The effect of the U.S. Subprime Crisis to the China commercial banks Dissertation

The effect of the U.S. Subprime Crisis to the China commercial banks in 2008-2013 - Dissertation Example A careful analysis of the sub-prime crisis reveals that it was created from the slump in housing prices that created a ‘bubble’ of expectations among investors. By the end of third quarter of 2007, the prices of underlying assets declined drastically and the value of mortgage based securities was higher than asset. This motivated investors to default on mortgages as they felt that actual worth of asset is not worth repayment. The depressing effect was amplified further by securitization of assets. The impact of sub-prime crisis was not limited to US banks but almost all commercial banks and financial institutions around the world that had considerable exposure in US Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) were either affected directly or indirectly from the subprime crisis. In order to rescue the financial market, the US Federal Reserve responded swiftly through cutting key monetary policy interest rates and also extended financial support to mortgage lenders and house buyers w ho were defaulted or would seemingly default. The objective of the study is to reveal the effect of the U.S. Subprime Crisis to the China commercial banks in 2008-2013. In order to achieve objective the study covers the literature review and theoretical framework of the topic. Research design has been done with the intention of selecting appropriate methodology and data collection analysis. Moreover the data analysis will help to get the findings of the project. After interpreting the research findings, finally the study ends with conclusion, recommendations and reflections. Background of the Study Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae was together accountable for almost half of the mortgage market in US which is valued to be worth over US$ 10 trillion. The many previous studies have also found that the government of China is among the top five international holders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac long-term debt. The Bank of China announced that it had Freddie and Fannie bonds worth $7.5 billion at the end of August 2008 after cutting its holdings by 25 percent. The country’s largest commercial lender, ICBC stated that at the end of August 2008 it held bonds in Freddie and Fannie debt worth $465 million in addition to $2.2 billion in mortgage backed securities issued by the US companies. The second largest

Stem Cell Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stem Cell Therapy - Essay Example Some stem cell researchers have advocated for the therapy in treating diseases like diabetes mellitus, Parkinson’s disease, ulcerative colitis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and other myopathy, hematopoietic organ diseases, oncological diseases, some hereditary and genetic abnormalities (Conrad, 2012). Some success rates in stem cell therapy exist in the field of oncology where cancer patients subjected to chemoprophylaxis may at one point require bone marrow transplantation or umbilical blood stem cells. Chemoprophylaxis in cancer patients often results in the destruction of cancer cells plus even hematopoietic cells. Stem cell often helps them in restoring their normal blood cells increasing their chances of survival from the disease. Therapeutic cloning is a type of stem cell therapy. Cloning is possible through the use of embryonic stem cells. Here, an egg gets denucleated, that is, the DNA gets removed, and replaced with a somatic cell nucleus. The egg gets stimulated through the use of an electric pulse, and a blastocyst gets formed to provide stem cells that are identical to those of the original somatic cell nucleus. If implanted in the womb, the replicated embryo can be born as a cloned baby. It is through this process that Dolly the first cloned sheep was created (Conrad, 2012). Embryonic stem cell suitability for transplantation has recently been in question because of the instability of the cloned cells. Dolly, for example, gave an outward impression of full health but had many genetic defections (Wimmer 3). The process of therapeutic cloning is ineffective. A high percentage of clones die before or soon after birth with a success rate of between 3 to 4% (Conrad 2012). In as much as there have been a number of progresses in stem cell therapy, there are still a number of controversies regarding the issue. Controversies

