Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Corporate Social Responsibility EssayDefinition-Carroll, 1979 2008, 500 The fond responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that a society has of organizations at a given point in time. EU Definition of CSR A design whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. The World Business Council for Sustainable teaching (WBCSD) Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and suffer to economic development while improving the part of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at largeConcept-Corporate Social Responsibility is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders. CSR is generally understood as being the way t hrough which a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives (Triple-Bottom-Line- Approach), while at the same time addressing the expectations of shareholders and stakeholders. In this sense it is important to draw a distinction between CSR, which can be a strategic business management concept, and charity, sponsorships or philanthropy. Even though the latter can also fall in a valuable contribution to poverty reduction, will directly enhance the reputation of a company and strengthen its brand, the concept of CSR clearly goes beyond that.The pyramid of CSROne of the most popular concepts of CSR was developed by Archie Carroll in the early 1990s. It is known as the pyramid of CSR. The pyramid suggests that CSR is composed by 4 opposite kinds of social responsibility. These responsibilities are economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Caroll considers them to be basic economic responsibilities. The aim of economic responsibility is to provide good s and services for consumers and to gain profit out of it. (Crane, Matten, Spence, 2008, p. 62) overdue to capitalism the idea of profit transformed into the extent of maximizing profits upon all other aspects. Society sanctioned businesses for their idea of maximizing profits and in this context governments legislated ground rules according to which businesses must operate. The rules indicated companies to comply with regulations and to fulfill legal obligations.Even though norms like fairness and justice are well lucid in economic and legal responsibility, ethical responsibility goes beyond the law and regulations. It embodies values, norms and expectations from stakeholders, like consumers, employees and a shareholder, for what they believe is fair and right. For a company ethical components of CSR pet acting morally and ethically and going further than compliance with laws and regulations. (Caroll, 1991)However, ethical responsibility is intertwined with the legal conception and is pushing toward more regulations and higher expectations. The last and smallest work of the pyramid is philanthropic responsibility. Philanthropic responsibility means for the company to be a good corporate citizen. Taking this challenge into account the company has to contribute to arts, education and the community and, therefore, endorse human welfare or goodwill. Philanthropic responsibility is sometimes put on the same level as ethical. However, the disagreement is that it is not seen as unethical behavior if businesses do not contribute their money to humanitarian programs.

Postmodernism Revise Essay Example for Free

Postmodernism Revise EssayDiscussion Question One, Due Thursday, 600 words Compare and contrast the idea of a legitimate component from the modern and the postmodern perspective.Legitimate Voice refers to the capability of the population to act upon what they actually perceive upon. This identifies the undeni suitable want of people to screen that what they conceptualize in could actually be achieved thusly giving them the chance to arouse a huge difference upon the confederacy that they are living in. being a postmodernist is non an easy status to carry. This is because of the fact that carrying such status is both(prenominal)thing that is needs to be coursen high level of attention as postmodernists actually believe that although humans are able to realize their capability of changing his own society, he was not able to accomplish the best possible achievement that he is expected to gain based form the time that he has been given to change.Understanding modernism, it should occur to the people that making a change are not simply the aim of progress. It is to improve the major things that are found in the society today with a means of actually discourse the present generation with the vivid picture of what the future could possibly hold for them as the major actors of change. The application of legitimate voice within the process identifies the capability of humans to prove their vistas through acts of improvement.The point of legitimacy should be strongly valued in applying modernization in the society. Whatever the ideas are and how well they fit to the communitys present description of improving success must likely be tortuous equally with each other. It is only through this that the changes implied are assured to give rightful effects and benefits to the people of the present society as extended towards the human population in the future.True, modernization is a major issue that is dealt with by every individual as well as every nation i n the public today. It is through the belief of this idealism that people are able to hone their capabilities of handling major changes to open the societys path towards a much progressive community that could give them the best results of changes in handling challenges of human societys life and journey.The modernists approach in explaining the intentional use of legitimate voice in the societys betterment is actually focused upon the positivity of the matter and the way that it affects the society, whereas post-modernists actually use it to prove that people are still able to do far more better than what they have already accomplished.Discussion Question Two, Due Sunday 600 wordsCompare and contrast how arguments were legitimized and defended to the modernists vs. the postmodernists.THE dawn of the 1990s has brought with it new hopes for world peace. notwithstanding it has also brought with it an unparalleled uncertainty and confusion. For example, there is great uncertainty o ver what will happen in nations that are abandoning centrally planned economies that have failed. A number of these lands are moving into free-market capitalism. But many nations that are already capitalist have widespread poverty and unemployment, high inflation and debt. Even the linked States has a huge internal debtsome three million dollarsand is also the largest debtor nation in international trade. One result of the worlds economic woes is noted by a New York Times editorial, which said There are more desperately poor people in the world than ever before.Partly because of growing uncertainties, many have retreated into selfishness the me-first attitude, material greed, the desire for instant gratification regardless of consequences. Rampant drug abuse is an march of this. Christopher Lasch, a professor of history at the University of Rochester, put it this way The moral bottom has dropped out of our culture.Internationally acclaimed economist Arjo Klamer states Artists, eco nomists, businessmen and families have lost trust in modernist certainties. ... Disillusionment turned out to be an emotion shared by people across fields and disciplines. Stating that confusion prevails, he added Fragmentation. Emptiness. Irony. Chaos. These are some of the words in vogue. They define the intricate web of post-modernism in which modern people are lost. It is painfully evident that this worlds political, economic, and social systems do not have permanent remedies for todays immense problems and uncertainties.Obviously, through the reports sited above, it could be noted that the observation of the society and the impact of the implications of modernization in the societys system affect the lives of human individuals directly. The constancy of the said idealism as per apply in the society today although happen to affect the lives of the people in both the positive and negative aspects of progress. Meanwhile the debating issues that are raised by the postmodernists a ctually challenges the people to do better than what they are presently doing, thus giving them the chance to have better benefits from the hard works that they render to the society.Implications Conclusions, Due Monday, 500 wordsWhich postmodernist is most translatable and practically applied to your professional life? Why?Post-modernism is a thought of being continuously in want of making changes as the present changes and improvements are not however suffice to handle the future challenges that may befall the human race. In terms of professionalism, the said idealism pays much though the fact that the said thought would likely move people to become more than what they think and perceive they could be. Thinking about these possibilities would likely bring out the best from the individuals who are involved in improving their own ways of progression.Professionalism certainly involves excellence and outstanding thought of improvement and truth. It is through the application of post modernism theories and thoughts that the systems of professional dealing