Overview of the Indian Economy

Overview of the Indian Economy The Indian economy has shown a remarkable growth after the adoption of liberalization policy. The opening up of the Indian economy in the early 1990s led to increase in industrial output and simultaneously raised the inflation Rate in India. There was an immense pressure on the inflation rate due to the stupendous growth rate of employment and industrial output. The main concern of the Reserve Bank of India (the central bank) and the Ministry of Finance, Government of India was the prevalent and intermittent rise of the inflation rate. Increasing inflation rate could be detrimental to the projected growth of Indian economy. Thus, the Reserve Bank of India was putting checks and measures in various policies so as to put a stop to the rising inflation. The Indian business community and the general public were assured by the central bank that the inflationary rise was harmless but still certain apprehensions existed among them. The pricing disparity of agricultural products between the producer and end-consumer was contributing to the increasing Inflation Rate. Apart from this the steep rise of prices of food products, manufacturing products, and necessities had also catapulted the Inflation Rate. As a result of all this, the Wholesale Prices Index (WPI) of India reached 6.1% and the Cash Reserve Ratio touched 5.5% on 6th January, 2007. The Reserve Bank of India gave top priority to price stability in its recently drafted monetary policy so as to arrest the panic and discomfort amongst the Indian business circles. It also aims to sustain the stupendous rate of economic growth of India. The Reserve Bank of India raised the Cash Reserve Ratio and used it as a tool to arrest the increasing Inflation Rate. Rationalizing the pricing disparity between the producer and the consumer is the only solution to this problem. Only this will ensure inflation stabilization and thus sustainable economic growth of India. From the beginning of FY2008 the Indian economy faced a rise in the prices of vegetables, pulses and other basic food stuffs. All this was accompanied with sharp rise in the prices when the annual policy statement for 2008-09 was unveiled on April 29. Inflation increased steadily during the year, reaching 8.75% by the end of May and in June when this figure jumped to 11% then there was an alarming increase in the prices. There were many reasons for it but one of the main driving forces was reduction in government fuel subsidies, which lifted gasoline prices by an average 10%. Indeed, by July 2008, the key Indian Inflation Rate i.e. the Wholesale Price Index touched the mark of 12.6%, highest rate in past 16 years of the Indian history. This was almost three times the RBIs target of 4.1% and almost doubled as compared to last year. This continuous rise slipped back to 12.4% by mid-August. Since the beginning of 2008 combination of various internal and external factors led to steep domestic inflation and the resultant steps taken to control it in were slowing the pace of expansion. These factors included the marked rise in the international prices of oil, food, and metals, moderating the rate of capital inflows, worsening current and fiscal account deficits, increasing cost of funds, minor depreciation of the Indian rupee against the dollar, and slow growth in industrial economies. The Indian economy was at a critical juncture where policies to contain inflation and ensure macroeconomic stabilization have taken center stage. In the first quarter of FY2008 (i.e. April -June), growth rate of GDP slowed down to 7.9% from 9.2% in the corresponding prior-year quarter, for the slowest expansion in three and a half years. The most remarkable decline was in industry where growth rate fell to 6.9% this was mainly because of cutting in the manufacturing growth rate to 5.6%. The slowdown was widened when agriculture and services sector showed a negligible growth of 1.4% and 0.9% points, below their performances of the year-earlier quarter.Over the medium term, the main objective of the government was to bring down inflation to 3%. The Repo and Reverse Repo Rates remained unchanged whereas Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) was increased by 0.25 percentage points. A survey of manufacturing companies was conducted by the Reserve Bank of India in June 2008 which indicated a moderation in business optimism. This was corroborated by the composite business optimism index for July -September 2008 that was prepared by Dun and Bradstreet, which shows a decline of 11.2% as compared to the previous quarter. In July, the BBB- rating on foreign currency debt was confirmed but downgraded the viewfor Indias long -term local currency debt from stable to negative, with a noticeable deterioration in the fiscal position.Growth of the broad money supply (M3) had to be moderated in the range of 16.5 to 17 per cent. While deposits were scheduled to rise by 17% and non-food credit disbursements by banks will grow at a slow rate of 20% as compared to 22.5% in 2007-08. Credit disbursed by banks last year was less as compared to the previous period. Bank credit had grown by a scorching 30% every year for consecutively three years beginning in 2004-05. The combined budget deficits of the central and state governments have been substantially reduced over the past 5 years. This reflected sincere efforts by the government to adhere to fiscal responsibility legislation. For FY2008, the central Governments deficit is budgeted at 2.5% of GDP and the states at 2.1% (4.6% of GDP on a consolidated basis). The major factors that strengthen the appreciable fiscal consolidation from the base were a wider tax base supported by a buoyant economy and improved compliance. Two main situations that must be overcome before achieving the deficit targets for the FY2008 are: a slowing economy that may limit the revenue buoyancy seen in recent years and continuous pressure by the Central Government to raise the salaries of its employees by 21% (about 0.3% of GDP) in response to recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission. Similar wage increases were announced immediately by half a dozen states and others were following the suit. On the other hand provision for these salary increases was not budgeted. EFFECTS Inflationary pressures in any economy leads to depreciation of its domestic currency. This is what our Indian economy was facing due to the running inflation and as a result Indian rupee depreciated by about 20% since April 2008. Inflation affects- 1.Common man: Inflation effects a common man in different roles such as a consumer: Products such as crude oil, fertilizers, pharmaceutical products, ores and metals, or use imported components such as Personal Computers and laptops are directly imported. Due to depreciation of the Indian Rupee all these goods became very expensive. Components in computers such as processor, hard disk drive and motherboard are also imported. Products such as mouse, keyboard and monitor also witnessed an impact on their prices due to Rupee depreciation. Inflation may rise in an economy when the input costs increase. As an investor: Depreciation of rupee makes imports of various components, capital goods and raw materials more expensive. As inputs and other equipment that are imported get costlier and reducing the profit margins. Companies that import goods in bulk and those with heavy foreign currency borrowings may be marked down in the stock market as the rupee depreciates. As a Wage-earner: During inflation this class of common man suffered a lot because of two reasons- Increase in wages and salaries failed to keep pace with the rising prices. Wages increased during inflation but there is always a time lag between the rise in price and increase in wages. As a result common man looses during the intervening period. Export companies: Due to depreciation of domestic currency exporters receive better prices for their goods and services when sold in foreign markets. Foreign Investors: Depreciation of Indian Rupee reduced the returns that foreign investors used to earn by investing in Indian companies. Depreciation of a currency triggered FII outflows. NRI investors, who previously invested their money in India under various deposit schemes due to high interest rates, started finding those schemes less attractive on account of rupee depreciation. Countrys Balance of Payments: One of the drawbacks of depreciation