China’s Olympic Torch Controversy

In a world where media are able to put a glaring spotlight on certain events, actions done by ordinary individuals gain greater attention from other people. The internet further amplifies the magnitude of these events because people from other countries can immediately know what is happening. This enables them to draw their own conclusions regarding the actions that were just covered. Such is the case of the controversy surrounding the on-going Olympic Torch relay. What was supposed to be a journey that could promote peace and understanding among different cultures has turned into a fiasco. Protesters have come in full force to disrupt this event. From Paris to London, the world has to come to witness several people trying to grab the Olympic Torch. The protesters targeted this event as a venue to ventilate their sentiments regarding China’s treatment of the unrest that had erupted in Tibet last month where China sent its paramilitary forces to crackdown on the Tibetan protesters (â€Å"China’s View of the Olympic Torch†. 09 April 2008. TIME Magazine online). This has led to protest calls from various sectors especially in Western countries. Some clamor by asking China to stop its heavy handed treatment of dissenters in Tibet while others like Hillary Clinton have asked their governments to boycott the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies as a strong disapproval of Beijing’s standing policy with regard to Tibet. This issue can be seen as part of a long standing question in international relations (â€Å"Clinton urges Bush to boycott Beijing Olympics†. 7 April 2008. Yahoo News). The question being, should individuals from other countries be involved in another country’s problems? To be able to generate an answer to this question, one must define the parameters for the terms individuals, involvement and problems. In the case of the individuals, there are two kinds that are pertinent to this discussion. These are the private citizens and the public officials. The ordinary citizens include those who try to disrupt the proceedings by attempting to wrest the Olympic torch and by displaying the Tibetan flag are examples of what are known as private citizens. Public officials refer to politicians in other countries that are expressing their dissent over the policies of other countries. Involvement is defined here as the actions done by the identified individuals. This may include cajoling, beseeching or pressuring officials through such acts disrupting the events or by issuing officials statements condemning the policies of the country in question. Problems, due to space constraints and timeliness, would be limited to issues on human rights. This issue is one of the most important points of contention between Western countries especially the United States and other nations such as China and Russia in recent years. This paper argues that involvement in issues such as human rights should be limited to the actions done by private citizens and that public officials should refrain from issuing official statements that criticizes the policies of other government’s with regard to human rights. Why is this so? If one is to look at the recent track record of the US government regarding the issue of human rights, one would find sufficient ammunition to fire back to the US side of the fence. The well-documented infamous cases of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prison camps highlight the abuses that are also taking place within the backyard of the United States. Theses cases have led some officials from both China and Russia to criticize the alleged double standards being practiced by the United States in its dealings with other countries. China and Russia often challenge the US claims made through official State Department reports regarding their respective human rights record (Cody A14). In a nutshell, they argued that before the US issues such official statements it should first see to it that its own house is in order. One could also consider the lack of efficacy of these official calls on these countries to reform. It had only infuriated them and their existing policies on human rights have not changed despite these repeated calls. Also, these official statements have contributed to making negotiations in other important areas such as security and trade even more difficult at best and highly contentious at worst. Now if one is to engage in involvement, one can argue that it would be best left in the hands of private citizens. This is warranted for several reasons. In an era where there have been numerous cases of human rights of abuses, there is a recognizable need to highlight this particular issue. The private citizens at this point are in the best position to do it for two reasons. One is that they are not burdened by the labels of hypocrisy and lacking in moral authority that have been attached to the US government in the aftermath of its prison camps fiasco. When an individual like Steven Spielberg protests by declaring himself unavailable to be a technical consultant for the Beijing Games he is not labeled as hypocrite and his message is delivered to the public. Two, private citizens who exhibit involvement; especially in the form of very dramatic forms of protests can get their much desired media mileage. They consequently derive public sympathy for their respective causes as well. One could cite the case of Olympic medalist Sebastian Coe who was manhandled by the paramilitary forces assigned by Beijing to protect the Olympic torch(â€Å"China’s View of the Olympic Torch†. April 2008. TIME Magazine online). The incident involving him generated substantial media attention on the protest against the Chinese government’s action on Tibet while not causing any direct problems among government officials. The protests done by ordinary citizens if carried by major news outfits can generate support from around the world wit hout exactly obliging their governments to issue officials statements that can adversely affect immediate and long-term relationships with countries whose policies are being questioned.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Sacrificing for the Greater Good

Embryos are essentially microscopic human beings. Regardless of what good they may provide to the field of medicine, the ethical controversies surrounding embryonic stem cell research are profound. Stem cells, the cells used by the human body to replenish damaged tissue, are found in both embryonic and adult form. At the adult level, stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow, but the real ethical debate arises when embryonic stem cells are introduced. â€Å"Pluripotent† embryonic stem cells are among the only type that can form any of over 200 cell types, making it the most useful and versatile.These cells are isolated from the inner cell mass of the embryo when extracted, and subsequently terminates the embryo itself, which is technically manslaughter. However, it must also be noted that embryonic stem cell research can provide effective treatments and even cures for those in need of organ transplants and other irremediable predicaments. Therefore, it is safe to say, from a utilitarian perspective, that the essential â€Å"death† of one embryo can save the lives of many, and with Jeremy Bentham’s phrase â€Å"the greatest good for the greatest number†; I believe that embryonic stem cell research is ethical.The real controversy in stem cell research lays in the termination (abortion) of the embryo, which is an entirely independent debate altogether. The embryonic stem cells extracted for research are being derived from embryos that are being aborted regardless (Johansen). Therefore, there is a macrocosmic debate more powerful than the one about stem cell research itself. By harvesting these stem cells from babies predestined to abortion, at least a contribution is being made to society – one that can benefit a multitude of people, perhaps suffering from a multitude of conditions.Even if one wants to debate the ethics of stem cell research, the researchers are being ethically unethical, with regard to the abortions guarantee d to take place. However, those who value human life from the point of conception, particularly those who are religious, oppose embryonic stem cell research, because the extraction of stem cells from this type of an embryo requires its destruction – essentially, a human life killed, which is deemed both morally and religiously indecent (Cowan). But this superficial ideology is flawed in its logical reasoning.If these â€Å"babies† are going to die, whether their stem cells are harvested or not, isn’t making a solid contribution to science and humanity ethical? If the embryo is destroyed, in an equally torturous manner, shouldn’t that sacred human life provide something for mankind as a whole? For example, medical researchers and physician-scientists were able to differentiate stem cells to become heart cells (Mount Sinai School of Medicine). The cells were then analyzed, for the treatment of cardiomyopathy, a condition with heart muscle cell abnormalities .The benefits of this harvesting are unfathomable; scientists will now be able to analyze the root of the disease, its development, and ways to inhibit the disease’s growth and progression. It is then rather evident, that the life of the embryo originally used in the harvesting of the embryonic stem cells for this discovery, is only more sacred, and contributed more to society and humanity, than most human lives do in a lifetime. The Jewish population seems to have a more insightful, yet still opposing take on the issue.Many Rabbis do find it unethical, for the mere reason that it â€Å"cheapens the value of human life† (Eisenberg). This is, however, contradictory of Torah text, which states that the responsible use of technology for the sole purpose of improving human life is not only permitted, but encouraged. It is claimed by the experts in the field that the research on stem cells has great potential to relieve human disease and suffering. If this is the case, then it is not only allowed but it is obligatory to pursue this research.Embryonic stem cells are a source of hope, for patients suffering from spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and hundreds of genetic disorders. With research, medical scientists will be able to make discoveries and understand the origin of diseases, based on the origin of true human life – embryonic stem cells. This opens the door for unbelievable breakthroughs in medical science – even a potential cure for cancer.Stem cell therapy can provide promising treatment for over 100 million patients currently suffering from a disease under research. Some researchers consider this to be â€Å"the greatest potential for the alleviation of human suffering since the advent of antibiotics† (White). The Republican Party in the United States – the â€Å"party of God†, had significant doubt in the ethical veracity of embryonic stem cell research and therefore President George W. Bush vetoed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 and 2007.However, after taking office, President Obama lifted the ban on March 9, 2009, saying: â€Å"Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident. They result from painstaking and costly research, from years of lonely trial and error, much of which never bears fruit, and from a government willing to support that work. † If the President of the United States of America can see the ethical and moral justness in this all†¦ the greater good, the pros outweighing the cons, the glass half-full, along with most of the American people, is this really an ethical debate?After all, ethics, by definition, is â€Å"a system of moral principles. † Works Cited Cowan, C. A. â€Å"Derivation of Human Stem-Cell Lines from Human Blastocysts. † New England Journal of Medicine (2004): 1355. Eisenberg, Daniel. â€Å"Is the destruction of preexisting pr e-embryos permitted for stem cell research? † 10 November 2001. Aish. com. 22 February 2011 . Johansen, Jay. â€Å"What's wrong with Embryonic Stem Cell Research? † 26 July 2001. Pregnant Pause. 22 February 2011 . Medicine, Mount Sinai School of. â€Å"Stem Cells For First Time Used to Create Abnormal Heart Cells For Study of Cardiomyopathy. † 9 June 2010. HealthNewsDigest. com. 22 February 2011 . White, Deborah. â€Å"Pros ; Cons of Embryonic Stem Cell Research. † n. d. About. com. 22 February 2011 .

