Health care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health care - Essay Example Nevertheless, the business takes a period to reach break-even-point in order to make profits; in fact, there is a need for a financial security for the viability of the new business. Therefore, the paper will focus on comparing various forms of equity and debt financing alternatives, thereby elaborating of their advantages and disadvantages. The paper will also identify the steps involved in determining the financing to undertake, and the stage of the business where Equity and debt financing is most appropriate. Comparing Types of Equity Financing and Debt Financing Alternatives One of the forms of equity and debt financing is the use of personal savings, whereby an entrepreneur uses money saved for a given purpose. There are not expectation of troubles related to drowning draining of an account with saving that are set for financing equity and debt. Therefore, there are plans made to reserve his savings accounts for financing the equity or debt; hence, troubled by an emergency. The other alternative of financing is the use of bank loans, whereby the private banks are approached by the entrepreneurs as sources of financing debts. In this case, the small ventures secure a personal loan or line of credit for various financing their equity or debts, and they leverage their assets real estates, equipment and inventory as collateral to secure their loan. Therefore, the banks are used as an option of small businesses for raising funds, though the final decision of securing the funds depends on the balance established by the entrepreneur about the pros and cons of the bank loan as a source. The other source of financing equity or debt is government grants, whereby the government offers loans and grants programs to entrepreneurs in order to assist them the effort to expand their venture. The grants are in the form of free money while the government guaranteed loan has interest rates that are below the private banks. Therefore, grants are sources of free financing offer ed by the government organizations and entities, and it can be a substantial source of financing equity and debt in a business. Advantages of Each Form of Financing Available to Entrepreneurs One of the advantages of personal savings as a form of financing is low acquisition cost, whereby the entrepreneur is not bound to pay interest on bank loan. Moreover, using personal savings for financing the business where is a feeling of flexibility in the financing (Jennings, 2012). The other alternative of financing the equity and debt is the use of a bank loan whereby it enables the entrepreneurs to maintain their cash on hand, as they finance their equity and debts in order to survive in the period of the business. There is situation when the business experiences problems and the bank loans can contribute significantly in protection of personal assets and bankruptcy. Government grants are extremely beneficial to the entrepreneurs since the funding has not financial responsibility; thus, i t can be an effective source of financing equity and debts. The government grants are associated with the benefits of being derived from the tax income that is having been paid by the seeker. Furthermore, the government grants offer a way of tapping the past tax payment for receiving debt-free funding from the government. Disadvantages of Each

Concept of health (dementia) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Concept of health (dementia) - Essay Example arteries in the Heart are responsible for carrying the pure oxygenated blood and when it gets narrowed down due to the building of fatty substances on its walls, enough blood is not pumped in and out of the heart. This leads to symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath and in extreme cases, it leads to Heart attack. Coronary Heart Disease is called by different names such as Coronary Artery disease, Atherosclerotic Heart Disease and causes a combination of symptoms. The most important condition caused is called Angina which blocks blood flow in heart. Limitation of blood flow in turn causes a condition called ischemia in myocardial cells. When myocardial cells starve and die of oxygen it leads to a condition called myocardial infarction and there will be numbness in the body which is called as paresthesia. This disease is of particular interest because in England alone it kills more than 110,000 people annually. The disease does not have a big history as it was discovered very late after many changes have happened to the eating and working habits of people. CHD is also the most important cause of death in the US where more than 15 million people have some form of this condition. Also, according to Guinness Book of Records, Northern Ireland is the country with the most occurrences of CHD in the world. CHD is not biased with gender affecting both males and females equally. Although men in the 40’s are more susceptible than women, it gets evened out because as women get older, their risk is equally high as that of men. From 1984, more women have died of this heart disease than men. Already one in three females die of CHD while one in twenty five females die of Breast cancer. Forty to Fifty percent of women older than 45 have high levels of Blood pressure called Hypertension and high levels of Cholesterol which are the well-documented risk factors of heart diseases while smoking is the most common and preventable reason for cardio-vascular diseases in

Any warrant officer or enlisted member who Essay Example for Free

Any warrant officer or enlisted member who Essay Article 91 -â€Å"Any warrant officer or enlisted member who— (1) strikes or assaults a warrant officer, non-commissioned officer, or petty officer, while that officer is in the execution of his office; (2) willfully disobeys the lawful order of a warrant officer, noncommissioned officer, or petty officer; or (3) treats with contempt or is disrespectful in language or deportment toward a warrant officer, noncommissioned officer, or petty officer while that officer is in the execution of his office; shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. † Article 91 of the Uniform code of justice (UCMJ) is insubordinate conduct toward warrant officer, Noncommissioned Officer (NCO), or Petty Officer. Article 91 of the UCMJ defines insubordination and failure to obey order and regulation. Military discipline and effectiveness is built on the foundation of obedience to orders given by senior leadership or grades appointed over you. It’s not insubordinate conduct if the order given is unethical or illegal; neither is refusing to perform an order that is within the power of the person giving the order. Many superiors feel that the line of verbal contempt can be broken on many different levels. One can only assume that foul language, and language that may impose threat, violence or outright disobedience will ultimately fall in to the category of verbal contempt and disorderly language. A simple verbal disagreement with no foul language or violent intent can be considered as verbal contempt and or disorderly language to the NCO. An enlisted member can be subject to being punished by this article just on the superior’s thoughts on whether or not the accused was in verbal contempt. So in the case of a disagreement between two individuals, where one Marine says something and the next Marine another, it is what is perceived as the truth that becomes the truth. This can be troubling to some service members due to the fact if they have nothing to back their story; it can be assumed they are lying. Even if this is the case, until proven otherwise it will be assumed you have lied and will face punishment accordingly. In conclusion the purpose of Article 91 is to establish a set of rules and respect for all service members to adhere to. This creates a better work atmosphere and helps create the needed separation between superiors and subordinates. Without the separation between the service members the system could never function accordingly.

