experience in finance and financial services. (iii)The custodian of the mutual fund should also be approved and registered with SEBI. (iv)No mutual fund scheme can be launched unless approved with the trustees. (v)Minimum and Maximum amount to be raised under the scheme should be notified. (vi)Lot of disclosures are required in respect of the scheme in the prospectus. vii)No scheme with a guaranteed return can be issued unless such return is guaranteed by the AMC or the sponsor. (viii)Periodic report in respect of each of the scheme is to be published. Any information that has an adverse bearing on the investment should also be disclosed. (ix)There are investment norms provided for mutual fund investment with a view to contain t he investment risk. Investors’ interest is protected by prohibiting mutual funds from excessive risk exposure. (x)SEBI can impose several types of monetary penalties for violations of SEBI Regulations and Guidelines.