Analyse of “the Darkling Thrush”

Analyse of â€Å"The Darkling Thrush† Thomas Hardy presents a theme of hope in his poem The Darkling Thrush. In the poem winter season has brought about death and despair. A tired old man leans over a coppice gate in a desolate area, to see the ghosts of the past and little hope for the future. Hardy uses imagery to evoke ideas and images in the readers mind. â€Å"The land's sharp features seemed to me. The Century's corpse outleant, His crypt the cloudy canopy, The wind its death-lament. † In describing the landscape he refers to the landscape as an intimate object as if it were human. He compares the landscape to a dead body laying all around him and the clouds becoming the coffins top, and the wind his death lament. The man also describes the landscape to have as much life and spirit as he does. Hardy choose his words carefully using negative words such as gray, desolate, broken and haunted. This negatively leads us to believe that this is how Harper feelings are; alone and frightened out in the cold. While still using a negative tone Harper tries to turn the poem to a somewhat positive tone. He continues to use wording such as frail, aged, gaunt and small but adds in wording like full-hearted and joy illimited. The change of wording suggests a shift in the tone of the poem. A songbird has entered, spreading warmth and hope into the earlier desolate and dead landscape. The theme of hope is introduced with the appearance of a songbird in stanza three. The bird is meant to resemble hope and that things are not quite over yet even though it may seem so. In the winter months death is brought forth yet in the coming of spring restores that life once again. The poem suggests that if one doesn’t give into the negative a positive can and may come forth; whether one is aware of this or not. In the poem’s last stanza the man reveals his thoughts as if his thoughts as if he has see a glimpse of hope as the life songbird colours the air with its song. â€Å"So little cause for carolings Of such ecstatic sound Was written on terrestrial things Afar or nigh around, That I could think there trembled through His happy good-night air Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew, And I was unaware. † The stanza suggests that there may be hope after all. Is it the spring coming once more? Or is it just the ghost messing with him? Hardy’s poem as well as its overall theme is a reflection of the time period he lived in. The poem takes place on New Year’s Eve, the last day of the 19th century. The queen is barely breathing her last few breaths and the Victorian Era is coming to an end. Waiting just around the corner is a new era, a new king, and a new Period completely different from the Victorian Era. The theme of hope is presented in a fashion that even though something may seem dark and shadowy that one needs to have a little faith in such matters. Things in the world and life are going to be unclear because nothing is ever sure. Hardy wants readers to have reliance in the world and the transformation of the times. Stanzas . The gate which the speaker is leaning on represent the threshold of the new century. The spectral quality of frost suggests the ageing and the ghostly quality of the landscape. The scene has the mere trace of life, in which natural and human presences are ghostly. The figure of the â€Å"weakening eye† symbolizes the ending of the day along with the ending of the century. The â€Å"tangled bine-stems† represent a harp which all the strings have been broken emphasizing the â€Å"winter’s dregs†. The stanza ends with the speakers awareness that he is alone, the people who usually occupy the land have returned to their home. . This stanza also marks the end of a century. The landscape’s features become like an immense body layed out. The first sentence shows the speaker’s mind enclosing the huge space of land and sky into the frightening display of the Century’s corpse in its coffin. The sky is the lid. The second sentence emphasizes that the ending of the century is not just closing to the speaker, but an end which seems to separate it from any relation to the future. Every spirit of vegetal and human life is under the pall of this death. 3. The darkling thrush, in all its homeliness and diminutiveness, is the corporeal voice of the real world. The bird’s song is spontaneous and unpremeditated. It â€Å"fling[s]† its â€Å"soul† into the â€Å"gloom† in contrary of the speaker’s previous flinging of his spiritless soul upon the landscape. The bird’s joyful act appears to the speaker as a choice, and not for mere survival in the â€Å"growing gloom†, but for the enthusiastic and full-hearted participation. 4. The speaker has not been convinced or transported out of the â€Å"growing gloom†, but his response to the birds song is to think. Although the â€Å"blessed Hope† is a knowledge only the bird has and of which the speaker is yet unaware, the speaker accepts the birds song as a sign that there is hope for the future. Analysis of â€Å"The Darkling Thrush†, by Thomas Hardy As the title has already mentioned, this assignment will be an analysis on a poem by Thomas Hardy. The poem is called â€Å"The Darkling Thrush†, also known by another title, â€Å"By the Century’s deathbed†. My analysis will include elements such as the poems’ setting, structure, imagery, diction, rhyme scheme and theme. I will go into one element at the time, and them give examples from one stanza only in that element. I will not come back to the same elements in the other stanzas, even though they are there. Therefore, this will not be a complete analysis of every element in each of the stanzas. I’d rather prefer to give a thorough description of what the different elements are and then give a few examples of each of them. In then end I will try to come up with a conclusion. The poem takes place on New Years Eve, the last day of the 19th century. It’s also the end of the Victorian Age. Winter is bringing death and desolation with it. A tired old man leans over a coppice gate in a desolate area, seeing ghosts of the past and little hope in the future. This poem has 4 stanzas, each with 8 lines. This is what we call an octave. The lines changes between having 4 and 3 stressed syllables in them, which is called tetrameter (4) and trimeter (3). Since the lines also follow a form of having one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable etc, we also call it iambic. As an example I use the poems 1st stanza. Line number 1, 3, 5 and 7 each have 4 stressed syllables, therefore called iambic tetrameter ( / – / – / – / – ). Line number 2, 4, 6, and 8 each have 3 stressed syllables, therefore called iambic trimeter ( / – / – / – ) The tangled bine-stems scored the sky5 And all mankind that haunted nigh7 Had sought their household fires. 8 Through the use of personification, symbols, metaphors, alliteration (this last element may also refer to the poems structure) and a selected sort of words, he produces images in the readers mind, when all he really does is just speak from his inner state of mind, as modernists are soon to do. To show the use of imagery in this poem, I’ve taken its 2nd stanza as an example. Here he uses personification on the landscape, thereby referring to an inanimate object as if it were human. He compares the landscape to a dead body lying all around him, and the clouds becoming the coffins top, and the wind his death lament. The poet also makes use of alliteration in this poem. An example from this stanza is corpse, crypt, cloudy, canopy etc, where you easily notice the same sounds repeated several times. This has mostly a decorative effect, but it also makes you focus on these words, thereby revealing parts of the poem’s nature and temperament. The land’s sharp features seemed to be1 The Century’s corpse outleant, 2 The ancient pulse of germ and birth5 The choice of words in this poem has been carefully selected, leaving little to coincidence. If you look carefully, you notice him using lots of negatively loaded words such as grey, desolate, broken, haunted etc. He himself is all alone out in the cold with all his negatively loaded words. But this changes further on in the poem. In stanza number 3 you will notice a change in the poets use of diction. In stead of keeping mainly to negatively loaded words, he suddenly makes use of positively loaded words too. Words like frail, aged, gaunt and small still remains, but you also get words like evensong, full-hearted and joy illimited. This change in diction shows the reader that something new has occurred in the poem. A song-bird has entered, spreading warmth and hope into an earlier desolate and dead landscape. Another thing to bear in mind (in a more of a general matter concerning his poems) as you read Hardy’s poems, is that he chooses to avoid following a â€Å"jewelled line†. He doesn’t care for writing just pretty poetry. He breaks with conventions concerning the normal use of language. An aged thrush frail, gaunt and small5 Had chosen thus to fling his soul7 As you read it through, you easily find its rhyme scheme to be regular. There is only one irregularity in it, and this always means that it’s put there on purpose, and that it has a special meaning. He operates with end-rhyme, but both in masculine and feminine endings. The major theme is introduced in the poems 3rd stanza, in the appearance of a song-bird. It is probably supposed to resemble â€Å"hope†, and that things are not quite over yet although it may seem so. Like winter always brings death along with it, the coming of autumn restores some of it to life once more. Although things may look pretty negative right now, don’t give in to it, life will return sometime, even though you are not aware of it yourself. This theme can be seen as a kind of reflection on the time Thomas Hardy lived. It was the end of an era, and end of a Period and almost the end of a Queen. And when a new Period is called for, it’s often a reaction to the old one. Now was the time for a reaction. Things looked dark and not so promising. People didn’t know what hope there lay in the future, but as this poem says, there may be hope coming although you don’t know of its coming. In the poems last stanza, the man revealing his thoughts to us sees a glimpse of hope, as the song-bird colours the air with its singing. There may be hope after all. Is it the spring coming once more? Or are his â€Å"Demi-Gods† just playing with him? So little cause for carolings 1 Was written on terrestial things3 That I could think there trembled through5 Some blessed Hope whereof he knew7 If you’ve followed me through these 5 pages, you will probably not only feel that your understanding of the poem is enhanced, but also your understanding of poems in general. I’ve tried to guide you through some of the main elements of poetry, giving a brief explanation as to what they are and how to find them. Because I’ve chosen to spend so much time on this, I didn’t use them all in each and every stanza. But now that you have it in front of you, why not try to look for signs of the different elements in the other stanzas? If I were to give my own opinion of this poem, then I think I like the other title of the poem better. It is more fitting, considering the context around the writer at the time. You are in the last day of the 19th century, the queen is breathing her last few breaths, and so is the Victorian era. Awaiting just around the corner is a completely new era, a new king, and an entirely new Period entirely different from the Victorian.

Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883) Essay

In the Prologue section of Friedrich Nietzsche’s ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra’, he spoke of a thirty-year-old man named Zarathustra who goes into the wilderness where he stays for ten years taking pleasure in his solitude.   When he decides to be in contact with the people again and ‘go under’, Zarathustra starts to share what he has learned over the past ten years.   He tells about a Superman, saying that man is born to be between a beast and a Superman. Man should be able to overcome this state, yet the road is very dangerous.   He preaches that man should utterly focus on this life and not the life after death.   He should hold in contempt things like happiness, reason, virtue, justice, or pity.   As man is becoming more and more tame and domesticated, then the last man on earth will all be alike like a herd of animals.   They shall be afraid of danger and peril, which will lead to self-destruction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the Zarathustra Prologue, Nietzsche speaks about a crisis that is being shared by the existing humanity—the crisis of being contented with comfort alone; being as comfortable and contented as to resist the utilization of strong, positive goals in one’s existence.   Each section of ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra’ carries with it essential points to consider, especially the Prologue section and Parts 1-3.   What are these essential points?   How do they all blend together to come up with the whole thought or proclamation of Nietzsche?   In the end, we shall come up with the answers to these questions, together with the essential points that create Nietzsche’s preaching of nihilism.   In this world of materialism and nihilism (as Nietzsche declared), is God really dead? Main Body The Crisis of Existing Humanity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the Prologue section of ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra,’ Nietzsche speaks about a crisis that lingers in all of humanity today.   Zarathustra speaks that saints are too proud and love only God and not men, as stated in the lines: â€Å"Now I love God: men, I do not love.   Man is a thing too imperfect for me.   Love to man would be fatal to me† (Nietzsche 21).   He also stated that acts of charity should go after acts of beseech: â€Å"If, however, thou wilt give unto them, give them no more than an alms, and let them also beg for it† (Nietzsche 21).   This points out that acts of charity are done for the sake of pride and self-worthiness.   When Zarathustra speaks that â€Å"God is dead† (Nietzsche 22), he meant that God does not exist in this world anymore, even on people whom we think should have made God more alive. Secondly, Zarathustra speaks that people have made a shame of themselves: â€Å"Ye have made your way from the worm to man, and much within you is still worm.   Once were ye apes, and even yet man is more of an ape than any of the apes† (Nietzsche 22).   He preaches that the way to go is to be the Superman, which Zarathustra speaks as â€Å"the meaning of the earth† (Nietzsche 22) and the â€Å"herald of the lightning, †¦ a heavy drop out of the cloud† (Nietzsche 25). People are in crisis because much of life is centered on life after death and not on the present life on earth.   Happiness, reason, virtue, justice, and pity appear to be useless and should not be centered on, since self-satisfaction of men is being slaughtered, while men cry to heaven for answers to satisfaction, which should only be found on earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thirdly, Zarathustra speaks that â€Å"Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman—a rope over an abyss† (Nietzsche 24).   There is crisis and peril in trying to go through the rope—the present state of man that should be defeated and prevailed over.   Man has succeeded in transforming itself from a beast to a man, yet there is another significant task for a man—to transform itself from a man to a Superman.   However, the people do not yet understand: â€Å"There they stand †¦ there they laugh: they understand me not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Nietzsche 25). For this, Zarathustra starts to speak of the ‘last man’ because people are becoming too content and comfortable with their lives they do not see the need to have strong, positive goals anymore.   Zarathustra proclaims that, if this will not change, time will come when the trees and the soil will bear no trees; when man will not see a reason to long for and dream; and when man will no longer be capable of giving birth to a star (Nietzsche 26). This inability of the last man to create something that is beyond himself would make the earth smaller and smaller, and the last man becoming weaker and weaker†¦ becoming lazier as days go by.   If man is to surpass the crisis that is in the midst, then he should surpass the rope of being a man and learn how to become a Superman. The Principal Parts of the Last Man’s Soul   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Zarathustra, man is not made up of body and soul; rather, that he is composed only of the body that, on the other hand, is made up of the spirit and the ego, which common people call the ‘soul’ (Nietzsche 40-41).   Zarathustra preaches that the ego is—not said—but done (Nietzsche 41).   It is the ego that gives a sense of feeling, while it is the spirit, conversely, that discerns what is to be done considering the ego.    These two, the spirit and the ego, continuously attach to one another over one’s existence: â€Å"What the sense feeleth, what the spirit discerneth, hath never its end in itself† (Nietzsche 41).   Behind the senses of the ego and the spirit is the Self (or the body), which â€Å"seeketh with the eyes of the senses, it hearkeneth also with the ears of the spirit† (Nietzsche 41); yet it appears that the Self is the master of the senses of ego and spirit, as reflected in the following lines: The Self saith unto the ego: Feel pain!   And thereupon it suffereth, and thinketh how it may put an end thereto—and for that very purpose it is meant to think.   The Self saith unto the ego: Feel pleasure!   Thereupon it rejoiceth, and thinketh how it may ofttimes rejoice—and for that very purpose it is meant to think. (41)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In relation to the crisis, this ordering of the principle parts of the last man’s soul leads one to think that the Self is really in the soul, which is not true, according to Zarathustra (since there is no soul).   The Self is in the body, and for those who say that Self is in the soul, they are called ‘despisers of the body’ who despise because of their esteem (Nietzsche 41).   Through the body, there is spirit; and through the spirit, there is worth and will.   The Self, however, should be made to do what it desires most—to be that which is beyond itself†¦ to be a Superman on earth!   To be a Superman needs a special kind of selfishness—the healthy and holy type of selfishness that â€Å"constrain[s] all things to flow towards you and into you, so that they shall flow back again out of your fountain as the gifts of your love† (Nietzsche 76). In this selfishness there is no lust or craving but true virtue that elevates the body and enraptures the spirit (Nietzsche 76).   This new virtue brings power and knowledge through what he calls the ‘Will to Power’.   This is what drives the powerful into wanting obedience and change.   Zarathustra calls it â€Å"the unexhausted, procreating life-will† (Nietzsche 108), and together with worth and will, this is also what the last man lacks nowadays.   People are unaware of the healthy and holy selfishness, which is why he cannot create beyond himself. The Way to Redemption   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Zarathustra, as a teacher, tries to correct the conflicting understanding of these notions by doing the following: first, by finding his own disciples and teaching them before sending them on their own to find their Will to Power and virtue, which should both be overflowing in order for them to preach or share it with others; and second, by preaching to the most uncommon men (i.e., hunchback, the cripples, the blind men) who live apart from the rest of the people. However, because man has turned his back against the Will to Power, Zarathustra claims that there is suffering on earth as penalty for the negligence: â€Å"Everything perisheth, therefore everything deserveth to perish† (Nietzsche 132).   Yet the past is past.   Even the Will to Power has no power to bring back time; thus, there is suffering.   But there is what is called ‘courage’ that slays giddiness, suffering, and death (Nietzsche 143).   As stated, â€Å"Courage, however, is the best slayer, courage which attacketh† (Nietzsche 143).   By possessing courage, man is on his way to redemption to find his Will to Power and his virtue, for the Self to find its worth and will in the spirit.   At that moment, he will have the power to create beyond himself—a being that even death, giddiness, and suffering is unable to tear down. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"[T]ruth is always on the side of the more difficult.† –Friedrich Nietzsche in his letter to his sister, 1865 (Nietzsche&Kaufmann 29)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Nietzsche’s ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra,’ he speaks about a crisis that is being shared by the existing humanity.   There is crisis because of the following essential points: first, the non-existence of God in this world; second, the centering on life after death; third, the suffering of self-satisfaction; fourth, the longing for contentment and comfort; fifth, the lack of strong, positive goals and courage; sixth and last, having a smaller world with weaker men.   With the Self as the master of the ego and the spirit, a man should not despise his body because of esteem, especially that it is the body that builds the spirit, which then builds both worth and will. Without the body, there is no spirit, worth, will, and the ego.   To be a Superman is to be selfish enough to gain in knowledge and in power, yet how can all be possible without virtue and Will to Power?   To have Will to Power in a changing and suffering world, however, there is a drastic need for courage.   This is the way to the redemption of mankind†¦ to have the courage in wiping away suffering and pain, which has been inflicted on mankind as penalty for its negligence.   Despite the past being irrevocable, man will no longer fall to self-destruction, as he has learned to go well beyond himself. Works Cited Nietzsche, Friedrich.   Thus Spake Zarathustra.   Translated by Thomas Common.   University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University, 1999. Nietzsche, Friedrich, and Walter Kaufmann.   The Portable Nietzsche.   New York, NY: Penguin Group, Inc., 1977.