of Rupee is that exports become cheap in terms of foreign currency and imports become costlier. Current account deficit widened because Indian imports basically constitutes essentials such as crude oil, natural resources and many capital goods. Depreciation of Indian Rupee made the exports more competitive globally and as a result higher exports covered up the trade deficit. Farmers: The prices of the primary commodities such as minerals, diesel oil and fuel, power light and lubricants went up significantly. This disparity affected the agricultural sector in two ways- It had a restrictive effect on investments in farming and affected the production efficiency. On one hand the agricultural commodity prices were falling or stagnant and on the other hand increasing prices of agriculture inputs and other daily life commodities led to deterioration in the living standard of the farmers. Prices paid by the consumer have impacted by the cost of living of the entire value chain, which grows on the inefficient markets and this adds to the final cost of the material. For example, high energy cost itself has contributed to the increase in the cost of inputs required for agriculture besides pushing up the marketing costs of farm products. IT companies: The IT sector is amongst the highest recruiters in the Indian economy and a depreciating rupee spells good news for the sector. Bills for Information Technology companies are basically prepared in dollars or in other foreign currencies. Depreciation of the rupee increased their realizations and bodes well for their margins. The main reason for the good performance in the second quarter of Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computers was the depreciation of the Indian Rupee. An estimate suggests that a 1 per cent depreciation in the rupee expands an IT companys margins by 0.30-0.40 per cent. CONCLUSION Majority of Indias population lies close to the poverty line and inflation acts as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬-Poor Mans Tax. More than half of the income of this group is spent on food and this effect is amplified when food prices rise. The dramatic increase in inflation will have economic as well as political implications for the Congress Government, with an election due within a year. Economic growth rate in the emerging markets have slowed down but is far from over. The BRIC countries i.e. Brazil, Russia, India and China alone account for more than 3 billion people and with consumption rate increasing every year. It is expected that the high inflation rates will be there for a long period of time which is worrying news for the Indian Government. Direct regulatory measures such as the reduction in import tariffs were adopted in order relax the supply-side pressures on various agricultural commodities. While adopting the direct measures, the Government realized that the relaxation of supply-side pressures would dampen inflationary expectations by increasing supplies in the commodities market. The RBIs attempt to control excess liquidity in the market byraising the interest rates pushed up real-estate prices as well as the commodity prices, thus fuelling inflation. A closer look at certain commodities would reveal that the prices of sugar and wheat were managed by the Government through various market intervention mechanisms. As a result the physical market’s role in effective price discovery was affected. Trade in the commodities market operated in an asymmetrical information situation from both the supply and demand sides. Hence, market operations could only benefit segments that were privy to the available information. The existing agricultural market ecosystem revolves around the traders and to some extent the producers with no say from side of consumers. Hence, at the end both consumers and producers are often at a loss. Generally, traders keep a heavy margin to compensate for the physical and financial risk involved in carrying the commodity for short as well as long term.

Representation Matters in Semiotic Approach

Representation Matters in Semiotic Approach According to Hall (1997), Representation is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language. [†¦] The relation between things, concepts and signs lies at the heart of the production of meaning in language. [†¦] Language is therefore the system of representation involved in the overall process of constructing meaning. His representation study is lighted with wisdom from Saussures theory whose significant contribution was the point of way of signs the meanings production, negative of reflection or intentionality and building up the constructionist approach. For Saussure, the production of meaning depends on language and to be a sign system, language was associated this two element the signifier and the signified. (Culler, 1976, cited in Hall, 1997) Saussure gave his model of representation shifting from linguistics to semiotics. People fix the meaning by the signifier correlating with the signified which simultaneously involves our cultural and li nguistic codes and this is the process to achieve the representation as well. In Saussures study, the emphasis was put on the various general rules and codes of the linguistic system. The connection provided by the codes between the signifier and the signified produced signs; and signs, organized into languages, created meanings. This formed the way to constructionist thought. Later with the development of Myth theory which was based on the model of representation provided by Saussure, Roland Barthes, the French critic, suggests that signs can be constructed into levels. The first, completed meaning functions as the signifier in the second stage of the representation process, and when linked with a wider there by a reader, yields a second, more elaborate and ideologically framed message or meaning. (Hall, 1997:39) Barthes called the second level of signification the level of myth or meta-language. These two theories indicate the semiotic approach provides a method for analyzing how representations convey meaning. Hall uses the concept of representation to discuss the origin of the objects cultural meaning and analyzes that the objects by themselves do not mean anything; meanings are generated and constructed by language or other cultural signs processed through language. He defined representation is the production of the meaning of concepts in our minds through language. It is the link between concepts and language which enables us to refer to either the real world of objects, people or events, or indeed to imaginary worlds of fictional objects, people and events. (Hall, 1997:17) In brief, representation is the procedure of connecting with objects, conceptual map in our mind and language cultural symbols. There are two representation systems existing. In the first system, mental representations which we carry around in our heads present various objects and turning to the second system a set of signs stand for these conceptual maps. Furthermore, the practices of representation imply the embody ing of concepts, ideas and emotions in a symbolic form can be transmitted and meaningfully interpreted. Meaning must enter the domain of these practices, if it is to circulate effectively within a culture. (Hall, 1997:10) With the combination of Halls theory, representation can be regarded as presenting objects through language or other symbols and produce some relative cultural meanings and values; moreover representation has a share in production, multiplication, exchange and circulation of the whole cultural meanings and values system. Under the framework of Halls theory, the significance of representation practice is that it is involved in the production and circulation of cultural meanings and values system. He defines culture as a sharing meaning or a sharing conceptual map. That reveals culture is just like meaning sea and social or group members are like fish in it; they produce and exchange from each other. This view is basically rooted on culture concept of Raymond Williams who regards as a particular way of life, which expresses certain meanings and values not only in are and learning but also in institutions and ordinary behavior. (1961: 41) Hall then transformed Williams meanings and values into more symbolic meanings and inherited Williams cultural materialism on culture status and function. Culture has been judged as a fact with economy and politics to construct the whole society production instead of a negative reflection or accessory for economical and political process. Cultural meanings and values s ystem have practice effect to build up rules, standards and customs which regularize social life and order human behavior. After being decoded, the meanings and values in cultural representation production change into consciousness and practice. Given this definition, Halls cultural representation theory highlights the areas of cultural symbols in social life in an important position. The Politicsthe discursive approach In French philosopher Michel Foucaults research, he prefers regarding representation as an origin of social knowledge production and put emphasis on the method of knowledge produced by discourse rather than Saussures linguistic model which focuses on the representation process itself. Comparing with the semiotic approach, Foucaults theory firmly bases on history and pays more attention on historical specificity. He concerned relations of power, not relations of meaning, so the main matter changed from language to discourse. Discourse, power and the subject is three major ideas demonstrated by Foucault about the discursive approach to representation.