Plant Diversity and Angiosperms in India

Plant Diversity and Angiosperms in India INTRODUCTION Angiosperms or flowering plants (also called Angiospermae, Magnoliophyta, or Anthophyta) are the most diverse group of the plant kingdom, comprising of about 2,50,000 species in 350 families (Kenrick, 1999). Flowering plants are by far the most numerous, diverse, and â€Å"successful† extant plant group, containing well over 95% of all land plant species alive today (Simpson, 2006). Angiosperms are characterized by (i) seeds produced within a carpel with a stigmatic surface for pollen germination, (ii) a much reduced female gametophyte, consisting in most cases of just eight nuclei in seven cells; and (3) double fertilization, leading to the formation of a typically triploid nutritive tissue called endosperm (Judd et al., 2002). Several apomorphies distinguish the angiosperms from all other land plants: (1) the flower, usually with an associated perianth, (2) stamens with two lateral thecae, each composed of two microsporangia, (3) a reduced, 3-nucleate male gametophyte, (4) c arpels and fruit formation, (5) ovules with two integuments, (6) a reduced, 8-nucleate female gametophyte, (7) endosperm formation and (8) sieve tube members (Simpson, 2006). Some of these apomorphic features, which represent the product of a unique evolutionary event, have become further modified in particular lineages of angiosperms. Almost all angiosperms produce vessels in the xylem tissue, though this feature probably evolved within the group. Angiosperm phloem differs from that of all other plants in having sieve tube elements accompanied by one or more â€Å"companion cells† that are derived from the same mother cell. Flowering plants grow in virtually every habitable region and are dominant in some aquatic and most terrestrial ecosystems, the notable exception to the latter being coniferous forests. Angiosperms comprise the great bulk of our economically important plants, including our most valuable food crops. India with a geographical area of about 32, 87,263 sq km is the seventh largest and tenth industrialized country of the world. It is situated between 804 N to 3706 N latitude and 6807 E to 97025 E longitude. The longitudinal variation divides Indian subcontinent into four climatological zones, viz., equatorial, tropical, subtropical and warm temperate. The forest cover of the country have been estimated to be 6, 37,293 km2 (19.39% of the geographic area of the country) and includes dense forest (3, 77,358 km2), open forest (2, 55,064 km2) and mangrove (4,871 km2). India represents about 11% of world’s flora in just about 2.4% of total land mass. Out of the 25 biodiversity ‘Hotspots’ identified in the world (Myers, 1990), India has two, namely Eastern Himalaya and Western Ghats. These hotspots posses majority of plant diversity in India. In terms of species diversity, approximately 45,000 plant species are found in India (Khoshoo, 1994, 1995; Sharma et al., 1997). The angiosperms are represented by c. 17,500 species out of which 5725 species are endemic to India. About 28% of the total Indian flora and about 33% of angiosperms occurring in India are endemic (Nayar, 1996). It is roughly estimated that about 10% of flowering plant species in India are threatened and 34 plant species have been reported to be extinct (Nayar and Sastry, 1987-1990). The studies on Indian plants were first initiated by the European visitors. Even before the publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus (1753), Hendrik Van Rheede (1678-1703) started publication of his monumental 12 volume work ‘Hortus Malabaricus’. However, actual work on Indian flora was initiated by Roxburgh (1814, 1820- 1824) and later by Hooker and Thompson (1855). The publication of Flora of British India by Sir J.D. Hooker (1872- 1897) gave a stimulus to taxonomic studies in our country and since then several regional and state floras have been published. In 1954, Botanical Survey of India was revived with a view to make intensive studies of local flora especially to gather precise information on the identity, floristic diversity, distribution, ecological association, phenology, medicinal and economic uses of plants. India is immensely rich in biological diversity. Such richness is largely due to varied physical environment, latitude, altitude, geology and climate. The climate and altitudinal variations coupled with varied ecological habitats have contributed in the development of immensely rich vegetation wealth, and varied flora and fauna forming a very unique biodiversity. Seeing the rich plant diversity, Hooker (1904) commented that ‘The Indian flora is more varied than that of any other country of equal area in the eastern hemisphere, if not on the globe’. The Indian flora represents taxa occurring in different countries including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Indo-China. There are even the representatives from African, American, Australian and European countries. DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT Bio-geographical Territories in World The Indian region is one of the most diverse bio-geographic regions of the world having wide ranging topography from permanently snow covered high Himalayan ranges to plains at sea level, low lying swamps and mangroves, island systems, tropical evergreen rain forests, fertile alluvial plains, hot deserts and high altitude cold deserts. The climate ranges from tropical and sub-tropical in Indo-Gangetic plains and in the peninsular regions to temperate and arctic in the Himalayan region. Biogeographically India represents two of the major realms (Palaearctic and Indo-Malayan) and three biomes. Considering the vastness of the country and variation pattern in different areas, the country is divided into ten botanical regions with distinct bioclimatic conditions. These include: Coromandal coast, Malabar, Indus plain, Indian desert, Gangetic plain, Assam, Eastern Himalaya, Central Himalaya, Western Himalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshdweep and minicoy group of islands (Mudgal and Hajra, 1997). India harbors very diverse climatic conditions and thus fosters different types of habitats. The major mountain ranges in India are the Himalaya and the Western Ghats. The Indian Himalayan region is spread over the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, and a part of Assam, along with eight districts of Uttarakhand and one district of West Bengal. Biogeographically, the Indian Himalayan region falls under Boreal Zone which has two sub-zones, viz., Sino-Siberian and Sino-Himalayan. The area can be divided into four distinct zones longitudinally: (i) the Siwalik (900 – 1500 m), (ii) the outer Himalaya (1500 – 3500 m), (iii) the middle or lesser Himalaya (3600 – 4600 m), and (iv) the Greater Himalaya (above 4,600 m). This complex mountain system consists of narrow and deep valleys, glaciers and fertile terrain. Five climatic zones can be delineated in the Himalayan region based on geographic and physiographic factors. These are: (1) Warm tropical, (2) Warm sub-tropical, (3) Cool temperate, (4) Alpine and (5) Arctic. While these are only broad zonations, there are many local variations in the climate due to precipitation, temperature, wind patterns, humidity etc. The type and nature of soils also vary vastly in the Himalayan region from deep alluvial to the thin and bare soils of the high mountains. The nature of the soil depends upon the rocks, the prevailing climatic conditions, topography and vegetation. According to Udvardy (1975), biodiversity exists on earth in 8 broad realms with 193 bio-geographical provinces. It has been estimated that world’s 12 countries Australia, Brazil, China, Columbia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and Zaire together hold 70% of its total flowering plant diversity. These countries have been termed as â€Å"Megadiversity† countries (Mc Neely et al., 1990) Rodgers and Panwar (1990) have divided India into 10 phytogeographic zones and 24 biotic provinces. Gadgil and Meher-Homji (1990) have recognized 16 phytogeographical zones in India. On the other hand, Das (1996) has recognized 9 physiographic regions within the Indian Territory. Chowdhery and Murti (2000) have recognized 11 phytogeographic regions for India, each of which have its uniqueness in ecosystem, vegetation and floristic composition. These phytogeographic regions are: Western Himalaya, Eastern Himalaya, Gangetic plains, North East India, Semi arid and Arid regions, Deccan Plateau, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshdweep and Coastal regions. Distribution of Angiosperms in India In India, the vascular plants form the most dominant and conspicuous vegetation cover comprising of over 17,500 species of angiosperms which represents more than 7% of the worlds known flowering plant species (Hooker, 1872-1897; Karthikeyan et al., 1989; Sharma and Balakrishnan, 1993; Sharma and Sanjappa, 1993; Sharma et al., 1993; Hajra et al., 1995; Mudgal and Hajra 1997- 1999; Singh et al., 2000; Karthikeyan, 2000). These species are distributed in more than 4000 genera occurring in diffenent ecosystems from the humid tropics of Western Ghats to the Alpine zones of the Himalayas and from Mangrooves of tidal Sunderbans to the dry desert of Rajasthan. In India, dicots are represented by 2,282 genera and 12,750 species whereas monocots are represented by 702 genera and 4,250 species. Dicots account for c. 75% of flowering plants in terms of both genera and species. On the other hand, remaining 25% is contributed by monocots. Out of 511 recognized plant families (Brummit, 1992), 320 families with more than 4000 genera are represented in the Indian flora. Of which Poaceae is the largest family with about 263 genera and more than 1200 species. In India, over 60 families of flowering plants are monotypic, e.g., Illiciaceae, Ruppiaceae, Turneraceae, Tetracentraceae, etc. Asragaluts, Carex, Dendrobium, Ficus, Habenaria, Impatiens, Primula, Rhododendron, Saussurea, Taraxacum, etc. are some of the dominant genera of flowering plants in India. Out of the estimated 17,500 species of angiosperms, approximately 15% species are trees which include some of the highly valued timber species of the world and belong to the families like Annonaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Lauraceae, Moraceae, Meliaceae, Verbenaceae, etc. There are several botanical curiosities like Aeginetia indica, Balanophora dioica, Boschiniackia himalaica, Drosera, Epipogium, Galeola, Mitrastemon yamamotoi, Monotropa, Nepenthes khasiana, Pinguicula, Sapria himalayana, Utricularia spp., etc. Species in certain groups like Orchids, Bamboos, Rhododendrons, Citrus, Hedychiums, Impatiens, Pedicularis, Primulas, etc. exhibit remarkable diversity in India (Rao, 1994). Dominant angiospermic families in India are given in table1 (after Groombridge, 1992; Sharma et al., 1997). Table 1. Dominant families of dicots and monocots Insectivorous and parasitic plants The carnivorous plants (insectivorous plants) trap and digest insects to meet the requirement of nitrogen deficiency. Altogether over 450 species of carnivorous plants have been reported of which approximately 30 species occur in India. The insectivorous taxa belong to family Droseraceae (3 spp.), Nepenthaceae (1 spcies) and Lentibulariaceae (36 spp.). The parasitic plant species are prominent in Loranthaceae (46 spp.), Santalaceae (10 spp.), Balanophoraceae (6 spp.), Rafflesiaceae (1 spp.), Cuscutaceae (12 spp.) and Orobanchaceae (54 spp.). Aquatic plants About 2 percent of all flowering plants known in the world inhabit water bodies and more than 50 percent of these are represented in Indian subcontinent (Lavania et al., 1990). Some important aquatic plants families are: Alismataceae (8 spp.), Aponogetonaceae (6 spp.), Azollaceae (1 sp.), Barclayaceae (2 spp.), Butomaceae (1 sp.), Cabombaceae (2 spp.), Callitrichaceae (3 species), Isoetaceae (10 spp.), Lemnaceae (14 spp.), Najadaceae (7 spp.), Nelumbonaceae (1 sp.), Nymphaeaceae (7 spp.), Podostemaceae (24 spp.), Pontederiaceae (13 spp.), Ceratophyllaceae (3 spp.), Hydrocharitaceae (13 spp.), Potamogetonaceae (18 spp.), Ruppiaceae (1 sp.), Salviniaceae (3 spp.), Trapaceae (2 spp.), Typhaceae (4 spp.), Zannichelliaceae (1 sp.), etc. The members of families Podostemaceae and Tristichaceae grow on rocks under water in fast flowing streams. The aquatic plants in India are highly diversified comprising free-floating forms (Eichhornia crassipes, Lemna perpusila, Nymphoides hydrophylla, Trapa natans var. bispinosa, Pistia stratiotes, Wolffia microscopia, W. globosa), rooted aquatics with their foliage floating (Nymphaea nouchali, N. stellata, Euryale ferox, Nelumbo nucifera), submerged aquatics (Vallisnaria natans, Hydrilla verticillata, Najas graminea, Potamogeton pectinatus) emergent aquatics (Scirpus maritimus, Cyperus articulates, Sagittaria trifolia, S. guayanensis subsp. leppula) and marsh plants (Ranunculus scleratus, Hydrolea zeylanica, Panicum paludosum, Polygonum barbatum, P. glabrum). The aquatic flora play an important role as water purifier by absorbing heavy metals, e.g. Ceratophyllum demersum (chromium), Bacopa monnieri (copper and cadmium). Limosella aquatica, Hippuris vulgaris occur in subalpine-alpine lakes. Mangroves Mangroves are the plants that inhabit coastal regions and estuaries. They are adapted to survive under marshy conditions. In India, mangroves cover an area of approximately 6700 Km ² which constitutes c. 7 percent of the world’s mangroves. The largest stretch of mangroves in India occurs in Sunderbans (West Bengal) which covers an area of about 4200 km ². It has been designated as World Heritage site of which 80% of them are restricted to Sunderbans (West Bengal) and Andaman Nicobar islands (Chowdhery and Murti, 2000). The remaining taxa are scattered in the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Karnataka. Some of the dominant mangrove species include Avicennia marina, A. officinalis, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, B. parviflora, Ceriops tagal, Heritiera fomes, Lumnitzera spp., Rhizophora mucronata, R. apiculata, R. stylosa, Sonneratia spp., Xylocarpus spp., etc. The shrubby Aegialitis rotundifolia and Acanthus ilicifolius are common o n poor saline plains. The herbaceous succulent halophytes are represented by Aegiceras corniculatus, Suaeda brachiata, Sesuvium portulacastrum and Salicornia brachiata. The characteristic mangrove palms are: Nypa fruticans and Phoenix paludosa. Indicator species Some species of angiosperms growing on metalliferous soils accumulate large amounts of metals in their roots and reflect the levels of metal present in the soil (indicators). For example, presence of copper is indicated by Astragalus spp., Croton roxburghii, Hyptis suaveolens, Holarrhena pubescens, Impatiens balsamina, Vernonia cinerea, and indicates presence of Uranium (Aery, 1977; Venkatesh, 1964, 1966). Diversification of Primitive and Advanced Families The primitive families are confined to those regions which are very old in geological time scale in comparison to the newly developed areas. Assam, North-east Indian region and Deccan Peninsula are older in comparison to the other phytogeographical regions of India. These regions are more or less identical in age with Sri Lanka, South West Chinese region and Malay Peninsula. The Deccan Peninsula shows its floristic relationship with Sri Lanka and Malay provinces, while the North east India shows its floristic relationship with Myanmar, South West Chinese Provinces and Malay Peninsula. Thus the Malay region shows similarity with Deccan Peninsula on one hand and North east India on the other. By this way the North East India shows similarity with Deccan Peninsula to some extent (Mitra and Mukherjee, 2006). India (Eastern Himalaya including North east India) is considered as a sanctuary of primitive flowering plants. The occurrence of such a large number of primitive angiosperms led Takhtajan (1969) to designate this region as the ‘Cradle of Flowering Plants’ where angiosperms have diversified (Table 2) Table.2. Primitive flowering plants occurring in India (after Rao, 1994) The advanced families occur in those areas which are comparatively very young in the geological time scale. On the basis of this idea it can be stated that the Himalayan region of India is very young in its age as compared to Deccan Peninsula and North East Indian regions of India, as it harbours most of the advanced families with well diversified restricted genera and species. A comparative account of diversification of primitive and advanced families of India and its adjoining area is given in table 3. The advanced families are young in their age and also they are confined to the areas which are also geologically young, they are unable to spread in the wider regions. On the other hand, primitive plant families are older in their age and also found to confined in those areas which are geologically very old. So they get sufficient time to spread over larger areas, as a result of which the primitive