Battle of Molino del Rey in the Mexican-American War

Battle of Molino del Rey in the Mexican-American War The Battle of Molino del Rey was fought September 8, 1847, during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Having advanced inland from Veracruz and won several victories, Major General Winfield Scotts American army approached Mexico City. Learning of Mexican forces in a mill complex known as the Molino del Rey, Scott ordered an attack to capture the facilities as intelligence suggested they were being used to cast cannon. Moving forward, troops led by  Major General William J. Worth assaulted the Molino del Rey and the nearby Casa de Mata. In the resulting fighting, both positions were captured, but American losses proved high. A somewhat Pyrrhic victory for Scott, no evidence was found that cannon were being manufactured in the facility. Background Though Major General Zachary Taylor had won a series of victories at Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Monterrey, President James K. Polk elected to shift the focus of American efforts from northern Mexico to a campaign against Mexico City. Though this was largely due to Polks concerns about Taylors political ambitions, it was also supported by reports that an advance against the enemy capital from the north would be exceptionally difficult. As a result, a new army was created under Major General Winfield Scott and ordered to capture the key port city of Veracruz. Landing on March 9, 1847, Scotts men moved against the city and captured it after a twenty-day siege. Building a major base at Veracruz, Scott began making preparations to advance inland before yellow fever season arrived. Moving inland, Scott routed the Mexicans, led by General Antonio Là ³pez de Santa Anna, at Cerro Gordo the following month. Driving towards Mexico City, he won battles at Contreras and Churubusco in August 1847. Nearing the gates of the city, Scott entered into a truce with Santa Anna in the hopes of ending the war. The subsequent negotiations proved futile and the truce was marred by numerous violations on the part of the Mexicans. Ending the truce in early September, Scott began making preparations for assaulting Mexico City. As this work moved forward, he received word on September 7 that a large Mexican force had occupied the Molino del Rey. The Kings Mill Located southwest of Mexico City, the Molino del Rey (Kings Mill) consisted of a series stone buildings that once had housed flour and gunpowder mills. To the northeast, through some woods, the castle of Chapultepec towered over the area while to the west stood the fortified position of Casa de Mata. Scotts intelligence reports also suggested that the Molino was being used to cast cannon from church bells sent down from the city. As the bulk of his army would not be ready to assault Mexico City for several days, Scott determined to conduct a minor action against the Molino in the meantime. For the operation, he selected Major General William J. Worths division which was located at nearby Tacubaya. Plans Aware of Scotts intentions, Santa Anna ordered five brigades, supported by artillery, to defend the Molino and Casa de Mata. These were overseen by Brigadier Generals Antonio Leon and Francisco Perez. To the west, he stationed around 4,000 cavalry under General Juan Alvarez with the hope of striking the American flank. Forming his men before dawn on September 8, Worth intended to spearhead his attack with a 500-man storming party led by Major George Wright. In the center of his line, Worth placed Colonel James Duncans battery with orders to reduce the Molino and eliminate the enemy artillery. To the right, Brigadier General John Garlands brigade, supported by Hugers Battery, had orders to block potential reinforcements from Chapultepec before striking the Molino from the east. Brigadier General Newman Clarkes brigade (temporarily led by Lieutenant Colonel James S. McIntosh) was directed to move west and assault the Casa de Mata. Armies Commanders United States Major General Winfield ScottMajor General William J. Worth3,500 men Mexico Brigadier General Antonio LeonBrigadier General Francisco Perezapprox. 14,000 men in the area The Attack Begins As the infantry moved forward, a force of 270 dragoons, led by Major Edwin V. Sumner, screened the American left flank. To aid in operation, Scott assigned Brigadier General George Cadwalladers brigade to Worth as a reserve. At 3:00 AM, Worths division began advancing guided by scouts James Mason and James Duncan. Though the Mexican position was strong, it was undermined by the fact that Santa Anna had not placed anyone in overall command of its defense. As American artillery pounded the Molino, Wrights party charged forward. Attacking under heavy fire, they succeeded in overrunning the enemy lines outside the Molino. Turning the Mexican artillery on the defenders, they soon came under heavy counterattacks as the enemy realized that the American force was small (Map). A Bloody Victory In the resulting fighting, the storming party lost eleven of fourteen officers, including Wright. With this thrust faltering, Garlands brigade swept in from the east. In bitter fighting they managed to drive off the Mexicans and secure the Molino. Haven taken this objective, Worth ordered his artillery to shift their fire to the Casa de Mata and directed McIntosh to attack. Advancing, McIntosh quickly found that the Casa was a stone fortress and not an earthen fort as originally believed. Surrounding the Mexican position, the Americans attacked and were repulsed. Briefly withdrawing, the Americans witnessed Mexican troops sortie from the Casa and kill nearby wounded soldiers. With the battle at the Casa de Mata progressing, Worth was alerted to Alvarezs presence to across a ravine to the west. Fire from Duncans guns kept the Mexican cavalry at bay and Sumners small force crossed the ravine to provide further protection. Though artillery fire was slowly reducing the Casa de Mata, Worth directed McIntosh to attack again. In the resulting assault, McIntosh was killed as was his replacement. A third brigade commander was severely wounded. Again falling back, the Americans allowed Duncans guns to do their work and the garrison abandoned the post a short time later. With the Mexican retreat, the battle ended. Aftermath Though it lasted only two hours, the Battle of Molino del Rey proved one of the bloodiest of the conflict. American casualties numbered 116 killed and 671 wounded, including several senior officers. Mexican losses totaled 269 killed as well as approximately 500 wounded and 852 captured. In the wake of the battle, no evidence was found that the Molino del Rey was being used as a cannon foundry. Though Scott ultimately gained little from the Battle of Molino del Rey, it did serve as another blow to the already low Mexican morale. Forming his army over the coming days, Scott attacked Mexico City on September 13. Winning the Battle of Chapultepec, he captured the city and effectively won the war.