become much easier to deal with and apprehend with as the goals of improvement among the individuals involved rather become much vivid than the common. The longing for and advancement more than the usual could be proven by the following linesHowever, if modern science has taught us anything, it is that we are still quite clueless as to how we tick. We are not as smart or advanced as we think we are. Take the medical field, for instance. Granted, we have conquered some diseases and have a good sense of what things hurt us (although the processes of exactly how diseases work is still quite mysterious), as well as how we should take care of our bodies. But these advances aside, medicine is still fairly primitive(Week 6 Lecture, Dr. Keeney,page 1) As closely observed, the situation suggests that the current achievements of humans are still not enough. Because of this, the application for wanting much excellence t han the usual is designed to make better options of improvement for the people today until they reach the peak point of their capabilities and potentials as human beings making contribution to the success of the communities that they particularly live in. As the major theorists of postmodernism places it, the people are more capable of doing more than what they can as well as gaining more than what they normally could achieve. Applying this particular idealism in a professional environment shall indeed point out the need for becoming highly involved with change thus imply developments within the vivacious system of operations within the organizations that are involved within the situation dealt with by particular individuals.ReferencesWeek 6 Lecture, Dr. Keeney.Week 7 lecture. Posted 01/22/2008 0155 PM, by Kyle Keeney.Bringing it all together.Farrell, John. Paranoia and Postmodernism, the epilogue to Paranoia and Modernity Cervantes to Rousseau (Cornell UP, 2006), 309-327.Giddens, Anthony (1991) Modernity and Self Identity, Cambridge Polity Press.Grebowicz, Margaret (ed.), Gender After Lyotard. NY Suny Press, 2007.(ISBN 978-0-7914-6956-9)Groothuis, Douglas. Truth Decay. Downers Grove, Illinois InterVarsity Press, 2000.Harvey, David (1989) The Condition of Postmodernity An Enquiry into the Origins of heathen Change (ISBN 0-631-16294-1)Hicks, Stephen R. C. (2004) Explaining Postmodernism Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (ISBN 1-59247-646-5)

EU’s Adoption of IFRS

EUs Adoption of IFRSIntroductionFrom 1st January 2005, all European countries atomic number 18 required under EU constabulary to use the IFRS1standards for their fiscal reporting statements, which includes bow windows domiciled within the UK (Nobes and Parker, 2006, p.103). This applies to all year-ends that complete after that date. In addition to this fate, it is a requirement of the standards that, for comparison purposes, the previous year pecuniary included within the statements must be recomputed to reflect a true IFRS bewilder. The main proposals for these standards and their first year usage are contained within IFRS 1.The transpose of standards has had a world-shaking impact upon pecuniary reporting in the UK. Therefore the intention of this paper is to discuss why the EU felt it necessary to adopt the IFRS add an understand of the IFRS main goals and to ascertain the areas in which this has affected the UK reporting methods, outlining the chance upon areas of cha nge by comparing them to the previous financial reporting methods used.Adoption of IFRS by the EUIn previous books (published in 1998 and before), Nobes and Parker (2006) discussed the Varity of different standards that were being operated within the ingredient states of Europe, including those that hire converted to capitalism from the former communist bloc, which included countries such(prenominal) as Poland and Romania. These differences have been determined by the political and capitalist attitudes of respective(prenominal) nations and can be separated into two main groups, those where markets and reporting is driven by the state, with weak equity markets, and those driven by business, where the equity market is strong.It has long been accepted that the differing financial reporting standards that have existed in the past has led to difficulties, particular proposition in terms of inter subject area trade and financing (Gregoriou and Gaber 2006, p.460). The EU recognised tha t, within its own region, this was affecting the flow of capital and finance between member states. In an attempt to address this issue, the commission sought to achieve harmonisation through raising legislation and regulations. However, when these failed to work, somewhat reluctantly the commission then changed its position and became an active supporter of the US dominated IFRS standards (Nobes and Parker 2006, p.105).IFRS standards have become increasing accepted as an international method of financial reporting, primarily because of its benefits in up(p) the globalization of trade and financial activities, which leave alone become less complex. In addition to the US, an ever-increasing number of countries have adopted IFRS, thus it was barely a publication of meter before the EU acquiesced. The intention is to move towards a system of fairer values (Bruce 2004), and to make the EU as a regional and international concern bloc far more competitive.However, the EU bankers ac ceptance of the standards, intend to be relatively straightforward, was not without difficulties (Bruce 2004). In the initial stages there were areas of dispute and, in particular, split of the standards that the EU would not accept, for example IFRS 39 the standard that deals with fair value, although this has recently been adopted in a limited form. Furthermore, despite IFRS, differences between the financial reporting methods used in Europe still exist (Nobes and Parker (2006, p.19). Nevertheless, in view of the pressure from a number of stakeholders, it is inevitable that the impact of individual national standards will continue to be eroded in favour of a globally recognised system (Nobes and Parker 2006, p.13)Executive summary of IFRSIFRS 1, the mainstay of the standards has seen two amendments, the current implemented in January 2007, although most of these have not affected the underlying core focus of the standards. Whilst each standard has a defined objective, there are a number of oerall goals embodied within the process.ObjectivesThe key focus and goal of the International Financial insurance coverage Standards is to achieve a position where, globally, whiz system will be seen to be the norm and form the basis upon which all trade, capital and financially motivated decisions in the international marketplace will be relied upon. The intention is that, through the acceptance of these standards, existing investment barriers will cease to exist as well, which will improve capital market performance.Furthermore, it is intended to promote reliable system of universal accuracy and comparability, together with a method that will ensure a standard model for corporate government that can be referred to equally by all stakeholders, whether they are involved with the corporation or not. It is stated that the improvement to the reporting processes will in any case stupefy management data and lead to reduction of riskIndividually, the standards have their own goals. For example, IAS 1.7 focuses on the presentation of the financial statements and Cash Flow in a direction that is understandable to everyone. Similarly, the objective of IFRS 7 are to ensure that corporate management discloses all information that has had an impact upon the business during the year covered within the financial statements. In particularly, emphasis is placed upon the accuracy of the corporate balance sheets, cash flows, as these are the areas where historically, as has been evidenced in cases such as Enron, and WorldCom, significant issues of financial stability arose, causing the loss of millions of jobs and investment monies. Achieving reliability within these areas is one of the fundamental goals of IFRS.Once of the main difficulties that arose with previous standards was the method of accounting for value, particularly with respect to assets and other balance sheet items. This situation was exacerbated in situations of the increasing incidence of me rgers and scholarships. Where a corporation takes over or merges with another, the cost of such a move, known as the goodwill payment, under the historical cost convention would be reflected in the balance sheet as the current value. However, goodwill is not a tangible asset in the sense that one can physically touch or use it. Its value will fluctuate in accordance with market determinates. Under the IFRS system items such as goodwill have to be accounted for in respect of the fair value at the time of the statements. Therefore, the core objective is that the statements reflect a realisable value rather than one that may have been eroded over time.To ensure that the financial statements of individual corporations reflected these objectives, IFRS also requires officers of the company and external experts to warrant that all the statements made, and financial information provided within the statements have been prepared in accordance with those objectives.The process of measurement is