Pak mulls removing import duy on Indian Tea Essay

Free trade takes place when there are no barriers and no intrusions to trade put by the authority(government and trade organisations). Free trade allows goods and services to flow freely freely from one country to another. The opposite to free trade is Protectionism. There are many protectionism that the government of a particular country can impose on trade. Main types of protectionism: * Tariffs * Subsidies * Quotas * Embargoes The governement of Pakistan has imposed a trade barrier on the import of Tea from India. India tea is under a 10 percent import duty. Some possible reasons for the imposition of Import duty on Tea are given below. * To prevent over specialisation * To raise government revenue * To remove balance of payment deficits Given below is a graph that shows the effect of imposing import duty on the import of Tea. Due to the imposition of import duty the prices for Tea rises from ‘P-world’ to ‘P- import duty’ because of which the Supply curve shifts from ‘S-world’ to ‘S- world+ import duty’ . Therefore there is an overall consumer loss. Areas ‘a’,’b’,’c’ and ‘d’ shows the consumer loss. Area ‘a’ shows the producers gain. Area ‘b’ shows green loss. It is said to be a ‘Green Loss’ because there is inefficiency that is creeping in this area as inefficient domestic producers are now producing this area at a higher price. Area ‘c’ shows the government revenue due the import duty. Area ‘d’ shows the net loss. ‘d’ is not being produced or demanded due to the rise in prices, this shows the net loss towards the consumer. Tea is an ‘important drink in every Pakistani house’ and Pakistan is the second largest importer of Tea. Therefore the demand curve for Tea in Pakistan is very inelastic. The smuggled tea is sold at a low cost but due to the Inelastic demand for Tea, The change in the price of tea should have a realively low change in the demand. However, the article states that Pakistan imports 140 million kg and 20 million kg is smuggled. This shows that 12.5 % of tea is smuggled, which is a very high rate. This indirectly shows that Tea inspite of being very inelastic in demand, a change in price will have a big effect on the demand. Area ‘d’ in the above graph is consumer loss in Trade between India and Pakistan. However, this area is being demanded and supplied throught smuggling and illegal trade. Therefore, Area ‘d’ can also be observed as the government loss of revenue. India and Kenya are the two main countrys supplying Pakistan with tea. Due to the drought in Kenya the prices have increased tremendously. This puts Pakistan in a very infavourable situation. ‘S-world’ takes into account the imported supply of Tea from India and Kenya. Due to the import duty the price shifts from ‘P world’ to ‘P- import duty’ and the supply shifts from ‘S- world’ to ‘S- world+ import duty’. Again due to the drougth the price shifts from ‘P- import duty’ to ‘P1’ and the supply shifts from ‘S- world+ import duty’ to ‘S- world 2’. Due to the very high prices people will stop consuming Tea and move to other alternatives like coffee. Also smuggling of Tea will increase tremendously. The net effect will have a tremedous loss of revenue for the government.

Mt 460-02 Management Policy and Strategy

Unit Seven Scotts Miracle-Gro Case Study Analysis XXX Kaplan University MT 460-02 Management Policy and Strategy Dr. Carrie A. O’Hare April 22, 2013 Unit Seven Scotts Miracle-Gro Case Study Analysis Introduction The submitted report identifies Scotts Miracle-Gro’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 140). Key issues will be explored concerning Scotts Miracle-Gro’s external environment and solutions developed to maximize its opportunities or minimize its biggest threats. This comprehensive analysis will used to add value to the company and its consumers.Synopsis (Background) of the Situation The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (Scotts), based in Marysville, Ohio, was formed by a 1995 merger of Miracle-Gro and the Scotts Company (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-1). The merger made Scotts the largest company in the North American lawn and garden industry as well as the world’s leading supplier and marketer of consum er products for do-it-yourself lawn and garden care (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-1). The Scotts Company was founded in 1868 by Orlando McLean Scott as a purveyor of weed-free seeds.By 1879, Scotts had diversified into distribution of horse-drawn farm equipment and also started a mail-order farm seed distribution channel. Scotts began offering grass seeds for lawns in 1907, distributing through retail channels beginning in 1924 (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-1). In 1928, Scotts introduced Turf Builder, the first fertilizer specifically designed for grass and started its spreader business with the introduction of drop spreaders in 1930; broadcast spreaders were rolled out in 1983 (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 6-1). Scotts acquired Republic Tool & Manufacturing Company in 1992 and gained competencies in total quality control over spreader manufacturing (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-1). Ownership of the firm changed hands several times, beginning in 1971 when ITT bought Scotts from the Scotts family. In 1986, a leveraged buy-out (LBO) made Scotts a private company again for a time, until 1992, when its stock started trading on the NASDAQ (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-2).Miracle-Gro was founded in 1951 by Horace Hagedon (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-2). Unlike Scotts, Miracle-Gro had no internal production; all production was outsourced to contract manufacturers. Before the 1995 merger with Scotts, Miracle Gro was already a leading brand in the lawn care chemical industry (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-2). By early 2000, Scotts Miracle-Gro products were No. 1 in every major category and in virtually every major market in which they competed (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-2). Key IssuesThe three key issues facing Scott’s are increased domestic production costs, dependence on large scaled customers, and profitability below market average. The comparatively high plant and labor costs of the Temecula plant continues to be an issue to the growth of Sco tt’s Miracle-Gro. The key issues revolve around the idea that that is has become expensive to produce fertilizer spreaders and lawn seed by Scott’s Temecula plant. Another weakness that has been identified is Scott’s over dependent to customers, such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart, which account for 61% of the company’s sales (Mays, 2012).These large consumers have demanded a change in policy and production by â€Å"leaner inventories to end their fiscal years as well as to move shipments closer to the start of the lawn and garden season (Mays, 2012). Scott’s also has experienced lower sales in the international segment, tumbling 21 percent, while also missing revenue targets in 2011 due to sales declining by -2%, an 8% miss (Mays, 2012). Define the Problem The main problem to Scott’s survivability and health is the increasing cost of production for the Temecula plant, which manufactures products for Scott’s Miracle-Gro.These increasing costs are driven by the higher labor costs. These increased costs are also in conjunction with higher prices for raw materials, energy costs, and higher state taxes. Alternative Solutions The three possible solutions to alleviating this issue is outsourcing, hiring lower waged workers, or slightly lower wages and offer bonuses for meeting certain milestones. Outsourcing to China may not be the best solution because it would raise costs in the distribution channel, which is not a desirable outcome for the long-term.Also hiring an outside work-force willing to accept a lower wage could jeopardize quality but the new employees can be instructed on how to provide quality when manufacturing the products which would generate a short term increase in costs for training. The other alternative is to move the plan to more friendly manufacturing state and slightly lower current employees’ wages if it is considered that they are higher, and also to identify areas where money can be saved .This would retain human capital which has led to productivity improvements which have averaged six per cent per year (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-4). In this section, you demonstrate your expertise by identifying a couple of different ways to solve the problem you identified in the previous section! Selected Solution to the Problem The most economical and viable solution would be to move production outside of California. Areas where costs can be saved are in the distribution of the products and in the procurement of raw materials.Scott’s should search for areas where expenses can be lowered and costs cut but that does not diminish employee morale and job satisfaction which can negatively impact productivity. The state that has been selected is Utah which has right-to-work law on the books which means lower labor costs, Utah also has a favorable regulatory climate and Utah’s 5% flat corporate tax rate is one of the lowest in the country (Badenhausen, 2012). Implemen tation Internal Stakeholders|   | External Stakeholders | Accounting- Assess budget |   | Customers- e. . Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot| Operations- Calculate costs of operational processes |   | Suppliers – Local and current raw material suppliers| Procurement- Calculate the costs of purchasing material |   | Regulatory agencies- Local government agency| Human Resources- Calculate wages and benefits of current employees, management, and executives. Identify training for new plant. Create benefit package to retain current employees. |   | Natives- Local community| Legal Department- Develop and review contracts for new facilities and suppliers.   | | Information Technology- Develop network for supply chain, operations and sales. Maintain integrity of database|   | | Initiating Process Group- Time frame- Within one month * Project Integration Management * Reason- Develop Project Charter * Project Communications Management * Reason- Identify Stakeholders Planning Pro cess Group Time frame- Within one month (to run concurrent to the initiation process) * Project Scope Management: (Within two weeks) Reason- Define Scope (Moving plant operations and distribution) and Create a work breakdown structure (WBS) * Project Procurement: (Within two weeks after project is defined) * Reason- Plan Procurements (Where, who, and how much raw materials will cost if plant is moved) * Project Risk Management: (Within two weeks after project is defined) * Reason- Plan Risk Management, Identify Risks, Plan Risk Responses, and Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis * Project Human Resources Management: (Within two weeks after project is defined) * Reason- Develop Human Resource Plan- (Calculate wages and benefits of current employees, management, and executives. Identify training for new plant. Create benefit package to retain current employees. ) * Project Quality Management: (Within two weeks after project is defined) * Reason- Plan Quality- Ensure the effective design of processes that verify customer needs, plan product life cycle and  design, produce and deliver the product or service. Project Cost Management: (Within one month of project scope) * Reason- Estimate Costs and Determine Budget * Project Time Management: (Within two weeks after project is defined) * Reason- Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Develop Schedule, Estimate Activity Durations, and Estimate Activity Resources * Project Integration: (Within one month of project scope) * Reason- Develop Project Management Plan Executing Process Group Time frame- Within six months of completing the planning phase * Project Quality Management: * Reason- Perform Quality Assurance (5% improvement from previous year) * Project Procurement Management: * Reason- Conduct Procurements (10% reduction in procurement) * Project Human Resource Management: Reason- Acquire Project Team, Develop Project Team, and Manage Project Team * Project Communications Management: * Reason- Distribute Informati on and Manage Stakeholder Expectations (30% reduction in labor costs and 20% increase in distribution speed) * Project Integration Management: * Reason- Direct & Manage Project Execution Monitoring and Controlling Process Group Time frame- Within six months * Project Scope Management * Reason- Verify Scope, Control Scope * Project Procurement Management * Reason- Administer Procurements * Project Risk Management * Reason- Monitor & Control Risks * Project Communications Management * Reason- Report Performance * Project Quality Management Reason- Perform Quality Control * Project Cost Management * Reason- Control Costs * Project Time Management * Reason- Control Schedule * Project Integration * Reason- Monitor & Control Project Work and Perform Integrated Change Control Closing Process Group Time frame- Within nine months of completing the planning phase * Project Scope Management * Reason- Verify Scope, Control Scope * Project Procurement Management * Reason- Administer Procurements * Project Risk Management: * Reason- Monitor & Control Risks * Project Communications Management * Reason- Report Performance * Project Quality Management * Reason- Perform Quality Control * Project Cost Management Reason- Control Costs * Project Time Management * Reason- Control Schedule * Project Integration * Reason- Monitor & Control Project Work and Perform Integrated Change Control * Project Integration Management * Reason- Close Project or Phase * Project Procurement Management * Reason- Close Procurements Recommendations The biggest threat facing Scotts Miracle-Gro is â€Å"high plant and labor costs of the Temecula plant† (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 26-4). This has led to lower sales both domestically and internally diminishing their market share and global standing. Conclusion This concludes an in-depth analysis of Scotts Miracle-Gro.The major issue that has been identified and addressed is high internal costs of production at Scotts Temecula plant. A solution has been developed and implemented to alleviate above market expenses and to cut costs by moving production outside of California. China and other overseas markets have been excluded because quality issues would be raised and decreasing cost with just labor wages will not provide the solution to the problem, but will create other problems. A short term project plan has been identified in the report to be presented to executives and implemented by functional management. The implementation portion includes developing a project charter and identifying stakeholders within one month.A tepid budget will be created using figures submitted from the operations, procurement, human resources, and information technology departments during this process. The planning phase will also be concluded within one month developing a project scope and creating a WBS while also conducting a risk assessment of the move versus remaining in California. In addition this process will require the creating of a huma n resources and procurement plan. In three months Scott’s should be able to execute the plan provided which includes quality management of improvements of five percent above last year , procurement management reduce costs of raw material purchases, and human resource management to help reduce labor costs by ten percent.Information technology should have a network set up in this timeframe to protect integrity and integrate services between operations, sales, and distribution. The objectives should be established for the short-term and they will be monitored to determine if they are followed accordingly. This key issue is important and moving operations should not be the end-all-solution but the beginning of a continuous solution to achieve maximum consumer satisfaction and profitability. When appropriate measures are taken and if the corporate officers communicate and discuss the issue considering all the details, the best solutions will be reached to obtain long term objectiv es. References Badenhausen, K. (2012, December 12). Utah tops Forbes 2012 list of the best states Ffor business. Forbes. com.Retrieved from forbes. com: http://www. forbes. com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/12/12/utah-tops-list-of-the-best-states-for-business/ Mays, G. C. (2012, February 08). Can Scotts Miracle-Gro hit its lofty 2012 sales forecast or will it miss the target again? Seekingalpha. com. Retrieved from seekingalpha. com: http://seekingalpha. com/article/351541-can-scotts-miracle-gro-hit-its-lofty-2012-sales-forecast-or-will-it-miss-the-target-again Pearce, J. A. , & Robinson, R. B. (2011). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control (12th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Appendix A SWOT Analysis Template for Scotts Miracle-GroStrengths * Large market share * Consumer loyalty| Weaknesses * Increased overhead costs * Greater dependence on large consumers| Opportunities * Lawn services * Increasing online consumer spending * Globalization| Threats * Competition * Government Regulation * Increasing prices of energy| Project Grading Criteria | Grade| Content, Focus, Use of Text/Research| Analysis and Critical Thinking| Writing Style, Grammar, APA Format (when assigned)| %| 50%| 30%| 20%| 90-100%| Response successfully answers the assignment question(s); thoroughly uses the text and other literature. | Response exhibits strong higher-order critical thinking and analysis (e. g. , evaluation). Sentences are clear, concise, and direct; tone is appropriate. Grammatical skills are strong with almost no errors per page. Correct use of APA format when assigned. | 80-89%| Response answers the assignment question(s) with only minor digressions; sufficiently uses the text and other literature. | Response generally exhibits higher-order critical thinking and analysis (e. g. true analysis). | Sentences are generally clear, concise, and direct; tone is appropriate. Grammatical skills are competent with very few errors per page. Correct use of APA format when assigned. | 70-79%| Response answers the project assignment(s) with some digression; sufficiently uses the text and other literature. Response exhibits limited higher-order critical thinking and analysis (e. g. application of information). | Sentences are occasionally wordy or ambiguous; tone is too informal. Grammatical skills are adequate with few errors per page. Adequate use of APA format when assigned. | 60-69%| Response answers the assignment question(s) but digresses significantly; insufficiently uses the text and other literature. | Response exhibits simplistic or reductive thinking and analysis but does demonstrate comprehension. | Sentences are generally wordy and/or ambiguous; tone is too informal. Grammatical skills are inadequate, clarity and meaning are impaired, numerous errors per page. Inadequate use