Assessing the Impact of Macroeconomic Policies on the Economy Essays

Assessing the Impact of Macroeconomic Policies on the Economy Essays Assessing the Impact of Macroeconomic Policies on the Economy Essay Assessing the Impact of Macroeconomic Policies on the Economy Essay Department of industrial relations and public administration Lagos state university, Ojo, Nigeria.. Abstract The regime of banking sector reforms leading to recapitalization and consolidation in Nigeria and the consequent merger and or acquisition of existing banks into twenty five (25) by 2005, and later eighteen (18) by 2012 brought along their trails attendant labor problems in terms of educational diversity, job security and productivity, decent employment questions.The study review post consolidation performance of the banking sector to assess the extent to which the sector meets consolidation objective using post development approach. It was found that while the alliance and marriage of seemingly compatible partners are settling down, the society is at the receiving end of the severance of labor and the enlargement of the pool of reserved army of the unemployed. The fall-out therefore is double-edge for the economy and the society. Keywords: Labor reforms, recapitalization, con solidation and post development 1. 0Introduction Private and public businesses are continually being challenged by performance. Performance success is very minimal measured on the indices of what Alos (2006) catalogued as: what the customer needs and values, response to environmental changes and impact on the quality of the people. The issue of performance effectiveness or reengineering organisation has preoccupied the minds of organization practitioners, researchers and watchers since 1990s. Therefore, all over the world, many economies had carried out various reforms to ensure effectiveness of the 166 European Scientific JournalMay edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 real sectors. The performance revolution started in the private sector. Its effects spread to the public sector influenced by ideas from public management school. Nigeria as a nation is not left out in this reform revolution to ensure quality of life for its citizenry. Legal and i nstitutional frameworks were put in place to re-engineer the economy and the performance values of the real sectors. The blue print of the current reforms agenda is set out in the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) document.Some of the reforms include (1)power sector reform; (2) ports reforms meant to ensure timely clearing of goods within forty eight hours (3) deregulation of oil and gas sub-sector to forestall perennial fuel scarcity; (4) deregulation in the telecommunication industry to reduce government participation, create employment and commerce (5) the banking sub-sector /recapitalization/consolidation to make it play its rightful role as the dominant sector of the economy in driving growth and development in other sector. The current banking sector reforms captioned as recapitalization policy was issued out on Tuesday July 6, 2004.Capitalization is setting the capital base upon which a player can set up and be licensed to operate banking function s. It is setting a capital base which was given as twenty five billion naira (N25b) as at 2005. The former capital base was two billion Naira (N2b), which many banks could not even afford. In Nigeria, empirical studies had been carried out on the relationship between banking reforms and economic growth (Balogun, 2007, Fadare, 2010); consolidation and macro economic performance (see Somoye, 2008); consolidation and adoption of e-banking (Ayo, Adewoye and Oni 2010; Chimeke, Evwiekpaefe, and Chete, 2006).The implication of banking reforms on labor has scarcely been researched. The main objective of this study is to review the banking sector reforms 2004 – 2011 and the extent to which the objectives set are met and also, the implication of the reforms on labor as regards employment: security, decent employment, employees’ satisfaction and the outcomes of these variables for the society. 2. 0 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework Consolidation simply means to build on or improve to the extent of stability Adeyemi (2007) considers it to represent the idea of investment and the coming together of firms or enterprises as a single entity.In the banking sector of Nigeria the essence of banking consolidation 167 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 is to reposition the nations banking industry for global competitiveness and also to ensure a strong and reliable banking sector that will guarantee the safety of the depositors’ money. Consolidation as a means of reducing over capacity is doubtful (Somoye 2008).The effectiveness of banking sector consolidation as a remedy for financial stability and in correcting the defects in the financial sector for sustainable development had not been corroborated by similar exercise in Europe, America and Asia in the last decade (Somoye, 2008). Rather, crises and failures as depicted by credit crises and transatlantic mortgage financial turmoi l erupted which, in Nigeria, seriously affected invested money values specifically, stock values.Rather than restructuring leading to reduction in over capacity as indicated by consolidation apologists, an improvement strategy that would accommodate the resources available and expand them is advocated by internally induced consolidation apologists. The banking sub-sector in Nigeria witnessed sharp drop in credit rate to the real sector which affected return on shareholders’ fund (Adeyemi, 2007). Credit went more to foreign exchange rather than the real sectors. The capacity of real sector to generate employment weakened.The access of small and medium enterprises (SMES) and the informal sectors to credit also dwindled (Somoye, 2008; NDIC, 2008; CBN, 2008). Structuring to the economists is adapting to the demands of increasingly global markets for greater efficiencies. Sociologist always view the social impact, specifically the social problems engendered by externalities which results in social disruption especially the negative effects on level of job security, commitment, psychological well being and turnover intentions.The effect of these on organization efficiency, contrary to reformist postulation may be negative. Matanmi (2005) saw a yawning gap between the immediate or short term effects of economic reforms and the necessary ideals of job security. He concluded that the ability of reforms to create employment in the last one decade had been very few and far between. Adeyemi (2007) also agreed that banking reforms in Nigeria resulted in job loss, variance level of compensation and remuneration package for different merging groups and board room squabbles among cliques of the merging banks. . 1 Theoretical Framework Post development approach is a reaction to the dilema of development. Instead of abundance, discourse and strategies of development produce its opposite: underdevelopment and 168 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 impoverishment, untold exploitation and repression. (Sidaway 2008). The post development apologist claim that change brought about by modernity or driven by the west would always meet with disillusionment on the part of the people of developing countries. 2. 2Banking Sector Reforms in Nigeria Banking operations began in 1892 owned mainly by expatriates (Somoye, 2008). They remained however unregulated until 1952 (Fadare, 2010). There were expansions with indigenous ownership by 1950s. However, many of the banks failed between 1947 and 1952. The first regulation of banks was put in place by Banking Ordinance of 1952. This was ineffective as there was no Central Bank until 1958 to carry out supervising or control measures. Bank ownership structure shifted by 1970s with indigenization decree. This allows more Nigerian investment in the banking industry.The Nigerian enterprises promotion Decree (NEPD) limits foreign ownership of Nigerian bu sinesses to 60% in 1972 and 40% in 1976. The 1990’s reform allowed for 100% individual ownership which was a shift from existing 10% for individual ownership and 30% for corporate ownership. This led to the proliferation of banks. Banking sub sector recapitalization policy was issued out on Tuesday, July 6, 2004. Capitalization is setting the capital base upon which a player can set up and be licensed to operate banking functions. Recapitalization is setting a new capital base.The essence is to consolidate the sector to enhance competitiveness and capacity to play important role of financing investment (Somoye, 2008). Consolidation which may result in increase in bank size through merger and acquisition has the potential of increasing bank returns through increase revenue and cost efficiency gains. It may also reduce industry risks through the eliminations of weak banks and create better diversification opportunities (Furlong, 1998). Recapitalization policies set twenty five billion Naira (N25b) as the new minimum capital base for banks operating in Nigeria.The former capital base was two billion naira (N2b) and many banks could not even meet this. The objective of recapitalization is captured in the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Charles Soludos words thus the banking reform is to: (1) reposition the nations banking industry for global competitiveness; (2) ensure a strong and reliable banking sector that will guarantee the safety of the depositors money; (3) play active development role in the nations’ economy; 169 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) ISSN 1857- 7431 (4) (5) make the banks less dependent on public sector fund, and be capable of financing the real sector (New Age Apri17, 2005). A time frame of eighteen months terminating in December 25, 2005 was set for prospective player to meet the capitalization line. To facilitate compliance the following carrots were offered by CB N. Banks that met the deadline shall: (1) (2) (3) (4) deal in foreign exchange; take public sector deposit; be recommended to fiscal authorities to collect public sector revenue, and; manage part of Nigeria external revenue. New Age April 12, 2005); Furtherance to this, nine billion Naira (N9b) loan write off was offered for weak banks to make them attractive for acquisition so as to protect the system, the depositors, and employees as a results of liquidation. 