another key factor within the reporting standards. Here again, concentrating upon the relationship to the current fair value, the individual standards set our prescribed rules and guidelines as to how each item contained within the financial statement should be measured and what will be recognised as an acceptable method. Meticulous attention is paid to the valuation of assets, which apart from the year of acquisition when cost can be used, should have been based upon current realisable value as certified from a reliable and expert source, unless there is a excusable reason for not doing so. These measurement guidelines are also extended to debts, other liabilities and equity items contained in the financial statements.Requirements for presentation and disclosure in financial statements run around prominently within the IFRS standards. The presentation requirements in particular determine the way in which the financial data should be analysed within each segment of the corporat ions main financial statements and supporting notes. The purpose of this is to ensure that relevant information cannot be, either deliberately or inadvertently, concealed from interested stakeholders. For example, IAS 1.68 identifies the minimum requirement for information analysis in the business balance sheet, and there are similar instructions in IAS 1.81 that relate to the revenue statements, which identify how revenue, finance costs, and advance or loss distribution should be displayed.As indicated earlier, the IFR standards include numerous requirements in respect of the information that corporations are expect to disclose, as can be evidenced from the information checklist that has been prepared by Deloitte (2005), one of the big four auditing firms. In addition to all of the factors already discussed within this papers, further disclosures are expected to be made in relation to the how the business has complied with corporate governance rules and regulations and the assessm ent of risk.Despite the arguments that have arisen in various circles in respect of individual aspects of the IFRS system, it is generally accepted that they do provide a framework which, when fully implemented and adopted internationally, will be of benefit in relation to the globalisation of trade.A case study of the IFRS impact on a UK corporationThe financial statement of every UK Corporation has been affected by the implementation of IFRS and it has wedge upon the resultant financial information. To provide an example of these changes British Telecom is being used as an example. The 2006 statements in support of this analysis are attached in the appendix of this paper.As is allowable under IFRS 1, BT has availed itself of some of the exemptions and exceptions that are provided for in the preparation of the accounts. The exceptions applicable in this case are defined as follows business organisation combinations.Employee benefitsShare paymentsCumulative translation differences Financial InstrumentsIn the main, these exceptions relate to the retrospective treatment of the above items together with other aspects of the treatment of these items at the date of transition. For example, IFRS 3 is not being applied in a retrospective manner to business combinations.Pages 111 and 112 of British Telecoms annual report for 2006 outlines the major areas of change that have impacted on the financials Equity. The most important change relates to the reduction in equity. Brought about mainly by the change in employee benefits and adjustment to leases, this has seen a reduction of 3.9 billion.Profit. As can be seen from the pages referred to, there was little impact from IFRS on the returned profit earned by the business during the year, with the debit and credit amounts cancelling themselves out. extract for an addition of 8 million.Under the UK GAAP system, firma were allowed to account for divided provisions within the profit and loss account. IFRS standards state t hat this should not be the case, and that the dividends can only be included within the year that they are payable, therefore these has been excluded.Assets and Liabilities. In terms of the Individual items heading, as can be seen, there have been a number of significant changes, for example with the reorganisation and re-evaluation of the various assets. However, overall the net reduction of the equity format of the balance sheet was only just over 200 million.In terms of the cash flow statement, there has been no change to the cash flow that has been generated by the business during the year. In essence, this shows that whilst UK business have been concerned with the impact of IFRS, when one takes into account that all competitors are likewise affected, these changes make little or no difference to the market position of BT.BibliographyWhittington, Geoffrey (2005). The adoption of International Accounting Standards in the European Union. European Accounting Review, Vol. 14, issue 1, pages 127-153.Nobes, C. and Parker, R. (2006). Comparative International Accounting. 9th Edition. FT Prentice Hall. UK.Deloitte (2005). IFRS 7 A disclosure checklist. Retrieved 1 May 2007 from http//www.iasplus.com/fs/0510ifrs7checklist.pdfGregoriou, Greg N and Gaber, Mohamed (2006). International Accounting Standards, Regulations, Financial Reporting. Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Oxford, UK.Blake, John and Amat, Oriol (1993). European Accounting. FT Prentice Hall.Perry Michelle (2005). IFRS The Next Steps. Accountancy Age. London, UK.Flower, John (2004). European Financial Reporting Adapting to a changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. London, UK.Bruce, Robert (2004). Setting a new standard. Financial Times. London, UK.IFRS (2007). Summary of reporting standards. IFRS. Delaware, US. Retrieved 1 May 2007 from http//www.iasb.org/NR/rdonlyres/8177F9A2-EB2F-45A3-BBF3-3DE7DCB13E1A/0/IFRS7.pdfFootnotes1 International Financial Reporting Standards

Studying Modern Agriculture In Sri Lanka

Studying Modern horticulture In Sri Lanka1. Modern Agricultural sector plays a really all-important(a) constituent in contributing to the economy of the unpolished. Agriculture represents 13% of the farmings Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Rice is the primary(prenominal) staple food in Sri Lanka. rice paddy sector contributes 16.5 % of the GDP of the land sector. paddy farmers represent considerable percentage of the labor force of the country. Rice is the oldest crop on earth and rice is the primary(prenominal) consumer food in Sri Lanka and the main substitute for rice is the wheat flour. Sri Lanka has two major verdant seasons namely Yala and Maha. About 5.75 lakh hect atomic number 18s were being bought under paddy state in the Maha season from October to February and an other 3.5 lakh hect bes under the Yala season from April to August. Sri Lanka is country which Agricultural sector plays a main role in the economy. paddy field is produce in two seasons in a year. Ev ery G everyplacenment has identified the importance of the paddy field industry and has been a political focus so far. Mahaweli Project is the one and only(a) of the most successive project done in the country to increase the land purchasable for the paddy cultivation. However farmers in outlandish provinces faced many hardships to obtain adequate harvest and revenue from paddy cultivation and vegetable cultivation due to lack of pertly technology12. thither ar three major economic makeivities which contribute to the Gross National Product (GNP) in a country, Namely Agriculture sector, Industrial sector and utility sector. Beginning of 1950s Sri Lankan economy was mainly based on hoidenish sector and by mid 1950, service sector contribution remarkably increases and hold the broad(prenominal)est contribution to the GNP at present. With the change of political and security agency of the country, it is inherent to develop floriculture sector to achieve the self sustain ability of the country. In 2008 save the highest sectoral growth of 7.5 percent (%) all over the growth of 3.4 % recorded in 2007. Output of domestic kitchen-gardening products were increase in 2008 mainly due the record increase of paddy production during the year seasons. 