Public Enterprises Essay

What are the Objectives of Public Enterprises? SOUMYA SINGH In India, public enterprises have been assigned the task of realising the objectives laid down in the Directive Principles of State Policy. Public sector as a whole seeks: (a) to gain control of the commanding heights of the economy, (b) to promote critical development in terms of social gain or strategic value rather than on consideration of profit, and (c) to provide commercial surplus with which to finance further economic development. The main objectives of public enterprises in India are as follows: 1. Economic development: Public enterprises were set up to accelerate the rate of economic growth in a planned manner. These enterprises have created a sound industrial base for rapid industrialisation of the country. They are expected to provide infrastructure facilities for promoting balanced and diversified economic structure of development. 2. Self-reliance: Another aim of public enterprises is to promote self-reliance in strategic sectors of the national economy. For this purpose, public enterprises have been set up in transportation, communication, energy, petro-chemicals, and other key and basic industries. . Development of backward Areas: Several public enterprises were established in backward areas to reduce regional imbalances in development. Balanced development of different parts of the country is necessary for social as well as strategic reasons. 4. Employment generation: Unemployment has become a serious problem in India. Public enterprises seek to offer gainful employment to millions. In order to protect jobs, several sick units in the private sector have been nationalised. 5. Economic surplus: Public enterprises seek to generate and mobilise surplus for reinvestment. These enterprises earn money and mobilise public savings for industrial development. 6. Egalitarian society: An important objective of public enterprises is to prevent concentration of economic power and growth of private monopolies. Public sector helps the Government to enforce social control on trade and industry for ensuring equitable distribution of goods and services. Public enterprises protect and promote small scale industries. 7. Consumer welfare: Public enterprises seek to protect consumers from exploitation and profiteering by ensuring supply of essential commodities at cheaper prices. They aim at stabilising prices. 8. Public utilities: Private sector is guided by profit motive. Therefore, it is reluctant to invest money in public utility services like water supply, gas, electricity, public transport. Therefore, the Government has to assume responsibility for providing such services. 9. Defence: Government has to set up public enterprises for production of defence equipment. Supply of such equipment cannot be entrusted for private sector due to the need for utmost secrecy. 10. Labour welfare: Public enterprises serve as model employers. They ensure welfare and social security of employees. Many public enterprises have developed townships, schools, college and hospitals for their workers. Role and Rationale of Public Enterprises The public sector has been playing a vital role in the economic development of the country. In fact the public sector has come to occupy such an important place in our economy that on its effective performance depends largely the achievement of the country’s economic and social goals. Public sector is considered a powerful engine of economic development and an important instrument of self-reliance. The main contributions of public enterprises to the country’s economy may be described as follows: 1. Filling of gaps: At the time of independence, there existed serious gaps in the industrial structure of the country, particularly in the field of heavy industries. Basic and key industries require huge capital investment, involve considerable risk and suffer from long gestation periods. Private sector concerns do not come forward to establish such industries. Public sector has helped to fill up these gaps. The basic infrastructure required for rapid industrialisation has been built up, through the production of strategic capital goods. The public sector has considerably widened the industrial base of the country and speeded up the pace of industrialisation. 2. Employment: Public sector has created millions of jobs to tackle the unemployment problem in the country. Public sector accounts for about two-third of the total employment in the organised industrial sector in India. By taking over many sick units, the public sector has protected the employment of millions. Public sector has also contributed a lot towards the improvement of working and living conditions of workers by serving as a model employer. 3. Balanced regional development: Private industries tend to concentrate in certain regions while other regions remain backward. Public sector undertakings have located their plants in backward and untraded parts of the country. These areas lacked basic industrial and civic facilities like electricity, water supply, township and manpower. Public enterprises have developed these facilities thereby bringing about complete transformation in the social-economic life of the people in these regions. Steel plants of Bhilai, Rourkela and Durgapur; fertilizer factory at Sindri, machine tool plants in Rajasthan, precision instruments plants in Kerala and Rajasthan, etc. are a few examples of the development of backward regions by the public sector. 4. Optimum utilisation of resources: Public enterprises make better utilisation of scarce resources of the country. They are big in size and able to enjoy the benefits of large scale operations. They help to eliminate wasteful completion and ensure full use of installed capacity. Op timum utilisation of resources results in better and cheaper production. 5. Mobilisation of surplus: The profits earned by public enterprises are reinvested for expansion and diversification. Moreover, public sector concerns like banks and financial nstitutions mobilise scattered public savings thereby helping the process of capital formation in the country. Public enterprises earn considerable foreign exchange through exports. 6. Self reliance: Public enterprises have reduced considerably the need for imports by producing new and better products within the country. These enterprises are also earning considerable amount of foreign exchange through exports. 7. Socialistic pattern of society: Public sector is an instrument for realising social objectives. Public enterprises help to check concentration of wealth and private monopolies. These enterprises can serve as powerful means of economic and social change. 