Hurdling

Event Paper: Hurdling In track and field, the three main types of event include: running, throwing and jumping. According to britannica. com, hurdling is defined as â€Å"A sport in athletics (track and field) in which a runner races over a series of obstacles called hurdles, which are set a fixed distance apart. † Throughout the race, runners are required to stay within their assigned lane. They are allowed to knock down hurdles while running, but a runner who trails a foot or leg alongside a hurdle or knocks it down with a hand is disqualified.Hurdling, which combines running and jumping, is fairly new in comparison to the other track and field events. However, hurdling contains an impressive and interesting history and continues to be one of the most popular events at the Olympics. It was not until the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 when hurdles were introduced to the world. The original Olympics began long before in Greece, however, Roman Emperor Theodosius I had banne d the Games 1,500 years earlier as an attempt to abolish what he thought were pagan practices.The modern Olympics arose in Athens and presented hurdling events, thanks to the French baron, Pierre de Coubertin, who than became the first International Olympic Committee president. The Games initially began with 110-meter hurdles and in 1900 introduced the 400-meter hurdles. When the sport was first introduced, hurdling was completed by simply jumping over the hurdles. American Alvin Kraenslein, however, changed this and introduced a new striding technique for overcoming the hurdles in 1900. This technique incorporated straightening the front leg while tucking the back leg underneath the body.After winning both the 110- and 200-meter hurdle events, Kraenzlein’s technique became the standard for hurdling and still is practiced today. After its introduction, hurdling was mainly recognized as an event for men only. In 1926, this changed with the introduction of the Olympic 80-meter hurdle events for women. With the success of women such as Babe Didrikson exceeding, the participation and recognition of women in hurdling increased. Furthermore, as of 2011, women compete in the same hurdling events as men, including the 400-meter hurdles.In hurdling events, there are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The most common sprint hurdles is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. As mentioned, the standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women. There are also other distances that are run indoors which are usually 60 meters or less for both men and women. In sum, there are different specific techniques for each hurdle race. While the high hurdles races are sprints, they are also technical events. The ultimate goal for all hurdlers is do as little hurdling, and as much as running, as possible.This means participants must sprint, clear the hurdles, then proceed sprinting as quickly as possible. The key is to preserve momentum while clearing al l ten hurdles, maintaining one’s center of gravity as close to standard sprinting position as possible. As with the other sprint races, high hurdles participants being in starting blocks. However, unlike a straight spring, sprint hurdlers most transfer into an upright position rather quickly. Sprint hurdlers retain their speed leading up to each hurdle, but they also shorten the last step before their lead leg rises to clear the hurdle.This provokes the plant foot under the hips and allows the hurdler to shift their upper body weight forward. It is also vital to remember appropriate arm technique. The arm on the opposite side of the lead leg pushes forward and literally directs the runner toward the hurdle. As the lead leg’s knee drives to the hurdle, the lower leg extends forward until the foot approaches the hurdle’s height. As the body leans forward, the lead knee continues slight bent as the hurdler proceeds forward. As soon as the lead leg’s heel cle ars the hurdle, it is important immediately bring that foot down.Than the contestant must pull his or her trail leg over the hurdle quickly and prepare to resume sprinting. Senior-level hurdlers usually take three strides between hurdles but it can vary. In sum, it is important to never slow down and to utilize the arms, which will help the hurdler to maintain good balance. Both men and women have set astonishing records in completing the event of hurdling. The 110-meter hurdles for men, 12. 8 seconds is the fastest that has ever been ran and Aries Merritt from the USA holds that record. However, one other significant hurdler is Liu Xiang who was the first person to run under 12. seconds. Also, Allen Johnson from USA is the only four-time world champion. The fastest time ran for the women’s 100-meter hurdles is 12. 21 by Yordanka Donkova in 1988. Two other successful athletes that are the only 100 meters hurdlers to have become both Olympic Champion and World Champion are Sal ly Pearson from Austria and Ludmila Narozhilenko-Engquist from Sweden. As the Olympic Games continue, team USA remains to dominate the men’s 110-meter hurdles however, for the women’s 100-meter hurdles, athletes from Bulgaria and Germany dominate the event.The 400 meters hurdles is also an Olympic event in track and field. Runners stay in their lanes the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten hurdles that are evenly spaced around the track. The 400 meters hurdle race requires speed, endurance, and hurdling technique along with distinctive awareness and particular concentration throughout the race. The current men's and women's world record holders are Kevin Young with 46. 78 seconds and Yuliya Pechonkina with 52. 34 seconds. There are common physical characteristics and traits among hurdlers.Many hurdlers are considered strong and have a good amount of muscle. This is important in having a good, solid landing as well as having an aggressive star t. Also good flexibility and coordination (i. e. hip mobility) is vital. During the hurdling process one of your legs does extend to the side in which this trait comes to play. Furthermore, a hurdler must run the 100 meters well since the ultimate objective of hurdling is to sprint the event as much as possible. Finally having a tall stature can be an advantage due to having shorter strides and achieving greater horizontal distance over the hurdle.All in all, a successful hurdler contains most or all of these physical characteristics. Hurdling can now been seen at almost all levels, beginning with middle school student track and field teams, and continuing through high school and college to the Olympics. It is important to understand that hurdling involves persistent training and with that strong work ethic. As Kevin Young said, â€Å"The key thing in the hurdles is that it’s a development event. You might not do a damn thing one year, and then things just click. You really can’t discount athletes who may not stand out immediately.It may take two or three years for an athlete to develop. † References Hurdling. (2012). In Encyclop? dia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/277252/hurdling Rosenbaum, Mike. (2010). Sprint hurdles technique. Retrieved Dec. 18, 2012, from About. com database. Sherwod, Chris. (2011, Jul 14). History of hurdling. Retrieved Dec. 18, 2012, from Livestrong. com database. Slingo, Mark. (2008). History of hurdling. Retrieved Dec. 18, 2012, from ehow. com database. Sports Coach, BrianMac. (2012, Oct 17). Spring hurdles. Retrieved Dec. 18, 2012 from Brianmac. co database.

Formalist Criticism on “Waiting on the Curb: Lynwood California, 1967”

Marquetta Brown Eng 241 J. Zeff Formalist Criticism The poem ‘Waiting oat the curb: Lynwood California, 1967 written by Deborah Escobedo is about a young girl named Debbie in Lynwood, California who is waiting on a friend at the curb. When first examining the title of the poem, I think of waiting on the curb as a sign of prostitution or hitchhiking. They way I imagine the scene of the poem is; a hot summer day in an urban area in Lynwood, California. I imagine Debbie’s father outside a small white house watering the lawn. In the poem the characters were Debbie, mother, father, neighbor, a friend, and America. Even though the friend and America didn’t have lines in the poem the still had an effect on how the poem was interpreted. When I analyze and picture Debbie’s father, I see an older, overweight, lower middle class gentleman. I see him standing on the front lawn watering the grass with a white T-shirt on and denim shorts on. The father seems to be a very relaxed individual. â€Å"His law, the one green he can count on. He can’t count /On his money, or his Dodgers slipping on the green/. By the author saying that he can’t count on his money shows that he may have some financial troubles. Also in examining those two lines of the poem about the father, they give more insight about the father’s possessions. The word his is capitalized when it refers to â€Å"His lawn†, but not when is refers to â€Å"his Dodgers†. While reviewing the personality of the father and his relationship with his daughter, â€Å"Maybe he could speak his mind about decency†. Ordinarily id a father had to question what his daughter was wearing he would have stopped her immediately. Instead of him stopping her and telling her to go change her clothes, he â€Å"†¦rolls the garden hose/Onto the sling of his arm. Debbie, where are you going/With no clothes on? † Debbie says, â€Å"Dad, this is how it is†. The dad doesn’t say or do anything. In conducting a character analysis of Debbie, she seems to be an older teenage. Debbie also appears to be a little bit rebellious. With no regard or respect for her father she dresses inappropriately and waits on the curb. â€Å"She thinks and spins the music of her time†. She is dressed in cut offs, â€Å"Cut too short†, and a gypsy blouse. It appears that she could be possibly day dreaming this event while she is waiting on the curb. The poet made the reader pay attention to the details of Debbie’s attire. By saying a gypsy blouse it makes the reader picture something seductive and showing skin and cleavage. The tone of the poem changes when â€Å"America is getting ready. † The author is taking about the people and the world around the characters in the poem, referring to the people as â€Å"America†. She then describes what America is doing around her. â€Å"America is shoveling ice cream into Tupperware bowls,/America is setting up trays in front of snowy TVs. † At this point in the poem she brings forth a reality. Debbie comes to a realization at this point as well. She begins to pull at her shorts that have risen up form being cut to short. I can picture Debbie looking at everything around her with the woman in curls yelling at her own old man then Debbie saying, â€Å"I gotta get outta here,/ It seems as if at this point she is unsatisfied with where she is at and the culminating events made her realize that this is not the life she wants. Overall the poem told a story. The author’s diction made the reader key into certain areas of the poem. The way the poem was presented on the page also had an effect on the way the poem was interpreted.

