Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Economics Commentary- Prices of onions jumped yesterday, buoyed by a ban by India on the export of the item Essay Example for Free

Economics Commentary- Prices of onions jumped yesterday, buoyed by a ban by India on the export of the item Essay Prices of onions jumped yesterday, buoyed by a ban by India on the export of the item, traders said. The price of onions rose to Tk 36-45 a kilogram yesterday from Tk 32-42 on Thursday in markets in Dhaka, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh. The wholesale prices of onions also rose. â€Å"There is a lack in the supply of onions in the market. Those who are still hoarding stocks are reluctant to sell as well,† said Idris Ahmed, owner of a wholesale store, Dhaka Baniyalaya at Shyambazar. He said onions were selling at Tk 35-36 a kilogram at the wholesale market of Shyambazar yesterday. Prices went up since Friday afternoon, after news of the ban by India, said Ahmed. The prices of locally produced onions also rose, influenced by the move by India, he added. This is the second time in less than a year that India restricted onion exports to curb the hike in prices, according to Indian news reports. On September 8, an Indian ministerial panel banned onion exports following a steep rise in prices, reports Reuters, quoting Food Minister KV Thomas. The restriction came in effect on Friday. â€Å"We will review the ban every fortnight, said Thomas. Bangladesh meets much of its local demand for onions by importing it from the neighbouring country. Since Saturday, 80 onion-laden trucks entered Bangladesh till yesterday afternoon, our Chapainawabganj correspondent reports. No shipment took place at the Bhomra Land Port yesterday. The trucks carrying onions that came to the Ghojadanga Land Port on the Indian side returned without shipment, our Sathkhira correspondent reports. Babul Hasnat Durul, an onion importer at Sona Masjid, said their suppliers are not shipping onions against the previously placed orders by Bangladeshi importers. â€Å"We are worried. If onions are not exported against the already opened letters of credit (LCs), we will incur losses,† said Durul. The LCs came to a halt following the ban on exports, said Islam of the C F Agents Association. The disruption in supply from India led to the hike in the prices of locally produced onions, said Mohammad Aminul Islam, an onion wholesaler at Karwan Bazar. He bought a 40 kilogram bag of onions from Pabna on Saturday at Tk 1,450, he said. Prices for the same stood at Tk 1,300-1,350 last week, he added. This article talks about the rise in onion prices that has happened in Bangladesh due to a shortage of onion. The shortage is due to the restriction on onion exports imposed by the Indian government. This has resulted in a decrease in supply (the amount of a commodity that sellers are willing and able to sell at different prices) resulting in price rise. Price of onion in the market is determined by the demand (the amount of a commodity that consumers are willing and able to buy at different prices) for and the supply of onions. Initially the market was equilibrium (this is the point where demand is equal to supply) at point E where at P* price Q* amount was purchased and sold. Due to the ban imposed by the Indian government on exports of onions, the supply of onions in the Bangladesh market has decreased substantially. This is because Bangladesh relies on imports of onions from neighboring countries for the supply in its domestic market The decrease in supply will shift the supply curve to the left from S to S1. This will result in a new equilibrium E1 with a higher equilibrium price. As the article says that the â€Å"price of onion rose to Tk 36-45 a kilogram from Tk 32-42 The higher onion prices will reduce the quantity demanded and people with limited income or low income will have to switch to the available substitutes (goods which satisfy the same wants) like radish. Also industries like restaurants which use onions as inputs will experience an increase in the cost of produced and will be forced to increase price to keep profits constant. The Indian government’s decision to restrict exports of onions will increase the supply of onion in the Indian market. This will result in lower onion prices in India, and hence Indian consumers will benefit. On the other hand onion being a necessary commodity will have an inelastic demand (when for a certain percentage change in price, the quantity demanded will change less than proportionate.) Higher prices in onion will result in a greater expenditure of households and hence Bangladeshi consumers will be the losers. The Bangladeshi farmers and traders who have onion stocks will gain from the higher prices. The Bangladesh government may have to impose a subsidy (payment by government to producers of goods and services either to increase supply or reduced cost) or maximum prices (price imposed below equilibrium price through legislation by the government to protect the interest of consumers) in order to control the onion prices. Provision of subsidy will result in a greater government expenditure which will have an opportunity cost (the next best alternative for government) in