8. Public welfare: Public enterprises help in the establishment of a welfare state in the country. These enterprises supply essential commodities at cheaper rates. A proper balance between demand and supply is created to protect consumers against exploitation by profit hungry businessmen. Public enterprises also protect and promote the interests of workers. Criticism of Public Enterprises [Arguments against Public Enterprises] Public enterprises are opposed on account of weaknesses in their organisation and working. These enterprises generally suffer from the following problems: 1. Delay in completion: Often a very long time is taken in the establishment and completion of public enterprises. Delay in completion leads to increase in the cost of establishment and benefits extracted from them are delayed. 2. Faulty evaluation: Public enterprises are in some cases set upon political considerations. There is no proper evaluation of demand and supply and expected costs and benefits. There are no clear cut objectives and guidelines. In the absence of proper project planning there is under- utilisation of capacity and wastage of national resources. . Heavy overhead costs: Public enterprises often spend huge amounts on providing housing and other amenities to employees. Though such investment is useful for employees but it takes away a large part of capital and the project suffers from financial difficulties. 4. Poor returns: Majority of the public enterprises in India are incurring loss. In some of them the profits earned do not yield a reasonable return on huge investment. Lack of effective financial controls, wasteful expenditure and dogmatic pricing policy result in losses 5. Inefficient management: Due to excessive centralisation of authority and lack of motivation public enterprises are managed inefficiently. High level posts are often occupied by persons lacking necessary expertise but enjoying political support. 6. Political interference: There is frequent interference from politicians and civil servants in the working of public enterprises. Such interference leaves little scope for initiative and freedom of action. Public enterprises enjoy little autonomy and flexibility of operations. 7. Labour problems: In the absence of proper manpower planning public enterprises suffer from over-staffing. Jobs are created to fulfil employment goals of the Government. Guarantee of job in these enterprises encourages trade unions to be militant in pursuing their aims. Growth of Public Enterprises in India At the time of independence, public sector in India was confined mainly to railways, communications, defence production and public utility services. Since then the growth of public enterprises has been very rapid. Now public sector consists of public utilities (e. g. , railways, post and telegraph, etc), manufacturing concerns (e. g. , BHEL, SAIL, etc. ), trading organisations (e. g. STC, MMTC, etc. ), service organisations (e. g. , NIDC, RITES, etc. ). SAIL, a Maharatna Company of Govt. of India, is the world’s leading and India’s largest steel producer with an annual turnover of around Rs. 50,348 crore (FY11-12). It operates and owns 5 integrated steel plants at Rourkela, Bhilai, Durgapur, Bokaro and Burnpur and 3 special steel plants at Salem, Durgapur and Bhadravati. As part of its global ambition the Company is implementing a massive expansion plan involving project work of building/adding new facilites with emphasis on state of the art green technology. List of Maharatna, Navratna and Miniratna CPSEs As per available information (as on February, 2013) Maharatna CPSEs Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited Coal India Limited GAIL (India) Limited Indian Oil Corporation Limited NTPC Limited Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited Steel Authority of India Limited Navratna CPSEs Bharat Electronics Limited Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited National Aluminium Company Limited NMDC Limited Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited Oil India Limited Power Finance Corporation Limited Power Grid Corporation of India Limited Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited Rural Electrification Corporation Limited Shipping Corporation of India Limited Miniratna Category – I CPSEs Airports Authority of India Antrix Corporation Limited Balmer Lawrie & Co. Limited Bharat Dynamics Limited BEML Limited Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Bridge & Roof Company (India) Limited Central Warehousing Corporation Central Coalfields Limited Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited Cochin Shipyard Limited Container Corporation of India Limited Dredging Corporation of India Limited Engineers India Limited Ennore Port Limited Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited Goa Shipyard Limited Hindustan Copper Limited HLL Lifecare Limited Hindustan Newsprint Limited Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited Housing & Urban Development Corporation Limited India Tourism Development Corporation Limited Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited IRCON International Limited KIOCL Limited Mazagaon Dock Limited Mahanadi Coalfields Limited Manganese Ore (India) Limited Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemical Limited Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited MMTC Limited MSTC Limited National Fertilizers Limited National Seeds Corporation Limited NHPC Limited Northern Coalfields Limited Numaligarh Refinery Limited ONGC Videsh Limited Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited Projects & Development India Limited Railtel Corporation of India Limited Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited RITES Limited SJVN Limited Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited South Eastern Coalfields Limited State Trading Corporation of India Limited Telecommunications Consultants India Limited THDC India Limited Western Coalfields Limited WAPCOS Limited Miniratna Category-II CPSEs Bharat Pumps & Compressors Limited Broadcast Engineering Consultants (I) Limited Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited Ed. CIL (India) Limited Engineering Projects (India) Limited FCI Aravali Gypsum & Minerals India Limited Ferro Scrap Nigam Limited HMT (International) Limited HSCC (India) Limited India Trade Promotion Organisation Indian Medicines & Pharmaceuticals Corporation Limited M E C O N Limited National Film Development Corporation Limited National Small Industries Corporation Limited P E C Limited Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited

Diagnosis of an Infected Patient Essay Essay

As we know bacteria comes in various classes and are distinguished by their shapes, chemical configuration, source of energy either sunlight or chemicals, nutritional requisites and biochemical actions. We have a patient that may be infected with an unknown bacterial infection; we’ve collected a sputum sample and will be testing for one of the following genera: Bacillus, Escherichia and Mycoplasma. In order to determine which one of the three may be the source of the infection we have to recognize the characteristics of each one and the staining protocol needed to identify them. All three of the above mentioned genera are considered to be members of the Prokaryotic cell family which includes bacteria. They have certain identifiable features that distinguishes them from Eukaryotes such as: â€Å"Their DNA is not enclosed within a membrane† and â€Å"they usually divide by binary fusion, organelles are not encompassed within the membrane and the cell walls usually consis t of complex polysaccharides peptidoglycan† (Tortora, 2013). When researching the differences among the three genera’s each have specific characteristics that distinguishes one from another; Mycoplasma are the smallest members of the prokaryote family, due to their size they lack cell walls or have a scant amount of wall material, but they are known to thrive and reproduce outside the living host cells. The plasma membranes of this bacteria contain lipids (sterols) to protect them from lysis (Tortora, 2013). Bacillus are rod shaped bacteria that are usually presented as singular (single bacilli); however when they divide into pairs they’re called Diplobacilli and when appearing as a chain it’s known as streptobacilli; there’s also bacillus that resemble cocci and are referred to as cocobacilli. Escherichia also known as E. coli is a rod shaped bacteria consisting of â€Å"flagellar protein† known as H- antigens to help differentiate the various servoar within the E. coli strain. In order to continue with our investigation as to which genera is causing the infection we must determine the appropriate staining method for each bacteria listed above. Let’s begin with Mycoplasma because this genera has a very thin or lacks a cell wall we will consider this a â€Å"Gram- positive† bacteria. If mycoplasma retains its structure, size and capsules that’s an indication of  the type of bacteria causing the infection in the patient. Bacillus are part of the prokaryotic cell family containing a thin layer of peptidoglycan; however they are spore forming; this trait helps to identify them as â€Å"gram-positive†. Step (1) in the staining process is adding the sputum to the slide, step (2) is applying heat to the sample, step (3) adding crystal-violet dye which turns the cytoplasm cells purple and applying mordant to the specimen, step (4) wash with de-coloring solution (alcohol) which causes the peptidoglycan to become more impermeable crystal –violet and iodine, step (5) counterstain is absorbed and is masked by the primary purple dye that was previously absorbed by the â€Å"gram-positive† cell s (pg. 86). It’s during this step when the microbes are identified. While the bacillus is in the aging process some cells die and give the appearance of gram-negative bacteria; these are known as â€Å"gram-variable† (Tortora, 2013). Escherichia (E.coli) these rod shaped microorganisms have a thick outer membrane; however they are non-spore forming; therefore they are considered â€Å"gram-negative† cells. The steps in the staining of â€Å"gram-negative† cells are as follows: Step (1) in the staining process is adding the sputum to the slide, step (2) is applying heat to the sample to allow the sample to remain on the slide, step (3) adding crystal-violet dye which turns the cytoplasm cells purple then apply mordant to the specimen, step (4) wash with de-coloring solution (alcohol) which allows the crystal violet-iodine to diffuse through holes in the peptidoglycan layer of the cell, step (5) add the counterstain which turns the specimen red/pink this process helps to identify the microbes; as they lack color (Tortora, 2013). Wi thout color we would be unable to identify the microorganisms creating the infections created by â€Å"gram-negative† bacteria because they are color-less. References: Tortora, Funke, Case: Microbiology an Introduction 2013 (11th edition).