Annotated Soap Note Hair Loss

Relevant history positive for family history of hair thinning on both sides. Relevant history negative for anemia, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis, vitiligo or ulcerative colitis. The patient is not currently pregnant. Associated symptoms include intentional weight loss of 50 lbs over 10 months. Pertinent negatives include anxiety, depression, dry scalp, fever, heat intolerance, itchy scalp, rash, scalp kerion, scalp tenderness or skin sores. Noticed hair thinning for about 5 months. No bald spots, lesions on scalp or skin. Estimates she has lost 25% of hair thickness. Chronic Problems Past Medical/Surgical History 1996 (R) Shoulder arthroscopy Obstetric History G1P1. Not pregnant. Family History Disease Detail Family Member Age Cardiomyopathy Father67 (cause of death) Cancer -lungMother59 (cause of death) HypothyroidMother Social History Employment: Property Management, no exposure to chemicals. Marital Status / Family: Currently single, previously divorced once, not in relationship since divorce. Has an 11-year-old daughter. Tobacco: Never smoked. Alcohol: Occasional beer. Caffeine: coffee- 3 cups a day. Lifestyle: Moderate activity level. Exercises 3-4 days per week and takes care of horses daily. Medications (Active) Medication Name Mirena IUD, placed in 2012. Aleve as needed, taking several times a week over winter. Allergies: NKANo Known Drug Allergies Review of Systems Constitutional: Positive for: Weight loss. Has been following a very low carb diet and has lost 50 lbs. since July. No protein, nonstarchy vegetable or calorie restriction. Negative: fever and night sweats. Respiratory: Negative: cough, dyspnea. Cardiovascular: Negative: chest pain and irregular heartbeat/palpitations. Gastrointestinal: Negative: abdominal pain, constipation and diarrhea. Genitourinary: The patient is pre-menopausal. No menses with IUD. Negative: dysuria. Metabolic/Endocrine: Positive for hair loss, see HPI. Weight loss from diet and lifestyle changes. Negative: heat or cold intolerance. Neuro/Psychiatric: Negative: anxiety and depression. Negative: extremity weakness, headache and numbness or weakness in extremities. Dermatologic: No hirsutism or signs of virilization, nail changes, rash, or skin sores. Scalp without pruritus, burning, or lesions. No new hair products. Shampoos daily. No chemical hair treatments. No hair loss on other parts of body. Hair lost has roots, no hair breakage. Does not put hair into braids or ponytails on regular basis. See Chief Complaint and HPI. Musculoskeletal: Negative: joint pain and joint swelling. Hematology: Negative: easy bleeding, bruising or history of anemia. Vital Signs. Height: 5’8† Weight: 237 BMI: 36 Blood Pressure: 130/75 Pulse: 80 Physical Exam Constitutional: Well developed, no distress. Eyes: PERRLA, no injection, bilaterally. Neck / Thyroid: Symmetric, trachea midline and mobile. No thyromegaly or thyroid nodules. Lymphatic: No cervical or supraclavicular adenopathy. Respiratory: Chest symmetric. Lungs clear to auscultation. Respiratory effort is normal. Cardiovascular: Regular rate and rhythm with normal S1, S2. No murmur or rub. Abdomen: Nontender. No masses or organomegaly, exam limited by obesity. No bruits. Integumentary: No skin lesions present. Nails appear normal. No scalp erythema, scales, papules, pustules, erosions, or excoriations. Hair loss most noticeable in temporal region, equal bilaterally. Extremities: No edema is present. Psychiatric: Oriented to time, place, person, and situation. Has appropriate mood and affect. Assessment: Telogen effluvium (704. 02) Hair loss is classified into 3 classifications, cicatricial alopecia (inflammatory), nonscarring alopecia and inherited and acquired structural hair disorders. In evaluating hair loss it is important to assess duration and rate, location and pattern, extent of loss, associated symptoms, hair care practices, and differentiation of hair shedding from breakage. Medical and family history, diet, and medications need to be assessed (Shapiro, Otberg, Hordinsky, 2013). Telogen effluvium is diffuse hair loss that is reversible caused by a significant stressor such as significant weight loss, pregnancy, major illness or surgery (Goldstein Goldstein, 2012). As the patient has lost 50 pound in 10 months, this is the most likely cause of her diffuse hair loss. She will stop her very low carbohydrate diet for a more moderate, varied diet. If the hair loss continues she will need further evaluation. Differential diagnosis 1. Endocrine related hair loss: Hair loss may be caused by several endocrine disorders, presentation is typically with non-scarring alopecia that is diffuse (Olszewska, Warszawik, Rakowska, Slowinska, Rudnicka, 2011). †¢Hypopituitarism, not assessed, needs serum cortisol (Synder, 2012), will order if symptoms continue. †¢Hypothyroidism, ruled out, TSH normal. †¢Hyperthyroidism, ruled out, TSH normal. †¢Diabetes mellitus, ruled out, fasting glucose normal. †¢Growth hormone deficiency, unlikely obese adult of greater than normal height. †¢Hyperprolactinaemia, ruled out, prolactin normal. †¢Polycystic ovary syndrome, unlikely. No hirsutism, virilization, acne, infertility, or history of menstrual irregularities (prior to amenorrhea from IUD) (Barbieri Ehrmann, 2012). †¢Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (late onset), unlikely, no hirsutism or menstrual irregularities (Merke, 2013). 2. Alopecia areata : Diagnosis is unlikely, as alopecia areata is considered an autoimmune disease, with significant associations with vitiligo, lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, autoimmune thyroid disease, and allergic rhinitis. ESR was normal, and this patient has no symptoms of inflammation due to autoimmune disease (Chu et al. 2011). 3. Drug related alopecia areata : NSAIDs have been associated with hair loss (WebMD, 2012). Patient reports taking regular naproxen, for the last few months due to muscle aches from exercise and taking care of her horses in the winter. However, this was not until after hair loss started, so may be a contributing factor but not direct cause. Recommended to stop all NSAIDs until problem is corrected. 4. Excess vitamin A: Vitamin A is toxic above daily intakes of greater than 25,000 IU for more than 6 years or more than 100,000 IU for at least 6 months (Penniston Tanumihardjo, 2006). This patient’s largest source of vitamin a has been leafy greens almost daily. Two cups of spinach has under 20,000 IU of vitamin A. She is not taking a vitamin a supplement. Therefore vitamin a toxicity is unlikely. 5. Syphilitic alopecia: Unlikely as patient tested negative for syphilis during her pregnancy, and has remained celibate since her divorce, several years later. Syphilitic alopecia occurs in only 4% of patients with syphilis (Hernadez-Bel, Unamuno, Sanchez-Carazo, Febrer, Alegre, 2012). 6. Nutritional deficiencies: Although this is a likely cause, it difficult to determine if hair loss is from significant weight loss or nutritional deficiencies from a very low carbohydrate diet lasting 10 months. Deprivation of several components, such as proteins, minerals, fatty acids, and vitamins, can lead to structural deformities, changes in pigmentation, or hair loss. One example, Acrodermatitis enteropathica, is caused by zinc deficiency (Finner, 2013). As the patient was eating a high protein, moderate fat, very low carbohydrate (vegetables only), a zinc deficiency is unlikely as it is closely related to protein intake. She also ate a large amount of vegetables daily. A vitamin or mineral closely linked to grains only would be a likely cause. Plan Telogen effluvium (704. 02) 1. FERRITIN HGB ESR TSH PROLACTIN all normal. 2. The loss of 50 pounds is overall very beneficial and will improve your health. However, this can cause hair loss, which is temporary and reversible. Regrowth should occur over 3 to 4 months. 3. I recommend a more moderate low carbohydrate diet and slower weight loss to lower the stress on your body. 4. As NSAIDs, such as Aleve, can cause hair loss, I would also advise to avoid them until the symptoms have resolved. 5. Return for further evaluation if hair loss does not resolve in three to four months. If no improvement or if your symptoms progress, follow up with a dermatologist. ? References Barbieri, R. L. , Ehrmann, D. A. (2012). Clinical manifestations of polycystic ovary syndrome in adults. Retrieved from http://www. uptodate. com/contents/clinical-manifestations-of-polycystic-ovary-syndrome-in-adults? source=search_resultsearch=pcosselectedTitle=4%7E

Psychological and Physiological Effects of Stress-induced Stimuli Essay

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Ninteenth Century Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

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Write a paper that explains where I am so far in school and what I Essay

Write a paper that explains where I am so far in school and what I have accomplished - Essay Example Thereafter, I learnt the business mathematics that includes average, mixtures, and computation of interest. In addition, as a part of mathematics, I learnt how to handle discounting of bills, how to calculate percentages, ratios and proportions. Thereafter, there was elementary statistics that included geographical presentation of statistical data, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion etc. Thereafter, there was introduction to computer that taught how computer is used in the business world, and the purpose of various software. In addition, this gave me an idea on how various programs are effectively used in various business needs. As a part of this, I got a chance to learn more about the practical use of internet and email. Thereafter, there was practical training on typing and keyboarding that helped me gain proficiency in the same. The last part was business office practices and procedures. This part gave an insight into the various common procedures in the business offices, and the ethics one should adhere to in such situations. Now, the remaining parts are business English, business operations essentials, email applications and programs, data processing and spreadsheet skills, presentation application skills, and business office procedures and practices. Business English means the English language used in international business. According to Guffey, it is important to learn this because it enhances ones ability to interact with people from various countries (xv). In addition, the rapid growth in technology made businesses global with business operations around the world. So, it is very important to have good knowledge of business English for effective negotiations. The next part to be covered is business operations skills that will provide more knowledge about different components of an office workstation, various purchasing systems, different ways of charting

Global Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

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The use of undrained triaxial test Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The use of undrained triaxial test - Lab Report Example The graph for normal stress against a shear stress is gives a straight line from the origin. This insinuates that for both shear stresses, an increase in normal pressure applied leads to increase in shear stress. Further, from the graph it is obvious that shear strength yields a greater frictional angle and failure envelope than that for the residual strength as expected for soils.With application of the masses, shear stress initially increased rapidly upto a certain point, after-which the increase reduced. Generally, this shows that with increasing loads, the shear stresses also increase. As shown in the graph, there is a strong positive increase observed in the value of shear strength upto the peak point where the slope starts to decrease into a shallow gradient. It is at this point that the residual stress is observed. The range for effective angles of friction range between 35 degrees for dense sands and 27 degrees for loose sands (Helwany, 2007, 107). Our results fall into these values that gives a medium density outcome for our sample. Consequently, the results are in line with the expectations that the peak strength should be greater than residual strength of the soil.Even though the experiment was successful in meeting its objective, there might have been sources of errors leading to slight deviations witnessed. Most obvious source is human errors arising when taking the readings from the instruments used. Further, there might have been mistakes when setting up the apparatus such as the shear box.