terms of various welfare services which need to be sacrificed. Imposition of maximum prices will result in greater shortages and may increase the problem. In order to deal with this situation the government of Bangladesh may resort to import onion from other countries which have surplus. However this is only a short run solution (time period during which at least one factor of production cannot be changed) solution to deal with the immediate prices. Imports will increase supply and thereby reduced price of this commodity and benefit the Bangladeshi households. To deal with this problem in the long run (time period where all factors become variable) the Bangladeshi government should encourage greater domestic production of onion. This can be done by giving subsidy’s to onion producers or spreading awareness to popularise onion production. The government should also try and reduce onion hoarding by traders in Bangladesh market. Hoarding is an illegal activity and the government should be vigilant to stop this. The government also need to improve infrastructure facilities like irrigation, transportation and storage facilities to reduce the fluctuation in the supply of agricultural goods. The government can also build a buffer stock (a stock of essential food grain and strategic materials held by government to deal with unforced seen events) of essential food grains to reduce the fluctuations in the prices of agricultural products like onions. However all this involves a lot of government expenditure which may result in higher government borrowing and greater taxes.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Literary Theory And African Am :: essays research papers

â€Å"Race is defined as one group of the populations constituting humanity.† (Coon 62)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the 1970’s, the conclusion has been stated that race is a social, cultural and political concept based largely on superficial appearances. The notion of ‘race’ is so emotionally charged that objective discussion of its significance in relation to social problems is extremely difficult. There are three theories that have been very significant in re-defining the term â€Å"race† throughout their composition. This essay attempts to define the current North American concept of â€Å"race† among the African American culture and other racial notions that have been created throughout the configuration of the Post-Modernist, Feminist and Post-Colonial theories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Post-Modernism is a complicated term, one that has only emerged as an area of study since the mid-1980’s. Post-Modernism, by it’s very nature, is virtually impossible to come up with one single definition, though, Post-Modernism in it’s totality is the movement in arts, music, literature and drama which rejected the past Victorian ideas of â€Å"modern†. The movement contributed to the realization that art has no single meaning and overturned the problems with culture and language boundaries that cut away at art’s meaning, worth and truth. Today, the state of mind of the human world is called Post-Modernism, since it is a multi-cultural era. Racial Post-Modernism calls attention to those understandings that are shared across the boundaries of class, gender and race. To take racism seriously, one must consider the plight of the underclass people of color, a vast majority of whom is black. For African Americans Post-Modern conditio ns have been and are characterized by continued displacement and despondency. There is increasing class division and differentiation, creating a significant black middle-class concerned with racism to the degree that is poses constraints on upward social mobility. However, this is also building a vast and growing black underclass that embodies a kind of walking rejection that manifests pervasive drug addiction, alcohol abuse, homicide and suicide. (Biddiss 17). Now, because of de-industrialization, we also have a devastated black industrial working class. I am referring to a sentiment of tremendous hopelessness. Very few African American intellectuals have talked, or written, about Post-Modernism. In J.F. Loytard’s book â€Å"the Post-Modern Condition†, he confronts the lack of recognition of black presence that much Post-Modernist theory reinscribes and the resistance on the part of most black people to hearing about real connections between Post-Modernism and black e xperience.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Adam Bede Essay

