The Theme of Sense and Sensibility

Introduction The most outstanding quality derived from the novel, Sense and Sensibility, is the author’s deep penetrating character analysis. Jane Austen, the author, articulates all aspects of human characters in each chapter of the book – strengths, weaknesses, desires, and limitations.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on The Theme of Sense and Sensibility specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More She often makes larger points about society through the descriptions of her characters. The novel, as most evident in its title, also intends to show comparison between the major characters (who are sisters) personalities. Elinor, the eldest sister, underscores the sense and sensibility of the title, while her younger sister, Marianne, personifies the lack of sense and sensibility in her utter lack of emotional control. Through them, the author brings out the theme of sense and sensibility by differentiati ng their traits in their relation to the rest of the characters. This paper explores the theme of sense and sensibility, and the lack of it, in details and shows how each of the characters stands out in relation to the theme. The author uses sense and sensibility to navigate through the characters and bring out their main attributes. The Theme-Sense and Sensibility The theme of sense and sensibility comes out as the difference of character between the two sisters, Elinor and Marianne. Their personalities and interactions with their neighbors draw attention to the reader, as they differ immensely right from the onset of the story .In some instances, the author exposes them to similar situations intentionally; to show the reader how each of them would react and whether they would be sensible or let their emotions determine their decision making ability. Character Difference Austen uses Elinor to play the sensible role in the novel. Austen’s opinion of the rest of her characters nearly co-occurs with that of Elinor (Poplawski 17). She is socially responsible, self-disciplined, and reasonable. Moreover, she possesses understanding and the coolness of judgment, qualities that draw admiration from Edward Ferrars. By choosing, not to tell her sister the whole truth about Willoughby’s confession, Elinor exemplifies sense. At a tender age of nineteen, she is surprisingly mature for her age; she even offers counsel to her mother (Allbery Para.4) . She is concerned about her sister’s lack of sense and even suspects Willoughby’s intentions with her. She defends Colonel Brandon to her sister, Marianne, and Willoughby when they begin to prejudice and mock him. She is distressed when Willoughby remarks that the Colonel strikes him as boring and unremarkable, when to her, he is sensible and well informed. She points out that, â€Å"My protà ©gà ©, as you call him, is a sensible man; and sense will always have attractions for me† (Austen 50 ).Advertising Looking for critical writing on british literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More By this statement, she openly shows how much she values and admires sense. Moreover, Elinor appreciates Colonel Brandon’s nobility and reserve, qualities that Willoughby is not able to see due to his dislike for him. Willoughby openly shows his hatred towards the colonel by telling Elinor that, she cannot deny him the privilege of disliking him (Austen 51). This shows how Austen characterizes Willoughby as excessively sensible. Marianne on the contrary, is excessively emotional and openly pessimistic; she has neither sense nor sensibility. She is selfish, unrealistic, and emotionally weak. She even confesses to her mother that she does not see herself finding a man whom she can really love (Austen 4). Marianne confides to her mother that she does not understand why Edward has not come to visit them of late; she even, in her lack of sense, notes that she is sure that Edward is not well. Marianne’s own preference for Willoughby over the colonel and its disastrous consequences reveal how excessive sensibility and appearance could cloud a person’s judgment of human character. She shows her emotional weakness, which underscores her lack of sense and sensibility, when she cannot eat or sleep after Willoughby leaves (Morland 63). She is very disturbed and even falls ill when Willoughby chooses to marry another woman, actions that make her, and those around her, as miserable as possible. Therefore, through Marianne’s inability to use common sense when situations demand so, Austen manages to highlight the theme of lack of sense and sensibility in this masterpiece. Austen illustrates her view of the superiority of rationality, sensibility, and self-control over emotions. Though Marianne has fallen for John Willoughby, she grows to love the Colonel, a sensible man. Elinor refrains from judgi ng other characters based on appearances alone and constantly seems to be the one that has utmost reasoning and understanding in character judgment. The book serves to inform the reader the importance of getting to know a person before being prejudicial or judgmental. The fact that Elinor is portrayed as strong, does not necessarily mean that she did not have any feelings, but goes to show how much self control she had by not allowing them to get the best of her (Austen 54). The author shows her value for sense over sensibility by choosing to give Elinor the happy conclusion she deserves when she eventually marries Edward. On the other hand, Marianne whines throughout the story (even though she changes towards the end) to show how lack of sense and sensibility can affect an otherwise a reasonable person.