families show less number of restricted genera and species in their credit in comparison to the advanced families (Mitra and Mukherjee, 2006). Habitats Different ecological habitats occur in India ranging from tropical rainforest, subtropical savanna or shrublands, temperate forest, alpine mosses to xerophytic variation of desert. The habitat types vary from the humid tropical Western Ghats to the hot deserts of Rajasthan, from cold deserts of Ladakh to the long, warm cost line stretches of peninsular India. While Cherrapunji and Mawphlong in the north-eastern state of Meghalaya are the two wettest places on earth, Dras in Ladakh is the coldest inhabited place of the world. Phytogeographically, the eastern Himalaya forms a distinct floristic region. The area comprises Nepal, Bhutan, and neighboring states of northern India along a continuous sector of the Yunnan province in south-west China. In Nepal, there are around 7000 plant species, many of which overlap those of India, Bhutan and even Yunnan. Of these species, at least 500 (almost 8%) are believed to be endemic to Nepal. Bhutan possesses an estimated 5000 species, of which as many as 750 (15%) are considered to be endemic to the eastern Himalaya (Anonymous 1999). This region is the meeting ground of the Indo-Malayan, Afro-tropic and Indo-Chinese biogeographical realms as well as the Himalayan and Peninsular Indian elements, formed when the peninsular plate struck against the Asian landmass, after it broke off from Gondwana land. The region is recognized as refugium of flowering plants and center of active speciation (Rao, 1994). The numerous primitive angiosperm families found in this region inclu de Degeneriaceae, Eupomatiaceae, Himantandraceae, Lardizalbalaceae, Magnoliaceae, Trochodendraceae, Tetracentraceae, Winteraceae. The primitive genera are Alnus, Aspidocarya, Betula, Decaisnea, Euptelea, Exbucklandia, Haematocarpus, Holboellia, Houttuynia, Magnolia, Mangelietia, Pycnarrhena, and Tetracentrol (Malhotra and Hajra 1977). Regions of High Diversity India is one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries of the world. It represents an example of conglomeration of diverse bioclimates influenced by neighbouring areas (particularly Mediterranean), the unique location, peninsular land mass, Gangetic plains and the crown of complex chain of mountain systems – the Himalaya. The Himalayan region with only 18% of India’s land area, houses 81.4% of the country’s stock of gymnosperms, 47% of angiosperms, 59.5% of lichens, 58.7% of pteridophytes, 43.9% of bryophytes and 53.07% of fungi found in India. Orchidaceae with over 1331 taxa (S. Misra, 2007) is one of the dominant families and probably the second largest among all families of flowering plant known from India. Of these 407 taxa are endemic to India. Out of the 18 monotypic orchid genera of India, 13 are found in the Himalayan region. In the Eastern Himalaya, the Orchid family is the largest, with 60% species, whereas in the Western Himalaya, Asteraceae with 540 species is the largest family followed by Poaceae with 439 species and Fabaceae with 362 species. Carex with more than 100 species and infraspecific categories is the largest genus in the Himalaya. Rhododendron with 96 species and infra-specific categories, and Astragalus with 90 species, is the largest genera in the Eastern and Western Himalaya, respectively. Some other plants with pronounced diversity in the Eastern Himalaya include the Hedychium (Zingiberaceae) with 18 species out of 35 Indian species, and numerous species of bamboos. The Eastern Himalaya is a cradle of numerous primitive angiosperms, such as Manglietia and Euptelea (Magnoliaceae) and Tetracentron (Tetracentraceae). Christollea himalayensis, recorded from Mt. Camet is the flowering plant occurring at the highest altitude (6300 msl). Arceuthobium minutissimum, (small angiosperm) grows on Himalayan conifers. Apart from these botanical curios, the Himalayan region has a rich diversity of medicinal and aromatic plants. The floristic richness has also rendered the North-Eastern region and Western Ghats to be recognized as two hotspots among 25 hotspots identified throughout the world. The humid tropical conditions met within these regions not only support exceptionally diverse vegetation but have also resulted in speciation in several genera, thus adding to the high endemicity of the flora (Nayar, 1996). In addition to these two, there are about 40 other sites in different phytogeographical zones of India which have high degree of endemism and genetic diversity. Mc Neely et al. (1990) estimated that 70% of worlds total flowering plants occur in 12 countries and these have been designated as Mega diversity centres or mega ­biodiversity country. The earth’s 25 biodiversity hotspot regions collectively cover about 2% of the planet’s land surface, yet claim more than 50% of all terrestrial species diversity. They have within them a phenomenal 1, 25,635 plant species. The top 11 hotspots (out of 25) for plant endemism harbor 5000 or more species as endemics. It accounts for 93,214 plant species, or 37.3% of the total global plant endemics (Myers 1988). Western Ghats The Western Ghats, which covers an area of approximately 1, 60,000 Km ², are among the 25 biodiversity hotspots globally identified. The wide variation of rainfall patterns in the Western Ghats, coupled with the regions complex geography, produces a great variety of vegetation types. These include scrub forests in the low-lying rain shadow areas and the plains, deciduous and tropical rainforests up to about 1,500 meters, and a unique mosaic of montane forests and rolling grasslands above 1,500 meters. Based on the ecological factors and floristic composition, four major forests and 23 floristic types have been identified. Eastern Himalaya Eastern Himalaya covering the states of Sikkim, Darjeeling district of West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland is the richest of the phytogeographic regions of India affording the highest plant/ animal diversity (Rao, 1994). This region is characterized by high rainfall and humidity. The abundant rains and high humidity contribute the occurrence of largest number of species in this region. North eastern region of India, blessed with wide range of physiography and ecoclimatic conditions, is the richest biodiversity centres of the Indian subcontinent (Hooker and Thompson, 1855; Hooker, 1905; Chatterjee, 1962; Rao, 1974). The north eastern India has a geographical area of about 2, 55,050 Km ². The rich plant wealth of this region has been reported by Hooker (1854). Further, Hooker’s work on â€Å"Flora of British India† (1872-97) and â€Å"Sketches on Flora of British India† (1905), presents a very detailed account on vegetation and flora of this region. Kanjilal et al. (1934-1940), in their â€Å"Flora of Assam† have provided a detailed account with emphasis on woody flora of this region. There are works on â€Å"Forest flora of Meghalaya† by Haridasan and Rao (1985, 1987) and â€Å"Grasses of North eastern India† by Shukla (1996). There are several genera endemic to Eastern Himalaya. Some important endemic genera are Aucuba, Bryocarpum, Pleurospermopsis, Gamblea, Lepidostemon, Parajaeschkaea, Paroxygraphis, Risleya, Sphaerosacme, Treutlera and Brachycaulos. Cyathopus is endemic to Sikkim. Some genera like Biswarea, Hymenandra, Jejosephia, Neoluffa, Pauia, etc. are endemic to North eastern India. Some important Eastern Himalayan endemic species are Abies densa, Agapetes incurvata, A. sikkimensis, Dipsacus atratus, Eriobotrya hookeriana, Geum macrosepalum, Larix griffithiana, Lindera heterophylla, Liparis perpusilla, Lloydia flavonutans, Maddenia himalica, Meconopsis grandis, M. superba, M. villosa, Myricaria albiflora, Primula whitei, Rhododendron baileyi, R. camelliaeflorum, R. ciliatum, R. glaucophyllum, R. grande, R. lantanum, R. lindleyi, R. wallichii, R .wightii, Rubus fragarioides, Sassurea conica, Acanthus leucostachys, Aconitum assamicum, Anoectochilus sikkimensis, Aeschynanthus parasiticus, Baliospermum micranthum, Berberis dasyclada, Calamus leptospadix, Calanthe densiflora, Capparis acutifolia, Cotoneaster assamensis, etc. (Chowdhery and Murti, 2000) Plant Diversity in Western Himalaya The Western Himalayan region is one of the 12 biogeographic regions of India and includes Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttaranchal. This region constitutes the alpine zone, temperate, humid and warm climatic conditions. The main portion of Western Himalaya lies in J K state comprising 67.5 Plant Diversity and Angiosperms in India Plant Diversity and Angiosperms in India INTRODUCTION Angiosperms or flowering plants (also called Angiospermae, Magnoliophyta, or Anthophyta) are the most diverse group of the plant kingdom, comprising of about 2,50,000 species in 350 families (Kenrick, 1999). Flowering plants are by far the most numerous, diverse, and â€Å"successful† extant plant group, containing well over 95% of all land plant species alive today (Simpson, 2006). Angiosperms are characterized by (i) seeds produced within a carpel with a stigmatic surface for pollen germination, (ii) a much reduced female gametophyte, consisting in most cases of just eight nuclei in seven cells; and (3) double fertilization, leading to the formation of a typically triploid nutritive tissue called endosperm (Judd et al., 2002). Several apomorphies distinguish the angiosperms from all other land plants: (1) the flower, usually with an associated perianth, (2) stamens with two lateral thecae, each composed of two microsporangia, (3) a reduced, 3-nucleate male gametophyte, (4) c arpels and fruit formation, (5) ovules with two integuments, (6) a reduced, 8-nucleate female gametophyte, (7) endosperm formation and (8) sieve tube members (Simpson, 2006). Some of these apomorphic features, which represent the product of a unique evolutionary event, have become further modified in particular lineages of angiosperms. Almost all angiosperms produce vessels in the xylem tissue, though this feature probably evolved within the group. Angiosperm phloem differs from that of all other plants in having sieve tube elements accompanied by one or more â€Å"companion cells† that are derived from the same mother cell. Flowering plants grow in virtually every habitable region and are dominant in some aquatic and most terrestrial ecosystems, the notable exception to the latter being coniferous forests. Angiosperms comprise the great bulk of our economically important plants, including our most valuable food crops. India with a geographical area of about 32, 87,263 sq km is the seventh largest and tenth industrialized country of the world. It is situated between 804 N to 3706 N latitude and 6807 E to 97025 E longitude. The longitudinal variation divides Indian subcontinent into four climatological zones, viz., equatorial, tropical, subtropical and warm temperate. The forest cover of the country have been estimated to be 6, 37,293 km2 (19.39% of the geographic area of the country) and includes dense forest (3, 77,358 km2), open forest (2, 55,064 km2) and mangrove (4,871 km2). India represents about 11% of world’s flora in just about 2.4% of total land mass. Out of the 25 biodiversity ‘Hotspots’ identified in the world (Myers, 1990), India has two, namely Eastern Himalaya and Western Ghats. These hotspots posses majority of plant diversity in India. In terms of species diversity, approximately 45,000 plant species are found in India (Khoshoo, 1994, 1995; Sharma et al., 1997). The angiosperms are represented by c. 17,500 species out of which 5725 species are endemic to India. About 28% of the total Indian flora and about 33% of angiosperms occurring in India are endemic (Nayar, 1996). It is roughly estimated that about 10% of flowering plant species in India are threatened and 34 plant species have been reported to be extinct (Nayar and Sastry, 1987-1990). The studies on Indian plants were first initiated by the European visitors. Even before the publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus (1753), Hendrik Van Rheede (1678-1703) started publication of his monumental 12 volume work ‘Hortus Malabaricus’. However, actual work on Indian flora was initiated by Roxburgh (1814, 1820- 1824) and later by Hooker and Thompson (1855). The publication of Flora of British India by Sir J.D. Hooker (1872- 1897) gave a stimulus to taxonomic studies in our country and since then several regional and state floras have been published. In 1954, Botanical Survey of India was revived with a view to make intensive studies of local flora especially to gather precise information on the identity, floristic diversity, distribution, ecological association, phenology, medicinal and economic uses of plants. India is immensely rich in biological diversity. Such richness is largely due to varied physical environment, latitude, altitude, geology and climate. The climate and altitudinal variations coupled with varied ecological habitats have contributed in the development of immensely rich vegetation wealth, and varied flora and fauna forming a very unique biodiversity. Seeing the rich plant diversity, Hooker (1904) commented that ‘The Indian flora is more varied than that of any other country of equal area in the eastern hemisphere, if not on the globe’. The Indian flora represents taxa occurring in different countries including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Indo-China. There are even the representatives from African, American, Australian and European countries. DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT Bio-geographical Territories in World The Indian region is one of the most diverse bio-geographic regions of the world having wide ranging topography from permanently snow covered high Himalayan ranges to plains at sea level, low lying swamps and mangroves, island systems, tropical evergreen rain forests, fertile alluvial plains, hot deserts and high altitude cold deserts. The climate ranges from tropical and sub-tropical in Indo-Gangetic plains and in the peninsular regions to temperate and arctic in the Himalayan region. Biogeographically India represents two of the major realms (Palaearctic and Indo-Malayan) and three biomes. Considering the vastness of the country and variation pattern in different areas, the country is divided into ten botanical regions with distinct bioclimatic conditions. These include: Coromandal coast, Malabar, Indus plain, Indian desert, Gangetic plain, Assam, Eastern Himalaya, Central Himalaya, Western Himalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshdweep and minicoy group of islands (Mudgal and Hajra, 1997). India harbors very diverse climatic conditions and thus fosters different types of habitats. The major mountain ranges in India are the Himalaya and the Western Ghats. The Indian Himalayan region is spread over the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, and a part of Assam, along with eight districts of Uttarakhand and one district of West Bengal. Biogeographically, the Indian Himalayan region falls under Boreal Zone which has two sub-zones, viz., Sino-Siberian and Sino-Himalayan. The area can be divided into four distinct zones longitudinally: (i) the Siwalik (900 – 1500 m), (ii) the outer Himalaya (1500 – 3500 m), (iii) the middle or lesser Himalaya (3600 – 4600 m), and (iv) the Greater Himalaya (above 4,600 m). This complex mountain system consists of narrow and deep valleys, glaciers and fertile terrain. Five climatic zones can be delineated in the Himalayan region based on geographic and physiographic factors. These are: (1) Warm tropical, (2) Warm sub-tropical, (3) Cool temperate, (4) Alpine and (5) Arctic. While these are only broad zonations, there are many local variations in the climate due to precipitation, temperature, wind patterns, humidity etc. The type and nature of soils also vary vastly in the Himalayan region from deep alluvial to the thin and bare soils of the high mountains. The nature of the soil depends upon the rocks, the prevailing climatic conditions, topography and vegetation. According to Udvardy (1975), biodiversity exists on earth in 8 broad realms with 193 bio-geographical provinces. It has been estimated that world’s 12 countries Australia, Brazil, China, Columbia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and Zaire together hold 70% of its total flowering plant diversity. These countries have been termed as â€Å"Megadiversity† countries (Mc Neely et al., 1990) Rodgers and Panwar (1990) have divided India into 10 phytogeographic zones and 24 biotic provinces. Gadgil and Meher-Homji (1990) have recognized 16 phytogeographical zones in India. On the other hand, Das (1996) has recognized 9 physiographic regions within the Indian Territory. Chowdhery and Murti (2000) have recognized 11 phytogeographic regions for India, each of which have its uniqueness in ecosystem, vegetation and floristic composition. These phytogeographic regions are: Western Himalaya, Eastern Himalaya, Gangetic plains, North East India, Semi arid and Arid regions, Deccan