Computers Are Valuable Tools To Motivate Students Education Essay

As stated in the Literature Review, many developed states are seeing ICT as a possible tool for alteration and invention in the instruction field and they are therefore, puting massively in the proviso of ICT tools in the schools. Likewise, Kozma and Anderson ( 2002 ) wrote in their paper â€Å" ICT and Educational Reform in Developed and Developing States † that for an economic system to be knowing, instruction should be its primary necessity. Simultaneously, the instruction schemes in schools are flexing towards ICT. And every bit far as the consequence from our study in concerned, the same instance is deduced in the Mauritanian context whereby we can see that all of the secondary Mathematicss pedagogues do hold a computing machine in their ownership every bit good as an cyberspace connexion. They are invariably doing usage of the computing machine every bit good as are connected to the cyberspace on a day-to-day footing. The Mauritanian Government besides is lending in the integrating of ICT in the instruction sector by presenting the synergistic whiteboard in the schools which is an efficient instruction tool for the pedagogues to learn in an advanced manner and convey about a alteration in the accustomed chalk-and-talk procedure of instruction. However, a full integrating of the instruction tools have non yet been made in all the Mauritian secondary schools since it can be noted from the consequence of the study that most of the province and private pedagogues are non in ownership of an synergistic whiteboard to their instruction pattern. They are so obliged to carry on their categories in the computing machine lab as and when required but unluckily, this is non possible for all pedagogues ; they are therefore left behind to transport on with their usual chalk-and-talk manner of learning Mathematicss without doing the usage of any ICT tool in their schoolroom. One of the chief grounds that may be advocated is the deficiency of fiscal resources by the schools to buy these ICT instruction tools, peculiarly those from the private schools who have to self-finance themselves to a certain extent and have the staying financess from the Private Secondary School Authority, which is once more to an extent non sufficient to transport out the necessary outgos of the schools. Additionally, the province schools are limited to a certain budget provided by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources at every interval of the budget exercising. As explained by Hepp, Hinostroza, Laval and Rehbein ( 2004 ) that there is no cosmopolitan truth for using ICT in instruction ; it all depends on every state ‘s world, precedences and long-run budgetary chances and committedness. Accessibility is hence non considered merely by holding entree to a computing machine and the cyberspace but besides, the other factors which influence the success to the integrating of ICT in the instruction sector whereby it is a complex procedure which can be eased with the followup of the four phases as proposed in the Literature Review chapter.5.2 Use OF ICTICT can be used in three ways at schools: for pedagogues to show, buttocks and proctor cognition ; to heighten administrative work ; as â€Å" larning content in relationship to pupils ‘ information literacy † ( Myungnghee Kang et al. , 2011 ) . Sing merely the usage of ICT by the secondary Mathematics pedagogues, they are expected to do the usage of this advanced instruction tool in their day-to-day instruction pattern. The pedagogues are therefore viewed as facilitators to the pupils instead than doing the pupils dependent on them for their surveies. On the other manus, from the in-depth analysis of the study, it is deduced that most of the secondary Mathematics pedagogues of Mauritius used ICT for personal usage instead than a teaching tool at the degree of the schools. They are chiefly engaged in surfing the cyberspace or on e-mail and chatting exercisings ; they are therefore tagged largely as entertainers instead than facilitators by the pupils. However, it besides depends on the willingness of the pedagogues to do usage of ICT in his or her instruction and acquisition pattern. For this ground, many surveies on engineering credence have been conducted over the old ages and it appeared that these surveies had focused on the designation of factors that influenced engineering credence among pedagogues and pupils. One of the chief factors that can be seen to act upon these pedagogues can be the deficiency of preparation provided to them for the proper integrating of ICT in their instruction pattern. It is noted from the study that 80 % of the respondents have ne'er made usage of any Mathematics-specific package in their instruction pattern since they have ne'er been trained for the usage of these package like Graphmatica or Maths Blaster. Nevertheless, some pedagogues have made usage of other package like the Scientific Notebook but they keep off from doing farther usage of these package since the secondary Mathematicss course of study is besides non decently designed for the usage of ICT in the procedure of learning as seen by 62.2 % of the respondents. As discussed in the Literature Review chapter on the benefits of utilizing ICT in instruction of the topic Mathematics whereby both the chance to learn Mathematics better and to learn better Mathematicss should be considered in school engineering programs and teacher professional development. Therefore, holding a proper reviewed course of study for the secondary degree for the Mathematics topic will heighten the integrating of ICT in the instruction of the topic. Furthermore, besides the betterment in the course of study, the pedagogues are invariably seen to be actuating the pupils to do heavy usage of ICT in their acquisition of Mathematics. 138 of the respondents have agreed to be giving a assisting manus in the integrating of ICT in the instruction and learning procedure but however, it all depends on the willingness of the pupils every bit good to accept this alteration. As depicted from the study, there exists a relationship between the encouragement done by the pedagogues and the willingness of the pupils but it is tested to be rather a weak relation which can be influenced by other factors. Therefore, it is noted that really few of the pupils are willing to utilize ICT in their learning procedure of the topic Mathematics. Although the assorted advantages discussed in the Literature Review chapter by Papert ( 1997 ) , really few of the twenty-first century pupils are rather acute to look for replies to their mathematical inquiries on t he cyberspace in Mauritius.5.3 PerceptStatement ( a ) – Computers are really helpful to me in executing my responsibilities.As discussed in the Literature Review on the fact that with the usage of ICT in the instruction and acquisition procedure, pupils become more independent of the pedagogues and hence, let the pedagogues to acquire an first-class opportunity to larn from the pupils every bit good as to pattern being an information-seeker, womb-to-tomb scholar and risk-taker. The same state of affairs is applied to secondary Mauritanian Mathematics pedagogues whereby from the study, it is found that 60.6 % of the respondents do accept to the statement that computing machines are really helpful to them in executing their responsibilities. Therefore, the integrating of ICT in their instruction pattern makes their undertaking of learning a challenge in bettering and conveying about invention in their instruction accomplishments. Added to this, it is noted from the crosstabulation of the first statement as respects to the old ages of experience of the respondents that most of the people who agree to this statement have a teaching experience of 6-10 old ages which demonstrate that these respondents are really good cognizant of the old state of affairs whereby ICT was non being used and how the instruction sector is altering with the integrating of ICT whereby it will be of great aid to all the histrions of the instruction field which consists chiefly of the pedagogues, the pupils and the disposal.Statement ( B ) – It is really of import to maintain in touch with ICT.Similarly the first statement, the 2nd statement which is to show the importance to maintain in touch with ICT by the secondary Mathematics pedagogues, it is found that 66.4 % of them do hold with the statement since computing machine is seen to be a really of import tool for the respondents in executing their responsibilities decently. With the fast enlargement in the technological universe, it is hence really of import to maintain in touch with ICT to be cognizant of the different developments go oning all about, for illustration, the usage of societal webs like Facebook in the instruction and acquisition procedure. Following this statement, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources has already included this consciousness in its Education and Human Resources Plan 2008-2020 ( 2009 ) whereby it is stated that for the proviso of quality instruction to all, the reappraisal and development of instructional stuffs that are antiphonal to altering technological demands will be carried out. Furthermore, it is besides noted from the crosstabulation of the 2nd statement and the age group of the respondents that most of them are of the age group of 31-35 old ages old. They are therefore classified as being really familiar with the usage of engineering in the day-to-day life and can see the importance and benefits ICT is conveying about to different undertakings. Hence, they are really acute to maintain in touch with the technological promotion to assist in their instruction procedure.Statement ( degree Celsius ) – The cyberspace provides me with valuable information to fix lessons.It is stated in the chapter of Analysis that 55.6 % of the respondents agreed to the statement that the cyberspace provides them with valuable information to fix lessons while 10.8 % disagree with this fact. It can be farther discussed that those who have agreed with the statement are acute to be information searcher, womb-to-tomb scholar and hazard taker as discussed antecedently. They ar e ready to accept the engineering integrating in their day-to-day pattern as a challenge and run into the demands. However, this is non the instance for all respondents whereby the proportion of 10.8 % who disagreed are loath to do usage of ICT in their day-to-day pattern. As stated by Teo ( 2011 ) , with the impact of engineering on the instruction and acquisition procedure, outlooks on pedagogues to work technological advantages will lift, therefore taking them to see the force per unit areas of holding to toggle between teaching method and engineering in a seamless manner. Bing chiefly in the age group of +45 old ages old, these pedagogues are unwilling to convey about a alteration in their instruction pattern by doing usage of the cyberspace to fix their lessons as they already have their long clip experience in the readying of their ain notes.Statement ( vitamin D ) – Computer can assist me to be advanced in my attack to learn.As stated in the Literature Review that many states see ICT as a possible tool for alteration and invention in the instruction field ( Erdogan, 2009, adapted fr om Eurydice, 2001 ; Papanastasiou & A ; Angeli, 2008 ) , the tendency is being followed by Mauritius besides whereby it is noted from the study conducted that 56.4 % of the secondary Mathematicss pedagogues do accept to the fact that computing machine can assist them to be more advanced in their attack to learn. It besides coincides with one of the strategic ends of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources of Mauritius which is the proviso of quality instruction to all and therefore, the usage of ICT as a tool for the instruction and larning procedure in the schoolroom is emphasized. On the other manus, a proportion of 16.6 % of the respondents have disagreed to the statement which comprises largely those pedagogues form the province schools instead than the private 1s. This is so because although the Ministry of Education and Human Resources of Mauritius has integrated the thought of presenting ICT in the instruction sector in the Education and Human Resources Plan 2008-2020, it has non yet been to the full operational with the non-availability of adequate ICT resources to the province schools. Therefore, the pedagogues have to restrict themselves to what they are being provided with to convey about an advanced attack in their instruction.Statement ( vitamin E ) – Computers are valuable tools to actuate pupils.twenty-first century kids choose to look for replies to their inquiries on the cyberspace ( Myungnghee Kang et al. , 2011 ) . Besides, pupils who had followed ICT classs had more possibilities of being employed as most of the occupations today requi re a good cognition of ICT. Therefore, as respect to the respondents, 74.9 % of them have agreed that computing machines are valuable tools to actuate pupils in their acquisition procedure. Following this fact, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources of Mauritius has been advancing the survey of ICT in lower signifiers of the secondary schools along with the upper signifiers. Added to this, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has late included in its budget for the twelvemonth 2013 the proviso of one tablet computing machine to each and every pupil in Form IV categories, thereby actuating the pupils in utilizing ICT in their acquisition procedure. However, a farther analysis of these informations every bit respect to the willingness of the pupils responded to quite a negative attack from the pupils ‘ side as really few of them are willing to do usage of ICT in their learning attack of the topic of Mathematics particularly ; they are more likely to larn the topic as was directed antecedently instead than making research work in the capable affair.Statement ( degree Fahrenheit ) – I need more preparation for the proper execution of ICT in my instruction.With the analysis of this statement in the old chapter, it has been noted that 4.36 % of the respondents have agreed to the fact that they are in demand of more preparation for the proper execution of ICT in their instruction procedure. As such, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources of Mauritius has made this proviso every bit good in its Education and Human Resources Plan 2008-2020 ( 2009 ) , that is, the preparation of the pedagogues in the usage of ICT in the instruction and acquisition procedure. This is to be done with the strategic end of implanting engineering in the instruction system of Mauritius. A farther analysis of this statement was done harmonizing to the different age group of the respondents which revealed that all those who have agreed to the statement are from the group age of 36-40 old ages old and above and they are therefore in demand of extra preparation as they have non been exposed to much usage of ICT before. Whereas, a proportion of 16.2 % of the respondents have disagreed to this statement whereby they form portion of the age group of 36-40 old ages old and below and they may therefore be considered to be from the digital age as the pedagogues that are being recruited presents have a full background of the usage of ICT in the instruction profession as per their capable affair. These respondents may hold followed classs from the Mauritius Institute of Education or from different universities whereby they emphasize on the usage of engineering along with the teaching method accomplishments in the instruction sector.Statement ( g ) – Adequate resources ar e available for usage in my schoolroom.The Ministry of Education and Human Resources of Mauritius has included in its Education and Human Resources Plan 2008-2020 ( 2009 ) the proviso of ICT installations to guarantee that all pedagogues make usage of these ICT installations on a regular footing for the instruction and acquisition procedure and this undertaking was to be implemented by the twelvemonth 2015. However, this does non reflect the aim to be met by the ministry as at the twelvemonth 2012 whereby it is noted from the study conducted that merely 8.1 % of the respondents have accepted that they have adequate resources for usage in their schoolroom while the remainder have disagree or strongly disagree with the statement. This dissension can be noted from both the province pedagogues and the private pedagogues upon a farther analysis carried out. The grounds that can be exploited from the province schools can be the limited budget provided to each school ‘s fund and that of the private 1s, the addition in the outgos of the schools. Nevertheless, Hepp, Hinostroza, Laval and Rehbein ( 2004 ) have been really explicitly explained that there is no cosmopolitan truth for using ICT in instruction. It all depends on every state ‘s world, precedences and long-run budgetary chances and committedness.Statement ( H ) – Performance of students can be improved through the usage of ICT in the instruction and acquisition of Mathematicss.As discussed in the Literature Review, research surveies have brought frontward the fact that the usage of ICT every bit good as other learning schemes have enabled pupils to travel to higher-order thought ( Jonassen & A ; Carr, 2000 ; Kearney & A ; Treagust, 2001 ; Oliver & A ; Hannafin, 2000 ) . Therefore, pupils develop constructive thought accomplishments. As a consequence the pupils are larning in order to fix themselves for the hereafter information age ( Salomon, 1993 ) . Harmonizing to Kozma ( 2005 ) , ICT can be used to heighten pupil apprehension, therefore increasing the quality of instruction. This statement has been agreed by 55.6 % of the respondents as good whereby they do believe that the public presentation of the pupils can be improved through the usage of ICT in the instruction and acquisition of Mathematicss. On the other manus, after analyzing the information of this statement in conformity of the course of study of Mathematicss, it is to be noted that these respondents have besides agreed to the fact that the course of study of Mathematicss for the secondary degree is non decently designed for the integrating of ICT in the procedure of learning the topic. This demands a close follow-up along with the subject on course of study design discussed antecedently.Extent to which ICT is being used and accepted in the schoolroom.Over the past few old ages, several large-scale international surveies have documented the successful integrating of ICT in schools ( Lim & A ; Hang, 2003, adapted from Mann, Shakeshaft, Becker & A ; Kottkamp, 1999 ; Sivin-Kachala, 1998 ; Wenglinsky, 1998 ) . However, this does non look to be the instance for Mauritius whereby most of the respondents have stated that ICT is being used and accepted in their several schoolroom to some extent or non at all. This maximal fig ure of respondents signifiers portion of both the class of province and private schools. It can be confirmed that the whole instruction system of Mauritius is non working at 100 % with the usage of ICT in the instruction and larning procedure of the Mathematics topic. Although, Hepp, Hinostroza, Laval and Rehbein ( 2004 ) have been really explicitly explained that there is no cosmopolitan truth for using ICT in instruction and that it all depends on every state ‘s world, precedences and long-run budgetary chances and committedness, it should be taken into consideration that ICT instruction was already identified as an of import pre-requisite for the economic development of Mauritius since The Master Plan on instruction was prepared in 1991. As at day of the month, ICT integrating in the instruction and acquisition of Mathematics has non been able to accomplish a 100 % success as compared to other states.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 111

