Drug Addiction Is a Growing Problem in Punjab Essay

1) Throughout the border state of Punjab, whether in villages or cities, drugs have become a scourge. Opium is prevalent, refined as heroin or other illegal substances. Schoolboys sometimes eat small black balls of opium paste, with tea, before classes. Synthetic drugs are popular among those too poor to afford heroin. 2) The scale of the problem, if impossible to quantify precisely, is undeniably immense and worrisome. India has one of the world’s youngest populations, a factor that is expected to power future economic growth, yet Punjab is already a reminder of the demographic risks of a glut of young people. An overwhelming majority of addicts are between the ages of 15 and 35, according to one study, with many of them unemployed and frustrated by unmet expectations. 3) For the Punjab government, the problem is hardly unknown. Private drug treatment centers, some run by quacks, have proliferated across the state, and treatment wards in government hospitals have seen a surge in patients. Three years ago, a state health official warned in a court affidavit that Punjab risked losing a whole generation to drugs. Roughly 60 percent of all illicit drugs confiscated in India are seized in Punjab. 4) Yet when Punjab held state elections this year, the candidates rarely spoke about drug abuse. In fact, India’s Election Commission said that some political workers were actually giving away drugs to try to buy votes. More than 110 pounds of heroin and hundreds of thousands of bottles of bootleg liquor were seized in raids. During the elections, party workers in some districts distributed coupons that voters could redeem at pharmacies. 5) Punjab’s reluctance to treat the drug situation as a full-blown crisis is partly because the state government itself is dependent on revenue from alcohol sales. Roughly 8,000 government liquor stores operate in Punjab, charging a tax on every bottle — an excise that represents one of the government’s largest sources of revenue. India’s comptroller found that liquor consumption per person in Punjab rose 59 percent between 2005 and 2010. 6) A sociologist in Amritsar, surveyed 600 drug addicts in rural and urban areas of Punjab and found that they were usually young, poor and unemployed. He said that most villages did not have health clinics but did have three or four drugstores, which often made sizable profits selling pills and other synthetic drugs to addicts who cannot afford heroin. 7) Opium has a long history in Punjab, and was commonly and legally consumed here before India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947. Today, Punjab is a primary gateway for opiates smuggled into India from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Opium is also grown legally in India for medicinal purposes, and some of the crop arrives in Punjab on the black market. 8) The problem is prevalent in middle-class enclaves, where some users are hooked on heroin. One impoverished neighborhood of Amritsar, called Maqboolpura, is known as the Village of Widows — because so many young men have died of drug abuse. 9) In Kazikot Village, about a two-hour drive from Amritsar, a local nongovernmental organization tries to prevent the spread of H.I.V. by regularly distributing clean syringes to addicts. The group’s workers say there are 48 hard-core addicts in the village (out of more than 2,000 people) but that many other people use drugs. Government officials have sponsored â€Å"camps† here, with health officials providing antidrug information or trying to persuade addicts to undergo treatment — neither of which, villagers say, has been successful.