Plateau, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshdweep and Coastal regions. Distribution of Angiosperms in India In India, the vascular plants form the most dominant and conspicuous vegetation cover comprising of over 17,500 species of angiosperms which represents more than 7% of the worlds known flowering plant species (Hooker, 1872-1897; Karthikeyan et al., 1989; Sharma and Balakrishnan, 1993; Sharma and Sanjappa, 1993; Sharma et al., 1993; Hajra et al., 1995; Mudgal and Hajra 1997- 1999; Singh et al., 2000; Karthikeyan, 2000). These species are distributed in more than 4000 genera occurring in diffenent ecosystems from the humid tropics of Western Ghats to the Alpine zones of the Himalayas and from Mangrooves of tidal Sunderbans to the dry desert of Rajasthan. In India, dicots are represented by 2,282 genera and 12,750 species whereas monocots are represented by 702 genera and 4,250 species. Dicots account for c. 75% of flowering plants in terms of both genera and species. On the other hand, remaining 25% is contributed by monocots. Out of 511 recognized plant families (Brummit, 1992), 320 families with more than 4000 genera are represented in the Indian flora. Of which Poaceae is the largest family with about 263 genera and more than 1200 species. In India, over 60 families of flowering plants are monotypic, e.g., Illiciaceae, Ruppiaceae, Turneraceae, Tetracentraceae, etc. Asragaluts, Carex, Dendrobium, Ficus, Habenaria, Impatiens, Primula, Rhododendron, Saussurea, Taraxacum, etc. are some of the dominant genera of flowering plants in India. Out of the estimated 17,500 species of angiosperms, approximately 15% species are trees which include some of the highly valued timber species of the world and belong to the families like Annonaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Lauraceae, Moraceae, Meliaceae, Verbenaceae, etc. There are several botanical curiosities like Aeginetia indica, Balanophora dioica, Boschiniackia himalaica, Drosera, Epipogium, Galeola, Mitrastemon yamamotoi, Monotropa, Nepenthes khasiana, Pinguicula, Sapria himalayana, Utricularia spp., etc. Species in certain groups like Orchids, Bamboos, Rhododendrons, Citrus, Hedychiums, Impatiens, Pedicularis, Primulas, etc. exhibit remarkable diversity in India (Rao, 1994). Dominant angiospermic families in India are given in table1 (after Groombridge, 1992; Sharma et al., 1997). Table 1. Dominant families of dicots and monocots Insectivorous and parasitic plants The carnivorous plants (insectivorous plants) trap and digest insects to meet the requirement of nitrogen deficiency. Altogether over 450 species of carnivorous plants have been reported of which approximately 30 species occur in India. The insectivorous taxa belong to family Droseraceae (3 spp.), Nepenthaceae (1 spcies) and Lentibulariaceae (36 spp.). The parasitic plant species are prominent in Loranthaceae (46 spp.), Santalaceae (10 spp.), Balanophoraceae (6 spp.), Rafflesiaceae (1 spp.), Cuscutaceae (12 spp.) and Orobanchaceae (54 spp.). Aquatic plants About 2 percent of all flowering plants known in the world inhabit water bodies and more than 50 percent of these are represented in Indian subcontinent (Lavania et al., 1990). Some important aquatic plants families are: Alismataceae (8 spp.), Aponogetonaceae (6 spp.), Azollaceae (1 sp.), Barclayaceae (2 spp.), Butomaceae (1 sp.), Cabombaceae (2 spp.), Callitrichaceae (3 species), Isoetaceae (10 spp.), Lemnaceae (14 spp.), Najadaceae (7 spp.), Nelumbonaceae (1 sp.), Nymphaeaceae (7 spp.), Podostemaceae (24 spp.), Pontederiaceae (13 spp.), Ceratophyllaceae (3 spp.), Hydrocharitaceae (13 spp.), Potamogetonaceae (18 spp.), Ruppiaceae (1 sp.), Salviniaceae (3 spp.), Trapaceae (2 spp.), Typhaceae (4 spp.), Zannichelliaceae (1 sp.), etc. The members of families Podostemaceae and Tristichaceae grow on rocks under water in fast flowing streams. The aquatic plants in India are highly diversified comprising free-floating forms (Eichhornia crassipes, Lemna perpusila, Nymphoides hydrophylla, Trapa natans var. bispinosa, Pistia stratiotes, Wolffia microscopia, W. globosa), rooted aquatics with their foliage floating (Nymphaea nouchali, N. stellata, Euryale ferox, Nelumbo nucifera), submerged aquatics (Vallisnaria natans, Hydrilla verticillata, Najas graminea, Potamogeton pectinatus) emergent aquatics (Scirpus maritimus, Cyperus articulates, Sagittaria trifolia, S. guayanensis subsp. leppula) and marsh plants (Ranunculus scleratus, Hydrolea zeylanica, Panicum paludosum, Polygonum barbatum, P. glabrum). The aquatic flora play an important role as water purifier by absorbing heavy metals, e.g. Ceratophyllum demersum (chromium), Bacopa monnieri (copper and cadmium). Limosella aquatica, Hippuris vulgaris occur in subalpine-alpine lakes. Mangroves Mangroves are the plants that inhabit coastal regions and estuaries. They are adapted to survive under marshy conditions. In India, mangroves cover an area of approximately 6700 Km ² which constitutes c. 7 percent of the world’s mangroves. The largest stretch of mangroves in India occurs in Sunderbans (West Bengal) which covers an area of about 4200 km ². It has been designated as World Heritage site of which 80% of them are restricted to Sunderbans (West Bengal) and Andaman Nicobar islands (Chowdhery and Murti, 2000). The remaining taxa are scattered in the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Karnataka. Some of the dominant mangrove species include Avicennia marina, A. officinalis, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, B. parviflora, Ceriops tagal, Heritiera fomes, Lumnitzera spp., Rhizophora mucronata, R. apiculata, R. stylosa, Sonneratia spp., Xylocarpus spp., etc. The shrubby Aegialitis rotundifolia and Acanthus ilicifolius are common o n poor saline plains. The herbaceous succulent halophytes are represented by Aegiceras corniculatus, Suaeda brachiata, Sesuvium portulacastrum and Salicornia brachiata. The characteristic mangrove palms are: Nypa fruticans and Phoenix paludosa. Indicator species Some species of angiosperms growing on metalliferous soils accumulate large amounts of metals in their roots and reflect the levels of metal present in the soil (indicators). For example, presence of copper is indicated by Astragalus spp., Croton roxburghii, Hyptis suaveolens, Holarrhena pubescens, Impatiens balsamina, Vernonia cinerea, and indicates presence of Uranium (Aery, 1977; Venkatesh, 1964, 1966). Diversification of Primitive and Advanced Families The primitive families are confined to those regions which are very old in geological time scale in comparison to the newly developed areas. Assam, North-east Indian region and Deccan Peninsula are older in comparison to the other phytogeographical regions of India. These regions are more or less identical in age with Sri Lanka, South West Chinese region and Malay Peninsula. The Deccan Peninsula shows its floristic relationship with Sri Lanka and Malay provinces, while the North east India shows its floristic relationship with Myanmar, South West Chinese Provinces and Malay Peninsula. Thus the Malay region shows similarity with Deccan Peninsula on one hand and North east India on the other. By this way the North East India shows similarity with Deccan Peninsula to some extent (Mitra and Mukherjee, 2006). India (Eastern Himalaya including North east India) is considered as a sanctuary of primitive flowering plants. The occurrence of such a large number of primitive angiosperms led Takhtajan (1969) to designate this region as the ‘Cradle of Flowering Plants’ where angiosperms have diversified (Table 2) Table.2. Primitive flowering plants occurring in India (after Rao, 1994) The advanced families occur in those areas which are comparatively very young in the geological time scale. On the basis of this idea it can be stated that the Himalayan region of India is very young in its age as compared to Deccan Peninsula and North East Indian regions of India, as it harbours most of the advanced families with well diversified restricted genera and species. A comparative account of diversification of primitive and advanced families of India and its adjoining area is given in table 3. The advanced families are young in their age and also they are confined to the areas which are also geologically young, they are unable to spread in the wider regions. On the other hand, primitive plant families are older in their age and also found to confined in those areas which are geologically very old. So they get sufficient time to spread over larger areas, as a result of which the primitive families show less number of restricted genera and species in their credit in comparison to the advanced families (Mitra and Mukherjee, 2006). Habitats Different ecological habitats occur in India ranging from tropical rainforest, subtropical savanna or shrublands, temperate forest, alpine mosses to xerophytic variation of desert. The habitat types vary from the humid tropical Western Ghats to the hot deserts of Rajasthan, from cold deserts of Ladakh to the long, warm cost line stretches of peninsular India. While Cherrapunji and Mawphlong in the north-eastern state of Meghalaya are the two wettest places on earth, Dras in Ladakh is the coldest inhabited place of the world. Phytogeographically, the eastern Himalaya forms a distinct floristic region. The area comprises Nepal, Bhutan, and neighboring states of northern India along a continuous sector of the Yunnan province in south-west China. In Nepal, there are around 7000 plant species, many of which overlap those of India, Bhutan and even Yunnan. Of these species, at least 500 (almost 8%) are believed to be endemic to Nepal. Bhutan possesses an estimated 5000 species, of which as many as 750 (15%) are considered to be endemic to the eastern Himalaya (Anonymous 1999). This region is the meeting ground of the Indo-Malayan, Afro-tropic and Indo-Chinese biogeographical realms as well as the Himalayan and Peninsular Indian elements, formed when the peninsular plate struck against the Asian landmass, after it broke off from Gondwana land. The region is recognized as refugium of flowering plants and center of active speciation (Rao, 1994). The numerous primitive angiosperm families found in this region inclu de Degeneriaceae, Eupomatiaceae, Himantandraceae, Lardizalbalaceae, Magnoliaceae, Trochodendraceae, Tetracentraceae, Winteraceae. The primitive genera are Alnus, Aspidocarya, Betula, Decaisnea, Euptelea, Exbucklandia, Haematocarpus, Holboellia, Houttuynia, Magnolia, Mangelietia, Pycnarrhena, and Tetracentrol (Malhotra and Hajra 1977). Regions of High Diversity India is one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries of the world. It represents an example of conglomeration of diverse bioclimates influenced by neighbouring areas (particularly Mediterranean), the unique location, peninsular land mass, Gangetic plains and the crown of complex chain of mountain systems – the Himalaya. The Himalayan region with only 18% of India’s land area, houses 81.4% of the country’s stock of gymnosperms, 47% of angiosperms, 59.5% of lichens, 58.7% of pteridophytes, 43.9% of bryophytes and 53.07% of fungi found in India. Orchidaceae with over 1331 taxa (S. Misra, 2007) is one of the dominant families and probably the second largest among all families of flowering plant known from India. Of these 407 taxa are endemic to India. Out of the 18 monotypic orchid genera of India, 13 are found in the Himalayan region. In the Eastern Himalaya, the Orchid family is the largest, with 60% species, whereas in the Western Himalaya, Asteraceae with 540 species is the largest family followed by Poaceae with 439 species and Fabaceae with 362 species. Carex with more than 100 species and infraspecific categories is the largest genus in the Himalaya. Rhododendron with 96 species and infra-specific categories, and Astragalus with 90 species, is the largest genera in the Eastern and Western Himalaya, respectively. Some other plants with pronounced diversity in the Eastern Himalaya include the Hedychium (Zingiberaceae) with 18 species out of 35 Indian species, and numerous species of bamboos. The Eastern Himalaya is a cradle of numerous primitive angiosperms, such as Manglietia and Euptelea (Magnoliaceae) and Tetracentron (Tetracentraceae). Christollea himalayensis, recorded from Mt. Camet is the flowering plant occurring at the highest altitude (6300 msl). Arceuthobium minutissimum, (small angiosperm) grows on Himalayan conifers. Apart from these botanical curios, the Himalayan region has a rich diversity of medicinal and aromatic plants. The floristic richness has also rendered the North-Eastern region and Western Ghats to be recognized as two hotspots among 25 hotspots identified throughout the world. The humid tropical conditions met within these regions not only support exceptionally diverse vegetation but have also resulted in speciation in several genera, thus adding to the high endemicity of the flora (Nayar, 1996). In addition to these two, there are about 40 other sites in different phytogeographical zones of India which have high degree of endemism and genetic diversity. Mc Neely et al. (1990) estimated that 70% of worlds total flowering plants occur in 12 countries and these have been designated as Mega diversity centres or mega ­biodiversity country. The earth’s 25 biodiversity hotspot regions collectively cover about 2% of the planet’s land surface, yet claim more than 50% of all terrestrial species diversity. They have within them a phenomenal 1, 25,635 plant species. The top 11 hotspots (out of 25) for plant endemism harbor 5000 or more species as endemics. It accounts for 93,214 plant species, or 37.3% of the total global plant endemics (Myers 1988). Western Ghats The Western Ghats, which covers an area of approximately 1, 60,000 Km ², are among the 25 biodiversity hotspots globally identified. The wide variation of rainfall patterns in the Western Ghats, coupled with the regions complex geography, produces a great variety of vegetation types. These include scrub forests in the low-lying rain shadow areas and the plains, deciduous and tropical rainforests up to about 1,500 meters, and a unique mosaic of montane forests and rolling grasslands above 1,500 meters. Based on the ecological factors and floristic composition, four major forests and 23 floristic types have been identified. Eastern Himalaya Eastern Himalaya covering the states of Sikkim, Darjeeling district of West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland is the richest of the phytogeographic regions of India affording the highest plant/ animal diversity (Rao, 1994). This region is characterized by high rainfall and humidity. The abundant rains and high humidity contribute the occurrence of largest number of species in this region. North eastern region of India, blessed with wide range of physiography and ecoclimatic conditions, is the richest biodiversity centres of the Indian subcontinent (Hooker and Thompson, 1855; Hooker, 1905; Chatterjee, 1962; Rao, 1974). The north eastern India has a geographical area of about 2, 55,050 Km ². The rich plant wealth of this region has been reported by Hooker (1854). Further, Hooker’s work on â€Å"Flora of British India† (1872-97) and â€Å"Sketches on Flora of British India† (1905), presents a very detailed account on vegetation and flora of this region. Kanjilal et al. (1934-1940), in their â€Å"Flora of Assam† have provided a detailed account with emphasis on woody flora of this region. There are works on â€Å"Forest flora of Meghalaya† by Haridasan and Rao (1985, 1987) and â€Å"Grasses of North eastern India† by Shukla (1996). There are several genera endemic to Eastern Himalaya. Some important endemic genera are Aucuba, Bryocarpum, Pleurospermopsis, Gamblea, Lepidostemon, Parajaeschkaea, Paroxygraphis, Risleya, Sphaerosacme, Treutlera and Brachycaulos. Cyathopus is endemic to Sikkim. Some genera like Biswarea, Hymenandra, Jejosephia, Neoluffa, Pauia, etc. are endemic to North eastern India. Some important Eastern Himalayan endemic species are Abies densa, Agapetes incurvata, A. sikkimensis, Dipsacus atratus, Eriobotrya hookeriana, Geum macrosepalum, Larix griffithiana, Lindera heterophylla, Liparis perpusilla, Lloydia flavonutans, Maddenia himalica, Meconopsis grandis, M. superba, M. villosa, Myricaria albiflora, Primula whitei, Rhododendron baileyi, R. camelliaeflorum, R. ciliatum, R. glaucophyllum, R. grande, R. lantanum, R. lindleyi, R. wallichii, R .wightii, Rubus fragarioides, Sassurea conica, Acanthus leucostachys, Aconitum assamicum, Anoectochilus sikkimensis, Aeschynanthus parasiticus, Baliospermum micranthum, Berberis dasyclada, Calamus leptospadix, Calanthe densiflora, Capparis acutifolia, Cotoneaster assamensis, etc. (Chowdhery and Murti, 2000) Plant Diversity in Western Himalaya The Western Himalayan region is one of the 12 biogeographic regions of India and includes Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttaranchal. This region constitutes the alpine zone, temperate, humid and warm climatic conditions. The main portion of Western Himalaya lies in J K state comprising 67.5