Assignment Example These are embodied by International Law which I want to delve into in the following essay: International Law refers to a body of statutes, protocols, rules, principles, and guidelines that binds all the law actors. The actors include states, nations, peoples, insurgents, private individuals, as well as, international bodies. These rules are mostly derived from various sources such as Treaties, Convention, Customs and practices of the member states and nations.  International law acts as a guide, and promotes good faith. It facilitates the call for peace and harmony by ensuring that justice, peace and human rights are followed and enforced2. As an analogy, the law acts as an electric fence which rather than define the acts to be accomplished defines and sets out the boundaries to be considered within the free human acts, and in the notion that every actor has their own interests in each undertaking or contract with another actor. It is therefore of utmost relevance in the discussion of International Relations.   One of the intended learning outcomes in our course outline is to identify the interconnection between the various actors in the international system. As from the aforementioned actors of the international law, we can identify that some are major while others are minors. An example of a major actor would be an International body or an Inter-Governmental Organization (IGO) while a minor actor would be a private individuals and tourists3. The relationships between these actors have to be controlled to prevent any form of harassment of the minor actor by the major actor. In a case whereby a certain state feels that its laws are being violated by another, it may seek the application of the International Law to resolve the dispute. In addition, transactions and contracts, for example, between an   Ã‚  In summary, International Law is a key and critical aspect of the International relations in every respect regarding the interactions between the various actors

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research paper - Essay Example It assumes that the quality called ‘beauty’ objectively and universally exists. Women must want to embody it and men must want to possess women who embody it†. Her sentiments summarize how the society views women beauty and how it uses the perceived images to manipulate their lives. The sad truth as depicted in Barbie Doll poem is that women more than often fall victims. The stage is set from a normal birth through to a sad premature final journey at the funeral. This poem is a narrative of four stanzas written in a free verse style. Marge Piercy used different tones throughout the poem to pass the critical message of the impact of gender stereotyping on the women in the society. The tone of the poem depicts a depressed and sad life of a girl trying to fit into the expectations of the society but in vain. She uses a well known toy Barbie Doll to pass the message. She vividly describes real cultural and social pressures that young girls and women have to endure on a daily basis. Using culture studies approach, this paper provides a critical analysis of the poem using two different schools of literary criticism: feminist and psychoanalytic criticism to illustrate cultural and social gender stereotype on ideal women beauty and gender roles. Formation of Gender Stereotype According to Sharon Begley, stereotypes â€Å"make people painfully aware of how the society views them.† She argues that such awareness can extensively influence the intellectual ability of the holder as well as performance of other tasks (Begley, 2000 p66). In the poem Barbie Doll, Marge Piercy sets the stage by introducing the historical formative stage of the female beauty and gender role stereotypes. By using Barbie Doll an iconic beautiful toy manufactured by Mattel Toys, and widely adored by American girl children, she illustrates how the society form and transfer stereotypes from one generation to another. In this case, Mattel Toys represents the society and the t oy Barbie Doll bearing Mattel Toys expected characteristics of a beautiful girl or woman is the culture that is passed on to the next generation. The salient characteristics of Barbie Doll are; she has blonde hair, blue eyes, large breasts, a small waist, and large hips. According to Wald 1998, these are the symbol of beauty and are used as the standard to gauge girls’ beauty by society (Wald, 1998, pp. 585-610). The first line of the first stanza, â€Å"This girlchild was born as usual† shows an innocent being brought forth into the world free from any cultural influence. Line 2 – 4, â€Å"and presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy† shows clearly, the society’s involvement in introducing and propagating gender stereotypes and the perceived gender roles. The items presented to her are symbols of ideal woman. The innocent child is orientated into chauvinistic society – to be a beautiful woman who performs household chores and thus, cultured with expected ideal woman characteristics of beauty (Barbie Doll and lipsticks) and roles (GE stoves and irons). In line 5 – 6 â€Å"Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: You have a great big nose and fat legs†

Electronic Business week 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Electronic Business week 7 - Essay Example The value created by the organization is the variance between consumer’s apparent use value from the services of the company and the organization’s cost of offering the services. The company creates use value through quality, brand and speed. The company ensures that its services are of high quality and contain attributes such as reliability and satisfaction. On the other hand, the company ensures that it responds fast to customer calls and that waste is collected at an agreed time (Waste Management, 2014). Additionally, Waste Management creates value through creating a brand with traits that customers can relate with such as trust. In order to capture sections of the value created, the company ensures that the value created is greater than that generated by rivals, and also ensures that it is defectively imitable and transposable. Needless to say, Waste Management captures the value it creates through its economic profits. Since profitability is the company’s primary strategic goal, the company positions itself with price and cost (Waste Management, 2014). Notably, the value captured by any organization is the variation between the incurred costs and the price charged for

Palestine-Israel Conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Palestine-Israel Conflict - Essay Example The researcher states that the history of the Arab world has been a stressful one. With the end of the Second World War it has been really challenging for the academia to neglect the conflicts between the Arab society and the Israel. The case of Palestine in particular has been more exigent. It is often confused with either a set of people or a nationality. Hence, writing about it implies going either against one party or another with reference to the self-determination that the small community has in pulling itself out of the shackles of the Zionist movement. The history goes as far as the time of Moses and his followers but that will be too lengthy to trace. However, one can connect to the issue at hand by recalling the incidents of the late nineteenth century which caused a stir among the Palestinian community and the Muslim World at large. Since 1948, the struggle over Palestine between the Jews and the Arabs became an inter-state issue. The state of Palestine was removed from th e map and the Arabs consider it their duty to retrieve it and restore its fame. With the end of the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union also got involved in the growing complexities of the conflict which the Britain could no longer handle. For the Arabs, Zionism was an eccentric intrusion in the Palestinian politics. It felt incomplete without the independence of Palestine and resists the imperialists’ and colonial motives of the West to date,... With the passage of time, the Zionist immigrants planned on settling in the Jewish region by establishing their businesses as agriculturalists in order to acquire their lost land. When the Arabs learnt about this cause, they severely opposed the intensions of the Israeli movement. Establishment of a Jewish state meant for the Arabs going against the law ordained by God. For the Muslims in particular, they understood the exile of the Jews from Palestine as a decree by God. The oppositional cry, however, was neglected and the Zionists continued towards settling other Jews by developing a Jewish National Fund, Keren Kayemeth in 1901 under the World Zionist Organization. The Fund intended to buy land in Syria Palestine, various parts of Turkey and regions of Sinai (Quigley 4). It was only to be given to the Jews for the purpose of settlement and nobody else had the right over these lands. The lands were purchased at extremely high price but the Zionists were determined to keep them and n ever return them at any cost. Most of the agricultural land was owned by farmers for generations and the property was recognized by the customary law. But nothing could be done at such a great loss. Situation became more complicated when a British traveler observed that a Fund purchased land was labored by Arab farmers. A question was raised whether displacing them would mean a silent exchange of land with gold or a rebellion against intolerance over the land’s possession by aliens who suddenly started claiming it. The Jews wanted the land to be labored by their own people but situation could not have lasted long because of less number of Jews as compared to the land they had

Management assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Management assignment - Essay Example My objective work objective for the future is to work with Saudi Aramco Company and head the marketing department. Being the national producer oil the company is in a very strategic sector considering that oil and gas account for a good proportion of the country’s total GDP. As a marketing manager with the company I will be able to develop and marketing strategies with the aim of growing the company’s profitability while at the same time serving the common good of the public. I will for instance want to see the company give back to the community through CSR, participate in sponsorship of sports and projects that enhance national unity. Also by growing Aramco’s sales I will indirectly touching on the lives of many persons since oil products form the backbone of Saudi’s economy. I think project management is very important and the skills learnt in the module will greatly help me my quest for achieving my wildly important goals. Skills such as working with different teams, diversity and divergent opinions as well as expatiations of budget, time frames and quality have really transformed by outlook. With these skills I believe I should be able to effectively achieve my wild goals and become a very successful global business

Current Status of Security Awareness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Current Status of Security Awareness - Essay Example Therefore, perspectives and items that represent information security awareness should meet basic operational or user-level information security concerns. Organizational size should not differentiate among the information security concerns for desktop computer management, computer virus protection, and local-area-network issues. These types of information security concerns are applicable to basic user-level information security awareness in the business computing-environments. Therefore, in developing an information security awareness construct, two questions must be considered: â€Å"A domain definition of a concept is the specific meaning of interest for a given research context and an adequate domain can be extremely useful in furthering a topic of interest to academic societies† (Templeton, 2000, p. 57). The literature expresses three interrelated perspectives of technology, policy, and threat context for a definitional meaning of information security awareness (ISA). Schou and Trimmer (2004) stated that technology is the most obvious and expensive countermeasure, which summarizes the technology view. The technology perspective views ISA as an assortment of hardware and software capabilities that individual IS users, with sufficient computer literacy, manipulate as tools. However, the costs associated with technology acquisition, implementation, and training can be prohibitive. The information security literature provides a theoretical basis leading to the belief that different technology capabilities and associated computer literacy will affect ISA. Through the technology view, ISA represents an individual IS user applying a specific, appropriate technology for a specific security concern. Schou and Timmer. (2002) illustrated the technology view with the variety of technologies made available to secure Internet computing. A second ISA measure from the technology view is user comprehension, or understanding specific technologies to address

Ethnic group of elderly people Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethnic group of elderly people - Research Paper Example The research aims to collect data from an ethnic group of elderly people highlighted the cultural patterns among which they were living their life. The methodology employed was participant observation and interview method by the researcher and the mode of research was ethnographic research method. The researcher had to take informed consent and establish rapport with the participants of the study to undertake the research process. The data collected from the researcher showed the type of life spent by the subject in the old home and their values, beliefs and life styles. It was found out that they were strongly attached with each other and had a good sense of belonging with spending their life according to their religious and cultural background. The research gives a valuable insight into the life of elderly people which can be used to study the cultural patterns of this ethnic group. It is expected that the study would prove to be useful for the future researchers as well who would like to study the same topic. The ethnic group chosen for the research is elderly people living in the old homes. The mode of research was participant observation as well as in-depth interviews were also being conducted to obtain additional information about the subjects of the study. The topic chosen for the ethnographic research is the nature of life spent at old homes by elderly people. Also the purpose of the research was to gain significant insights about their life styles as manifested by their appearance, interaction with peers and other things. The reason for the selection of this topic was to conduct research in a significant area that was related to a segment of a society that was generally neglected and needed attention. Therefore, the study was focused on elderly people to understand their issues and concerns that they had about the society and also to make their situation better by making themselves heard by others in the community. As the research tools used to collect data were participant observation method and interview method, it was necessary to establish rapport with the subjects of the study firstly before conducting the actual research. Another ethical consideration was taking consent of the participants to use them as subjects of the study which was enabled by asking them about their willingness to take part in the study. The informed consent was taken from the old home’s management staff to use the residents as the participants of the study. The permission was granted and 15 elderly people were used for the research by asking them individually about their willingness to participate in the research process. The ages of elderly people were from 75- 90 and both men and women were included in the research sample. In order to establish rapport with the participants, an effort was done on making them open up and take part in discussion with the researcher who had to meet them frequently and engage in friendly conversation with the aged people. The researcher asked about their general well-being and showed concern for them which made the elderly take the researcher as a friendly person with whom they could share their personal feelings and thoughts. In order to proceed with the research process, the researcher constantly met with the elderly people for a period of two weeks on regular basis. The researcher spent two to three hours with them daily and observed the type of life they spend in old home. The interviews were taken from the participants occasionally to synthesize with the information taken from the participants’ observation. Main Discussion The research was undertaken on elderly ethnic group by means of interview and participant observation method. The concepts of anthropology applied on this research are ethnicity, culture and race. Ethnicity implies a group of people living in the same