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on The Theme of Sense and Sensibility specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Tone and Satire Austen has used satire in the book to capture the reader’s attention and provide a different form of humor. Her satiric voice and her understanding of human nature are evident, particularly when she comments on the role of Lady Middleton’s son. She sees him as a center of attention between the Dashwoods and the Middletons and brings him along so that, incase they run out of things to say, they would admire his beauty and enquire of his name and age, questions which his mother would answer for him. The tone in the novel is sad. The death of Mr. Dashwood’s sister leaves him distraught and forces him to invite Henry and his family to stay with him. Marianne ends up being heart broken by Willoughby’s marriage to Miss Sophia Grey, while Mrs. Ferrars decides to disinherit her eldest son, Edward, leaving him in serious financial difficulties (Morland 87). Miss Ferrars disowns her son for his intention to marry Lucy Steele whom she considers of low social and financial standing. Elinor learns that she has been misinformed and duped all along about Edward’s persuasions after Lucy Steele admits that she is betrothed to Edward. Elinor becomes extremely heart broken on the publication of Lucy’s engagement and becomes wounded when she mistakenly believes that Edward has wed. Conclusion In conclusion, Austen uses the story, Sense and Sensibility, to highlight the importance of the same virtues. Elinor’s good sense makes Marianne change her life and become reasonable. Marianne uses emotions and misplaced passions to make decisions and that is why she spends a long time complaining about everything around her. Austen, therefore, uses Marianne and Elinor to explore the theme of sense and sensibility and the lack of it thereof. She also uses satire to spice up the story even though she adopts a sad note by including death, hurt, and heartbreak in the story. As the story concludes, it is evident that, sense and s ensibility outweigh the lack of the same. Works Cited Allbery, Russ. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen book Review, 2010. Web.. https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/reviews/books/0-14-010649-9a.html Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Sothampton: Penguin Books, 2003.Advertising Looking for critical writing on british literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Morland, Perkins. Reshaping the Sexes in Sense and Sensibility. Virginia: Union Press of Virginia, 1998. Poplawski, Paul. A Jane Austen Encyclopedia. Conneticut: Greenwood Press, 1998. This critical writing on The Theme of Sense and Sensibility was written and submitted by user River Talley to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Dont Blame the Americans for this One!

Dont Blame the Americans for this One! Dont Blame the Americans for this One! Dont Blame the Americans for this One! By Maeve Maddox Ever since the 17th century, our English cousins have been blaming Americans for distorting, weakening, or vulgarizing the English language. For many, the term Americanism next to a word in the dictionary is a warning to avoid using it. Well, a recent press release from the Old Country puts paid to the idea that the English language is more respected in its land of origin than it is in the New World. Heres the headline in the Telegraph: Councils ban elitist and discriminatory Latin phrases In a story that sounds more like an April Fools Day joke than a bona fide news story, we are informed that several English City Councils have forbidden their employees to use specific Latin words and phrases. What are some of these dreadful, incomprehensible, elitist horrors? Here are some examples: bona fide, e.g., ad lib, etc., i.e., per se, quid pro quo, vice versa, via, status quo If any of these elitist expressions are unfamiliar to you, do something outrageous: look them up in an English dictionary. (You may also wish to browse Daniels compendium of Latin expressions.) What is the reasoning behind this official purge of common Latin expressions in English? According to the Bournemouth Council, Not everyone knows Latin. Many readers do not have English as their first language so using Latin can be particularly difficult. I agree that not everyone knows Latin. Sadly, its no longer part of the general curriculum. But words and expressions of Latin origin are part of the English language. Some of these Latin borrowings have been more digested than others, but surely status quo is as English as spaghetti. George Orwell warned us this would happen. In his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the English of the future is called Newspeak. It is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year One of the characters admires the way every new edition of the dictionary is smaller than the one before it: Its a beautiful thing, the destruction of words. Read the Telegraph article here. Discover the principles of Newspeak here. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Handy Expressions About HandsPeople versus Persons50+ Words That Describe Animals (Including Humans)

Carriage of goods by sea Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Carriage of goods by sea - Outline Example act, the carrier of the corresponding carrier contract is wholly liable for the loses or eventual damage conducted on the goods he or she delivers unless the cause of the loss emanates from dangers of excepted perils. The carrier is conspicuously entitled to limits of liability regarding any prevailing conditions of the contract. Some of the typical court cases exhibited in attempts to solve judicial system or legal challenges expected in the legal field. Federal marine terminal versus Worcester peat Co in the first circuit of the court appeals revolved around this sea complaint issue. Historically, the courts have had challenges imposing demurrage liability on the parties that exhibits neither signatory, possessor or successor on the documents that entails or expressly or by incorporation conforms to demurrage, the extensive loading of the stevedore who was essentially not in the conventional privities are not entirely involved in the demurrage that the involved shipper was required to pay with regards to the frequented delays in the loading of the cargo ; peat moss. Stevedore was inherently not found liable for the loss of the vessel due to the noted delays exposed as the shipper failed to substantiate the evidence of the amount peat moss was lost in the process of loading ant also could establish the quan tity of the lost amount was far above the anticipated nature of cargo.2 In the case entailing Senator Linie versus Sunway Line the second court of appeals on may 17, 2002 major and critical stem of the case was on the relevance of the passing of judgment regarding a case where the entailed shipper or carrier had constructive knowledge of the exhibited perilous nature of the cargo, 46 U.S.C. Â § 1304(6) permits strict liability to the shipper for damages and the prevailing expenses arisen from the eventual shipment of the goods delivered. The law hence compelled the shipper

