Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Trusts and Pensions Essay Example for Free
Trusts and Pensions Essay Introduction After the World War II, western European governments had taken several measures to provide better working conditions and job security to their citizens. Some of such policies aimed to provide guaranteed minimum income to people, some policies guarantee old age benefits and social security insurance, while still some policies aimed to provide housing, healthcare etc. facilities to lower income people (Gough, 1987).   These policies worked smoothly till the late 1970’s but from the last two decades, when Western European states tried to maintain their economies according to the international competition (Rhodes, 1996); they had come to the conclusion that these welfare policies are responsible for slower economic growth and rising rate of unemployment.            The economy and the social cohesion of EU have the threats of steadily growing high unemployment. They now have set their target to raise the employment and the participation ratio in European labor market. But the most fatal problem is that, it will definitely take several years to solve. Similarly aging labor force is also one of the major dilemmas of European Union labor market. It has been estimated that only 50% of the citizens under the age bracket of 55 to 64 years are in work in developing countries as compared to 75% of 25 to 54 years old and this percentage shrinks further in EU countries, i.e. only 39% (Young, 2002). These figures depicted a serious dilemma because if these would not be improved then by 2050 EU would suffer a 6% decrease in population and sharp increase in pensions and health spending which will be escalated from current 15% of GDP to an estimated 22% (EU must reform labor markets to reduce unemployment). What is pension? An advantage, generally in terms of money, remunerated recurrently to retired workers or their dependents by private companies and government organizations (Ball, 2002). An alluring element to worker reparation packages are annuities. Companies are not obligated to set up pension rewards but do so to fascinate experienced workers (Armstrong, 2002). A particular figure of money has to pay into an annuity account which set up by the company. The company appoints a reliable committee, for the good management of the fund, which is known as â€Å"trustee†(Scrimshaw, 2001). It is their responsibility to spend the fund in different pecuniary schemes and stock market to flourish the fund on behalf of the company. The amount in this account can be raise due to the investments (Clark Whiteside, 2003). The amount credited into this account is non taxable to the company and to worker up to the time of retirement (INCOMES DATA SERVICES, 2002). At the time of retirement worker can get money that continues up to a certain period or can get in one go, on which he/she has to pay some tax. The worker may obtain more money than the company has just because of his / her long life. In case, if worker expires prior to complete payment of his / her pension, the dependants will receive the residue of annuity. A person can get more than one pension as he / she have served in several organizations (Esping-Andersen, 1999). About United Kingdom’s retirement funds: â€Å"1670s Royal Navy introduced first systematized pension scheme 1908 introduced first general old age pension paying a non-contributory amount of between 10p and 25p a week, from age 70, on a means-tested basis from January 1 1909 Pensions Day. This was introduced during the Liberal government of David Lloyd-George. Sir William Beveridge, father of the welfare state, was an adviser (Esping-Andersen, 1990). 1921 – To comply with some situations of pension schemes a tax deduction permitted by approving Finance Act. 1925 – For those who receive  £250 per annum and for physical workers, a contributory State system has been approved as Contributory Pensions Act. According to this Act the pension was 50p per week at the age of 65.  1942 – A report was presented by Sir William Beveridge as Social Insurance and Allied Services with some proposals of state welfare. 1946 – Before 1946 the pensions were  £1.30 for a single person and  £2.10 for a married couple, started after the age of 65 years, in case of men and after the age of 60 in case of women. In 1946 UK government had introduced contributory pensions for all the workers 1947 the finance Act of 1947 had curtailed the maximum amount of tax relief on pensions 1959 Government has introduced a new pension scheme, which was called the Graduated Pension. It includes the people between the income bracket of  £9 to  £15 per week (Able Smith Townsend, 1961) 1975 Yet another pension Act, which was introduced in 1978, the Social Security Pensions Act was presented and it finally replaced the graduated pensions scheme. 1995 the Pensions Act of 1995 had set up new ideas and schemes for compensation and had changed the previous compensation method (Pierson, 1996) 1999 A new amendment in Pensions Act was introduced which guaranteed some minimum income to the needy pensioners. This was known as Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) 2001 – A new pension scheme, especially tailored for low earning males and female workers was introduced, which was called stakeholder pensions 2002 State Second Pension Scheme was introduced which replaced Serps 2003 Introduction of the Pension Credit, which will bring half a million pensioners into means-testing†. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2488513.stm)            Now recognition of requirements has been clear by most of the countries for persons to get further of a function in supplying their pension profit.            The scheme of retirement on the basis of stipulation on occurrence between transfers of profit experiences calamity due to long life escalation. Existence of a very small number of employees sustaining every retired worker can be known by â€Å"fresh arithmetic†as functioning people decreasing as long-lived-ness perdurable increasing (Hawksworth, 2000).            