Cement Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cement - Coursework Example First step encompasses preparation of material to their required size and condition. Mainly, this is size reduction of materials, which are bulky in size and cannot fit well in the rotary kiln besides ensuring intimate reaction of varied chemical components (ZKG, 2010). This process is raw milling mostly taking place in the field before transportation of lime (ZKG, 2010). Once materials arrive in the factory, mixing or blending of varied components takes place. This is to ensure uniform and intimate reaction of materials once they are in the kiln, which is always at high temperatures. However, these temperatures usually vary significantly in diverse sections. These include dehydration (- 4500C), Calcination (4500C to 9000C), solid-state reaction (9000 – to 13000C), clinkering section (13000C to 15500C) and finally cooling zone (Thomas & Jennings, 2008).  After formation and cooling of clinker in silo, milling commences with addition of other essential additives whose role is to ensure cement attains its required condition before stored in silosg (ZKG, 2010). Milling entails feeding the clinker into a four-chamber or cemernt mill coupled with addition of gypsum and other components to produce a very fine powder, which is cement (Taylor et al. 2008). After milling, the fine powder based on materials may stay in the silo for sometime before packaging takes place. This is to allow final residue process take places effectively whereby afterwards packaging or bagging takes place before kept in warehouses.

Politics in the Caribbean and United states Intervention Essay

Politics in the Caribbean and United states Intervention - Essay Example in Caraley, 4). This egocentric approach of the US is what has prompted it time and again to get involved in the domestic matters of other nations. But the immediate reasons have been different for different regions and countries. For example, As far as the Caribbean region is concerned, it is observed that it is the â€Å"dramatic asymmetry in power† between the US and the Caribbean nations as well as the â€Å"geographic proximity† that prompted America to intervene there (Maingot and Lozano, 1). The US has been initially interested in this region so as to control â€Å"the commercial sea lanes† and also this interest was based on its policy of â€Å"dollar diplomacy† that is, â€Å"military intervention to promote and secure economic expansion† (Maingot and Lozano, 2). The importance that the US foreign policy gave to â€Å"stopping communism† was yet another reason why America often intervened in the Caribbean (Manigot and Lozano, 20). Sp ecific examples show that US annexed Puerto Rico as a full-fledged colony, established a puppet military government in the Dominican Republic, tried to overthrow many times the Cuban communist government and militarily occupied Haiti (Langley, 157). And as Caraley has observed, it can be concluded that the American foreign policy as evolved in the period of George W. Bush â€Å"is the establishment of American hegemony, primacy or empire. In the Bush doctrine, there are no universal norms or rules governing all states. On the contrary, order can be maintained only if the dominant power behaves quite differently from others†

Bangladesh Liberation War: Conflict Analysis

Bangladesh Liberation War: Conflict Analysis Conflict Analysis Case Study –Bangladesh Liberation War Background and Internal Factors West Pakistan had four provinces: â€Å"Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the North-West Frontier.† Province number 5 was East Pakistan, and it was the largest province out of all. West Pakistan had control over all the provinces, and used up most of the resources. â€Å"Between 1948 and 1960, East Pakistan made 70% of all of Pakistans exports, while it only received 25% of imported money. In 1948, East Pakistan had 11 fabric mills while the West had nine. In 1971, the number of fabric mills in the West grew to 150 while the number in the East went down to 26. About 2.6 billion dollars of resources were also shifted over time from East Pakistan to West Pakistan. Although East Pakistan had the largest population among all the provinces, it had much less political power than West Pakistan. Although the economy was an issue, there was also the issue of language that caused East Pakistan and West Pakistan to have dispute for several years.† (bdallinone) In 1948, Mohammad Ali Jinnah announced that Urdu was the official language for Pakistan. However, this was not fair because only the people in the West and the Bihari’s in the East spoke Urdu. Majority of the West Pakistanis spoke Punjabi and Sindhi, while East Pakistanis spoke Bangali. Therefore, East Pakistan was against the movement of Urdu being the official language for Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the Awami League (top political party in support of East Pakistan), wanted more economic and political power, all of these political changes resulted in the war of independence. The war involved two parts of Pakistan: East Pakistan VS West Pakistan in a war for liberation and freedom from West Pakistan. The war lasted throughout March 26th – December 16th 1971. The Pakistan Army began a genocide called â€Å"Operation Searchlight† by attacking the innocent Bangaladeshi’s of Dhaka city (Dhaka is the capital city of the province Bengal). The Pakistani army massacred 40,000 Bengali people, whether they be poets, teachers, police officers, etc and ignited a brutal war against the Bengalis of East Pakistan to stop them from being independent. They also invaded homes and held families