Making Dreams Come True :: Teaching Education Careers Teachers Essays

Making Dreams Come True â€Å"What do you want to be when you grow up,† asked the second grade teacher. Little boys and girls raised their hands with enthusiasm and responded with, â€Å"ballerina, football player, princess, race car driver† as the teacher wrote the dreams on the board. One little girl in the middle of the room had different dreams: she said, â€Å"I want to be a teacher when I grow up!† I was that little girl. When I was eight years old, I realized what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to teach. In Mrs. White’s second grade class I made a discovery. If my peers were having trouble with their work and Mrs. White was busy, I would help. The joy I experienced from helping others, especially my friends, was amazing. I felt very good about myself while I was helping and even better when the classmate received a good grade. I concluded that teaching was the job for me. I believe that like my peers in second grade, all students want to learn. Some may rebel and act out, they may skip school a lot, but I feel that deep down they want to succeed just like the excellent students. Students want responsibility, work (yes, I said work), encouragement, support, and a mentor. The rebelling students try to deny themselves these values because of low self-esteem. They may believe they cannot succeed and therefore act as though they do not care. My job as a teacher will be to make all students want to learn and broaden their knowledge base. Relative knowledge is the only true knowledge because it is dependent on the person and the environment. Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences show that knowledge is different for different people. There is no set guide for being a knowledgeable person and there should not be. I do agree with essentialists that in mastering the basic core subjects is very important, but that is not all a child needs to learn. The basics are a strong foundation for children to broaden knowledge to fit their interests.