(Hall, 1997:43) The first term-discourse was treated as a representation system by Foucault. He points out that the object has its objective existence, but except discourse the object has no meaning. In another word, only when the object is in its discourse can it be the target to knowledge. The existence of discourse needs historical context which means, in each period, the modality of knowledge produced by discourse and its object, subject and practice is dramatic changed over time and vitally there is no necessary connection in. For example, in our ancestors language structure they explained natural phenomenon like windy, rainy and thunder by fairy tale or the method of imagination, by contrast, we today explain them by scientific or observation way. It is more remarkable in the particular social identity and ethics meanings made up by human language structure: male and female, white and black, ruler and ruled. They all changed with society and culture changed. Talking about the concept of power and knowledge, Foucaults view is different from the theory of Marxism. Foucault believes that in all of classic Marxism, relationship between knowledge and power simplified to a class of power and class interests was due to establish its own truth concept.(Hall, 1997:48) Although Foucault did not deny the existence of classes, he did not believe beyond any discourse game there existed truth. His definition of the ideology is similar on Gramscis cultural hegemony theory. Introducing the theory of ideology into representation theory embodies Halls resistance and critical consciousness of vulgar Marxist theory on ideology and economic determinants. Furthermore, in Foucaults opinion, knowledge and meaning of an object are not only related to their discourse but also related to dominant power and power does not function in the form of a chain it circulates. It is never monopolized by one centre. It is deployed and exercised through a net-like organizati on.'(1980:98) Discourse produces the subject by itself; on the other hand, it produces a position for the subject like reader and viewer. In the cultural representation system, there is a wide variety of subject positions for instance the submissive wife and obedient slaves and there are many characters who are regarded as good, such as the image of Faust, Prometheus and Confucius. Although our identities are constrained by the structural relationship of social order, these images carrying cultural significance and values can be cultural resources which establish and update our own subjectivity. Overall, the cultural representation system is the mainstream values and ideologies of production and operation of the site, and it is the main social individual symbolic resource in its own copy of the values of culture and ideology. However, there are some cultural texts manage an abnormal discourse and practice in its representation to create a lot of rebellion, revolution, anomaly and even unreasonable characters. These characters tend not to follow the rules and break the old, outdated values and identities so that they or their representatives become a new social order or a new value of the cultural heroes, such as a rebellious slave consciousness or a self-conscious woman. It allowed us to recognize that knowledge is always a form of power. Concluded from the two approaches-the semiotic approach and the discursive approach, the concept of representation, from a cultural point, is a cultural significance creation by various symbols in the text or image and this process is involved in the whole field of the production and distribution of cultural symbols; representation no longer analyses the extension of power relations in the field of symbolic representation through epistemological sense of right and wrong, but on the angle of discourse power, meaning disputation and symbol distribution in cultural representation field; representation emphasizes the social environment and cultural institutions of cultural representation practice and regards a cultural text as a symptom making out of the entire social and cultural environment which implies a sociological perspective to analyze the path of cultural representation issues; representation focuses on the cultural symbols involved in real life function, while representation is the way for the value concept which is produced in social life to flow in the field of cultural symbols and it is the main symbolic resource for social individual forming their own identity. People are largely dependent on the subject position in cultural representation to be a man or a woman, as a specific person. In this sense, representation constructs our world of meaning.

Discoveries of the (Dinosaur) Incisivosaurus Gauthier, and (Hominid) Sahelanthropus Tchadensis :: Anthropology Essays Paleontology Papers

Discoveries of the (Dinosaur) Incisivosaurus Gauthier, and (Hominid) Sahelanthropus Tchadensis In the year 2002 a bizarre looking theropod dinosaur fossil was found in China (Xu). It challenges the way researchers have been thinking of theropods and other dinosaurs for a long time. In the Sahara desert, the oldest hominid skull in the world was found that same year. These are just two of many discoveries that have challenged the way we perceive the ancient world. Incisivosaurus Gauthier was what is believed to be a primitive Oviraptorosaurian that was recently discovered in China. The Theropod and its highly specialized skull is described as a bizarre creature that lived 128 million years ago (Gee). The characteristic that â€Å"sticks out† the most are it’s rodent-like teeth. Harry Gee has described the dinosaur as â€Å"a [cross between] Roadrunner [and] Bugs Bunny† (Ibid.) and Hillary Mayell calls it a â€Å"’Weird’ Bucktoothed Dino.† (Mayell) Oviraptorosaurians are known for their specialized skulls and for being egg thieves, which is where they get their name. It was later discovered that they were more than likely near the nests not to eat the eggs but hatch them. In Mongolia there was a discovery of a fossil of a female Oviraptor shielding her nest from a sandstorm (Mayell). They are thought to have evolved in the early Cretaceous (Xu). The Cretaceous period, is the interval of time that came just after the most well known of periods in the earth’s history, the Jurassic. Xing Xu, the man who with his team found Incisivosaurus, works for Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, China. Xu and his team believe that this find proves that not all theropods ate meat (Ibid). In an article for the National Geographic, Phillip Currie of the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology in Canada says, "These teeth are totally inappropriate for eating meat. Even with the beak, we had always assumed that oviraptorosuars were still carnivorous—hawks and eagles do it quite well. But these teeth are teeth you expect to see in an herbivore† (Mayell). Researchers believe that Incisivosaurus shows a link between typical theropods and the more rare or at least bizarre Oviraptorosaurians which are more birdlike (Gee). Xu also believes that this may show a link between the Oviraptorosaurians and an herbivorous group of dinosaurs, the Therizinosaurs. Which shows that not all of them were carnivores (Mayell).