on gun point, burned down schools, destroyed sacred architecture and purposely ruined 80% of agriculture lands, which caused Bangladesh to be in a famine. They killed sons and daughters and raped women and the West Pakistani army got away with ALL these crimes, and nothing was accounted for until at least 30 years ago, when activists convinced the police department to open up old cases. East Pakistan didn’t have an army since it was not yet officially a country, so they were just a group of freedom fighters. Eventually, India joined in to support East Pakistan’s Freedom Fighters, and then they formed the Mukhti Bahini, which translates to The Liberation Army. They used the guerrilla method and just basic armed forces, which they got from the support of the Indian Army, and through a lot of gruesome war, they eventually fought until they gained their liberation, and Bangladesh was declared an independent nation. The West Pakistani government was not willing to make peace with the East Pakistani government due to political differences such as political power due to economic, language and racial issues, since West Pakistan was considered one large province, the politicians that were on the West Side did not allow East Side of Pakistan to develop their own stable government since the East Side always got outweighed. External Factors Throughout the war, there was involvement from several other countries such as India. India played an active role. Indira Gandhi (Prime minister of India) wanted to protect Bangladesh. Since India had a lot of protection (bombs, nuclear weapons, great military), they â€Å"mounted a three-pronged movement on Dhaka from the Indian province West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura. The Indian soldiers, Air Force, and Navy defeated the Pakistani army, while the Bangladeshi Navy helped India. On the ground, three groups of Mukti Bahini and Indian forces fought the Pakistanis. The Pakistanis attempted to fight back and they did not give up, but failed to resist them and ended up surrendering† (Murtala Sadeh) This surrender was the largest surrender from an army since World War 2. This was not a proxy war because the East Pakistan and West Pakistan communicated directly with each other, and did not use any other source to have the war fought for them; they fought on each other’s land. International Response: United Nations Pakistan’s plan to invade and bomb India’s land got the United Nations involved, and they stepped in and tried to force India to agree to a cease-fire. The â€Å"UN Security Council† came together on December 4 1981 to talk about the situation and find any possible way of making peace. After much convincing and long discussions, on 7 December, the United States came up with the idea for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of troops. Stalinist Russia rejected the resolution twice. In light of the Pakistani atrocities, Britain and France restrained and kept their distance from the situation. The Indian army quickly overran the country. Pakistani forces were unable to effectively fight the brutal attacks, since â€Å"they had been deployed in small units around the border to counter guerrilla attacks by the Muhkti Bahini. Unable to defend Dhaka, the Pakistanis surrendered on 16 December 1971, the largest surrender since the Second World War. Bangladesh gained adm ission to the UN with most voting in its favour, but China rejected this as Pakistan was its key ally, as was the United States, which was one of the last nations to accord Bangladesh recognition. United States of America â€Å"The US administration feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean the domination of the region by Stalinist Russia. That, in turn, would seriously undermine the global position of the US and the regional position of America’s new tacit ally, China. In order to demonstrate to China the reliability of the US as an ally, and in direct violation of the US Congress-imposed sanctions on Pakistan, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan, shipping them through Jordan and Iran. China was encouraged to increase arms supplies to Pakistan†. (Wikipedia) The Nixon government completely uncared for the reports it received of the genocidal and brutal activities that the Pakistani Army was getting involved in (to dominant the Bengalis), including all the deaths of innocent Bangali’s and all of the rapes. However, Russia supported the Indian army and Mukti Bahini during the war because they knew that the independence of Bangladesh would make their rivals weaker. It also assured India that if the US or China tried invading India, Russia would have their back. Therefore, the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty was signed in August 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. When Pakistan’s defeat was obvious, â€Å"Nixon sent the aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, to the Bay of Bengal, a move which ratcheted up nuclear tensions in the region. USS Enterprise arrived on station on 11 December 1971. On 6 and 13 December, the Russian navy sent out two groups of ships, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok. They trailed the US task force in the Indian Ocean from 18 December until 7 January 1972. At the end of the war, the Warsaw Pact countries of Central and Eastern Europe were the first to recognise Bangladesh as an independent country.