The President Can Only Read One Page (Line from US TV Series The West Essay

The President Can Only Read One Page (Line from US TV Series The West Wing) - Essay Example Cannon and Warren-Smith (2009, p. 38) emphasize that normal practices in banking have been abandoned and as a result leading to financial crises in the banking industry. This has caused a negative economic impact on the manufacturing sector. The role of the Competition commission and the OFT in regulation of competition within the banking institution is an important issue for the debate. Arora (2008, p. 224) and Bresslaw (2012, p. 20) elaborate that the large banks in 2001 operated as monopolies in providing banking services to SMEs and thus competition among the banking institutions was arrested. As a result customers had limited banking options because the banking institutions offered similar financial benefits. Therefore the argument of the debate is to enforce the role of the Competition Commission and the OFT in regulating banks so that manufacturing firms and SMEs would have better banking services which stem out of healthy competition among banking institutions. The Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Treasury as the major regulators of the banking services will be debated upon. Cassling (2012, p. 73) and Jun (2010, p. 18) point out that the major regulators of the banking system only become active when there is a banking crisis. This illustrates that a problem in regulation of the banking system must be evaluated for accurate recommendations to be reached. Haselmann, Pistor and Vig (2010, p. 549) argues that the FSA must play its role actively and ensure that financial services are efficient and fair to the consumers. A reference to the Banking Act of 2009 will be made during the discussion. The Act will be discussed in relation to the principle based system in banking regulation as compared with the rule based system such as that of the US. The Recommendation of the Turner Review will arise during the debate. Reynolds & Willey (2012, p. 64) shows that the turner review basically recommended that

Jennifer Weltz Discussion Board Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Jennifer Weltz Discussion Board - Coursework Example The background image of an open book and presentation of various authors work is informative on the role of the corporation. Furthermore, the placement of functional hyperlink at the top region of the website makes navigation easy. In addition, the information about presented on the website is appropriate for the purpose of the website. Consequently, this among other reasons brings out the purpose of the website. 1. As the president of JVNLA, an organizational that has sold books domestically and internationally for almost two decades, I would like to know what do you look for in an author’s work that makes JVNLA what it is today (Our Team: Jennifer Weltz )? 3. With regard to your speech to the Historical Novel Society Convention that was held in San Diego, Madam President I quote â€Å"†¦I try to help my authors receive what they need to make their books reach their highest potential†. To me this implies that you have a commanding knowledge in realizing what it takes one to be the best author. Do you have any plans to nurture potential authors

Analysing Elements Of Corruption In The Indian Economy Politics Essay

Analysing Elements Of Corruption In The Indian Economy Politics Essay Enter the subcontinent in the nineteenth century, the crown jewel of the British Empire, a land rich with resources. Resources which, if properly utilized meant India could potentially be a very powerful nation one day. Post partition and independence from the 1950s up to the late 1980s India remained inclined towards the soviets and had a mixed economy which meant that there were considerable regulations and control in the economy. Empowering the bureaucrats led to corruption at every level of the government. This along with other factors sowed the seeds for a problem that is still very prevalent all over India. Corruption in present day India not only exists but thrives at all levels of government and all the services, to such an extent that even the military and the judiciary is full of corrupt officials. It is interesting to note that the bureaucracy of India under the British Empire was renowned to be largely untainted by corruption. Today the scene is hardly the same mostly owi ng to the electoral politics in India, the police and the judiciary collude with the politicians and engage in a very systematic form of corruption that has been a disgrace to Indias democratic system. In the mid nineteen sixties is considered to be a period where a great divide emerged in the history of public administration in India. Administrators shied away from the methods of the great politicians like Gandhi and Nehru who practiced principled politics. (Gill, 40-43) The key foundation to this new direction in which Indias administration was headed towards, was amorality and it was since then widely practiced in politics. Ever since then emerged an entire generation of politicians who were corrupt to the bone and involved in scandals at an enormous scale. This explains why the nineties were riddled with news of scandals and cons at the hands of persons in authority. The accused were often former ministers, governors and in certain cases even the prime minister. This goes to show that in Indias case no matter how many laws, rules and regulations are put in place to prevent corruption, if the persons who are entrusted with the political administration of the country misuse their authority and exploit the masses, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to prevent them from doing so. Perhaps the largest factor responsible for the corruption in India is that the leadership at the helm of the country not only turns a blind