George Eliot s novels are all dramas of moral conflict. She did not believe in art for art’s sake, but in art for morality’s sake. According to Leslie Stephen, â€Å"George Eliot believed that a work-of art not only may. but must, exercise also an ethical influence. † She believed that, â€Å"our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds†. If we yield to temptation and sin, suffering and nemesis are sure to follow. We have to reap the consequences of our own actions. Her characters suffer because they violate some moral code, because they yield to temptation whether consciously or unconsciously, in Adam Bede both Hetty and Arthur suffer for this reason. Poignant tragedy is the result because both Arthur and Hetty are creatures of weak moral fibre. They are unable to resist temptation. This moral weakness results in sin, which is followed by punishment and intense suffering. Arthur-Hetty story traces the movement from weakness to sin and from sin to nemesis. Stratagems of Passion The ‘stratagems of passion’ are seen with illuminating c1arrty when Arthur, after luncheon, is unable to ‘recall the feelings and reflections which had been decisive in his decision to avoid Hetty’. We are told of his conscious thoughts, and the self-deceptions and distortions of truth that we see in them make, so to speak, a chart of the subconscious force of his impulse to see her-as a strong underwater current, showing nosing on the surface, is yet known to be present by the extent to which its pull on the keel of a ship alters its course. It is in such accounts of motives, conscious and unconscious, that Arthur is created and exists as a character in the novel. Our recognition of his good intentions, self-deceptions and weaknesses of will make the portrayal real and acceptable to us. Maturity through Love We are not permitted to see the process by which Dinah is enabled to . overcome her fear, and it is a serious flaw in the novel that it is so. All, we learn is that having been told by Adam of his love for her and having admitted in turn a love for him, Oinah once more retreats to Stonyshire, not staying even long enough to participate in the Harvest Supper. Adam, after waiting for several weeks, is no longer able to endure the strain and sets out for Stonyshire to find her. As he leaves the Loamshire world and enters gray treeless Stonyshire, he is reminded of the painful past, but in an altered light~ for now he possesses what George Eliot calls a â€Å"sense of enlarged being†, the consequences of thtt ruller life brought about by his suffering. He sees Stonyshire now through Dinah’s eyes, as it were, and ifhis vision includes the barren land, it also includes the wonderful flooding light and the large embracing sky. Adam waits for Dinah to return from her Sunday preaching not at her home, but on a hill top. Here, in the midst of her world, he discovers that D’nah has undergone a change, the power of her love for him has in a sense overcome her fears; she feels like cl divided person without him, and she is willing †¢to become his wife. He, therefore, takes her back to Loamshire whence she had so fled. It is not, however, to the green and golden world of. June with which the book began; rather to an autumnal mature world. Here, â€Å"on a rimy morning in departing November†, when there is a tinge of sadness in the weather as well as in the joy which accompanies the wedding, Adam and Dinah are married. it is in the fitness of things that they should so come together, for they are bound to either by their common suffering for Hetty and by their painful memories, suffering gives rise to sympathy, and love based on such sympathy alone can be fruitful and lasting. Critic after critic has expressed the view that Adam is too good to be true. It has been said that he is a perfect human being, George Eliot’s ideal, fully mature and enlightened from the very beginning. But the truth is otherwise. A moment’s reflection shows that he is proud, hard and self-righteous with little sympathy for ordinary sinners, which we all poor mortals are. As a matter of fact, the novel traces the process by which he gradually sheds his faults–of his education, enlightenment and maturity, through a process of suffering and love-and becomes ultimately a complete man, a fully integrated personality, through his love of Dinah and his marriage with her. The process of his education occupies the centre of the novel. The point would become clear, if we briefly consider this process. Hard and Self-righteous There can be no denying the fact that Adam is hard and self-righteous. In the very chapter we are told,† The idle tramps always felt sure they could get a copper from Seth; they scarcely ever spoken to Adam†. This is the flaw (not a fatal one) in Adam’s innocence: In fact, Adam is a stone-hearted person at the very beginning. The very fault in him lies in his over-confidence which makes him to think that he is righteous and it is not wrong in any way. This is told to us by the hymns he sings and the ending with the same hymn is not only appropriate but it also gives him the impression how much significant the hyn1n is? He does not harm anybody, knowingly. Not for a single moment he thinks when he hurts anybody. He is much confident about his doings, â€Å"I’ve seen pretty clear, ever since I could cast up a sum, as you can never do what’s wrong without breeding sin and trouble more than you can ever seen. † His confidence is shaken when he catches his friend red handed while making love with his beloved Hett}’, in the woods. He realises his mistakes, â€Å"how incomplete his mental seeing has been! He understood it all now-the locket, and everything else that had been doubtful to him a terrible scorching light showed him the hidden letters that changed the meaning of the past. † Here starts the process of his education and self-realisation. Realities of Midlands’ Life: George Eliot’s novels reveal the