Extra Credit Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Extra Credit Assignment - Essay Example Instead of relying on these three surefire ways to get elected into office, Smith relied on a grassroots-based campaign, largely relying on a multitude of youths and many others who shared his political ideals and fervor for honest-to-goodness civil service. Due to his lack of resources, especially on the financial aspect, Smith relied heavily on campaign contributions in order to try and keep his campaign going. Unlike his opponent, he barely had deep-pocketed colleagues who could do him a favor in exchange for a future favor that he would be returning to them. Instead, Smith literally walked the extra mile as he conducted his door-to-door campaign on foot. Smith further battled his disadvantage of lack of name-recall by packaging himself as an extreme underdog. It was through this packaging that people started to notice him and took him seriously. This same tactic allowed him to gain more followers even if he barely had any initial political

All Ideas Derive from the Sense Experience Which They Copy. Discuss Essay Example for Free

All Ideas Derive from the Sense Experience Which They Copy. Discuss Essay All ideas derive from the sense experience which they copy. DISCUSS An empiricist would be in favour of this view as they believe that knowledge is gained through experience (a posterior). For example, John Locke believes that the mind is a blank slate, or tabula rasa, which becomes populated with ideas through sense experience – in order to create ideas and knowledge, we must have sense experiences. Hume, also an empiricist, argues that ideas are copies of sense data. He has a method which states that faint ideas can become stronger through a fresh sense experience – thus implying that all ideas do derive from the sense experience which they copy. He further backs up this idea through his negative view on the imagination, which in his words is â€Å"confined within very narrow limits†. His strong stance states that no idea can be constructed without any sense experience -anything that may seem like an idea built without sense-data is simply a combination of other ideas. I can give the example of a Golden Mountain. Such a thing can never be experienced, but we can have an experience of â€Å"gold† similarly to the fact that we can also experience a â€Å"mountain†, and through these separate ideas we can construct a singular hybrid idea. Hume also talks of the concept of ‘a time when nothing happens’. The concept is easily fathomable in the human mind and seems logical. He argues that, although no sense experience was required to have an idea of this concept, such a time is actually impossible to experience thus dismissing this illusive idea as something he refers to as ‘sophistry and illusion’. A huge criticism of the Empiricist view is the fact that we only experience sense-data rather than the world itself. This is best explained through the idea of Noumena/Phenomena, in which the phenomena is our perception of the world and the noumena is the actual world itself. The only way to experience the noumena would be through a sense experience – however this experience would simply be another phenomena, thus implying that experiencing the real world is impossible. If such a thing is impossible and if all knowledge is built on things that we cannot truly reach, then how can it be possible to back up the Empiricist view that all ideas derive from sense experience? However, an Empiricist might respond with the claim that it is probably highly unlikely that we are perceiving something completely different to the noumena. Both claims have no proof and can therefore only be as unlikely or likely as each other. Descartes discussed the possibility of an ‘Evil Demon’ who could be tricking us into believing that we exist when really we do not. However, as a religious man, he concludes that God would not let this happen. Therefore, as the argument is similar, Descartes might argue that it is highly unlikely that we are perceiving completely different to the noumena as God, who wouldn’t let us be tricked by an evil demon, would not let such a thing happen. A philosopher who might argue against the Empiricist view is Wittgenstein. He argues that â€Å"experience does not direct us to derive anything from experience†. He says that learning something cannot be done on sense experience alone – it also requires teaching or applying reason to. Plato may also back up the Rationalist view that not all ideas derive from the sense experience which they copy, as he believes that some ideas are innate, such as mathematical and logical truths. An example of this can be taken from his dialogue ‘Meno’ in which Socrates encourages an uneducated slave boy to work out a mathematical truth relating to the lengths of sides of squares. The boy can successfully solve the problem without any prior knowledge of mathematics – thus proving that such knowledge is innate and only requires thought to solve. Descartes also argues against the empiricist view that all knowledge is built from sense experience – he argues that reason must also be applied to gain knowledge. This can be explained through an example in which he states the idea of a solid piece of wax. The solid wax is accidentally left to melt by the fire and become liquid. If we were to build ideas solely on sense experience, we might think that the solid wax and melted wax were TWO separate ideas. However, by applying reason we can deduce that the two forms are in fact the same thing. This idea could be opposed with the argument that if one had never experienced the melting of wax, or been taught the facts of materials changing state, then they would in fact not be able to apply such reason. In summary of all points made in this essay, we can conclude that Empiricists such as Locke and Hume would argue in favour of the claim that all ideas derive from sense experience, and that Rationalists, e.g. Descartes and Wittgenstein, would argue in opposition. This is due to a variety of beliefs but mainly due to the foundations of Empiricism (a posteriori knowledge) and Rationalism (a priori knowledge). Personally, although I believe that most knowledge is built mainly from sense experience, I sway to the Rationalist’s side as I agree that knowledge must be taught or applied reason to – however, I’m not entirely convinced by the idea of innate knowledge such as the kind Plato suggests.

Deontological ethics Essay Example for Free

Deontological ethics Essay Attempting to explain the differences and similarities of virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological is basically from my own understanding of each. I am having much difficulty reading the materials as well as sitting at this computer for any length of time. I believe my reading visual is deteriorating at a rapid pace because of the straining to my eyes. Virtue ethics focuses on a person’s character and morals. This person will always try to do what is right because he was taught at an early age and by someone he loves and wants to always please by doing the right thing, regardless of the consequences. Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of your actions. What I mean by that is that if you steal something and not get caught, there are no consequences. No one knows that you stole and therefore you do not have to answer to anyone but yourself. Deontology focuses on the outcome of the act whether right or wrong. The person steals food from a grocery store because his children are hungry and he does not have the money to buy food. Although it is his responsibility to feed his children, stealing is clearly wrong. The consequences did not matter at that particular time; he did what he felt he had to do. Recently there was an incident on my route where a woman called in to my job and conveyed to my superior that I was talking about Jesus on the bus and she was offended. I was called in and reprimanded and told not to speak about religion on the bus. My response to her was, is that right? Quite a few of my regular passengers know that I am a minister and talk to me regularly about the Bible, Jesus and the Christian faith. Based on the virtue ethics, I was taught to speak the word of God in season and out of season, when it is time or easy and when it is not a good time or hard. This is my first and most important job and regardless of the consequences, I will continue to preach the word and pray for anyone who desires to hear it. I will always try to please Jesus in whatever I do.