Physics of Rail Guns Essay -- physics weapon weapons rail gun

The concept of a rail gun is simple: two parallel bars connected to a power source produce an electric field. This electric field can be used to propel a projectile along the bars. If enough amperage is provided, the projectile can achieve velocities of up to 4 km/s. The U.S. Army has been interested in the potential of electromagnetic guns for quite some time. In 1988 the University of Texas Center for Electromagnetics began work on a 9 MJ range gun, which would be designed to launch 2-4 kg projectiles at velocities of up to 4 km/s. Design features of this range gun included up to 230 MJ stored energy, 6 kV and 3 MA peak output ratings, and a 9 shot repetitive fire capability. In the early 1990's, the U.S. Army, along with the Marine Corps, showed much interest in the Cannon Caliber Electromagnetic Gun System (CCEMG). This project seeks to demonstrate an elecrtomagnetic gun system designed from a system/mission prospective. The CCEMG showed a 3 times increase in energy and power density over the range gun system. The U.S. Army plans to produce electric tanks by the year 2015 with electromagnetic guns mounted on them. The all-electric tank would include electric vehicle drive and suspension and electric armaments. In this concept, the flywheel energy can be used as a flywheel battery to provide power for vehicle acceleration and regenerative braking, and will also produce electrical power for the electromagnetic armaments. This is the perfect example of how physics is still impacting the world in which we live. A rail gun in it's simplest form is a pair of conducting rails separated by a distance L and with one rail connected to the positive and one the negative side of a power source supplying voltage V and current I.... ...an use the right hand rule. Since all the angles involved are 90 degrees, the resultant force has a magnitude resulting from the simple multiplication of the magnitude of i and B and the value of L. (|F|=L|i||B|) To determine the direction, lay your right hand along the path of the current through the projectile, with your fingers pointing in the direction the current is travelling. Next, curl your fingers in the direction of the B field. Your thumb will now be pointing in the direction of the applied force. Bibliography 1. Jengel and Fatro's Rail Gun Page. http://home.insightbb.com/~jmengel4/rail/rail-intro.html 2. Pappas, John. University of Texas Center for Electromechanics http://www.utexas.edu/research/cem/ 3. MIT students. Amateur Rail Gun Production Journal http://www.railgun.org 4. United States Patent and Trademark Office http://www.uspto.gov/

Gillian Armstrong :: essays research papers

The first reason I chose Gillian Armstrong for my research paper is because I admire her dedication and ambition to become a director even though it was a male-dominated job at the time. She is an extremely ambitious and independent woman that didn’t let anything get in her way of pursuing her goal to become a director. The second reason I picked Gillian Armstrong is because she is the director of Little Women, which has been an all-time favorite film of mine since I was little.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Armstrong has explored several genres, including gangster, musical, and most frequently, period drama. The three films I am going to explore are My Brilliant Career, Mrs. Soffel and Little Women. These are all period drama films that evolve female characteristics and feature women in lead roles. These films demonstrate the stylistic pattern of story telling, (Carter, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gillian Armstrong produced My Brilliant Career in 1979. This film was the highlight of the period drama, which was popular in Australia at that time. Armstrong became the first woman to direct a feature length drama in Australia in 46 years, (Carter, 2002). The film is about Sybylla Melvyn, a sensitive, passionate young woman with high hopes for a writing career. When offered the opportunity to escape her outback station home to stay with relatives in New South Wales, she accepts willingly. In New South Wales, her cultural openness and writing career is encouraged. She eventually meets Harry Beecham who is wealthy and handsome. Sybylla struggles with the tough decisions between ambition and independence, and between love and marriage. She eventually sacrifices romance with Harry and takes a job as a governess in the McScwatt household while still pursuing her goal as becoming a writer. Sybylla eventually finds success as a writer and also as an independent woman.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mrs. Soffel was produced by Armstrong in 1984. This film was directed in Pittsburgh, and was her first American film, (Carter, 2002). This film is about a woman named Kate Soffel who is the wife of the warden of the Allegheny County jail. Her job is to distribute Bibles and read the scriptures to the prisoners. Kate is unhappy and unsatisfied with her lifestyle. She is tired of her husband constantly controlling what she can and cannot do. Kate eventually falls in love with Ed Biddle, who is a prisoner being wrongly sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of a grocer during a robbery.