† (Wikepedia) Stalinist Russia gave credit to Bangladesh on 25 January 1972. The United States also eventually gave them credit in April. â€Å"On 2 July 1972, the Simla Accord was signed between India and Pakistan, which stated the goal to normalise relations between India and Pakistan, including the return of Pakistani prisoners of war. Pakistan officially recognised Bangladesh in 1974†. (Wikiped ia) China Since China is an ally of Pakistan, the Peoples Republic of China reacted with productively towards situation in East Pakistan and the prospect of India invading West Pakistan. They know that an Indian attack was about to happen, so Richard Nixon (President of U.S.A) encouraged China to gather together its armed forces along India’s border. The Indian Army was prepared and had deployed eight mountain divisions to the â€Å"Sino-Indian border to guard against such an eventuality.China instead threw its weight behind demands for an immediate ceasefire.† (Wikipedia) When Bangladesh wanted a place to get involved in the United Nations in 1972, China rejected their application because of two United Nations resolutions regarding the repatriation of Pakistani prisoners of war and civilians had not yet been implemented.† (Wikipedia) China was one of the last countries to recognise the liberation of Bangladesh and denied to until 31 August 1975. Effect of Temperature on Plant Physiology | Experiment Effect of Temperature on Plant Physiology | Experiment Abstract The physiological processes of many organisms are sensitive to temperature. In order to see this effect of temperature, we examined the heart rate of a Daphnia magna over a range of different temperatures. Being an ectothermic animal, the Daphnias body temperature is dependent on water temperature. It was hypothesized that since most physiological processes are faster at higher temperatures, the Daphnias heart rate will be faster at higher temperatures and slower at low temperatures. This was, in fact, true and a pattern was evident which showed that heart rate increased as temperature increased. The Q10 was high at higher temperatures which show elevated sensitivity at higher temperatures. Clearly, Daphnia have an optimal temperature range outside which they do not function to their full potential. A Daphnias heart rate, then, was proved to be dependent on temperature. Introduction Daphnia magna is a widespread freshwater zooplankton. Since Daphnia are ectothermic animals, their body temperature fluctuates with environmental temperature. Hence, these animals are ideal to study the effects of temperature. Most such animals function well at certain specific temperatures. They have an optimal temperature range, outside which they are unable to perform physiological processes effectively (Lamkemeyer et al. 2003). It is believed that most physiological processes take place more rapidly at higher temperatures and that changes in temperature can influence physiological rates (Ziarek et al. 2010). In order to investigate this, we questioned whether the heart rate of a Daphnia is different at different temperatures. Q10, which is the temperature sensitivity of a reaction, was a useful tool. We hypothesized that the Daphnia will have different heart rates at different temperatures and hence that temperature will affect heart rate. It was also hypothesized that Q10 will d iffer at different temperatures. This hypothesis was tested by exposing the Daphnia to different water temperatures, letting it equilibrate to the water temperature and counting its heart beat in a systematic way. Since most physiological processes increase at higher temperatures, we predicted that if the temperature is higher (close to 35 °C) then the heart rate of the Daphnia will be faster and if the temperature is low (close to 5 °C) then it would be slower. In addition, we predicted that Q10 will be higher at low temperatures and lower at high temperatures. In view of the fact that Daphnia had an optimal temperature range, it would be understandable if the Daphnia was more sensitive to temperatures outside this range and consequently reacted by altering its heart rate. Methods A Daphnia was placed on a small smear of Vaseline on the bottom of a culture dish (Olaveson and Rush 2011). Aged water at room temperature was added to the dish. Five minutes were allowed for the Daphnia to adjust to the water temperature and the temperature of the water was measured and recorded. Under a dissecting microscope, the Daphnia was placed and the 4X lens were used to locate the heart and count the heartbeats. The number of beats was counted over a 10 second period which was followed by a 10 second pause in counting and then 10 seconds of counting again. In order to get 9 measurements of the heart rate, this pattern was repeated for 3 minutes. Then, ice and water were mixed in a beaker to make a water mixture between 5 °C to 10 °C. To replace the tap water in the culture dish with chilled water, a Pasteur pipette was used. Five minutes were allowed for the Daphnia to reach equilibrium and then the heart beat was counted to obtain 9 measures of heart rate (heartbeats/ 1 0 seconds). The values were recorded. The temperature was then increased in 5 °C increments till 35 °C and heart rate was measured at each point. Small amounts of the colder water were replaced with the warmer water (obtained from a water bath) till the desired temperature had been reached. Five minutes were always allowed for equilibration and using the same method, 9 measures of heart rate were recorded. The 9 estimates of heart rate taken at each temperature were used to find the average heart rate at each temperature. These values were entered into an excel document by all students and later used for analysis. Results Statistical analysis and data processing shed light upon the effect of temperature on the heart rate of a Daphnia. The Statistical t test analysis proved that the