3. Sri Lanka Rice Sector alone contributes 30% to the agricultural GDP which accounts for 16.8% of GDP in year 2007.The present Annual respect of the rice production is Rs. 49 billion which is at an increasing trend, although the relative contribution of the rice sector to the GDP is diminishing.2In 2008 paddy production increased by 24% recorded levels of 2.63 million metric tons of rice. This recorded target was archived through enormous difficulties faced by the farmers in inelegant provinces. It is essential to implement an effectual government policy and an efficient mechanism to the development of the paddy sector in Sri Lankan in each province to increase income of the rural farmers. GENERAL OUTLINE4 . Paddy is widely grown in the all over Sri Lanka and it is a popular food crop among all communities in country. As the labor and other requirements of paddy are high it provides direct barter to a large number of people besides its contribution to indirect employment in input supplies and providing other services associated with the industry. However, thither are several constraints that dissemble the development of paddy crop in Sri Lanka. Among the most important constraints are, high monetary value of the new technology, first-class honours degree productivity of paddy land, and high disease prevalence in paddy growing areas due to prevailing conductive purlieu for disease occurrencesSTATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM5. The statement of difficulty rear end divided in to two major parts a. SocialPresently at the country most of farmers are victimisation Traditional agriculture in Sri Lanka and it will effect for there personnel income with out using new technology.b. economicalWi thout using new technology for traditional agriculture in Sri Lanka will non enable to increase of production in agriculture. Mal usage of the newfangled technology caused low productivity in local anaesthetic agricultureSCOPE OF THE STUDY6 This question attempts to identify the relationship between the traditional agriculture and redbrick agriculture in Sri Lanka and the number of farmers who had abandoned the cultivating of paddy. The research will focus provided on the paddy farmers in Sri Lanka and the benefits of using new technology in traditional agriculture.JUSTIFICATION7. As it effects to the national income of the country it is reasonable to do a research on this topic.8. As it effect to the loosing of jobs in agricultural field it is a responsibility of the government to look in to this problem.9. As the agriculture is the oldest traditional occupation in Sri Lanka it is very much needed to research on this field and its out come.OBJECTIVESGeneral Objectives10. The general objective, this research is to education increase production by using new technology for traditional agriculture in Sri LankaSpecific Objectives11. The following objectives are identified.a. To study what is the traditional agriculture in Sri Lanka.b. To study technology used for traditional agriculture and modern agriculture in Sri Lanka.c. To examine traditional paddy farming cultivation of paddy in Sri Lanka and its increase drastic production.c. Agro bio mixed bag and related traditional schemes.d. Recommendations based on the driveings. research HYPOTHESIS12. Use of new technology will enable drastic increase of the production of traditional agriculture in Sri LankaCHAPTER 2METHODOLOGY1. This study will be based on a survey. The data will be gathered from primary and guerillaary sources to analyse the situation and the data obtained from Agriculture department and other relevant sourcePrimary Source2. A literature survey will be carried out by referring various fo nts of articles, books and cosmea Wide Web to gather learning on the field of the paddy cultivation and data gathered by agriculture department and other agriculture research centresORGANIZATION OF THE PAPER3. Since the main idea of this study in to analyze that there is specific relationship between the diminishing trend of cave in and the trend of abundance of paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka, the paper analyses this relationship and its effect to the paddy farming. The first chapter introduces the subject and other details of the research. In the second chapter contains the History Methodology Organization of the paper Data collection method Limitation. In the fifth chapter all gathered data are analysed and the last chapter contains findings, recommendations and oddmentSAMPLING4. Selected 10 paddy farmers randomly to represent every part of the country who are currently engaged in the paddy cultivation.DATA army METHOD5. The source of data collections is details gathered from the governing body Officials those who are engaging in the cultivation. Further, past statistics were collected from the Hector Kobbekaduwa agriculture Research nubble in Colombo, and the Public Library in ColomboLIMITATIONS6. a. proceeding with a research the following limitations was identified.b. The time available to carry out this research was only 3 months.c. Commonly most of the farmers were not in the position of giving accurate figures regarding their individual farm direction.CHAPTER 3WHAT IS TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE IN SRI LANKA1. rain and its variation Sri Lanka is a tropical country, but climate of the country shows variation across the Island due to differences in pelting, elevation and discoloration factors. Further, the central hill masses, which act as an orographic barrier and the Indian Ocean, surrounding the Island as well influence the climate of Sri Lanka.2. The rainfall of Sri Lanka shows seasonal fluctuations and is pendant on mostly monsoon, Four pre cipitation seasons are clear in Sri Lanka, namely southwest monsoon from mid-May to September call Yala season, northeast monsoon from December to February call Maha season and two inter-monsoon periods, the first and second inter-monsoons last from knock against to mid May and from October to November respectively. Total annual rainfall of the country varies from 750 to 5000 mm two broad climatic regions, namely the dry and wet zones are know based on total annual rainfall and scattering of dry months. The rainfall is one of the signifi mucklet factors for determining agricultural land use as well as use of various genetic resources. The distribution pattern of rainfall throughout the year is further important than the total annual rainfall. The rainfall distribution in the majority areas of Sri Lanka is markedly seasonal. Seasonal distribution of rainfall and distribution of wet and dry months in different climatic zones influence the type of paddy grown by farmers in different seasons. The bi-model pattern of rainfall distribution is characteristic of the wet zone whereas the dry zone exhibits a uni-model rainfall pattern. The rainy season of the wet zone lasts from May to November (7 months) which is much shorter in the dry zone (3-4 months October to January). In the dry zone, southwest monsoon allows only a down in the mouth crop (Yala season) whereas the main season (Maha) is effectively the wet season. Cropping patterns, farming practices and genetic resource example are markedly different according to this rainfall distribution patterns along with the other factors.3. Agro ecological zones Agricultural land use and land management necessities at a given location depend on the climatic conditions together with soil properties and conditions. The areas with similar climatic and soil conditions are identified and demarcated as agro ecological regions. Twenty-four agro ecological regions based on rainfall, elevation and soil types are demarcated in S ri Lanka Agro ecological classification is very useful since it provides basic climatic and edaphic differences of the country for various agricultural productions and farming practice.4. Agro biodiversity and related traditional systems inherited assets or germplasm are biological resources of animal, plant and microbes that contain the hereditary information required for life and are responsible for their useful property and ability to replicate. Agro biodiversity can be defined as selection and variability of animal plant and microbial organisms on earth that are for main food and agriculture. It is a backbone subset of genetic resources as it is the basis of food security and an essential feature of farming systems around the world. People have managed genetic resources, selecting crops, harvesting medicinal plants and so on Genetic resources remain the basis for the improvement of agricultural crops, for medicines of near 75% of the world population that relies upon tradit ional, largely plant-based, treatments for its primary healthcare, and for a myriad of other products such as pharmaceuticals, crop protection products and perfumes.5. Agriculturally used domestic plants have been basically altered from their wild relatives and they have been reshaped to meet human being needs and wants. Paddy genetic resources and agro biodiversity is the product of thousands of years of evolutionary process. at that place are two types of selection distinguish crop evolution in Sri Lanka namely natural and artificial. These evolutionary processes continue in order to agriculture systems to remain viable. Paddy evolution has been altered by our enhanced ability to produce, locate and access genetic stuff. some(prenominal) farmers and scientists have relied on the store of genetic diversity present in paddy plants that has been accumulate by hundreds of generations who have observed, selected, multiplied, store, traded and kept variants of paddy plants.6. Sri Lan ka is well aspect out as a valuable repository of crop germplasm and agro biodiversity. These varieties show great adaptability to a large range of climatic and soil conditions and pest and transmittal problems. They in like manner exhibit difference in grain size and quality some with medicinal property and fragrance and others that are used for cultural and perfunctory procedure reasons and also show differences in maturity period. The existence of genetic and species diversity has special significance for the maintenance and improvement of productivity in agricultural crops in Sri Lanka which is characterized by very varied agro-climaticand diverse growing situation. Such variety provides safekeeping for the farmer against