eye to it, but in many cases indulges in it as well. From this stems a trickledown effect that ultimately culminates in corruption being a bureaucratic and political norm in the society, a widely accepted means to achieving many every day ends. Post independence political leadership has stemmed from regional and linguistic movements, which means that such leader will always prefer the betterment of their race rather than the betterment of the Indian people as a whole, this selfish attitude got narrowed down until politics became a purely selfish pursuit. The rules of the game changed forever, as political survival and the pursuit for power, instead of the service of the people seems to be the ultimate aim of politics. The A.D. Gorwala report was one of the first attempts to highlight the problem of corruption that was so very prevalent in India. Gorwala claimed that the process of state building started from an individual level. Building characters of the leaders was the key to building a great nation, and according to Gorwala the immediate causes of the prevalent decadence that plagued the Indian society was World War two. Even though a lot of people helped with the war effort, it was never directly Indias war and hence many a few parties arose who profited from the war itself, both legally and illegally. This quality, of people profiteering from violence and looking for ways to increase their riches at the grave expense and at times lives of other people made them hardened criminals. These criminals took charge, ran for office and indulged in some of the worst scams of all times, siphoning out millions of rupees to private Swiss accounts. Gorwala also claimed that the national movement of indepe ndence failed to leave behind lasting spiritual sentiment amongst the population as a whole and died out giving way to the personal political ambitions of individuals. The report focused mostly on the leadership of the country and how it should lead by example and pointed out the endless scandals that stained their records. Enquiries into allegations have been made by senior all-India leaders of the principle partyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Often they have remained secret. Nor action was taken. It seems fairly clear that if the public is to have confidence that moral standards do prevail in high places, arrangements must be made that no one, however highly placed, is immune from enquiry if allegations against him are made by responsible parties and if a prima facie case exists. There should be no hushing-up or appearance of hushing-up for personal or political reasons. (Public Administration Committee 6-8) Transparency international conducted a Corruption study in 2005 in collaboration with the Centre for Media Studies in Delhi. This was perhaps the largest corruption study undertaken, the span of which ranged over 20 states and covered a sample of 14,405 people and it covered 151 cities and 306 villages. (India corruption study) A state wise analysis was performed, and it was concluded that Bihar was the most corrupt and Kerala stood to be the least corrupt, and among the government services the police was the most corrupt followed by the lower courts and the Land administration, making money a way out for people who may have committed heinous crimes and an illegitimate way to get legitimate services of the government essentially making these services unavailable for all those who cant afford the bribes. Basic amenities like health and electricity were heavily plagued by corruption, and where the courts and the police are the most corrupt, it is indeed going to be a complete mockery o f the rule of law which will no longer prevail. Without law, the very fabric that holds society together will unravel into anarchy. There were many attempts and inquiries made into corruption in various departments and many people took the initiative and voiced their reservations in the form of reports but without the support of senior politicians it was all to no avail. The Railway Corruption Enquiry Committee was one such early attempt. This commission was formed to investigate the corrupt practices that led to heavy losses for Indias extensive railway system. The committee was chaired by J.B. Kriplani, who called corruption the failure of the institution of citizenry that existed from the days of the Greek and Roman empires. (Railway Corruption Committee) It heavily criticized all forms of ticket evasion, bribery or theft. Above all it criticized the public servants for setting a negative example for the public. Senior bureaucrats and politicians used their posts to claim exemptions from paying tickets, setting a very negative trend. The report claimed that no one should be above the law and should do their pa rt in contributing positively to the general welfare of the society as a whole. The report stated that laws and reforms can only go so far in the attempt to curb these mal practices, but what would really make a difference was if the civil servants led a movement to make the people aware of their civic duties and for them to nurture that sentiment in the population, and this is only possible if they actively participate in rooting out corruption themselves. The role that politics plays in helping the spread of corruption in India was looked at most thoroughly by the Shah Commission of Enquiry which looked into the spending during the period of emergency from 1975-77. The head of this commission, justice Shah showed absolutely no reservations in condemning Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indra Gandhi, for committing one of the most heinous acts of corruption in the history of independent India. He stated that: The manner in which Shri Sanjay Gandhi functioned in the public affairs of Delhi in particular is the single greatest act of excess committed during the period of Emergency for which there is no parallel nor any justification for such assumption of authority or power in the history of independent India. While the other acts and excesses may have been in the nature of acts committed by functionaries have some shadow of authority acting in excess of their powers. Here was a case of individual wielding unlimited powers in a dictatorial capacity without even the slightest right to it. If this country is to be rendered safe for future generations the people owe it to themselves to ensure that an irresponsible and unconstitutional centre of power like the one which revolved around Shri Sanjay Gandhi during the Emergency is not allowed to ever come up again in any form or shape or under any guise.