Impact of the French and Indian War Essay

The Native tribes are one of those directly affected by the French and Indian War. Many native populations suffered a great loss when the French power in North America was eliminated. The French proved to be a strong ally of these native tribes and were essential in countering the continued British expansion. The elimination of the French power resulted to the dispossession of many native tribes, forcing them to move out of their lands. When the Spanish-controlled Florida was taken-over by the British, native tribes who did not want to involve themselves with the British, migrated westward. This has resulted to heated confrontations between several tribes who were already established in the area (Ohio History Central, 2005). The British exploited the boundaries between opposing tribes, making the natives fight among themselves. The French and Indian war also affected the American colonists. As Britain continued to expand their control over the colonies of other European powers, they continued to resettle many of its people throughout their North American provinces. As Britain continued to focus on its war for territory, it began neglecting its duties for its people and its colonies. The French and Indian war resulted to the doubling of Britain’s national debt, and with the shortage of funding; the government imposed new taxes on their colonies. This resulted to stiff resistance, and strained relationship between Britain and its colonies. Troops were called in to the colonies in order to make sure the taxes are paid accordingly (Ohio History Central, 2005). This greatly inconvenienced the colonies, until it finally came down to the American Revolutionary War. Reference: Ohio History Central. (2005). French and Indian War. Retrieved July 27, 2009, from http://www. ohiohistorycentral. org/entry. php? rec=498

Plasmids Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

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California Voter Online Registration - Essay Example This essay demonstrates that the information entered by the prospective voter online will be checked carefully by the elections official before an applicant can be qualified as a voter and be enlisted on the voter rolls. Basically, the law allows for a more convenient, easier, and faster way to register to vote as registration can be carried out even in the comfort of the applicant’s home. After the law has been passed, the Republicans, according to Yee, started running and â€Å"we start grabbing online registrations and that’s how we won† (Sankin n.p.). Another beneficent face of this law is that it increased California citizens’ participation in the election. Because the voter registration was made easier, more applicants have come to register online. Essentially, this brings a better turn out during elections because the State will be represented more accurately by the growing number of potential voters. Furthermore, because California is a very divers e State, it would allow for ballots to be translated into different languages which will improve access to all citizens. Nevertheless, the fear of online hacking and virtual theft would be an apprehending issue. Also, there might be a need to add more people for the verification of voter’s identities and the voters’ votes – whether they are genuine or dummy. This is to say that while California has evolved in terms of its voter registration system, there is no way that technological threats and legal implications can be discounted.

Art History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 14

Art History - Essay Example According to this movement, reason and logic led people into war and therefore they were against capitalism. Fountain is one the greatest Duchamp’s works and this piece of art is dated 1917. This piece of art is well known for the production of readymade or found objects of visual art. It is also important to understand that this piece of art has a close relationship with the dada movement. As already mentioned above, Dadaism was against the strict logic and reasoning and productions like the fountain was meant to change the focus of art from the traditional visual to mental. Theo van Doesburg is also one of the Dadaist artists who had similar opinions of changing the focus of the traditional art to modernism. According to this artist, art was not meant to just please the eyes but also to appease the mind. His works closely resembles Duchamp’s work of cubism. The two artists based their works on change of ideologies as they argued that lack of change in ideology is what resulted into the First World War. Their main aim of art was to show retaliation against capitalism in most countries across Europe and America. Theo van Doesburg made large drawings, writings and other studies regarding large glasses. This artist desired the accommodation of modernity with his style commonly used in modern industrial products. This is also similar to Duchamp especially his work on the fountain. The urinal is commonly used in the toilets. It is also important to understand that the formation of glasses and tiles as pieces of art is majorly influenced with these two artists. Besides this Doesburg was also much concerned about alphabetical designs something that is argued to be an influence from his witty chess game (Baljeu). He is reported to be a lover of chess and this influenced most of his art work. A good example is the formation of the vertical word of zig-zag in 1931. The artists aimed at stripping words their