disease, pests, drought and other stresses. The genetic variety also allows farmers to develop the full range of passing various microenvironments in the country, conflicting in characteristics such as soil, water, warmth, elevation, slope and fertility.7. The occurrence of heterogeneous agro ecological situation with seasonal and inter annual difference, socio-cultural and ethnic differences, application of different traditional paddy farming practices including dry and wet land paddy farming, deliberate and unintended selection of variety and a choice of systems of beliefs allow to develop various original and traditional paddy cultivation practices and techniques for selection, maintenance and utilization of planting materials.8. furthermore these traditional paddy farmers represent centuries of accumulated experience and skills of peasants who often continuous yields under adverse paddy farming environment using locally available resources. The establishment for such paddy farming is comprised of the traditional landraces. Landraces are crop plant populations that have not been bred as variety but have been change throughout years of natural and artificial variety to the conditions under which they are paddy cultivated. Maint enance of species and genetic diversity in farmers fields is essential to sustainable agriculture, especially for resource-poor farmers practicing agriculture under low-input conditions in marginal lands. Aboriginal knowledge has been brought down from generation to generation and forms part of the information base for a culture. The indigenous knowledge can be defined as local information that is unique to a given civilization or society. Each society has a variety of type of awareness systems. Indigenous people have a great knowledge of the ecosystem they outlast in and ways to guarantee that natural resources are used sustainably. Therefore, indigenous awareness which has been accumulating over hundred years has potential value for sustainable development. It can help other people to learn how to live in the natural world in a sustainable approach as well as to increase agronomic practices for paddy cultivation and utilization of materials.9. The agricultural landscape of the co untry consists mainly cultivation of rice (780,000 ha), plantation crops such as tea, rubber, coconut, sugarcane, spices (772,000 ha), vegetables (110,000 ha), other field crops (128,000 ha) and home gardens (98,000 ha). Sri Lankas farming systems, particularly rice, other field crops and home gardening have evolved over thousands of years including a rich array of farming systems and cultivated plants such as grains, vegetables, fruits, spices and livestock. New local cultivars have been developed in the agriculture sector formally and informally. In addition, many farmers have selected local landraces. The long history of cultivation, presence of cultural diversity and wide range of eco-edaphic conditions present in the country have resulted in a wide variety of farming practices in Sri Lanka. The following section describes the traditional farming principles and systems reported in Sri Lanka during the survey.TRADITIONAL AND ORGANIC PADDY FARMING SYSTEMS10. Lowland paddy farming. The most widely practiced farming system in Sri Lanka is lowland paddy farming. Lowland can be defined as areas, which receive enough water or which can be irrigated. The lowland also called Wel yaya3and is mainly cultivated with rice. In lowlands, rice is the dominant crop both in terms of land use and dietary importance, and it has been the backbone of Sri Lankas agriculture over 2500 years. Lowland paddy farming is started with deep ploughing to create a hard pan at the onset of rain or with irrigated water. Harrowing and direct under submerged conditions follow ploughing. Initiation of agricultural operations is begun at an auspicious time with special ceremony and rituals. Sowing, transplanting, weeding, pest and disease control, water management, manuring (with com commit, moo-cow dung and green matter from plant bio mass) and harvesting are other main operations involved in rice farming and each chemical substance element has special traditional methods and performances.11 . Upland (organic) paddy cultivation. Upland can be defined as land above the water sources, which therefore can be cultivated only under rain fed conditions or by providing lift irrigation. Following ploughing, the land up to two inches using buffalo and traditional plough, seed paddy soaked overnight is sown when rain is expected. The soil is mixed using a fork. This method increases the soil nutrients and water retention / density capacity of soil. Sometimes, broadcast field is covered with straw as mulch, which enhances weed control, soil moisture and nutrient retention. When grasses and hedges are grown in the field, they are snub and allowed to dry for incorporating in the field. The field is turned using hoe. Two to three weeks after turning, harrowing is done. Then seed is broadcast during mild rain. Intensity of management practices such as chemical weeding, fertilising, chemical pest and disease control are very low in this system. Water management is entirely dependent on rainfall. Usually, only is Maha season cultivated with paddy.CHAPTER 4WHAT IS THE MORDEN AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES IN SRI LANKA1. Utilization of modern technology in agriculture and related industries can be categorized in several ways. In this study it is being categorized according to the type of streams of technology used. The main areas of technology which are being using in Sri Lankan Paddy farming can be identified as followsELECTRO-MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGICAL IMPROVEMENTS2. Mechanization of agronomic practicesThis includes the crop cultural practices from seed sawing to harvesting In paddy farming the first main step is pre planting land preparation and that is been mechanised with tractors including two wheels and four wheels, ploughs, rotervators, harrows etc. In Sri Lanka this step is highly mechanised specially in commercial paddy farming.Seed sawing or crop establishment is the next main step in paddy farming. There are two main methods called direct seeding and transpl anting. Sophisticated machines as well as simple machines are available for the both methods. Still Sri Lankan farming community does not use hi-tech methods for this stepThe next main step which is been mechanised in paddy farming is harvesting and harvest cleaning. Wide range of machines are using for this process. That includes very sophisticated machines like combine harvesters which harvest, thresh and clean the harvest at once in the paddy field itself3. Mechanization of post harvesting activitiesTechnology is been using in this step for storing, weighing, threshing, boiling, cleaning and polishing rice.4. biologic improvementsNew paddy veritiesAlmost all paddy farmers except very few isolated farmers cultivate improved varieties. The paddy verities been improved for high yield, to minimise lodging, to gain resistively for pest and diseases. This improved the per acre yield in the country over the last three decades5. New breading technologiesNew breeding technologies like ge netic engineering, germplasm transplants, mutations, selective breeding are extensively using for develop new verities6. Biological pest and diseases control methodsBiological pest and disease control methods are promoting extensively among the farming community to minimize the threat for the environment and as effective and sustainable control method. These include usage of plant extracts as repellents and insecticides, introduction of parasitic insects, introduction of insect pathogens, introduction of sterile technologies etc.7. Chemical improvementsa. plant food This became one of the key inputs of farming and the new improved varieties are highly sensitive for fertilizers. Improvement of fertilizers including chemical components, slow releasing fertilisers like chelates, development of new fertilizer ratios, mixing methods can be considered under this.b. Insecticides Development of new environmental friendly verities like Aparathyroid, new types, new chemicals, new application methods, bio-degradable chemical developments comes under this.c. Herbicides Development of new environmental friendly verities, new types like selective weedicides, new chemicals, new application methods, bio-degradable chemical developments comes under thisd. Fungicides Fungal attacks can be effectively controlled by application of fungicides. Development of new environmental friendly verities, new types, new chemicals, new application methods, bio-degradable chemical developments comes under this. There are no effective chemical control methods for bacterial and viral diseasesCHAPTER 5FINDING RECOMMENDATION AND destinationFINDINGS1. During the survey it was found that the main problem faced by farmers in Sri Lanka was the insufficient average of traditional agricultural yield. Further high cost of technology , lack of high quality seeds, cost of cultivation, Non awareness of technology and low market prices were the another identified problems in this area. Further I found that following strengths and weaknesses while observing the traditional and modern agriculture in Sri