Causes of Political Disaffection and Disengagement

Causes of Political Disaffection and Disengagement Is the British political class to blame for political disaffection and disengagement? The Founding Fathers suggested that a democracy can only come to impartial decisions if both high levels of representation and deliberation take place (Gargarella, 1998). As a result of growing political disengagement and disaffection within contemporary British politics, there is a growing, â€Å"focus on the quality of representative democracy in Britain and on the quality of participatory democracy† (Kelso, 2007, p365) – the relationship that has been recognised is that political disaffection and disengagement are not conducive with an impartial democracy. Worryingly, both the Hansard Society’s annual, ‘Audit of Political Engagement’ (2017), and a recent House of Commons briefing paper, ‘Political disengagement in the UK: who is disengaged?† (2017), suggest that political disaffection and disengagement are growing issues; knowledge of politics is down six percent from the previous year (49%), the level of trust in Government ‘to put the needs of the nation first’ has dropped to 17% (2013) and trust in the credibility of MPs stands at a measly 9%. These figures indicate that there is indeed an issue of disaffection and disengagement within the UK, thus, to determine if the political class or instead, something else is responsible, it becomes necessary to investigate what the cause of disengagement and disaffection is within specific subsections of the population; especially those who are more likely to become disengaged from politics – the ‘disaffected democrats’ (Flinders, 2015). These factions include demographics such as the ‘working class’ and ‘18-24 year olds’, both of which account for low levels of knowledge in politics compared to the average mentioned above; 29% and 33% respectively (Hansard Society 2017). The term ‘political class’ is contentious and, ‘is still not thoroughly developed in literature’ (Manolov 2013). Allen & Cairney’s, ‘What do we mean when we talk about the â€Å"Political Class†?’ (2015), offers the best practical definition; that the term political class is used to identify certain, ‘flawed characteristics’, that elected politicians tend to hold, those being: Limited roots in local constituencies, inexperience of the real world, inability to reï ¬â€šect the social background of the voting population, inability to represent devolved and English regions, and their tendency to engage in a style of politics that is off-putting to the general public.(Allen & Cairney, 2015, p18  ) The general view that the working class currently have of politicians is one of ‘cynicism’ (Manning & Homes 2012). Within a study conducted by Manning & Holmes (2012), members of the working class gave opinions on how the political class cannot represent them – one member of the survey describing David Cameron, the then PM as followed: â€Å"he’s snooty†¦ [h]e’ll not really be interested in ordinary, what I class ordinary people† (Manning & Holmes, 2012, p.483). This line of narrative makes total sense as there is no sense of ‘descriptive representation’ (Pitkin, 1967) for most elected MPs. For example, just 3% of MPs elected in 2015 came from an occupational background described as ‘manual work’ (House of Commons Library 2016), whilst the proportion of the population that lies within the social class of manual workers (DE) stands at 25% (NRS, 2016). Moreover, the annual wage for the working class sits below  £20,000 (Manning & Holmes, 2012) whilst the base annual salary of an MP starts at  £76,011 (Parliament.uk, 2017). It would be fair to say that there is a huge socio-economic disparity between the two classes which makes it hard for the working class to believe that they are truly represented within Parliament. This idea has been explored thoroughly in regard to the descriptive representation of women; Phillips (1995), most notably suggested that the electorate tends to favour those that are, â€Å"best equipped to represent† (Wà ¤ngerud, 2009, p.52), their views – those that can empathise directly with their electorate. Underrepresentation is an issue for a much wider demographic than just the working class. Just 8% of MPs identify as BME (British Future, 2017) whilst the population of BME citizens in the UK stands at 13% (Census, 2011). Furthermore, just 2% of MPs are under the age of 30 (Total Politics, 2016) whereas those who are of voting age under 30 make up 8.4% (Census, 2011). As the political class is not representative of the working class, or if it fails to represent minorities proportionally, there is no sense of, ‘impartiality’, within the representative process (Gargarella, 1998), resulting in political disaffection and potentially even disengagement. Whilst Pinkleton & Austin (2004) suggest that political disaffection leads to political disengagement, in evaluation, there is evidence to suggest that although disaffection is significant within the UK, the same cannot be said for political disengagement. Flinders (2015) argues that the current political climate is not, ‘anti-political’ –   that is it is not in favour of disengaging from politics – but that it is, ‘anti-establishment’ – disaffected from contemporary politics and the nature of the institution of the political class. Whilst statistics previously mentioned indicate that the levels of political knowledge within the working class are relatively low (29% vs. social class AB returning 71%), voter turnout in the 2017 General Election is only slightly lower than the highest ranking social class; DE’s 61% in comparison to AB’s 73% (IPSOS Mori, 2017). This would then indicate that even though the working class feel s disaffection towards politics, they remain involved in the political process. This seems to be the case more generally; more and more people are involving themselves in politics. Party membership numbers are ever increasing with the Labour party holding a 38 year high of 552,000 members (June 2017) and the Liberal Democrats a 24 year high of 102,000 (June 2017) (House of Commons Library, 2018). The logical question therefore; why is this the case amongst the working class and society in general? Birch (2016) reiterates the assumption that the [re]mobilisation of certain cleavages within politics indicates that a, â€Å"new issue has galvanised a previously political quiescent sector of the population† (p.107). This is reflected in the 2015 YouGov analysis of the General Election in which, the data within the social class ‘DE’ shows a shift away from the Conservatives (a vote share of 29%, their lowest amongst any social class) and one towards the alternatives of Labour and UKIP (37% and 18% respectively). A vote for Labour, whilst not as obviously as a vote for UKIP, could still very well be a vote against the political class. Mills (1958) specification of the political class as the, ‘political directorate’, places greater influence on the role of