Basel Norms in India

Challenges In India ver since its introduction in 1988, capital adequacy ratio has become an important benchmark to assess the financial strength and soundness of banks. It has been successful in enhancing competitive equality by ensuring level playing field for banks of different nationality. A survey conducted for 129 countries participating in the ninth International Conference of Banking Supervision showed that in 1996, more than 90% of the 129 countries applied Basel-like risk weighted capital adequacy requirement.Reserve Bank of India introduced risk assets ratio system as a capital adequacy measure in 1992, in line with the capital measurement system introduced by the Basel Committee in 1988, which takes into account the risk element in various types of funded balance sheet items as well as non-funded off-balance sheet exposures. Capital adequacy ratio is calculated on the basis of various degrees of risk weights attributed to different types of assets. As per current RBI guid elines, Indian banks are required to achieve capital adequacy ratio of 9% (as against the Basel Committee stipulation of 8%). E Swapan BakshiImplementation of Basel II has been described as a long journey rather than a destination by itself. RBI has decided to follow a consultative process while implementing Basel II norms and move in a gradual, sequential and co-ordinated manner. BASEL CAPITAL ACCORD However, the present accord has been criticized as being inflexible due to focus on primarily credit risk and treating all types of borrowers under one risk category irrespective of credit rating. The major criticism against the existing accord stems from its ? Broad-brush approach – irrespective of quality of counter party or credit ?Encouraging regulatory arbitrage by cherry picking ? Lack of incentives for credit risk mitigation techniques ? Not covering operational risk Moreover, years have passed since the introduction of the present accord. The business of banking, risk ma nagement practices, supervisory approaches and financial markets have undergone significant transformation since then. Therefore, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision thought it desirable that the present accord is replaced by a more risk-sensitive framework. The new accord aims to overcome the anomalies of the present system.It emphasizes on bank’s own internal methodologies, supervisory review and market discipline. (The author is a member of the Institute. He can be reached at [email  protected] co. in THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 426 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II The new proposal is based on three mutually reinforcing pillars that allow banks and supervisors to evaluate properly the various risks that banks face and realign regulatory capital more closely with underlying risks. Each of these three pillars has risk mitigation as its central plank. The new risk sensitive approach seeks to strengthen the safety and soundness of the industry by focussing on: ? ? more elaborate th an the current accord. It proposes, for the first time, a measure for operational risk, while the market risk measure remains unchanged. The new proposal is based on three mutually reinforcing pillars that allow banks and supervisors to evaluate properly the various risks that banks face and realign regulatory capital more closelyThe Second Pillar with underlying risks. – Supervisory Review Process Supervisory review process has been introduced to ensure not only that banks have adequate capital to support all the risks, but also to encourage them o develop and use better risk management techniques in monitoring and managing their risks. Pillar III The process has Market four key princiDiscipline ples a) Banks should have a process for assessing their overall capital adequacy in relation to their risk profile and a strategy for monitoring their capital levels. b) Supervisors should review and evaluate bank’s internal capital adequacy assessment and strategies, as well as their ability to monitor and ensure their compliance with regulatory capital ratios. ) Supervisors should expect banks to operate above the minimum regulatory capital ratios and should have the ability to require banks to hold capital in excess of the minimum. d) Supervisors should seek to intervene at an early stage to prevent capital from falling below minimum level and should require rapid remedial action if capital is not mentioned or restored. Risk based capital (Pillar 1) Risk based supervision (Pillar 2) Risk disclosure to enforce market discipline (Pillar 3) Basel II Framework Pillar I Minimum Capital Requirements Pillar II Supervisory Review Process The First Pillar – Minimum Capital RequirementsThe first pillar sets out minimum capital requirement. The new framework maintains minimum capital requirement of 8% of risk assets. Under the new accord capital adequacy ratio will be measured as under— Total capital (unchanged) = (Tier I+Tier II+Tier III) Risk Wei ghed Assets = Credit risk + Market risk + Operational risk (Tier III capital has not yet been introduced in India. ) Basel II focuses on improvement in measurement of risks. The revised credit risk measurement methods are The Third Pillar – Market Discipline Market discipline imposes strong incentives to banks to conduct their business in a safe, sound and effective manner.It is proposed to be effected through a series of disclosure requirements on capital, risk exposure etc. so that market participants can assess a bank’s capital adequacy. These disclosures should be made at least semi-annually and more frequently if appropriate. Qualitative disclosures such as risk management objectives and policies, definitions etc. may be published annually. THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 427 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II Timeframe for Implementation The Basel Committee first released the proposal to replace the 1988 Accord with a more risk sensitive framework in June 1999, on which more than 20 0 comments were received.Reflecting on those comments the Committee presented a more concrete proposal in January 2001 seeking more comments from interested parties. The third consultative paper was released in April 2003. Furthermore Credit the Committee conducted three Assessment quantitative impact studies to assess the impact of the new proposals. Sovereign (Govt. Thereafter, the final version of the & Central Bank) New Accord has been published on Claims on Banks June 26, 2004, which is designed to Option 1 establish minimum level of capital for internationally active banks.The Option 2a new framework is to be made Option 2b applicable from 2006 end. The more advanced approaches will be impleCorporates mented by the end of year 2007. COMPUTATION OF CAPITAL REQUIREMENT Capital Requirement for Credit Risk: The New Accord provided for the following alternative methods for computing capital requirement for credit risk Credit Risk – The Standardized Approach: The standardized approach is conceptually the same as the present accord, but is more risk sensitive. The bank allocates a risk weight to each of its assets and off-balance sheet positions and produces a sum of riskweighted asset values.A risk weight of 100% means that an exposure is included in the calculation of risk weighted assets value, which translates into a capital Credit Risk charge equal to 9% of that value. Individual risk weight currently depends on the broad category of borrower (i. e. sovereign, banks or corporates). Under the new accord, the risk weights are to be refined by reference to a rating provided by an external credit assessment institution (such as rating agency) that meets strict standards. Proposed Risk Weight Table AAA to A+ to BBB+ AAA- to BBB0% 20% 50% BB+ to B100% Below Unrated B150% 100% 20% 20% 20% 20% 50% 50% 20% 50% 100% 50% 20% 100% 00% 100% 50% to 150% 150% 150% 150% 100% 50% 20% 100% Option 1 = Risk weights based on risk weight of the country Option 2a = Risk w eight based on assessment of individual bank Option 2b = Risk weight based on assessment of individual banks with claims of original maturity of less than 6 months. Retail Portfolio (subject to qualifying criteria) 75% Claims secured by residential property 35% Non-performing assets: If specific provision is less than 20% 150% If specific provision is more than 20% 100% The Committee has not proposed significant change in respect of off-balance Sheet items except for commitment to extend credit.The Internal Rating Based Approach (IRB): Under the IRB approach, banks will be allowed by the supervisors to use their internal estimates of risk components to assess credit risk in their portfolios, subject to strict methodological and disclosure standards. A bank estimates each borrower’s creditworthiness and the results are translated into estimates of a future potential loss amount, which form the basis of minimum capital requirements. The risk components include measures of ? Sta ndardized Approach Internal Rating Based approach Securitization Framework Foundation IRB Advanced IRBProbability of Default (PD), THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 428 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II ? ? ? Loss Given Default (LGD), Exposure At Default (EAD) and Effective Maturity (M) standardized approach under the securitization framework. Similarly, banks that have received approval to use IRB approach for the type of underlying exposure, must use the IRB approach for the securitization. The differences between foundation IRB and advanced IRB have been captured in the following table: Data Input Probability of Default Foundation IRB Provided by bank based on own estimates Capital Charge for Market RiskAlthough the Basel Committee issued â€Å"Amendment to the Capital Accord to incorporate Market Risks† in 1996, RBI as an interim measure, advised banks to assign an additional risk weight of 2. 