2. 2. 1The Need for reform: The Banking sector is one of the dominant sectors of the economy. It serves as the engine of growth for the real sector financing, Its stability and strength and consolidation will to a large extent influence other sectors.Any policies in the banking sector including its activities affect the micro-economic situation and acting as consultant with qualitative advice to the customers will drive the economy as it were. An inventory of Nigerian banks between 1994 and 2001 as revealed by Nigerian Deposi t Insurance Corporation shows that (NDIC, 2004; National Mirror 2005). (1) A total of thirty five (35) licensed banks went into distress and were eventually liquidated. Out of these, thirteen (13) were commercial banks eighteen (18) merchants and one (1) cooperative (2) The loss to depositors was two billion naira (#2. b) (3) Four thousand (4000) workers lost their job. Omeife (2005) calculated that an average of 3 banks per year was liquidated. That is spanning the period of eight years. The liquidation was as a result of in-effectiveness and inefficiency arising from (1) financial fraud, (2) insiders’ credit abuse resulting in huge non-performing credit, (3) low quality manpower, (4) inefficiency of management, (5) inaccurate reporting and non compliance with regulatory requirements(6) low aggregate credit as percentage of the GDP to the domestic 170 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 economy (20%) Idowu, 2006; Adeyemi, 2007; Cowry research, 2009). By 2005 the following were the status of the banks in terms of their standing Table 1 Category Sound Satisfactory Marginal Unsound 2001 10 6. 3 8 9 2002 13 54 13 10 2003 11 53 14 9 2004 10 51 16 10 Source: CBN reports and statement of accounts 2004 The impacts of these on the economy include the following: (1) There is sociological implication for the social nets of the sacked workers and the multiplier effects on other real sectors Social nets is the web of relationship established by an individual.In African setting, they include lots of extended family members that are dependent on such workers and which he/she in turn provides financial supports. (2) The confidence depositors have in banking system waned. (3) The economy became depressed as a result of loss of money. (4) Increased unemployment was witnessed. The loss of deposit definitely stalled other businesses and the spiral effect can only be imagined. At the announcement of the ba nking consolidation, not more than few banks could go it alone. Therefore, merger and or acquisition were necessitated..The existing eighty nine banks went through the process of merger and or acquisition, and twenty five banks eventually emerged by December 25, 2005 deadline. Table 1 shows the merged banks and their capital base. 171 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 Table 2 S/N GROUP MERGING BANKS Access bank, Marina Int’l Capital Bank Afribank, Afribank Merchant Diamond, Lion Bank Eco bank COMBINED ASSETS DEC. 2005, ‘N’ BILLION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Access Afribank Diamond Eco Bank 28. 5 29 33. 25 Over 25 25 30 29 44. 62 28 34 35 51. 7 25 31. 26 Equatorial Trust Equitorial Trust, Devcom FCMB Fidelity First Bank First Inland Guaranty Trust IBTC Chartered Intercontinental FCMB, COOP Dev. NAMB Ltd Fidelity, FSB Int’l, Manny First Bank, FBN Merchant, MBC Int’l Fi rst Atlantic, Inland, IMB Int’l NUB Int’l Guaranty Trust Bank IBTC, Regent Banks Intercontinental, Equity, Global, Gateway Nigeria Int’l Bank Nigeria Int’l Bank (City Group) Oceanic Bank Platinum Skye Oceanic Bank and International Trust Platinum Bank ; Habib Bank (Bank PHB) Prudent Bank, EIB International, Cooperative 37 Bank, Bond Bank ; Reliance Bank 17 Spring Bank CITI, ENS Inter.Bank, Guardian Express Bank, Over 25 ACB Inter Bank, Omega Bank, Fountain Trust Bank ; TRANS, International Bank. 18 19 Stanbic Bank Standard Chartered Bank Stanbic Bank Standard Chartered Bank 25 26 20 United Bank of UBA, and Standard Trust Bank Africa 50 172 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 21 Sterling Bank Magnum Trust Bank, NAL Bank, Indo-Nigeria 25 Bank ; Trust Bank of Africa. 22 Union Bank Union Bank, Union Merchant, Board Bank and 58 Universal Trust Bank 23 24 25 Unity Bank WEMA Bank Zenith Bank W EMA ; National Bank Zenith 0 26. 2 38 Sources: Compiled from CBN Press Release (3/1/06), Financial Standards (16/1/06), and the Comet (3/1/06). 2. 3 Post Consolidation The Nigeria society woke up by August 14, 2009 to find out that the banks were not stable after all. The Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened again purportedly to save the banking industry from imminent collapse. Five Banks were identified for rescue as a result of poor capital adequacy, high risk assets poor corporate governance tending towards CEOs corruption; erosion of share holders fund, high liquidity ratio and credit crises.Whereas the twenty five (25) banks that passed the recapitalization test were declared sound in 2005, by 2006, ten (10) were declared sound, five (5) satisfactory five (5) as marginal and five (5) unsound (CBN, 2006). Corporate governance crises, sharp practices, and corruption were also alleged. Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) was set up to manage the toxic debt or non p erforming loan (NPL) of ten (10) unsound banks. About N680b was injected into these banks and then top executive changed. As at 2011, three of the banks were nigerianized and their names changed.This suggests the inability of consolidation to ensure risk control, transparency and accountability among many of the banks. Two other banks intercontinental and oceanic were acquired by Access bank and Ecobank respectively by 2010. 3. 0 The Effects of Banking Sector Consolidation on labor and the Economy Banking sector consolidation through recapitalization, has these attendant economic benefits (1) The process of recapitalization and the consequent merger and or acquisition engendered many of the banks to get registered with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and therefore get listed (publicly quoted).Ownership of the banks became widened and public. Many Nigerians can now own some stakes in the banking sector rather than private ownership that 173 European Scientific Journal May edition v ol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 were the pictures of many banks pre consolidation era. This demands that the various boards become more responsive and alive to their responsibilities. (2) Banks were able to shore up their shares, boosting both individual and corporate investments. Locally and internationally; about $652million of foreign direct investment (FDI) was attracted (Fadare, 2010). 3) Banking restructuring and strategy that are information and communication technology (ICT) driven; a shift from the manual to automated systems involving the use of various e-banking and e-payment systems. There has been users’ acceptance of this because of their convenience, time savings and they also meet transaction needs (Adesina and Ayo, 2010). It has also led to the flexibility of business on the part of the banks. (4) Enhanced customer relationships through creation of facilities and instruments that enable easy banking.Intending customers can ope rate their accounts through telephone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and even on public Holidays (GT Bank 2006/2007 Interim Reports) (5) Best practice which have earned some of the banks conferment of the International Standard Organization (ISO) 9001: 2000 certification award by the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) (6) The waned confidence of the public in the banking sector is changing for the positive as shown in the average deposit rise post consolidation from 10,482. 36b Naira in 2004 to 188,478. b Naira in 2006. (See table 3). Table 3 Pre and post consolidation performance of the Nigerian Banks Macroeconomic indications N’m2004a N’m2005b N’m2006b % charge measure/decrease (-) or differences (D) (+) Average deposit (N’m) Average networth (N’m) 10,482. 36 7,708. 73 85,007. 13 19708. 88 445,008. 9 18,478. 55 38,831. 31 525,482. 0 27. 82 +1690. 0500 +403. 73% +68. 87% Credit to the private sector 311,646. 8 to private sector growth rate 26. 6 174 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431Return on equity % Assets utilization % 35. 28 33. 62 30. 8 12. 72 11. 2 11. 04 +0. 18 (D) 24. 16 (D) Source: CBN 2006 Publication Somoye, 2008 (7) Real sector -financing especially the financing of small and medium scales enterprise (SMEs) GTBank for instance sets aside #2. b for this purpose, though this is not adequate. (8) Competitiveness: Narrowing down the numbers of the existing bank evokes creativity, innovativeness service delivery, creating strategy to make the banks stay afloat in the competitive environment. The net-worth of banks grew by +403. 3% between 2004 to 2006 (see table 3 above). (9) Banking performance are also gaining the confidence of the regulatory agency as some of the banks are concluding arrangement to manage Nigeria external reserves (Idowu, 2006). (10) Banking culture is gradually expanding all over the country as the banks are expanding their point of presence. The cashless culture that will become a culture in 2013 will further reinforce this. 4. 0 Banking Consolidation: Challenges The process of recapitalization and post consolidation in Nigeria brought along its trail erger and acquisition. The following become unresolved issues. The issues can be categorized as pre and post consolidation. 4. 