Ho could be rejected for all the three tests proving that temperature does have a significant effect on the heart rate of a Daphnia. The Q10 as well as the average heart rates at different temperatures provided evidence that supported the hypothesis that temperature would affect Daphnia heart rate too. At the temperature interval of 4 °C to 14 °C, the Q10 was found to be 1.31 (Table 1). Although this was not the highest Q10 value and hence not the most sensitive temperature interval, a decrease in heart rate was evident at the lower temperature of 4 °C compared to other higher temperatures (figure 1). The heart rate at 4 °C was found to be 106.74 beats per minute where as the heart rate at 14 °C was 140.10 beats per minute. The significant decrease in heart rate at 4 °C compared to heart rate at the ambient temperature (24 °C) was supported by the t test analysis (sample t statistic: 14.3938; critical t statistic:1.978; df:136; p = 0.05). The temperature interval from 14 °C to 24 °C showed increased sensitivity (Q10:1.40). This indicated the increase in heart rate at 24 °C compared to lower temperatures (figure 1) and was supported by the t test analysis as the Ho (hypothesis that no change in heart rate would be evident) was rejected (t statistic: 8.6519; criti cal t statistic:1.978; df:136; p = 0.05). During the temperature interval from 24 °C to 34 °C, the highest Q10 was noted (table 1). This sensitivity to high temperatures was obvious when heart rates at the two temperatures were compared (heart rate at 24 °C: 196.32 beats/min; at 34 °C: 277.92 beats/ min). The H0 was hence rejected (t statistic: 9.7792; critical t statistic: 1.978; df: 136; p = 0.05). All the three tests provided evidence that suggested that temperature had an effect on the Daphnias heart rate. At higher temperatures, the heart rate was faster and at lower temperatures, it was slower. Generally, as temperature increased so did the Daphnias heart rate (figure 1). Discussion All organisms have an optimum temperature range over which they function best. Consequently, at certain temperatures, the physiological processes of a Daphnia magna are at its utmost potential. Some hypothesized that Daphnia optimize their fitness by allocating the time spent in the different habitats depending on the temperature gradient (Kessler Lampert, 2004). Hence, evidently temperature has an effect on the performance of a Daphnia. Specifically, as hypothesized, temperature affected the heart rate of Daphnia. It was noticed that the Daphnias heart rate increased at higher temperatures (close to 34 °C) and decreased at lower temperatures (close to 5 °C). Since Daphnia are ectothermic, their body temperature varies with environmental temperature. Since Daphnia cannot thermoregulate, their body temperature experiences variance following à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uctuations in the environment (Ziarek et al. 2010). Hence as the temperature of the water increased, so did the Daphnias heart rate. The data supported this prediction. This is simply because most physiological processes take place more rapidly at higher temperatures. In addition, research has shown that increases of heart rate by significant values were measured in D. Magna as a function of temperature (Paul et al. 2004). One reason why the heart rate of Daphnia increases with temperature would be because less oxygen is present in the warmer water. Consequently, lack of oxygen could result in insufficient amount of oxygenated blood and hence the heart would have to work harder to pump blood around the body. For this purpose, it makes sense that the heart rate would increase. Very little research has been done about oxygen levels at different temperatures and Daphnia heart rates and perhaps more such research will provide more clarity on this topic. The little research that has been done, though, suggests that a reduced aerobic scope allows only time-limited survival at temperatures outside the optimal ran ge (Lamkemeyer et al. 2003) in organism such as Daphnias. Other research has also shown that high temperatures increase a Daphnias metabolic rates by increasing their heartbeat rates (MacArthur Baittie, 1929), and consequently their oxygen demands (Ziarek et al. 2010). It is also important to note that although it was predicted that Q10 would be higher at low temperatures and lower at high temperatures, the data did not support this prediction. The opposite, in fact, was evident. At higher temperatures the Q10 was higher and at lower temperatures it was lower. This could be possible merely because the Daphnia was more sensitive to changes in temperature at higher temperatures. It could also be possible that Q10 was higher at higher temperatures because of other errors. For instance, when the ice was added to the water in order to obtain low water temperatures (5 °C), it was difficult to obtain the exact temperatures. Although the temperature obtained (about 8 °C) was lower than room temperature (or ambient temperature), it is possible that it wasnt low enough to trigger major physiological changes. A significant fact to keep in mind is that since temperatures are increasing due to global warming, water temperatures are going to increase as well . This could lead to problems for organisms such as Daphnia which cannot function well outside of their optimal temperature range. It has been suggested that rising temperatures associated with global warming present a challenge to the fate of many aquatic organisms (Doorslaer et al. 2009) In conclusion, Daphnia heart rate is affected by temperature and tends to increase at high temperatures and decrease at low temperatures.