5% on the entire investment portfolio. RBI feels that over the years, bank’s ability to ident ify and measure market risk has improved and therefore, decided to assign explicit capital charge for market risk in a phased manner over a two year period as under -. Advanced IRB Provided by bank based on own estimates Provided by bank based on own estimates Provided by bank based on own estimates Provided by bank based on own estimatesLoss Supervisory values set Given Default by the Committee Exposure at Default Effective Maturity Supervisory values set by the Committee Supervisory values set by the Committee Or At the national discretion, provided by bank – based on own estimates The IRB approach is based on measures of Unexpected Loss (UL) and Expected Loss (EL). While capital requirement provides for UL portion, EL component is taken care of by provisioning. Securitization Framework: Banks must apply the securitization framework for determining regulatory capital requirement on exposure arising from securitization.Banks that apply the standardized approach to credit ris k for the underlying exposure, must use the a. Banks would be required to maintain capital charge for market risk in respect of their trading book exposure (including derivatives) by March 2005. b. Banks would be required to maintain capital charge for market risk in respect of securities under available for sale category by March 2006. Market Risk Approaches Market Risk Standardized Approach Internal Model Based approach Maturity Based Duration Based RBI has issued detailed guidelines for computation of capital charge on Market Risk in June 2004.The guidelines seek to address the issues involved in com- THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 429 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II puting capital charge for interest rate related instruments in the trading book, equities in the trading book and foreign exchange risk (including gold and precious metals) in both trading and banking book. Trading book will include: Securities included under the Held for Trading category Securities included under the Available for Sale category ? Open gold position limits ? Open foreign exchange position limits ? Trading position in derivatives and derivatives entered into for hedging trading book exposures.As per the guidelines, minimum capital requirement is expressed in terms of two separately calculated charges: a. Specific Risk and b. General Market Risk Specific Risk: Capital charge for specific risk is designed to protect against an adverse movement in price of an individual security due to factors related to individual issuer. This is similar to credit risk. The specific risk charges are divided into various categories such as investments in Govt securities, claims on Banks, investments in mortgage backed securities, securitized papers etc. nd capital charge for each category specified. General Market Risk: Capital charge for general market risk is designed to capture the risk of loss arising from changes in market interest rates. The Basel Committee suggested two broad methodologies for computation o f capital charge for market risk, i. e. , Standardized Method and Internal Risk Management Model Method. As Banks in India are still in a nascent stage of developing internal risk management models, in the guidelines, it is proposed that to start with, the Banks may adopt the Standardized Method.Again, under Standardized Method, there are two principle methods for measuring market risk – maturity method and duration method. As duration method is a more accurate method of measuring interest rate risk, RBI prefers that Banks measure all of their general market risk by calculating the price sensitivity (modified duration) of each position separately. For this purpose detailed mechanics to be followed, time bands, assumed changes in yield etc. have been provided by RBI. Capital Charge for Equities: Capital charge for specific risk will be 9% of the Bank’s gross equity position. The general market risk charge will also be 9%.Thus the Bank will have to maintain capital equal to 18% of investment in equities (twice the present minimum requirement). Capital Charge for Foreign Exchange Risk: ? ? Foreign exchange open position and gold open position are at present risk weighted at 100%. Capital charge for foreign exchange and gold open position would continue to be computed at 9% as hitherto. Risk Aggregation: The capital charge for specific risk, general market risk and equity and forex position will be added up and the resultant figure will be multiplied by 11. 11 (inverse of 9%) to arrive at the notional risk weighted assets.Capital Charge for Operational Risk The Basel Committee has defined the Operational Risk as â€Å"the risk of loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems or from external events†. This definition includes legal risk but excludes strategic and reputational risk. The objective of the operational risk management is to reduce the expected operational losses using a set of key risk indicators to measure and control risk on continuous basis and provide risk capital on operational risk for ensuring financial soundness of the Bank. Operational Risk Approaches Operational RiskBasic Indicator Approach Standardized Approach Advanced Measurement Approach Basic Indicator Approach Under the basic indicator approach, Banks are required to hold capital for operational risk equal to the average over the previous three years of a fixed percentage (15% – denoted as alpha) of annual gross income. Gross income is defined as net interest income plus net non-interest income, excluding realized profit/losses from the sale of securities in the banking book and extraordinary and irregular items. Standardized Approach Under the standardized approach, bank’s activities are divided into eight business lines.Within each business line, gross income is considered as a broad indicator for the likely scale of operational risk. Capital charge for each business line is calculated by multip lying gross income by a factor (denoted beta) assigned to THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 430 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II This partly explains the current trend of consolidation in the banking industry. Profitability: Competition among banks for highly rated corporates needing lower amount of capital may exert pressure on already thinning interest spread. Further, huge implementation cost may also impact profitability for smaller banks.Risk Management Architecture: The new standards are an amalgam of international best practices and calls for introduction of advanced risk management system with wider application throughout the organization. It would be a daunting task to create the required level of technological architecture and human skill across the institution. Rating Requirement: Although there are a few credit rating agencies in India – the level of rating penetration is very low. A study revealed that in 1999, out of 9640 borrowers enjoying fund-based working capital facilities fro m banks – only 300 were rated by major agencies.Further, rating is a lagging indicator of the credit risk and the agencies have poor track record in this respect. There is a possibility of rating blackmail through unsolicited rating. Moreover rating in India is restricted to issues and not issuers. Encouraging rating of issuers would be a challenge. Choice of Alternative Approaches: The new framework provides for alternative approaches for computation of capital requirement of various risks. However, competitive advantage of IRB approach may lead to domination of this approach among big banks. Banks adopting IRB approach will be more sensitive than those adopting standardized approach.This may result in high-risk assets flowing to banks on standardized approach – as they would require lesser capital for these assets than banks on IRB approach. Hence, the system as a whole may maintain lower capital than warranted and become more vulnerable. It is to be considered wheth er in our quest for perfect standards, we have lost the only universally accepted standard. Absence of Historical Database: Computation of probability of default, loss given default, migration mapping and supervisory validation require creation of historical database, which is a time consuming process and may require initial support from the supervisor.Incentive to Remain Unrated: In case of unrated sovereigns, banks and corporates the prescribed risk weight is 100%, whereas in case of those entities with lowest ratting, the risk weight is 150%. This may create incentive for the category of counterparties, which anticipate lower rating to remain unrated. Supervisory Framework: Implementation of The final version of the New Accord has been published on June 26, 2004, which is designed to establish minimum level of capital for internationally active banks. The new framework is to be made applicable from 2006 end.The more advanced approaches will be implemented by the end of year 2007. that business line. Total capital charge is calculated as the three-year average of the simple summations of the regulatory capital across each of the business line in each year. The values of the betas prescribed for each business line are as under: Business Line Corporate finance Trading and sales Retail banking Commercial banking Payment and settlement Agency services Asset management Retail brokerage Beta Factor 18% 18% 12% 15% 18% 15% 12% 12%Advanced Measurement Approach Under advanced measurement approach, the regulatory capital will be equal to the risk measures generated by the bank’s internal risk measurement system using the prescribed quantitative and qualitative criteria. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES While there is no second opinion regarding the purpose, necessity and usefulness of the proposed new accord – the techniques and methods suggested in the consultative document would pose considerable implementational challenges for the banks especially in a developin g country like India.Capital Requirement: The new norms will almost invariably increase capital requirement in all banks across the board. Although capital requirement for credit risk may go down due to adoption of more risk sensitive models – such advantage will be more than offset by additional capital charge for operational risk and increased capital requirement for market risk. THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 431 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II Basel II norms will prove a challenging task for the bank supervisors as well.Given the paucity of supervisory resources – there is a need to reorient the resource deployment strategy. Supervisory cadre has to be properly trained for understanding of critical issues for risk profiling of supervised entities and validating and guiding development of complex IRB models. Corporate Governance Issues: Basel II proposals underscore the interaction between sound risk management practices and corporate good governance. The bank’s board of dir ectors has the responsibility for setting the basic tolerance levels for various types of risk.It should also ensure that management establishes a framework for assessing the risks, develop a system to relate risk to the bank’s capital levels and establish a method for monitoring compliance with internal policies. National Discretion: Basel II norms set out a number of areas where national supervisor will need to determine the specific definitions, approaches or thresholds that wish to adopt in implementing the proposals. The criteria used by supervisors in making these determinations should draw upon domestic market practice and experience and be consistent with the objectives of Basel II norms.Disclosure Regime: Pillar 3 purports to enforce market discipline through stricter disclosure requirement. While admitting that such disclosure may be useful for supervisory authorities and rating agencies – the expertise and ability of the general public to comprehend and inte rpret disclosed information is open to question. Moreover, too much disclosure may cause information overload and may even damage financial position of bank. Disadvantage for Smaller Banks: The new framework is very complex and difficult to understand.It calls for revamping the entire management information system and allocation of substantial resources. Therefore, it may be out of reach for many smaller banks. As Moody’s Investors Services puts it, â€Å"It is unlikely that these banks will have the financial resources, intellectual capital, skills and large scale commitment that larger competitors have to build sophisticated systems to allocate regulatory capital optimally for both credit and operational risks. Discriminatory against Developing Countries: Developing counties have high concentration of lower rated borrowers. The calibration of IRB has lesser incentives to lend to such borrowers. This, alongwith withdrawal of uniform risk weight of 0% on sovereign claims may result in overall reduction in lending by internationally active banks in developing countries and increase their cost of borrowing.Although the Basel Committee issued â€Å"Amendment to the Capital Accord to incorporate Market Risks† in 1996, RBI as an interim measure, advised banks to assign an additional risk weight of 2. 