1 Pre-Consolidation (1) Unemployment: Rationalization during merger created unemployment. While it was not possible to confirm the number of workers disengaged as a result of the exercise (as at the time of writing this paper), the unconfirmed number has been said to be high. It is not possible though to have two Chairmen or two Managing Directors, etc,, It has not been however proved that banking sector had been adequately staffed.Efforts could be made to retrain workers for other challenges. The disengaged workers are burdens to the society, lowers national productivity, increased poverty, stress, and other psychological problems (Idowu, 2006). (2) Reneging on Collective Agreements: Many banks managements reneged on their collective agreement with the Unions. First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) for instance, sacked 1200 175 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 workers (New Age April 7, 2005).The Association of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution (ASSBIFI) reacted by accusing the management of being insensitive and confrontational to organized labor in the country through its inconsistencies. It also accused the management of not consulting with it in line with earlier agreement on declaring redundancy. Also, the merger arising from UBA and Standard Trust promised that no members of the two banks would be retrenched. This has not been so. Many Higher National Diploma HND holders and contract staff had not been given full employment. 3) Diversity issues: The gulf between Higher National Diploma (HND) and Bachelors Degree holders rear ed its head. The HND holders were the first to be rationalized at the conclusion of the merger exercise. This has no regard for performance level of the individuals, and all other factors besides educational background that account for individual performance; factors like reward system, organization structure, organization supports (adequate tools, motivation and leadership styles).The society suffers as the pool of unemployment widened. Admission seeking into Polytechnics nosedived. Sectoral allocation to this sub sector also becomes a waste (Idowu, 2006). 4. 2 Post Consolidation (1) Perceptions of uncertainty and insecurity of tenure pervade banking landscape among the workers. This is because rationalization exercise is still on. The consequence of this is less commitment and higher propensity to quit. Many workers have already changed jobs to other sectors due to this factor.The fraud in Nigeria banks had been correlated with high level of job insecurity Omoife (2012) found that disengaged workers vent their anger on the banks using their knowledge of the workings of the banking hall to defraud banks The fraud ran into N189b. This would go a long way in capacity building and loan to real sector which can lead to employment generation and expansion. (2) Unethical/Moral questions at both the pre and post merger era, some banks engaged unqualified and inexperienced young ladies as marketers to woo big clients so as to meet the 25 billion Naira target and to shore up their capital base.Targets were given and management looked the other way not minding how these targets were met The marketers were given near impossible targets to meet Not meeting target led to job loss. The female workers were therefore exposed to sexual harassment, and all other marketers, to other unethical behaviors. This negates International Labor Organisation (ILO) advocacy for decent employment 176 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 3) Disillusionment: arising as a result of differentials in reward package and treatment for similar status and different merging groups, uncertainty of tenure, different career path for seemingly similar educational qualification, prejudices and biases expressed by the management of some of the banks against some groups (merging banks, educational: HND/Bachelors, Federal/ State universities. (4) Decent Employment: A report that has not been officially confirmed is the fact that some banks management asked HND holders to resign and reapply with their National Diploma (ND) qualification.As well, those that attained Bachelors degree or professional certificate are to re apply, serve probationary period in spite of the number of years that had been spent with the banks or the status of such individual. This is also in spite of the glass ceiling on the career path of HND or those possessing lower qualifications. Furthermore, the process of disengaging the workers were at best, immodest. Option of resigning or get retrenched: whichever becomes the lot of the workers, there were complaints of inadequate severance benefits if there was any paid.This is demeaning having no regard for best practice The consequences of all these include: I. II. III. IV. Labor has become cheapened Unions become weakened Career opportunity slowed down and Perhaps the banks gained and labor and society lost. (5). Corporate Governance Crisis Goje (2010) suggested that the weakness experienced by banking sector as regard corporate governance (CA) arrangement may have led to the current state whereby banks cannot safeguard against excessive risk taking. Recapitalization regime exposed the banks to non performing loans (NPL) and margin loan (ML) to the tune of N2. trullion Naira. The non performing loan (NPL) of some of the banks exceeded their Shareholders Funds (SHF). Eight of the banks Capital Adequacy (CA) was less than 10% and their Deposit Ratio (DR) were less than 25% (E topidiok, 2009). The diversion of deposits to foreign exchange trading including the transatlantic mortgage and financial crises led to loss of share holders fund values as many banks had to readjust shareholders stock as depicted in table 4. Table 4 177 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) ISSN 1857- 7431 INSURED BANKS’ ADJUSTED SHAREHOLDERS’ FUNDS AS AT DECEMBER, 2009 AND 2008 S/N BANKS SHAREHOLDERS’ SHAREHOLDERS’ FUND* (N’BILLION) FUND* (N’BILLION) 2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Access Bank Nig. Plc Afribank Nigeria Plc Bank PHB Plc Citibank Nigeria Ltd Diamond Bank Plc Ecobank Nigeria Plc Equitorial Trust Bank Ltd Fidelity Bank Plc Finbank Plc First Bank of Nig. Plc First City Monument Bank Plc Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Intercontinental Bank Plc Oceanic Bank International Plc Skye Bank PlcSpring Bank Plc Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc Standard Chartered Bank Ltd Sterling Bank Plc Union Bank Plc United Bank for Africa Plc Unity Bank Plc Wema Bank Plc Zenith Bank Plc Total 167. 22 127. 38 243. 24 29. 40 95. 64 43. 45 32. 38 129. 55 112. 86 315. 75 137. 66 130. 03 195. 58 211. 52 96. 55 (48. 68) 67. 22 28. 47 20. 58 115. 93 191. 44 16. 94 26. 68 313. 39 2,802. 18 2009 154. 30 (221. 69) (126. 84) 31. 68 98. 31 26. 02 (46. 95) 129. 99 (123. 70) 293. 89 132. 17 141. 82 (336. 35) (192. 20) 79. 56 (94. 08) 74. 61 29. 66 20. 14 (38. 56) 114. 8 (4. 06) (3. 22) 310. 99 448. 99 178 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 Source: NDIC Adjusted Shareholders’ Fund (Bank returns) The Apex Bank Code of Corporate Governance (CCG) set in 2006 and which was mandatory for all banks in the post consolidation era to comply with could not address insider trading, ineffective risk management and control. This accounted for the NPL crisis and therefore necessitated the establishment of Asset M anagement Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).The CBN also injected N608b and provided technical assistance by replacing the so called incapable Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Executive Director ED of 8 banks with new ones. The corporate governance crises also accounted for percentage decrees in return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) over the post consolidation years compare to pre consolidation as table 5 illustrates. Table 5 Pre and Post 2006 Recapitalization, Performance Evaluation Ratio for Nigeria Banks. Pre-recapitalization 2002 Net Interest Margin 11. 16 2003 14. 88 2004 9. 12 Post-recapitalization 2006 10. 7 2007 7. 71 2008 10. 21 (NM)% Yields (YEA)% Funding Return (ROE)% Return (ROE)% Source: NDIC Annual Report, Various Issues The return on equity (ROE) measuring the rate of return to shareholders that was 99. 45% in 2004 (pre-consolidation) fell to 27. 23% by 2008. Also, return on assets (ROA) that stood at 3. 9% pre consolidation (2004) reduced to 2. 58% by 200 8. This confirms post modernist/post development postulation that modernity like restructuring/reforms does not bring about organisational efficiency or capacity management loss of investment cannot lead to creation of employment.Also the purported over capacity of resources like labor that were eliminated does 179 on Assets 17. 55 4. 64 4. 62 27. 55 20. 32 18. 88 Cost on (FC)% 8. 09 Equity 86. 08 9. 42 00. 59 9. 47 99. 45 13. 05 41. 63 9. 63 29. 11 9. 66 27. 23 on Assets 4. 52 4. 13 3. 96 2. 63 2. 00 2. 58 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 not corroborate the result pre-consolidation. Rather disillusionment, inefficiency still pervade banking sub-sector. 5. 0 Conclusion and Recommendation The banking sector is very crucial to economic growth.The consolidation period however reveal sharp practices against labor and society which would not benefit; the society and the labor but the banks themselves in terms of po sting huge profits: Organizations like banks always pay lip service to placing premium or value on their workers as usually reported in their annual reports. Human resource practices pre and post recapitalization regime does not confirm that their workers are their assets. Banking sector recapitalization carne with double edge: benefits and constraints on the economy, the people and the society.While the banks have achieved some efficiency in terms of its operations, treatment of men at work will further deepen unemployment, lead to disillusionment, uncertainty, job dissatisfaction and quitting. The Nigerian economy is still depressed. The Gross domestic products took a downward turn growing by 2. 5% in 2000 compared to 6. 9% in 2005 and further went down in 2009 and 2010 (GT bank 2006). Alo (2006) quoted wall street journal and Heritage foundation as rating Nigeria economy as worse of in August 2006 than it was the previous year and described it as repressed measured on index of Ec onomic Freedom.The rating for 2011 is no better. Nigeria ranked 106 and scored 56. 