Terror is Foreign Western Media's portrayal of Islam Essay

Terror is Foreign Western Media's portrayal of Islam - Essay Example A major complain from the Muslims all over the world is Western media’s falsification, over-generalization, distortion and sensationalization of stories that touch on Islam (Asadulla 195). The main problem is brought about by ignorance or carelessness, prejudice, or because the Western media does not have the ability to separate myth from reality, or probably because they do not understand the social, religious and political dynamics of the Muslim societies (Hafez 19). In his speech in Cairo University in 2009, President Obama spoke favorably of Islam saying that Islam has always been a part of America’s history. He even added that Arab-Americans had fought in American wars, served in the government, stood for civil rights, started businesses, taught at American universities, had excelled in their sports arenas, won Nobel prizes, built their tallest buildings and lit the Olympic torch (FAIR 1). This undeniable facts articulated by the U.S President should be what the We stern media focus on, but unfortunately their portrayal of a whole lot of 1.5 billion Muslims is nothing but sickening. This paper intends to shed light on the gross misrepresentations of Arabs and Muslims in the Western media by exposing these biased stereotypical misrepresentations. It will be found that the Western media propagate an inaccurate and unfair image of the collective Arabs and Muslims due to their lack of ethical principles of truth, fairness, objectivity and balance. In addition, this paper will explain why this phenomenon continues and see just in passing what can be its solutions. To begin with, negative stereotyping is the putting of unpleasant labels and characteristics on a group of people based on unfounded allegations while forgetting to account for their individual differences. This is where the Western media is particularly in error. There is a strong inclination in Western mass media to categorize Islam as a fanatic, and violent religion characterized by th e chopping off limbs, violation of the rights of women, and representing a strong opposition towards cherished Western ideas and values of freedom, human rights and democracy (Poole 17). Poole observes that there is equation of Islam with politics and association of Islamic politics with extremism and this extremism with terrorism. This linkage results in the interpretation of political violence without taking into consideration its social and political context (23). Following the September 11 attacks, Arabs and Muslims were repeatedly misrepresented in the Western media on an unprecedented scale. It is important to note that the attacks were not the genesis of this phenomenon. As Jack Shaheen has prolifically researched and written, it dates back to the first years of the twentieth century and has progressed with growing intensity (174). Shaheen provides vivid examples of television programs dating back to the 1970s that casts Arabs and Muslims generally in bad light. He lists Holl ywood movies and productions such as Dennis the Menace and Charlie’s Angels among others that completely vilify Arabs and Muslims as terrorists. In his seminal work on the image of Arabs and Muslims on Hollywood productions, Shaheen took the task of analyzing approximately 1000 movies with Arab characters which results he published. The conclusions were baffling. Only a dozen displayed positive portrayals, a handful displayed balanced portrayal while the rest presented negative portrayals. In essence, Arab in television stands for hijacking, terrorism, bombings or war. Such

Molecular Genetics Practical Write Up Lab Report

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Engaging Boys with SEN in Literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

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Role of Social Workers in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Role of Social Workers in the UK - Essay Example In addition, such social workers can assess the effectiveness of their interventions. Significant value is attached by service users to the variegated approaches employed by social workers. Some of these approaches are; first, providing advice, advocacy and information; second, assisting people in their negotiations with state agencies, such as those in the areas of financial support and housing; third, making available counselling and other forms of psycho – therapeutic support; fourth, providing practical help and guidance; fifth, obtaining access to financial support for service users (Beresford, 2007). User engagement can be promoted by social workers, by either assisting users to access advocacy or by acting as advocates. Advocacy does not always consist of conflicts of interests and in case where this is true, the social worker has to protect the interests of the user (Gallagher & Smith, 2010). The various advances in the involvement of service users in social work have been amalgamated in legislation. This establishes a basis for forging a novel relationship between service providers and service users. Several benefits have accrued to service users and services, due to the involvement of service users in the planning and delivery of services (Service User Involvement, 2007). Some of these benefits are enumerated in the sequel. Service users develop new skills, improve their self – esteem and efficiency, enhance service ownership and adapt services to conform to their requirements. On the other hand, social work benefits in the following manner. The services provided acquire a user orientation, greater efficiency in the services provided, recruitment of appropriate personnel, and promotion of the social reintegration goals of the services.

Chicago-style pizza Essay Example for Free

Chicago-style pizza Essay Pizza is a very common food Item you can find anywhere in New York, it can provide a quick fix if you are hungry but it can also have another purpose. The two most commonly found would be thesis Deep dish1 and New York style2 pizza but I believe the best pizza is home made3 since to me it promotes family togetherness. There are specialties shops like UNO’s that prepare pizza â€Å"Chicago style† which is basically deep dish pizza and has a thicker crust. Deno/des I find the pizza to be doughy and personally I am not too fond of chunky tomatoes in my sauce. In my opinion it seems to fill the pizza more than anything else. Pizza hut and Dominos also provides a deep dish option made differently without the chunky tomato sauce that I find more appealing to my taste that is not Chicago style. While they all can be a family night out for dinner this can at times become routine and boring. The common pizza shop makes a typical pizza pie we are all used to in New York, the â€Å"slice†. deno/des Some make pizza soggy, crunchy, or oily we all have our preferences and typically are drawn to those shops that make it the way we like it. This to me is a quick sit down lunch or dinner with your family, children or child then you are off again to continue your activities. There is no fun to it just becomes routine to grab a quick bite and carry on. In my opinion my personal favorite is making it at home with fresh dough purchased at my local supermarket. Deno/des My daughter helps roll out the dough on the pizza pan with a little flour so it does not stick to the pan. She also helps me shred the mozzarella cheese constantly reminding me to watch my fingers as to not get cut on the shredder. My three year old has already mastered putting the sauce on the pizza, sauce out of the can that is. We place it in the oven and wait. I have to say the bonding that takes place making pizza is priceless and the pizza we create is better than anything you can find anywhere in NYC. This also reminds me of my own childhood making pizza in the same manner with my father, these are the memories you carry on forever. To this day the pizza I made with my father only comes second to the pizza I make with my daughter. Des In conclusion I believe being a single parent myself and raising my 3 year old little girl, I would prefer making homemade pizza. The bonding that comes from the interaction of making a pizza with my daughter from scratch brings back memories of when I was a child making pizza with my parents. Those memories are everlasting. To those who do not have such memories or traditions this is an opportunity to create them while creating memories your child will always remember. The bonding and togetherness from this interaction with your child is something you cannot get from going to your local pizzeria.