5% on the entire investment portfolio. External and Internal Auditors: The working Group set up by the Basel Committee to look into implemetational issues observed that supervisors may wish to involve third parties, such a external auditors, internal auditors and consultants to assist them carrying out some of the duties under Basel II.The precondition is that there should be a suitably developed national accounting and auditing standards and framework, which are in line with the best international practices. A minimum qualifying criteria for firms should be those that have a dedicated financial services or banking division that is properly researched an d have proven ability to respond to training and upgrades required of its own staff to complete the tasks adequately.With the implementation of the new framework, internal auditors may become increasingly involved in various processes, including validation and of the accuracy of the data inputs, review of activities performed by credit functions and assessment of a bank’s capital assessment process. CONCLUSION Implementation of Basel II has been described as a long journey rather than a destination by itself. Undoubtedly, it would require commitment of substantial capital and human resources on the part of both banks and the supervisors.RBI has decided to follow a consultative process while implementing Basel II norms and move in a gradual, sequential and co-ordinated manner. For this purpose, dialogue has already been initiated with the stakeholders. As envisaged by the Basel Committee, the accounting profession too, will make a positive contribution in this respect to make Indian banking system stronger.  ¦ THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 432 OCTOBER 2004 Basel Norms in India Challenges In India ver since its introduction in 1988, capital adequacy ratio has become an important benchmark to assess the financial strength and soundness of banks. It has been successful in enhancing competitive equality by ensuring level playing field for banks of different nationality. A survey conducted for 129 countries participating in the ninth International Conference of Banking Supervision showed that in 1996, more than 90% of the 129 countries applied Basel-like risk weighted capital adequacy requirement.Reserve Bank of India introduced risk assets ratio system as a capital adequacy measure in 1992, in line with the capital measurement system introduced by the Basel Committee in 1988, which takes into account the risk element in various types of funded balance sheet items as well as non-funded off-balance sheet exposures. Capital adequacy ratio is calculated on the basis of various degrees of risk weights attributed to different types of assets. As per current RBI guid elines, Indian banks are required to achieve capital adequacy ratio of 9% (as against the Basel Committee stipulation of 8%). E Swapan BakshiImplementation of Basel II has been described as a long journey rather than a destination by itself. RBI has decided to follow a consultative process while implementing Basel II norms and move in a gradual, sequential and co-ordinated manner. BASEL CAPITAL ACCORD However, the present accord has been criticized as being inflexible due to focus on primarily credit risk and treating all types of borrowers under one risk category irrespective of credit rating. The major criticism against the existing accord stems from its ? Broad-brush approach – irrespective of quality of counter party or credit ?Encouraging regulatory arbitrage by cherry picking ? Lack of incentives for credit risk mitigation techniques ? Not covering operational risk Moreover, years have passed since the introduction of the present accord. The business of banking, risk ma nagement practices, supervisory approaches and financial markets have undergone significant transformation since then. Therefore, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision thought it desirable that the present accord is replaced by a more risk-sensitive framework. The new accord aims to overcome the anomalies of the present system.It emphasizes on bank’s own internal methodologies, supervisory review and market discipline. (The author is a member of the Institute. He can be reached at [email  protected] co. in THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 426 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II The new proposal is based on three mutually reinforcing pillars that allow banks and supervisors to evaluate properly the various risks that banks face and realign regulatory capital more closely with underlying risks. Each of these three pillars has risk mitigation as its central plank. The new risk sensitive approach seeks to strengthen the safety and soundness of the industry by focussing on: ? ? more elaborate th an the current accord. It proposes, for the first time, a measure for operational risk, while the market risk measure remains unchanged. The new proposal is based on three mutually reinforcing pillars that allow banks and supervisors to evaluate properly the various risks that banks face and realign regulatory capital more closelyThe Second Pillar with underlying risks. – Supervisory Review Process Supervisory review process has been introduced to ensure not only that banks have adequate capital to support all the risks, but also to encourage them o develop and use better risk management techniques in monitoring and managing their risks. Pillar III The process has Market four key princiDiscipline ples a) Banks should have a process for assessing their overall capital adequacy in relation to their risk profile and a strategy for monitoring their capital levels. b) Supervisors should review and evaluate bank’s internal capital adequacy assessment and strategies, as well as their ability to monitor and ensure their compliance with regulatory capital ratios. ) Supervisors should expect banks to operate above the minimum regulatory capital ratios and should have the ability to require banks to hold capital in excess of the minimum. d) Supervisors should seek to intervene at an early stage to prevent capital from falling below minimum level and should require rapid remedial action if capital is not mentioned or restored. Risk based capital (Pillar 1) Risk based supervision (Pillar 2) Risk disclosure to enforce market discipline (Pillar 3) Basel II Framework Pillar I Minimum Capital Requirements Pillar II Supervisory Review Process The First Pillar – Minimum Capital RequirementsThe first pillar sets out minimum capital requirement. The new framework maintains minimum capital requirement of 8% of risk assets. Under the new accord capital adequacy ratio will be measured as under— Total capital (unchanged) = (Tier I+Tier II+Tier III) Risk Wei ghed Assets = Credit risk + Market risk + Operational risk (Tier III capital has not yet been introduced in India. ) Basel II focuses on improvement in measurement of risks. The revised credit risk measurement methods are The Third Pillar – Market Discipline Market discipline imposes strong incentives to banks to conduct their business in a safe, sound and effective manner.It is proposed to be effected through a series of disclosure requirements on capital, risk exposure etc. so that market participants can assess a bank’s capital adequacy. These disclosures should be made at least semi-annually and more frequently if appropriate. Qualitative disclosures such as risk management objectives and policies, definitions etc. may be published annually. THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 427 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II Timeframe for Implementation The Basel Committee first released the proposal to replace the 1988 Accord with a more risk sensitive framework in June 1999, on which more than 20 0 comments were received.Reflecting on those comments the Committee presented a more concrete proposal in January 2001 seeking more comments from interested parties. The third consultative paper was released in April 2003. Furthermore Credit the Committee conducted three Assessment quantitative impact studies to assess the impact of the new proposals. Sovereign (Govt. Thereafter, the final version of the & Central Bank) New Accord has been published on Claims on Banks June 26, 2004, which is designed to Option 1 establish minimum level of capital for internationally active banks.The Option 2a new framework is to be made Option 2b applicable from 2006 end. The more advanced approaches will be impleCorporates mented by the end of year 2007. COMPUTATION OF CAPITAL REQUIREMENT Capital Requirement for Credit Risk: The New Accord provided for the following alternative methods for computing capital requirement for credit risk Credit Risk – The Standardized Approach: The standardized approach is conceptually the same as the present accord, but is more risk sensitive. The bank allocates a risk weight to each of its assets and off-balance sheet positions and produces a sum of riskweighted asset values.A risk weight of 100% means that an exposure is included in the calculation of risk weighted assets value, which translates into a capital Credit Risk charge equal to 9% of that value. Individual risk weight currently depends on the broad category of borrower (i. e. sovereign, banks or corporates). Under the new accord, the risk weights are to be refined by reference to a rating provided by an external credit assessment institution (such as rating agency) that meets strict standards. Proposed Risk Weight Table AAA to A+ to BBB+ AAA- to BBB0% 20% 50% BB+ to B100% Below Unrated B150% 100% 20% 20% 20% 20% 50% 50% 20% 50% 100% 50% 20% 100% 00% 100% 50% to 150% 150% 150% 150% 100% 50% 20% 100% Option 1 = Risk weights based on risk weight of the country Option 2a = Risk w eight based on assessment of individual bank Option 2b = Risk weight based on assessment of individual banks with claims of original maturity of less than 6 months. Retail Portfolio (subject to qualifying criteria) 75% Claims secured by residential property 35% Non-performing assets: If specific provision is less than 20% 150% If specific provision is more than 20% 100% The Committee has not proposed significant change in respect of off-balance Sheet items except for commitment to extend credit.The Internal Rating Based Approach (IRB): Under the IRB approach, banks will be allowed by the supervisors to use their internal estimates of risk components to assess credit risk in their portfolios, subject to strict methodological and disclosure standards. A bank estimates each borrower’s creditworthiness and the results are translated into estimates of a future potential loss amount, which form the basis of minimum capital requirements. The risk components include measures of ? Sta ndardized Approach Internal Rating Based approach Securitization Framework Foundation IRB Advanced IRBProbability of Default (PD), THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 428 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II ? ? ? Loss Given Default (LGD), Exposure At Default (EAD) and Effective Maturity (M) standardized approach under the securitization framework. Similarly, banks that have received approval to use IRB approach for the type of underlying exposure, must use the IRB approach for the securitization. The differences between foundation IRB and advanced IRB have been captured in the following table: Data Input Probability of Default Foundation IRB Provided by bank based on own estimates Capital Charge for Market RiskAlthough the Basel Committee issued â€Å"Amendment to the Capital Accord to incorporate Market Risks† in 1996, RBI as an interim measure, advised banks to assign an additional risk weight of 2. 