8% on index of economic freedom for 2010 and therefore grouped as unfree, unlike in the pre consolidation era. To be free means improvement in the overall quality of life and promotion of social and economic life (index of Economic Freedom, 2011). There is the need to manage people well if the objectives of recapitalization are to be met in concrete terms. Recommendations: A lot needs to be done and the following are recommended 1. Institutional machinery should be put in place to address the issue of undervaluing, under utilization of workers.Training and retraining of existing employees to improve their capacity for new demand rather than retrenchment is advocated. The banks’ net-worth and profit after tax had increased geometrically (see table 3). The capacity to employ, train and retain more workers and therefore expand employment should not be a constraint as 180 European Scientific Journa l May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 expansion of branches to new areas is ongoing and new facilities and instruments are also continually being introduced. 2.The federal government and its banking regulatory agencies should do more to ensure creation of employment. In a situation where institutional framework will lead to rationalization, efforts should be made to follow due process, retrain people to retain them in other capacities rather than worsen the unemployment problem. 3. Diversity management should be a best practice and this should be included by standard organization of Nigeria (ISON) in conferment of ISO award. Diversity management is a process by which the diverse elements in organization are enabled to release their potential in organizational attainment of goals.This involves valuing and rewarding people for what they are: race, sex, educational background personality disposition and ethnicity. While the presidency made proc lamation on HND/Bachelors dichotomy in 2006, legal framework and moral persuasions should be pursued to make organization embrace diversity management as best practices. 4. The best practice principle demands that banking organization in Nigeria should place value on their workers, manage them strategically to release their energy for accomplishment of organizational goals. 5.Regulatory bodies should put in place periodic monitoring to ensure compliance with code of corporate governance by banks. Stress test on banks by the CBN should be more frequent and periodic. 6. Credit to real sectors – Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), manufacturing and agriculture to take the largest share of loan. This can lead to expansion of capacity utilization and ultimately employment generation and expansion

Fluid mechanical Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fluid mechanical - Coursework Example Looking at those pipes, you might notice that they have different diameters creating an illusion (Kezerashvili & Sapozhnikov 2000, 1). This causes an imbalance when water is put in the thick end, and no water in the thinner opening of the pipe. The construction made in the pipe make the liquid not to come to equilibrium; as a result, the water in the thick end exert weight pushing the water down the thick pipe. The kilogram of water that was situated at the most elevated point on one end moves in the opposite direction to the following side, precisely as a pendulum would when swigged (Kezerashvili & Sapozhnikov 2000, 1). The overbalancing mass of water getaways from the slight end because the channel is so short, it is impractical hold 1 kg of water. On the peculiarity, you comprehend that the surge is redirected to the thick end of the channel, where it extends the measure of time required for the liquid to accomplish concordance while encountering the tight end. The structure will accomplish amicability in the unmistakable measure of time that it takes for the water to pass through the restricted tube. Note: This charm Fountain examination will certainly for two reasons: at first, it relies on upon pneumatic power, which runs out once the first holder gets filled.  Furthermore, the fundamental thing that goes to the second compartment is vaporous pressure and not water. In this manner, it moves the water in the second compartment to the third, yet nothing refills the second holder! No water ever moves into that holder. Munson, B., & Okiishi, T. (2009).Fundamentals of fluid mechanics  (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons. Kezerashvili, R., & Sapozhnikov, A. (2000). Magic Fountain. Retrieved November 13, 2014, from

Constitution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Constitution - Essay Example The English dictionary sees the meaning of the phrase to fall within the periphery of all those statutory protocol and social efforts that have concern to the matters of public. As such, health is just one of the aspects that fall within the phrase. Individuals such as James Madison also note that the limits of the phrase also seems infinite, considering the congress has the same authority but in a different capacity which is taxation by the federal government and the spending of the same. In the case Ferrocarril Central Argentino c/Provincia de Santa Fe, 569 held in Argentina, the court noted that the existence of the term in the US constitution is an affirmation of the authority that accrues to the federal government through its taxation and spending. In the case of a state such as Alaska, the existence of the phrase not only does imply public health, but it goes further to note that the phrase implies promoting and protecting public

Evolution Of Central Banking In India Finance Essay

Evolution Of Central Banking In India Finance Essay The term paper discusses the role that the Reserve Bank of India has played in the Indian banking system. In the start it talks about the evolution of the bank and its preliminary functions. Then the role of the bank in the last two decades has been studied taking into account structural changes made by the bank so as to adapt to the changing needs of the banks in the dynamic economic environment. It can be observed that the role of the Central bank has changed from being a mere controller to an enabler where it is in a position to make the banking industry make significant contribution to the countrys economy. The paper also discusses the supervisory role of RBI where it is trying to implement the Risk Based method to supervise banks. The paper concludes with the future outlook on the banking industry and how the RBI should evolve further when compared to Central Banks in developed economies across the world. The Reserve Bank of India Evolution of Central Banking in India Reserve bank of India is central bank of India and regulates all the banks of the country. It all started in late 18th century when first time in the history of India Warren Hastings felt that there is need of centralized bank in India. His recommendation didnt reach at a thoughtful conclusion of creating a central body to regulate the banking in India. Later when demand of central bank increased in the 20th century and Lord Keynes also recommended setting up a central bank. Three Presidency banks Presidency bank of Bengal, Presidency bank of Bombay and Presidency bank of Madras merged to form Imperial bank of India to make central bank of India. A bill was brought in the assembly to establish RBI as central bank in in India in 1927 but got refused. In the third round table conference held in the year 1933, it was recommended to set up a free body to control the banking system in India. Due to all these fresh recommendations a fresh bill tabled in the parliament on 22 December 1933 a nd got passed in year 1934. Reserve bank started its function from April 1 1935 under the Reserve bank of India Act 1934. Evolution of Role and Functions Role of RBI is evolved over the period of time. In the initial stages it performed two basic functions. First, it acted as a central point of reserves for Indian banks and timely lend to the banks as they required funds for the operations in the emergency case. Second, it functioned as a regulator for the Indian banks and made sure that they perform their activities in the interest of the depositors. In the years before the independence, banking network and scenario in India was not spread properly all over the country. They were divided in the foreign banks and domestic banks. Foreign banks mostly served to the British companies in India. Domestic banks were only engaged with domestic groups and overall banking intermediation among the banks and the customers was weak. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or the Central Bank is the backbone of the Indian financial system. It was set up under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. RBI was initially started with 5 crores of capital and governed by directors of central bank. Since its inception in the year 1935, the functions undertaken by the bank have not only increased but have also undergone changes in accordance with the changing needs of the Indian economy. It was in the year 1949 that the bank was nationalized. The role and functions of RBI became critical after independence and worked in order to increase the saving habit in India to generate more wealth for growth of the country. More the people will save and more will be the investment in the projects. Its roles were primarily on the basis of this hypothesis that the poor were unable to save and increase funds on their own. RBI was assisting government to establish institutions to serve the public by providing funds for specific functions. After second five year plan in 1956 government of India came up with decision of establishing financial institutions with assistance of RBI. These institutions were Industrial development bank of India (IDBI), Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI), Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI). They will make credit available and perform their functions at central level and work as apex institutions for such state level and regional institutions. The role of RBI became concentrated after the establishment of these institutions. The Functions of RBI evolved with expansion of banking. RBI played a vital role to make the banking facilities available in the concerned areas. Banking reached to remote areas of the country. SBI was formed in 1955. Imperial bank of India was converted in State bank of India in the year 1955. Then came the period of very critical