Albert Einstein :: biographies biography bio

Biography * Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in the town of Ulm, in WÃ ¼rttemberg, Germany. * Albert's family moved around Europe, including Munich, Italy and Aarau Switzerland. * Albert attended the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich where he trained to be a teacher in both physics and mathematics. * Upon his graduation in 1901 he was awarded Swiss citizenship and unable to find a teaching position, so he decided to work as a technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office where he worked on much of his famous research. He earned his Ph.D in 1905. * In 1908 he became Privotdozent in Berne, 1909 he became Professor Extraordinary at Zurich, 1911 Professor of Theoretical Physics at Prague then returning to Zurich in 1912. In 1914 he accepted appointment as the Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Physical Institute and became a Professor at the University of Berlin. * He was granted German citizenship in 1914 and stayed there until 1933 when he emigrated to the US and became a US citizen in 1940. * He accepted a position in 1940 as Professor of Theoretical Physics at Princeton and resigned in 1945. * He became a leader for the World Government Movement after World War II, and he was offered, by Israel, the office of President. He declined but was one of the founders or the Hebrew Univeristy of Jerusalem. * Albert Einstein was awarded honorary doctorates in science, medicine, and philosophy from universities the world over. He was also granted memberships to the leading scientific academies all over the world. However, the genius he is reknown for today landed him in solitude for much of his life. * He was married twice. He was married to Mileva Maric from 1903 to 1919, they had a daughter and two sons. Later in 1919 Al married his cousin Elsa LÃ ¶wenthal.

It may be to do with rarity

Why do wear the best suit (dress) when going for an important meeting or interview? Why do we make sure that we do not use a cheap perfume when going on a date? The aspect of self-indulgence is intertwined with the socially directed motives when it comes to luxury. The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was Just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies. With the clear differences between social classes in earlier civilizations, the consumption of luxury was limited to the lite classes.It also meant the definition of luxury was fairly clear. Whatever the poor cannot have and the elite can was identified as luxury. The meaning of luxury and the sorts of customers that buy luxury have continually been evolving, but never as dramatically as in the past 20 years. With more potential customers , the luxury sector is today healthier than ever – increasing at around three times the r ate of worldwide wealth. The luxury goods industry is unique in that it is an industry that relies strictly on marketing and promotion to sell products to a specified group of people.It is also an uxury goods industry is very fascinating and the products themselves signify prestige and status. Although a select few are able to afford luxury goods, the vast majority of people who are exposed to advertisements for certain products generally have aspirations of being able to own these products someday. The theme of this course paper is really topical nowadays, because each luxury brand takes care about its image, performance, and service in order to attract more and more customers and to gain customers loyalty.The success of each company depends mostly on clients, so to develop the business successfully each company has o care a lot about marketing aspects and to use various marketing methods of attracting new customers. The purpose of this course paper is to explore which methods of w inning customers attention are more effective. Accordingly, the main objective is to study the major methods of attracting clients on the examples of the leading luxury fashion companies and to analyze their sales volume. The course paper is divided into two parts.The first part is called â€Å"Fashion industry and the place of marketing in it† and it tells about what is called luxury in general, about the global market of luxury goods and methods of attracting more and more ustomers. The second part of the course paper is called â€Å"The analysis of marketing methods of major luxury fashion brands†, where the analysis of the major luxury brands has been made – Burberry group, Gucci group and LVMH, including the statistics, the methods of customer attraction, some key steps to success of each. . Fashion industry and the place of marketing in it 1. 1 . Getting to know luxury Although the term â€Å"luxury products† is broadly defined and therefore basical ly comprehensible, it still needs to be operationalized because it is not yet clear which products are actually â€Å"more than necessary and ordinary compared to the other roducts of their category. † The broad definition of luxury products can be modified and further specified by an operational definition.For this purpose, adequate indicators for a term need to be determined. According to the dimensional analysis, it was decided to operationalize luxury products by their characteristics. The operationalization relies on a literature analysis and an empirical study. The results suggest that consumers perceive that luxury products have six major characteristics including price, quality, aesthetics, rarity, extraordinariness and symbolism.In that ay, the operationalization helps to decide for most products if they are part of what is meant by the term â€Å"luxury product†. The definition of luxury products can be summarized as: Luxury products have more than necessary and ordinary characteristics compared to other products of their category, which include their relatively high level of price, quality, aesthetics, rarity, extraordinariness, and competences of creativity, exclusivity, craftsmanship, precision, high quality, innovation and premium pricing.These product attributes give the consumers the satisfaction of not only owning expensive items but the extra-added psychological enefits like esteem, prestige and a sense of a high status that reminds them and others that they belong to an exclusive group of only a select few, who can afford these pricey items. The luxury sector targets its products and services at consumers on the top-end of the wealth spectrum. These self-selected elite is more or less price insensitive and choose to spend their time and money on objects that are plainly opulence rather than necessities.For these reasons, luxury and prestige brands have for centuries commanded an unwavering and often illogical customer loyalty. Luxury as never been something easy to define, yet this mystery concept is something highly desired by one and all alike. Delving deeper into this mystery and aura of luxury goods by way of comparing them against ‘regular goods' as well as highlighting the characteristics of the luxury industry. Luxury products and brands can be distinguished from the premium segment by their constitutive characteristics.The major characteristics can be considered as dimensions ranging from a minimum level that is also necessary for non-luxury brands to a maximum level that corresponds to the highest form of luxury. As demonstrated in the table below, premium brands rate higher on these dimensions than medium-level brands, but still well below luxury brands. While premium brands still remain down-to-earth and cannot lose sight of the value-for-money ratio, luxury brands are reaching exceedingly reasonable levels in the major luxury dimensions, and some of them even work on topping the current top-of-top luxury level.