The tendency is ready to persist. The transfer of pension to self-supporting is a resolution, by which the management constructs the organizational and pecuniary foundation to facilitate and convince workers to protect and spend possessions for their personal pension (Brooks, Regan Robinson, 2002)            The management proposal to prepare the new annuity scheme and to persuade the improvement of a formation for annuity administered by other institutions is a remarkable prototype of this (Kelly, 2002).            This denotes actual prescience. Almost 16.3 per cent of inhabitants of the world produce by India and its old age citizens are, alone, 12.5 per cent of the world’s old age public. The incessant decease and birth ratio by additional public ingenuity and fitness will transform the comparatively present young generation of India which makes 70 million public above 60 years of age and less than 10 per cent out of them could hardly have pension. Rest of 90 per cent depends on their jobs or support by family. The fact, divulge through a joint research by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development and Asian Development Bank, that after the retirement 71 per cent people depends on their family in bucolic areas and 59 per cent in metropolitan areas (Jackman, 2002).            The central idea of restructuring of retirement income articulate by the Old Age Social and Income Committee i.e. â€Å"economic security during old age should necessarily result from sustained preparation through life-long contributions†and that â€Å"the government should step in only in case of those who do not have the sufficient incomes to save for old age†(Allen, 2002).            The preface of the described input, completely subsidized, personal retirement account annuities, along with the finance administration of these designated to confidential finance supervisors suggested by the Old Age Social and Income Committee in the subsequent statement.            To raise the retirement income coverage, minimize the function of the state as retirement fund supplier and lessen the non subsidized annuity legal responsibility is the main objective to restructure any retirement fund.            The preface of the latest annuity scheme would capture the raise in the unsupported annuity legal responsibility of the government workers retirement fund by including the new government workers joining workforce from January 1, 2004; minimize the function of the government in sustaining the other untenable significant advantage of retirement fund legal responsibility, which would eventually drop on the government; grant worldwide access to public, facilitate individuals who do not have access to any means of transportation to construct the possessions for old-age benefits, and once the latest scheme reconciled, the government could have better resources to believe intensification the methods tested levy-funding retirement fund for persons who do not have sufficient earnings to self-supporting their old-age benefits.            As these seem individual parts of the scheme, one has to take emphasizing the importance of the whole view to look how the apparently individual parts of the scheme are, in fact, mutually dependent.            When alter in the retirement fund scheme is visualized there are always trepidation. The primary consternation is regarding the modification in retirement fund plan of government workers (TUC, 2002).            This has to be sighted in the outline of the untenably of the present defined benefit retirement fund. As stated by to the World Bank, for the Central government, the retirement fund proposal articulated as a share of GDP twice among 1995 and 2000.            The World Bank statement also specify that outlays on annuity for government workers are expected to develop quicker at the state level where service further than twice in three decades, leveling off just lately, and that the upcoming development in the retirement fund law would mirror this (Wallis, 2002).            The shift to define contribution retirement fund for new workers is a step to alleviate this. The transition can be successfully level by professional finance administration and the controlling of the collected retirement fund on a constant basis (Pickering, 2002). In April 2005 an annuity supervisory body launched for trade which is formed by the 2004 Pensions Act. The superior importance on engaging genuine threat to affiliates’ advantages is obvious that the latest restrict method cause to feel itself in the pension realm as its primary semi annual functions under control by the body. To get the exact scenario of the present pension reform, the body compiled and tested the system information on an extensive array; the body is emergent and printing operation rules, aid to explicate the errands of entrusted managers and supervisors under the recent Act; and the body is efficiently functioning to minimize the threats. The mismanagement, swindle and mis-commitment are the major threats tried by the companies, and the body has the workforce to face them. The under financing, is still, the major lone threat dealing with all proposals presenting described advantages. The previous least subsidy requirement has not offered enough shelter against this threat and the truth is that most of the DB systems are presently low subsidized is not in argument. Assessing the extent of scheme shortfall is not a better solution, yet, as a collection of variables has to be measured – such as upcoming investment income, no body knows that when he / she will dies. Whichever procedure is applied, the numbers provide reason for trepidation. It has been anticipated, for instance, that the total scheme deficits of the FTSE 350 companies amount to  £72bn. The new legislation, coming into force at the end of 2005, requires schemes and sponsoring employers to confront and tackle this issue (Whiteside, 2003). Legal Requirements According to the latest ‘scheme specific’ financing administration, all proposals