The Present Environmental Ecological Crisis Theology Religion Essay

The Present Environmental Ecological Crisis Theology Religion Essay There is the worldwide recognition of the present environmental/ecological crisis and there is a central belief amongst the religions that nature was created by God and should be protected. As environmental degradation has occurred, we begin to ask ourselves about the relationship between human beings and nature. The focus on religion and the environment has grown in recent years. Researchers have looked specifically at the role of religion and ecology. Taylor defines the field of religion and ecology as one that focuses on: Identifying the obstacles that the worlds mainstream religions may pose to environmental sustainability, and secondly the resources such religions may have available for promoting environmentally beneficent behaviors, (992). There is the recognition that the Earth is in danger from human activity and use and changes need to be made in order to sustain life on the Earth (Taylor 998). Why is it important to use religion as a means for environmental action? Berry states that it is human carelessness and greed that caused the environmental problems that we are faced with today (30). With this in mind, we look to religion as this is what some individuals believe holds a large degree of responsibility for the start of our environmental problems. Lynn Whites 1967 essay, The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis suggested a link between religion and the environment. White singled out Christian attitudes as a reason for the environmental crisis. He proposed that the attitudes of individuals who do not regard nature as a central importance need to be changed. The earth needs to be respected and used in a manner that will help to preserve it for future generations, rather than exploit it for the present. White suggested that it was when the Industrial Revolution began that the human concern for the environment was lost to a greater degree than had been seen in the past. White interpreted the Bible as presenting human dominance over nature, leading individuals to care about themselves and industrial progress rather than about environmental matters and the ultimate effects of their actions on the earth. Besides Whites interpretation, there are many other suggested explanations for how humans viewed the world, and their resulting actions. From the philosophy of Rene Descartes, the universe was seen as a machine. It was from this time that economic progress was a priority and the long-term effects from the development and use of nature was not regarded as an issue (Sevier, 41). This is a view similar to that held by White, in that human progress and development has led to the environmental effects. However, this view does not specifically mention the role of religion. Carters interpretation of this issue suggests that the ecological crisis is not a result of Judeo-Christian traditions, but rather stems from the interpretation of the Bible and giving human beings dominance over other life forms (animals, plants) (358). This led to the exploitation of natural resources and ultimately to where we are today with the issue. Regardless of how it initially happened, we have to face reality and realize that as a society we have caused considerable damage to our planet. The role of religion Anthropologists suggest that religion persists because it has value to us, and such value can be either intrinsic, instrumental, or a combination thereof, (Strada 59). Sevier writes that, Traditionally, religion used to play an integral role in linking people to the natural world, imbuing people with the knowledge and values that make caring for it a priority, (38). Six major religions Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism Indigenous Religious Buddhism There is a universality of suffering. Being aware of suffering and produces compassion. Though traditional Buddhism regarded human life over that of animals, there is presently the recognition that all life forms should be respected equally. As humans we got ourselves into this ecological/environmental crisis and we are the ones that need to get ourselves out. Source: Swearer Christianity There is often seen to be a failure on the part of Christians in how they had interpreted the Bible and used the resources that God made available to them. Lynn Whites 1967 essay is an example of this. However, this is not the belief of all individuals. There recently has been an increased awareness of the environment in the United States as churches are initiating responsibility towards environmental protection. Hinduism Hindu images relate to the powerful natural world. Ecological sensitivity is based on the relationship between humans and how they respect the gods and goddesses related to the earth. In South Asia, the effects of pollution, both in the air and water, have been felt, particularly in recent years. With the values that Hinduism has towards the environment, reflection is starting to occur on how individuals can best approach the ecological challenges that are occurring. Islam An environmental ethic is in the Quran, but leaves an opening for Muslims to incorporate creative and innovative solutions in the contemporary context. A green jihad has recently begun. This is a common term for the green movement that promotes environmental protection. Source: Denny Judaism Ecological issues were never a central focus of Judaism, but rather were dealt with as they came about. An environmental perspective suggests that a belief of Judaism is that we are only tenants on this earth. The earth must then be cared for as there are other inhabitants, both presently as well as in the future, that will be living here. Source: Fink Indigenous Religions For individuals following indigenous religions, there is an understanding of their place in the local environment. Native Americans have believed that there are spirits in nature and the environment needs to be taken care of. Grim writes that in indigenous beliefs, to analyze religion as a separate system of beliefs and ritual practices apart from subsistence, kinship, language, governance, and landscape is to misunderstand indigenous religion. The respect for nature and the environment is still present amongst the Indigenous peoples. What is evident, however, is wherever indigenous peoples have endured, they have maintained a loving experience of place and an understanding that spiritual forces capable of leading humans into both utilitarian and self-understandings abide in all of these places, (Grim). Source: Grim How do we create a solution? An environmental crisis is here. It is recognized throughout the world, and its presence is agreed upon by the major religions. But what is the next step? How do we go about creating a solution? Can there be a common ground for science and religion in that both work together towards a solution? Bouma-Prediger quotes Edward O. Wilson in saying that religion and science are the two most powerful forces in the world todayif religion and science could be united on the common ground of biological conservation, the problem [of biological catastrophe] would soon be solved (1392). Can religion and science work together? Hossein Nasr writes, The environmental crisis now encompasses the entire Earth, (3). He suggests that there is a crisis of values and that as humans, we have participated in creating the destruction of the environment. A need exists to develop a path across religious frontiers without destroying the significance of religion itself and to carry out a comparative study of the Earths of various religions as has been carried out for their Heavens, if these terms are understood in their traditional metaphysical and cosmological sense, (Hossein Nasr 3). We need to regain the loss of a moral and social awareness as ecology becomes more individualistic and systems based. Many researchers recognize that a global stance needs to be taken by religions, with them working together to create a more comprehensive worldview and ethics to assist in reversing this trend, (Tucker and Grim). This is along similar lines with what Hossein Nasr writes, that dialogue on the environment must take place between religions on a global scale. Tucker and Grim continue by writing that, This is critical because the attitudes and values that shape peoples concepts of nature come primarily from religious worldviews and ethical practices. The moral imperative and value systems of religions are indispensable in mobilizing the sensibilities of people toward preserving the environment for future generations. Religious factors and environmental behaviors and attitudes Sherkat and Ellison analyzed data from a 1993 General Social Survey to look at religious factors and environmental behaviors and attitudes. Their study revealed that contradictory findings on the connection between religion and environmental concern and activism are the result of varied influences of religious schemata and resource interactions on different indicators of environmental concern and activism, (83). Sherkat and Ellison were not able to conclude specific religious influences on the environment, but suggested that Whites 1967 essay had the possibility of being a primary influence for religious leaders to take a pro-environment stance and actions (83). Religion and the environment are intertwined in that they have had a history and will continue to have a role together in the future. This may be one area where science and religion can find a common ground both have the environment in their best interest and can work together to find a solution to the current environmental crisis. As religious traditions and beliefs have shaped human values and behaviors towards the environment in the past, this is one possibility for working toward positive environmental attitudes for the future.

Osmosis in a Patato Chip :: essays research papers

OSMOSIS IN A POTATO CHIP Aim: To investigate the effect of varying concentration of a certain sugar solution on the amount of osmotic activity between the solution and a potato chip of a given size. _____________________________________________________________________ Aim: To investigate the effect of varying concentration of a certain sugar solution on the amount of osmotic activity between the solution and a potato chip of a given size. Osmosis is defined as the net movement of water or any other solutions molecules from a region in which they are highly concentrated to a region in which they are less concentrated. This movement must take place across a partially permeable membrane such as a cell wall, which lets smaller molecules such as water through but does not allow bigger molecules to pass through. The molecules will continue to diffuse until the area in which the molecules are found reaches a state of equilibrium, meaning that the molecules are randomly distributed throughout an object, with all areas having an equal concentration. For this particular investigation I think that the lower the concentration of the sugar solution in the test tube, the larger the increase in mass of the potato chip will be. This is because the water molecules pass from a high concentration. Therefore, I believe that the chips that are in the tubes containing a higher concentration of water than sugar will have a larger mass than chips in tubes with higher sugar concentrations. Further information on potato plant cells: Plant cells always have a strong cell wall surrounding them. When they take up water via osmosis they start to swell, but the cell wall prevents them from bursting. Plant cells become "turgid" when they are put in dilute solutions. The definition of Turgid is when a cell becomes swollen and hard. The pressure inside the cell rises and eventually the internal pressure of the cell is so high that no more water can enter the cell. This liquid or hydrostatic pressure works against osmosis. Turgidity is very important to plants because this is what makes the green parts of the plant "stand up" into the sunlight. When plant cells are placed in concentrated sugar solutions they lose water due to the process of osmosis, and they become "flaccid." This is the exact opposite of "turgid". The content of the potato cells shrinks, and consequently pulls away from the cell wall. These cells are said to be plasmolysed. When plant cells are placed in a solution, which has exactly the same osmotic strength as the cells they are in a state between turgidity and flaccidity. Osmosis in a Patato Chip :: essays research papers OSMOSIS IN A POTATO CHIP Aim: To investigate the effect of varying concentration of a certain sugar solution on the amount of osmotic activity between the solution and a potato chip of a given size. _____________________________________________________________________ Aim: To investigate the effect of varying concentration of a certain sugar solution on the amount of osmotic activity between the solution and a potato chip of a given size. Osmosis is defined as the net movement of water or any other solutions molecules from a region in which they are highly concentrated to a region in which they are less concentrated. This movement must take place across a partially permeable membrane such as a cell wall, which lets smaller molecules such as water through but does not allow bigger molecules to pass through. The molecules will continue to diffuse until the area in which the molecules are found reaches a state of equilibrium, meaning that the molecules are randomly distributed throughout an object, with all areas having an equal concentration. For this particular investigation I think that the lower the concentration of the sugar solution in the test tube, the larger the increase in mass of the potato chip will be. This is because the water molecules pass from a high concentration. Therefore, I believe that the chips that are in the tubes containing a higher concentration of water than sugar will have a larger mass than chips in tubes with higher sugar concentrations. Further information on potato plant cells: Plant cells always have a strong cell wall surrounding them. When they take up water via osmosis they start to swell, but the cell wall prevents them from bursting. Plant cells become "turgid" when they are put in dilute solutions. The definition of Turgid is when a cell becomes swollen and hard. The pressure inside the cell rises and eventually the internal pressure of the cell is so high that no more water can enter the cell. This liquid or hydrostatic pressure works against osmosis. Turgidity is very important to plants because this is what makes the green parts of the plant "stand up" into the sunlight. When plant cells are placed in concentrated sugar solutions they lose water due to the process of osmosis, and they become "flaccid." This is the exact opposite of "turgid". The content of the potato cells shrinks, and consequently pulls away from the cell wall. These cells are said to be plasmolysed. When plant cells are placed in a solution, which has exactly the same osmotic strength as the cells they are in a state between turgidity and flaccidity.

Dill Pickle Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A Dill Pickle† is a story of a run in between two old lovers. The story begins with a nameless man eating a snack at a Chinese Pagoda. While waiting he sees a woman in the distance, as she walks forwards he sees Vera, a woman he dated six years prior. He invites her to sit down and have something to eat with him. She takes him up on the offer and sits down. They begin talking about the usual and then about the times that they spent together. He reminds her of the day they spent at Kew Gardens. What the man remembers of the day was how he was ignorant to all that she spoke to him. What Vera remembered was him confessing his love to her and telling her that no matter how much he lover her, she would never love him back.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Vera sees that he has changed a lot since their breakup. The man is considerably better looking from when she dated him. By the way he is dressed, it appears that he had done well for himself and has matured quite a bit. He offers her a cigarette from a Russian cigarette case, which leads him into his next conversation topic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He tells her that since their breakup he has done what they had dreamt of doing while they dated, travel to Russia. In fact, he had become a world traveler who spent over a year in Russia. He tells her of the straightforward manner in which Russians acted and how much she would have enjoyed it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He tells her how great o...