Female Foeticide: Death Before Birth Essay

It has been six long decades since India gained independence but many Indians are still trapped in age-old traditional beliefs. Here, ‘old beliefs’ imply the mindset of people who still find themselves in the trap of girl-boy inequality. The ‘liberal’ Indian society has failed to transform the other orthodox India. No doubt India is advancing at a fast pace in the field of science and technology, and also in aping of the western culture, but if we look at the grass root level, the picture is not so rosy; it is rather a dark, especially when it comes to how we treat the fairer sex. The status of females in India aptly symbolizes India’s status of being a developing nation – miles away from becoming a developed state. Of course, India deserves to be in this list because here, in this 21st century, the girl child continues to be murdered before she is born. Female foeticide is still prevalent in the Indian society, in fact, it has been a practice for hundreds of years. Narrow-minded people do not mind murdering their unborn daughters for the fear of giving huge amounts of dowry at the time of her marriage. Such people, whenever they discover they are going to have a girl child (through illegal sex selection tests), get the foetus aborted. Else they would continue to reproduce till they get a male heir. When price rise is already taking a toll on the standard of living, is it necessary to go in for more than two children irrespective of their gender? Many families put pressure on women to give birth to boy so that he can take family’s name forward, light the funeral pyre and be the bread earner of the family. But these days, are girls less competent than boys? Just look at the results of Board exams or any other competitive exams, girls mostly outshine boys. Women empowerment has led to inundation of females excelling in the corporate world, engineering and medical professions. Sadly, there have been numerous incidents of the foetus being found lying in farms, floating in rivers, wrapped up in jute bags etc. India’s major social problem is the intentional killing of the girl child. The struggle for a girl child starts the day her existence is known in her mother’s womb. The fear and struggle to survive swallow most of the girl’s life even if she is ‘allowed’ to live in this cruel world. In India, the girl child is considered a burden as huge amounts of money, gold and other items need to be given in the form of dowry when she gets married. Dowry is not the only reason for poor couple to abort their girl child. The ages old traditions, customs and beliefs of the Indian society are largely responsible for creating a negative mindset among the couples. More shocking is the fact that the sinful crime of female foeticide is not only common in rural areas where social discrimination against women, lack of proper education etc. ca n be considered as reasons behind carrying out such acts, but also the ultra modern, so-called ‘educated’ people living in urban areas and metropolitan cities who are a step ahead in killing the girl child in the womb. The truth behind this crime has been brought into light several times by the print and electronic media. But, it has failed to melt the hearts and minds of those who remain unaffected by the consequences of the grave sin they are committing. The matter was discussed in length and breadth in the inaugural episode of the show ‘Satyamave Jayate’ anchored by Bollywood actor Aamir Khan. The show has once again ignited the spirited discussion on the female foeticide in the country. That episode had mothers from different parts of rural and urban India talking about the pressure and the problems they faced for delivering a girl child. Although the show is doing really well and has already garnered positive reviews from the audiences, we will have to wait and see whether the impact will remain even after the programme stops beaming into our drawing rooms every Sunday. The emotional connect which the show has successfully created should be strong enough to stop the killing of the girl child before being born. If we look at the figures of sex ratio in India, according to the 2011 Census, the number of girls stands at 940 which is a marginal increase from 933 in 2001. Not surprisingly, Haryana has the lowest sex ratio among the states while Kerala remains at the top with the highest sex ratio. In the national capital Delhi, the statistics stand at 821 girls against 1000 boys in 2001 compared to 866 in 2011. According to the statistics, nearly 10 million female foetuses have been aborted in the country over the past two decades. Of the 12 million girls born in India, one million do not see their first birthdays. As a result, human trafficking has become common in various states of India where teenage girls are being sold for cheap money by poor families. The girls are treated as sex objects and more than half of such cases go unreported. The United Nations’ World Population Fund indicated that India has one of the highest sex imbalances in the world. Not surprisingly, demographers warn that there will be a shortage of brides in the next 20 years because of the adverse juvenile sex ratio, combined with an overall decline in fertility. With the advent of technology, ultrasound techniques gained widespread use in India during the 1990s. It resulted in the