Baseball WWII

Examines the sport as a popular social patriotic glue. Looks at the decline of players quality and compares it to the game of WWI. Looks at the issues of players military service, attendance and owners views. Baseball was one of the most significant forms of popular culture in the United States at the time of the Second World War. It was, by far, the most popular sport in the country, and its stars were local and, often, national heroes. It was a truly national pastime, as professional teams from the large northeastern and midwestern cities competed with each other, minor league teams drew crowds in small towns all over the country, and radio listeners swelled the number of fans. A great body of popular lore had grown up around the subject, and the identification of baseball and American values had become axiomatic. As with any manifestation of popular culture, baseball both revealed and determined what American society valued most. But, when World War II arrived, it was inevitable that baseball would be hit much harder than other popular culture..

Analysis of a doll's house Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis of a doll's house - Essay Example The thesis statement is that: â€Å"A Doll’s House† emphasizes upon self-actualization and independence of choice, for all human beings and not just women, especially when it comes to the bond of marriage. This paper is an analysis of the play. The world took Nora as a hardcore feminist who slams the door upon a man, revealing the fact that a woman can do much more than just running the house and bearing children. This feministic view was quite alien to the Victorian era people, who kept themselves from discussing the play at gatherings due to its controversies. Ibsen was criticized as writing plays intended to destabilize the society and the bond of marriage. He was considered as a challenger of societal norms and traditional values. However, he did not accept the title of a feminist; rather, he called himself a humanist. He emphasized upon the fact the human rights must be respected, by giving every individual the chance and choice to live a life of his own, rather th an staying tied to bonds that he can hardly spend his life with. He made Nora leave Torvald, not because he favored women, but because he favored humanity and liberalism. Through his play, he encouraged people to stand up for their rights, against those who did not deserve to be done good to. For him, it was a matter of human rights, and not of women rights. He used women to express how humanity was being repressed, because normally women are the repressed ones in our society. Hence, a shadow of feminism is there, which cannot be denied. We come to know this when Mrs. Linde says, â€Å"I only feel my life unspeakably empty. No one to live for anymore†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ibsen 19), which shows how she lived life serving others and not herself. An example of male chauvinism comes when we hear Torvald say to Nora, â€Å"I shall not allow you to bring up the children: I dare not trust them to you† (Ibsen 107), which shows how man can demean a woman by being able to snatch from her mo st basic right. The play shows the couple leading themselves to the dissolution of their marriage, because they were not able to understand the status of one another. For Ibsen, a marriage is successful if the two spouses come to join one another on an equal level. The couple must understand that none of the two is supposed to be dominant or recessive. The disparity of power leads to problems and misunderstandings. Torvald has been shown as a dominant, providing husband; while, Nora is a recessive wife who dreads the disclosure of her crime over her husband, like when she says, â€Å"†¦how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything. It would upset our mutual relations altogether †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ibsen 23-24). She gets blackmailed by Krogstad. Torvald treats his wife as an inferior being, by calling her by pet names, as he says, â€Å"Is it my little squirrel bustling about?† (Ibsen 8). So, we see that th ere was no equality between the two spouses, which gave rise to misunderstanding between the two, so much so that the wife preferred to leave the husband instead of living with him anymore. Hence, Ibsen has, through his play, been able to provoke a thought among the people around him, regarding the humiliation of mankind and the violation of human rights. He has been able to give a strong meaning to the institution of marriage, where both the spouses are supposed to live together on