Anti-aging Mechanism Using Bacteriphages | Experiment

Anti-aging Mechanism Using Bacteriphages | Experiment We all have been familiar with many infectious diseases since many centuries ago. Some bacteria have killed millions of our lives, some viruses have great potential to consume many people health and wealth and both are still hugely haunting our humankind. We did discover Penicillin, scientists have developed many antibiotic and antiviral drugs to kill and combat against these bacteria and viruses. This is the war that will have no end. I have been thinking and studying about these microorganisms since my undergraduate degree emphasizing about the diseases and their basic features. In this study, I wanted to explore many facts about the bacteria and viruses for advantages of our medical sciences and I found out that there had been many researches and discoveries about using the bacteria and viruses for our goodness and amazingly there will be more and many potential for our future medical sciences. The most interesting thing I have studied is the prokaryotic viruses called Bacteriophage and they really have the very strong potential to be used as a weapon against many infectious diseases including multi drugs resistant bacteria infection and against cancer such as very deadly brain cancers and even the possible cure of many types of cancer by selectively targeting only the cancer cells without affecting the normal ones and I also have studied about the telomerase enzymes that have the potential against human cellular ageing. OBJECTIVES OF MY INDEPENDENCE STUDY As we are living on the world interacting with the ecosystems containing different sorts of unicellular and multi cellular organisms, most of our evolutions and pros and cons are tightly associated with these organisms and the first objective of my study is to know or link the beneficial effects we may obtain from our organisms by understanding them and also understanding ourselves scientifically. To know and if possible, to propose or to make the steps to develop very effective possible future anti cancer treatment using bacteriophage. To propose the possible anti-aging mechanism using bacteriphages. To develop drug which can be effectively used for the many multi drug resistant bacteria infections such as multidrug resistant Tuberculosis using bacteriophages and to identify the possible methods for the drug development and their respective infectious diseases with the delightful and precious help from my supervisor SCOPE After studying and emphasizing upon the general main advantages that we get from the bacteria and virus for our medical sciences, I want to focus my study upon the Bacteriophage viruses which can possibly be used as a vector for gene therapy and gene regulation for my desire against aging of human being and in another word against our inevitable part of our human life called death. Another scope is to use the phage as very specific cancer cell killing agent for many tumors containing specific surface markers or receptors such as brain cancers. I want to study by reading books and journals and also with my innovative thinking step by step, from general to details and to solve all the questions as much as I can and then to propose the very new techniques using molecular levels and receptors levels. Schedule If we want to know something, we must first understand it basically and so, my very first important thing to do is to know about the general important and some very detail characteristics of the bacteria and viruses. Without the general knowledge of them, it is not possible to find out more about them. Many reference books and internet links and help me with this part and to know the many beneficial effects of them for Medical Sciences. After this, my important plan is to study deeply inside the bacteriophage viruses and their current and future usage for Medicine and then accessing the knowledge with my innovative thinking and advices of my supervisor I hope that I will be able to learn, study and find many things about for Medical Sciences. 2. Bacteria 2.1: Introduction to bacteria All prokaryotic organisms are classified as bacteria and they are divided into eubacteria which includes all the bacteria of medical importance and archae-bacteria which is a collection of evolutionarily distinct organisms. TYPICAL BACTERIA: Most of them have shapes such as rod like, sphere or corkscrew. Their cells are smaller than the eukaryotic cells and all of them except the Mycoplasma have the rigid cell wall surrounding the cell membrane. Apart from the shapes, the cell wall defines whether the bacteria are Gram Negative or Gram Positive. Bacteria cells reproduce by binary fission. Atypical Bacteria are the distinct bacteria groups lacking of significant characteristics structural components or metabolic capabilities. They includes Chlamydia, Rickettsia and Mycoplasma etc. 2.2 ADVANTAGES OF BACTERIA FOR OUR BODY AND MEDICAL SCIENCE Although bacteria can cause many diseases and health problems to human being, they also have many beneficial effects for our human body and medical sciences. NORMAL FLORA: Many different micro-organisms mostly bacteria are continuously inhabiting the human body without giving any harm. Human body is usually sterile when a healthy new born enters the world. But, after birth, the body acquires normal flora from the environment and food. The very important fact is that the species of that flora can not be rigidly defined because they differ from one individual from another as a result of physiological differences, diet, age and geographic habitat. NORMAL FLORA AGAINST THE INVADING HARMFUL INFECTIONS The bacteria need receptors and nutrients for their metabolism. The invading infections will face with the competence of normal flora for these essential receptors and nutrients. Some bacteria of the bowel can even produce the antimicrobial substances so that the invading organisms can be killed. But, the substances producing bacteria themselves are immune to their own substances. These effects can reduce the possibility of the infectious diseases and act amazingly as a defense mechanism against the infections. GERM FREE ANIMALS: The significant of the normal floral are now well explored by studying the germ free animals which have no normal flora as conventional animals. They are produced by special cesarean sections and then they are maintained in special isolators. Experiments showed that in the germ-free animals, the alimentary lamina propria is underdeveloped, the motility of the GI tract is reduced and the intestinal epithelial renewal rate is just half of the normal conventional animals. In studies with antibiotic treated animals also suggest that the normal flora can protect our bodies from the pathogens. The researchers first treated the animals with Streptomycin to reduce the normal flora and then made them infected with the Streptomycin resistant Salmonella bacteria. In normal condition, about 10000000 Salmonella were needed to cause the establish infection but in Streptomycin pre treated ones, only 10 organisms were needed to cause infection. NORMAL FLORA FOR OUR IMMUNE SYSTEMS Bacteria colonization of a new born infant is the very powerful stimulus for the development of immune system. The studies showed that the antibodies concentration after infections is significantly reduced in germ-free animals indicating the defect in acquired immune system. Bacteria are also the important providers of important nutrients such as Vitamin K and they also help with digestion and absorption of nutrients. REFERENCES LIPPINCOTTs ILLUSTRATED REVIEWS of MICROBIOLOGY 2007 EDITION INTRODUCTION TO BACTERIA , page 1 -6 Normal Flora Page , 7 10 KAPLAN USMLE TEXT BOOK (MICROBIOLOGY)2009 EDITION HARRISONS PRINCIPLES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE 2006 3. VIRUSES 3.1 INTRODUCTION TO VIRUSES A virus is an infectious agent containing genome which is either RNA or DNA and a protein capsid designed to protect the genome. Many viruses have additional structure like envelope which is protein containing lipid bi-layer. The sort of nucleic acid in the virus is the most fundamental and important of properties of virus. The nucleic acid may be single stranded (ss RNA ss DNA) or double stranded (ds DNA or ds RNA). The Single stranded RNA genome are subdivided into the positive (+) polarity which is, of messenger RNA sense that can be used as template for protein synthesis. Negative (-) polarity or antisense which is complementary to the mRNA sense and so they can not be used as temperate for protein synthesis directly. 3.2 THE REPLICATION CYCLES OF VIRUSES The cycle begins with the attachment of the virus to the host cell called adsorption phase, 1. ADSORPTION: The initial attachment of a virus to the host cell is with the interaction between specific molecular structure on the surface of the virus and receptor molecules in the host membrane that can recognize the structure. The receptor molecules on the host cell membrane are specific for the family of the viruses and they are the molecular structures that usually carry out normal cell functions. The receptors for the viruses are present only on specific cells or are unique for one animal species. So, the absence or presence of the host cell receptors is so important determination for the susceptibility or resistance of a species to a given virus. If we can genetically manipulate the specific receptor affinity for the viruses, we will be able to attack or kill or change the desired targeted cells. Fig: HIV virus adhering to the cell, attachment is accomplished by the SU fragment of the env gene product on the surface of the HIV which binds to the CD4 molecule. So, the HIV viruses can only infect the helper T cells, monocytes and dendritic cells which contain the CD4 protein in their cell membrane. 2 PENETRATION: The two mechanisms the virons enter the cells crossing the cell membrane are the receptor-mediated endocytosis: the viron binds the cell surface receptor and the cell membrane invaginates enclosing the virion in and endocytotic vesicle (endosome). The virion then enters the cytoplasm by various mechanisms depending upon the viruses. It is facilitated by one or more viral molecules in general. C:Documents and SettingsuDesktopendoem.jpg f Membrane Fusion: Some enveloped viruses enter the cell by fusion with their envelopes with the membranes of host cells. Glycoproteins of the envelope can promote this and viral membrane then still remains associated with the plasma membrane of the cell and just the nucleocapsid is released into the cells. HIV viruses enter the cells by this fashion. 3 UNCOATING: This is the stepwise process of disassembly of the viron that enables the expression of the viral genes that carry out viral replications. Most of the steps occur inside the cells and depend on cellular enzymes and in rare occasions, newly synthesized viral proteins are needed to complete the process. The loss of one or more structural components of the viron will lead into the loss of ability to infect another cells reflecting as the eclipse period of the growth curve. 4 REPLICATION: DNA virus replication: There is a wide macromolecular event variation between families of viruses for the replication processes depending primarily upon the viral genome sizes. The smaller the viral genome, the more the virus must depend on the host cell to replicate. Also the mechanisms of replications for ss DNA viruses and ds DNA viruses are different. RNA virus replications Type 1: RNA viruses with a single stranded genome of (+) polarity that replicates with complementary (-) strand intermediate. In this, the infecting parental RNA serves as both mRNA and later as a template for synthesis of the complementary (-) strand. Type 2: Viruses with ssRNA genome of (-) polarity which replicate with a complementary (+) strand intermediate. (-) polarity genomes have two functions, one is to provide information for protein synthesis and the second is to serve as template for replication. But they can not accomplish without prior construction of complementary (+) strand intermediate. Type 3: Viruses with ds RNA genome: dsRNA genome is segmented, with each segment coding for one polypeptide. But, the eukaryotic cells do not have the enzyme to transcribe dsRNA. So, mRNA transcripts are produced by virus-coded, RNA dependent RNA polymerase (transcriptase) located in the sub viral core particle. This particle contains dsRNA genome and associated viral protein, including the transcriptase. In replications, the (+) RNA transcripts are not only used for translation, but also as templates for complementary (-) strand synthesis, resulting in the formation of dsRNA progeny. Type 4: Viruses with a genome of ssRNA of (+) polarity that is replicated with with a DNA intermediate: the conversion of a (+) strand RNA to a double-stranded DNA is accomplished by an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase, commonly known as reverse transcriptase, which is contained in the virion. The resulting dsDNA becomes integrated into the cell genome by a viral integrases action. Viral mRNA abd progeny (+) strand RNA genomes are transcribed srom this integrated DNA by the host cell RNA polymerase. 