Human resource developement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human resource developement - Assignment Example This paradigm shift in mode of recruitment constitutes internet recruitment where the job vacancies are posted online and interested candidates apply online. This system entails formatting application forms which should duly be filled by the potential recruits and they are directed regarding all the minimum requirements with mandatory sections to be filled. It is worth to note that the recruitment software system is developed in such a way that failure to fill some of the compulsory parts rejects submission of the application. Complete filling of the application is accompanied by uploading some required relevant credentials. The general benefit of adopting this technology is its efficiency and wide geographical coverage across the word for any potential applicant. This mode of recruitment fails to give the organizations the desired candidates in some cases due to lack of face-to-face interaction with the candidates to learn more personal attributes that include being presentable, oral communication techniques and professional mannerisms. The issue of personal touch with the recruits to learn some observable qualities that is significant in the performance of the organization is equally lost (Snell & Bohlander, 2013). It is also important to underline the growing cost of reviewing resumes of the employees due to the omissions and commissions experienced from online recruitment process. The performance of the employees is influence by the mode of recruitment that was used. It is important to note that the overall performance of the firm highly depend on the quality of human capital employed and its productivity (Snell & Bohlander, 2013). The perception of the employees in workplace is shaped by the environmental conditions that he/she experienced from the recruitment panel and the procedure of recruitment. The length of the recruitment procedure has significant influence in the psychological preparation of the