Greenland Glaciers and Global Warming Essay

Global warming, which is the increasing of the average temperature within the air near the Earth’s surface and the oceans, has caused the glaciers in Greenland to melt, causing the water levels to rise and the climate to change. Global warming is an unfortunate event that is taking place in numerous parts of the world, enabling bizarre and, in some instances, unnatural changes in the weather. Global warming has become most noticeable in the polar regions, amongst the polar icecaps, or in the more iced-over regions of the world, such as in Greenland and the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, Greenland has become the most common area for quickly-dissolving glaciers, making it the most notorious for climate and weather changes throughout the world. It is difficult to connect weather changes to global warming, though it has been proven that some more pronounced changes are likely to come about, and in fact, already are. One of the most obvious changes involves an increase in precipitation, as well as changes in the average patterns of precipitation, which can lead to flooding and, in turn, drought. The sea levels worldwide will rise, and are rising, as the glaciers melt, which will cause Arctic shrinkage – the shrinking of the Arctic region due to climate change. In time, this shrinkage could possibly be seen in other areas, including the Atlantic Ocean. Some other irreversible affects include the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and tsunamis. With the continuously melting Greenland glaciers, these risks are more likely to happen and these changes will only become more obvious and the melting becomes more rapid. Jason Box, a professor at Ohio State and a global warming researcher, has noticed a rapid and unsettling change in the amount of glaciers in Greenland. In an interview in regards to the melting glaciers and global warming, Box stated that â€Å"we fly over the world’s fastest-deteriorating glacier; and in 2003, we didn’t even recognize the place. It had doubled its speed (of shearing off ice) and lost about 6 miles of width (Feran). † Box goes on to state the worries that he feels about global warming, as well as pointing out a slight change to weather happenings around the world – for instance, a snowstorm in an area that, despite being cold, has never seen such harsh weather. Box feels that this weather event can be linked simultaneously with global warming from the Greenland region. In further studies done by scientists and other global warming researchers, it has been discovered that a huge portion of the Atlantic region is warming just as much and just as fast as the rest of the world (Wilkinson). The scientists have researched and discovered that the temperature has risen 2. 5 degrees in the past half century and that there has been a 140 percent ice loss within a decade. This has caused ice shelves to break up or disappear, exposing the glaciers behind them and â€Å"speeding up the discharge of ice and fresh water into the ocean (Wilkinson). † In the article, Dr. Ian Allison of the Australian Antarctic Division says that the activities taking place in the Atlantic are related to the rising of the air and water temperatures. Allison also stated that the melting of the Greenland glaciers are of the biggest concern, saying that its changes are even more noticeable than those of other regions. â€Å"In Greenland, the rate of ice loss is getting greater over the last 10 years and the surface ice melt is definitely related to the warming. † Allison, who’s main focus is that of the Arctic and Atlantic regions, has been keeping close note on the melting glaciers, as well as trying to compare them to changes that have been taking place with weather. The more ice that the Atlantic loses, as well as the rest of the regions under the pressure of global warming, the more heat that comes back to it. When there is no ice to reflect the heat of the sun, the heat permeates through the water, causing the water to warm up even more. The heat is then spread to the remaining glaciers, which causes an almost domino effect, repeating itself until all that can happen is for the sea levels to rise. According to Alan Boyle, a science editor, Greenland’s glaciers have been â€Å"dumping ice into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate that’s doubled over the past five years,† as researchers have reported. Yet there are many scientists and researchers that are not as worried about the melting of the glaciers as others are; they claim that Greenland has gone through warming before, but the heat had been followed by cooling temperatures. Many of the researchers feel that the same thing is happening again. These scientists are not disregarding the possibility of global warming, but are wary to rule in Greenland as a current problem. Other scientists are against this, saying that Greenland has been warming up 2. 2 times faster than it has in previous years. Greenland is home to one of the world’s largest, and one of the most quickly dissolving, glacier, the Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier. The aforementioned glacier has gone from being completely stationary as of 1996 to flowing at a rate of fourteen kilometers a year by 2005; it is because of this that it is considered one of the fastest moving glaciers on the planet. It is also because of this, as well as Greenland’s other quickly-melting glaciers, that will play a huge, unwanted role in the rising of the world’s sea levels (Biello). Greenland has become one of the biggest concerns of scientists, due to the alarming rate that its glaciers are melting, as well as to the obvious increase in the temperature. Since Greenland is home to some of the most quickly melting glaciers, as well as to the world’s largest, it will be one of the main purveyors of climate and weather changes throughout the world. Bizarre changes in weather have already been noticed, with many scientists blaming global warming on these changes. Regardless of the fact that Greenland is in a region of its own, what is taking place with its glaciers can affect the entire world; the weather will be the most pronouncedly changed. Horrific weather events will last longer than what is considered average, and they can take place in areas that would not normally see such conditions. Works Cited Biello, David. (17 Feb 2006. ) Greenland’s glaciers: Melting and on the move. Scientific American. Retrieved March 24, 2009, from http://www. sciam. com/article. cfm? id=greenlands-glaciers-melti. Boyle, Alan. (16 Feb 2006. ) Greenland’s glaciers losing ice at faster rate. Retrieved March 24, 2009, from http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/11385475/. Feran, Tim. (24 March 2009. ) Glacier warning us, OSU researcher says. The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved March 24, 2009, from http://www. columbusdispatch. com/live/content/life/stories/2009/03/24/2_NOVA_ICE. ART_ART_03-24-09_D5_9ADB1F1. html? sid=101. Wilkinson, Marian. (23 March 2009. ) The ice caps are in trouble. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved March 24, 2009, from http://www. smh. com. au/environment/earth-hour/the–ice-caps-are–in–trouble-200

Principals of instructional design Essay

Organizational strategy is concerned with vision goals and objectives of an organization. The task of an organization design is to look at the state of the business and to plan strategies organization that meets its needs. Managers of different organizations and companies should warm up to the advancing machinery analyze the situations of their organizations and see how the advancing technology would be of help when planning their strategy and making radical design changes to the organization. When creating a road map for the firm or company, the designer should put into consideration the vision of the company. Therefore, the plan that the designer comes up with should be in line with the vision of the organization. Other factors that the designers or managers of a company should think of before laying out a plan to change the organization and its structure are long term and short-term objectives of the organization and its goals (Brently, 2003). A goal is a general statement that is used to refer to the targets and aspirations that a company has and aims to accomplish. For these goals to be accomplished, determination and dedication to the work the employees do is highly recommended. My learning intervention is primarily about competence in the field of business. Competence has not been highly displayed in the business market and the intervention will be expected to instill real professionalism in these students once they graduate and are ready to venture into business. When the management of an organization decides to design strategies for their organizational it does not mean that, the organization was not strategized in the first place. It means that there is need to adjust to the changes that are happening daily in the global market. Starting the process of engineering again is all about main reformations of the organizations activities. It’s done to expand its structure when it comes to expenses incurred , the time the organization spends and how it meets the needs of the customers Repeated engineering of an organization means that the organization has to be redesigned from the beginning. The redesigning process starts with the most important processes. This saves a lot of time and costs that would have been incurred in the whole process compared to laying strategies when it is in its current structure. This will mean that major changes that are not very essential will have to be made which is far more expensive If a company had no existing departments, jobs and protocol, reengineering will involve design of an effective strategy that meets the objectives and accomplishes its goals. The process of reengineering begins when the designer’s are determined and put into consideration the needs of the customers. The company knows what is expected from it and develops a line up to cater for the clients or customers. Top management can create a competent team of people to design an organizational system that will achieve the laid strategy. Rethinking the organization is another factor to be considered. This is a process of Restructuring of the organization. Internal units under the management will be free to interrelate with each other and with the ecological forces. Some organizations display the traits of this management approach to organization design (Rodney, 1998). Managers in a global environment should consider what they have and do not have in common with other firms as well as the structural features of multinational organizations. More firms have made contact with the international arena and have found it essential to rethink the styles they came up with to help them adjust handle the cultural diversity for example, once a company has achieved a reasonable contact globally, it establishes an intercontinental distribution and this distribution is at the same organizational level as other major functional divisions. Learners will get to comprehend why technological and environmental changes are important in business and the effects that they have. They will be given insight on why changes in IT are happening so fast and extensively embraced. This will explain the reason why the relationship between the employees, allotment of information and harmonization of tasks need to be reviewed almost every day. Learners will understand why it is important to establish contacts and have good relation with the customers at the preliminary stage. They get to know how productivity is seen through involvement of people. Staying in touch with the customers is essential since it gives the designers ideas on what to consider as they design the strategies for a particular firm or organization. Learners will identify and explain dominant themes of current design strategies and their approaches. eg, universal approaches and contingency approaches. This is necessary because it helps the managers identify the best approach to use for their organization. The learner will explain how an organization is a system that is open and structured to incorporate two essential subsystems. The systems can be identified as the social and the technical subsystem (Maslow, 1998). Organizations are expected to lay strategies that take care of those in authority; they should also give an update of the relationships around the employees. The strategies are also supposed to cater for the training of interns and those already employed inspection, rewards and punishments. Learners will know what the task of management, which is to observe the environment and issue directions or orders on structures, rules and procedures. When teaching organizational strategies, a content outline and unit plan should be created. The content outline contains the topics that the tutor is supposed to cover in the entire course for example a topic on instructional design (Brently, 2003). The tutor explains the contents of the topic as an introduction at the beginning of the topic. This gives the learner an idea of what to expect in the course duration. The tutor assigns duration of time to each of the topics he intends to cover by the end of the course. He might decide to assign 4 weeks to the topic Principals of instructional design. He has estimated that by the end of the 4 weeks, the topic should have been completed and another one began. The relevance of the intervention and instruction is to help learners describe the general nature and extent of business and how global competition affects business operations and in general how to design strategies for the company or organization in order for the business to flourish. The intervention helps the students become competent in their different business fields. Therefore, the topics identified above all serve the purpose of instilling the relevant information for the intervention. The tutor is required to design a unit plan. It contains topics that will be taught, for example organizational design strategies. He should still give an introduction of the topic to the students (Maslow, 1998). The plan also contains time duration that each topic need to be completed. Again, it is an estimate and sometimes it extends but the tutor should try to keep time. It also contains room set up. That is the environment that the learning should take place in and its condition. The tutor should also identify the method of interaction. For example he might decide on small group discussions to give room for different opinions or to conduct a case study. The students can be asked to choose the people they want to work with. The materials for research or teaching are also included in the unit plan (Rodney, 1998). The materials could be slide’s, internet, resource books or journals. The teacher identifies the materials or media the students should use for a particular topic. The learning outcomes are not exceptional in a unit plan. This helps the tutor know if the objectives of the intervention have been accomplished. The tutor will explain if the topic teaches verbal, cognitive strategies, intellectual skills or attitude. For example, the topic Organizational strategies teach cognitive strategies and intellectual skills. With organizational designs in future (Brently, 2003). Taxononomy level is also included. The tutor states what domain the topic falls in. Cognitive, affective or psychomotor domain. A topic like steps to designing an organizational strategy falls in the affective domain. It involves making goals and attaining them. The tutor should include in the plan his plans for assessment. This may be a comprehensive evaluation at the end of the course. This provides the tutor with information on the effort put in the instruction and if the students achieved what they were supposed to achieve at the end of the course. The plan will have the main objective of the study, which in this case is to be competent in the business world.