moves of the Indian banking history when 14 banks were nationalized in 1969 and in 1980 when 6 more banks were nationalized. These bold moves led to the increased network in the rural areas of the country where most of the population was based. The traditional credit was for agriculture and a specialized institution being established in 1963 with name of Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC) which later converted into NABARD in 1982. The role of RBI expanded after these institutions as these institutions helped the country to evolve with better banking facilities. Functions of Reserve Bank of India These are some basic roles which RBI performs in the country: Issue currency notes: RBI is only authorized government body to issue notes in the country. It has one issuing department to issue notes of 2,5,10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000. One rupee note is issued by the finance ministry of central government. Bank of the Government: RBI is known as the banker or Agent of central government. It holds deposit of the government and pays on the demand of government. It also gives timely advice to the government on the financial policies. RBI issues bonds for the government and manages debt for them with appropriate charges. Bank of the banks: RBI also performs the job of banker for the all the banks in India. All banks who came under RBI act, have to put their cash reserves at the rate called CRR with RBI. RBI will regulate and supervise the operations of banks as soon as they are incorporated under the RBI Act. Banking System Regulator: RBI is responsible for the regulation of Indian banking system. All banks who comes under RBI Act 1949 are bound follow the guidelines issued by RBI. RBI has powers of licensing, management, expansion, inspection and direction in this regard. Clearing House: RBI is responsible for the settlements among the banks. It runs clearing houses in major cities to for the settlements and smooth transaction of cash between banks. Credit Control: Credit Control is another important role that RBI performs. RBI performs credit control duty with the help of qualitative and quantitative instruments. Some qualitative measures are selective credit control, rationing of credit, moral persuasion and direct action. Bank Rate, Cash Reserve Ratio, Statutory Liquidity Ratio, Repo Reverse Repo and Open Market Operations are quantitative instruments to control credit. THE ROLE OF THE BANK POST 1990: In the early 1990s, the country was faced with the crisis of maintaining its diminishing foreign exchange reserves. There was a need to put in place a new economic framework and policies so as to deal with this situation. This period saw the introduction of economic reforms which made the environment more conducive for the functioning of the private sector. During this period it was the Reserve Bank of India which was entrusted with the task of regulating the new system that was put in place, bringing in technology to strengthen, modernize and make the functioning of banks more efficient, introducing varied monetary policy instruments and management of currency. As of today, keeping in line with the changes that need to be incorporated in the functioning of the Central Bank, the bank is divided into 27 departments where each department is responsible for policy making in a particular area assigned to it. Depending on the requirement the bank has in the past added new departments and closed down some of the existing departments. The Central Board has the responsibility of the proper functioning of the Central Bank. The aim of the Central Bank is to ensure stability of prices while supporting economic growth. The role of the central Bank has evolved over the years from being the implementer of the monetary policy to include other functions such as regulation and supervision of the countrys banking system. Moreover it has also gained greater autonomy in its functioning with regards to managing its own personnel, financing expenditure for the government where the RBI (rather than the government) can decide the amount of funding provided to the government, this further means that the monetary policy can be implemented independently of the fiscal policy and the new instruments introduced by RBI give it more flexibility so to better respond to changing macroeconomic environment. Post 1990, various changes have been made by the bank in its structure and operations to deal with the responsibilities thrust on it. In the year 1994 the Board for Financial Supervision was formed and was given that task of regulating, auditing and supervising banks, NBFCs, and financial institutions. Although the body exists under the RBI it is independent in its functioning which is not the case for many Central Banks across the world. In the year 1995, Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited was formed as a subsidiary of RBI. The reason for its formation was the management of the banks two printing presses so as to handle the supply of currency in the economy when needed. The Financial Markets Committee (FMC) has been established in the year 1997 and is responsible for providing inputs on a daily basis with regards to the same. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has been formed in July 2005 where its role is to advise the bank on the actions that it should take whil e reviewing the monetary policy. Also introduced in the second half of 2005 were the pre consultation meetings and resource management discussions (conducted every year) where apart from the Indian Banks Association, representatives from other banking and financial institutions are also present so as to give their opinions and views regarding which direction the economy is headed before the monetary policy review. Such interactions will make the policy review inclusive and transparent. Another area of change in the recent past is more interaction by the bank with the journalists and the media resulting in better dissemination of information. NEW MONETARY POLICY INSTRUMENTS INTRODUCED AFTER 1990: Apart from the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR), the bank in the last decade has introduced other instruments such as Open Market Operations (OMO) and Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) to manage short term liquidity requirements for banks, also introduced in 2004 was the Market Stabilization Scheme (MSS) for managing excess liquidity because of inflow of capital into the country from abroad. The portfolio of monetary policy tools that the bank has, gives it the required flexibility to deal with the changing macroeconomic conditions and make monetary policy transmission more efficient and effective. To protect the monetary policy from being impacted by the fiscal policy (fiscal deficit monetization), the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act was passed in the year 2003, this has given more autonomy and control to the bank with respect to the monetary policy. The bank has also given its view with regards to inflation where according to it the upper limit on the inflation should be around 5 %. This has influenced the acceptable level of inflation to come down. The RBI has had the freedom to make changes with respect to the mandatory provisions that banks have to make (such as CRR and SLR which are direct monetary policy tools) and the assignment of risk weights as and when needed. EVOLVING SUPERVISORY ROLE: There has been a gradual shift in the supervisory and regulatory roles that RBI had been assigned. Initially the Central bank was mainly concerned with maintaining solvency of banks operating in the system where it issued directives and guidelines with regards to granting of licenses, the level of reserves to be maintained, specifying interest rates for lending and deposits, requirement of capital. Whereas now the RBI is trying to put in place processes which take into account the countrys economic condition and are in line with those followed by Central banks across the world. The Central Bank has successfully handled the role of a supervisor for the changing Indian banking industry. Earlier Central Bank was more concerned with ensuring that the banks in the system were adhering to the all the safeguards laid down by it. The approach used gave more importance to a banks financial statements and checking for any incidence of non compliance (offsite, onsite inspections, CAMELS method). Under this approach the information that could be obtained from the banks financial statements was used as the criterion by the auditors to form any judgment about the bank. This approach had been sufficient in the recent past when the banks in the system had limited their business to lending out and getting deposits. However post 2000; the banking industry has seen the arrival of technology and the introduction of extremely complex financial instruments or products (for instance Securitization, Derivatives) which have linkages across different markets. This has made the supe rvisory role of the bank even tougher. With the complexity and the risk in the banking system increasing the earlier method of supervising the banks is no longer sufficient. It fails to take an overall view of the banks business. It does not look at how much risk the bank is facing, whether it is able to understand it and is in a position to manage it. Thus the Central bank is now focusing on the Risk Based method for supervising banks. This is still an ongoing process. Through this method the level of risk associated with a particular bank can be estimated and a specific supervisory plan can be developed for the bank. The following diagram shows the steps involved in risk based assessment. SUPERVISION CYCLE: Understanding the bank profile and developing a Risk Matrix based on inputs from offsite monitoring and surveillance, internal capital adequacy assessment, audit reports, market intelligence Planning the supervisory action to be taken, defining its scope and objective and communicating it to the management of the bank Discussion with management, Monitoring action plan, mitigation of risk, required level of supervision Surveillance Review and Evaluation Process, Assessment of Capital, onsite inspection and determining