Cabinet above both Government and naturally Parliament. Following Mills’ terminology, a vote against the, ‘political directorate’, would be any party that would topple the current Cabinet. Thus, as Labour offer the most immediate alternative to the, ‘political directorate’, in a UK that is converging upon a two-party system (Prosser, 2018), a vote for them could also be interpreted as a rejection of the current political class; proof of political disaffection but not of disengagement. A stronger argument for disaffection being the fault of the political class would be the rise in support for UKIP. Nigel Farage, former leader and ardent supporter of UKIP, ran on a campaign revolving around the political class, ‘selling us out’, due to them being, ‘career politicians’ (GE 2015 & Brexit referendum 2017), drawing a clear line between the electorate and, ‘them’, (the political class). As well as furthering the argument of a lack of descriptive representation causing political disaffection, Farage’s campaign platform highlights an issue Crouch outlined in Post-Democracy (2004); career politicians are, â€Å"more concerned with meeting the needs of big business rather than ordinary citizens† (Jennings et al., 2016, p.880). This concept is reinforced by a survey carried out by Jennings et al, which reports that 78% of social classes C2DE believe politicians to be ‘self-serving’. This in tandem with the rise in votes for other parties, gives evidence of a growing cleavage against the political class, which although has prevented political disengagement from becoming a widespread issue amongst the working class, has cemented political disaffection within society. However, in evaluation, whilst political disaffection is self-evident, there is a systemic issue which enables the political class to unjustly receive much of the criticism. Flinders (2014, p.3) draws attention to the 1975 report, The Crisis of Democracy, which suggests that, â€Å"the demands on democratic government grow, while the capacity of democratic government stagnates†. The concept Flinders then explores in the same article is one of an, ‘expectation gap’, and, in another article, joined by Kelso, he goes on to assert that the contemporary system of Government, ‘encourages politicians to promise standards of behaviour †¦ that are unrealistic and unattainable’ (2011). Thus, when these, ‘unattainable’, promises are not kept, the result is one of disaffection as the electorate feels let down. Looking through the lens of game theory, it becomes clear as to why this is a systemic issue within contemporary UK politics. Whilst competing politicians both offer the most out of reach promises, any attempt to reduce the expectation gap by lowering the quality of promises will yield less votes, as to the electorate, the other candidates yields them a better payoff. Thus, the current scenario remains in a Nash equilibrium in which both candidates will offer a high level of promises in detriment to the expectation gap. Whilst it could be argued that the political class is at fault for offering unreasonable promises in the first places, it is to an extent only as a result of the nature of the contemporary electoral system. It can also be argued that political disaffection and disengagement are both contributed to by external factors, as opposed to just the political class. One of those external factors would be the influence of social media. Whilst this applies more to the younger generations within the electorate, the effects of social media in creating political disaffection are considerate. Yanamoto et al. (2017) report of ever increasing, ‘attack advertising’, and, ‘negative media coverage’, which perhaps foreshadowed the investigation into the activities of Cambridge Analytica (Channel 4 News, 2018). CA was more notoriously active in the Trump presidential election yet played a part in the 2016 Brexit referendum. Although there has been no leak of the explicit role CA played in the Brexit campaign, going off track record of its campaign defining ‘crooked Hilary’ slogan it developed from US Facebook data, it would be fair to suggest that the firm played a part in inflating political disaffection felt by the UK electorate. Even if CA was not directly involved, it cannot be denied that websites such as twitter, facebook and YouTube give individuals and entities a platform to spread cynicism and a rhetoric in favour of political disaffection. As suggested in Flinders (2015) individuals such as Owen Jones and Russel Brand played, ‘major roles’, in promoting a, ‘different form of politics’, engaging their audience, primarily the youth, in a narrative which revolved around the idea that, ‘the nature of British democracy’ was one of failure. Yanamoto et al (2017) found that cynicism like this, did not yield in disengagement from politics but rather, it, ‘foster[ed]’, a sense of desire to create change. In evaluation, social media is only a means of venting and publicising the original disaffection held by the electorate – disaffection which has been created by the political class. Bibliography Allen, P. & Cairney, P., 2015. ‘What do we mean when we talk about the â€Å"political class†?’. Political Studies Review, 2017, Vol.15(1), pp.18-27. Available from: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1478-9302.12092 Birch, S., (2016). ‘Our new voters: Brexit, political mobilisation and the emerging electoral cleavage’. Juncture, 2016, Vol.23 (2), p.107-111. Available from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=1b6a5f7d-88e1-4a87-93c5-b91d1acc55b3%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=118114895&db=bth British Future. ‘52 minority MPs to sit in ‘most diverse UK parliament ever’’. London: British Future. Available from: http://www.britishfuture.org/articles/52-minority-mps-to-sit-in-most-diverse-uk-parliament-ever/ Channel 4 News., 2018. ‘Exposed: undercover secrets of Trump’s data firm’. London: Channel 4. Available from: https://www.channel4.com/news/exposed-undercover-secrets-of-donald-trump-data-firm-cambridge-analytica Crouch, C., 2004. Post-Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Crozier, M., Huntington, S. P., Watanuki, J., Trilateral Commission., 1975. The crisis of democracy: Report on the governability of democracies to the trilateral commission. New York : New York University Press Farage, N., (2017). I got into politics because I could see our political class in Westminster would sell us out to Europe. Available from: https://www.facebook.com/nigelfarageofficial/videos/1542379039143027/ Flinders, M., 2014. ‘Explaining Democratic Disaffection: Closing the Expectations Gap’. Governance, Vol.27(1), pp.1-8. Available from: https://bath.userservices.exlibrisgroup.com/view/action/uresolver.do?operation=resolveService&package_service_id=2335930000002761&institutionId=2761&customerId=2760 Flinders, M., 2015. ‘The General Rejection? Political Disengagement, Disaffected Democrats and â€Å"Doing Politics† Differently’. Parliamentary Affairs, 2015, Vol. 68(suppl1), pp.241-254. Available from: https://academic.oup.com/pa/article/68/suppl_1/241/1403570 Flinders, M. and Kelso, A., 2011. ‘Mind the Gap: Political Analysis, Public Expectations and the Parliamentary Decline Thesis’. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol.13(2), pp.249-268. Available from: http://journals.sagepub.com.ezproxy1.bath.ac.uk/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-856X.2010.00434.x Gargarella, R. (1998). ‘Full Representation, Deliberation and Impartiality’, in J. Elster (ed.), Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 110–37 Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, 2016. Social background of MPs 1979-2017. London: House of Commons Library. Available from: http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7483/CBP-7483.pdf Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, 2017. Political disengagement in the UK: who is disengaged?. London: House of Commons Library. Available from: http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7501/CBP-7501.pdf Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, 2018. Membership of UK political parties. London: House of Commons Library. Available from: http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05125/SN05125.pdf The Hansard Society, 2017. Audit of Political Engagement 14. London: The Hansard Society. (The 2017 Report). Available from: https://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/research/audit-of-political-engagement IPSOS Mori, 2017. How Britain voted in the 2017 elections. London: IPSOS Mori. Available from: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/2017-06/how-britain-voted-in-the-2017-election_2.pdf Jennings, W., Stoker, G., and Twyman, J., 2016. ‘The Dimensions and Impact of Political Discontent in Britain.’ Parliamentary Affairs. Vol. 69(4), pp. 876-900. Available from: https://academic-oup-com.ezproxy1.bath.ac.uk/pa/article/69/4/876/2468902 Kelso, A., 2007. ‘Parliament and Political Disengagement: Neither waving nor Drowning.’ The Political Quarterly. Vol 78(3), p. 364-373. Available from: https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy1.bath.ac.uk/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2007.00865.x Manolov, G. L., 2013. ‘The Political Class – Defintion and Characteristics’. Slavak Journal of Political Sciences, Vol. 13(No. 1), pp.5-23. Available from: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/sjps.2013.13.issue-1/issue-files/sjps.2013.13.issue-1.xml Mills, C. W., (1958). The Power Elite. London: Oxford University Press, pp. 225-42. National Readership Survey, 2017. Social Grade. London:   Publishers Audience Measurement Company Ltd. Available from: www.nrs.co.uk/nrs-print/lifestyle-and-classification-data/social-grade/ Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 2011. ‘Census aggregate data’. UK Data Service. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-2011-1 Pinkleton, B. E. & Austin, E. W., 2004. ‘Media perceptions and public affairs apathy in the politically inexperienced’. Mass Communication & Society, Vol.7(3), 319–337. Available from: https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy1.bath.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15327825mcs0703_4?needAccess=true Pitkin, H., 1967. The Concept of Representation. Berkeley, CA.: University of California Press Phillips, A., 1995. The Politics of Presence. Oxford: Clarendon Press Prosser, C., 2018. ‘The strange death of multi-party Britain: the UK General Election of 2017.’ West European Politics. 26 January 2018, p.1-11. Available from: https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy1.bath.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1080/01402382.2018.1424838?needAccess=true Wà ¤ngerud, L., 2009. ‘Women in Parliaments: Descriptive and Substantive Representation.’ The Annual Review of Political Science. Vol.12(1), pp.51-69. Available from: https://www-annualreviews-org.ezproxy1.bath.ac.uk/doi/10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.053106.123839 Whale, S., 2016. ‘The under-30 club: Life in the Commons for Britains youngest MPs’. Total Politics. London: Total Politics. Available from: https://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/features/under-30-club-life-commons-britains-youngest-mps

Slavery And Its Effect On The Uprising Of A New World Essay -- Slavery

â€Å"Slavery and Its Effect On The Uprising Of A New World† In the 17th century, Africans were taken from their homeland and forced into slavery in the New World. Once there, they were exploited for profit by European settlers. Despite mainstream historical accounts, it was African-Americans who built the foundation of the American economy, which eventually made it a super power. This essay will illustrate how Blacks survived in a hostile, racist environment by specifically looking at the psychological and physical brutality of slavery. The Portuguese were the first to embark upon the slave trade. Africans were snatched from their homeland and sold as slaves to the islands of the Caribbean and the Americas in the early 1500s. A prime area for slaves was on the west coast of African. People inhabiting this land were well known for their skills in agriculture, farming, and mining. Slave traders knew that by capitalizing on the mastery talents of these Africans they could become wealthy in other parts of the world. The Spaniards, the French, and the Dutch soon became part of the slave trade, and because of this, slavery grew to exponential proportions. The typical voyage for slaves taken by European traders started down the south coast of Africa into the Gulf of Guinea. They traded African slaves—human beings—for goods such as cloth, rum, brandy and guns. Then they would start on the second leg of this inhumane excursion. When the desired number of Africans was met, they shipped out to what is now known as the â€Å"Middle Passage†. These ships sailed from Africa across the Atlantic Ocean to one of several ports in the Caribbean and West Indies and slaves were bought and sold to work in sugar plantations. The English sla... ...ere often times forced to stop nursing their own infants at the breast and serve as a wet nurse to the master’s newborn. Regardless of age, picking cotton, more than any other activity, engaged all slaves – from the youngest to the elderly. House servants, too, were not excluded and would be drafted into the picking fields, probably to serve as a reminder of their position and equal status to the other slaves. In summary, the labor of African slaves built the foundation of the thriving economy the people of America, and across the world, reap the benefits of today. The label in our t-shirts and the soft, comfortable sheets we tuck our children in at night should read, â€Å"Made in the USA by AFRICANS†! The blood, sweat, and tears of our ancestors built this country and made it what it is today – one of the largest, if not â€Å"the† largest, super-power in the world.