4 ASSEMBLY AND RELEASE OF PROGENY VIRUSES: The assembly of the nucleocapsids generally occurs in the cytoplasm for most RNA viruses and in the nucleus for most DNA viruses where the viral nucleic acid replications take place. REFERENCES LIPPINCOTTs ILLUSTRATED REVIEWS of MICROBIOLOGY 2007 EDITION , Unit-Viruses , 233-243 KAPLAN USMLE TEXT BOOK (MICROBIOLOGY) 2009 EDITION HARRISONS PRINCIPLES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE 2006 EITION BACTERIOPHAGE Introduction to Bacteriphages Bacteriophages are the viruses that replicate inside the bacterial cells. It contains nucleic acid encapsulated by the protective protein coat. The nucleic acid may be DNA or RNA depending on the phage and may be single stranded and some are double stranded ranging from the length of 3000 bases to 200,000 bases. The replication starts with the attachment of the virus to the receptors of the cell surface of bacteria. Then the phage injects the nucleic acid into the cell leaving all or most of the protein outside the cell. This is the obvious difference between the virus that infects the vertebrates and the virus that infect the bacteria. In former case, the virus is entirely taken up by the cell and its nucleic acid is released inside the cell. (1) The phage nucleic acid takes over the biosynthetic machinery of the cell to replicate its won genetic materials and to synthesize phage specific proteins. When new phage proteins and new phage DNAs have accumulated, they self-assembly into mature phage particles, the phage specific enzyme ( lysozyme ) that dissolves the bacterial cell wall and the phage is released from the bacteria. A single phage can produce millions of progeny at the expense of bacteria cells in culture. (1) (2) 4.2 Virulent phage Phage are classified as virulent or temperate depending on the nature of their relationship to the host bacterium. Infection of a bacterium by the virulent phage results in the lysis of the bacterium and death releasing newly replicated phage particles. One phage can produce hundreds of progeny within twenty minutes under optimal condition. The interesting thing about that virulent phage is that the phage that attack one bacterial species do not attack other species. (1)(2) That is a huge advantage to use phage as an antibiotic because the phage against E coli bacteria will only kill that species and will not affect the others including the normal floral of our human body. So, they will be the most specific antibacterial agent. (1) (2) 4.3 Temperate Phage The temperate phages are different from the virulent one in that they have two possible fates after infecting the bacterium. Some cause the lysis and death of the bacterium just like the virulent phages do but they do have another alternative outcome. After entering the cell, the phage DNA integrates with the chromosome of the host cell. During this state (prophage) the gene expression of the phage is continuously by a protein (repressor) encoded by the phage genome and therefore no new phage particles are produced, the host cell survives and the phage DNA replicate as part of the host cell. (1)(2) 4.4 LYSOGENIC BACTERIA The bacteria which carry the prophage are called lysogenic bacteria and this phenomenon is called LYSOGENY. The association of the phage and the bacteria is very stable unless the host DNA damage or the exposure to the ultraviolet light occurs. When the DNA damage occurs, the repression of phage gene is lifted and the lysis occurs and the host cells die. (1) (2) 4.5 MOLECULAR DETAIL OF LYSOGENY In Lysogenic mechanism, the genes for the lytic process will have to be turned off and this process is caused by the phage coded repressor gene. This may be proteins or sometimes anti sense RNA. The repressor genes can turn off almost all the transcriptional initiation and so most of the gene transcriptions including the essential ones for the lytic mechanism are inhibited. But the repressor gene acts only onto the few promoter genes and the gene for lysis mechanisms in late part of the processes are only indirectly inhibited by the lack of early gene transcriptions tuned off by the repressor proteins or anti sense RNAs. The early gene products are needed to activate the subsequent gene expressions and their absence make the whole lysis process inhibited. The repressors also promote their own transcriptions to ensure their functions. The lysogenic state is very stable and only one in 100000 cell divisions may undergoes lysis by spontaneous activation. There are also many ways to stop the lysogenic state in experimental such as heating in which the repressor proteins become denature, treating with the UV ultraviolet light in which the specific system called SOS system of the bacteria is activated. The SOS system is the global regulatory system which responds to DNA damage. The breakdown products such as oligonucleotides activate the Rec A proteins co-protease activity and this protein in turn inactivate the main protease protein called LexA and then repressors and the lysogeny state is ended. (1) (2) There is also a type of protein called anti-repressor protein and they inhibit the repressorss activities and this anti-repressor synthesis is turned off in the lysogenic cells by the maintenance protein called Mnt protein. CII gene: In order to achieve the stable lysogenic state, both the establishment of the repression of the lytic gene and the integration into the chromosome of the cell are needed. CII is a transcriptional activator which is coordinated with the lysogeny. Within the CII gene, the gene called CI gene which transcription needs the CII-dependent promoter establish the repression of the lytic genes. This promoter is activated only for a short period during lysogenization and after the repression has been established, the CII gene is repressed itself. The CI gene is then transcribed only from the pM gene which is the maintenance promoter gene. The another protein called Integrase which is essential in integrating of the phage nucleic acid with the chromosome is also transcribed from the CII dependent promoter called PI. The pAQ which is also the CII dependent promoter makes an antisense transcript that opposes the Q gene expression. Q genes products stimulate the late gene expression and late gene products which could kill and lyse the cell and they are not made by the CII expressing cells and so the CII gene is so essential for the lysogenic state and only these cells expressing CII gene effectively become lysogenic cells. (1) (2) REFERENCES LIPPINCOTTs ILLUSTRATED REVIEWS of MICROBIOLOGY 2007 EDITION Bacteriophage in chapter 7 Bacteria genetic , gene transfer , Page 60-61 RICHARD CALENDAR THE OXFORD TEXT BOOK OF THE BACTERIOPHAGE 2nd EDITION 2006 part II, Life of Phages, Page 66-104 BACTERIOPHAGE AS AN ANTIBIOTIC 5.1 WHAT PROPERTIES NEEDED AS AN ANTIBIOTIC? The antibiotic must be effective in the treatment of infection because of their selective toxicity. That means the drug should kill or effect against the invading desired organism without harming the cells of the host. In most of the cases, this toxicity is just relative rather than absolute, requiring that the concentration of the drug be carefully controlled to attack the microorganism while still being tolerated by the host. (1) 5.2 WHY PHAGES AS ANTIBIOTIC? As the PHAGE viruses can infect and kill the bacteria, they can be used as a drug targets against the Bacteria. Phage Therapy: Phage therapy is the use of lytic phages to kill specific bacteria as an alternative to antibiotic. The lytic mechanism of the Bacteriophages ensures the effective antibiotic mechanism of the Phages. The other useful thing is that the specific type of Bacteriophage attacks only the corresponding bacteria and so the other normal bacteria will not be affected by the specific Phage Therapy targeted to the aimed bacteria. So, the Phages have more specificity than all antibiotics in attacking the bacteria. 5.3 Host Vs Phages The phages are immunogenic and could initiate the immune responses. This effect may limit the uses of Phages because the Bacteriophages may be destroyed by our immune system even before attacking the desired target bacteria and also the strong immune responses may trigger the allergic reactions and also the human immune system produces antibodies against the Phages. Despite these matters, the good news is that their clinical uses reveal only very few side effects or allergic reaction. The best way to avoid the sensitization is to use the Phages only when it is necessary as in the case of multidrug resistant infection and using the Intra Venous IV Administration method. 5.4 BACTERIOPHAGE AGAINST TB Tuberculosis, one of the oldest diseases known to affect humans, is caused by bacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. The disease usually affects the lungs, although in up to one-third of cases other organs are involved. If properly treated, tuberculosis caused by drug-susceptible strains is curable in virtually all cases. If untreated, the disease may be fatal within 5 years in more than half of cases. Transmission usually takes place through the airborne spread of droplet nuclei produces by patients with infectious pulmonary tuberculosis. MULTIDRUG RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS: This condition arises when the Bacteria undergo point mutation in their genome which occurs at low but predictable rates. There are two types of drug resistant Primary drug resistant: This occurs when the strain infects the one who has never been treated before and Acquired drug resistant: In which, the resistant develops during treatment with inappropriate regimen. Apart from the resistant, some of the patients are not appropriate to give the usual dose of conventional treatment due to their co existing diseases like renal failure, hepatitis or liver failure. (1)(6) MYCOBACTERIOPHAGE Mycobacteriophages are the bacteriophages that infect against mycobacteria, the bacteria causing Tuberculosis and many other diseases like Leprosy. Mycobacteriophages were first discovered by the in 1946.They are the double stranded DNA viruses with non contractile tail belonging to the Siphoviridae family of the Bacteriophage. They also infect the pathogenic bacilli of the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis complex and now more than 250 mycobacteriophages have been indentified. They are either lytic or temperate. Some mycobacteriophages like DS6A can exclusively infect the Mycobacterium tuberculosis alone. Phages like 13, D 29, TM4, Bxz2 and Chel 2 infect both Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other Mycobacterium bacteria. Their morphological variation is limited but their genomes show extra ordinary genetic variability. The implications of phages in mycobacterial diseases may be greater than previously realized. (1) (2) (3)(7) 5.6 PHAGE THERAPY We can use lytic phages to kill specifically pathogenic bacteria as an alternative to antibiotics treatment especially for the multidrug resistant Tuberculosis. Lack of knowledge of bacteriophage biology and the quality monitoring during the preparation of therapeutic stocks had made the therapy difficult though the first known therapeutic use was in 1919.The M. Tuberculosis infections are hard to treat because the bacteria are naturally resistant to many antibiotic. The bacilli may remain in the latent or dormant state avoiding the action of drugs that require replication of the bacteria. So, the treatment of Tuberculosis requires multiple drugs for extended periods of time to effectively cure and avoid the drug resistant. The minimal duration for the treatment is four months with four drugs and then two months with two drugs. The most important thing is the emergence of multi drugs resistant strains and that makes the Phage Therapy more interested. (1) (2) (3) Dr Margaret Chan, the director-general of the World Health Organization said,The situation is already alarming, and poised to grow much worse very quickly. She and Bill Gates also stated that they only had little help from the modern drugs for the disease that is affecting 9 millions people each year killing nearly 2 millions of them. The conventional drugs are useless against some strains of tuberculosis and they addressed the situation OUT OF CONTROL and A POTENTIALLY EXPLOSIVE (5) TIM JOHNSON, Mc Clatchy Newspapers Animal study: One of the Mycobacteriophage, DS6A, showed reduction in the observed in the lesions in spleen, lungs and livers of guinea pigs infected with (Challenged with) Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the study showed that the anti bacterial effect of the phages is at least as good as Isoniazid monotherapy. The results are promising in the treatment of tuberculosis using phages. 