(Shah Commission Enqiry) In the nascent days of India, if we trace the tale of corruption, it is a little strange, especially in the case of Jawaharlal Nehru. Even though Nehru shielded many a few corrupt colleagues of his, it is interesting to note that he never benefited personally from any of their ventures. He did not crave material possessions and was a dedicated public servant. Despite that the part he played in highly visible instances of corruption and his support to the guilty set a very bad example and some might even go as far as to say that his actions legitimized corruption at the highest levels, thereby undermining all his principles, essentially jeopardizing the integrity of law. (Noorani 67) In the early days of nation building and setting standards and political morals for years to come, some say that Nehru was to blame for not making an example out of the people responsible. Maybe if not for these few lapses in judgment, maybe if a firm example had been set, India might not have to pay such a heavy price at the hands of corrupt leaders who go unpunished. It wasnt just the conduct of politicians, but also the policies that they adopted which are to blame to a certain extent. India remained a heavily controlled and closed off economy since independence up to the late nineteen eighties. During that time a license Raj was in place which heavily regulated any private companies that wanted to be established. There was a lot of red tape when it came to procedures for setting up the smallest and simplest of business, and in order to avoid all the red tape and the heavy regulations people openly indulged in bribery which became a norm to get things done faster in the Indian society. Even after the economy was liberalized the social norms of getting work done in the public sphere never changed. This unsavory bond between the politicians and the bureaucrats has come to light time and time again in recent years in the form of scams and scandals such as the fodder scam in which the Chief minister and several notable public servants including members of the opposition were involved, the telecom scam involving the telecom minister of the time etc. All such instances set a very negative mindset in all those aspiring to be politicians there by ruining the man power to come. Sadly, these are the scandals that saw the light of day, countless others of varying magnitudes have been carpeted and will continue if decisive and adequate measures arent taken. Let us examine some of the more recent cases that underline the corruption of society within India over a large sample of fields. In telecommunication, there is no scandal bigger than the 2008 2G Spectrum scam that cost the Indian government over US$ 40 billion. Termed the mother of all scams by BJB Spokes person Ravi Shankar Parsad, at the center of the 2G Spectrum fraud is Indias Telecom Minister, Mr. A. Raja who has been charged with selling off 2G cell phone technology licenses at knocked down prices which were originally set in the year 2001, despite the fact that cell phone users had shot up from 4 million to 350 million between 2001 and 2008. Mr. Raja has further been charged with disregarding the for auctions and awarding licenses without even inviting bids, on a first come first served basis. Furthermore; it is also regarded that Mr. Raja ignored advice from the Law and Finance Ministries of the country and also refused to obey the recommendations from TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) on the rates to set for the auctioning of the spectrum rights. Mr. Raja resigned amidst massive political pressure from the opposition shortly after this scandal came to light. As of now, the Supreme Court of India is monitoring the Central Bank of Indias investigation into the matter. Shortly after the 2G Spectrum scandal, India was hit by another blow of epic proportions, in January of 2009, Chairman of Satyam Computer Services, Ramalinga Raju resigned from his post after notifying the Board of Directors of the company, through a letter that he has falsified the accounts of the company in order to cover up losses that the company was facing. According to Mr. Rajus letter, about US$ 1 Billion (94% of the companys cash on the books) was made up. The Satyam scandal, as it is now commonly known as is biggest ever corporate fraud in the history of the country. The revelation of the Satyam scandal led to Marrill Lynch (Now part of the Bank of America) and State Farm Insurance to withdraw partnerships with the company, caused the Bombay Stock Exchange to plummet 7% and has raised concerns for foreign investors looking to invest in India. (Vaswani) The Crime Investigation Department has been investigating the matter and despite Mr. Rajus claims that no money was used for his personal interests, the CID has found that the company employed 40,000 people, not 53,000 as had been claimed by Mr. Raju who had been withdrawing over INR 20 crore for those 13,000 employees. Moving onto sport now, we shall look at the Commonwealth Games in India who were hit by spate after spate of corruption scandals from faulty contracts being handed out, to un checked budget allocations, to substandard building materials. The 2010 Commonwealth Games were meant to showcase the countrys competence and coming of age but rapidly turned into an embarrassing example of the corruption and inefficiency that is part of everyday life in the worlds largest democracy. As it has been reported the overall expenditure of the games came to a staggering US$ 15.5 billion compared to $1.1 Billion used up for the games in Melbourne in 2006. With such a steep increase in expenditure, one has to wonder where it all went. Allegedly, it is estimated that the expenditure bills have been inflated by 30% of the actual value of services or commodities procured. Even the Income Tax department is now scrutinizing the finances of the CWG after