Motorcycle - Bajaj Auto Essay Example for Free

Motorcycle Bajaj Auto Essay The research project was undertaken to study the consumer preferences towards 150 cc motorcycles in Ludhiana city. Consumer is said to be the pivot around which the entire business activities revolve and thus it is necessary to know that how individuals make decisions. Primary data were collected from a sample of 120 respondents which was taken from the service centers of the motorcycle outlets. The factors leading to need arousal for 150 cc motorcycles were identified as availability of better pick up and elegant appearance. The main source of information about the motorcycle has been the media both print and electronic. The  decision to purchase a particular brand of motorcycle was mostly made by the customer himself. The important factors considered while purchasing a motorcycle were pick up, styling and fuel efficiency. Bajaj Pulsar provides highest satisfaction in case of pick up, comfort, after sales service and maintenance cost whereas TVS Apache provides highest satisfaction in case of appearance/design and mileage. 2 CERTIFICATE Certified that this project report â€Å"STUDY OF CONSUMER PREFERENCES TOWARDS 150CC MOTORCYCLES IN LUDHIANA CITY† is the bonafide work of â€Å" HARPINDER SINGH†. Who carried out the project work under my supervision. (Dr.MEENAL CHAUHAN) 3 CONTENTS Chapter Topic Page I INTRODUCTION 5 II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 13 III OBJECTIVES OF STUDY 17 IV RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18 ANALYSIS FINDINGS LIMITATIONS 20 48 49 V SUMMARY 50 ANNEXURES 53 REFERNCES 56 4 CHAPTER -1 INTRODUCTION Customers today are more informed and demanding than ever. They know quality service, when they get it and they are not afraid of taking their business elsewhere if they don’t get it. Refusals to acknowledge this reality can spell failure/rejection by the one who holds the purse strings and the key to profits. Satisfaction of customer needs, in fact, provides a rationale for the firm’s  existence. Therefore customer behavior lies at the heart of modern marketing and its knowledge is vital for a firm’s existence, growth and success. An understanding of the motives underlying the consumer behaviour helps a firm to seek better and more effective way to satisfy customers. Consumer behaviour is the behaviour that a consumer displays in searching for; purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that he expects will satisfy his needs. It helps marketers know that how an individual makes decision to spend his available resources (money, time, and effort) on consumption related items. However consumer behavior is a complex system where there is an interaction of various social, economic and psychological factors. All these factors affect the purchase decision of the buyer and his perception about different products. Purchase behaviour involves two types of purchases: trial purchases (the exploratory phase in which consumer attempts to evaluate a product through direct use) and repeat purchases which usually signify that the product meets with consumer’s approval and that the consumer is willing to use it again. Moreover, purchase behaviour incorporates all the activities that human being  indulges in his role of consumer, from the time when he feels a state of deprivation (need arousal) to that point of time when he obtains a means of need satisfaction 5 (purchase) and finally to the point of time when he has used this means for a suitability long period of time to judge the level of satisfaction it provides (post purchase evaluation). Satisfaction of consumer needs is one of the main objectives of manufacturers and marketers. The company that really understands how the customer responds to different product features, prices and advertising appeals has an enormous advantage over its competitors. In today’s era of competition, a stage has reached that it is necessary to know the perceptions, needs and preferences of the target market and to incorporate the desired features in the product to be sold to the consumer. Although, it is not easy to say which customer will go for which features of the product, yet marketers do make efforts to know the features for which most of the people of a particular segment of society look for. A successful marketer is the one who effectively develops and produces brands that are of value to the consumer and who effectively presents these products and brands to the consumer in an  appealing and persuasive way. The need to travel is as old as man himself. As the requirement for basic personal transportation came to the forefront, two wheelers came into picture. In the past, selling a scooter was not a problem for their manufactures. Consumer’s choice was limited and the demarcation clear, but as more and more companies jumped into fray and churned out quite a number of models, the consumer who till now didn’t have much of a choice, became demanding and knowledgeable. Thus it became necessary for the producers and sellers to understand the perception,  attitudes and preferences of their target markets and to load their scooters with features that added value to the product. Scooter as a product falls in the category of consumer durables i. e. it serves many uses, requires more personal selling, service and sellers guarantee as compared to consumer non-durables. In today’s society there is sufficient 6 disposable/discretionary income with large number of people to be in the market for a durable at one time or the other. Also, the consumer attitudes have changed and awareness has grown due to communication explosion. Today, two wheeler industry caters to the changing demands of the  consumers. The consumer’s decision to purchase or reject a product is the moment of final truth for the marketer. Consumer is hard to please and very discriminating. He is very judicious in making choices. The purchase of any product by him depends on the value of product to him. 1. 1 Two Wheeler Industry Automobile industry, as a whole contributes a significant chunk in the gross national income of the country. Faced with a public transport system, which is woefully inadequate, inefficient and undependable, the Indian customer is being increasingly forced to personal means of transportation. Private cars are ruled out for general public because of their high cost of operation and maintenance; bicycles have the disadvantage of being slow and having low load bearing capacity, hence two wheelers have been the choice of middle class families because of their comparatively low price, low running cost and easy parking ability. The two wheeler industry has shown a steep growth in the recent years, even The two wheelers have moved out of the realms of the college going student and entered the corporate offices also. With the ever-increasing prices of fuel, two wheelers offer a cheaper option than the four wheelers. The two wheelers have also emerged as a viable option to take pressure off the public transport system, which has been dwindling with every passing day. For ages Indian buyer had limited choice as one had to wait for several months to get a Bajaj scooter, however today the scenario has changed with over 50 models available to the Indian consumer. These models keep every need of the Indian consumer in mind. 7 Table1:MarketShares(09-10) Scooters % Market share Honda MSI 62. 8 TVS 28. 0 Bajaj 2. 5 Kinetic 6. 7 Motorcycles % Market share Hero Honda 45. 8 Bajaj 32. 4 TVS 14. 9 Yamaha 3. 8 Honda MSI 1. 8 LML Kinetic 0. 1 Royal Enfield 0. 4 Majestic Suzuki Motorcycle India 0. 7 Mopeds % Market share TVS 92. 6 Majestic 2. 0 Kinetic 5. 4 Source: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) 1. 1. 1 Production of Two Wheelers The production of two wheelers has merely reflected the way the market has developed over the recent years. Here is a brief look about the production trend of two wheelers including scooters, motorcycles and mopeds in the country based on the data provided by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). 8 Table 2: Productions of Two Wheelers (Figures in 000) Year Scooters Motorcycles Mopeds Total 2005-06 938 2906 427 4271 2006-07 848 3876 352 5076 2007-08 935 4355 332 5623 2008-09 987 5194 348 6530 2009-10 1020 6201 380 7601 Source: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) (2009-10) Table 1. 2 shows that production for two wheelers have increased for the last five years. The two wheeler industry has experienced an accelerating thrust for the last 5 years. As table shows production of two wheelers which was 42. 71 lakhs in 2005-06 has increased to 76. 01 lakhs in 2009-10. 1. 2 THE MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY BOOM The Indian two wheeler industry has been undergoing a massive change. The population explosion, the transition from scooters to motorcycles, from 2-stroke engines to 4-stroke, from smaller engines to bigger ones everything seems to be happening at the same time. The growth of the segment has been significant in the last 10 years particularly when the consumer preference has shifted from scooters to motorcycles and from 2-stroke to 4-stroke engines. 9 All this has been an outcome of a steady rise in the level of individual income, a change in the mind-set brought about by the spread of education and pervasiveness of media, a growing need for personalized transport among the  members of all age-groups, etc. No more is a vehicle treated as just a commodity but has become an integral part of ones personality. It is then only natural that everything else associated with this industry should change too. The demand for motorcycles has been influenced by a number of factors over the past five years. The key demand drivers for the growth of the motorcycle industry are as follows:Inadequate public transportation system, especially in the semi-urban and rural areas; Increased availability of cheap consumer financing in the past 3-4 years; Increasing availability of fuel-efficient and low-maintenance models. Increasing urbanization, which creates a need for personal transportation Changes in the demographic profile; Difference between two wheeler and passenger car prices, which makes two wheelers the entry-level vehicle; Steady increase in per capita income over the past five years; and Increasing number of models with different features to satisfy diverse consumer needs. The Indian two wheeler industry has undergone a significant change over the past 10 years with the preference changing from scooters and mopeds to motorcycles. The scooters segment was the largest till FY1998, accounting for  around 42% of the two wheeler sales (motorcycles and mopeds accounted for 37% and 21 % of the market respectively, that year). However, the motorcycles segment that had witnessed high growth (since FY1994) became larger than the scooter 10 segment in terms of market share for the first time in FY1999. Between FY1996 and 9MFY2009, the motorcycles segment more than doubled its share of the two wheeler industry to 79% even as the market shares of scooters and mopeds stood lower at 16% and 5%, respectively. While scooter sales declined sharply by 28% in FY2005, motorcycle sales reported a healthy growth of 20%, indicating a clear  shift in consumer preference. This shift, which continues, has been prompted by two major factors: change in the countrys demographic profile, and technological advancements. In an effort to satisfy the distinct needs of consumers, producers are identifying emerging consumer preferences and developing new models. For instance, motorcycles with engine capacity over 150 cc, is a segment that has witnessed significant new product launches and hence, become more competitive. The indigenously launched Pulsar 150 had met with success on its launch and thereafter, a host of models have been launched in this segment by various players. While Bajaj Auto launched the Pulsar (150 and 180 cc) with digital twin spark technology (DTSi) that offers a powerful engine and fuel efficiency of 125 cc models, model launches by other players include LMLs Graptor/Beamer, HMSIs Unicorn besides the HHMLs CBZ (improved version launched in 2007-08) and TVS Fiero F2. The products in this segment cater for style conscious consumers. Quite a few players are developing models combining features such as higher engine capacity with optimum mix of power and performance, and superior styling. However, the extent of shift to these products would depend on the  positioning of such products in terms of price. 1. 3Need of the study 11 The study makes significant contributions to consumer preferences concerned with 150 cc motorcycles. Various attributes, affecting purchase of 150 cc motorcycles have been identified and the existing prominent brands of 150 cc motorcycles have been compared on the basis of various attributes. These findings will be useful for both students as well as teachers of the subject. The study will have great implications from marketer’s point of view in sales strategy formulation. Knowledge of the factors, considered important by the consumer would be helpful to the marketers for adopting more efficient manufacturing tools. | Analysis of the post purchase feelings of 150 cc motorcycles respondents and the interpretations thereof, together with the findings of the factors determining the brand preferences can be helpful to both manufacturers as well as dealers of 150 cc motorcycles thereby enabling them to meet the requirements of the market more effectively and efficiently. CHAPTER-2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE A brief review of the literature is of immense importance with respect to any research. It is essential for understanding the scope and spectrum of research  objectives. Various aspects of consumer preference like consumer satisfaction, impact of various attributes on purchase behavior, consumer perception, and consumer dissatisfaction are measured. 