5.7 MYCOBACTERIM INSIDE THE MACROPHAGES: Mycobacterium can reside in the macrophage cells of our immune system. They can even persist inside the phagolysosome where many bacteria and pathogens are killed. It was uncertain whether the mycobacteriophages can survive and replicate inside the hostile intra-cellular environment with reduced PH. (8)(9) 5.8 MYCOBACTERIUM SMEGMATIS, THE VEHICLE INTO THE MACROPHAGES: The above problem can be solved by using the vector bacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis. The technology was introduced in 2002. In this technology, the non-virulent bacteria Mycobacterium smegmatis act like a carrier into the macrophages. Macrophages infected with the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis or Mycobacterium avium were treated with the additional Mycobacterium smegmatis infected with Mycobacteriophage TM4. After they are ingested and destructed by the macrophages, the TM4 phages were released within the macrophages infecting and destroying the pathogenic bacteria even within the macrophages. The experiments showed the significant reduction of both the Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium. (9) 5.9 D29bacteriophages: This D29 are capable of entering the Macrophages without the need of any carrier and they can infect the mycobacterium and kill them effectively. So, the mechanisms of action of mycobacteriophages are completely different from the conventional drugs and will be so important in the multi-drug resistant cases. The Phage therapy also dose not need repeat dosing because the viruses do increase within the target bacteria and new virions are released on lysis. The endotoxin may be released into the body after the bacteria has been lysed and this could trigger the immune reactions but till now the clinical use of bacteriophages revealed only very few cases of side effects or allergic reaction indicating that our human body can really tolerate them. The other advantage is that they are cheaper and easier to produce than antibiotics. (10) REFERENCES LIPPINCOTTs ILLUSTRATED REVIEWS of MICROBIOLOGY 2007 EDITION HORACE T. ADAMS CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN BACTERIOPHAGE RESEARCH 2009 EDITION RICHARD CALENDAR THE OXFORD TEXT BOOK OF THE BACTERIOPHAGE 2nd EDITION 2006 http://www.microphage.com/technology/phageBiology.cfm WHO, world health organization, Global Tuberculosis control Geneva Harrison text book of Practice of Medicine , USA 6th edition Fuller, KJ and Hatfull GF 1997 Mycobacteriophage L5 infection of Mycobacterium bovis BCG implications for phage genetic in the slow-growing mycobacteria Mol Microbiaol 26 755-766 Kaufmann SH 2002 Protection against Tuberculosis cytokines T cells and macrophages Ann Rheum Dis 61 Sulll 2 ii54-58 BroxmeyerL Sonsowaka DMiltner 2002 killing of Mycobacterium by a mycobacteriophage delivered by non virulent mycobacterium , model for phage therapy of intracellular bacterial pathogen, J infect Dis 1155-1160 Trollip A Albert H and Maskell 2001 Bacteriophage based technology for the rapid diagnosis and drug susceptibility testing of tuberculosis Am Clin Lab 20: 39-42 Phage as cancer curing agent 6.1 PHAGE DISPLAY is a process by which a peptide or a protein is expressed as an exterior fusion to a surface protein of a phage particle. The peptide or protein sequence can be deduced from its encoding DNA sequence that resides in the phage particle or in a transductant. Amplification of the DNA of interest can take place by phage/transductant propagation or by polymerase chain reaction PCR. By producing large amount of phage particles, each expressing a unique peptide or protein peptide and protein libraries can be obtained. The peptides or proteins interacting with defined molecular targets (most often proteins) can be isolated from such libraries by enrichments through repeated cycles of panning. So, the phage display can be regarded as a search engine of protein-target interaction. (1) Phages are bacterial viruses that have no native affinity to mammalian cells. But we can amazingly genetically reengineered to display peptides fusions to coat proteins that can recognize and bind to our mammalian cells. Oligonucleotide sequences encoding for foreign peptides are cloned into phage coat protein genes resulting in combinatorial libraries of billions of different phage clones displaying encoded peptides on their surfaces. This phage display libraries can be easily screened against various biological targets including the intact mammalian cells to give binding molecules with desired target-specific characteristics. Even the cell-specific peptides indentified through phage display can be used as delivery moieties for construction of gene therapy vectors, liposomes, or targeted drugs to diseased cells in many sorts of disorder including the cancer. (2)(3) 6.2 PHAGES AGAINST BRAIN TUMORS Malignant brain tumors are very difficult to treat because they are heterogenous, migrate far into adjacent essential brain normal tissues, are resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy and also protected by the blood brain barrier. (1) (4) The phage display might be so much effective against this fatal condition by following means. Phages can optimize the targeted delivery platforms to malignant brain cells using the cell specific peptides. The emerging of phage probes for profiling of brain tumors in individual patients and then making the personalized treatment based on the profiles of these tumors. To identify Death Penalty in Britain: Past and Present Death Penalty in Britain: Past and Present This paper analyses the past and future of the death penalty in Britain, examining the rationale for abolition in 1965 together with the potential and merits of re-introduction in the future. The death penalty was abolished in 1965 in Britain following a 1953 Royal Commission[1] and pressure by abolitionist groups. While the 1953 Report went outside its remit, to examine the effectiveness of hanging, it addressed the issues of deterrence and retribution; often heralded as the twin foundations of the death penalty and consequently used as the main arguments for the failure of the punishment. Bailey summarises deterrence theory by stating that â€Å"criminal sanctions must be severe enough to outweigh the pleasures†[2]. A fundamental concern is that deterrence can be broken down into various components. The apex of deterrence is a swift, public, just, and painful execution. A death penalty that combined all of these features could be said to have the maximum likelihood of deterring potential criminals. It is generally believed that the majority of death penalty mechanisms in existence lack at least three if not all four of these qualities. Whether the death penalty in fact deters is the subject of numerous studies; when read objectively they give no definite answer. Retribution is in many respects the antithesis of deterrence. Deterrence focuses on logic; retribution deals with the emotional reaction of society, with the oft quoted foundation being â€Å"an eye for an eye†[3]. In many respects this is concurrently the most and least powerful argument for the death penalty. It is difficult to argue, in particular in the most heinous cases, that society and specifically the victim’s relatives should not have the satisfaction of retribution. Concurrently it is an argument based on emotion; an element that justice strains to minimise. The fundamental difficulty was discussed by the US Supreme Court in Roper v Simmons[4] where Justice Kennedy made it clear that retribution can be justified only in certain cases; not in the case at hand. It is this fragmenting of the death penalty, with exceptions and splintered rationales developing, that has led to gradual reduction in the use of the death penalty. While a number of Royal Commission Reports and campaigns debated the issues mentioned above and below, it is likely that one particular argument dealt a hammer blow to the death penalty; the concept that innocent people may be executed. This realisation was a contributing factor to Justice Blackmun’s famous dissenting statement â€Å"I feel morally and intellectually obligated simply to concede that the death penalty experiment has failed†[5]. Year after year, new, modern evidence uncovers miscarriages of justice that lead to innocent men and women being released. In 1991 the ‘Birmingham Six’ were released following police errors and new evidence. Had they been convicted 30 years earlier, there would have been nothing more practical to do than grant posthumous pardons. Hood argued[6] that one of the main reasons for America still using the death penalty was that it was a populist measure. If this is so then there must be strong support for this argument of potential injustice, above the more specific, clinical reasoning, that persuades individual citizens of the dangers and risks that are inherent in the â€Å"machinery of death†. The modern addition to these time honoured theories is the popular focus on rehabilitation over punishment. The Criminal Justice System clarifies this by placing rehabilitation on an equal plane with punishment[7]. The rationale for this is uncomplicated and is based on the importance of working with the individual in order to help them contribute to society as a whole. The death penalty fairly obviously has no place within this new philosophy. The theoretical objections discussed above are merely the tip of an iceberg capable of sinking at least an ocean liner. Were there to be an inclination to re-introduce the death penalty, and in 1994 a bilateral coalition of 403 MPs favoured abolition, the European Convention on Human Rights would still have to be faced. Through the Human Rights Act, the United Kingdom is a signatory to the Act and is prohibited from imposing â€Å"degrading punishment†[8]. The issue has arisen predominantly with regard to cases of extradition to death penalty countries, and the courts have made it clear that even to extradite to such countries would constitute prohibited punishment. Further, to contemplate such a policy reversal would risk international condemnation. Amnesty have been vocal in condemning America and would turn their and others focus to Britain in an instant. While awareness of the factors above has been instrumental in 122 countries abandoning the death penalty either in its entirety or in practice[9], the evolution has also been the result of constant pressure from Human Rights groups including Amnesty International. Unlike America, Britain has traditionally been more dependent on the friendship of sister nations; a friendship that could conceivably shift dramatically. In short, the practical objections to a re-introduction of the death penalty would require a change in British foreign and domestic policy; the effects of which would be felt for decades. CONCLUSION This paper has addressed the death penalty in succinct terms; the question asks if it is the only way to â€Å"dramatically reduce crime†[10]. The analysis on deterrence and retribution show that far from this lofty status, there is no guarantee that it will reduce any crime. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bailey WC ‘Murder, Capital Punishment and Deterrence: A Review of the Literature’ (part of ‘The Death Penalty in America, Current Controversies’ Edited by Bedau H,  Published by Oxford University Press Hood R ‘Capital Punishment’ (1998) (part of ‘The Handbook of Crime and Punishment’ Edited by Tonry M,  Published by Oxford University Press Hood R ‘The Death Penalty: A World-wide Perspective’ 2nd Edition Turow S ‘Ultimate Punishment’,  Published by Picador GB Royal Commission on Capital Punishment: Report of the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (1953) http://www.cjsonline.gov.uk/the_cjs/how_it_works/punishments_and_rehab/index.html http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-countries-eng European Convention on Human Rights Callins v Collins (1994)510 US 1141 Roper v Simmons (2004) 543 US 551 1 Footnotes [1] GB Royal Commission on Capital Punishment: Report of the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (1953) [2] Bailey WC ‘Murder, Capital Punishment and Deterrence: A Review of the Literature’ [3] Exodus 21:23-25 [4] (2004) 543 US 551 [5] Callins v Collins (1994) 510 US 1141 [6] Hood R ‘Capital Punishment’ (1998) [7] http://www.cjsonline.gov.uk/the_cjs/how_it_works/punishments_and_rehab/index.html [8] Article 3 [9] http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-countries-eng [10] see question