the risk rating The Risk Assessment Matrix combined with the Risk Impact Rating gives the level of supervision needed for the bank. The Risk Assessment Matrix is as given below: Risk Group Weights Risk (Net) 85% Risk(OG) 15% Risk (inherent) Risk (control) Risk associated with governance and oversight Credit Risk (CR) 30% 70% 30% Market Risk (MR) 20% 70% 30% Operational Risk (OR) 20% 70% 30% Liquidity Risk (LR) 20% 70% 30% Pillar 2 Risk (P2) 10% 70% 30% Now for any group say Credit Risk Risk Credit = 0.7 * Risk Inherent +0.3* Risk Control Similarly it can be calculated for all other groups. Now the Risk (Net) = 0.85*(0.3* Risk Credit + 0.2* Risk Market + 0.2 * Risk Operations +0.2 * Risk Liquidity + 0.1 * Risk Pillar2) + 0.15 * Risk OG Risk of Failure = 0.2*(Risk (Net)^2 + Capital available) The risk of failure is arranged on a linear scale from 0 to 4. The score obtained above is then combined with the Impact Rating (again arranged on a scale from 0 to 4) to get the necessary supervisory action to be taken for the bank. The impact rating is dependent on the following factors: Size Interconnectedness Cross Jurisdictional activities Complexity Infrastructure Each factor is again assigned a weight and is further dependent on impact indicators. Risk Impact Index Matrix Risk Failure Impact Rating 16 64 144 256 9 36 81 144 4 16 36 64 1 4 9 16 Risk Impact Index = (Risk Failure)^2*(Impact Rating)^2 For the matrix shown above in column 1 Risk Failure = 1 and Risk Impact varies between 1 to 4, similarly in column 2 Risk Failure = 2 and Risk Impact again varies between 1 to 4. Each bank will lie in one of the boxes and the different colors indicate the type of supervision needed for a particular bank. The type of supervision recommended by the Central Bank is as follows: Color Supervision Needed Baseline Monitoring Close Monitoring Active Oversight Corrective Action The level of monitoring becomes more stringent as we move down the above table. For banks with high risk of failure (say 4) the action is stringent irrespective of the impact rating. Future Outlook Comparison of RBI with other central banks of the world On comparing RBI with other central banks of the world, we see that each bank adopts different tools despite having similar objectives. The difference in the same can be seen in the structure of the balance sheet of the respective countries. Some of the salient features of major world banks are: FED In USA, the central bank controls the fund rates through Open Market Operations or OMO by infusing or absorbing liquidity through the purchase or selling of US treasuries. Other tools used are Discount rate facility and Reserve requirements which help control the banks. FED also introduced certain new tools such as term deposit facility, primary dealer credit facility etc. after the 2008 crisis where poor regulations were attributed to the market crash. USA is thus follows an active market based system. ECB ECB on the other hand follows more of a bank based approach. Though ECB also adopts OMO, it follows a different approach where it produces money and lends it to banks similar to a repo transaction where the preferred collateral is government bonds. This difference can also be attributed to the history of the nation with USA traditionally being a supporter of open market. Hence during the crisis, the FED responded by providing liquidity to entities such as Mutual funds, Primary dealers etc. while ECB s approach was centered on the various central banks. Comparison with RBI On comparison of the above banks with RBI, we clearly see certain similarities as well as differences. India being a developing nation does not hold the power of developed nations and hence RBI uses both Repo transactions as well as OMO purchases to control the financial system of the nation. India predominantly follows a bank based system where the RBI controls the banks and lays down guidelines for its operation. This has helped put in place a strong foundation for the growth of the nation but looking forward with the development of financial markets in India, the RBI would need to ease down regulations in order to help the nation progress. Currently the banking industry in India is unattractive for players to enter due to stiff competition as well as guidelines from the RBI. The comparison of the balance sheet of RBI with other central banks revealed some interesting insights. For the analysis, we compare RBIs balance sheet with balance sheets of central banks of both developed and developing nations. The banks we have taken into consideration are the USAs Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Swiss National Bank (SNB) and Brazils Banco Central Do Brazil (BCB). For Europe, balance sheet of ECB and 17 other national banks have been combined to give a better idea. This has been named as ESCB or European System of Central Banks. From the diagram we see that central banks of developed economies rely more on bank reserves for creating liquidity (Bank Reserves 2% to 53% in 2011 for Fed). The share in currency during the period has decreased. For RBI we see that there has been no major change during the years. Analysis of the graph above shows that for developed economies, domestic assets form the largest share of assets while for India the share of domestic assets has increased over the years. From the above analysis, we see how having good regulations helped India ride out the 2008 crisis without any major loses while we see significant changes for developed nations. India is thus heading in the right direction in terms of how the central bank is molding itself to propel Indias growth in the future. Bond Market in India The corporate bond market in India is currently underdeveloped with high financing costs acting as a hindrance for firms to raise money through this avenue. On analyzing the financing polices of firms from 2000-01 to 2010-11 we see that of the total debt raised by companies the proportion of debt raised from banks has increased from 14% to 18% while the debt from bond markets has stagnated and rose only marginally from 3.5% to 3.9%. Even though the corporate bond market in India is underdeveloped at the moment, it is clear that in order for India to be a developed nation bonds markets have to be come up in order to ease the capital pressure on the banks. In this context the role of RBI going forward will change. Currently we see that there is lag whenever RBI announces a policy since banks take time in responding to directives like say a cut in interest rate while an active bond market will ensure such lag is eliminated. A cut in interest rate by the RBI will increase the bind prices in the market and thus help in faster policy implementation. ROAD AHEAD From the above analysis we see how the role of RBI has changed over the years and how it fares in comparison to other central banks of the world. The measures taken by the RBI has ensured we have a strong financial foundation which has helped propelled the growth of the nation. Going forward, with the development of financial markets (strong equity market and inevitable development of bond market) RBI should change its role to attract investors and bring in more capital to help fuel the growth of India. RBI thus needs to ease regulation in a way which would make banking attractive and promote the good institutions in the system but at the same time learn from the mistakes committed by developed nations in ensuring we have strong regulations which help prevent potential crisis. The RBI can thus ensure that the late entry of India can thus work in its favor in ensuring that the banking industry keeps pace with the growth of the nation and helps India become a developed nation in the near future.

Parts Of Automobile :: Car Parts

Air Filter – a device that reduces the concentration of solid particles in an airstream to a level that can be tolerated in a process or space occupancy; a component of most systems in which air is used for industrial processes, ventilation, or comfort air conditioning. Automobile self starter – the bell housing is part of the transmission system on a gasoline (also known as petrol) or diesel powered vehicle. It is bolted to the engine block and contains the flywheel and the torque converter or clutch of the transmission. The starter motor is usually mounted here engaging with a ring gear on the flywheel. On the opposite end to the engine is usually bolted the gearbox. Bucket seat – a seat contoured to hold one person, distinct from bench seats which are flat platforms designed to seat multiple people. Bucket seats are standard in fast cars to keep riders in place when making sharp or quick turns. Bumper – a part of an automobile designed to allow one vehicle to impact with another and to withstand that collision without severe damage to the vehicle's frame. Brush guards, push bars, etc. were added "after-market" to bumpers of automobiles, pickups, trucks, and utility vehicles since at least the 1920s to provide additional protection to the vehicle. While bumpers were originally made of heavy steel, in later years they have been constructed of rubber, plastic, or painted light metal leaving them susceptible to damage from even minimal contact. For the most part, these vehicles cannot push, or be pushed by, another vehicle. An entire after-market industry has developed which now produces various guards to protect these vulnerable modern bumpers. Buzzer – or sometimes called beeper is a signaling device, usually electronic, typically used in automobiles, household appliances such as a microwave oven, or game shows. Car battery – a type of rechargeable battery that supplies electric energy to an automobile. Usually this refers to a SLI battery (Starting - Lighting - Ignition) to power the starter motor, the lights and the ignition system of a vehicle’s engine. This also may describe a traction battery used for the main power source of an electric vehicle. Car door – an opening to enter to the car (or their compartments or partition), often equipped with a hinged or sliding panel which can be moved to leave the opening accessible, or to close it more or less securely. Clutch – a machine element for the connection and disconnection of shafts in equipment drives.