5% on the entire investment portfolio. RBI feels that over the years, bank’s ability to ident ify and measure market risk has improved and therefore, decided to assign explicit capital charge for market risk in a phased manner over a two year period as under -. Advanced IRB Provided by bank based on own estimates Provided by bank based on own estimates Provided by bank based on own estimates Provided by bank based on own estimatesLoss Supervisory values set Given Default by the Committee Exposure at Default Effective Maturity Supervisory values set by the Committee Supervisory values set by the Committee Or At the national discretion, provided by bank – based on own estimates The IRB approach is based on measures of Unexpected Loss (UL) and Expected Loss (EL). While capital requirement provides for UL portion, EL component is taken care of by provisioning. Securitization Framework: Banks must apply the securitization framework for determining regulatory capital requirement on exposure arising from securitization.Banks that apply the standardized approach to credit ris k for the underlying exposure, must use the a. Banks would be required to maintain capital charge for market risk in respect of their trading book exposure (including derivatives) by March 2005. b. Banks would be required to maintain capital charge for market risk in respect of securities under available for sale category by March 2006. Market Risk Approaches Market Risk Standardized Approach Internal Model Based approach Maturity Based Duration Based RBI has issued detailed guidelines for computation of capital charge on Market Risk in June 2004.The guidelines seek to address the issues involved in com- THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 429 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II puting capital charge for interest rate related instruments in the trading book, equities in the trading book and foreign exchange risk (including gold and precious metals) in both trading and banking book. Trading book will include: Securities included under the Held for Trading category Securities included under the Available for Sale category ? Open gold position limits ? Open foreign exchange position limits ? Trading position in derivatives and derivatives entered into for hedging trading book exposures.As per the guidelines, minimum capital requirement is expressed in terms of two separately calculated charges: a. Specific Risk and b. General Market Risk Specific Risk: Capital charge for specific risk is designed to protect against an adverse movement in price of an individual security due to factors related to individual issuer. This is similar to credit risk. The specific risk charges are divided into various categories such as investments in Govt securities, claims on Banks, investments in mortgage backed securities, securitized papers etc. nd capital charge for each category specified. General Market Risk: Capital charge for general market risk is designed to capture the risk of loss arising from changes in market interest rates. The Basel Committee suggested two broad methodologies for computation o f capital charge for market risk, i. e. , Standardized Method and Internal Risk Management Model Method. As Banks in India are still in a nascent stage of developing internal risk management models, in the guidelines, it is proposed that to start with, the Banks may adopt the Standardized Method.Again, under Standardized Method, there are two principle methods for measuring market risk – maturity method and duration method. As duration method is a more accurate method of measuring interest rate risk, RBI prefers that Banks measure all of their general market risk by calculating the price sensitivity (modified duration) of each position separately. For this purpose detailed mechanics to be followed, time bands, assumed changes in yield etc. have been provided by RBI. Capital Charge for Equities: Capital charge for specific risk will be 9% of the Bank’s gross equity position. The general market risk charge will also be 9%.Thus the Bank will have to maintain capital equal to 18% of investment in equities (twice the present minimum requirement). Capital Charge for Foreign Exchange Risk: ? ? Foreign exchange open position and gold open position are at present risk weighted at 100%. Capital charge for foreign exchange and gold open position would continue to be computed at 9% as hitherto. Risk Aggregation: The capital charge for specific risk, general market risk and equity and forex position will be added up and the resultant figure will be multiplied by 11. 11 (inverse of 9%) to arrive at the notional risk weighted assets.Capital Charge for Operational Risk The Basel Committee has defined the Operational Risk as â€Å"the risk of loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems or from external events†. This definition includes legal risk but excludes strategic and reputational risk. The objective of the operational risk management is to reduce the expected operational losses using a set of key risk indicators to measure and control risk on continuous basis and provide risk capital on operational risk for ensuring financial soundness of the Bank. Operational Risk Approaches Operational RiskBasic Indicator Approach Standardized Approach Advanced Measurement Approach Basic Indicator Approach Under the basic indicator approach, Banks are required to hold capital for operational risk equal to the average over the previous three years of a fixed percentage (15% – denoted as alpha) of annual gross income. Gross income is defined as net interest income plus net non-interest income, excluding realized profit/losses from the sale of securities in the banking book and extraordinary and irregular items. Standardized Approach Under the standardized approach, bank’s activities are divided into eight business lines.Within each business line, gross income is considered as a broad indicator for the likely scale of operational risk. Capital charge for each business line is calculated by multip lying gross income by a factor (denoted beta) assigned to THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 430 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II This partly explains the current trend of consolidation in the banking industry. Profitability: Competition among banks for highly rated corporates needing lower amount of capital may exert pressure on already thinning interest spread. Further, huge implementation cost may also impact profitability for smaller banks.Risk Management Architecture: The new standards are an amalgam of international best practices and calls for introduction of advanced risk management system with wider application throughout the organization. It would be a daunting task to create the required level of technological architecture and human skill across the institution. Rating Requirement: Although there are a few credit rating agencies in India – the level of rating penetration is very low. A study revealed that in 1999, out of 9640 borrowers enjoying fund-based working capital facilities fro m banks – only 300 were rated by major agencies.Further, rating is a lagging indicator of the credit risk and the agencies have poor track record in this respect. There is a possibility of rating blackmail through unsolicited rating. Moreover rating in India is restricted to issues and not issuers. Encouraging rating of issuers would be a challenge. Choice of Alternative Approaches: The new framework provides for alternative approaches for computation of capital requirement of various risks. However, competitive advantage of IRB approach may lead to domination of this approach among big banks. Banks adopting IRB approach will be more sensitive than those adopting standardized approach.This may result in high-risk assets flowing to banks on standardized approach – as they would require lesser capital for these assets than banks on IRB approach. Hence, the system as a whole may maintain lower capital than warranted and become more vulnerable. It is to be considered wheth er in our quest for perfect standards, we have lost the only universally accepted standard. Absence of Historical Database: Computation of probability of default, loss given default, migration mapping and supervisory validation require creation of historical database, which is a time consuming process and may require initial support from the supervisor.Incentive to Remain Unrated: In case of unrated sovereigns, banks and corporates the prescribed risk weight is 100%, whereas in case of those entities with lowest ratting, the risk weight is 150%. This may create incentive for the category of counterparties, which anticipate lower rating to remain unrated. Supervisory Framework: Implementation of The final version of the New Accord has been published on June 26, 2004, which is designed to establish minimum level of capital for internationally active banks. The new framework is to be made applicable from 2006 end.The more advanced approaches will be implemented by the end of year 2007. that business line. Total capital charge is calculated as the three-year average of the simple summations of the regulatory capital across each of the business line in each year. The values of the betas prescribed for each business line are as under: Business Line Corporate finance Trading and sales Retail banking Commercial banking Payment and settlement Agency services Asset management Retail brokerage Beta Factor 18% 18% 12% 15% 18% 15% 12% 12%Advanced Measurement Approach Under advanced measurement approach, the regulatory capital will be equal to the risk measures generated by the bank’s internal risk measurement system using the prescribed quantitative and qualitative criteria. ISSUES AND CHALLENGES While there is no second opinion regarding the purpose, necessity and usefulness of the proposed new accord – the techniques and methods suggested in the consultative document would pose considerable implementational challenges for the banks especially in a developin g country like India.Capital Requirement: The new norms will almost invariably increase capital requirement in all banks across the board. Although capital requirement for credit risk may go down due to adoption of more risk sensitive models – such advantage will be more than offset by additional capital charge for operational risk and increased capital requirement for market risk. THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 431 OCTOBER 2004 BASEL II Basel II norms will prove a challenging task for the bank supervisors as well.Given the paucity of supervisory resources – there is a need to reorient the resource deployment strategy. Supervisory cadre has to be properly trained for understanding of critical issues for risk profiling of supervised entities and validating and guiding development of complex IRB models. Corporate Governance Issues: Basel II proposals underscore the interaction between sound risk management practices and corporate good governance. The bank’s board of dir ectors has the responsibility for setting the basic tolerance levels for various types of risk.It should also ensure that management establishes a framework for assessing the risks, develop a system to relate risk to the bank’s capital levels and establish a method for monitoring compliance with internal policies. National Discretion: Basel II norms set out a number of areas where national supervisor will need to determine the specific definitions, approaches or thresholds that wish to adopt in implementing the proposals. The