Strike Management And Trade Unions Management Essay

Strike Management And Trade Unions Management Essay OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: The main objective of the study by the research paper is to understand the importance of trade union to the organization and vise verses. What are the main functions of unions how they work during strikes? I predicted that throw trade union control would mediate the effects of job-related uncertainty, and that management communication and participation in decision-making would reduce uncertainty and increase feelings of control. The model was tested in a public sector organization as well as government sector organization the results supported it. Management communication is easy throw the trade What is a trade union? A trade union or labor union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labor contracts (collective bargaining) with employers. This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. The agreements negotiated by the union leaders are binding on the rank and file members and the employer and in some cases on other non-member workers. Originating in Europe, labor unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution, when the lack of skill necessary to perform most jobs shifted employment bargaining power almost completely to the employers side, causing many workers to be mistreated and underpaid. Trade union organizations may be composed of individual workers, professionals, past workers, or the unemployed. The most common, but by no means only, purpose of these organizations is maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment Over the last three hundred years, many trade unions have developed into a number of forms, influenced by differing political objectives. Activities of trade unions vary, but may include: What are the functions of a trade union?] Function and benefit of trade unions Association of workers to promote and protect the welfare, interests, and rights of its members; also called labor union In the broadest sense, trade unions came about as a way to protect workers after the industrial revolution in England, where they were working 12 to 14 hour days 6 days a week for whatever the company owner decided he would pay them. Which of course was as little as possible. Not that the need for trade unions was restricted to workers in England. A good read if you want to know what working conditions were like in America in the late 1800s and early 1900s would be Upton Sinclairs The Jungle, BUT BE WARNED there are some truly harrowing scenes in this book, and its publication in the 1920s caused such an uproar that the government created the FDA in an attempt to stop the worst excesses. For a slightly gentler view of the life of the working classes around 1900 America, try Theodore Dreisers Sister Carrie. You should also research the Pullman Corporation, and the Carnegie Steel empire, both of which grabbed back a good part of what little they paid in wages by forcing employees to live in filthy, unmaintained hovels in company towns, and shop at the company store where, of course, they were charged super high prices for everything. If I recall, the first of the American trade unions, and one of the first to strike, were the Pullman car waiters, who were all poor blacks (and referred to, whatever his name might be, as George). For many Americans, all the name Henry Ford means is paying his employees enough to be able to buy one of his cars (of course, you didnt buy a Chevrolet if you worked for Ford.) The power of a union is that the union can collectively bargain for the best possible deal for all its members; not just wages, but the right to live anywhere you wanted and not just in company housing, the number of hours worked, medical benefits, and paid time off. The power of a union is also limited to the solidarity of the members, because the only thing a worker possessed was the ability to walk off the job, so its more effective if everyone walks out and stays out together. Of course, the loss of wages for a man who was earning maybe 6 dollars a week caused huge strain on poor families, and employers had no problem hiring non-union labor to come in and work for the strikers. Ford hated the unions and was the last of the car manufacturers to recognize the right of the workers to organize. The detective agency Pinkertons was originally created to break up strikes by Ford workers at the Dearborn plant in Michigan, and they cheerfully broke up picket lines with shotguns, Billy clubs, and anything else they saw fit, all the while protected or ignored by the police. Many Americans are still prevented from organizing themselves into a union, as is evidenced by the struggle for recognition by the employees at Wal-Mart. Other Americans do not see the need for trade unions; after all, this is America and not Russia. But when you realize that in 1920 there was no medical insurance, no paid maternity leave, no paid day off for Labor Day (ironically Labor Day is to celebrate the gains made for American workers, but of course the Wal-Mart employees and many many others are still required to work on labor day) no paid day off for Presidents day. The right to a 5-day 40 hour workweek was not won until the 1950s. Bear in mind that ANYTHING an employer gives an employee comes directly out of his pocket. DO you think you would have all the benefits you have today if people had not given their lives to the Pinkerton thugs in Dearborn? No. Youd still be working 11 hours a day 6 days a week, with one day off for Christmas. I strongly suggest you do a lot of reading and some internet research if you want to know why you have the benefits you do (and the European benefits, which are even better than yours, because unlike Americans, most European workers did not simply walk away from trade unions (largely, of course, because of the publicity generated by the connection between the Teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa, and the Mob). That should get you started anyway. Be grateful to the unions. OBJECTIVES OF TRADE UNION Industrial Relations :- Trade unions are formed to protect and promote the interests of their members. Their primary function is to protect the interests of workers against discrimination and unfair labor practices. Trade unions are form Representation Trade unions represent individual workers when they have a problem at work. If an employee feels he is being unfairly treated, he can ask the union representative to help sort out the difficulty with the manager or employer. Unions also offer their members legal representation. Normally this is to help people get financial compensation for work-related injuries or to assist people who have to take their employer to courted to achieve the following objectives: Negotiation Negotiation is where union representatives, discuss with management, the issues which affect people working in an organization. There may be a difference of opinion between management and union members. Trade unions negotiate with the employers to find out a solution to these differences. Pay, working hours, holidays and changes to working practices are the sorts of issues that are negotiated. In many workplaces there is a formal agreement between the union and the company which states that the union has the right to negotiate with the employer. In these organizations, unions are said to be recognized for collective bargaining purposes. Voice in decisions affecting workers The economic security of employees is determined not only by the level of wages and duration of their employment, but also by the managements personal policies which include selection of employees for layoffs, retrenchment, promotion and transfer. These policies directly affect workers. The evaluation criteria for such decisions may not be fair. So, the intervention of unions in such decision making is a way through which workers can have their say in the decision Member services during the last few years, trade unions have increased the range of services they offer their members. These include: Education and training Most unions run training courses for their members on employment rights, health and safety and other issues. Some unions also help members who have left school with little education by offering courses on basic skills and courses leading to professional qualifications. Legal assistance As well as offering legal advice on employment issues, some unions give help with personal matters, like housing, wills and debt. Financial discounts People can get discounts on mortgages, insurance and loans from unions. Welfare benefits One of the earliest functions of trade unions was to look after members who hit hard times. Some of the older unions offer financial help to their members when they are sick or unemployed. WHAT IS A ATRIKE? A strike is when a group of workers agree to stop working. They do this when they want to protest against something they think is unfair where they work. Strikes sometimes happen so that politicians have to listen more carefully to the workers. Why do workers go on strike? Workers go on strike for different reasons: to get improvements where they work for more money for shorter working days to stop their wages going down because they think their company has been unfair. TYPES OF STRIKES The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) provides legal protections for two kinds of strikes, economic strikes and unfair labor practices strikes. The former is a strike that is undertaken by workers in order to garner improvements in their wages, benefits, hours, or working conditions. An unfair labor practices strike is an action that has far more serious legal implications for small business owners. This kind of strike occurs in instances where the employer allegedly violates NLRA rules that protect workers during collective bargaining. Typical violations that prompt an unfair labor practices strike include refusing to pay benefits when theyre due, discharging an employee for engaging in union activities, and refusing to bargain in good faith, reported J.D. Thorne in Small Business Reports. An unfair labor practices strike not only threatens a loss of business, but also requires that you return picketing workers to their jobs when the strike ends. Therefore, you must fire loyal r eplacement workers who crossed the picket line to work-and helped keep your business afloat. Businesses that do not do so are liable for back pay starting on the date that striking workers made their unconditional offer to return to work. Given the added risks associated with an unfair labor practices strike, then, Thorne contended that the most important aspect of managing an economic strike-the most common type-is to prevent it from becoming an unfair labor practices strike. Thorne noted that employer actions that could trigger this transformation include blatant ones, such as discharging an employee for engaging in his or her right to strike or withholding benefits (earned vacation time, pension-plan eligibility, etc.) as well as more subtle ones that nonetheless violate the National Labor Relations Act. The issue of communications with union members, for instance, is rife with rules that can ensnare the unknowing small business owner. These communication rules apply both to the pre-strike and strike periods. Following are specific guidelines that small businesses should adhere to in negotiations: Continue to bargain in good faith throughout the process. Both sides have a continuing responsibility to engage in good faith collective bargaining, wrote Thorne, which means that you must meet with the union with the intent of reaching an agreement about the workers demands. Failure to do so also could convert the nature of a strike. Provide unions with all information to which they are legally entitled. Under U.S. labor law, unions can request information about managements plans regarding various operational aspects of the business during the strike. For example, the union can ask for information about where the business plans to get replacement workers and the wages that they will be paid. Know management rights. Many legal protections are in place to protect workers from unfair management practices, but business owners have rights, too. Thorne noted, for instance, that businesses can discuss and clarify with striking employees how their proposal differs from that of the union leadership, and they can ask employees to vote to accept your final offer when its presented for ratification. Many strike situations also give them the option of utilizing replacement workers without penalty. Nonetheless, businesses should be aware that there are many legal dos and donts associated with management-union interactions during collective bargaining and strike periods, and they should make sure that they have adequate legal representation to assist them in this area. HOW TO MANAGING A STRIKE The beginning of an employee strike is almost always a difficult period for small business owners. The adversarial nature of such actions can be jarring for company leaders who are unfamiliar with strikes, and the walk-out itself can threaten small-and midsized business owners with devastating economic consequences (large companies can be hurt by strikes, too, of course, but their very existence is not usually jeopardized). Given this reality, small business owners and their management teams must take steps to ensure that their companies will be able to continue their operations during the strike. As Brenda Paik Sunoo wrote in Personnel Journal, a strike will inevitably pose challenges in many areas: managing contingent workers; setting up communication between management and all employees; maintaining customer service; establishing interim policies regarding benefits, overtime, vacations, and sick leave; and bolstering non-striking employees morale. Clearly, those that prepare well in advance will suffer the least trauma during and after a labor dispute. Indeed, business experts universally agree that advance planning is key to managing a strike. They note that few companies can claim that they were caught flat-footed by a work stoppage. Most strikes occur when labor contracts expire, and even those that do not take place on such a specific date typically provide management with plenty of warning signs. Businesses that prepare for contract expirations and other potential strike periods by drawing up detailed contingency plans in advance will be much better equipped to weather a strike than will those firms that wait until the last minute. In recognition of this reality, Risk Management noted in 1998 that increasing numbers of companies have created management teams-sometimes called strike contingency planning teams (SCPTs)-to address potential strike issues. Advance preparation efforts should cover a broad spectrum of operational areas. For example, businesses should have a plan in place to put together a contingent work force, whether comprised of replacements, non-striking employees (often supervisory personnel), or a combination of the two. A company that maintains information on recent job applicants, for example, may find itself better positioned to form a contingent work force than a firm that neglects to do so. Contingent work forces will also need training on a variety of issues, from duties to customer relations to legal matters (non-striking personnel already employed by the company may well need this training