charges of tax evasion were levied against the CWGs bro adcasters. The Central Vigilance Commission is looking into 11 major project tenders which were awarded at hiked rates causing a loss of over US$ 111 million. (Dolakia) The developer of the infrastructure for the CMGs, Emaar-MGF has also been pulled into the mix with alleged irregularities in the construction of the CGW Village in Delhi. To add to all that, the Central Beaureu of Investigation has also been regularly questioning suspected villain in the story, Suresh Kalmadi The Chief of the CWGs organizing committee. The CBI has also been regularly raiding the offices of the organizing committee, nominating Mr. VK Verma in the FIR report for buying and hiring overpriced equipment. Another major fallout from the games was the Queens Baton Relay financial irregularities case, where again, large sums had been paid to a little known British firm for providing rental cars etc during the launch of the Queens Relay Baton in London. Sticking with sports, let us now move onto a corruption scandal that recently shook India and its favorite sport, cricket. The IPL mess all started back in March when the bidding for new franchises in the IPL started. Rendezvous group won the Kochi franchise for $333.33 million. Shashi Tahoor, an MP from Kerala played a mentoring role is said bid. It was then alleged that the Rendezvous groups bid had been accepted despite better offer on the table. As the structure of ownership of the Kochi franchise started to come to light under continuous scrutiny, it was revealed that one of the shareholders was a close associate of Mr. Tahoor. Further down the line the CEO of the Kochi franchise claimed that he was offered $50 million by Lalit Modi, chief of the IPL to pack up his franchise. (Willamson) Further scrutiny was then spread over the entire IPL to identify the roots of the IPLs funding, which revealed that Mr. Modis brother-in-law owned a large part of Rajasthan Royals; his stepson-i n-law owned the company that has the IPLs media rights. Aviation Winister Patels daughter even worked for the IPL. The revelations kept on coming one after the other, while Mr. Tahoor resigned as a Minister for State of External Affairs under growing pressure. Eventually, everything culminated with the suspension of Mr. Modi, but it was to be too late as the Board for Control of Cricket in India had already been damaged badly by the saga. In the earlier part of the decade gone by, India faced, what at that time was one of the largest counterfeit scandals to hit nation. In late 2001, Abdul Karim Telgi was arrested in Ajmer in connection to a scam involving the printing of counterfeit stamp paper and selling it off to bulk purchasers, such as banks, insurance companies and share-broking firms. Despite being in prison it is alleged the Mr. Telgi still managed to continue his buisiness with the help of prison officials and guards. In 2003, Senior Inspector Dattatrya Dhal was arrested, along with Assistant Inspector Dilip Kamat in connection to aiding Mr. Telgi in running his business from prison. An increasing number of high profile arrests continued to be made through the course of the case, such as Krishna Yadav, the former labor minister and sitting MLA. In 2006 a videotape emerged, showing Mr Telgi taking a Narco Analysis (Truth Serum) test and confessing the names of Congress Party leaders Sharad Pawar and Chaggan Bhujbal in relation to his frauds, though neither of the two have been found guilty of any association with Mr. Telgi. At the peak of his fraudulent scandal, Mr. / Tegli is believed to have been earning up to a whopping US$ 40 Million per month. (Telgi scam) The overall hit of the scam is estimated to be as high as $4.5Billion, though some sources conflict on the amount. Taking a trip down memory lane, well take a look at Indias first large scale global corruption scandal; the Bofors scandal, the scale of which, at that point was Indias worst ever. The scandal takes off from when India agreed to purchase 400 155mm Howitzers from Sweedish arms manufacturer, Borfor AB. The then Indian PM, Rajiv Gandhi, along with others was accused of receiving kickbacks in order to award the contract to Borfors. The outcry from the scandal was huge and it is widely accepted that the scandal led to Rajiv Gandhis Indian National Congress party eventually losing out the in 1989 elections. The Bofors scandal is speculated to have been worth about US$ 9 million, which, considering inflation over the last 30 years was no tiny amount. (Prasad) Ranjiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991 and eventually, in 2004 courts cleared him on charges of bribery but the case is still ongoing in regards to other charges such as causing wrongful loss to the Government. If one wants a perfect example of a sustained scandal that has seen involvement from bureaucrats, politicians and business men, linking hundreds of top officials for over two decades, costing the Nation approximately US$ 206 million, it would be none other than the Fodder Scam. The scam is thought to have been around since the mid 70s with then Chief Minister of Bihar, Jagannath Maishar the first CM to be alleged of involvement in the fodder scam. The scam is said to have original with small scale embezzlement, with government employees submitting false expense reports to get additional funds. This small scale swindle eventually mutated and evolved over two decades into a scandal that involved almost ever senior official in Bihar and countless businessmen. A scandal that has seen the CM of Bihar during the mid 90s when the report broke, Lalu Parsad Yadhav sent to prison multiple times and charged with multiple cases involving embezzlement of government funds. By the time it was exposed, the fodder scam was an intricate scandal run by a mafia consisting of top government officials, bureaucrats, businessmen, even the lower government officials were involved in the scandal that had the country fooled for so long. Funding was demanded from the Government for cattle that never existed and once provided it was pocketed by the mafia of politicians and businessmen, an association that insured the scam could continue undetected for so long, eating up about US$206 million worth of Government funds.