Roman Construction

The ancient Romans were known for their brilliant engineering that have  stood the test of time. They were brilliantly manufactured to make the ancient Romans  more comfortable. Most of the inventions were improvements of older engineering ideas,  inventions, and concepts. The Romans improved the recipe of cement, which was  invented in Egypt, and created concrete. The Romans were greatly influenced by theGreek and the Estrusan.The construction and technology for bringing running water into the cities  were invented in the East. The construction of roads, were common then as it is now.  The Romans improved the design and perfected the construction so well it is used today.  The three examples I choose to write about Roman Engineering are first the Roman  aqueduct.   This construction was used to supply water to the people in the city. The  aqueduct is one of the most brilliant engineering constructions in the ancient world.It set a standard that has not been equal ed Centuries after the fall of Rome.  Many of the cities in Rome, today still use the aqueducts to supply water for the city.  The aqueduct is estimated to be between 40 and a little over 500km in length. It is  29miles (47) km; above ground because most Roman aqueducts ran beneath the surface  of the ground. To build underground makes the water disease free as well as helped the  aqueducts from being attacked by enemies.The Roman aqueducts were sophistically built and remarkably thinly  technically standard. It has a gradient of only 34cm per km, lowering 17m vertically with  its entire length of 50km. Largely powered by gravity, it moves large amounts of 6  million gallons of water a day. The combined aqueducts in Rome supplied around  1million cubic meters which supplied 30 million gallons to the city each day. This is  great engineering feat has not been equaled until the 19th Century.The construction of the Roman aqueducts is the use of Chorobates. The  Ch orobates used in this engineering were used to level terrain before construction. The  Chorobates was a wooden object that was supported by four legs. It had a flat broad top  with an engraved half circle. The half circle was filled with water to make the angle  which there is no water will be measured.The Groma is another tool used in the construction of the aqueduct. It  was used to measure right angles. It consisted of stones that hung off four sticks and was  perpendicular to one another. Distant objects marked out against the group of stones are  placed horizontally. There were nine aqueducts built, in ancient Rome supplying 38  million gallons a day to Rome.  A second example of Roman engineering is the Roman roads. These   roads were an essential to the growth of Rome because they supplied the Roman Empire  to move enemies in War. They were also created to hinder the enemies organizing to  attack Rome. The road, in its greatness was 85,000 km containing 372 links. The  Romans became adept at constructing the roads for political, military and commercial  reasons.The roads were long and important for the stability and expansion of the Roman Empire.   The Roman Roads were built first with Roman Army builders who  cleaned the ground of trees and rocks. They then build a trench where the road was  going to be laid and then filled it with large rocks. They put the large stones, pebbles,  cement and also sand and packed it down making a firm base. They added a layer of  cement that was mixed with broken tiles, paving stones creating the surface of the road.The stones were cut to fit tightly together. They placed kerbstones at the side  of the road to hold the paving stones and create a channel were the water can run.  The third example of Roman engineering, are Roman Bridges. The Romans  were first to build these bridges and make them long lasting. The Roman bridges were  built with stones with an Arch as its basic s tructure. The Romans used a new form of  cement called concrete to build the bridge. The Bridges were built in 142 BC, and was  named the Ponte Rotto.It is the oldest Roman stone bridge built in Rome. The Roman Bridge  characteristics are many they are 5 meters wide. Many have a slope and lean slightly.  Roman bridges have rustic work. The Roman Bridges stonework has a changing stretcher  as well as header courses which consist of a layer of square stones that are laid  horizontally. The end faces outwards, in the next layer of square stones.  The stones are connected with dovetail joint or with metal bars.  Indentions found in the stones were created by the gripping tools used for the  workers to hold onto.   The Romans also used tools such as slaves to move building  blocks of stones as well as levers and pulleys. They used chisels, concrete, plumb bob, a  bronze square, bronze dividers, and bronze foot ruler to build the bridges and the  powerful, and mi ghty city of Rome.Works CitedRoman Architecture- http://www.iol.ie/~coolmine/typ/romans/archie2.htmlThe Roman’s Page.Mark Warner, 2007-Roman Roads-The Downs FM; The amazing podcastOf the downs CE Primary School-Teaching Ideas; Subject: History. http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/history/romanrd.htmChris Trueman; The History of Ancient Rome- History learning site; http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/roman_engineering.htmChris Trueman; Roman Roads-The History of Ancient Rome-History learning site; http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/roman_roads.htm

Economics Assignment

ECONOMICS ASSIGNMENT For a market of your choice, keep track of the spot or share price fluctuations during a period of at least two years. Prepare a report of approximately 3000 words, for each market, discussing in detail the multiple forces (interesting developments) responsible for the trends. Tuesday 24 May 2011 Table of Contents Executive Summary Executive Summary In analysing the consumer market, we have chosen the share prices of two JSE listed companies, namely SABMiller and Rainbow Chicken which belong to the beverages and food producer’s sub-sectors respectively. Our two-year analysis is for the period March 2009 to May 2011. We will explore how Rainbow Chicken fared relative to its nearest competitor – Astral Foods. SABMiller allowed us to expand our thinking and methodology as the company also has a dual-listing on the London Stock Exchange. Its three closest competitors Heineken, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Carlsberg Breweries have foreign listings. It stands to reason, therefore, that we begin our assignment with an overview of the global context in which both companies operated in the period under review. The aftermath of the recession and changes in global economic indicators like the ZAR:USD exchange rate and the price of Brent crude oil will be examined. What we found particularly interesting was the resilience of both company’s share prices in the challenging global economic climate. We mention the factors that insulated each share from the global downturn. We then turn our attention to South Africa’s economic environment and examine the extent to which the foregoing global factors impacted on South Africa’s macroeconomic policy landscape. The two variables that we pay particular attention to are the local repo and CPI rates. We address the extent to which changes to these local variables impacted on the share prices of SABMiller and Rainbow Chicken. As mentioned in the first paragraph, our analyses consider the industries in which both companies operate by comparing their share prices with those of their nearest competitors. Our company analyses focus on internal considerations and the strategic objectives detailed in SABMiller’s and Rainbow’s annual reports for