Tragedy and the Common Man - Miller Redefines the Tragic Hero :: Tragedy and the Common Man Essays

Tragedy and the Common Man - Arthur Miller redefines the Tragic Hero Arthur Miller states in his essay, "Tragedy and the Common Man," " . . . we are often held to be below tragedy--or tragedy below us . . . (tragedy is) fit only for the highly placed . . . and where this admission is not made in so many words it is most often implied." However, Miller believes " . . . the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were" (1021). It is this belief that causes Miller to use a common man, Willie Loman, as the subject of his tragedy, Death of a Salesman. Miller redefines the tragic hero to fit a more modern age, and the product of this redefinition is Willie. Miller states, " . . . the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life . . . to secure one thing, his sense of personal dignity" (1021). Willie is no exception. Willie's sense of personal dignity is primarily found in his family, most notably his son Biff. Willie transfers his dreams of being great onto Biff and, when Biff is a failure in the world, these dreams affect Willie's self-image and sense of personal dignity. To regain this personal dignity, Willie must make Biff great. In the end, it is the love for his son and the belief that his insurance money will make Biff "magnificent" that give him the needed excuse and cause him to end his life. "Tragedy, then, is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly" (1021). It is the nature of man to make evaluations of himself based upon his peers. Willie's peer with whom he evaluates himself is Charley. Willie and Charley are about the same age, their children grew up together, and have been friends for many years. Charley has achieved what Willie has dreamed of for so long. Charley's son is a successful lawyer, whereas Biff is a loafer. Charley is successful in business, whereas Willie has "washed out." As mentioned before, for Willie to be great, Biff must be great. Willie has failed his job in making Biff better than Charley's son, therefore he fails his evaluations of himself. "The flaw Tragedy and the Common Man - Miller Redefines the Tragic Hero :: Tragedy and the Common Man Essays Tragedy and the Common Man - Arthur Miller redefines the Tragic Hero Arthur Miller states in his essay, "Tragedy and the Common Man," " . . . we are often held to be below tragedy--or tragedy below us . . . (tragedy is) fit only for the highly placed . . . and where this admission is not made in so many words it is most often implied." However, Miller believes " . . . the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were" (1021). It is this belief that causes Miller to use a common man, Willie Loman, as the subject of his tragedy, Death of a Salesman. Miller redefines the tragic hero to fit a more modern age, and the product of this redefinition is Willie. Miller states, " . . . the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life . . . to secure one thing, his sense of personal dignity" (1021). Willie is no exception. Willie's sense of personal dignity is primarily found in his family, most notably his son Biff. Willie transfers his dreams of being great onto Biff and, when Biff is a failure in the world, these dreams affect Willie's self-image and sense of personal dignity. To regain this personal dignity, Willie must make Biff great. In the end, it is the love for his son and the belief that his insurance money will make Biff "magnificent" that give him the needed excuse and cause him to end his life. "Tragedy, then, is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly" (1021). It is the nature of man to make evaluations of himself based upon his peers. Willie's peer with whom he evaluates himself is Charley. Willie and Charley are about the same age, their children grew up together, and have been friends for many years. Charley has achieved what Willie has dreamed of for so long. Charley's son is a successful lawyer, whereas Biff is a loafer. Charley is successful in business, whereas Willie has "washed out." As mentioned before, for Willie to be great, Biff must be great. Willie has failed his job in making Biff better than Charley's son, therefore he fails his evaluations of himself. "The flaw