criteria used by supervisors in making these determinations should draw upon domestic market practice and experience and be consistent with the objectives of Basel II norms.Disclosure Regime: Pillar 3 purports to enforce market discipline through stricter disclosure requirement. While admitting that such disclosure may be useful for supervisory authorities and rating agencies – the expertise and ability of the general public to comprehend and inte rpret disclosed information is open to question. Moreover, too much disclosure may cause information overload and may even damage financial position of bank. Disadvantage for Smaller Banks: The new framework is very complex and difficult to understand.It calls for revamping the entire management information system and allocation of substantial resources. Therefore, it may be out of reach for many smaller banks. As Moody’s Investors Services puts it, â€Å"It is unlikely that these banks will have the financial resources, intellectual capital, skills and large scale commitment that larger competitors have to build sophisticated systems to allocate regulatory capital optimally for both credit and operational risks. Discriminatory against Developing Countries: Developing counties have high concentration of lower rated borrowers. The calibration of IRB has lesser incentives to lend to such borrowers. This, alongwith withdrawal of uniform risk weight of 0% on sovereign claims may result in overall reduction in lending by internationally active banks in developing countries and increase their cost of borrowing.Although the Basel Committee issued â€Å"Amendment to the Capital Accord to incorporate Market Risks† in 1996, RBI as an interim measure, advised banks to assign an additional risk weight of 2. 5% on the entire investment portfolio. External and Internal Auditors: The working Group set up by the Basel Committee to look into implemetational issues observed that supervisors may wish to involve third parties, such a external auditors, internal auditors and consultants to assist them carrying out some of the duties under Basel II.The precondition is that there should be a suitably developed national accounting and auditing standards and framework, which are in line with the best international practices. A minimum qualifying criteria for firms should be those that have a dedicated financial services or banking division that is properly researched an d have proven ability to respond to training and upgrades required of its own staff to complete the tasks adequately.With the implementation of the new framework, internal auditors may become increasingly involved in various processes, including validation and of the accuracy of the data inputs, review of activities performed by credit functions and assessment of a bank’s capital assessment process. CONCLUSION Implementation of Basel II has been described as a long journey rather than a destination by itself. Undoubtedly, it would require commitment of substantial capital and human resources on the part of both banks and the supervisors.RBI has decided to follow a consultative process while implementing Basel II norms and move in a gradual, sequential and co-ordinated manner. For this purpose, dialogue has already been initiated with the stakeholders. As envisaged by the Basel Committee, the accounting profession too, will make a positive contribution in this respect to make Indian banking system stronger.  ¦ THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT 432 OCTOBER 2004

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By the time Macbeth murders Duncan Essay By the time Macbeth murders Duncan, he has already lost the battle for his soul. Discuss this statement and examine the factors which lead to his decision to kill the king. It is the aim of this essay to evaluate and determine the validity of the above statement. I will examine the factors which lead to Macbeths decision to kill the king. The definition for a persons soul is the spiritual part of them that is supposed to continue after their body is dead. People also use soul to refer to a persons mind, character, thoughts and feelings. The battle for his soul represents whether this person submits to good or evil. The factors that I will look at in particular when considering what drove Macbeth to commit the murder, are the witches and Lady Macbeth. The play begins with the witches who introduce Macbeth by saying they will meet him. There to meet with Macbeth. This is an effective way to start the play, as people were very superstitious at the time. They believed in witches and they believed they were evil. One person who was very wary and curious about such matters was James I and Shakespeare had written this play for him. The gunpowder plot took place the previous year and James I was, consequently, very sensitive and concerned about future assassination attempts. Shakespeare was writing for an audience who were predominantly Christian and who believed in heaven and hell; the way some one behaved on earth would decide what happened to them when they died. The soul is very important in this play and this is why Macbeth may have been popular as people were interested in these things. If someone lost their soul, they would be lost to God and would be condemned to hell for eternity. Macbeth talks a lot about this in his dramatic monologues. Duncan was a good honest king who had done nothing but treat Macbeth as a good friend. Duncan calls him worthiest cousin, which suggests the closeness of their relationship. Duncan is grateful for Macbeths bravery in battle. He says, I have begun to plant thee and will labour, to make thee full of growing. Duncan is saying he will do anything to repay him for being so brave. Duncan is a very good person, Macbeth says, Duncan hath borne his faculties so meek hath been so clear in his great office that his virtues will plead like angel. Macbeth knows that he was good and he still murdered him. Therefore is no excuse for what he has done. The King is Macbeths guest so he should protect him, not attack him. There are different reactions from Macbeth and Banquo to the witches predictions. Banquo believes that Macbeth will become king because he has already become Thane of Cawdor, just as the witches had predicted. He thinks that it is very strange how the witches are helping them. Furthermore, he believes the witches will be kind to them and have their trust only to betray them later. He is clearly surprised and remains sceptical as to their intentions. The different reaction by Macbeth is apparent when he is shocked at first after hearing what the witches have to say. He truly believes that he will become king as two of the predictions have proved accurate. Things can only get better for Macbeth, or so he believes. Macbeths opinion of the witches remains undecided and he does not really know what to think about the weird sisters. There are conflicting beliefs that he has. Firstly, he believes they are not good, but if they were bad why did they give him such success? It seems that he is beginning to trust the witches when he considers the success that they have given to him. Banquo, on the other hand, instantly distrusts them and believes to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths. As soon as Lady Macbeth receives Macbeths letter about the witchs predictions she begins to plan the murder: Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me from the crow to the toe top full of direst cruelty. She wants to be filled with cruelty and wants evil spirits to posses her. She wants to lose her femininity and become manly so she is capable of the greatest cruelty. She hopes to lose her soul so she does not feel guilty. The factors that lead Macbeth to kill the king are the witches, Lady Macbeth and his own personality. The witches led Macbeth to the murder when they greeted him and said All hail Macbeth, that shall be king hereafter. In the time of the play it was believed that witches could take demonic possession of people and make them do what they wanted. Macbeth sees a dagger just before the murder of Duncan. Some people may say that it is the witches that put the image in front of him to drive him into murdering. However, Act 1, scene 1 suggests that there are limits to the witchs powers; they cannot kill. They talk about a lady who did not give them nuts so they want to get her back, and also her husband who is on a boat. Ill give thee wind. Ill drain him as dry as hay. They say many things that they will do to him but they do not mention killing him and this proves that death is not in their power. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a good relationship, they seem to get on extremely well together and when they are apart they miss each other. Later in the play Lady Macbeth begins to take control and becomes rather dominant. She can persuade him to do anything. Macbeth decided that he did not want to go through with the murder but Lady Macbeth talked him into it by calling him a coward and using harsh words. And live a coward in thine own self esteem. She says this after Macbeth refuses to proceed any further with the murder. She is taunting and humiliating him. When Macbeth talks himself out of committing the murder, We will proceed no further in this business, Lady Macbeth makes him change his mind by calling him a coward. She tells him, When you durst do it, then you were a man. The implication being that he is no longer acting like a man. She tells him that if he breaks this promise, he will break all other promises including those made to her, Such I account thy love. Nevertheless, she claims that she would rather dash out the brains of a baby then break such a promise. Shakespeare utilises extremely strong imagery to emphasise just how important it is for her. In Macbeths dramatic monologue he gives many reasons as to why he does not want to go through with the murder. Many thoughts are running through his head such as the fear of Duncan returning as something bad in his next life. Additionally, he believes something bad will happen if he goes through with it. To plague th inventor. This even handed Justice He is going against the deed of killing the king. Strong both against the deed: then, as his host. He is a kinsman, therefore he can not kill somebody on the same side as him and this suggests that it is not like him at all and he does not want to take his life. When Lady Macbeth enters he does not tell her these reasons but gives different ones altogether. He says the king has been honouring him recently and people have high opinions of him. Consequently, he wants to remain popular with people. Macbeth must kill Duncan so that he can be king and take his place. The witches told him that he would be king, but not necessarily by murdering him. Initially the murder has been devised entirely by Macbeth and not recommended by anyone else. As Macbeth states, If chance will have me king, why chance me crown me, without stir. He is saying that if he becomes king that is good but he will not do anything to make himself king. As he admits, his only motive for the killing is Vaulting ambition. I will now consider the nature of Macbeths sin. The crime that has been committed is truly evil, but I do not believe that Macbeth is necessarily evil. The fact that Macbeth believes that he will never be forgiven indicates he is genuinely remorseful. The only reason Duncan was murdered was for Macbeths personal gain. Macbeth had no real reason to kill him, as the king was a dear friend. There are many reasons that suggest that Macbeth should never be forgiven for this. The murder was in cold blood and it had