(Patna) Staying with political corruption, lets now glance over to a less glamorous, yet equally damning scandal in the 90s that led to US$ 18 million worth of bribery. Arrests of linked militants in Kashmir led to raids against hawala brokers, the Jain brothers which led to the ghastly discovery of evidence of money linked to the Kashmiri militants transferred to top politicians.(Haqque) Known as the Hawala Scam, the most damning feature of this scandal is that despite the huge stake involved in the scandal, it was never sufficiently investigated, despite big names sush as L. K. Advani, V. C. Shukla, P. Shiv Shankar, Sharad Yadav, Balram Jakhar, and Madan Lal Khurana being accused in relation to the scam. Most of the fore mentioned were acquitted to the courts, they deemed the hawala brokers journals to be insufficient evidence. Indias CBI was vastly criticized for its poor investigation of the cases. (Asia Corruption Ranking) This map shows that despite the fact that there is rampant corruption all over India, it is still comparatively not one of the worst countries in the region with regard to corruption. Corruption is a disease that ails many nations, in Indias case the price that it pays in terms of development and even in sheer monetary terms is crippling. A nation that prides itself as the largest democracy of the world and a country where the majority of the population is below the poverty line, and has a very low standard of living cannot afford to have corruption at such a huge scale. Transparency international estimated that truck drivers end up paying billions of dollars worth of bribes annually. With a population of 1.17 billion people, and a Gross domestic product of 4.05 trillion, India can be one of the most rapidly developing nations of the world and the standard of living would improve drastically provided that corruption is brought down.(Factbook) (Nature of Bribe) Of course there will have to be measures in place that will ensure that the money of the people is spent on uplifting their general standard of living. The World Bank and the IMF have reduced spending in certain sectors in India because they recently discovered the level of corruption that takes place. Scandals at a large scale and executed by ministers really damage the reputation of a nation and its question not only credibility but also the aptness of the system which seems to fails time and time again, for it is the failure of the system that so many corrupt individuals reach the top levels of the government. (Perception of corruption) Transparency Internationals measure of corruption, the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), ranks India as a highly corrupt country, this measure basically indicates how corrupt a country is from a scale from one to ten, one being the most and ten being the least. Somalia made it to the top of the list as th most corrupt country with the measure of 1.1 followed closely by Afghanistan (1.4) and finally down the list is India with a 3.3, followed by Brazil which has a 3.7 and so on. Despite these disturbing findings that shocked many international investors and observers, the Indian population remains largely indifferent to this embarrassing find. (Amount of Bribe) After an exhaustive study of the causes and roots of corruption in the country, one must then look at preventive steps and amends that must be made in the anti-corruption system that would strengthen it and allow for a brighter future to pervade through. In this vein, the works of Professor Krishna K. Tummala and Sunil Sondhi serve as seminal instances of the what, the how and the why of Corruption and ways to combat it. Professor Tummala correctly identifies the overall political and socio-economic conditions of the country to be conducive to the spread and perpetuation of corruption (Tummala 26). As noted by various scholars of public policy and management, less developed countries are prone to corruption by virtue of the income and economic disparities that plague their populace, the inequality of opportunities, fast-changing life styles and inefficiency of the state when it comes to providing basic public amenities such as energy resources, infrastructure and security. Couple that with the fast pace at which the world is changing and the struggle to embrace modernity and one has the perfect recipe for disaster! In such a context, efforts to curb corruption and use of illegal force and authority are indeed difficult to implement and promulgate, however with a few adjustments, such policy changes might just allow for a concrete step towards progress after all. Corruption stems for two basic reasons, contends Tummala, need and greed and posits that corruption in the civil and public service sectors might be contained to some extent by an increase in salaries across the board. One such recommendation was seen to be made in March 2008 by the Sixth Pay Commission which favored a bump in incomes in the lower rungs of the civil service so as to alleviate corruption bottom-up. However, even in countries where the civil service is paid hefty incomes, corruption still exists at all levels which leads one to understand that greed is not of kind, but of size and that unless such acts are publicly denounced and proclaimed at absolutely intolerable that a difference, if any at all, is to come about. What one notices in India is this complacency at all levels, be it the political leadership or civil society, a high ended business man or a common man on the street. As the Santhanam committee rightly observes, a favorable social climate must be created wh erein the likes of corruption and illegal activities are strongly condemned and protested against. Following from the same line of argument, there exists a strong dualism within the Hindu society, where on the one hand the a holier than thou attitude exists and the great epic tales from the Vedas and narrations of honesty, generosity and piety of legendry kings such as Vikramaditya that are told to children even today, on the other we have an inclination towards a most immoral, debase lifestyle which is fed by the desire to compete with the proponents of the liberal, modern lifestyle which took hold post the economic liberalization in 