Mercury :: essays research papers

Mercury Mercury’s symbol is Hg, its atomic number is 80, its atomic mass is 200.59, its in group 12 and in period 6, and it also has two valence electrons. Its standard state is liquid at 298Â ºK and it is the heaviest known elemental liquid. It has a silvery white color. It is named after the planet "Mercury" the origin of the symbol Hg is the Latin word "hydrargyrum" meaning "liquid silver". Mercury was known to ancient Chinese and Hindus before 2000 B.C. and was found in tubes in Egyptian tombs dated from 1500 B.C. Mercury is the only metal liquid at ordinary temperatures. Mercury is sometimes called quicksilver. It sometimes occurs free in nature and is found mainly in cinnabar ore which is HgS. Cinnabar ore is found in Spain and Italy. Mercury is a heavy, silvery-white metal which forms alloys easily with many metals like gold, silver, and tin. These alloys are called amalgams. Its way of amalgamating with gold is made use of the recovery of gold from its ores. Mercury is a bad conductor of heat and a okay conductor of electricity. The most important salts are mercuric chloride HgC12 which is a corrosive and violent poison. Mercurous chloride Hg2Cl2 which used to be used in medicine. Mercury fulminate Hg(ONC)2 used as a detonator in explosives and mercuric sulfide HgS used as a high-grade paint pigment. Organic mercury compounds are important and dangerous. Methyl mercury is a lethal pollutant found in rivers and lakes. Mercury is a virulent poison and is readily absorbed through the respiratory tract, the gastrointestinal tract, or through unbroken skin. It acts as a cumulative poison since there are few pathways available to the body for its excretion. Since mercury is a very readily vaporizable element at a relatively low temperature, dangerous levels are readily attained in air. Air saturated with mercury vapor at 20Â °C contains a concentration that exceeds the toxic limit many times. The danger increases at higher te mperatures. It is therefore important that mercury be handled with care.

Dth Services in India

Introduction to DTH Services DTH stands for Direct-To-Home television. DTH is defined as the reception of satellite programmes with a personal dish in an individual home. How does DTH work? A DTH network consists of a broadcasting centre, satellites, encoders, multiplexers, modulators and DTH receivers. A DTH service provider has to lease Ku-band transponders from the satellite. The encoder converts the audio, video and data signals into the digital format and the multiplexer mixes these signals. At the user end, there will be a small dish antenna and set-top boxes to decode and view numerous channels. On the user's end, receiving dishes can be as small as 45 cm in diameter. DTH is an encrypted transmission that travels to the consumer directly through a satellite. DTH transmission is received directly by the consumer at his end through the small dish antenna. A set-top box, unlike the regular cable connection, decodes the encrypted transmission. Difference between DTH & Cable TV :- The way DTH reaches a consumer's home is different from the way cable TV does. In DTH, TV channels would be transmitted from the satellite to a small dish antenna mounted on the window or rooftop of the subscriber's home. So the broadcaster directly connects to the user. The middlemen like local cable operators are not there in the picture. DTH can also reach the remotest of areas since it does away with the intermediate step of a cable operator and the wires (cables) that come from the cable operator to your house. As we explained above, in DTH signals directly come from the satellite to your DTH dish. Also, with DTH, a user can scan nearly 700 channels! DTH offers better quality picture than cable TV. This is because cable TV in India is analog. Despite digital transmission and reception, the cable transmission is still analog. DTH offers stereophonic sound effects. It can also reach remote areas where terrestrial transmission and cable TV have failed to penetrate. Apart from enhanced picture quality, DTH has also allows for interactive TV services such as movie-on-demand, Internet access, video conferencing and e-mail. History of DTH in India :- DTH services were first proposed in India in 1996. But they did not pass approval because there were concerns over national security and a cultural invasion. In 1997, the government even imposed a ban when the Rupert Murdoch-owned Indian Sky Broadcasting (ISkyB) was about to launch its DTH services in India. Finally in 2000, DTH was allowed. The new policy requires all operators to set up earth stations in India within 12 months of getting a license. DTH licenses in India will cost $2. 14 million and will be valid for 10 years. The companies offering DTH service will have to have an Indian chief and foreign equity has been capped at 49 per cent. There is no limit on the number of companies that can apply for the DTH license. Growth Potential of DTH in India :- Today, India has about 120 million television homes, out of which 75 million are cable TV homes, with the majority share on analog mode. There is a gap of approximately 45 million between these two figures alone. DTH currently caters to about 8. 9 million subscribers . There would always be a lot of areas that cable still cannot reach but DTH can between MSOs (multiple system operators) and DTH. Given the size of the Indian market there would be large volumes in both cable and DTH. In this industry, 10 years is too long; hence a five-year view would be more realistic. DTH will grab a major share and be at about 20-22 million subscribers by 2013. CAGR (compound annual growth rate) for DTH in India is 30%. DTH Players in India. Sr. No. DTH Service ProvidersOwner 1DD Direct +Prassar Bharati 2dish TVEssel Group. 3Tata SkyTata + Star (JV) 4BIG TVReliance (ADAG) 5Airtel Digital TVAirtel 6Sun Direct Marans and Astro group (JV) 7Videocon D2HVideocon 8ETH Air TVSterling Group Major DTH service Providers in India DD Direct plus :- Honorable Prime Minister of India inaugurated the service on 16/12/2004. Presently the DD DIRECT+ is envisaged to telecast 56 free-to-air TV channels (containing both Doordarshan and private channels) Satellite Earth Station for uplink of signals has been setup at Delhi. The high power Ku-band transponders of Indian Satellite INSAT-4B at 93. 