Human Development Index

What is HDI? HDI (Human Development index) is a way of measuring development by combining indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment and income. The breakthrough for the HDI was the creation of a single statistic which was to serve as a frame of reference for both social and economic development. The HDI sets a minimum and a maximum for each dimension, called goalposts, and then shows where each country stands in relation to these goalposts, expressed as a value between 0 and 1.It is also used to distinguish to a large extent, whether the country is a developed, a developing or an underdeveloped country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. NEED FOR HDI ————————————————- The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic gro wth alone. The HDI can also be used to question national policy choices, asking how two countries with the same level of GNI per capita can end up with such different human development outcomes.For example, the Bahamas and New Zealand have similar levels of income per person, but life expectancy and expected years of schooling differ greatly between the two countries, resulting in New Zealand having a much higher HDI value than the Bahamas. These striking contrasts can stimulate debate about government policy priorities. ————————————————- CALCULATION OF HDI 1) Life expectancy index (LEI) = (LE-20)/(83. 4-20) 2) Education index (EI) = v(MYSI*EYSI)/ 0. 951 3) Income Index (II) Log (GNIpc)-log(100)]/ [Log (107721) – log (100)] LE: Life expectancy at birth MYS: Mean years of schooling (Years that a 25-year-old person or older has spent in schools) EYS: Expected years of schooling (Years that a 5-year-old child will spend with his education in his whole life) ————————————————- GNIpc: Gross national income at purchasing power parity per capita COUNTRY| GDP RANK| HDI RANK| HDI| India| 4| 134| 0. 571| U. S| 1| 4| 0. 910| U. K| 8| 28| 0. 863| China| 2| 101| 0. 87| Pakistan | 29| 145| 0. 50| Oman| 77| 89| 0. 705| India ranks a low 134 among 187 countries in terms of the human development index (HDI), which assesses long-term progress in health, education and income indicators, said a UN report released on Wednesday. Although placed in the â€Å"medium† category, India's standing is way behind scores of economically less developed countries, including war-torn Iraq as well as Philippines. India’s ranking in 2010 was 119 out of 169 countries Sri Lanka has been ranked 97, China 101 and the Maldives 109.Bhutan, otherwise respected fo r its quality of life, has been placed at 141, behind India Pakistan and Bangladesh are ranked 145 and 146 in the list of countries that is headed by Norway and in which the Democratic Republic of Congress is at the bottom. The other two countries in South Asia, Nepal and Afghanistan, occupy ranks 157 and 172. According to the â€Å"UN Human Development Report, 2011: Sustainability and Inequality†, India’s HDI is 0. 5 compared to 0. 3 in 2010. COMPONENTS OF THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEXThe education component of the HDI is now measured by mean of years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age. Mean years of schooling are estimated based on educational attainment data from censuses and surveys available in the UNESCO Institute for Statistics database and Barro and Lee (2010) methodology). Expected years of schooling estimates are based on enrolment by age at all levels of education and population of official school age for each level of education.Expected years of schooling are capped at 18 years. The indicators are normalized using a minimum value of zero and maximum values are set to the actual observed maximum value of mean years of schooling from the countries in the time series, 1980–2010, that is 13. 1 years estimated for Czech Republic in 2005. Expected years of schooling are maximized by its cap at 18 years. The education index is the geometric mean of two indices. The life expectancy at birth component of the HDI is calculated using a minimum value of 20 years and maximum value of 83. 4 years.This is the observed maximum value of the indicators from the countries in the time series, 1980–2010. Thus, the longevity component for a country where life expectancy birth is 55 years would be 0. 552. For the wealth component, the goalpost for minimum income is $100 (PPP) and the maximum is $107,721 (PPP), both estimated during the same period, 1980-2011. The decent stand ard of living component is measured by GNI per capita (PPP$) instead of GDP per capita (PPP$) The HDI uses the logarithm of income, to reflect the diminishing importance of income with increasing GNI.The scores for the three HDI dimension indices are then aggregated into a composite index using geometric mean. The HDI facilitates instructive comparisons of the experiences within and between different countries. FACTORS AFFECTING HDI There are various factors that affect the economic development of any economy like health, education, per capita income, gender inequality, deforestation, population, pollution levels, literacy rate, infant mortality rate etc. Let us see a few of them one by one and try to find where India lags behind majority of the economies and why there is a mismatch in India’s growth and evelopment. A) Education index Education is an important indicator of a nation’s wellbeing, standard of living and is a measure of the economic development and quality of life which further helps in determining whether an economy is developed, developing or underdeveloped. India’s Shortfalls The Indian government has been lethargic in this aspect and has failed in ensuring a better education framework. Here, the government alone is not to be blamed. A majority of Indian population tend to neglect primary education. Poverty has been a major cause leading to lower literacy rates in India.Poor parents in underdeveloped states and backward regions make their children work to support the family financially. Girls in rural areas are forced to stay back at home and do daily chores. Also, education funding in rural areas is quite low. Uneducated parents don’t find it important to educate their children and this vicious cycle continues leaving the whole community uneducated. The government is not spending enough in education. Currently around 4% of GDP is being spent on education much lower than the target of 6% of GDP.Lower enrolment, high dropout rates, teacher absenteeism, poor instruction qualities, poor infrastructural facilities like classrooms, libraries, low encouragement and gender inequality are the root causes of low education index in India. About 30% of the world’s illiterate population belongs to India. COUNTRY| EDUCATION INDEX| India| 0. 450| The U. S| 0. 939| The U. K| 0. 815| Pakistan| 0. 386| China| 0. 623| Oman| 0. 539| SCALE| EDUCATION INDEX| Very High| 0. 894| High| 0. 715| Medium| 0. 561| Low| 0. 392| B) Health Index 2% of India’s children below the age of three are malnourished, almost twice the statistics of sub-Saharan African region of 28%. Although India’s economy grew 50% from 2001–2006, and its child-malnutrition rate only dropped 1%, lagging behind countries of similar growth rate. Malnutrition impedes the social and cognitive development of a child, reducing his educational attainment and income as an adult. These irreversible damages result in lower productivi ty. Infant mortality rate Approximately 1. 72 million children die each year before turning one.The under five mortality and infant mortality rates have been declining, from 202 and 190 deaths per thousand live births respectively in 1970 to 64 and 50 deaths per thousand live births in 2009. However, this rate of decline is slowing. Reduced funding for immunization leaves only 43. 5% of the young fully immunized. Infrastructure like hospitals, roads, water and sanitation are lacking in rural areas. Shortages of healthcare providers, poor intra-partum and newborn care, diarrheal diseases and acute respiratory infections also contribute to the high infant mortality rate.Inadequate safe drinking water Access to protected sources of drinking water has improved from 68% of the population in 1990 to 88% in 2008. However, only 26% of the slum population has access to safe drinking water,  and 25% of the total population has drinking water on their premises. This problem is exacerbated by falling levels of groundwater caused mainly by increasing extraction for irrigation. Insufficient maintenance of the environment around water sources, groundwater pollution, excessive arsenic and fluoride in drinking water pose a major threat to India's health. Rural healthRural India contains over 68% of India's total population with half of it living below  struggling for better and easy access to health care and services. Health issues confronted by rural people are diverse and many – from severe malaria to uncontrolled diabetes, from a badly infected wound to cancer. Postpartum maternal morbidity is a serious problem in resource-poor settings and contributes to maternal mortality, particularly in rural India; however, Misoprostal has been identified as a cost-effective maternal mortality intervention for home births. A study conducted in 2009, using multinomial logistic regression methods, found that 43. % of mothers reported to have experienced postpartum morbidities six weeks after delivery. Rural medical practitioners are highly sought after by people living in rural India as they more financially affordable and geographically accessible than practitioners working in the formal public health care sector. The  National Rural Health Mission  (NRHM) was launched in April 2005 by the Government of India. The goal of the NRHM is to provide effective healthcare to rural people with a focus on 18 states which have poor public health indicators and/or weak infrastructure. COUNTRY| HEALTH INDEX| India| 0. 717| The U. S| 0. 923| The U.K| 0. 949| Pakistan| 0. 717| China| 0. 843| Oman| 0. 836| SCALE| HEALTH INDEX| Very High| 0. 946| High| 0. 838| Medium| 0. 784| Low| 0. 611| C) GDP per capita (PPP) It is defined as GDP divided by the total population of a country. Per capita income is often used as a measure of the wealth of the population of a nation, particularly in comparison to other nations. The very fact that India in spite of being the 4th larg est economy stands 140th in terms of per capita income indicates that the income is distributed unevenly where a very percentage of the population is rich while majority is poor. COUNTRY| GDP per capita($)|India| 2933| The U. S| 41761| The U. K| 32147| Pakistan| 2369| China| 6200| Oman| 23333| COUNTRY| INCOME INDEX| India| 0. 508| The U. S| 0. 869| The U. K| 0. 832| Pakistan| 0. 464| China| 0. 618| Oman| 0. 778| Poverty in India  is widespread, with the nation estimated to have a third of the world's poor. In 2011,  World Bank  stated, 32. 7% of the total Indian people falls below the  international poverty line  of  US$  1. 25 per day (PPP) while 68. 7% live on less than  US$  2 per day. Lack of a market economy & over government regulation and red tape, known as License Raj is the main cause of poverty in India.While other Asian countries like China, Singapore and South Korea started with the same poverty level as India after independence, India adopted a soc ialist centrally planned, closed economy. Another cause is a high population growth rate, although demographers generally agree that this is a symptom rather than cause of poverty. While services and industry have grown at double digit figures, agriculture growth rate has dropped from 4. 8% to 2%. About sixty percent of the population depends on agriculture whereas the contribution of agriculture to the GDP is about eighteen percent.The surplus of labor in agriculture has caused many people to not have jobs. Farmers are a large vote bank and use their votes to resist reallocation of land for higher-income industrial projects. D) Gender Inequality Index There is strong evidence to suggest that India is a country of high concern in relation to missing women. The 2011 Census found a worrying trend in child sex ratios with only 914 females for 1,000 males, a drop from 927 in 2001. Using data from the 2011 Census in India, after adjusting for excess mortality rates in girls, the estimate s of number of selective abortions of girls rose from 0 to 2 million in the 1980s, to 1. to 4. 1 million in the 1990s, to 3. 1 to 6. 0 million in the 2000s. The study shows that the problem is in fact growing amongst the middle class which suggests that missing women cannot be attributed to poor socio-economic status. The male/female sex ratio for the total population in 2012 is 1. 08. According to data from the 2006-2007 Demographic and Health Survey for India, 41. 5% of girls and 45. 3% of boys under the age of two had received all their vaccinations. Under-five mortality rates were higher for girls than for boys (79. 2 per 1000 live births for girls, 69. % for boys), while malnutrition rates were equal or slightly higher for girls. Given that in most contexts, rates of under-five mortality and malnutrition are higher for boys than for girls, this would indicate bias towards sons in regard to early childhood care. Gender-disaggregated data in regard to child labor was unavailable. Primary and secondary school enrolment and attendance rates are lower for girls than for boys indicating some son preference in regard to access to education. COUNTRY| GENDER INEQUALITY INDEX| India| 0. 646| The U. S| 0. 311| The U. K| 0. 216| Pakistan| 0. 611| China| 0. 224| Oman| 0. 09| Conclusion â€Å"Economic growth† and â€Å"development† of any economy should go hand in hand unlike Indian economy where there is a huge contrast in this regard. India should focus on primary education, basic healthcare, gender equality and other social, environmental and economic aspects to ensure sustainable development. India has been very slow in reacting to the transformation of economy restructuring. Masses need to be educated about family planning, importance of education, gender inequality especially in rural areas so that they don’t take much time to adapt to an environment which is essential for development.Educational institutes should be set up on a large scale f ocusing more on basic education. Healthcare sector needs to be given prime importance. We need to take advantage of the technology available to us. Corruption is the biggest hindrance coming in the way of development and thus should be kept in check. India has till date come up with many schemes and programs for the poor section but has repeatedly failed to implement them effectively. So, while economic growth is vital to the economy, human development is to be given equal importance which decides or shows the true picture of the economy. Human Development Index What is HDI? The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of â€Å"human development†, taken as a synonym of the older terms â€Å"standard of living† and/or â€Å"quality of life†, and distinguishing â€Å"very high human development†, â€Å"high human development†, â€Å"medium human development†, and â€Å"low human development† countries. HDI was devised and launched by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, followed by Indian economist Amartya Sen in 1990. The HDI is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standards of living of a country.It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is also used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an underdeveloped country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. There are also HDI for states, cities, villages, etc. by local organizatio ns or companies which have interest in the matter. The HDI formula result is a number from 0 to 1, 1 being the best outcome possible. Components of HDI What does HDI tell us?The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone. The HDI can also be used to question national policy choices, asking how two countries with the same level of GNI per capita can end up with such different human development outcomes. For example, the Bahamas and New Zealand have similar levels of income per person, but life expectancy and expected years of schooling differ greatly between the two countries, resulting in New Zealand having a much higher HDI value than the Bahamas.These striking contrasts can stimulate debate about government policy priorities. What are the criteria for a country to be included in the HDI? The Human Development Report Office strives to include as many UN member countries as possible in the HDI. To include a country in the HDI we need recent, reliable and comparable data for all three dimensions of the Index. For a country to be included, statistics should ideally be available from the relevant international data agencies. India’s position in the worldIndia ranks a low 134 among 187 countries in the list that is headed by Norway and in which the Democratic Republic of Congo is at the very bottom in terms of the human development index (HDI). India's ranking in 2010 was 119 out of 169 countries. According to the â€Å"UN Human Development Report 2011: Sustainability and Inequality†, India's HDI is 0. 