Value chain analysis Essay Example

Value chain analysis Essay Example Value chain analysis Paper Value chain analysis Paper customer and repair service, upgrading are main example of this Sales and Service activities. For instance Carphonewarehouse offer customers to upgrade their phone contract with a free mobile phone and other promotional offers. This service soar up the value of a product. Secondary activities exist to support these primary activities and would include thing like infrastructure, human resource, technology and procurement. Procurement Procurement basically hold the duty for every type of purchasing such as goods service and material. Thus a business or company gain resources. The intention of procurement is not to allow the price go higher but to ensure the best possible quality. Technology development Technology is necessary activities for so called Value chain analysis which performs detailed study to obtain results on certain subject. This discover how to cut down cost and find the way to stay more successful than anyone else. It requires to use of hardware, software, expert knowledge to bring in business changes of input to output Human resources To bring the right staff doing the right thing at the right time is an obligation for this activities. This process starts from recruiting or hiring staff, training and developing. Human resource department also follow dismissal procedure when required. Answer to E Dell Computers can be illustrated as an example of Value Chain analysis. It manufactures computers in several region such as Europe, America, Taiwan, Malaysia and China. This company has brought a significant change in computer production. By this strategy Dell has been able to sell computer directly to the customers. This system is known as Electronic Data Interchange and Just In Time (JIT) inventories are mostly depend on website technology. This process can supply the computer to a customer within a week as soon as an order is placed. Altogether assembling a computer take less than seven hours including software installation and system check. It is necessary for suppliers to hold the inventory as to get the parts when needed, as a result they know when replenishment is required. Dell became no 1 computer seller by maintaining efficient operation strategy. the server, storage system, mobile and desktop computers are built-to-order in six manufacturing facilities around the world The web based system instruct and maintain the order and inventory level. Dell can take its inventory only in four days regardless of how many customers they are serving with how many products. ( Fiscal 2005,in review 2005). Dell enables its customer to buy products through internet or over the telephone or fax and named this process direct to consumers business model. It is claimed that dell made it easy for customers to order product online than order over phone or fax. After order the computer is assembled than supplied to customers within 7 working days. Dell also has achieved significant success in its sales and marketing. Now a days advertisement of dell product can be seen across TV, newspaper etc. due to this type of advertisement and promotion currently Dell now sell over 50% of its total sale by internet. Moreover one third of Dell employees are working in sales and marketing. Also to remove possible internal conflict dell introduced credit for sale to country manager and sale reps whether the order is taken by phone or internet. In order to reduce cost dell minimised the level of interaction between consumers and employees by introducing direct sale. Customers often contacts service centre if they experience a system problem. An example for this would be , if a customers hard disc fails to work, then the information pass through the technical support and then into Dells service and support systems. After that a piece of new equipment shipped to customer. In this stage dell ranked a position behind Apple, IBM and Toshiba  regarding customers service. (Computers, Desktops, Laptops, 2006, p. 232). But Dell has managed to remain in a higher position than its rival HP and Compaq  . Senior executives became aware of this situation and now working ahead for improvements.

Free Essays on Work

, I would conclude that the American people agree that working, a lot, is nothing out of the ordinary. The type of job you hold can determine where you live, who your friends are, and eventually who you marry. With so many people being highly qualified, the best workers are those willing to go the extra milework longer hours and perform better work. Ultimately, people who do not possess these two qualities would probably be deemed as â€Å"lazy, unproductive, and worthless.† Americans often assume that overwork is inevitable. There is the normal routine of working eight hours a day, 5 days a week, for 50 weeks a year. Author Tomoyuki Iwa*censored*a of â€Å"Why I Quit the Company,â€Å" took on this normal routine while working at a Japanese company. The working day was officially eight hours, but often workers would never leave the office on time. â€Å"Working, drinking, sleeping, and standing on a horribly crowded commuter train for an hour and a half each way: this was my life†(Iwa*censored*a 237). He soon lost sight of the world outside the company, as do many Americans. â€Å"Families whose members never see each other, women who work double shifts...are all casualties of the crisis of overwork†(Brandt 244). Ironically, with all the advances in technology today, one would think that employee’s workloads would lessens but it has only pushed them to work more on the job. Computers and fax machines keep employees at the office to complete more work, to go the extra mile. Also, many conveniences like TV dinners allow workers to handle more hours at paid work. These types of things make it okay for parents to stay at work longer and spend less time at home. In Japan, married workers had littl... Free Essays on Work Free Essays on Work Verbal Aggression Verbal aggression is message behavior which attacks a person's self-concept in order to deliver psychological pain.(Infante, 1995) Studies of verbal aggression have focused primarily on children and adolescents in educational and social settings. Very few studies were found to examine verbal aggression in adults in the workplace.(Ebbesen, Duncan, Konecni, 1974) The consequences of verbal aggression in the workplace can lead to social isolation, job related stress, health related problems, as well as problems in career advancement. It therefore should be considered important, for the individual and management, to identify and address the causes of verbal aggression. This program attempts to understand verbal aggression by 1) identifying the various functions of verbal aggression. 2) identifying the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression. 3) Avoiding the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression. Method Subject The subject, Shirley J., is a 49 year old African American female. Shi rley J. has several advanced degrees and is employed as a school psychologist in a metropolitan school district. She is married with two adult children. The subject readily agreed that the target behavior, verbal aggression, is a problem as it interferes with her relationships with others. She was enthusiastic in her desire to reduce, if not eliminate, this behavior. It would seem that self-monitoring for verbal aggression and antecedent control would be valuable as it would allow for consistent avoidance of verbal aggression. As a school psychologist the subject was very familiar with the basic principles of applied behavioral analysis and frequently offered programmatic suggestions. A behavioral contract was developed jointly between the therapist and subject. The contract outlined the target behavior, success criteria, and individual responsibilities of the therapist and subject. (see Appendix A) Apparatus A basic checklist was used to ... Free Essays on Work Barbara Brandt says â€Å"The work ethic fosters the widely held belief that people’s work is their most important activity and that people who do not work long and hard are lazy, unproductive, and worthless†(246). Put into my own words, I would conclude that the American people agree that working, a lot, is nothing out of the ordinary. The type of job you hold can determine where you live, who your friends are, and eventually who you marry. With so many people being highly qualified, the best workers are those willing to go the extra milework longer hours and perform better work. Ultimately, people who do not possess these two qualities would probably be deemed as â€Å"lazy, unproductive, and worthless.† Americans often assume that overwork is inevitable. There is the normal routine of working eight hours a day, 5 days a week, for 50 weeks a year. Author Tomoyuki Iwa*censored*a of â€Å"Why I Quit the Company,â€Å" took on this normal routine while working at a Japanese company. The working day was officially eight hours, but often workers would never leave the office on time. â€Å"Working, drinking, sleeping, and standing on a horribly crowded commuter train for an hour and a half each way: this was my life†(Iwa*censored*a 237). He soon lost sight of the world outside the company, as do many Americans. â€Å"Families whose members never see each other, women who work double shifts...are all casualties of the crisis of overwork†(Brandt 244). Ironically, with all the advances in technology today, one would think that employee’s workloads would lessens but it has only pushed them to work more on the job. Computers and fax machines keep employees at the office to complete more work, to go the extra mile. Also, many conveniences like TV dinners allow workers to handle more hours at paid work. These types of things make it okay for parents to stay at work longer and spend less time at home. In Japan, married workers had littl...