The Bernie Madoff Scandal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Bernie Madoff Scandal - Case Study Example This paper illustrates that the Bernie Madoff Scandal was discovered by one of the Modoffs’ son when Madoff decided to pay up to $7 billion redemptions or bonuses upfront after showing the inability to pay investors. The sons demanded to know the source of the funds and father admitted that his asset management arm of his firm was actually being operated as a Ponzi scheme in which new investments covered returns from the existing or earlier investments and personal wealth. Upon discovering the fraud, the son did what the unexpected and took up the matter with the federal authorities leading to the arrest of Madoff. Madoff revealed that he had run the scheme for approximately 20 years since the early 1990s. It was discovered that over the years Mr. Madoff was actually using money from new investors to pay returns to old investors creating a pyramid resembling a previous scheme named after Charles Ponzi. Although Mr. Madoff was operating within hedge fund industry, his fund was not a hedge fund, but endowments and foundations after the hedge funds invested heavily with his company. Madoff’s strategy to pay old investors with funds obtained from new investors enables his firm to satisfy the high returns promised to investors despite failure by the old investments to generate any returns. Investors expected that their funds were invested elsewhere by the company to generate returns, but Madoff deposited all the funds in his business account at Chase Manhattan Bank. In order to hide the reality in his company, he creatively came up with false transactions involving falsified SEC filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and foreign transfers year after year. Modoff’s fraud dealings also most surfaced in 1999 when Harry Markopolos, a financial analyst-whistleblower alerted the securities and commission that his gains were impractical in the financial situation.

Syriana Film assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Syriana Film - Assignment Example differing viewpoints to underline the main themes of the film, namely; international corruption, cartels and the issue of corporate social responsibility. Gaghan described his inspiration for the film beginning with his work on Traffic3, where he felt that America’s dependency on foreign oil had distinct similarities with drug addiction. Indeed, a fundamental issue reiterated in Syriana is how the role of oil is central to US policy towards the Middle East and the US position within the contemporary framework of international relations. In turn, the relationship between Matt Damon’s character Bryan Woodman and Prince Nasir also presents a different insight into Middle Eastern politics through Prince Nasir’s frustration at American control in the area and his desire to undertake national reform and develop the economy for sustainability in the long term. Additionally, the increasing work of Bryan Woodman’s character with the Prince comes at the sacrifice of his marriage due to the death of Bryan’s son. Bryan’s payment of $175 million from the Prince and role as economic advisor causes his wife to accuse him of exploiting his son’s death for commercial gain. To this end, the death of Bryan’s son and sacrifice of his marriage is arguably symbolic of the central theme of Syriana regarding the interrelationship between oil, globalisation and the balance of power in international relations. For example, it is submitted that the oil industry symbolises the sacrifice of ethical concepts of morality as the control of oil in the Middle East is seen as fundamental to the balance of power within the international framework. This is highlighted by the American unease with Prince Nasir giving a natural gas drilling rights contract to China. The three central stories that interweave throughout the film purposively depict three very different men operating over various continents to highlight the long term and immediate consequences of pursuing wealth and

Sociology of Childhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sociology of Childhood - Essay Example Browne (2011) defines the term â€Å"life chances† as an individual’s chances of getting access to all those things which are considered as desirable by the society and not being affected by all those things which are considered undesirable by the society. Similarly, in the opinion of Ferrante (2012), social class can be identified as the phenomenon in which an individual’s belonging to a section of society can influence their life chances. Thus, one has to infer that the term â€Å"life chances† indicates having access to at least good education, healthcare facilities, food, clothing and housing. An important point of Marx’s theory of social class is that the bourgeoisies, or the people who own the means of production, enjoy better social standing as they are powerful enough to impose their ideas on the proletariat (the working class). As the bourgeoisie class does not share the wealth justifiably, the difference in wealth between the working class and the bourgeoisie increases. Hence, the working class is deprived of the goods and services enjoyed by the bourgeoisie (Browne 2011). Similarly, Weber categorises the society into two groups; the negatively privileged property class and the positively privileged property class. The positively privileged class is blessed with marketable abilities, and hence is able to enjoy expensive consumer goods and better services. On the other hand, the other class has no marketable abilities, and hence, is deprived of good goods and services (Ferrante 2012). It is pointed out by a UK Government report that measuring child poverty is a difficult task because their life chances are influenced by a number of factors other than just income of the family. Some such dimensions to be included are material deprivation, worklessness, unmanageable debt, poor housing, parental skill level, access to quality education, family stability, and parental health (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2012) The Child