12 . Dhar and Sherman (1996) examined the effect of common and unique features in consumer choice. They said that consumer choice often involved a comparison among the available alternatives. It was proposed that attractiveness of the choice set could be enhanced or reduced by altering features, which appeared unique. Chernev (1997) examined the effect of common features on brand choice and moderating role of attribute importance. It was argued that when brand attributes differed in importance, common features were likely to enhance consumer preferences for the option with the best value on the most important attribute, thus further polarizing brands’ choice shares. In contrast when attributes were similar in importance, common features were likely to have an opposite effect, equalizing brand shares. Thus, when attributes had equal importance, adding a common feature to a pair of options leads to an equalization of choice shares, whereas, when attributes differed in importance, common features  enhanced the choice share of the option with the best value on the most important attribute, leading to a further polarization of brands’ choice shares. Dhar et al (1999) suggested that the construction of both similarity and preference judgments could be captured by a feature-matching model that allowed for shifts in the relative weights assigned to the various features of the alternatives being compared. An application of this model was that engaging in one comparative process (e. g. , similarity) can influence the relative weight assigned to the features that were considered in a second comparative judgment (e. g. , preference). The effect of engaging in an initial comparison task on subsequent 13 preference judgments was tested for stimulus-based choice sets. The results on choice deferral and choice satisfaction were consistent with the notion that engaging in similarity/dissimilarity comparisons altered the relative weight assigned to common and unique features for the two alternatives. Heilman et al (2000) examined how brand preferences and response to marketing activity evolved for consumers new to a market. They developed a theoretical framework that began with a consumer’s first-ever purchase in a  product category and described subsequent purchases as components of sequential stages. The theory was based on the notion that choices made by the consumer new to a market were driven by two competing forces: consumers’ desire to collect information about alternatives and their aversion to trying risky ones. The results showed the importance of accounting for product experience and learning when studying the dynamic choice processes of consumers new to a market. Ofir and Simonson (2001) in their study found that the customer evaluations of quality and satisfaction were critical inputs in development of marketing strategies. Given the increasingly common practice of asking such evaluations, buyers of products and services often knew in advance that they subsequently would be asked to provide their evaluations. In a series of field and laboratory studies, the author demonstrated that expecting to be evaluated leads to less favorable quality and satisfaction evaluations and reduces customer’s willingness to purchase and recommend the evaluated services. The negative bias of expected evaluations was observed when actual quality was either low or high, and it persisted even when buyers were told explicitly to consider both the positive  and negative aspects. Tamizhselvan and Vijayakumar (2002) analyzed the significance of personal characteristics of consumers in determining the brand preference for soft 14 drinks in Coimbatore district. The study also identified the factors considered important in buying behavior, the reasons of brand preferred by the consumers and the factors considered in the frequency of buying. It was concluded that the personal characteristics like sex, age, marital status, occupation, monthly income and expenditure, type of family and size of family had a significant influence on brand preference and buying behavior of the consumers. Bhattacharya and Sen (2003) tried to determine why and under what conditions consumers entered into strong, committed and meaningful relationships with certain companies, became champions of these companies and their products. The authors proposed that strong consumer-company relationships often resulted from consumers’ identification with those companies, which helped them to satisfy one or more important self-definitional needs. Aggarwal (2005) stated that when consumers formed relationships with brands, they use norms of interpersonal relationships as a guide in their brand assessments. Two relationship types were examined: exchange relationships in which benefits were given to others to get something back and communal relationships in which benefits were given to show concern for other’s needs. The conceptual model proposed that an adherence to or a violation of these relationship norms influenced the appraisal of the specific marketing action and also the overall brand evaluations. Erdem and Swait (2006) examined the role of brand credibility (trustworthiness and expertise) on brand choice and consideration across multiple product categories that vary in regard potential uncertainty about attributes and  associated information acquisition costs and perceived risks of consumption. It was found that brand credibility increased probability of inclusion of a brand in the consideration set, as well as brand choice conditional on consideration. It was also 15 found that although credibility impacts brand choice and consideration set formation more and through more constructs in contexts with high uncertainty and sensitivity to such uncertainty, credibility effects were present in all categories. Finally, the results indicated that trustworthiness, rather than expertise, affected consumer choice and brand consideration more. Simonson (2007) examined the basic assumptions underlying individual marketing and presented a process model of customers’ responses to customized offers. The model addressed (1) preference development (2) evaluation of customized offers (3) likelihood of purchasing the customized offers and (4) maintenance of relationships with one-to-one marketers. The analysis leaded to specific propositions regarding determinants of customers’ responses to customized offers. The author also discussed future research directions and managerial implications. It can be concluded that many studies have been done to study the various  factors related to impact of various attributes on purchase behavior, consumer perception, customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction, etc. A study is required to identify the attributes considered while purchasing and compare selected brands on basis of these attributes. CHAPTER-3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY:- The present study aims at evaluating factors of 150 cc motorcycles affecting their purchase and on the basis of these factors to give suggestions to the brands to 16 improve the market share of their respective products. More specifically, objectives of study are: 1. To identify the attributes considered while purchasing the selected brands of  150 cc motorcycles. 2. To compare selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles on basis of attributes. 3. To study the consumer preferences towards the 150 cc Motor Cycles. 4. To study the factors that influences the purchase of 150 cc motorcycle. 5. To determine the need of purchase of 150 cc motorcycle CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY :- MATERIALS AND METHODS The present chapter describes the research methodology of the study. In order to satisfy the objectives, this chapter explains in detail the research methodology which is divided into five sections: Section 4. 1 deals with research framework; Section 4. 2 deals with population and sample selection; Section 4. 3 17 deals with data collection; Section 4. 4 deals with analysis of data and Section 4. 5 deals with limitations of the study. 4. 1 Research Framework The present study is based on the objectives of identifying the attributes considered while purchasing the selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles and to compare selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles on basis of these attributes in the city of Ludhiana. The study uses both primary and secondary information. The research design for the present study is descriptive. The motorcycles available for  the study are Bajaj Pulsar, Hero Honda CBZ, Honda Unicorn and TVS Apache. As it is clear from the objectives of the study, the study was divided into two parts i. e. to identify the attributes considered while purchasing the selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles and then to compare selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles on basis of these attributes. For both the objectives of the study, primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire. Then in order to arrive at the results proper statistical tools were used on the information collected from the respondents. 4. 2 Population and Sample Selection. ThepopulationofthestudyincludesthepersonsinLudhianacitywho owned a 150 cc motorcycle. For meeting the first objective, list of dealers dealing in 150 cc motorcycles in Ludhiana was prepared. Sample was collected in two stages. In the first stage, two dealers each of the four companies in the city were selected randomly from the available list of dealers for four companies. In the second stage of sample selection, service centers of each of the selected dealers 18 were visited. At each service center, 15 respondents were contacted. The sample size was 120. The following dealers were selected: 1. Bajaj Pulsar. ?Dada Bajaj, Savitiri Complex, Dholewal Chowk, Ludhiana ?Impact Bajaj, Sherpur Chowk, GT Road By Pass, Ludhiana 2. Hero Honda CBZ/Achiver ?Nihal Singh Motors, Ferozepur Road, Ludhiana ?Stan Wheels (P) Ltd. , G T Road, Near Sherpur Chowk, Ludhiana 3. TVS Apache ?Gulzar Trading Company, Dholewal, Ludhiana ?TVS Gulzar, Near Aarti Chowk, Ludhiana 4. Honda Unicorn ?Sarvpriya Autos Pvt. Ltd. , Ferozepur Road, Ludhiana ?Pioneer Honda, G T Road, Dholewal, Ludhiana 4. 3 Data Collection Keeping in view the objectives of this study, both primary and secondary data were required. A structured and non-disguised questionnaire was prepared for  collecting primary information from the customers. Questionnaire is shown in Annexure-I. Questions were asked relating to their income, occupation, about factors which were considered by the respondents while purchasing a motor bike, 19 about factors influencing them to purchase, rating of different brands of 150 cc motorcycles and satisfaction level from the various motorcycles. The questions asked were multiple choice and open ended. Five points scale was used. For classification of attributes the following points were used: most important (MI), important (I), neutral (N), unimportant (UI) and most unimportant (M. U. I). Secondary data was collected from various journals /magazines, websites and dealers regarding the market performance of these motorcycles. 4. 4 Data Analysis The data collected with the help of questionnaires were analyzed with the help of percentages, means, weighted mean scores etc. In order to find importance given to various attributes of a 150 cc motorcycles by the buyer at the time of purchase, weighted mean scores were calculated and each attribute was ranked on the basis of weighted mean scores. Mean score was calculated for the questions asked on a 5-point scale. In the  5-point scale the respondents were asked to indicate their degree of importance they showed for various attributes related to the 150 cc motorcycles from most important to most unimportant. Scores were assigned from 1 to 5 for the degree of importance (1 for most important, 2 for important, 3 for neutral, 4 for unimportant and 5 for most unimportant). Frequencies were multiplied with their respective weights and aggregate values were found out. Mean score was calculated using the formula: Mean score = ? wifn/n i = 1 to 5 n = 30 for each brand respondents 20 where, wi = Weight attached for degree of importance  fn = Associated frequency n = Number of respondents. If the mean score was more than the middle point of the scale, it was concluded that the respondents by and large tend to agree with the statement. 21 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This chapter contains the results and discussion of the primary data collected from the respondents. The study is conducted to identify the attributes considered while purchasing the selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles and to compare selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles on basis of these attributes. This chapter is divided into four sections: Section 4. 4. 1 deals with demographic profile of the respondents; Section 4. 4. 2 deals with identification of the attributes considered while purchasing the selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles; Section 4. 4. 3 deals with Satisfaction from selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles on the basis of various attributes. 4. 4. 1 Demographic profile of the respondents The demographic profile of the respondents has been classified on the basis of age, occupation, education and family income. 4. 4. 1. 1 Classification on the basis of age Age of a person is considered as an important factor in decision making and choice made by the person. The respondents were classified into four different age groups. The age classification of the respondents is given in Table 4. 4. 1. 1 22 Table 4. 4. 1. 1: Age wise distribution of respondents Age Bajaj Pulsar Hero Honda CBZ TVS Apache Honda Unicorn Total Below 25 14 11 15 13 53 25-35 13 13 11 10 47 35-45 3 6 4 5 18 Above 45 0 0 0 2 2 Total 30 30 30 30 120 14 13 3 0 11 13 6 0 15 11 4 0 13 10 5 2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Bajaj Pulsar Hero Honda CBZ /Ach iever TVS Apache Honda Unicorn Age wise distribution of respondents Below 25 25-35 35-45 Above 45. ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION: On the overall most of the respondents i.e. 53 were below the age of 25 and about 47 in the age group of 25-35 and rest above 35. If we analyze for each motorcycle separately, it was seen that around 75% of motorcycle users in case of Bajaj Pulsar and Hero Honda CBZ and around 70% in case of Honda Unicorn and TVS Apache were below the age of 30 which eventually means that a major chunk of the motorcycle market includes youth only. 23 4. 4. 1. 2 Classification on the basis of occupation The respondents were surveyed about their occupation as it plays an important role in the purchase behaviour and affects consumer’s preferences. The  classification according to occupation is shown in Table 4. 4. 1. 2. Table 4. 4. 1. 2: Occupation wise distribution of respondents Occupation category Bajaj Pulsar Hero Honda CBZ TVS Apache Honda Unicorn Total Student 20 19 21 17 77 Business 6 6 6 7 25 Profession 3 4 3 6 16 Others 1 1 0 0 2 Total 30 30 30 30 120 ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION: 24 As regards the occupation profile of the 150 cc motorcycle owners, there was not much difference between the four motorcycles. The student community dominates in all the four brands (about 70%), while the ratio business to profession is around 2:1 on average. 4. 4. 1. 3 Classification on the basis of education level The educational qualification also effects the behavior of a person as it shows how informed a choice was made while buying something. Also it is generally assumed that qualification is directly related to the kind of job a person is engaged in. Therefore, the respondents were classified according to educational qualifications in Table 4. 4. 1. 3. Table 4. 4. 1. 3: Education wise distribution of respondents EDUCATION Bajaj Pulsar Hero Honda CBZ TVS Apache Honda Unicorn Total Under-Gradua te 16 20 18 15 69 Graduate 7 4 6 7 24 Post-graduate 4 2 3 4 13. Professional 3 4 3 4 14 TOTAL 30 30 30 30 120 25 16 7 4 3 20 4 2 4 18 6 3 3 15 7 4 4 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Bajaj Pulsar Hero Honda CBZ/ Achiever TVS Apache Honda Unicorn Education wise distribution of respondents Under-Graduate Graduate Post-graduate Professional ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION: As regards to education characteristic, it is seen that most of the respondents are either undergraduates or graduates. This fact is in conjunction with the fact that a major chunk of 150 cc motorcycle owners belong to the age group of below 25 and are mostly students 4. 4. 1. 4. Classification on the basis of family income. One of the most important factors influencing the consumer preferences is the income of the respondents. The income determines the choice of a respondent particularly in brand selection and the brand personality that a person associates 26 with himself. The classification of respondents according to their family income is given in table 4. 4. 1. Table 4. 4. 1. 4: Income wise distribution of respondents Family Income Bajaj Pulsar Hero Honda CBZ TVS Apache Honda Unicorn TOTAL Below 1,50,000 3 2 2 3 10 1,50,000-2,00 ,000 9 9 10 8 36 2,00,000-2,50 ,000 14 13 10 13 50 Above 2,50,000 4 6 8 6 24 27 3 9. 14 4 2 9 13 6 2 10 10 8 3 8 13 6 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Bajaj Pulsar Hero Honda CBZ/ Achiever TVS Apache Honda Unicorn Income wise distribution of respondents Below 1,50,000 1,50,000-2,00,000 2,00,000-2,50,000 Above 2,50,000 ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION: The maximum percentage of respondents (around 60%) are in the higher income groups i. e. above 2,00,000, about 30% of the respondents fall in 150000-200000, nearly 42% in 200000-250000 , and the highest income group above 2,50,000 accounts for about 1/5th of the respondents . 28 4. 4. 2 Identification of the attributes considered while purchasing the  selected brands of 150 cc motorcycles. This section deals with identification of the various factors, affecting preferences of the 150 cc motorcycle respondents. Preferences of respondents were identified by studying the various attributes of 150 cc motorcycle, which affected the purchase decision of the respondents and also by studying the post purchase satisfaction of the 150 cc motorcycle respondents. The decision to buy any product is influenced by a number of factors. The factors might be those, arousing need for the 150 cc motorcycle. Various influencers might have affected the purchase decision of resp.