Lanka.a. Production possibilities and potentialities are tremendous in the country.b. Increase of local food production is an urgent need.c. It is pre requisites for acceleration of agricultural transformation and economic growth in the country.d. Production directly affects on the increase of farmers income.e. Increase of production will reduce the level of malnutrition.f. Production market is sensitive areas that affect the political and economical background of the country.2. Weakness observed in the paddy farming System.a. Low production of traditional farming system and modern farming productivity has disheartened the farming system.b. Land and soil degradation are leading factors for the decision of abundance of paddy farming.c. High Cost of Production has discouraged the farmers.e. here is a wide gap between the potential level and farmer yields.f. Inadequate technology transfe r at village level farms.CONCLUSION3. The general tone of the conclusion of this paper identifies that there are many obstacles and problems in paddy cultivation as well as many opportunities and potentialities for modify the high average of yield in modern and traditional agriculture in Sri Lanka. Modern Agricultural sector plays a very important role in contributing to the economy of the country. Agriculture represent 13% of the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Rice is the main staple food in Sri Lanka. Paddy sector contributes 16.5 % of the GDP of the agriculture sector. Paddy farmers represent considerable percentage of the labor force of the country. Rice is the oldest crop on earth and rice is the main consumer food in Sri Lanka and the main substitute for rice is the wheat flour. Every Government has identified the importance of the Paddy industry in Sri Lanka. Mahaweli Project is the one of the most successive project done in the country to increase the land available for the paddy cultivation. However farmers in rural provinces faced many hardships to obtain adequate harvest and revenue from paddy cultivation and other crop cultivation due to lack of new technology.4. Presently at the country most of farmers are using Traditional agriculture in Sri Lanka and it will effect for there personnel income with out using new technology. Also without using new technology for traditional agriculture in Sri Lanka will not enable to increase of production in agriculture. Mal usage of the modern technology caused low productivity in local agriculture5. Thus hypotheses of this research can be proven.RECOMMENDATION6. Implementing programme which can be help for the purpose of the genteelness about new agriculture technology with an aim of encouraging the rest of potion of farming population for new method of farming.7. Introduction a mechanize system through agriculture department and relevant authority for remote farmers to reach new technology writhing sh ort period of time with its proper efficiency.8. ever-changing of attitudes in remote farmers towards use of new technology a they are in strongly believe that modern technology can harm there traditional system of agriculture and socio-culture values which they have being practicing for long time of period.9. Arranging possible educational programme to educate many of farmers about positive impact on the harvest where they will not be reaching through traditional method of agriculture.10. in order to prevent the assay of loosing traditional occupation in the field of agriculture by using new modern mechanization farmer should be encourage to change their lash thinking and seek for positive and possible alternative job opportunities regarding and relevant to the field of agriculture as starting of business of chemical, agriculture equipment, machinery repair and ext.11. Government should involve specially in this problem with the purpose of upgrading the productivity which can str ongly correlated to the national economy as follows.a. implementing the infrastructure specially in remote areab. opening buying centre where farmers can obtain stable income through out the yearc. government should provide to facilitate proficient support relevant to agricultural industry on free or low cost basisBIBILIOGRAPHY1. Activating All Powers in Sri Lanka Agriculture- G.K. Upawansa and Rukman Wagachchi2. Handy picket to agriculture by Dr. Thilak T. Ranasinghe3. Directory of Research Centers in Sri Lanka4. National Agricultural Information Network5. A Policy Rule for the Liberalization of Agriculture in Sri Lanka HN Thenuwara6. Rice production on acid soils of the tropics by EN Ponnamperuma7. Harti agricultural good review 20068. Harti agricultural commodity review 20079. Harti agricultural commodity review 2008Web Sites Referred10. www.seedquest.com/News/releases/2007/may/19217.htm11. http//www.agridept.gov.lk12. http//www.statistics.gov.lk13. www.sttistics.gov.lkANNEX AQ UESTIONNAIRE1. This Questionnaire to find out to main issues encountered by the paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka and also to find out the possibility to improve the industry with new technology. This is only for the training purposes.2. All information provided will be treated as a secret please do not provide your name or any other details other than required details. Those details will not be an impact on your cultivation.3. This Questionnaire will help me to assess the main issues faced by the impact of new technology for tradition agriculture in Sri Lanka. later on completion the Questionnaire please return to Major Sarath Dasanayake by hand or post to following address before 1th March 2011.4. Further any information and clarification you may write to or call

Predicting Individual differences in Mindfulness

Predicting Individual differences in heedfulnessPredicting Individual differences in heedfulness The fictitious character of characteristic c are, Openness and agnatic NurturanceAbstractheedfulness is a way of paying attention, intentionally and without judgement to the pitch moment. heedfulness training has shown impressive outcomes in a number of areas such as impression and pain reduction however, the literature has failed to account for natural, exclusive differences in levels of mindfulness. This research provides an exploration of the vari opens Trait disquiet, Openness to Experience and agnatic Nurturance and their ability to predict individual differences in Mindfulness. 123 participants each completed four questionnaires The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was employ to assess Trait Anxiety, the NEO-FFI was utilize to measure Openness to Experience, the Parental Nurturance Inventory was employ to measure Parental Nurturance, and Mindfulness was assessed usin g the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI). Partially consistent with the predictions, Trait Anxiety was shown to negatively predict Mindfulness, Openness to Experience and Parental Nurturance where not as strong predictors of Mindfulness.Key Terms Mindfulness, Trait Anxiety, Openness, Parental Nurturance.IntroductionMindfulness is a way of paying attention, intentionally and without judgement to the present moment. The practice of Mindfulness originated in East India and is at the heart of Buddhist meditation. According to Kabat-Zinn (1994, 4) This kind of attention nurtures greater consciousness, clarity, and acceptance of present-moment reality. A miss of or reduced ken to the present-moment, however, has the opposite affect which guides in fear driven unconscious and automatic actions and behaviours. Continuing in this pattern of diminished awareness results in erosion to ones confidence and hinders the possibility of a life of satisfaction, health and happiness (Kabat-Zinn, 1994). Traditionally, Mindfulness was viewed as a spiritual practice, heavily steeped in Buddhism however, more recently this practice has been widely encouraged in the western society (Baer, 2003).According to Baer (2003) there are two main Mindfulness training programmes that is to say the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Programme and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Other therapies such as Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Relapse Prevention incorporate principles of Mindfulness into the programme. Most Mindfulness training programmes run for a serious of 8-10 weeks, with a one day a week group meeting which is held for approximately 2 hours. Clients are also required to do homework session including 45 minutes per day, 6 days a week.Evidence suggests that Mindfulness-based training intervention is effective. search indicates that Mindfulness-based training is effective in on the job(p) with borderline personality disorder, mood diso rders, pain, generalised anxiety disorder, stress, alcohol and substance abuse, and eating disorders (Baer, 2003 Roemer, 2002 Williams, Teasdale, Segal, Soulsby, 2000 Witkiewitz, Marlatt, Walker, 2005 Woodman, Noyes, Black, Schlosser, Yagia, 1999 Zettle Rains, 1989).Without any way of accurately, and objectively measuring levels of Mindfulness, positive findings were attributed to the training alone. Brown and Ryan (2003), however, proposed that individual differences may account for differences in levels of Mindfulness. The introduction of a measure for Mindfulness has made room for researchers to look this