5? E are being used for hosting the DD DIRECT+ services. DD Direct+ is a free Direct to Home (DTH) service that provides satellite television and audio programming to households and businesses in the Indian subcontinent, owned by parent company Doordarshan. It primarily competes with cable television and other DTH Service providers such as Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, Airtel digital TV and Big TV throughout India. Advantages : (1) DD Direct Plus is India’s first and only DTH service that offers its services absolutely free of cost. No monthly subscriptons to be paid when you are with DD Direct Plus. (2) Small one-time initial investment on STB and Dish and you can use it life-long. (3) Apart from all DD chs, DD Direct Plus offers several popular private FTA (Free-To-Air) chs. (4) As a bonus, DD Direct Plus also offers additional chs, from Dish TV’s satellite which are FTA from time to time. Disadvantages : (1) DD Direct Plus does not offer any EPG (Electronic Program Guide) facility, which all other DTH operator provides. Due to this, users are not able to check schedules on channels before-hand. (2) New channel addition process is very slow. Several ch wait for approval from Prasar Bharati (DD Direct Plus), but its sloggish attitude makes the addition of new chs too late. (3) DD Direct Plus revises and hikes its carriage fees all of a sudden due to which some channels tend to quit the platform. 4) Signal fluctuation issues occur at certain times, due to which some chs black-out temporarily. dish TV :- dishtv is an Essel Group venture. Essel Group has a vast range of national and global business interests that include media programming, broadcasting & distribution, speciality packaging and entertainment. The businesses have close synergies in the areas of content, distribution and infrastructure. Continuing with the same path-breaking tradition, the group now brings to you a new era of digital quality TV viewing. It not only broadcasts high quality programmes straight from the satellite to your home, but also gives you absolute and complete control of what you watch and pay for. It is almost like having your own satellite up in the sky. dishtv takes television viewing to the next level as it supports various futuristic features like Electronic Programme Guide, Parental Lock, Capacity up to 400 channels, Games, Interactive TV, Movie on Demand etc. Brought to you by a Zee Network Enterprise, dishtv has changed the face of the Indian television home, bringing it at par with the global entertainment ndustry. Dishtv Becomes India's First DTH Service To Cross 4. 5 Million Customer Mark 23 Million Happy Indians Have Made Dishtv No. 1 About Dish TV India: Dishtv is India’s No. 1 direct-to-home company and part of the biggest media conglomerate – Zee group. Dishtv has on its platform 225 channels & services including 21 audio channels with registered 4. 5 million subscribers, which is gr owing. Dishtv has a vast distribution network of about 650 distributors & 45,000 dealers that spans around 6500 towns across the country. Dishtv has 24* 7 call centre with 1600 seats in 11 different languages to take care of subscriber requirements at any point of time. Today, Dishtv is the leader in DTH sector with a market share of more than 53 per cent of the total subscriber base of 8. 9 million. Dishtv’s footprint covers 5400 towns across India bringing smiles to 23 million Indians. Today every 50th Indian out of the total population of 115 crore is enjoying the Dishtv experience. Advantages : (1) The biggest advantage of Dish TV is its cost. (For old or existing customers at this point). It offers most of the popular chs at low cost. The highest pack costs Rs. 325 per month, after which only 1 or 2 add-on packs are required to all almost all chs, unlike other DTH where you need several Add-on packs even after subscribing to the highest pack. (2) Dish TV’s satellite being located very near to DD Direct Plus’s satellite, all Dish TV users enjoy the complete ch offering of DD Direct Plus as well. So any new ch added in DD Direct Plus automatically gets added to Dish TV channel offering. (3) The software of Dish TV STBs are stable at the moment. This makes the switching speed between chs pretty fast. Also very less hang-ups of STBs reported till now. Thanks to Dish TV STBs’ great software. (4) Only Dish TV gives its users access to exclusive never-before seen international channels which are not available even in cable till now. The platter includes MGM, TCM and Boomerang. Airtel Digital TV provides MGM India unlike Dish TV which still carries the direct international feed of MGM. (5) Several new channels added recently are provided at no extra cost for the highest pack users, except for a few chs. (Currently only for existing or old customers). Whereas other DTH operators, have added the new launches in seperate Add-on Packs. (6) Dish TV has a good no of Transponders to offer more chs to its users, including the recently contracted Protostar which means more chs for its customers. Disadvantages : (1) One of the biggest problems of Dish TV is its Customer Care and Customer Service which is definately not upto the mark. The CC executives lack professionalism in their attitude and after-sales support in certain areas are allegedly poor. (2) Another serious issue is its audio and video quality. Quality on several (but not all) channels on Dish is not upto the mark. Too much of pixelation is seen on some chs and the audio standard is of course not of true CD quality. (3) Dish TV misses out on few important ch packages which includes the Neo bouquet and the UTV group of chs. Due to this exclusive cricket matches and world TV premier of latest movies on these chs are missed by the Dish TV users. (4) New ch addition process is extremely slow when it comes to Dish TV. It takes a huge amount of time for Dish TV to enhance its bouquet offerings. (5) The time taken for activation of packages after renewal is too long sometimes. Users had to wait for as long as 5-6 days for activation even after making payments on time. (6) Official website is not updated regularly. Official weblog which was meant for the interaction of Dish TV users, too does not work till date. Tata Sky :- Tata Sky is a JV between the TATA Group and STAR. It was launched on 8th August, 2006. Tata Sky endeavours to offer Indian viewers a world-class television viewing experience through its satellite television service. The Group and its enterprises have been steadfast and distinctive in their adherence to business ethics and their commitment to corporate social responsibility. This is a legacy that has earned the Group the trust of many millions of stakeholders in measure few business houses anywhere in the world can match. STAR is a leading media and entertainment company in Asia. STAR’s parent company, News Corporation, owns an International group of DTH businesses that include BSkyB in UK, Sky Italia in Italy and Foxtel in Australia. How does Tata Sky work? 1. Tata Sky uplinks all channels from broadcasters to its satellite (INSAT 4A). 