the 2009 and 2010 financial year ends. In our analyses of each company’s share price, we remain mindful of the fact that, although not directly responsible for the share’s daily performance, the objectives and calibre of management nevertheless impact on the share price. We conclude each analysis with a justifiable prediction of the expected trajectory of each company’s share price. The concentric eclipses in the diagram below depict the logical progression of our assignment’s structure, beginning with the outer-most eclipse. The diagram also shows the inter-relatedness of each eclipse relative to the other and how it is impossible to isolate the effects of one from the other. This reinforces the aphorism that: â€Å"in Economics everything is related to everything else; and usually in more ways than one. † The Global Environment [pic] Source: www. eia. doe. gov The price of Brent crude oil has been steady at an average level of $70 to $80 a barrel until November 2010. Since December 2010, the oil price has been rising, reaching a peak of $120 / barrel in April 2011. This has been partly due to uprisings in the Arab world, which holds the majority of global oil reserves. The oil price affects domestic inflation as fuel and energy are a major component of South Africa’s CPI basket. The price of petrol, which is based on oil prices, also raises logistical costs. SABMiller and Rainbow paid more to transport their products in the December 2010 to May 2011 period as a result of the spike in oil prices. It stands to reason that these higher transportation costs would be passed on to consumers as higher product prices by both companies. pic] Source: www. xe. com The graph above shows that the Rand has been strengthening relative to the US Dollar from 1USD:10ZAR to 1USD:6,3ZAR between March 2009 and May 2011. The strong rand has had a favourable impact on our terms of trade as can be seen from the self-explanatory graph below which depicts the Balance of Payments. The company analyses below reveal that SABMiller exports and imports a number of its brands across the world. Rainbow Chicken imports the soy component of its chicken feed wholly from Argentina. The rand’s strength impacts on both companies’ performances (and hence) their share prices favourably. [pic] [pic] Source: www. resbank. co. za The South African Environment Domestic interest rates [pic] Source: www. resbank. co. za The graph above shows that the Reserve Bank’s stance to monetary policy has been expansionary. This is shown by the gradual decline in the repo rate from 9,5% in March 2009 to its current level of 5,5% in May 2011. The Reserve Bank’s mandate is to keep the inflation rate within its target band of 3% to 6% and it uses the repo rate as the instrument with which to impact inflation. The Reserve Bank’s lowering of the repo rate is due to the CPI breaching its upper target limit of 6%. This is shown in the graph below. There is a positive relationship between the repo rate and CPI. It stands to reason, therefore, that the gradual lowering of the repo rate would be accompanied by a decline in the CPI rate. This is indeed the case. However, because of lags, the effect of a fall in the repo rate on the inflation rate is not reflected immediately and the CPI remains significantly above the upper limit. A fall in the repo rate eases pressure on consumers by raising their disposal incomes since they, theoretically, spend less on their credit commitments. All things being equal, this would raise the sales volumes of SABMiller’s and Rainbow’s products. Domestic Inflation [pic] Source: www. statssa. gov. za The graph above depicts the trend in inflation. It is clear that although the inflation rate has been on a downward trajectory (following the lowering of the repo rate) it was in breach of the upper limit of 6% from March 2009 to Oct 2009. It was within the target band in November 2009 but breached the upper limit again between December 2009 and February 2010. The latter breach is attributable to the market’s inflation expectations because of the steep increase in electricity tariffs during this period (www. eskom. co. za). As mentioned previously, the biggest components of South Africa’s CPI basket are food and fuel and the graphs below will be used to explain the impact of inflation on SABMiller’s and Rainbow’s performance specifically. CPI indicator relevant to SAB Miller pic] Source: www. statssa. gov. za This graph shows that inflation for alcoholic beverages has not only been consistently higher than the upper limit of the inflation target band, it has also been significantly higher than the country’s inflation rate. This is due to the fact that a major component of the price of alcohol is a â€Å"sin tax†, which is imposed by the finance ministry, because of the relative ly inelastic nature of the price elasticity of demand for alcohol as well as irresponsible and excessive consumption patterns. For some consumers, even a sharp increase in the price of alcoholic beverages does not result in a fall in the quantity demanded. There would, in all likelihood, be a shift away from the consumption of relatively more expensive alcoholic beverages towards relatively cheaper alcohol – not a complete cessation in the consumption of alcohol. This is one of the reasons that SABMiller’s share price has shown steady gains relative to the market. CPI indicator relevant to Rainbow Chicken [pic] Source: www. statssa. gov. za Consumer food price inflation decelerated sharply from December 2010. It is also interesting to note, that between January 2009 and January 2010, the prices of wheat fell by 24,58%, maize by 22,57% and sunflower seeds by 18,49% (www. finweek. co. za) Decreases in the prices of these staple foods has a positive impact on the poor as they spend 33,4% of their incomes on food; versus the rich who spend a mere 2,6% of their incomes on food. Poor people consume relatively more chicken than red meat because the latter is relatively more expensive. Chicken is the cheapest form of protein in South Africa and demand for it is high (www. astralfoods. com). Furthermore, the above staple foods are used as chicken feed which is a significant input cost for Rainbow Chicken, therefore the company has had cost savings because of bumper crops and the consequent price decreases in these commodities. The table on the following page clearly accounts for the nearly vertical decline in the graph above which shows food price inflation. [pic] Source: www. resbank. co. za GDP – South Africa [pic] [pic] Source: www. statssa. gov. za The graphs above show that South Africa was in a recession in 2009, as defined, because of the two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Our recovery from the global recession was due to the fact that we had a low exposure to the sub-prime market crisis that was responsible for the global meltdown. Our banking and macroeconomic policies remain robust. The growth in the economy from the third quarter of 2009 is also due to infrastructural investments that were made for the 2010 Soccer World Cup as well as South Africa’s contributions to the BRIC emerging markets bloc – especially our trade with China. It is expected that our formal inclusion to the BRICS nations since April 2011 will maintain the upward trend in GDP (www. lobalsherpa. org). Positive GDP growth has a positive impact on the performance of SABMiller’s and Rainbow’s shares. In a boom everyone does well. SABMiller, in particular, has a presence in all five BRICS nations and is poised for growth as emerging market economies have overtaken developed economies in their contributions to global GDP. We now examine SABMiller’s s hare price in more detail and then turn our attention to Rainbow Chicken