presenting described advantages will have to make a careful evaluation of their legal responsibilities, ascertain the measure of any financing deficit and suitable measurements will have to take to eradicate it. To measure the proposal’s legal responsibilities is the primary action in this regards is mandatory. There are no predefined rules to measure the responsibility, but, it is expected that all proposals should be evaluated as shortfall arise either due to the completion of the scheme and their accumulated rates. The entrusted management will calculate that how much financing is required to offer for the committed pension profits to pensioner as the scheme gets mature. The entrusted administration is also responsible to describe the sequential steps should be taken through a declaration of financing rules and work out the payment plan of contributions. And they also liable to arrange these papers and make sure that all supporting companies are harmonized with the contents.  A practical revival strategy should be taken place if resources are not enough, as many proposals are in unavoidable situation, due to the low financing. It should be predefined that how much financing is required and when. The recovery plan must contain an attested strategy by a statistician as further aid entails to attain the requisite level of financing. It is mandatory that the complete statistical assessment should be done in three to four years. And this assessment must contain all the required reports to facilitate the entrusted management to judge that how much development is done and how efficient. The translucency is also required for latest financing rule as further aspect. The copies of different reports achieved by the complete statistical assessment should be given to all members. And a yearly report should be distributed to all associates and recipients of benefit, which describes the development and efficiency status of any proposal. Transforming functions There are different roles which facing confronts due to the necessities of financing of the latest proposal. The prime resolutions should be passed by the entrusted managers (Storper Salais, 1997). The statistician is liable to give guidance to help them pass the resolutions. Whereas, the companies have no authority to intervene the entrusted managers’ role, but should, in several situations, bargain to locate a safe path to lead. To eradicate the shortfalls and to meet the requirements of financing entrusted managers are more influential than companies (Ward, 2002). As the entrusted managers are not necessarily be an economist or financial expert, so it is essential to them that they have to get guidance and work with a statistician or financial expert as and when required. A statistician should be well in communication. Companies have to be more liberalize with entrusted managers regarding their pecuniary matters rather they were behaving in past (CIPD, 2002) Functioning with the Controller The Retirement fund Controller’s primary task in this zone will be to collect data vis-à -vis present proposal financial support and the deed that proposal are taking to deal with their shortfalls. The task of accumulating and scrutinizing the yearly proposal incomes is running smoothly and the collection of data associated to financial support is continue as when and how much more support require. For instance, the presentation of an alternative arrangement to gain the funds back is mandatory by the entrusted managers, in a specific period of time. If they fail to fulfill the requirements of the contract they must inform the controller about it. Statistician or financial experts are also supposed to perform in the same way, in case, if they fail to attest the computations which are applied to achieve the precise financial support. The controllers are also interested to be notified if any task undone at companies end, in prolong period. Controller’s Authority When the statistician and entrusted managers are fail to complete their task according to the latest rules – in case, as the company unable to perform as per the contract – the controller has the right to interfere to drive the functions in a right direction. The controller can instruct about the computation to get the desired financial support, if required, or in case of a shortfall, guidance should be given by the controller, when or how to be eradicated. Controller can alter the upcoming accumulation of incomes or a new plan can be applied, when it seems to be impossible. However, the controller intends to use these powers sparingly and only as a last resort. Their focus will always be on identifying potential risks, and working with trustees, employers and advisers to develop solutions and, ultimately, to secure a prudent level of funding. When Controllers Can Interfere? Some particular situations can make the controllers to look into the matter personally. For example, unbelievable information, reports regarding financial support as mentioned above, business reformation and other controllers report. To settle down the situation, reckon when and how to interfere into the matter, controller recommends the utilization of assure timely events. By the help, of different kind of events method, controller visualizes the working. In the first event, entrusted managers recognized the aim of desired financial support. Generally discussion, if controllers realize this has been place too low, controller may need to see at the proposal narrowly, while controller will obtain further issues into account – in case, it may be satisfactory for a powerful company to define their target at a lesser point than a feeble company. The other kind of event associated to the new strategy. When the period is more than a decade, for instance, or if it suggested an impractical point of assist in the upcoming, controller may need to converse it in more detail. In general terms, then, controller are expected to see narrowly at proposals with less desire financial support and even more regain strategy, while controller will obtain a realistic