been planned and not committed in the heat of the moment. Macbeth did not want to go through with it but Lady Macbeth induced him to do so. This is why I believe Macbeth is not evil because he was driven to it. After the murder the grooms were smeared with blood to make it seem as if they had committed the murder. In the morning Macbeth murders them too pretending that he has acted out of violent love for Duncan. He does this to get himself out of trouble and to avoid suspicion. Therefore, the grooms cannot deny committing the murder. Macbeth has killed the king. At the time, there was a belief that kings were put onto the throne through Gods power (divine right) and so an attack on the kings power was seen as acting against Gods wishes. This is the reason for him to go to hell as God has disowned him. Macbeth says, Hes here in double trust: first, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself. Macbeth knows that what he has done is wrong as he should be looking after his guest. After the murder, Macbeth is unable to say the word Amen, But wherefore could not I pronounce Amen I had most need of blessing and Amen'. He feels that God has deserted him as Amen means god with us. He is trying to keep his Christian faith but he believes he is losing his soul and that he will be doomed to eternal damnation. Macbeth feels that he cannot sleep because only the good sleep. After the murder has been committed Lady Macbeth is calm and does not feel any guilt at all. The fact that she is not sorry suggests that she is evil. Wash this filthy witness from your handsmear the sleepy grooms with blood. She gives him orders as she does not want to get caught and she wants somebody else to get the blame. If I were in the audience, I would be thinking that Macbeth is now behaving unlike himself. He is acting guilty about the murder and he wishes that he never committed the crime. This is dramatic because it shows that he must really want to be king if he kills even though he does not want to and this shows how desperate he really must be. Christians believe that if someone is truly sorry for a sin they have committed and repent, they can be forgiven and, in that case, their soul would not be forfeit. After the murder I strongly believe that Macbeth is extremely sorry for what he has done. I had most need of blessing. This means that he still wants Gods blessing even after his terrible sin. I am afraid to think what I done, which suggests that it is so unlike him to do this that he is scared to look back, he does not want to believe what he has done. To know my deed twere best not know myself he would rather not know himself after what he has done as he is so ashamed. Wake Duncan with thy knocking, I would thou couldst He wishes that Duncan could be wakened with knocking which means he regrets the murder. I do not believe that Macbeth has lost his soul as he feels sorry for what he has done and feels very guilty he also has many regrets. As Macbeth is so worried about the murder he has committed one would not think that he would kill anymore, but he does. He arranges the murder of Banquo, his best friend, and tries to have his son Fleance killed. This is because Banquo suspects that Macbeth has killed Duncan as he heard the witches predictions. He has Fleance murdered because the witches said Banquos descendants would be king. Macbeth seeks out the three witches to predict the future, even though he knows that they are evil. To the weird sisters. More shall they speak. For no I am bent to know by the worst means, the worst. He also wants to know what else must be done for him to be king. The audience may have thought that he is turning evil and is just looking for trouble and they will probably be worried about what will happen next. He arranges the murder of Lady Macduff and her children because she has fled to England to join the other side to be against Macbeth. He wants to hurt her for turning against him. Now Macbeth is beginning to lose his soul as he keeps on killing and he does not feel guilty anymore. He finds that he must keep on doing more and more wrong in order to stay in his position. I am in blood stepped so far that I should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go oer. He has gone far enough and there is no point stopping as he has done a lot to get where he is. It will be far easier for him to carry on then to stop. It is possible that the witches have sensed a potential for evil in Macbeth and that is why they have chosen to use him. It is Macbeth who has horrible imagings. He fought in battles so he killed a lot of people there. We learn many contradictory things about Macbeth. He is a very strong man as he fights in the kings battles and wins. He is described as Brave Macbeth and Noble Macbeth by the captain, this is because he is very loyal, brave and honourable. However, Lady Macbeth says he is too full oth milk of human kindness and implies that he has a good heart. Macbeth has been violent in battle. He unseamed him from the nave to th chops and fixed his head upon our battlements. He had fought a lot in battle and killed a lot of people but after the murder he can not handle all the guilt. His personality has changed. He admirers Lady Macbeth when she is at her most evil, saying she is undaunted mettle. This is because she does not give up and pursues with her target. Macbeth is frequently associated with dark and night, asking for darkness to cover his feeling. Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires. Goodness is represented by light and evil is represented by dark. For example, Macbeth using the cover of darkness to hide his crimes, Come, seeling night, scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day. He is ashamed of what he is thinking. Macduff says of him Not in the legions of horrid hell can come a devil more damned in evil to top Macbeth. He thinks Macbeth is filled with evil. The name of his follower, Seyton is perhaps a pun of Satan. I do not believe that Macbeth is evil. The witches made him think a lot and this led him to do things he would never normally do. It was the witches who gave him the idea of being king and this is where things started to become bad. Macbeth goes to visit the witches again after the murder who tell him that no person can kill him that is born from women. He now thinks he is invincible. In my opinion, it is here that he loses his soul given that he carries on killing without feeling any guilt. It seems that Macbeth was not only an instrument of evil, but also the victim.

Personal and Social Uses of ICT Essay Example for Free

Personal and Social Uses of ICT Essay I use ICT personally as well as socially and at home which is sometimes very helpful for me as I can do my work faster and in a better quality. Here are some examples of technologies I use: * Mobile Phone * DVD Player * Digital TV * Calculator * MP3 Player * Digital Camera * Digital Video Camera * Printer * Game Consoles * Email * Projector * Cds, DVDs * Telephone Personal Use of ICT: DVD Player and DVDs:: I use the DVD player personally and socially to watch films or even listen to music. I use the DVD player personally to watch films with my friends and family or listen to music personally. I use the DVD Player at school to present my projects on it or watch educational Movies on it. There are sometimes faults in DVD Players such as the CD sometimes gets stuck in there and the drive doesnt opens. There are many types of DVD cds used in the DVD Player, one of the latest type of Cds is a Flexplay DVD that takes care of the rental period itself it hits a chemical stopwatch when you open the package, and when your time is up (in 48 hours, say), the disc stops working. Now you can return it or give it to get recycled. The idea of using these type of Cds is that even snack bars are able to sell these DVDs in a rental price and once they are soled no one needs to worry because as I mentioned it will get deleted by itself. Once I used a DVD player to present a Movie clip during my project at school which was very helpful as I didnt had much to explain. Evaluation: Currently use a DVD Player with an unknown brand, the reason for this is as I got it as a gift with my m mobile phone from the mobile phone provider, but according to my research the more quality a DVD Player has the more likely it reads discs with special formats, but the disadvantage is that it mostly blocks DVDs which are pirated or copyright protected. Internet: I sometimes use the internet socially to chat to my friends as well as cousins. I sometimes also use the internet to download games as well as music or DVDs. I also use internet for online shopping which is very helpful as I am able to find products cheaper then anywhere else. Such as games which are a lot cheaper on the internet then in any shops. The disadvantage of online shopping is that there is a bit of chance of getting hacked. Evaluation: I currently have TalkTalk Broadband at home which meets my needs fully and is very helpful to me as researches can be done very quickly, as well as online shopping or communication can take place socially. Calculator: I use the calculator to calculate the price of any products I want to buy or I use it. Personannly, for example at school to calculate answers. I have used the calculator a few times during my maths lessons to help me to find the answers of questions which were to hard to work out by my own. There are a few types of calculator the most known are simple and scientific calculators. The main difference between simple and scientific calculators are that scientific calculator have got more functions and can work out difficult questions where as the simple calculator can mostly only add, subtract, multiply or divide. Evaluation: In this case a Calculator is the most efficient way to calculate difficult equations as working the answer out with the mind an a pen and pencil consumes a lot of time whereas a calculator is the most time efficient and accurate way. Printer: I use my Inject printer personally; I use it personally to print out any research or receipts of any items I have bought. I also use it to print out pictures by connecting my digital camera directly to my printer. I sometimes use the printer to print out interesting researches or any coursework personally for the school. As I have chosen applied science I have to print out a lot of courseworks so I believe that the printer helps me a lot in my daily life. Once I had printed out my coursework but I lost it by mistake so I just printed it out again which saved me time and was very helpful as I didnt had to do all the hard work again. I also use the printer for home use to print out pictures or interesting researches which may be shared amongst other house members or shown to someone at home. Evaluation: The reason I have decided use the Inject Printer is as the ink Cartridges can be bought very cheaply and have a long lasting duration. Also the printing speed is reasonable and if someone does not print a lot just like me that printer can be made to a perfect use. MP3 Player: I use my Mp3 player only personally to listen to music when I am on my way to my friends or even school. I can listen to my favourite sound tracks at any time I want to and anywhere I am without disturbing other people. The MP3 player is connected to the computer using the USB connection and then tracks can be downloaded and stored on the MP3 player. The main advantage of a MP3 player is that it has got a smaller size then a CD player and a smarter look. It also has got a bigger internal size and you can save your favourite tracks on it. If you use a CD player