Environmental Systems Of Wastewater Management Environmental Sciences Essay

Environmental Systems Of Wastewater Management Environmental Sciences Essay Wastewater is any liquid waste that is discharged from such places such as residential areas, industries and agricultural areas. Though the water is negatively affected by human impacts on the environment and may contain a large number of contaminants, it mostly consists of pure water, up to 95%. Throughout the world, an increase in the discharge of wastewater is causing a major impact on our environment. Wastewater pollution is more and more a danger to our planet because of rapid population growth, and increasing demand in water supply and sanitation provision. According to research, every liter of wastewater pollutes up to 8 liters of freshwater. Hence, each year, around 12,000 km3 of the globes water resources may not available to us. By 2050, the anticipated population of the world is thought to rise to 9 billion and if the wastewater pollution keeps on with the same speed with the population growth, the worlds water resources could see a drastic reduction by around 18,000 km3 annually. For now, in developing countries, around a tenth of the overall domestic wastewater is collected and only about nine-tenth of the existing wastewater treatment plants do not operate reliably or efficiently. Adverse effects or inadequate wastewater handling: increased illness and mortality lead to loss in terms of finance 4 million lost person-years annually cost of production of drinking and industrial water increases; water tariffs increases $56 billion annually World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure US, March 2003 loss of income in fisheries and aquaculture sector tourists are deterred by the poor water quality loss of valuable biodiversity, both in the water and land surrounding the affected water 70% of coral reefs real estate values fall in value because quality of the surroundings is deteriorated Wastewater Local Overview In Mauritius, there are about 100 industrial units engaged in several activities resulting in some kind of water pollution. When liquid effluents are discharged from industries, they tend to go into the hydrological cycles and thus adversely affect the ecosystems and the quality of water reaching the consumers. Moreover when looking at the small size of our island, we can deduce that those effluents can very easily and rapidly pollute most of our water sources, from rivers to the seas. Many of the industries that pollute most of our water are basically found in 3 main industrial zones which are: Plaine Lauzun Coromandel Vacoas-Phoenix Firstly, the Plaine Lauzun zone includes the galvanizing, food canning, dye houses, ethanol distilleries, soap, detergent and chemical manufacturing industries. Their daily water consumption is approximately 5000m3 and they discharge their respective wastewater effluents to the Fort Victoria Sewerage treatment in Port Louis whereby only a pre treatment is carried out. Moreover the pre-treated wastewater is discharged 800m into the sea which will in turn find its way in the nearby beach named Bain des Dames where high fish mortality rate have been reported due to the release of heavy polluted water. Secondly, the Coromandel Industrial zone comprise of industries such as food processing, dye houses and soap industries. Their daily water consumption is about 3000m3 and they discharge their untreated wastewater by means of a 600m outfall into the sea at Pointe aux Sables to Port Louis. As a result, these effluents have been the cause of the total death of the reef opposite Pointe aux Sables. Thirdly, the Vacoas-Phoenix zone consists of about 30 industries including one edible oil refinery and six dye houses. Their daily water consumption is about 2000m3 and they discharge their untreated wastewater into the local sewerage network which leads to the St Martin treatment plant whereby a primary treatment is carried out before it is then discharged to the sea at Pointe Moyenne. Moreover there exists a potential for health effects to crop up since during the rainy season, overflowing of water can cause a considerable amount of effluents to be discharged into river Du Mesnil which in fact is joined up to Grand River North West and from which water is extracted for domestic purposes. On the other hand, there exist several other industries which are distributed all around the island and that in turn contribute to the pollution of water and these consist of galvanizing, dyeing, battery manufacture, leather tanning and washing industries. However since these industries do not generally carry out any onsite treatment of their effluents before they discharged it in surface waters or pits and caverns, hence there is a high possibility of aquifers being contaminated by such methods of discharge. Disposal routes of wastewater Rivers All around the world, rivers are the most often used as pathways of wastewater discharge. If not rivers, then canals and tributaries are used which eventually end up in a river. Sea Many industries found near to the sea use the sea as their dump for wastewater. Further wastewater is added to the sea through rivers. Sewers Industries direct their wastewater through sewers to the nearest treatment plant. On-site treatment Industries treat their wastewater as far as possible to make it comply with the countrys legislation. Sometimes the water may be reused by the industry itself. Carting away The wastewater is carried away in specialized dedicated vehicles to be disposed off somewhere more appropriate. This method is used when the water is of a kind that cannot be discharged in the nature even if treated and hence it is sent somewhere its potentially negative effects can be neutralized. Irrigation The wastewater is used for irrigation if it non-toxic and is considered suitable for the task. Major sources of wastewater in Mauritius Sugar Industry Since the sugar industry is one of the main pillars of our economy, we ensure it will still be one in the near future and thus limit its negative effects on our environment. Standards for effluent limitation have been introduced by Mauritian authorities to sugar factories and these norms have been in force since October 1999. But many sugar mills in Mauritius are not yet equipped with a conventional secondary or advanced treatment. For factories that can not dilute their wastewater before discharge or that cannot use their wastewater for irrigation, an appropriate treatment technique should be found for treatment of their medium to high strength wastewater so as to comply with the existing environmental law. Wastewater from sugar factories is considered as non-toxic organic source of pollution so it would be acceptable to have a biological treatment system. The sugar industry produces at least 5 million meter cube of wastewater per year (2001). What produces wastewater in the sugar industry? Cooling water: mainly used for condenser, bearing cooling, sulphur/lime houses and crystallizer for formation of crystal. Process water: used in the sugar making process. Parameters Standards Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) 90 Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) 30 pH 5-9 Conductivity 2000 Total Suspended Solids (TSS) 45 Oil Grease No visible oil SAR 6 Cl- 250 SO42- 500 The above table shows the standards of effluent (wastewater) according to the Standards of Effluent for Discharge Government Notice 2003. Major sources of wastewater in Mauritius Textile Industry The textile industry is another important pillar of our economy and textile factories can be found all around the island. Due to the various processes (sizing, bleaching, dying) existing in the textile industry, a considerable amount of water is being used and thus a very large amount of wastewater for discharge is produced. Unfortunately, not all the textile factories are equipped enough to cater for their wastewater treatment and many of them discharge toxic and untreated wastewater in nearby rivers and canals. Textile wastewater may consist of: Natural fibers: wool, hair, silk, cotton, flax Synthetic fibers: rayon, nylon Chemicals: dyes, de-foamers, bleaches, detergents, optical brighteners, equalizers In the past recent years, many incidents concerning discharge of untreated wastewater by textile industries directly into natural water bodies have taken place such Mon Dà ©sert Alma canal pollution by the Compagnie Mauricienne de Textile Ltee (Verdun). Major sources of wastewater in Mauritius Breweries Brewery has become a very important industry in Mauritius since it has a so vast market now. Brewery operations tend to produce considerable amounts of wastewater as waste products. Even by implementing new technological improvements in the past, it is estimated that around 3 to 10 liters of wastewater is generated for every liter of beer produced in breweries. The quantity of brewery wastewater produced will normally depend on the production and the water usage. Brewery wastewater may contain: Wort and beer wastes, spent grain and grain dusts. Fermentation solids, yeast wastes. Waste water of CIP equipment (cleaning and disinfection equipment. Sodium wastes from the CIP equipment. Acid solution from CIP equipments. Caustic soda from PVPP filters. Waste water with kieselguhr. Alkaline cleaning water. Alkaline waste water from bottle cleaning system. Insoluble substance, paper and cardboard, aluminium and ferrous metals. Soluble substance like adhesive, metals salt and conveyer lubricant. Oil and grease track from the equipments lubrication. Beer wastes from returned bottles and kegs. Even different lubricants cannot be eliminated so they finish in water. Such substances increase the percentage of contamination of waste waters. Many of the above substances, such as yeast, sodium, caustic soda alkaline water, may lead to negative consequences if let without treatment in natural water bodies. Major sources of wastewater in Mauritius Hotels Tourism is the third most important sector in Mauritius. Tourists come to Mauritius for its sand, sun and sea. But now the seas, and eventually the sand, are in danger of deterioration. This is because of the mismanagement of wastewater by some hotels. Hotels with more than 75 rooms are now required to be equipped with treatment plants so as to render their wastewater of a quality according to the norms. To ensure this, frequent monitoring should be carried out by the Waste Water Management. There are approximately 44 wastewater treatment plants in hotels all over the island which produce 7000 m3 of sludge every day. The treated water is then used for irrigation by the hotel itself. Discharging wastewater which is out of the regulatory norms may cause negative effects such as the degradation of our seas and coastal regions where foul smell will emanate eventually, the death of marine animals and vegetation. These problems directly affect the tourism industry as well as the lives of fishermen. Agro-industry (chemicals) It is only with important amounts of fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides that modern agriculture in Mauritius can increase its yield. But intensively using agro-chemicals is not an unmixed blessing since its repercussions can be seen at a later stage. 48% (90,100 hectares) of the island is under cultivation and up to 57,500 tons of fertilizer is used each year, which is well above the norms. The problem with excessive use of agro-chemicals is when they are washed away by rain and reach surface water bodies or underground water. The acceptable level of nitrate in water is 45mg/l. Excess nitrate in water causes fast-growing plant life like algae and weeds and the water body becomes clogged all over. Impacts of wastewater on the environment In Mauritius, wastewater comes from mainly industrial processes, sewage consisting of human wastes, organic wastes, and from the agricultural sector pollutants such as animal wastes, pesticides and fertilizers. Today, due to a real change in terms of development in many areas in industrial and agricultural practices, our rivers and other water bodies are the most affected. Mauritius consists of four main aquifers namely as Curepipe aquifer, the Northern, Southern and Eastern aquifers. Taking into account the National Physical Development Plan (volume I p 134) it has been found that our aquifers have been badly polluted due to a lack of proper sanitation which can be described as sewage, wastewater, refuse disposal and bad practices in agriculture. Effects on aquatic wildlife Our sea, lakes, rivers and groundwater are the greatly affected by water pollution, much of it coming from wastewater. Pollution not only affects the quality of the water but also the lives of the species inhabiting it. Change in temperature A change in temperature (e.g hot water from sugar factories) affects the aquatic ecosystem. Although the temperature is increased by only few degrees, this may affect many varieties of fishes and plants. This causes a problem in the food cycle because some fishes that prey on other fishes and plants will have difficulties in finding their food they need. In their turn, they will have to move elsewhere or very often will lead to extinction of some plants and species. Furthermore, an increase in the temperature level of the water causes a reduction in the oxygen percentage in the water and thus resulting in chemical and biological reactions due to this unnatural process. With time, the movement of living organisms, respiration process and metabolism of aquatic plants and animals within the water itself will be at high risks. Pollutants in the wastewater On the other hand, another main water pollutant is the wastes generated by industrial processes which are discharged into rivers. It has been found that if wastes in lesser amounts are discharged in rivers, they can self-purify themselves but if the concentration and amount of wastes are high, then their impacts also will be high. Thus, excessive amounts of wastes chemicals discharged into rivers will not only disrupt the ecosystem but also causes the death of much aquatic life and will lead to bad odors. Sometimes some aquatic animals might not die when exposed to these pollutants but consuming these toxic animals not only will cause poisoning to the consumer but also will have an impact on the reduction of food processing and consumption. Potable water becomes scarce Moreover, consumable water for human beings and animal farming might indirectly bear severe consequences. Because Mauritius is a small island, wastewater released by industries can flow easily across many rivers and resulting in rapid pollution. The problem does not end here because if untreated wastewater reaches underground water reserves and contaminates it, we will be in lack of potable water for consumption. Eutrophication This occurs when a water body becomes abnormally enriched with nutrients. This might be caused by fertilizers run-off into nearby water. Excess nutrients causes phytoplankton to grow and reproduce much more rapidly than they would normally, thus resulting in algal blooms which disrupts the normal ecosystem functioning. The large amount of algae exhausts the oxygen in the water thus depriving it from other marine life. This is why many aquatic organisms end up dead but the process of eutrophication continues; the excess algae blocks the sunlight from marine plants which use photosynthesis to live. Furthermore, some algae might produce certain toxins that can be harmful to other animals and even to man. This effect can destroy the entire food chain of the ecosystem affected. Impacts of wastewater on the health of people exposed Consumption of contaminated wastewater In Mauritius it is very rare for people to consume any kind of contaminated water. However, a continuous exposure to low level of contaminants for a long time may cause diseases such as Cancer Liver and kidney damage Nervous system disorders Immune system disorders Birth defects But consumption of high concentration of contaminants may cause the following immediate health effects: Nausea Lung irritation Skin rash Vomiting Dizziness Death When exposed to odors emanating from wastewater Wastewater often has bad odor due to contaminants like sulfur. The following health effects might be seen on people exposed: Coughing / Sore throat Lung problems Headaches Eyes related diseases Examples of wastewater mismanagement The Rivià ¨re du Rempart polluted because of untreated wastewater Mon-Loisir sugar factory was at the centre of a controversy concerning the pollution of the Rivià ¨re du Rempart. The problem has been that the sugar factory discharged dirty and untreated water (wastewater) directly into a tributary river to the Rivià ¨re du Rempart. But according to Joseph Vaudin, the CEO of Mon-Loisir sugar factory, the problem was that the tank farm with foam and bagasse to be used in the fields during the sugarcane cutting periods, which was close to the tributary of the Rivià ¨re du Rempart, ruisseau Chevrette overwhelmed with the heavy rains we had earlier this year. And thus this wastewater discharge was unintentional. rempart.jpg More contribution to the discharge into the river sewage, composed of mud and scum, was brought by a faulty irrigation pipe. But this was detected and repaired within an hour. Jean-Luc Harel, plant manager, stated that the other end of the pipe which is normally concrete will be replaced with steel to avoid this kind of problem in the future. The local inhabitants, of whom several were very irritated, had several complaints pertaining to the discharge of dirty water from the factory directly into the river used by so many. Impacts on the inhabitants: The foul unbearable odor from the river once it is contaminated. The negative effects such as breathing problems to people inhabiting near the river. The water is no more usable for purposes such as irrigation. No more recreation site (people used to swim in the river). Fishing in the river is no more safe. A kind of vegetation seems to be proliferating on the surface of the water, contributing to pollution by; blocking organic materials and all kinds of waste thrown by man, and thus leading to the death of aquatic animals such as fish shrimps. Wastewater from Consolidated Fabrics Ltd, Balaclava Consolidated Fabrics Limited (CFL) factory at Solitude has been, since a few years, dumping toxic wastewater illegally in Rivià ¨re Citron. The norms of the Standards of Effluent for Discharge (Second Schedule) Government Notice 2003 and those of the Guidelines for Inland Surface Water Quality have not been respected. Ending its course in the Turtle Bay sea, this river runs through Balaclava and thus residents of Balaclava have been seriously affected by the bad odour that emanates from the illegal chemical. cfl2.jpg Fig. 03 Despite having voiced out their grievances and the potential health threat many times, the Balaclava Residents Association (BRA) members have seen no action being taken by CFL. Many residents have noticed that these odors are ten times more frequent than before. Impacts on local residents: Many are experiencing a suffocating smell of rotten egg across the morcellement. Almost every resident has complained of nausea, giddiness, sore throats, coughing, vomiting and headaches. One person has even reported of her baby having a rash. People most affected by the smell have to close their windows and doors even at times when the weather was very hot. Impacts on the environment: The river is an eyesore to people. It is not worthy of a paradise island. Aquatic life is being ruined. Fish eels can no more survive in such a polluted river. The water can no more be used for irrigation. The river ends its course in the sea and hence marine life is no more safe. People have reported that their pets have started to cough. cfl3.jpg Fig. 04 Examples of wastewater mismanagement Unbearable odor at Bain-Boeuf beach Bain-Boeuf beach was very much appreciated by everyone until people started complaining about an unbearable odor on the beach and its vicinity. Bain-Boeuf beach is surrounded by many hotels of which some have treatment plants to treat their wastewater. One of the hotels has been discharging its untreated wastewater into the sea. Furthermore, wastewater from agricultural lands might have been washed into the seas bringing in nitrates, phosphates and sulfates. The chemicals above cause a surplus of nutrients in the sea and cause the algae to grow to an abnormal proportion. This process is called eutrophication. The problem is further aggravated with the death of these algae. This causes more harm to the marine life and is also the cause of the foul smell experienced by people around. Furthermore when the algae starts to decompose, it produces hydrogen sulfate, a toxic gas, which when inhaled at high concentrations may cause death. In addition to water and air pollution, there is also land pollution since the dead algae is washed on the shore and is clearly an eyesore. Bain-Boeuf beach has not been practicable as long as the problem has persisted. Conclusion Reference Page