and profitably responsive method. The defined levels of the timely event situations, and the kind of interference that could effect, are concerns that we wish to converse truthfully with the business. A draw up paper defined how we propose to apply our authority is obtainable for free discussion During the contribution of public administration expert, association want to place annuity and retirement issues as part of complete recompense and service policies, sustaining the accomplishment of organizational objective by encountering the requirements of their present and upcoming workers. This points out that these policies need to be customized to the situation of each business. There emerge to be three essential parts, and it is in these three zones that public administration expert can and is earning a main payment: There is an obligation for obvious and converse retirement fund and recompense strategy objective, level to the requirements of the business and its employees. Public administration expert require cultivating their panel and line associates on the context for and satisfied of these objective. Suitable retirement fund preparations can support a fit mental agreement, and aid a company succeeds in the rising ‘war’ for trained workforce and ability. With a getting old labor force, extra expandable method to annuity and retirement are turn into a essential part of useful resourcing policies. Business requires planning and put into practice suitable system to provide these policies. Suppleness and option in terms seem to be significant mechanism of these plans according to the requirements of further varied workers. We are ever more noticing organizations working more than one annuity plans and/or mix plans, and proffering workers retirement fund selections – all as element of inclusive supple benefits and complete recompense programs. Public administration expert are performing an important function in cultivating administrator and workers, facilitate them to take on private liability and make well-versed options as to the manner they desire to function and shift into retirement, with the suitable retirement fund provision to attain this. Price for Companies and Workers In all the investigation of tendency and foretells in work-related annuity provision, the related concerns of rising plan expenditure and governmental and bookkeeping necessities summit the lists of causes for transform. As PWC’s assessment of European pensions remarks, the option for national and work-related plans in all countries â€Å"is stark: higher taxes and contributions, or less generous pensions.†(Thompson, 2002). Companies expenditure increasing The chief financial officer of British Airways described on the day that the airline reported an annual loss of  £200 million that, ‘the change to a defined contribution pension for future staff is a necessary response to the competitive environment in which BA operates’. Correspondingly Geoff Pearson of Sainsbury’s informed public administration that the untenable expense of servicing their concluding salary scheme show the way to its closure to new candidate in April 2002 (CIPD, 2002). To protect the defined echelon of advantage and retirement fund the company tolerates all the threat of administration annuity investments according to the defined benefit. The workers of an engineering company â€Å"Pearson†have discovered that the complete safe business is not available on this earth. The wrapping up of their plan with a considerable shortfall could perceive them mislay up to half of the worth of their annuity ‘assurance’. The risk management even mendacity with the employer and just normally notified and erudite experts. According to the defined contribution plans, the worker has to take all the threats. Spend too conventionally and the growth of your own finance is very low. You have to face the fear of losing a considerable sum of your investment, when you spend your funds in a risky business. As the profit of your spending is below average, you either need to raise your payments or eventually get a low annuity, a truth that most of us realize when we gets the yearly statement of annuity, the plans purchase by our funds this year will be presently disturbing about (Merrick, 2001). When the stock market was at its peak, there is a better chance for intrepid workers that they can earn good profit in a defined contribution plan, where they reserve the surplus profits, rather than in a defined benefit scheme, where additional profit were reserved as a excess by the employer and might be utilized to support contribution holidays (Dore, 2000). That is the main reason of general shift to defined contribution plans in the 1990s allured slight interest and disagreement. As the present market state of affairs is totally change. Summary of Present Scenario The secure, trustworthy, if you are not capable to understand, comfort-blanket annuity atmosphere that persist for full-time, white-collar workers in numerous great corporations in the post-war years is well and truly over (Watson, 2001). We can quarrel on the reasons and whether under the new accounting law FRS 17 is just a cover up for primitive recompense- and financial prudence, but we are not interested to bring the atmosphere back into going to be able to wish that environment back into fortitude. Annuities have and are transforming. We may make the rules simpler, but we can not disregard the reality that Maxwell and the mis-selling scandals happened. We cannot retain the getting old people, any more than we can push our baby-boomer principles of frugality, faithfulness and tardy enjoyment onto the more globally minded, self-assured, but short-termist and doubtful, approaches and inspiration of Generation Y.  References            Able Smith, B. Townsend, P. (1961). The Poor and the Poorest. London, Bell.            Allen, A. (2002) Silver lining,  People Management. Vol 8, No 17, 29 August            Armstrong, M. (2002) Employee reward. 3rd ed. London, CIPD.            Ball, S. (2002) Pensions compulsion and compulsory contributions, Employee Benefits. July.            