as well, since they will in many cases be undertaking unfamiliar tasks and interacting with customers and suppliers with whom they may not be familiar. Appropriate training programs should be in place well before a strike, not cobbled together after a strike actually occurs. Employers will also have to prepare interim pol icies governing various human resource issues for both striking and non-striking workers. Companies facing strike actions should also make sure that their customers and suppliers are notified at appropriate times of that possibility. If your company suddenly announces to a major customer that your facility has been hit with a strike without providing that customer without any prior warning, you are likely to lose that customer for good, even after the labor dispute has been resolved. Businesses facing strikes should also make preparations for alternative service to valued clients and customers. Another key to successful strike management, say labor experts, is for management to maintain a professional stance throughout. Many labor disputes disintegrate into intensely negative clashes, with repercussions that are felt long after the strike itself has been settled. Small business owners should do their best to prevent negotiations from becoming acrimonious. Owners who are capable of empathy with their striking employees concerns about job security and economic wellbeing will be better able to manage this than will those who automatically dismiss all work stoppages as solely an outgrowth of union greed. Finally, business owners should plan ahead to make sure that they have adequate security if a strike takes place. Strikes, by their very nature, are adversarial, stated Sunoo. They often are accompanied by disruptions in service and product delivery, and sometimes even violence. Savvy businesses will contact local legal and governmental authorities in advance to discuss issues such as picket lines, responses to disturbances, etc. In addition, businesses at risk of being the target of a work stoppage will often need to hire security forces to monitor the premises and protect their contingent work force. The role of security is twofold, said one security expert in an interview with Personnel Journal: 1) providing managers and non-striking employees with assurances that they can go to work without being injured, and 2) gathering evidence of any strike-related misconduct on the part of strikers for later use in legal proceedings. Companies seeking security service have a number of options from which to choose, including their own personnel, local off-duty law enforcement personnel, and local security firms that provide security guards. Experts recommend that companies seeking security help look to firms with previous strike experience and avoid local security firms unless they can get assurances that none of their guards have any meaningful social or familial relationship to any of the strikers. SOME EXAMPLES OF ST RIKES:- Wildcat strikes These are sudden unofficial strikes. They are not organized by a trade union, but union members might be involved. Wildcat action can start because of what seems to be a small problem, like the length of a tea break or the treatment of one worker. They might start small but if workers are angry with their bosses the strikes can spread fast and cause a lot of problems. What are pickets? Pickets are workers who are on strike that stand at the entrance to their workplace. The purpose of picketing is: to stop or persuade workers not to go to work to tell the public about the strike to persuade workers to take their unions side . ARTICLES:- 1.Express staff threaten strike Stephen Brook, press correspondent guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 November 2006 18.40 GMT Article history Union staff at Express newspapers will ballot for industrial action unless management withdraws its plans for 35 staff redundancies, a union meeting decided tonight. The National Union of Journalists chapel committee for the Daily and Sunday Express and Daily and Sunday Star were due to tell management tonight of its resolution, which was passed by about 200 chapel members with one abstention and one no vote. This chapel demands that management immediately calls a halt to its plan for wholesale redundancies among staff and casuals, the resolution stated. We instruct our officers to put in motion the necessary processes to ballot for industrial action should this not be immediately forthcoming. Late last Friday, the papers parent company, Northern Shell, told chapel committee members it would make 35 job cuts and close the business section of the Daily Express, outsourcing it to the Press Association. The union says this would result in up to 60 job losses, including casuals and other contributors. Other cuts will also see the news and features production departments merge, as will the Daily and Sunday Express travel sections. ABSTRACT FROM THE ABOVE:- 2. Government intervention to prevent airline mechanics strike On February 9, the governments National Mediation Board released the mechanics union at Northwest Airlines to prepare for a strike. This release came only after the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, the union for the 10,000 mechanics, carried out public picketing, saying the board was taking the companys side and holding the contract hostage. The mechanics have been working four and a half years without a new contract. The old one they were stuck with contained big wage concessions. Meanwhile the company has been reaping big profits. Nevertheless, even while releasing the union for a strike, the board declared a 30-day cooling off period. It also urged President Bush to prevent any strike, saying a strike threatens substantially to deprive a section of the country of essential transportation service, meaning the near monopoly of Northwest Airlines at the Minneapolis-St Paul, Detroit and Memphis airports. The Bush Administration issued a statement that it wasnt going to allow a strike to occur. All the members of the National Mediation Board were appointed by President Clinton. The three person board from the start had a majority of management members. Its chairman, Francis Duggan, was a vice president of the Association of American Railroads; member Magdalena Jacobsen was a labor relations manager for Continental Airlines. In 1997, Clinton broke the American Airlines pilots strike after 7 minutes by appointing an emergency board to oversee the situation. Now Bush is announcing he will do the same thing Clinton did. When in gets down to basics -like preventing strikes -the only difference between a Democrat and a Republican is whether they smile at you when plunging in the knife. 3. Air India pilots to go on strike from 24 Nov The Air India management came unprepared for the meeting, claimed Otaal Mumbai: The Indian Commercial Pilots Association, or ICPA, at state-owned airline Air India, on Monday, said it will strike work beginning 24 November. The decision comes after a Monday meeting with the Central Labour Commissioner and Air India management was inconclusive. The talks were inconclusive. The Central Labour Commissioner has called for another meeting on 20 November but we are going ahead with our strike decision and we will serve a strike notice tomorrow in two week advance, said ICPA general secretary R. S. Otaal told Mint on the telephone. ICPA currently has at least 800 members. A spokesperson for National Aviation Co of India Ltd or Nacil, that runs Air India, declined comment for this story. The Air India management came unprepared for the meeting, claimed Otaal. Our demand is the same about clearing salary dues. We are fed up with the dues from the productivity linked incentives (PLIs). The cash-strapped airline had suggested a 50% cut in the PLI to save save about Rs700 crore. PLIs currently account for 30% to 50% of Air India employees wages. PLIs have not been paid since August. The national carrier, which has cumulative losses of Rs7,226 crore for financial years 2008 and 2009, has asked the government for a loan and equity infusion of around Rs15,000 core. Air Indias borrowings increased to Rs15,241 crore at the end of June, up from Rs6,550 crore in November 2007. 4. India airport strike threatens to paralyze travel Airport workers across India threatened to strike at midnight on Tuesday, a move that could ground hundreds of commercial flights and leave NEW DELHI Airport workers across India threatened to strike at midnight on Tuesday, a move that could ground hundreds of commercial flights and leave tens of thousands of passengers stranded. The threatened strike is over plans to privatize two major airports, but workers are expected to join in at 127 other state-run airports nearly every airport in India except New Delhi and Mumbai, the two busiest airports, which are already privately run. S. R. Santhanam, a leader of the airport workers union, said the decision to launch an open-ended strike starting at midnight Tuesday was made after talks with the government broke down Monday. No talks are scheduled unless the government sends a message, he said, adding that some 15,000 airport workers, including baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff would go on strike. The dispute between stems from a government plan to privatize new airports in the southern cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore, a move that union says will endanger the jobs of hundreds of employees. Airport authorities plan to shift all commercial activity from the cities old airports to the new ones when they open in coming weeks. Hyderabad and Bangalore are both large cities that are home to several major multinational corporations as well as scores of thriving information technology companies. The government plans to use the old airports for disaster management and flights carrying government leaders, aviation ministry spokeswoman Moushmi Chakravarty said. Chakravarty said the private operators would retain the employees. However, the unions worry that there could be future layoffs. Subhash Goyal, chairman of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, said any strike could cost the booming aviation sector millions of dollars. It will have a tremendous impact on travelers, he said. Indias airline industry has grown dramatically in recent years as rising incomes and loosened regulations put air travel within reach of millions of new customers. In the early 1990s, Indian Airlines was the countrys single carrier, but Indian authorities opened up the airways and since then about a dozen airlines have opened for business, leading to a heated competition and low prices. 5. Strike and police brutality at Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, 2005 Submitted by Steven. on Jan 8 2010 01:00 Prol-Position on the violent, month-long strike/lockout of HMSI workers in India in 2005, which ended with the employers giving into many of the workers demands. The following summary relies entirely on media reports we couldnt get hold of any first hand reports from comrades. The month-long strike/lock-out at HMSI and the police attack on the workers caused a big stir in India. This is mainly due to the location of   the strike: a modern factory of a multinational company in a developing region which up to that point was not seen as prone to industrial disputes. The conflict at Honda threatened to become a spark in a generally tense atmosphere within Indias modern international industry. Therefore the police brutality against the workers cant be understood as a mere response to a single workers struggle, but must rather be explained by the general situation in the new investment zones (see also Newsletter 3 on call centers in India). In order to understand the political significance of the dispute for the Indian economy we recommend you read the detailed analysis of the Indian group Rupee. They describe the increased dependence of the Indian economy on foreign capital influx since the crash in 1991, the new privatization schemes and the other, dark side , of India Shining (the Indian boom). About the Region Gurgaon is situated in the state of Haryana, close to New Delhi, a town in a rural area without any tradition of workers struggles. The new town centre is characterized by modern office blocks and shopping malls. Companies such as Microsoft, IBM and Nokia have their headquarters here. The government of Haryana implemented strict anti-union labor laws in order to attract further foreign investment. The industrial zone mushroomed during the last five years and comprises 90 factories, with a large share of companies in the automobile sector. About 70 percent of all motor-scooters produced in India are said to be produced in this region. Japanese companies play an important role, given that Japan is Indias fourth biggest foreign investor and about three quarters of all Japanese companies in India are situated in Gurgaon. The AITUC is the most important union in Gurgaon, it is supported by the CPI(M). The Communist Parties of India have a difficult role to play. On the one hand, they have to make an effort to appear to support the workers, including by patriotic propaganda against foreign investors. On the other, they have the duties of governing parties. West Bengal is a CP-led state and attracts the second greatest amount of foreign investment of all Indian states. Shortly before the incidents in Gurgaon the government of West Bengal signed a 500 Million US-Dollar deal with Mitsubishi. The Situation in the Modern Industrial Sector The struggle in Gurgaon took place against the background of various conflicts within the modern industrial sector which often resulted in significant wage improvements for the workers. At HMSI the management claims that the workers already received a 100 percent wage raise in the previous year. In June 2005 the workers at Toyota in Bangalore demanded a 100 percent wage increase. The management promised 25 percent and was able to avoid industrial action. At the car part suppliers Speedo ax, Hitachi Electrics and Omax Auto, all situated in Gurgaon, industrial disputes were only settled a few days before the police attack on the HMSI workers. Apart from a booming, but still modest, automobile export industry more and more electronic device companies (mobile phones etc.) are opening their factories in India. Companies like Solectron and Flextronics have recently increased their investment in the sub-continent. The individual ownership of mobile phones has increased from 6 million in 200 0 to 50 million in 2005 and is supposed to grow by 20 million each year. The automobile export sector is still confined to a few companies and models (Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, Fiat, Skoda, Suzuki and Mahindra), exporting about 130,000 cars in 2004, but the sector, particularly the car component industry, is growing. About the factory The factory is modern, only four years old. The plant churns out 2,000 scooters per day and employs about 1,900 to 2,500 workers. In 2004 HMSI is said to have sold 550,000 scooters in India. Scooters and other two-wheelers are still the most important means of motorised transport in India. In 2003-04 about 5,625,000 motorcycles were sold, compared to 850,000 cars. Most of the workers are hired by subcontractors or only get daily contracts. The wages are poor, securing mere survival. A lot of workers come from the surrounding small villages or even from othe