in light of the foregoing discussions on the global and local environments. Analysis of SABMiller pic] SABMiller is a global operation covering 75 countries on six continents and employing over 70 000 people. Its portfolio of businesses is divided into six regions and is well balanced between developed and emerging markets. Between them, the businesses produce over 200 different brands and sell 213 million hectoliters of lager a year. Since listing on the London Stock Exchange 10 years ago the company has grown substantially and has a market capitalisation of ZAR 419,837,700,000 on the JSE and GBP 36,099,310,000 on the LSE. The company’s markets range from developed economies such as the USA to the fast growing BRICS economies (SABMiller Annual Report, 2009). SABMiller is also the number one bottler of soft drinks for The Coca Cola Company. The breweries market can be seen as oligopolistic in nature since SABMiller and its three main competitors (Heineken, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Carlsberg) are the dominant players in the market and have significant market share amongst them. The oligopolistic market structure has a positive impact on the company’s operations and share price performance. In North America, SABMiller (through its strategic partners) is the second-largest brewer in the United States and owns nearly 30% of the US beer market. In Latin America, it is the number one brewer by market share. In the majority of the ten European countries in which it operates, the company is the number one or number two brewer by market share. The same holds for Africa and Asia. In the 2009 annual report Mayer Kahn, the Chairman of the Board, stated that the global brewing industry was expected to continue to consolidate and that participation in industry consolidation provides opportunities to enter growth markets and to create value from scale benefits. The graph below shows SABMiller’s share price relative to its three main competitors. It is clear that all four companies’ trajectories have moved in tandem but Carlsberg’s share price has significantly taken the lead with SABMiller in second place. At the turn of the century, the top 10 brewers accounted for just over one-third of global beer sales volumes. The past decade has seen a rapid consolidation, resulting in the top four brewers – Anheuser-Busch InBev, SABMiller, Heineken and Carlsberg – accounting for almost 50% of beer sales volumes and up to 75% of the global profit pool. (SABMiller Annual Report, 2010) [pic] Source: www. heineken. com Mr Kahn attributes the company’s good results (in both 2009 and 2010) to the operational strengths of the businesses and the power of their leading local brands. He concedes that even though SABMiller was not immune to the global crisis, beer is a fairly resilient product which placed the company in a better position than many to weather the storm. He goes on to say: â€Å"Thanks, partly, to our long experience of emerging markets, we are used to operating under difficult conditions. If we look back ten years to our London stock market listing, it is worth remembering that the Asian currency crisis at that time had shaken investor confidence in emerging markets and that the outlook was far from encouraging. Nevertheless, we prospered and grew and achieved the international expansion that our listing was intended to facilitate. Ten years on, our geographic spread is proving to be an advantage in that different countries are affected by the crisis at different rates and to differing degrees. So while demand in Europe has dropped sharply, countries in emerging markets such as Africa and Asia have fared relatively well despite falling back from the high – one might say unsustainable – rates of growth of recent years. † SABMiller Annual Report, 2009 In short, SABMiller’s diverse spread of businesses, strong market positions, and a portfolio of leading brands mitigated against the risks and negative consequences of the global downturn and contributed to the steady upward momentum in the share price. In response to the mismatch between the supply of, and demand for, certain brewing and packaging raw materials in Africa, the company is increasingly using locally grown crops such as sorghum and cassava to produce affordable brands. This is done to minimise supply shortages and the price volatility of key raw material inputs. Continued robust pricing and productivity enhancements offset increased commodity costs (SABMiller Annual Report, 2010). It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the combination of the above factors resulted in a steady upward trend in the company’s share prices on both the London and Johannesburg bourses in the period under review as seen in the graphs below. [pic][pic] Source: www. sabmiller. com In 2010, Mr Kahn had similar good news for investors, citing the same reasons as for 2009. However he mentions the company’s management team as being a key contributor to the positive results: This year, in addition, we have benefited from management’s ability to reduce costs and selectively increase prices in order to maximise revenues†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Source: SABMiller Annual Report, 2010 In the third paragraph of our Executive Summary, we mentioned that the management of any company is not responsible for the share price. However, in fulfilling its primary objective of maximising shareholder value, the credibility of and strategies employed by management invariably have an impact on the share price. It would appear that the management and directorship of SABMiller are market-friendly. The members of the executive team are representative of each of the continents in which the company operates; with Mr Cyril Ramaphosa and Dr Dambisa Moyo as the notable representatives for Africa. Other market-friendly strategies include the December 2009 announcement that 8. 45% of the shares in SABMiller’s South African subsidiary, The South African Breweries Ltd (SAB), would be placed under Black ownership as part of its commitment to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa. This transaction created 40,000 new shareholders among SAB employees and qualifying retailers. The deal also created a charitable foundation that holds 18% of the shares that were issued under the transaction. The dividend income will be used for the benefit of the wider South African community (SABMiller Annual Report, 2010). The company also capitalised on the strength of emerging markets (particularly in China and Africa) by channeling its growth strategies to these markets. â€Å"Globally, the beer market grew by 1. 5% in 2010, led by a continuing strong performance in Asia, Africa and Latin America. China grew by 6. 5%, Africa by 3. 