foetal sex determination and sex selective abortion by medical professionals. Recently, incidences of female foeticide were reported from Beed district in Maharashtra where women used to come to a doctor’s clinic to get their female child aborted for Rs 2000. Just think for a moment about the doctor’s connivance in this illegal act. Doctors, whose aim is to save the lives of people, happily kill the foetus for a meagre two thousand bucks! And more heart wrenching is the fact that the aborted foetuses were very often fed to dogs. The above mentioned case is not the only one of such heart wrenching heinous crimes. There are thousands of such clinics where illegal activities are carried out on a daily basis and in some cases, in connivance with politicians and police men. The life transition from a female foetus to a school going girl to a caring woman is never an easy task for the fairer sex. She has to face challenges at every step of her life. Daily, there is news related to rape, sexual harassment, molestation, verbal abuse, torture, exploitation. She has to fight against gender indiscrimination, inequality, and hundreds of social norms are tagged with her the day she puts her steps outside her home. In most of the cases, women abort their female child involuntarily when they succumb to family pressures. The in-laws’ illogical demand/ desire for a boy preference makes the life of women hell. Sometimes, she is left by her husband if she is unable to give birth to a child and worse happens when she conceives a girl child. Ironically, it all happens in a country where the girl is seen as an incarnation of Goddess ‘Laxmi’. True, many families are out of bounds in joy when a girl child is born in their family. They think she will bring luck, harmony, happiness and peace in their family. They even touch her feet to seek her blessings. Many childless couples even adopt a girl child irrespective of the worries of her future (mainly marriage). In such a grim scenario, it’s really difficult to digest the harsh reality of the differences between a boy and a girl. India has a deeply rooted patriarchal attitude to which even the doctors and the women, who in spite of being the victims, unthinkingly subscribe. There is an urgent need of undoing the historical and traditional wrongs of a gendered society; only then the hope of abolition of female infanticide and boy preference can positively adjust the figures in favour of the girl child in future. The skewed sex ratio has to find a balance in order to maintain the progress of the country.

Constitution of Sacred Liturgy The WritePass Journal

Constitution of Sacred Liturgy Introduction Constitution of Sacred Liturgy IntroductionThe Constitution on the Sacred LiturgyThis statedThe Constitution of Divine RevelationThe Decree of EcumenismBibliographyRelated Introduction Many churches undergo changes throughout history, however, some of the most immense changes took place when the Second Vatican Council was convened and is considered one of the most important religious events which took place during the twentieth century.   The second Vatican Council was the 21st Ecumenical council recognised by the Catholic Church.   POPE JOHN XXIII, who claimed it was necessary to bring the Church up to date, summoned the council on the 25th January 1959.   Over the next few years the council prepared, the first gathering was on 11th October 1962 and was presided over by Pope John XXIII.   His opening remarks were  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I want to throw open the windows of the church so that we can see out and the people can see in.† Over a period of the next four years and approximately 178 meetings, 2540 Bishops attended the council from all around the world.   Pope John’s XXIII vision for the church was awareness, renewal and dialogue. Throughout the Council’s history they agreed 4 main constitutions, 3 declarations and 9 decrees.   The majority are aimed at the renewal and reform of Catholicism, but four affect the relationship and the non-Catholic world, they addressed all aspects of Catholic life on all levels: the global, the local and particularly at the parish level. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy One of the documents, which changed the spiritual life of the Church, was the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy- Sacrosanctum Concilium. These changes affected every Catholic and inevitably many found these changes disturbing especially the older generation.   During these times Mass was commonly said in Latin and many believed that it should be preserved. The Council agreed and expressed its first decree in the â€Å"Constitution of Sacred Liturgy†. This issue was addressed because the Liturgy of the Western Church was said in Latin something which none of the participants understood and came to an understanding that this was only benefiting the papacy and the clergy and it created a separation between the clergy and its believers.   This constitution had hopes that the entire congregation could participate in the mass with the readings, the singing, and reception of the Eucharist.   It also was used to change the liturgy when it came to administering Sacraments and administering the Eucharist to the sick.   This Constitution was finalized December 4, 1963 with only four votes against it. This stated â€Å"The use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin Rights.