1990. The rhetoric of anti-corruption that is heard once in a blue moon now and then stands as measly Lilliputtian when compared to the giant Gulliver of the modern, liberal, commodity-dependant lifestyle which can only be maintained in the long run by resorting to corrupt practices in a country like India. What needs to be understood then is the need for a cognitive reframing and reconceptualization. We need to reinvoke the principles of simplicity and spirituality into our daily affairs and lifestyles to change the very way a singular block of the community functions, thereby effectuating change bottom-up. However, what needs to be reiterated at this point is that a simple bottom-up and grass-roots level approach is not the complete answer to the plague that is corruption in the country. A simultaneous top-down approach is necessary to ensure the effectiveness and perpetuation of the corruption-alleviation scheme. Herein the role of the three branches of the State comes into play. The Indian system of governance is parliamentary one with the doctrine of separation of powers firmly in place as per the Constitution. The Parliament being the Legislative, the Prime Minister being the Executive and the Supreme Court, holding Judicial authority. Whereas India has with the passage of time strengthened its Judiciary with the Supreme Court taking landmark decisions and the inclusion of amendments 73 and 74 to the Constitution that allow for the empowerment of the masses, there is still is a long way to be covered for the Judiciary to effectively play its part in alleviating and eradicating corruption. As both Sondhi and Tummala have noted, the Judicial processes of India allow for unnecessary delays in suits against corruption, red-tapism and the existence of unnecessary hierarchies both within the judicial as well as accountability/transparency systems allow for cases to get stuck in the back log or never effectively tackled. Moreover laws that have been made to tackle or eradicate corruption from its very roots are either mostly ignored or followed only in certain instances and on the whole the entire spirit of the law is often found to be lost. In fact, paradoxically, certain laws are found to be in complete contravention to the benefits they aim to provide the masses. Tummala correctly notes: various rights guaranteed to the civil servants in the name of assuring their neutrality and accord protection from harassment have been found to come in the way of bringing the errant to book. As noted, Article 311 of the Constitution of India (requiring permission of the appointing authority to prosecute) proved to be a major hurdle. (Tummala 72) Even in the case where the corrupt are brought to the courts, the process of providing justice is extremely slow and long-ended as has been observed earlier. Correctly identifying this, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has noted the need for special courts to be formulated and special institutions to be erected for this very purpose. A review of the judicial process is therefore extremely necessary to come to an effective solution to this problem. Appellate jurisdiction must be provided to special courts for such cases which can then relieve the burden of the pre-existant courts and allow for revisions and appeals to be dealt with effectively and efficiently. The help of partnering institutions must be invoked to ensure the smooth flow of information and evidence when it comes to these cases. In this vein, the help of watch-dog organizations, both national and international, may be sought. Coming next to the problem of implementation which essentially stems from the Executive and its subservient bodies wherein we see a lack of role models who set examples for the general populace. In fact in the very tenure of Indira Gandhi, as Sondhi rightly notes, the practices of corruption within various body functionaries of the state were seen to exist in the form of policies that encourage excess and allow for lacunas within the system of law and governance. The case of Bihar also serves as an apt example, where despite the existence of a number of anti-corruption measures, the implementation of the said measures amounted to zilch. Similarly the case of Tamilnadu where the Chief Minister herself was found to be involved in various cases of corruption serve as an apt example of what is wrong with the current state of affairs and simultaneously point out what needs to change. The political leadership itself needs to be kept in check and in this regards administrative accountabilit y and transparency needs to be encouraged and implemented. As Sondhi notes, such measures,

New Deal Essay -- essays research papers

The most active First Hundred Days was under president Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first term. In a desperate attempt to solving the woes of the American population, FDR and his Congress passed more bills than any other president-congressional combination as ever done in their first impression time period. FDR’s domestic policy, known more widely as the New Deal, was intended to be a group of innovative measures to counteract the effects of the Great Depression. Roosevelt and the U.S. Congress, trying to reduce unemployment, restore prosperity and return a sense of morale to American citizens, endorsed a wide variety of bills creating new federal programs and agencies. These agencies were known as alphabet agencies due to their titles that included many different letters (i.e., WPA, FERA, TVA).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although the New Deal was initiated to return prosperity to the American economy, in the long run, the New Deal was probably the worst policy ever started. Though providing quick relief to some areas of depression, the New Deal was overall a very socialist, perhaps even communist plan. Controlling prices, giving out jobs, commanding water flow, were just some of the many practices engaged in by the government tat went against capitalistic American point of views.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some agencies did do good, however. The New Deal’s dealing with the banks was performed very well. It returned trust in leaving money in the banks with the Fed...