Gay marriage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gay marriage - Research Paper Example Thus, in this paper, the pros and cons of gay marriage will be investigated for this writer to show that there are more reasons for individuals, organizations, institutions and lawmakers to thwart the implementation of gay marriages. Gay marriage proponents argue that legal principles of nondiscrimination and equal treatment should be given to gays and lesbians (Masci). There have been so many groups that fought for their rights during the past decades such as feminists. This is perhaps the reason why gays found the courage to also gather their strengths together to fight for their rights. This argument seems to be the main reason which branches out to other discourses used by gays to really get what they want because of the growing recognition of individual rights. Females have been given equal chances to be employed in an often male-centered jobs as well as run for offices in the government. Blacks are now given equal rights to employment and recognition in a white World, too. Foll owing their steps, gays are seeking for such equal rights including to marry and to enjoy the benefits every married couple get. Gays argue that there are many of them who stay together for years but do not enjoy the same benefits of the common male-female couples because they are not allowed to marry. They cry for equality. They believe that they have the right to pursue happiness not only professionally and financially but including having healthy relationships that help them become better citizens. Not allowing them to marry, they claim, is a deprivation of their basic rights therefore they seek to enjoy the rights every other citizen has. On the other hand, conservatives disagree with the demands of equal marriages for the very reason that marriage is not supposed to be between same sexes. Rather, it has been culturally observed for centuries that marriages are between males and females only. Marriage is believed to be purposefully for building a family, meaning; couples tie the knot and commit to each other to build a strong family as they are given children. However, gay advocates argue that they can also build a family together with the help of the law or science. First and foremost, they can always adopt children whom they can consider and raise as their own. Secondly, couples can now bear their own children with the help of technological advancements as in the case of Thomas Beatie who shocked the world with his pregnancy in 2008 (Dagnell). Although technically, Beatie is a woman who had a sex transplant and married a woman, she or rather he got pregnant with the help of science. This example encourages same sex couples to fight for their rights because technology is making things possible for them. When it comes to the ability to raise children in a normal environment, most gay couples claim that they are as able as the commonly recognized couples are. When religious views step in, gays have often been silenced in the past years but now, they conside r religions as old-fashioned and thus challenge them to be open-minded and accept the effects of modernization. They argue that there is no such thing as traditional marriage. More and more politicians are getting sympathetic to gay grievances and therefore recognize them and listen to them, fortifying

Foreign direct investment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Foreign direct investment - Research Paper Example The topic â€Å"The impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth in less developed countries† seems to be interesting and relevant. Through this topic, the study seeks to find whether these inflows of foreign capital can be sustained within the less developed economies. Whether the transnational players in the international economy could contribute to the modernization of the economies of developing countries is also the point of concern in this study.Development Economics is a topic that studies the economics of the developing nations. It has made exceptional use of economic hypothesis, econometric methods, sociology, anthropology, political science, ecology and demography and has mushroomed into one of the liveliest parts of study in all the social sciences. It is reasonable to say that the model of economic growth initiated by Robert Solow in 1956 has had an elementary impact on development economics. An addition to the capital stock will have a larger effect on p er-capita income. It implies that by means of controlling parameters (for example, savings rates and population growth rates), poorer nations will tend to develop faster and hence will come up to reach the levels of comfort enjoyed by their affluent counterparts (Ray, 2007).Leonard (2006) talks about the effect of FDI on wages and labor values in developing nations. Whilst wages for skilled labor often arguments due to higher FDI, the disparity between skilled and unskilled labor income has broadened (Leonard, 2006,).

Career and Self Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Career and Self Development - Essay Example PLATO is pivotal to career and self-development. It provides the system for self-development as well as institutions and organizations. It accepts data, analyzes, stores important messages, and also does calculations. PLATO now operates under the name of NovaNET. PLATO is also responsible for many offspring such as TenCORE and Lotus Notes that are built on similar ideas generated by PLATO. The entire worldwide online community owes its existence to the pioneering and persistent efforts of PLATO (Woolley, David R, 1994). Employability is a concept that works between an employer and the employee. It is the ability of an individual or organization to employ. And it is the capability of the individual to perform the role for which he is employed. The employer and the employee come together for mutual or varied benefits based on performance by the employee and provision of remuneration to the employee by the employer at the end of the agreed term which may be daily, weekly or monthly. The employer has a specific job for which he or they need a specifically qualified individual. The individual, as the employee, is in a position to provide the employer with the skill needed. Employability embraces a wide ambit of performance and compensation for the employer and the employee. For the employer, it may mean having an employee under him from whom he or they can expect skilled or semi-skilled services for which the employee is experienced and trained. For the employee, it may mean a job that requires him to perform relevant functions for which he is trained or will receive training and at the end of the agreed term receive adequate compensation. Employability has become significant now because of online access to jobs. A company based in the United States can employ a person anywhere in the world through the means of the internet. What are the key changes in the graduate labour market and career forms The key changes are profound because of information technology. The graduate labour market has entered a stage when job descriptions overlap with diverse posts. There is a tremendous array of fields within the commerce and science streams. Earlier commerce graduates handled accountancy and finance. Now they handle a broad spectrum of activities from accounts, finance, insurance, banking, and stocks. And science is no longer a domain for doctors and scientists. Science has branched out into different segments such as anatomy, anthropology, archeology, astronomy, bacteriology, biochemistry, biophysics, biology, botany, chemistry, computer science, ecology, electronics, entomology, environment, forestry, genetics, geology, marine biology, medicine, meteorology, microbiology, nanotechnology, neurology, physics, physiology, seismology, zoology and a host of other fields each of which are recognized as major departments with their own discipline. The graduate labour market has to discern the disciplines within each stream and check qualifications that multitask or specialize in diverse or special fields. The labour market