Cultural Identity in the Film American Gangster Essay

Films constitute as the perfect example in communicating cultural identity, the elements such as character, plot, and script pose as effective tools for communicating the film’s message. Much of this can be attributed to the basic premises of culture and communication as two terms co-related in such a way that cultures will simply cease to exist or continue without communication. Likewise, communication of a certain group of people is only limited to the traits distinct to their cultural pattern. In recent years, it has doubtlessly been established that the broad context of cultures is a way of identifying a group of people; this is because consciously or unconsciously everyone belongs to a particular sub-culture or microculture which uniquely signifies him or her from the main culture. For instance, the American culture is divided in to different microcultures considering that the United States is comprised of a diversity of people. James W. Neuliep (1999) defines microculture as a set of common values, beliefs, and behaviour that defines a group of people. The aforementioned values, beliefs, and behaviour also integrate shared histories as well as verbal and non-verbal language systems that are similar to, but methodically differing from the dominant cultural norms. The motion picture American Gangster (Directed by Ridley Scott, starring Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe) concurs with the previous statement of how the cinematic tradition communicates cultural identity. This is, in large part, brought about by the fact that the film contains themes and elements which present traits and values reflected by several microcultures such as race, gender, and socio-economic status. Primarily, American Gangster follows the rise of Frank Lucas as a prominent figure in Harlem’s organized crime and drug trafficking industries. The motion picture is a fictionalized re-telling of how Frank Lucas, following the death of his boss, Bumpy Johnson, gradually monopolized the New York drug trade with marvellous capitalist principles and devised a flawless importation scheme thereby allowing him to sell his good quality merchandise at a more affordable price (Scott, 2007). However, law graduate/street cop Richie Roberts, who is struggling to fight corruption within the force as well as the entire city while struggling to keep his marital life intact, felt the sudden shift of power in the underground crime domain (Scott, 2007). Combining both street smarts and experience, Roberts conforms to the belief that an unlikely individual is climbing the ladder of success overtaking on the prominent Italian-American crime families in the organized crime scene. As such Roberts decides to probe the situation closely giving him promising results which co-incidentally became huge turning point of his crime busting career (Scott, 2007). In a first look, the motion picture, American Gangster, appears to be another boring mobster film, however, the film highlights a character that effectively communicates the notable traits of people from a particular or diverse microculture. Not to be mistaken as a form of stereotyping or prejudice, the character simply mirrors the conventional patterns distinct of the African-American race’s traits and behaviour. Likewise, the character also reflects the conventional lifestyle of wealthy business executives who keep a low profile while running their respective businesses. Blood is thicker than water, so as the saying goes, this is how American Gangster’s Frank Lucas (George Washington) lives his life, both in personal and professional perspectives. Being an old-fashioned person, Frank Lucas’ actions reflect the traditional norms of African Americans, most particularly of the belief in close family ties. Primarily, most members of Lucas organization are immediate blood relatives. Frank Lucas seems to trust his family in running his business above everyone else. In addition, despite the moral controversy surrounding his source of living, Lucas also constantly pays eternal gratitude as a son by prioritizing his mother and escorting her to church every Sunday and never missing a family affair At the same time, Lucas also belonged to the upper class social category considering the depicted extravagant lifestyle he lives and his unique ability to manipulate the underground crime and drug scene as well as some officers of the New York Police Department to his advantage, even influencing established crime organizations and overpowering stable crime factions such as the Lucchese Crime Family and the Mafia respectively (Scott, 2007). Conversely, being the filthy rich drug lord that he is, Lucas is a very passive person in such a way that he refrained from wearing any expensive jewellery and other accessories as much as possible, this is perhaps to keep a low profile and to command attention away from him and his daily operations. . Both Lucas’ race and socio-economic status identify him the most because of how Richie Roberts immediately felt that the sudden change of control over the underground crime scene was brought about by an African-American individual. His socio-economic status provided Roberts with the evidence that he is a major player in New York’s underground crime scene as the ingenious street cop instantly determined Lucas as an elite crime boss even though his identity was not yet confirmed. Moreover, as Lucas frequently reiterated and practiced throughout the film, he upholds the importance of honesty, integrity, and family in his business and his life (Scott, 2007). As previously iterated, Lucas rose to prominence as the kingpin of heroin trafficking and marketing in the Harlem area, thus, he experienced a high power distance level for two reasons. First, Lucas’ became so powerful that he had the capacity to bypass notorious crime families such as the Luchesse and the Mafia. Second is that Lucas stayed kingpin for seven years until he gets finally caught in 1975 (Scoot, 1975). However, like all empires in history, Lucas’ drug empire crumbled in due time. As such, his power distance had a total paradigm shift as he chose to be a police asset in exchange for his freedom (Scott, 2008). Instead of paying his social debt by imprisonment, Lucas embarked on the path of self-redemption by becoming a police informant and helping solve the evasive nature of underground crime and corruption within the force. Frank Lucas being the premiere heroin supplier during the late 60s and the first half of the 70s, lived in a high context microculture, largely due to the fact that most of his leisurely activities reflected the glitz and glamour of high society. Initially, despite the previous statement that he does not wear expensive accessories, Lucas dresses up in a well fashioned manner. Moreover, Lucas has enough funds to witness headlining events and be seated among the wealthy crime lords during main sports events such as the first bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier 1971. However, since he kept a low profile, Frank Lucas also chose to live in low context microcultures. One is that he avoided any form of attention and suspicion from authorities during his 7-year tenure as a drug lord. Second is that although he dresses himself well enough to be distinguished as an individual with above average socio-economic status, he does not manifest any means of revealing his financial stability. As a person, Frank Lucas is both an individualistic and collectivistic. This is, in large part, brought about by the identities he maintains both as a family man and a drug lord. Lucas is individualistic in such a way that he took the bold choice of going to the main source in order to purchase the merchandise himself (Washington, 2007). Lucas also appears to have little tolerance for failure despite the fact that his own family is part of the business. On the other hand, Frank Lucas also manifests a collectivist attitude by being over generous to his own family members and business associates. As previously mentioned, Lucas prioritizes family even if his business is at stake. First notable thing is that Lucas uses some of the proceeds from his business to purchase a larger and more suitable home for his mother. Another thing is that Lucas never fails to give provide the main dish for Thanks Giving dinner and although he has temper problems when it comes to failure and excuses, Lucas generally upholds the principles of honesty, integrity, and family. The motion picture American Gangster effectively communicates the cultural patterns of the group where Frank Lucas is categorized during a particular era through the elements and themes integrated within it. Likewise, despite the account that the film is only a fictionalized re-telling of a particular culture, the reality of what truly happened has been extensively established. Furthermore, although the central character, Frank Lucas, belongs to a multitude of microcultures or sub-cultures, strong evidence within the film has once again re-established the principles of co-existence between communication and culture. References Grazer, B. , Whitaker, J. , Zaillian, S. , Pillegi, N (Producers) and Scott, R. (Director). (2007). American Gangster [Motion Picture]. Los Angeles, CA: Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment. Neuliep, J. W. (1999). Intercultural Communication. B, MA : Houghton Mifflin Company