2. The satellite sends these channels in digital format to the minidish fixed outside your home. . The minidish relays the channels to the digicomp which decodes the channels and sends them to your television, giving you an unparalleled television viewing experience with DVD quality picture and CD quality sound. Does the service get affected by rains? A few minutes of outage might occur during rains. This phenomenon is called RAIN OUTAGE and occurs in DTH platforms across the world. It will result in your televisio n losing reception for some time. We have tried to cut down this time so it might happen only for one or two minutes in a year. This too is automatically detected and gets corrected by itself. Tata Sky offers :- Tata Sky offers over 160 channels and services, designed to suit the varying needs of our subscribers. The packages include a wide array of television channels in DVD quality picture and CD quality sound and a host of new-age interactive services (Actve Cooking, Actve Wizkids, Actve Learning, Actve Stories, Actve Sports, Actve Games, Actve Matrimony, Actve STAR News, Actve Astrology, Actve Darshan and Actve Doordarshan). Showcase can be ordered with any of the Base packages. Different packages available on Tata Sky :- Base packages, designed to offer maximum choice.  » Super Hit Pack: Rs 99 per month  » South Starter Pack: Rs 125 per month  » Family Pack: Rs 200 per month  » Super Saver Pack: Rs 260 per month  » South Value Pack: Rs 260 per month  » South Jumbo Pack: Rs 310 per month Tata Sky also offers Add-On packages in addition to the Base packages. We can choose from  » Education Gold Pack: Rs 30 per month or Rs 300 per annum  » Lifestyle Gold Pack: Rs 45 per month or Rs 450 per annum  » Sports Gold Pack: Rs 30 per month Sports Platinum Pack: Rs 65 per month  » ESPN & STAR Sports Pack: Rs 40 per month  » A La Carte Channels: Ten Sports Rs 15 per month, STAR Cricket Rs 25 per month ,Topper Rs 1010 annually Tata Sky's SMS number :- SMS number is 56633. You can SMS only from your Registered Mobile Number (RMN). To register, send RMN to 56633 from your mobile phone. Advantages : (1) India’s first and only DTH service to have made a joint venture with a reputed international DTH brand, Sky, which is famous for its exquisite technology. 2) The audio and video quality of TataSky stands up to the expectations of its users. Customers have reported about TataSky’s true DVD quality picture and CD quality sound. (3) Only TataSky gives its users an exclusive access to some authentic international channels which includes BBC Entertainment and Ceebebies. (4) TataSky offers uniform volume level across all channels, unlike other DTH services where the volume level keep varying with each ch. (5) The STB of TataSky is stable enough. There has been very less or no reports of TataSky STB bugs or issues till date. (6) TataSky users argue that its Customer Service is satisfactory. Issues are addressed on time and the after-sales support is great. Disadvantages : (1) TataSky has too many Add-on packs. Several add-on packs need to be subscribed to for enjoying all the chs, even after going with the highest pack. This makes the over-all package too costly. (2) The channel strength of TataSky is less compared to other DTH operators. This is because of the less no of Transponders purchased by them. Reliance BIG TV :- 9th Aug. 2008. Launched. Launched in August this year, Big TV is available at over one lakh retail outlets across 6,500 towns along with over 2,000 exclusive Reliance branded stores. Big TV to slash prices by over 40% Ashish Sinha / New Delhi October 17, 2008, 0:07 IST (Business Standard 15/12/2008) Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) is all set to begin a price war in the direct-to-home (DTH) market by offering its connection about 43 per cent lower than any of the existing players. Big TV will offer its DTH service for Rs 1,490, while the lowest-priced connection is currently being offered by Dish TV at Rs 2,190, followed by Tata Sky at Rs 2,400. Big TV, which is the fourth entrant in the DTH space, is selling its service Rs 700 lower than its competitors. â€Å"This will be one of the biggest price cut offer by a DTH player for the coming Diwali season,† says Arun Kapoor, chief executive of Big TV. Reliance ADA Group has launched its DTH/satellite TV venture BIG TV, with 202 channels including 50 subscription VOD channels. The company says it is targeting 40 percent of the market within a year of launch, a very ambitious target, but will use all its muscle to promote it, including broadband Internet, mobile phones, home video, film production and the Adlabs cinema chain, reports Variety. Meanwhile, the company also mentioned that its IPTV service is ready and will launch within this year. Reliance has a deal with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) under which the software giant supplied the IPTV software to the company for a $500 million licensing fee. BIG TV – 1 Millian. As on 25/11/08. (Source :- Televisionpoint. om) Future Investment Plan Right now this is the stage where the industry is in a phase of building the market. Just a few months ago when we launched BIG TV, the market penetration was in the range of 5–7% and today it has crossed 10%. So this is the stage when everyone is investing in terms of building and expanding the market and I am pleased to inform you that in the three months that we have been in the market it has expanded by 60%. In June-July the net addition in the month was around 600,000 and now we have crossed a million or will be around a million this month Advantages : 1) Big TV is has incorporated MPEG-4 