1% and Latin America by almost 3%. Western Europe continued the trend of declining beer volumes, driven by a shift in consumption to other beverages and the decline of on-premise consumption. † Source: SABMiller Annual Report, 2010 In the 2010 financial year the company acquired four new breweries in China, invested in new breweries in Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola and Southern Sudan and carried out expansions and upgrades in Uganda and Zambia. The trends in the graphs depicting SABMiller’s share price on both the London and Johannesburg Securities’ Exchanges (given above) require no further explanation. With good management being both a contributory factor to and a consequence of the share’s strong performance, it is reasonable to conclude that the positive momentum will continue. [pic] Analysis of Rainbow Chicken [pic] Rainbow Chicken Limited is the largest processor and marketer of chicken in South Africa. It is a fully integrated broiler producer that breeds and rears its own livestock which it feeds from its own feed mills. Rainbow processes, distributes and markets fresh, frozen, value-added and further-processed chicken. The company has a market capitalisation of ZAR 6 124 893 000 009 was a very challenging year for the South African poultry industry, both locally and globally. The local chicken industry was negatively impacted by the fall in demand due to the recession. An oversupply by local producers and increased imports due to the strong rand also added to the industry’s woes. These difficult market conditions were a further test of Rainbow’s differen tiated brand strategy, which through its foodservice and consumer brands, seeks more consistent, profitable and sustainable business (Rainbow Chicken Annual Report, 2009). Despite these challenges, Rainbow managed to deliver an acceptable overall performance. Positive performance, like a rally in the share price, is a function of several variables and while we can make inferences about the correlation between the two, we make no such inferences about their causality. Like SABMiller, Rainbow’s Black Economic Empowerment transaction (which was concluded in July 2008) was market-friendly and boosted the company’s share price. Rainbow provided vendor financing for a 15% equity stake that was issued to a consortium that was constituted by its employees, Imbewu Consortium, Ikamva Labantu, and Mrs M Nhlanhla, a non-executive director. The BBBEE transaction resulted in the share price rallying from R12. 0 to R16. 80 in the latter period of the second quarter of the 2009 financial year as shown in the graph on the following page. 2010 was an equally challenging year for Rainbow but its effects were mitigated by South Africa’s steady recovery from the recession, a lower interest rate and inflationary environment. Maize prices d eclined since their peak in July 2008. The global financial crisis caused a dramatic decrease in the demand for maize, improving the previously dangerously low US and global maize stock situations to such an extent that international prices fell sharply from their record levels. Rainbow Chicken, Annual Report, 2010). The fall in maize prices, which is a major component in chicken feed, resulted in a reduction in the company’s input costs which boosted the bottom line. Local producers added significant production capacity for wheat, grain and soy over the past five years. Rainbow imports the soya component of its chicken feed from Argentina and it has a significant FOREX exposure. The strong rand, however, in the period under review, has been in the company’s favour. The company’s 2010 annual report reflected acceptable profit margins. In both 2009 and during 2010, the company’s share price maintained its upward momentum as reflected in the graph below. [pic] |Key Features – Rainbow Chicken Share Price | |Year |Low |High | |2009 |11500 |16800 | |2010 |15900 |16900 | The graph and table above confirm the findings in the preceding paragraphs. Although the difference between the year’s highest share prices is negligible, South Africa’s economic recovery may be gleaned from the fact that the lowest share price for 2010 was 4400c above the 2009 low. Consumer’s disposable incomes were higher in 2010 because of falling interest and inflation rates. Falling input costs and increased consumer demand increased the appetite for the company’s shares as investors’ expectations of earning better returns were supported. Other events that led to sharp movements in the company’s share price include the market’s speculative expectations immediately prior to the announcement of the group’s 2009 results. After the results were announced, the share price dropped to R13. 90 because of the 39. 6% decline in headline earnings. The reason for this decline in earnings can be attributed to the company’s policy of buying feed products forward. The share price stabilised for the remainder of 2010 due to an increase in the multitude of families that joined the ranks of South Africa’s middle class. As the middle class grows in size, so the taste of chicken diversifies allowing entrepreneurs to come up with new ways of marketing chicken to end consumers. We now turn our attention to Rainbow’s competitor, Astral Foods, to get a better idea of the South African poultry industry before making conclusions about how justifiable a continued rally in Rainbow’s share price is. Astral Foods is Rainbow Chicken’s nearest competitor. The company holds investments in subsidiary and joint venture companies. Its primary activities are animal feed pre-mixes, the manufacturing of animal feeds, broiler genetics, the production and sale of day-old broiler chicks and hatching eggs, integrated breeder and broiler production operations, abattoirs and the sale and distribution of various key poultry brands. Its current market capitalisation is R5,5 bn (www. moneyweb. co. za) Despite a 5% drop in sales volumes, revenue for Astral Foods’ poultry division increased by 13% for the 2009 financial year. (Astral Foods Annual Report, 2009). The market was neutral about the appointment of Chris Schutte as the Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 May 2009. The share price was also not responsive to the appointment of Daan Ferreira as the Financial Director. This may be because it was not perceived to be mindful of BBBEE. The improvement in Astral Foods’ revenue for the 2010 period was largely attributable to a sustained growth in volume. The volume growth was on the back of improved production results supported by better poultry health status. Depressed consumer spending, together with higher levels of imports and high local stock levels, contributed to vigorous promotional activity with prices at levels below historical levels. Reduced feeding costs during the period countered the effects of lower poultry selling prices. A lengthy period of industrial action at Earlybird Standerton negatively impacted the company’s share performance. (Astral Foods Annual Report 2010) |[pic] | |The graph above shows the steadily upward trend in Astral Foods share price. Not surprisingly, it follows a similar pattern to Rainbow | |Chicken’s share price – with pronounced sell-offs in the first and second quarters of 2009 and improvements thereafter. This pattern | |provides comfort because of the consistency of both company’s responsiveness to events in the poultry industry. It would be concerning if | |the companies had different trajectories. The consensus amongst analysts is that the South African poultry industry is poised for | |significant growth given that the price of chicken has risen by 30 per cent year-on-year while the cost of feed has come down. We | |anticipate that Rainbow’s share price will maintain its upward trend. | | | BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Astral Foods Limited Annual Report, 2009. www. astralfoods. com 2. EIA Independent Statistics and Analysis, US Energy Information Administration, www. eia. doe. gov 3. www. eskom. co. za 4. www. finweek. co. za/Economy/Food-inflation-still-a-concern-20100301 5. www. globalsherpa. org/china-africa-brics 6. www. heineken. com 7. www. moneyweb. o. za 8. Rainbow Chicken Limited Annual Report, 2009 and 2010, www. rainbowchicken. co. za 9. Reserve Bank Quarterly Bulletin March 2011,www. resbank. co. za 10. SABMiller PLC Annual Report, 2009, www. sabmiller. com 11. SABMiller PLC Annual Report, 2010, www. sabmiller. com 12. Statistics South Africa, Statistical release P0141, www. statssa. gov. za 13. www. xe. com [pic] ———————– Economics Assignment 2011 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT LOCAL ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY / COMPETITORS COMPANY SHARE PRICE