Business Ethics And Social Responsibility Commerce Essay

Business Ethics And Social Responsibility Commerce Essay Generation of maximum returns for its stakeholders is the ultimate purpose of any business establishment but over the last decade, there has been an ongoing dialogue about the role of business as responsible stewards. Though profit motive for any organization is well understood and accepted, people do not accept it as an excuse for ignoring the basic norms, values, and standards of being a good and responsible citizen. Standards, Norms Procedures and expectations to define values of responsible business conduct are emerging worldwide. In the past few years, ethical problems in business have been reported several times by leading newspaper and magazines. The term ‘ethics’ is mainly used to refer to the rules or principles that define the right and wrong conduct. According to Clarence D. Walton and La Rue Tone Hosmer, â€Å"business ethics is concerned with truth and justice and has a variety of aspects such as the expectations of society, fair competition, advertising, public relations, social responsibilities, consumer autonomy, and corporate behavior in the home country as well as abroad.† Practically speaking it can also be considered to be a value system which is â€Å"concerned primarily with the relationship of business goals & techniques to specifically human ends†, It also means viewing the needs & aspirations of individuals as a part of society. In the present day scenario it is one of the major task for the management to inculcate values & impart a sense of business ethics to the employees and organization, Managers, especially top-level managers, are responsible for creating an environment that fosters ethical decision-making in organization. Theodore Purcell and James Weber suggested three ways for applying and integrating ethical concepts: 1. Establishing of a policy regarding ethical behavior or developing a code of ethics in organization 2. An ethics committee in organization to resolve ethical issues 3. Teaching busine ss ethics and values in management development programs. These concepts should be applied taking into consideration the Social, Cultural, Political and Economic factors that affects the state of personal value and business ethic within different industries. Types of Managerial Ethics Archie B. Carroll, an eminent researcher, identified three types of management ethics, depending on the extent to which the decisions were ethical or moral: moral management amoral management immoral management Types of Managerial Ethics 1) Moral management Moral management strives to follow ethical principles and doctrines. Moral managers work to succeed without violating any ethical standards. They seek to succeed remaining within the bounds of laws. Such managers undertake such activities which ensure that though they may engage in legal and ethical behavior, they also continue to make a profit. The law should be followed not only in letter but also in spirit. Moral managers always seek to determine whether their actions, behavior or decisions are fair to themselves as well as to all other stakeholders involved. In the long run, this approach is likely to be in the best interests of the organizations. 2) Amoral management This approach is neither immoral nor moral. Amoral management simply ignores ethical considerations. It is broadly categorized into two types – intentional and unintentional. Intentional amoral managers do not take ethical issues into consideration while making decisions or while taking any action, because in their perception, general ethical standards should only be applicable to the non-business areas of life. Unintentional amoral managers, however, do not even consider the moral implications of their decisions or actions. Amoral managers pursue profitability as the only goal and pay very little attention to the impact on any of their social stakeholders. They do not like to interfere in their employees’ activities, unless their behavior can le ad to government interference. The guiding principle of amoral management is – â€Å"Within the law of the land, will this action, decision, or behavior help us make money?†

Gerrymandering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Gerrymandering - Essay Example Partisan gerrymandering depicts the determination of the various seats that make a delegation different from a national outcome that is distinctive. Partisan gerrymandering presents advantage to a political party whose voters have an equal distribution. In terms of difficulty, bipartisan approach tends to be a complication with comparison to partisan gerrymander. The reason is that bipartisan eliminates bias that the partisan approach brings forth. The partisan approach also utilizes a particular algorithm, the partisan algorithm. The bipartisan gerrymander represents an advantaging to the serving government. The instance is that the bipartisan gerrymander tends to reflect all the affiliations of voters are in alignment with the incumbent’s party. The redistricting game showcases the real issues that the lawmakers experience in their activities. On top of the challenges is the creation of districts that allow the equity of power. The choosing of the best gerrymander avenue to use is also an issue. The reason is that each option presents an unequal creation or redistribution of authority that may face vast

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 15000 words

Human Resource Management - Essay Example The Model of Work Stress is a model that is also recommended by The Management Standards, and continuously updated and revised by Palmer and Cooper (2003). It explains the relationship between the main stress-related hazards, the symptoms and outcomes. Qualitative research was conducted on 50 participants taken from a sample of NHS healthcare workers who responded through email and personal interviews. Out of the 60 contacted healthcare workers, 50 responded and answered the questionnaires which became the basis for the Analysis of the Results. Some of the questions asked in the interview and questionnaire involved ‘harmful errors’ and ‘near misses’; i.e., whether the respondents made the mistakes as a result of work related stress. The answers and suggestions of some of the participants in the survey proved intriguing yet worthy of scrutiny and analysis for possible recommendations and future study. Work related stress is on the rise in many occupations but mostly upon health workers. Health workers in the NHS do their job round the clock and the impact has resulted into stress, thereby causing illnesses and sicknesses and subsequent early retirement. It is presumed that many succumb to stress, after a day’s work – or the whole week’s work – of caring for the sick, the emergency victims, the aged and the disabled who always give a call. NHS employees are subjected to a rigorous work; they are out there in the open giving first aid to emergency victims, in hospitals and clinics, providing care and treatment, and even in NHS offices and facilities doing work for health improvement. Varied reasons were provided by nurses who had left NHS, some of which are lack of career progression, limited professional development, resistance to service improvements, non-family-friendly working patterns, bullying, inflexible and hierarchical management, poor morale, dangerous or inadequate

Arcor Case Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Arcor Case Analysis - Term Paper Example The company was founded in the year 1951, producing a wide range of products ranging from confectioneries to personal hygiene products and also frozen goods. At present the company operates in over 120 countries worldwide and Arcor was also ranked 14th amongst the top 100 candy companies at US in the year 2009 with a revenue of US $ 2.2 billion. The company provides high quality products and on the other hand to reduce the cost of the product Arcor vertically integrated the packaging system into their system. In the year the company was nominated as the ‘best company’ in Argentina from the chamber of commerce of US. This award recognizes the company who includes management sustainability in their corporate practices. The Company also encourages in promotion of education at Argentina and Brazil. This social responsibility is aimed to minimize the problems arising at workplace and the impacts of environment at the manufacturing plants (Innovalatino, 2010). Situation analys is SWOT Analysis The growth of the company and sustainable survival in the industry the SWOT analysis is conducted by the company. It helps the company to understand the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company identification of which can assist in the implementation of strategies according to the needs of development. Strength Arcor has a great brand name at Argentina. The company’s huge percentage in the domestic market share with around 54% in the candy and 33% at chocolate market gave the company immense popularity in the international market due to its strong base. International acquisition strategy of Arcor with small third party to reduce its price to the end user along with the vertical integration structure for manufacturing of different ingredients facilitates the process of reducing price for the company. This is the major strength of the company which keeps the price low for the firm without affecting the quality of the product. Weaknesses Th e production plants of the company are all located in domestic country thus distribution of the company is a very important aspect to look after by the company. Proper training of the distribution channel and salesperson are required by the company failing to which might create problem for the company to reach to the customers in foreign countries. Building own distribution system can help the company to cope with this problem. Opportunity New product line from the company with over 50 new candy compared to 10 from each competitor can create a huge potential for the company in developing countries where the demand for candies are growing in recent years. Demand for chocolate and confectionery are also increasing which can be a great opportunity for the firm to launch new products in this category (Ghemawt, Rukstad, Illes, 2009, p. 5). Threats Financial crisis and economical slowdown is one of the major threats for the company. While entering into new market the political factor is a lso a possible threat as change in policies of the government can increase the tax on import and export duties which might force the company to increase price for the products, thus loosing the title of being the cost leader in the market. Competitive analysis To get an extra edge in the competitive environment Arcor should analyze the external environment of the firm and understand the threats from different dimensions like new entrants, suppliers,

Response Execution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Response Execution - Essay Example These plans may be carried out verbally and informally, especially for incidents that are simple in nature and have short duration by the Incident Commander. Written action plans, are considered whenever there are two or more areas of responsibility involved, the duration of the incident carried on into another operational period, new organizational elements are triggered and if it is required by agency policy (Greene, 2001). Incident management plans are written to clearly provide a statement of objectives and appropriate measures, provide a gauge to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness and to provide a basis to assess the progress and accountability of the incident of the incident team (Greene, 2001). A sniper was reported within the vicinity of the power failure area. The said sniper is randomly shooting citizens in the downtown park area. Said area is congested due to the power outage. According to initial reports, two civilians were shot by said sniper and may still be alive. There will be one assigned Incident Commander (IC) who will directly have the overall responsibility of the resolution of the situation. In this exercise, the Governor of Arizona is the most likely candidate as he/she is mandated by State of Arizona to execute the Emergency Response and Recovery Plan (SERRP), the ICS management plan of the state (State of Arizona, 2003). The IC shall oversee the functions of the incident command system (ICS) and their respective section chiefs - operations (responsible for direct tactical actions), planning (responsible for preparation of action plan, resource maintenance and situational status), logistics (provide support), finance administration (procurement of supplies and cost accounting), information officer, safety officer and other representatives from assisting agencies. (Greene, 2001). The unified command ICS structure will be used, as it is the structure being utilized by the SERRP. Due to the potentially wider scope and further implications of the scenarios, the Governor of

None Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

None - Essay Example Sales job is task oriented and this job needs a strong evaluation with the passage of time. The sales manager needs to conduct evaluation of all the sales employees individually1. It is very important for the sales manager to supervise all the plans him/her self because sales executives require continuous training and development in their job. The responsibilities of a sales manager increase as he reaches the position of manager. Sales executive is an easier job than the sales manager. The main reason why the sales executive is an easier job is that in such a position the person is responsible only for his/her tasks and goals, but when the executive becomes a manager then he/she is responsible for the overall team. There are different problems that the sales manager has to face. The first problem that is faced at by the sales manager is the missing of objectives or to not clearly identify the objectives to be achieved. This problem is commonly faced by many sales mangers at the initial time of their career as a manager. The company is highly dependent on its sales objectives because the revenue of the company is associated with its sales objectives. Another problem that is very annoying for the sales manager is when the company is not giving the attractive offers to the clients or customers. In such a case the sales manager is required to make effective sales strategy to overcome this issue. Sales mangers consider this problem as one of the most difficult problems. One more issue that is difficult for the mangers at its initial level is the lack of customer identification and the lack of research for finding right prospects for the products or services. This is the fault of marketing professionals of the company for not clearly defining the target market to the sales professionals. This issue is being faced by the mangers that have the responsibility to manage the team of sales personnel. Sales executives or