Risks and Optimal Capital Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Risks and Optimal Capital Structure - Essay Example USA being a relatively efficient and informed market environment. Risks tend to be closely correlated with returns expected. The components of risks that are unique to US alone include: 1. Inflation risk._ inflation can provide a way to keep up with or stay ahead of inflation. It is defined as the rise in general levels of prices. During high period of inflation, there is a risk that the financial return of an investment will not keep pace with the inflation rate. It reduces the purchasing power, besides; this risk varies form one investment to the other. Small businesses can be seriously affected because this risk can not be insulated against such risk. 2. Market risk: _ the prices of stocks, bonds, mutual funds and various commodities and even services may fluctuate because of the behaviour of investors in the market place. As a result, economic growth is not as systematic and predictable as most investors might believe. Periods of rapid expansion are followed by periods of recession; it may be quite difficult to sell investments like real estate. Fluctuations in the market price for stocks and bonds may have nothing to do with the fundamental changes in the financial health of small businesses. Common causes of such fluctuations can be caused by political or social conditions. 3. 3. Interest rate risk _ this risk is associated with a fixed return investment in preferred stocks or government bonds. It is the result of changes in the interest rates in the economy. The value of these fixed investment securities and borrowed investment funds decreases when overall interest rates increase. 4. Global investment risk__Nowadays small businesses have become global hubs, as the world has become increasingly interconnected into a global village. Small traders keep their investments in foreign companies and other global players and this creates additional risks due to exchange rate in international currencies as exchange rates directly affect returns. 5. Business failure risk_ this is associated with the possibility of bad management, unsuccessful products, competition, or many other factors that can cause the business to be less profitable than originally anticipated. Lower profits would mean lower dividends or no dividends at all. Businesses can also close down due to bankruptcy too. Optimal capital structure means that businesses decide on what the best ratio is, between equity or owners capital and borrowed or debt should be. When such is carefully done, businesses should minimize borrowings as much as to avoid paying high interest on them. Incases from capital contributed from outsiders, corporations should first pay them (obligatorily) before paying themselves .this posses the question of maintaining an optimal capital structure to businesses regardless of their magnitude. REFERNCES 1. Financial management journal vol.33, 2004. 2. www.fma, 2007 3. Geoffrey A.Hirt and Stanley block, fundamentals of investment management 2003. 4. Kapoor Dlabay, personal finance 6th edition 2001. 5. Richard loth, www.investopedia.com, evaluating a company's capital structure, Oct

European Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

European Law - Assignment Example The paper tells that the directives are outcome based, which means that the member states may implement the directive in the manner in which they choose, but they must implement regulations and laws which achieve the objectives of the directive. Directives are principle based because every nation has sovereignty, therefore they need to be free to implement their own laws, yet there must also be harmony in the international system. Therefore, by issuing principles to the member states in the EU, not rules to implement, directives accomplish the needed goal of harmonizing Union law while acknowledging the freedom that member states enjoy in implementing their own laws. In this case, there is a conflict between the directive set forth and the municipal law that the UK adopted to implement the directive. Specifically, the UK law is more draconian than the directive. A case which would helpful to Blokkia in this regard is that of Luciano Arcaro Case C-168/95. In this case, Luciano Arcaro was accused of discharging dangerous chemicals into water. In this case, the municipal law stated that there was a distinction between new plants and existing plants, and when the plant was existing, there was not a requirement for authorization for the discharges. The directive upon which this law was based did not make such a distinction. Therefore, if the directive is the law which governed this particular case, Arcaro, who was operating an existing plant, would be liable, as he did not get authorization to discharge these harmful chemicals. On the other hand, if the municipal law is the one which governed this case, Arcaro would not be liable and could not be prosecuted, as he was within the purview of the municipal law. The court in this case found that the municipal law would be the one which controlled. Their reasoning was that the directive imposed an obligation which hadn't been incorporated into existing municipal law, and it had the effect of aggravating the liability in criminal law for persons who act in contravention of this law. In this case, Blokkia might argue that the inverse of Arcaro would be true. This is that there is a contradiction between the directive and the municipal law. Specifically, the municipal law imposes criminal penalties for situations which the directive does not address. The directive does not state that mobile phones may not be sold to children under the age of 10, and that doing so would constitute a criminal offence. It does state that there must be warnings on these products and details about the risks printed on these packages. As in Arcaro, the directive and the municipal law are inconsistent, and the municipal law has the effect of aggravating the directive law. Blokkia is within the purview of the directive law, assuming that they did label the product and included the information that the directive requires, so it may state that, since the municipal law aggravates the directive, that the directive is the law whic h should govern, by using the logic of the Arcaro court. In the case of Federal Republic of Germany v. European Parliament and Council of the European Union Cas C-380/03, there is further instruction upon which Blokkia might rely. Specifically, this case concerned a directive which prohibited the advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products by the printed media and radio broadcasts. This case stated that there were disparities which existed between the individual Member States' national laws, and that these disparities were such that the free movement of goods and the freedom to provide services were implicated. This court notes that if there are disparities between the member states in implementing this directive's principles, such that it has a direct effect on the

Quantitative Decision Making Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Quantitative Decision Making - Research Paper Example - the independent and dependent variables can be determined incorrectly (in this case it is hard to determine whether change in export production of passenger cars influences export production of commercial vehicles or vice versa); - the perceived relationship may be a result of simultaneous influence of the third (moderator) variable on both of the variables separately (for example, correlation between export production numbers of passenger cars and commercial vehicles can be explained by the influence of the increase/decrease of the exchange rate on exports of the automotive industry in general). It may be true in this case, as the suggested regression model explains only 22.2% of variance (R-Squared value is indicated in the table below). Thus, if the export production number of passenger cars increases by 10,000 the export production number of commercial vehicles will go up by 572 (0.0572 coefficient). The constant 13,002 can be considered rather an anchor point for the regression line and should not be taken as the value of JCYF when JCYL is equal to 0 due to the fact that the data set available contains no observation with JCYF equals to or is close to 0. To project the export production number of passenger cars (... - the perceived relationship may be a result of simultaneous influence of the third (moderator) variable on both of the variables separately (for example, correlation between export production numbers of passenger cars and commercial vehicles can be explained by the influence of the increase/decrease of the exchange rate on exports of the automotive industry in general). It may be true in this case, as the suggested regression model explains only 22.2% of variance (R-Squared value is indicated in the table below). Linear regression equation JCYF = 13002 + 0.0572 x JCYL (coefficients indicated in the table): Multiple R-Square Adjusted StErr of Summary R R-Square Estimate 0.4708 0.2217 0.1730 4184.251262 Degrees of Sum of Mean of F-Ratio p-Value ANOVA Table Freedom Squares Squares Explained 1 79773016.56 79773016.56 4.5564 0.0486 Unexplained 16 280127337.9 17507958.62 Coefficient Standard t-Value p-Value Lower Upper Regression Table Error Limit Limit Constant 13002.19876 7187.903864 1.8089 0.0893 -2235.476735 28239.87425 JCYL 0.05720163 0.026797739 2.1346 0.0486 0.000392961 0.1140103 Thus, if the export production number of passenger cars increases by 10,000 the export production number of commercial vehicles will go up by 572 (0.0572 coefficient). The constant 13,002 can be considered rather an anchor point for the regression line and should not be taken as the value of JCYF when JCYL is equal to 0 due to the fact that the data set available contains no observation with JCYF equals to or is close to 0. To project the export production number of passenger cars (JCYL), given export of commercial vehicles (JCYF), the JCYF value should simply be plugged into the regression line equation. The point of estimate number would be