5 compared to 0. 3 in 2010. Comparison of India with few other countries Countries| Per Capita income in US $| Literacy Rate| Life Expectancy in years| HDI Rank| India| 1600| 74%| 67. 1| 134|US| 48,147| 99%| 79| 4| Canada| 51,147| 99%| 80. 7| 6| Germany| 40,631| 99%| 79. 4| 9| Nepal| 650| 68. 2%| 66. 5| 157| Pakistan| 1250| 70%| 66 . 3| 145| Growth Pattern of India Factors responsible for growth of India The then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, along with his finance minister Manmohan Singh, initiated the economic liberalization of 1991. The reforms did away with the Licence Raj, reduced tariffs and interest rates and ended many public monopolies, allowing automatic approval of foreign direct investment in many sectors.Since then, the overall thrust of liberalization has remained the same, although no government has tried to take on powerful lobbies such as trade unions and farmers, on contentious issues such as reforming labour laws and reducing agricultural subsidies. By the turn of the 20th century, India had progressed towards a free-market economy, with a substantial reduction in state control of the economy and increased financial liberalization. This has been accompanied by increases in life expectancy, literacy rates and food security, although urban residents have benefited more than agricultural reside nts.Also the boom in IT and other industries in services sector helped India to achieve economic strength whereby foreign currency started pouring in into the market. This was supported by the availability of skilled labours, talented brains and large young population. Growth Pattern of Nepal Nepal’s economic growth continues to be adversely affected by the political uncertainty. Nevertheless, real GDP growth is estimated to increase to almost 5 percent for 2011/2012. This is a considerable improvement from the 3. 5 percent GDP growth in 2010/2011 and would be the second highest growth rate in the post-conflict era.Sources of growth include agriculture, construction, financial and other services. The contribution of growth by consumption fueled by remittances has declined since 2010/2011. While remittance growth slowed to 11 percent (in Nepali Rupee terms) in 2010/2011 it has since increased to 37 percent. Remittances are estimated to be equivalent to 25-30 percent of GDP. In flation has been reduced to a three-year low to 7 percent. The proportion of poor people has declined substantially in recent years. The percentage of people living below the international poverty line (people earning less than US$1. 5 per day) has halved in only seven years. At this measure of poverty the percentage of poor people declined from 53. 1% in 2003/2004 to 24. 8% in 2010/2011. With a higher poverty line of US$2 dollars per-capita per day, poverty declined by one quarter to 57. 3%. However, the income distribution remains grossly uneven. Growth Pattern of Canada Factors responsible for growth in Canada The Canadian economy improved dramatically after 1896, and from that year until 1914, Canada had the world's fastest growing economy. The west was settled, the population grew quickly.The cause of this boom is debated. Whether the settlement of the west was a cause or effect of the boom is one of the most important issues. Globally the economy was improving with the end of the Long Depression. The last semi-humid farmland in the United States was exhausted, leaving Canada with the best unexploited farm land in North America. Technological changes from the steel plow to combine harvesters played an important role, but perhaps the most important development was the practice of dry farming that allowed farmers to profitably grow wheat on the semi-arid southern prairies.The most noted expansion was in western Canada, but at the same time Central Canada was undergoing a period of significant industrialization. While western and central Canada boomed during the pre-World War I years the economies of the three Maritime Provinces grew far more slowly. Investors from US and UK helped fuel country’s economic growth. Growth pattern of USA Factors responsible for growth in USA In the early years of American history, most political leaders were reluctant to involve the federal government too heavily in the private sector, except in the area of transportatio n.In general, they accepted the concept of laissez-faire, a doctrine opposing government interference in the economy except to maintain law and order. This attitude started to change during the latter part of the 19th century, when small business, farm, and labor movements began asking the government to intercede on their behalf. By the turn of the century, a middle class had developed that was leery of both the business elite and the somewhat radical political movements of farmers and laborers in the Midwest and West.Known as Progressives, these people favored government regulation of business practices to, in their minds, ensure competition and free enterprise. Congress enacted a law regulating railroads in 1887 (the Interstate Commerce Act), and one preventing large firms from controlling a single industry in 1890 (the Sherman Antitrust Act). Many of today's U. S. regulatory agencies were created during these years, including the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Federal Tra de Commission. Electrification in the U. S. started in industry ca. 1900 and by 1930 about 80% of power used in industry was electric.Tractors began being mass-produced. In the 1980s, Japan was accelerating its speed and catching up to the USA. In the face of competition from Japan, Americans did not give up hope, but acted with a great sense of urgency. Ronald Reagan called on the industrial association and think-tanks to discuss countermeasures. Through investigation and analysis, they found that the computer and communications industries were beginning to show vitality and had large market potential. In the future, it was possible that they would develop into the world's largest industries.Therefore, the Reagan administration declined to adopt a short-term, profit-oriented competition strategy; rather, it adopted methods that allowed universities to work collaboratively with enterprises to co-develop the computer and communications industries. During the Clinton administration, a large investment was made in building up the world’s internet highway. Growth Pattern of Pakistan Growth Pattern of Germany Factors responsible for growth of Germany Germany's economic growth stemmed from a number of causes. One of the main physical reasons behind economic growth was the sophistication of infrastructure.Between 1845 and 1870 5000 more miles of rail had beenbuilt and in 1850 Germany was building her own locomotives. This increase of rail transport created a huge demand for coal, iron and buildings, therefore industry began on a plant style level. All of this increased the amount of labour needed. The labour need was fuelled by a population growth. From 35 million people in 1840 Germanygrew to 49 million people in 1875 creating a young dynamic workforce,full of innovated ideas for the new industry. Not only was the workforce gained from a population increase, urbanisation also added to the need.People working in factories grew from 4% to 10%. Banks, particular ly investment banks gave a great stimulus to industrialization. It was a combination of commercial enterprise, investment, and investment trusts backed by large central banks. The second industrial revolution was promoted by a number of important factors. Most important of these was probably the scientific-technological developments at the end of the century. Another factor which propelled German industry forward was the unification of the monetary system, made possible in part by political unification.Another economic factor was the increased markets,domestic and overseas. Comparison of growth patterns Why HDI of India is low? While we are steadily increasing our investments in health and education, we have been let down at the most basic level: female mortality rates. Our maternal mortality figures are 450 deaths per 100,000, which is the worst in south Asia. Our adolescent fertility rates also let us down, as do figures for female education. Yet, a quick stroll through the HDI fi gures does show some improvement across sectors in most parts of the country.The stumbling blocks are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, parts of West Bengal and even Maharashtra. Quite obviously, in our race to get ahead, we have forgotten the basics. It has taken us over 60 years since the Constitution was adopted to pass the Right to Education Act for free and compulsory secondary education to all, even though it has long been a part of our Directive Principles. Our dropout rate is high and the girl child is the first to lose the race to school. More painful is the rich-poor divide.Our cities may be full of state-of-the-art hospitals, ready to cater to medical tourists, but village after village in India does not even have access to primary health care. We supply doctors all over the world but are unable to service our own needy. It is almost as if we have got so used to being a poor country that we hardly notice it any more. But as the Sensex and the economy show, India is no longer an ultra-poor country in the aggregate. But we still have a shockingly large proportion of poor people who are being deprived of just about everything.This HDI report is just one more reminder of how far we have to go. It tells us where our priorities should be. India has made huge strides in the field of education and water supply system but the biggest block in the human development indices for India is in the field of sanitation where 58 per cent of open defecation in the world takes place in India. A mere expenditure of Rs 2000 crore (Rs 20 billion) in the field of sanitation is being made while the budget for water supply was Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion). AgricultureSlow agricultural growth is a concern for policymakers as some two-thirds of India’s people depend on rural employment for a living. Current agricultural practices are neither economically nor environmentally sustainable and India's yields for many agricultural commodities are low. Poorly maintained irrigation systems and almost universal lack of good extension services are among the factors responsible. Farmers' access to markets is hampered by poor roads, rudimentary market infrastructure, and excessive regulation. Agricultural output of India lags far behind its potential.The low productivity in India is a result of several factors. According to the World Bank, India's large agricultural subsidies are hampering productivity-enhancing investment. While overregulation of agriculture has increased costs, price risks and uncertainty, governmental intervention in labour, land, and credit markets are hurting the market. Infrastructure such as rural roads, electricity, ports, food storage, retail markets and services are inadequate. Further, the average size of land holdings is very small, with 70% of holdings being less than one hectare in size.The partial failure of land reforms in many states, exacerbated by poorly maintained or non-existent land reco rds, has resulted in sharecropping with cultivators lacking ownership rights, and consequently low productivity of labour. Adoption of modern agricultural practices and use of technology is inadequate, hampered by ignorance of such practices, high costs, illiteracy, slow progress in implementing land reforms, inadequate or inefficient finance and marketing services for farm produce and impracticality in the case of small land holdings. The allocation of water is inefficient, unsustainable and inequitable.The irrigation infrastructure is deteriorating. Irrigation facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 39% of the total cultivable land was irrigated as of 2010, resulting in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the monsoon season, which is often inconsistent and unevenly distributed across the country. Corruption Corruption has been one of the pervasive problems affecting India. A 2005 study by Transparency International (TI) found that more than half of those surveyed had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office in the previous year.A follow-on 2008 TI study found this rate to be 40 percent. In 2011, Transparency International ranked India at 95th place amongst 183 countries in perceived levels of public sector corruption. In 1996, red tape, bureaucracy and the Licence Raj were suggested as a cause for the institutionalised corruption and inefficiency. More recent reports suggest the causes of corruption in India include excessive regulations and approval requirements, mandated spending programs, monopoly of certain goods and service providers by government controlled institutions, bureaucracy with discretionary powers, and lack of transparent laws and processes.The Right to Information Act (2005) which requires government officials to furnish information requested by citizens or face punitive action, computerisation of services, and various central and state governmen t acts that established vigilance commissions, have considerably reduced corruption and opened up avenues to redress grievances. The number of people employed in non-agricultural occupations in the public and private sectors. Totals are rounded. Private sector data relates to non-agriculture establishments with 10 or more employees. The current government has concluded that most spending fails to reach its intended recipients.A large, cumbersome and tumor-like bureaucracy sponges up or siphons off spending budgets. India's absence rates are one of the worst in the world; one study found that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical workers could not be found at the workplace. The Indian economy has an underground economy, with an alleged 2006 report by the Swiss Bankers Association suggesting India topped the worldwide list for black money with almost $1,456 billion stashed in Swiss banks. This amounts to 13 times the country's total external debt. EducationInd ia has made huge progress in terms of increasing primary education attendance rate and expanding literacy to approximately three-fourth of the population. India's literacy rate had grown from 52. 