proposal in greater depth. The present study attempts to explore a question to what extent do individual differences influence levels of Mindfulness. The literature high scintillations three such individual differences that may be of interest Trait Anxiety, Openness to Experience and Parental Nurturance.The experience of anxiety is one that is familiar to most people and Ka plan and Sadock (1998) force the related symptoms as including an uneasy feeling followed by automatic responses such as headaches, perspiring and tightness in the chest. Trait anxiety, as apposed to state anxiety, is a brutal and does not wane in less stressful ages. These researchers identify anxiety as having two components, namely awareness to the physiological sensations and awareness to being afraid. These experiences much lead to feelings of embarrassment, and in order to feel justified for the anxiety, people tend to focus on certain, conforming aspects of the environment and overlooking others. As a result of this bias to attention, a person is unable to experience the presence as a whole. Trait Anxiety is therefore expected to arrest an inverse alliance with Mindfulness.Openness to Experience is one of the cardinal main personality domains and is take ind by McCrae and John (1992) as encompassing such things as imagination, aesthetic sensitivity, awareness of inne r feelings, an inclination towards variety, and intellectual curiosity. Individuals who run into high on this scale tend to be motivated to discover their environment, ask questions and have a exercise set to question authority. As such, it is hypothesized that a high level of Openness to Experience would be a positive predictor of Mindfulness, since these individuals approach their environment with awareness, which is not clouded by judgment.The manner in which a parent responds to their child in the first years of his or her life has a far reaching collision on their adult life, affecting their relationships, both intimate, social and professional, how they interpret information given(p) to them from the environment and whether or not they view the world as a safe place, and whether or not people are trust worthy (Fonagy, Gergely, Jurist, Target, 2005). According to this theory of attachment, Parental Nurturance is also an important factor in find an individuals ability to contain his or her own emotions. From this, it is hypothesised that positive Parental Nurturance will be a good predictor of Mindfulness as individuals are able to be present in their environment in a trusting, non-judgmental way.The present study explores the predictive value of these variables for increased levels of Mindfulness. In light of the literature, it is thought that a low level of Trait Anxiety will have an inverse relationship with Mindfulness, and that Openness to Experience and Parental Nurturance will be positive predictors of Mindfulness.MethodDesign and MeasuresFor the purpose of the present research study, a cross-sectional, correlational design was adopted. Information was thereby elicited from people in a number of different conditions, namely Trait Anxiety, Openness to Experience and Parental Nurturance ( autarkical variables), and the dependent variable of Mindfulness. The following measures where usedSpielbergers (1983) State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) wa s used to assess Trait component of Anxiety. The STAI is designed to measure and distinguish between anxiety as a trait or as a state. Trait anxiety is a relatively stable personality trait and is marked by feelings of apprehension and tension, which is heightened in times of perceived threat. State anxiety, however, fluctuates and is heightened at times of stress and low in less stressful periods. This is a self-report, four-point rating scale, including 20 statements that ask people to describe how they feel at a grouchy moment. A high score is indicative of a high level of Trait Anxiety.Costa and McCraes (1991) NEO-FFI was used to assess Openness to Experience. This is a 60-item rendering of the NEO PI-R, which measures only the five factors of adult personality, however for the purpose of this study, only the twelve-item scale assessing Openness was employed. This is measure makes use of a five-point rating scale, where participants demonstrated the detail of agreement with g iven statements. A high score on this scale is indicative of a high level of Openness.Buris (1989) Parental Nurturance scale was used to assess this component of the study. This is a self-report, five-point Likert scale, where participants are required to describe positive and negative aspects of the parental nurturance they received. This is repeated twice, once for information pertaining to the mother and the second time for information relating to the fathers nurturance. An average of these combined scores is used as a final result, with a high score indicative of steep levels of Parental Nurturance.Mindfulness was measured using the FMI (Walach, Buchheld, Buttenmuller, Kleinknecht, Schmidt, 2006). This is a short scale, 14-item, self-report measure, requiring participants to indicate their degree of agreement with a given, mindfulness direct statement. A high score on this measure is indicative of elevated levels of Mindfulness.Procedures, Participants and EthicsParticipants w ere purposively sampled and personally invited by written invitation to participate in this study. Of the initial 153 participants, 123 were included in the present study. A detailed outline of the nature and details of the study, including a description of what would be required of them was provided in the initial invitation. Participants were assigned to one of three separated examination groups. On receiving consent, participants were handed a package of four questionnaires (STAI, NEO-FFI, Parental-Nurturance Inventory, FMI). Each questionnaire was marked with separate instructions for completion. Each participant completed the pack of questionnaires in the said(prenominal) order.ResultsReliability of MeasuresA reliability analysis of the questionnaires was conducted, yielding satisfactory results indicating that the participants responded in a consistent manner to the questionnaires. The reliability coefficients were as follows Mindfulness ( = .78) Trait Anxiety ( = .88) Openne ss ( = .73) Parental Nurturance mother ( = .96) Parental Nurturance father ( = .96).Descriptive StatisticsA descriptive analysis of the data obtained across the variables of Mindfulness, Trait Anxiety, Openness and Parental Nurturance is given in flurry 1. As shown, the mean score for openness was 3.62, with a standard deviation (SD) of .55. The total results on the measure of Trait Anxiety yielded a mean score of 2.19, with a SD of .59. The mean score for Parental Nurturance was 3.71, with a SD of .79, and the Mindfulness mean is indicated at 2.69, with a SD of .46. dishearten 1 Presentation of esteem Scores and Standard Deviations from the Measures Employed to assess Openness to Experience, Trait Anxiety, Parental Nurturance and Mindfulness.Inferential StatisticsThe correlational analysis undertaken to explore the relationship between the dependent variable, Mindfulness, and the mugwump variables, Openness, Trait Anxiety and Parental Nurturance. These results are presented in Table 2. A significant, positive correlation was found between Mindfulness and Openness (r = .02, df = 3, pTable 2. Correlational Analysis Presenting the Relationship between Mindfulness and the Variables Openness, Trait Anxiety and Parental Nurturance.* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (1-tailed).** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (1-tailed).An analysis of the degree of variance (ANOVA) yielded F=19.496, which is indicative of a statistically insignificant effect. Therefore, there is no relationship between the constant and the independent variables as a group. With this information in hand, a regression was undertaken to see what differences exist in each group. These results are given in Table 3.Table 3. Presentation of the Individual Differences between Variables.From this it is clear that Trait Anxiety has the strongest, inverse relationship with Mindfulness, which is a negative relationship. Therefore, raze levels of Trait Anxiety are a strong predict or for Mindfulness. Openness is shown to be an insignificant predictor of Mindfulness, and Parental Nurturance is approaching significance.4. DiscussionThe results of this study partially meet the predictions made. Openness to Experience and Parental Nurturance were not demonstrated as positive predictors of Mindfulness, although Parental Nurturance bordered on significance. Trait Anxiety was found to be a negative predictor of Mindfulness, where the lower the level of Trait Anxiety, the higher the level of Mindfulness. These results can be explained in terms of awareness to the environment. Individuals having a high level of Trait Anxiety are unable to be present in the moment since they are subject to cognitive bias, which inhibits the information they are able to process. According to Harvey, Watkins, Mansell and Shafran (2004) individuals with high levels of anxiety have explicit memory bias for concern-relative information. These authors make further reference to the Cognitive Avoidance Theory of Worry, and describe how people who worry excessively have, as a result reduced their awareness of aversive imagery, as well as physiological and emotional responses, which inhibits emotional processes. Since individuals with high levels of Trait Anxiety are working hard at suppressing unpleasant experiences in terms of physiological, emotional and psychological responses, they are reducing their ability to be Mindful. A key component of Mindfulness is the ability to absorb the environment as a whole, without judgement and being completely present in the moment. Individuals with low levels of Trait Anxiety are able to process their environment without bias, they are not fearful and ashamed, and are not required to be vigilant and suspicious of the environment and others. The qualities are similar to those describe in the description of Mindfulness, and should therefore yield similar outcomes of greater awareness, clarity, and acceptance of present-moment reality K abat-Zinn (1994, 4).From this study, it can be said that the variable of Trait Anxiety is a good predictor of the individual differences in Mindfulness. Further research into the predictive value of other personality variables may aid in the understanding of this phenomenon.BibliographyBaer, R.A. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 10(2), 125-143.Brown, K.W. Ryan, R.M. (2003). The benefits of being present Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822-848.Buri, J. R. (1989). Self-esteem and appraisals of parental behavior. Journal of Adolescent Research, 4, 33-49.** Costa, P. McCrae, R. (1991). The NEO-Five Factor Inventory Form S. Odessa, Florida Psychological Assessment Resources.Fonagy, P., Gergely, G., Jurist, E.L. Targer, M. (2005). propel Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self. London Karnac.H arvey, A., Watkins, E., Mansell, W. Shafran, R. (2004). Cognitive Behavioural Processes Across Psychological Disorders A transdiagnostic approach to research and manipulation. Oxford University Press.Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever You Go, There You Are Mindfulness meditation for commonplace life. NY Piatkus.McCrae, R.R. John, O.P. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its implications. Journal of Personality, 60, 175-215.Roemer, L. (2002). Expanding our conceptualization of and treatment for generalized anxiety disorder Integrating mindfulness/acceptance-based approaches with existing cognitive-behavioral models. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 9(1), 54-68.** Spielberger, C. (1983). State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for adults. Redwood City, California Mind GardenWalach, H., Buchheld, N., Buttenmuller V., Kleinknecht, N. Schmidt, S. (2006). Measuring mindfulness the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI). Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1543-155 5.Williams, J.M.G., Teasdale, J.D., Segal, Z.V. Soulsby, J. (2000). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces over-general autobiographical memory in formerly depressed patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 150-155.Witkiewitz, K., Marlatt, G.A. Walker, D. (2005). Mindfulness-Based relapse prevention for alcohol and substance use disorders. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy An International Quarterly, 19(3), 211-228.Woodman, C.L., Noyes, R., Black, D.W., Schlosser, S. Yagia, S.J. (1999). A five year follow-up study of generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 187, 3-9.Zeattle, R.D. Rains, J.C. (1989). Group cognitive and contextual therapies in treatment for depression. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 436-445.** References borrowed from given notes.

Cinematic Interpretation of Stepping Razor Red X: the Peter Tosh Story :: essays papers

movie housetic Interpretation of Stepping Razor Red X the Peter Tosh StoryFilms are designed for legion(predicate) purposes, some entertain, frighten, enlighten, educate, inspire, and most make us think about the world we live in. This paper will be focused on the cinematic definition of the film Stepping Razor Red X, the Peter Tosh Story. The makers of a film from the writer, director, cinematographer and the art director, design, and conceptualize what they want the vox populier to see. Movie makers fork up agendas. They get their ideas across by using cinematic techniques and styles which make us view a certain subject in the light that they put it in. I will discuss the differing techniques used by the makers of Stepping Razor and describe what the overall impression of the movie has on the viewer, and what the agenda of the director is.GenreGenre A group of films having recognizably similar plots, character types, settings, filmic techniques, and themes. (Konigsberg165) The Genre of this film is difficult to define because it is not composed of a single agenda. The director makes a slur of talking about Toshs life, but because of the cinematic themes and the films style it is not solely a documentary. This film is also a multimedia film because elements of music and concert footage are added to the essential plot. This film is avant-garde in its nature. Avant-garde refers to films that deny the traditional narrative organise and techniques of commercial films by seeking to explore new modes of visual and emotional experience. (Konigsberg25) It could be considered an anthology film, because of the various concert footage that is woven throughout the movie. An Anthology film is a full(a) length film made up of excerpts from other films which are related by some theme or the appearance of the same performer. (Konigsberg16) Stepping Razor also has elements of Cinema Verite. Cinema Veriteapplies to a series of documentary films which strive for immediac y, spontaneity, and authenticity through the use of portable and unobtrusive equipment and the avoidance of and preconceived narrative line or concepts concerning the material. (Konigsberg57) Stepping Razor may also be put under the category of art film. Art film is a type of film with serious esthetical intentions as distinct from the commercial films made in Hollywood.(Konigsberg20) This film also has elements of a propaganda film. Propaganda films are made with the intention of persuading the audience to a particular point of view concerning the subjectrelying on the apparently real and factual nature of the images on the screen and often using an authoritative voice-over to sway.

Legal issues :: essays research papers

ESSAY.The Constitutional system in Australia determines how the law is made. Some issues addressed by this atomic number 18 The Federal government, division of powers, the separation of powers, amending the administration, the high coquet and the character and transfer of powers.The federal System of government has one central government deal with matters involving the whole nation. This system was adopted in Australia on 1 January 1901.In a federal system of Government there must be a division of powers. Powers argon divided between the states and federal government. The powers divided are legislative, executive and judicial powers. These are divided by the Australian constitution. The constitution provides for four types of legislative powers Specific powers areas of law making specifically mentioned in the constitution as belonging to the Federal government,Residual powers powers that the states retained after federation, these are not mentioned in the constitution but becam e the states powers.Concurrent powers areas over which the states and commonwealth occupy legislative power.Exclusive powers areas over which the federal government has exclusive power.The Separation of powers means that power is distributed between three builds of government. The three arms are legislature, executive and judiciary. The judiciary is separated from the legislature and the executive, because of this it is independent and can examine their actions without bias. The legislature is separated from the judiciary and executive powers, because of this it is independent, providing for some rights which cannot be taken away(p) by legislation and this allows provides for regular elections. The executive powers, there is no true separation between these two arm, because the British require that members form the executive arm be chosen from the legislature. However the power of the executive is subject to checks and balances in other ways.Amending the constitution. Section 128 of the constitution provides the procedure by which the constitution may be changed. The constitution can only be changed if a bill stating the question is passed by both houses of parliament and the change is approved by referendum by the absolute legal age of people in a majority of states. It is difficult to amend the constitution because it cannot be amended like any other law if it were then the federal government could make laws on any area it chose by amending the constitution. For example the 6 November 1999 referendum asked the Australian public do you support an act to alter the constitution to establish the commonwealth of Australia as a republic, with the queen and governor general being replaced by a president appointed by two thirds majority of the members of the commonwealth parliament.