†[ Sacrosanctum Concilium, paragraph 36:1] However, many parts of the Mass were singled out by the Council, who authorised the use of the vernacular or mother tongue.   The council also suggested that where possible the High Alters should be placed facing the congregation to help create a connection to God and that the priest should now face the congragation.   Many of the old ceremonies were discarded, such as the prayerful attitude or hardly noticing your neighbour.   Now they were asked to greet their neighbour with a â€Å"Sign of Peace† Another change within the Liturgy involved the time of the fasting before they could receive Holy Communion. Prior to the second Vatican Council, it was considered a mortal sin if you consumed either food or water, not even a few drops after midnight. â€Å"To fast from midnight means to take nothing by way of food or drink or medicines after midnight† [Eucharist Law and Practice by Durieux page 179] During the Vatican II changes about the fasting went from midnight to 3 hours. Then a decree by Pope Paul VI in November 1964 announced a concession: â€Å"In view of the difficulties in many places regarding the Eucharistic fast, Pope Paul VI, acceding to the requests of the bishops, grants that the fast from solid food is shortened to one hour before communion in the case of both priests and faithful. The concession also covers use of alcoholic beverages, but with proper moderation being observed.† [Documents of the Liturgy, 272, 2117] This change in regulations confused a lot of people who questioned, why does a mortal sin change because a group of men decide it is no longer a mortal sin!   What of all those people who have died without receiving Holy Communion because of mortal sin, how is that affected?   This opened a lot of questions, which are not easily answered. Others believed that a one-hour fast is too short to be defined as a fast and a possible 3-hour fast is much more fitting with the encounter of Christ. Other changes included vestments were made of   everyday material such as cotton and polyester. The chalices were reproduced in pottery, there were new names and meanings for the seven sacraments. Communion could be received on the hand and in a standing position, prayers at the foot of the Alter were shortened, â€Å"To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes. And at the proper times all should observe a reverent silence.† [Sacrosanctum Cconcilium, Paragraph 30] Another principle concern of the Second Vatican Council was one of Christian Unity. The Constitution of Divine Revelation The Constitution of Divine Revelation or Dei Verbum (Word of God) was approved and published in November 1965. Before the installation of this doctrine it was taught that the Bible came second in religious life and people were discouraged from reading it. Many home contained a Bible but mainly for storing date and names of baptism.   The new constitution hoped to teach new respect for the scripture and the interpretation of the Bible, the Papacy hoped that by teaching that all religious truth are found in the Bible that Scripture and Church would become united. It encourages the Catholic scholar to read the Bible, â€Å"For the correct understanding of what the sacred author wanted to assert, due attention must be paid to the customary and characteristic styles of feeling, speaking and narrating† [Dei Verbum paragraph 12] Since the publication of this document many Catholics have learnt to respect scripture and tradition. It is now permitted to read and study the Bible and it has also lead to new ways to teach the Bible in Seminary. This was a major shift fir the Church and an important transformation. â€Å"The word of God may spread rapidly and be glorified.† [2 Thess 3:1] Christ entrusted his message to his disciples. This has continued down through history within the Church, â€Å"flow from the same divine wellspring† [Dei Verbum paragraph 9] This tradition and teaching of scripture is the basis to our faith and belief. The interpretation of God’s word is entrusted to the teaching office of the Church, â€Å"above the word of God, but serves it† [Dei Verbum paragraph 10] The Decree of Ecumenism Dogmatic Constitution of the Church was the fourth decree made.   In the past the Reformation of the church was viewed as a super state and the Pope was the head of it.   There was also a strong opposition to anything not related to the church.   With this decree more emphasis was placed on making the church a mystery and as People of God with equality being a key element. â€Å"An individual bishop is given collegial responsibility by his very ordination as bishop. The permanent diaconate is revived; even married people may become deacons. The doctrine on Mary is included in the teaching on the Church; it is no longer something separated from the Church.† Though another decree was made later it has relevance to the Dogmatic constitution of the church, it was the Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops.   This Decree was instituted due to the Bishops not having a lot of authority or say in the administration.   The changes with this decree helped bishops have contro l over other bishops and over their diocese of people. Bibliography http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_30_37/ai_75247932/pg_2/?tag=content;col1