you always have to swap the CD if you want to listen to any different track which is a disadvantage as it wastes time and sometimes you dont even are in the mood to do it. I personally use the MP3 player not to get bored and it keeps me active and awake. Evaluation: Currently I use a Phillips A260 MP3 Player as it provides me with brilliant sound quality and is not to expensive to purchase. Also he purpose of an MP3 Player originally is to provide music in as good quality as possible. Game consoles: I use Game consoles for my personal life to have a bit of fun after doing hard work. Game consoles are not really helpful but it is fun to use them as you are able to play games such as football which would be hard to play outside if it would be bad weather. The advantage of Game consoles is that you can play multiplayer with your friends or family members. The best thing about game consoles is that the latest game consoles have got special function which make it even more fun for example the Xbox 360 is one of the latest game consoles which has got a Xbox live function, this is used to connect to the internet and play with someone you dont know if he has go the same game. Secondly it has got wireless pads which help you as normally a lot of people step over cables which may get annoying. You can also store music or DVDs on the Xbox 360 or even watch it. With the use of XBOX Live, Xbox can be used socially to play and communicate with other people using XBOX Live. Evaluation: Currently I have a XBOX Console; the reason for me buying this system was as I used to have a playstation 1 and as I got bored I decided to try something new, for this reason I bought the XBOX Console. Digital still and video camera: I use Digital cameras in my personal life which are helpful as I am able to take pictures or videos of the things I have enjoyed with my friends or family. There are many digital cameras available these days which are very helpful as most of the latest once have got a LCD screen at the back which helps you to view the picture during the time you are taking it or after you have taken it and show it to someone directly without giving them to photo shops so that they can create them for you. So basically you can retake the picture if you dont like it with out doing a lot of work. Of course there are some disadvantages such as that if your memory card is full you cant store any pictures any more and you have to delete some but now days you can get memory card with a very great size which make it able to take more then 200 pictures until it is full. The other disadvantage is that digital cameras take a lot of battery however there are special batteries called Nimah batteries which make it able for me to use the battery a lot longer until it is finished. I use the digital camera at home to take pictures of my family or cousins and then I can remind me using them or I just connect them to the printer and I got the pictures without even doing a lot of work. Evaluation: At the moment I have a Panasonic Digital Camera, the reason for this is as it has an external display as well as a night view system and a brilliant quality. Also it is not to expensive to purchase but provides full performance. The battery life is also not too bad for home use but can be upgraded if required. Social Use of ICT: Mobile Phone: There are many new mobile phone models out these days which have got a lot of functions and mobile phones get improved daily as more softwares and also hardwares are added to it. Examples of hardwares are: Bluetooth, Infrared, Camera, 262000 colour display etc. I use my Mobile Phone Socially to contact any companies for information about any products I dont know how to use. I also use a mobile phone personally to talk to my friends as well as my parents if I am not at home. I sometimes use my Mobile Phone personally to listen to music or play games on it. For example once I used my Mobile to contact my parents to inform them that I am going to come home later as I have got work to do. In these cases mobile phones are very helpful as you can talk to people anywhere the net is available. There are sometimes faults in mobiles such as sometimes if your Bluetooth is turned on viruses are able to attack your mobile and destroy the software so that the mobile can sometimes not work again. Evaluation: I currently use the Motorola L7 as it is reasonable cheap to purchase and does not weight a lot, also it is very thin so is able to fit into a pocket very easily, also it Is able to serve me with the requirements I have, these include: sending text messages, camera, phone Email: I use the Email software personally and socially to help me as it has got many advantages as well as some disadvantages. I use the Email software socially to contact my friends or sometimes remind them about anything such as the homework. I use it socially to email to companies for any inquiries I have or I use it to send emails regarding eBay to people to ask them about any information such as delivery time. The main advantage of the Email is that it is much faster then sending a letter and can be send to many people at the same time. Where as a letter has to be packed in separate envelopes and then the address has to be written on it before it can get send. The disadvantage of email software is that it may get hacked or sometimes even can contain a virus. Evaluation: Currently I have a Hotmail Email address, the reason for this is as Hotmail have a website very easy to use and new softwares are being developed by hotmail very quickly which may be a great help to me. Another reason for me using hotmail is as at the time I created my email address only hotmail email addresses worked in MSN Messenger and MSN Messenger was the only software to be able to provide webcam for free. Telephone: I use the telephone socially to talk to friends or even my cousins. I use it socially to make phone calls to company to contact them for any inquiries or for any help. Nowadays there are wireless telephones which have got a range of meters but are very helpful as you are able to use it and mover around with out any problems so they dont stop you from doing work and talking to mated or someone at the same time. The telephone is a very simple technology as the phone only has three parts named microphone, hook switch and a speaker. The latest phones however have got more technology in them so that in older phones you could hear your own voice which people found very annoying but in new phones it is not like that. I believe that the telephone will remain as one of the simplest devices. Evaluation: Currently I have a Phillips phone which was expensive but has an external loud and good quality speaker, is wireless and also has a function to send and receive SMS. The reason for me buying this phone was as it had the longest warranty and seemed to be the one with the functions I required and functions which were required at home. School Related Use: Projector: I use the projector socially at school to present my presentations. It is very helpful as it can make a computer screen or anything else look bigger then it really is. So basically you dont need to have a big screen TV to show it in a way so that the whole class can see it. Because of the projector I can present my work in a way that everyone can see it. The main advantage is that it doesnt weights a lot so that you are able to move it easily without any problem. You can not move a big TV easily. I once had produced my project on a projector which was very helpful as everyone was able to see what I was trying to say. The main disadvantage is that some projectors dont display the picture very clearly. Evaluation: Currently we have Epson Projectors at School which are very helpful and are truly the best way to meet the schools standards as Presentations or explanations can be presented to everyone very clearly. Microsoft office: I use Microsoft office socially at school and at home. I use it at school to write reports or produce risk assessments. Also sometimes I use Microsoft office at school to do my courseworks or save my research results. Microsoft office is very helpful and is used in many offices or even businesses. Microsoft office has a lot of functions and can be used for many purposes such as creating database. Microsoft office is also secure as you can password protect your documents so that even if someone steals it he will be unable to use it. The main advantage is that you can update your documents without rewriting it again and again. It also saves a lot of space and you can find your documents quickly. As normally you would use paper which will get together and it will be hard for me to store them somewhere so that they are safe and I can find them whenever I need them. I use Microsoft office a lot at school and it helped me a lot of times when there was a need to write letters I was able to write it quickly and in a descent layout , also a copy was saved which can be very helpful In case the letter needs to be resend etc. Internet: I use Internet at school to do researches. Also I use the Internet to find pictures and put them into my coursework. Internet is very helpful as it helps me in a lot of ways and if there would be no internet there would even be no email. I use the Internet at school to do my homework as well as find pictures for any courseworks needed any shops. The disadvantage of online shopping is that there is a bit of chance of getting hacked. Evaluation: I currently have TalkTalk Broadband at home which meets my needs fully and is very helpful to me as researches can be done very quickly as well as courseworks can be improved at a great speed and efficiently, this saves me a lot of time. Overall Evaluation: For my personal use of ICT as I have mentioned above I use a lot of technologies as they enable me to work more efficiently, save time, save paper work. I also personally and socially use technologies just to enjoy or have fun with such as the Game Consoles. I also use technology Socially at School such as Projectors, Computers but in this case they do not meet my needs up to the full limit as the Computers mostly seem to have a problem at School as well as the Personal Space Limit on the Computers does not meet my requirement. I personally believe this can be improved by making the computers much more stable and by improving the Space limits for each user. Also the Network Cards and Cables have some problems as the network crashes a lot of times which again does not meet my full requirement. At Home ICT is able to meet my needs as I use a Phone, Speakers, Computers, Modem and other technologies as mentioned above, but all of them work up there full capability and meet my needs. For this reason I do not truly require any more technology for home use, but for social use technology has still not met its full capability at every place such as at my school, as technology makes problems in some cases or could be set up more efficiently at my school. E.G As Network Cables are available and all the computers are networked the school should be able to set up the network in such a way that if one computer is updated with a new windows or software, the other computers should be updated automatically at the same time Conclusion: Finally I believe that the Technology will have along way to go and I am looking forward to see more interesting pieces of technology. I dont really know what I would like to get produced but I know that if something new and interesting product will get produced I will be looking forward to it. I hope that a new technology gets produced which will help us and the community.