technology unlike other DTH who are still on MPEG-2. The most basic difference between the two is that MPEG-4 is capable of carrying more chs in its offerings which means more chs can be added within a short span of time. After Dish TV, Big TV offers the highest no of chs. (2) Another merit of Big TV is its awesome picture and audio quality which are much better than any other existing DTH. For the first time, a DTH that lives up to the expectations for a true digital quality experience. (3) Big TV is perhaps the only DTH that offers several chs in its base pack. In fact, Big TV’s package and pricing is absolutely tailor-made to suit the exact needs of the customers. With this advantage, customer get more chs by paying less. (4) The Active or rather â€Å"Select† services on Big TV allows users to watch 12 chs at a time on a single screen unlike other DTH where you can watch a max of 6 – 8 chs. (5) Rain-fade is an issue that is common for all DTH. But its Big TV, so you can enjoy your favourite programs even when it rains. Big TV’s advanced technology lets you watch chs even when it rains heavily. Chs may blak-out for just about 5-6 seconds whereas in other DTHs, ch black-out lasts the entire length of the rain. Disadvantages : (1) The biggest problem of Big TV is its STB software which is still now not stable. Customers across India have reported about STB hanging problems innumerable no of times. STB gets over-heated, hangs several times, slow channel navigation, does not work after a manual update are some of the many issues that keep occcuring to the Big TV STBs. (2) Another demerit of Big TV is its Customer Care and Customer Service. The CC Executives lack professionalism in their behaviour. The after-sales support is too not good. (3) Incorrect package activations have happened with several users at times where the customer was wanting one pack and some other pack was activated instead. (4) The Big TV logo placed on the top left corner of screens is quite big and not transparent which is irritating. Whereas the logos of other DTH services are relatively smaller and of watermark type. Airtel Digital TV . (â€Å"Come Home To The Magic†) Bharti Airtel Limited announced the launch of Airtel digital TV , its Direct To Home (DTH) Satellite TV service. Airtel digital TV, which is a perfect blend of latest technology, unique features, and great content, promises to redefine the digital home entertainment experience. The service will be available to customers through 21,000 retail points including Airtel Relationship Centres in 62 cities across the country starting October 9, 2008 . With over 175 channels, the packages will start from Rs. 2499 for a six-month subscription in which the channel price band will range from Rs. 99 to Rs. 424. Vision & promise By 2010 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India: Loved by more customers Targeted by top talent Benchmarked by more businesses Airtel always think in fresh and innovative ways about the needs of our customers and how we want them to feel. We deliver what we promise and go out of our way to delight the customer with a little bit more Besides the latest technology, Airtel digital TV brings many firsts to the DTH segment in India : †¢Universal remote for both Set Top Box and TV that offers enhanced viewer convenience; †¢Highest Set Top Box memory enabling more interactive applications; †¢Exclusive content such as World space Radio; Interactive applications such as iMatinee (Book cinema tickets), iTravel (Browse and book travel packages), iShop (Shop on TV for your favorite brands), iCity (Get your city's information) and Widgets (Update yourself on latest stock news). 8 screen iNews, 2 / 4 screen iSports . †¢Amazing games with high quality graphics, refreshed every 6 weeks †¢Audio gain control for uniform audi o levels across all channels †¢Simple and intuitive search †¢On screen account meter †¢Last viewed channel in case of power disruption/switch off †¢Low battery indicator on the screen These great viewing experience and unique features are backed by 24Ãâ€"7 customer care available in 8 different languages and a team of 800 professionally trained service engineers. Market Shares: Currently, the market is dominated by Essel Group's Dish TV DTH service (about 4 million subscribers) followed by Tata Sky (2. 7 million subscribers), Sun Direct (1 million subscribers) and Big TV ( half million subscribers). State-owned Prasar Bharati's DTH service DD Direct Plus is the only free-to-air service, where consumers do not pay any monthly subscription fees. According to sources, DD Direct Plus has a subscriber base of about 3-4 million subscribers, mostly in the remote corners of the country not connected by terrestrial or cable television. Advertising Strategy: Airtel has also launched a teaser campaign for its DTH service, called ‘See you at home soon’. It has four teasers – Masai (infotainment), Cowboy (movies), Band (music) and Meercats (kids). The common element is all these teasers is a big, red couch. Advantages : (1) Airtel Digital TV offers true DVD quality picture and CD quality sound which are absolutely flawless. So its customers can be assured of its crystal-clear video and stereophonic sound. (2) The external appreacnce of Digital TV STB is sleek and stylish unlike the STB of other DTH operators which are huge and bulky. Digital TV’s STB proves to be a fantastic eye-candy. (3) For the first time, Digital TV is a DTH that offers universal remotes for its users. So no more hassle of using two remotes at a time. (One for TV, the other for STB). Digital TV’s STB remotes (after programming) will work with both your TV as well with the STB. (4) Only Digital TV exclusively offers 10 popular and premium World-Space satellite radio chs to its subscribers. There is so much to hear, when you have World Space Radio with you, another first from Digital TV. (5) The Dish antenna of Digital TV is considerably bigger than other DTH dishes. This makes sure that you dont loose connectivity even when it rains wild. The bigger dish has been brought up keeping this aspect in mind. Disadvantages : (1) The only disadvantage of Digital TV is its price which is comparetively higher than any other DTH. The highest pack goes up to Rs. 424 per month which comes out to be too costly keeping in mind the present cut-throat competition in the DTH market.