very aspects of the English Midlands, more specially Warwickshire and Coventry. The†¢ beauty of these Midlands plains caught the attraction of her eyes and these plains found their setting in her novels. Quite a feature of the scenery-and indeed of Warwickshire ‘generally is that the hedges are everywhere closely painted with trees, whose height, as well as the riotous wastefulness of the hedge–rose, give evidence of a kindly soil and climate. Methodic Themes: Written by Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity was translated into English by George Eliot. The influence of Feuerbach can be seen in George Eliot, in her works. In the above mentioned book, Feuerbach talks about the religious significance of water, wine and bread. All of three are sacred for him. The reason for the sacredness of water lies in the fact that it isa force of nature and it’ keeps us reminding that we have our origins in nature, the same origin of other lower creatures. Thus necessity of water symbolises our oneness with nature and Baptism as well. Wine and bread are man made things which look towards nature for the raw-material, thus symbolises that man is much superior to other lower creatures who are not so efficient to modify natural things. In the Christian ritual of Baptism, only water is used, for innocent and pure-hefirted childr~n. Whereas for the mature man, the Lord’s supper which includes wine and bread, is served. It suggests that man is much above animals. If the man is hungry and thirsty, he will no more remain a human being and taking of bread and wine restores him to his humanity. This truth is revealed to us through three suppers which is taken by Adam and his humanity kept ever-present in him. â€Å" References Eliot. George. Adam Bede. New York: Penguin. 1996. Greegor. G. R. George Eliot: a collection of critical essays. Englewood Cliffs, N. J. , Prentice Hall. 1970. Ian Adam.†Character and Destiny in George Eliot’s Fiction. † Nineteenth-Century Fiction. University of California Press 1965. 127-143 Jones, Robert Tudor A critical commentary on George Eliot’s ‘Adam Bede’. London: Macmillan. 1968. Levine. G. L The Cambridge companion to George Eliot. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2001. Pletzen, E Van. Eliot’s Adam Bede. The Explicator. 56, no. 1, (1997): 23. Thale, Jerome. The novels of George Eliot. New York, Columbia University Press, 1959. Watt, Ian P. The Victorian novel; modern essays in criticism. London, New York, Oxford University Press, 1971.

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Some Athletes Are Criminals not Role Models Essay

Some Athletes Are Criminals not Role Models The fact that athletes are role models does not correspond with the reality that they often get away with criminal acts. The growing trend of finding athletes involved with criminal acts is growing at a considerable rate. Though these so-called role models are in the eye of many, the officials and judges elected to determine their guilt usually let these athletes get off. Athletes, though some of them wish not to be, are role models. They are who we watch in our free time, and therefore we would like to be them. I remember watching the now famous Gatorade commercial touring the catchy phrase embodied in tune. â€Å"Like Mike, if I could be like Mike,† and thinking, yeah, I’d like to be like†¦show more content†¦I watch the television shows such as ESPN’s â€Å"The Life,† where a television crew follows around a professional athlete all day long documenting what it is they do when they are not playing their respective sport. I pay attention to all these things and often come to this realization; these people are just like me, they play a sport for fun and at tim es show many of the same characteristic traits that I employ; yet there are two major differences. One, they get paid very large amounts of money to play, in most cases, their favorite sport, and two, they are watched and therefore admired by many, making them famous in their own right. It is with these notions that I find it appalling to think and see that these same people many look up to in admiration, commit acts of crime. The history of what I personally know as the start of crime in the sports world started in 1919 with the â€Å"Black Sox Scandal.† This crime, although sports related, was based on many of the players on the Chicago White Sox baseball team, eight to be exact, â€Å"throwing† the World Series. Betters paid these players to play poorly, thus allowing these gamblers to bet on the opposing team that was not favored and win a large amount of money. The players were caught in this scam and those that were involved were kicked out of baseball as a result. One of the playersShow MoreRelatedCelebrities Role Models711 Words   |  3 Pages Celebrities Should Not Be Role Models In general We cannot judge if famous people should be considered role models or not. There are two perspectives around this subject, one of them says that Celebrities should be role models because of their humanity. A good example of that is Angelina Jolie and on the other hand, some people do not consider celebrities role models; because they are bad example. 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