2% in 1991 to 74. 04% in 2011. The right to education at elementary level has been made one of the fundamental rights under the eighty-sixth Amendment of 2002, and legislation has been enacted to further the objective of providing free education to all children. However, the literacy rate of 74% is still lower than the worldwide average and the country suffers from a high dropout rate.Further, there exists a severe disparity in literacy rates and educational opportunities between males and females, urban and rural areas, and among different social groups. Infrastructure In the past, development of infrastructure was completely in the hands of the public sector and was plagued by slow progress, poor quality and inefficiency. India's low spending on power, construction, transportation, teleco mmunications and real estate, at $31 billion or 6% of GDP in 2002 had prevented India from sustaining higher growth rates.This has prompted the government to partially open up infrastructure to the private sector allowing foreign investment, and most public infrastructure, barring railways, is today constructed and maintained by private contractors, in exchange for tax and other concessions from the government. While 80% of Indian villages have at least an electricity line, just 44% of rural households have access to electricity. Some half of the electricity is stolen, compared with 3% in China. The stolen electricity amounts to 1. 5% of GDP.Transmission and distribution losses amount to around 20%, as a result of an inefficient distribution system, handled mostly by cash-strapped state-run enterprises. Almost all of the electricity in India is produced by the public sector. Power outages are common, and many buy their own power generators to ensure electricity supply. 6] Substantia l improvements in water supply infrastructure, both in urban and rural areas, have taken place over the past decade, with the proportion of the population having access to safe drinking water rising from 66% in 1991 to 92% in 2001 in rural areas, and from 82% to 98% in urban areas.However, quality and availability of water supply remains a major problem even in urban India, with most cities getting water for only a few hours during the day. Economic disparities A critical problem facing India's economy is the sharp and growing regional variations among India's different states and territories in terms of poverty, availability of infrastructure and socio-economic development. Six low-income states – Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh – are home to more than one third of India's population.Severe disparities exist among states in terms of income, literacy rates, life expectancy and living conditions. The five-year plans, especially i n the pre-liberalization era, attempted to reduce regional disparities by encouraging industrial development in the interior regions and distributing industries across states, but the results have not been very encouraging since these measures in fact increased inefficiency and hampered effective industrial growth.After liberalization, the more advanced states have been better placed to benefit from them, with well-developed infrastructure and an educated and skilled workforce, which attract the manufacturing and service sectors. The governments of backward regions are trying to reduce disparities by offering tax holidays and cheap land, and focusing more on sectors like tourism which, although being geographically and historically determined, can become a source of growth and develops faster than other sectors.In fact, the economists fail to realize that ultimately the problem of equitable growth or inclusive growth is intricately related to the problems of good governance and tran sparency. HDI for Indian states State| HDI| Rank| Maharashtra| 0. 689| 12| Madhya Pradesh| 0. 375| 33| Kerala| 0. 921| 1| Reasons for low HDI in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra as compared to Kerala: Life Expectancy: The life expectancy in MP is 56. 5 years for male and 56. 2 years for females averaging around 56. 4. The life expectancy in Maharashtra is 64. 5 for males and 67 for females averaging to 65. 8 years for the total population.The life expectancy in Kerala is 73. 5 years. As an important component of HDI life expectancy should be higher, but here it is low as compared to Kerala. Literacy rate: The literacy rate in MP is only 64. 11% which is very low. More than that literacy rate of women is very low. The literacy rate in Maharashtra is 77. 21 % whereas in Kerala it is 90. 92 %. Literacy is reasonably a good indicator of development in a society. Spread and diffusion f literacy is generally associated with essential trait of today’s civilization such as urbanization , modernization, industrialization, communication and commerce.Standard of living: The main factors influencing standard of living are poverty, physical infrastructure, regional imbalance. Poverty is very high in MP. Also the physical infrastructure is very poor. Poverty is high I Maharashtra because of high population. The physical infrastructure varies from region to region. In cities like Mumbai and Pune the infrastructure is world class, but in other regions of the state the infrastructure is not so good which shows regional imbalance Poverty in Kerala is very low. All over Kerala the physical infrastructure is good, there is no regional imbalance. Human Development Index Introduction: The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of â€Å"human development† and separate â€Å"very high human development†, â€Å"high human development†, â€Å"medium human development†, and â€Å"low human development† countries. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an under-developed country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. There are also HDI for states, cities, villages, etc. by local organizations or companies. Background: The origins of the HDI are found in the annual Human Development Reports of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). These were devised and launched by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq in 1990 and had the explicit purpose ‘‘to shift the focus of development economics from national income accounting to people centered policies’’. To produce the Human Development Reports, Mahbub ul Haq brought together a group of well-known development economists including: Paul Streeten, Frances Stewart, Gustav Ranis, Keith Griffin, Sudhir Anand and Meghnad Desai. But it was Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s work on capabilities and functionings that provided the underlying conceptual framework. Haq was sure that a simple composite measure of human development was needed in order to convince the public, academics, and policy-makers that they can and should evaluate development not only by economic advances but also improvements in human well-being. Sen initially opposed this idea, but he went on to help Haq develop the Human Development Index (HDI). Sen was worried that it was difficult to capture the full complexity of human capabilities in a single index but Haq persuaded him that only a single number would shift the attention of policy-makers from concentration on economic to human well-being. Data collection: Life expectancy at birth is provided by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs; mean years of schooling by Barro and Lee (2010); expected years of schooling by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics; and GNI per capita by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. For few countries, mean years of schooling are estimated from nationally representative household surveys. Many data gaps still exist in even some very basic areas of human development indicators. While actively advocating for the improvement of human development data, as a principle and for practical reasons, the Human Development Report Office does not collect data directly from countries or make estimates to fill these data gaps in the Report. Dimensions and calculation: Published on 4 November 2010, starting with the 2010 Human Development Report the HDI combines three dimensions: 1. A long and healthy life: Life expectancy at birth 2. Access to knowledge: Mean years of schooling and Expected years of schooling 3. A decent standard of living: GNI per capita (PPP US$) The HDI combined three dimensions up until its 2010 report: 1. Life expectancy at birth, as an index of population health and longevity 2. Knowledge and education, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weighting) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weighting). 3. Standard of living, as indicated by the natural logarithm of gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. New methodology for 2010 data onwards: In its 2010 Human Development Report the UNDP began using a new method of calculating the HDI. The following three indices are used: LE ¬-20 1. Life Expectancy Index (LEI) = 63. 2 vMYSI . EYSI 2. Education Index (EI) = 0. 951 ln (GNIpc) – ln (163) 3. Income Index (II) = ln(108,211) – ln (163) Finally, the HDI is the geometric mean of the previous three normalized indices: HDI = v LEI . EI . II 2010 report: The 2010 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Program was released on November 4, 2010, and calculates HDI values based on estimates for 2010. Criticisms: The Human Development Index has been criticised on a number of grounds, including failure to include any ecological considerations, focusing exclusively on national performance and ranking (although many national Human Development Reports, looking at subnational performance, have been published by UNDP and others—so this last claim is untrue), not paying much attention to development from a global perspective and based on grounds of measurement error of the underlying statistics and formula changes by the UNDP which can lead to severe misclassifications of countries in the categories of being a ‘low', ‘medium', ‘high' or ‘very high' human evelopment country. Other authors claimed that the Human Development Reports â€Å"have lost touch with their original vision and the index fails to capture the essence of the world it seeks to portray†. The index has also been criticized as â€Å"redundant† and a â€Å"reinvention of the wheel†, m easuring aspects of development that have already been exhaustively studied. The index has further been criticised for having an inappropriate treatment of income, lacking year-to-year comparability, and assessing development differently in different groups of countries. Economist Bryan Caplan has criticised the way HDI scores are produced; each of the three components are bounded between zero and one. As a result of that, rich countries effectively cannot improve their rating (and thus their ranking relative to other countries) in certain categories, even though there is a lot of scope for economic growth and longevity left. â€Å"This effectively means that a country of immortals with infinite per-capita GDP would get a score of . 66 (lower than South Africa and Tajikistan) if its population were illiterate and never went to school. † He argues, â€Å"Scandinavia comes out on top according to the HDI because the HDI is basically a measure of how Scandinavian your country is. † Economists Hendrik Wolff, Howard Chong and Maximilian Auffhammer discuss the HDI from the perspective of data error in the underlying health, education and income statistics used to construct the HDI. 18] They identify three sources of data error which are due t o (i) data updating, (ii) formula revisions and (iii) thresholds to classify a country’s development status and find that 11%, 21% and 34% of all countries can be interpreted as currently misclassified in the development bins due to the three sources of data error, respectively. The authors suggest that the United Nations should discontinue the practice of classifying countries into development bins because the cut-off values seem arbitrary, can provide incentives for strategic behavior in reporting official statistics, and have the potential to misguide politicians, investors, charity donators and the public at large which use the HDI. In 2010 the UNDP reacted to the criticism and updated the thresholds to classify nations as low, medium and high human development countries. In a comment to The Economist in early January 2011, the Human Development Report Office responded[24] to a January 6, 2011 article in The Economist which discusses the Wolff et al. paper. The Human Development Report Office states that they undertook a systematic revision of the methods used for the calculation of the HDI and that the new methodology directly addresses the critique by Wolff et al. in that it generates a system for continuous updating of the human development categories whenever formula or data revisions take place. The following are common criticisms directed at the HDI: that it is a redundant measure that adds little to the value of the individual measures composing it; that it is a means to provide legitimacy to arbitrary weightings of a few aspects of social development; that it is a number producing a relative ranking which is useless for inter-temporal comparisons, and difficult to compare a country's progress or regression since the HDI for a country in a given year depends on the levels of, say, life expectancy or GDP per capita of other countries in that year. However, each year, UN member states are listed and ranked according to the computed HDI. If high, the rank in the list can be easily used as a means of national aggrandizement; alternatively, if low, it can be used to highlight national insufficiencies. Using the HDI as an absolute index of social welfare, some authors have used panel HDI data to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. Ratan Lal Basu criticises the HDI concept from a completely different angle. According to him the Amartya Sen-Mahbub ul Haq concept of HDI considers that provision of material amenities alone would bring about Human Development, but Basu opines that Human Development in the true sense should embrace both material and moral development. According to him human development based on HDI alone, is similar to dairy farm economics to improve dairy farm output. To quote: ‘So human development effort should not end up in amelioration of material deprivations alone: it must undertake to bring about spiritual and moral development to assist the biped to become truly human. [31] For example, a high suicide rate would bring the index down. A few authors have proposed alternative indices to address some of the index's shortcomings. However, of those proposed alternatives to the HDI, few have produced alternatives covering so many countries, and that no development index (other than, perhaps, Gross Domestic Product per capita) has been used so extensively—or ef fectively, in discussions and developmental planning as the HDI. However, there has been one lament about the HDI that has resulted in an alternative index: David Hastings, of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific published a report geographically extending the HDI to 230+ economies, whereas the UNDP HDI for 2009 enumerates 182 economies and coverage for the 2010 HDI dropped to 169 countries