Brooks, R. Regan, S, Robinson, P. (2002) A new contract for retirement. London, IPPR.            CIPD (2002) Reward management: survey report. London, CIPD.            CIPD (2002) Perspectives: HRH: a work audit. London, CIPD.            Clark, G.L. Whiteside, N. (2003), Pension Security in the 21st  Century, Oxford, OUP            Dore, R. (2000). Stock Market Capitalism: Welfare Capitalism. Japan and Germany Versus the Anglo-Saxons. Oxford, OUP.            Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton, NJ / Oxford, Princeton University Press/ Polity Press.            Esping-Andersen, G. (1999). Social Foundations of Post-Industrial Economies. Oxford, OUP.            EU must reform labor markets to reduce unemployment, Management- Issues. http://www.management-issues.com/display_page.asp?section=researchid=1190# Retrieved December 5, 2006            Gough, I., (1987), Welfare State, The New Palgrave, A Dictionary of Economics, vol. 4, London: Macmillan.            Hawksworth, J. et al. (2000) The European pensions and savings revolution. London, PriceWaterhouseCoopers.            Jackman, R. (2002) The global retirement crisis. Washington DC, Centre for Strategic and International Studies.            INCOMES DATA SERVICES (2002) Pensions in practice 2002/3. London, IDS.            Kelly, R. (2002) A better choice of pension, Financial Times.            Merrick, N. (2001) Benefits in the limelight, Employee Benefits, April.            Pickering, A. (2002) A simple way to better pensions, Norwich, Stationery Office.            Pierson, P. (1996). A historical institutionalist analysis, Comparative Political Studies, 29, 2.            Rhodes, M. (1996), A New Social Contract? Globalisation and West Welfare States, European University Institute, EUI Working Paper RSC No. 96/43.            Scrimshaw, A. (2001) Pensions. London, CIPD.            Storper, M. Salais R. (1997). Worlds of Production: The Action Frameworks of the Economy, Cambridge, MA, Harvard.            Thompson, P. (2002), Total reward. London, CIPD.            TUC. (2002) Prospects for pensions. London, TUC, June.            Wallis, S. (2002) Annuity rip-offs, Observer. 29 August.            Ward, S. (2002) Planning your pension. London, TUC/Kogan Page.            Watson Wyatt. (2001)  Playing to win: strategic rewards in the war for talent. London, Watson Wyatt.            Whiteside, N., (2003), Historical perspectives on the politics of pension reform in Clark and Whiteside Pension Security in the 21st  Century, Oxford, OUP            Young, G.  (2002) The implications of an ageing population for the UK economy. London, Bank of England.
Renewable Energy in India
Renewable Energy in India As a developing country with the worlds second highest population, India is facing nationwide shortage in power supply. It is very essential to make optimum use of all available resources of power inside the nation and thus found that the New and Renewable Sources of Energy (NRSE) can contribute significantly towards power generation in forthcoming years. Development of new technology and advancement in this sector has lead to commercialization of numerous NRSE technologies. This sector has also got an advantage of reducing pollution and creating awareness of the necessity to reduce carbon emissions to protect the environment. Recognizing the importance of renewable energy sources, the Government of India set up a fully fledged independent department named Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources in 1982 and later on the name converted into the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in the year 1992. MNRE acts as the nodal agency of the Government of India for all matters r elating renewable energy. It undertakes policy making, planning, promotion and co-ordination functions relating to all aspects of renewable energy. New reports states that India is the fourth largest nation in installed power generation capacity in the field of renewable energy sources with a total capacity of 17,594 MW. Wind, Solar, Hydro, Biomass and Geothermal are main renewable energy sources and India has high potential of these resources to exploit. Power generation from wind and solar energy resources has posted enormous growth in recent years. India became favorite destination for renewable energy technology developers, equipment manufacturers and service providers. Certain measures are adopted by the Government of India for the eradication of power poverty, commercial exploitation of renewable energy resources by ensuring affordability and availability as well. The estimated potential of renewable energy in the country is around 85,000 MW from commercially exploitable sources. Whereas wind resources accounts to 45,000 MW, small hydro projects dominates 15,000 MW and 25,000 MW from biomass/bio energy sources. It is calculated that India has the potential to generate 35 MW/Km2 with the use of solar photovoltaic and solar thermal energy. The main resources of renewable energy in India are as follows: Wind Energy Solar Energy Hydro Power Bio-mass Geothermal Energy Tidal energy Wind Energy. With reference to the world wind energy report-2009, India has the 5th largest installed wind power capacity in the world following USA, China, Germany and Spain. India is the second largest wind energy market in Asia, with a growth rate of 14% reaching a capacity of 11 GW. India became a global player in wind energy sector in the past few years and expected to expand modest growth in the future with the strong domestic market. The idea of wind power in India developed in 1990s, and has achieved significant and tremendous growth within the last two decades. The performance and reliability of wind related power increased the installation of more wind turbines across the country and now it became a capacity addition of energy in Indian subcontinent. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Andaman Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are the Indian states/union territories with high potential of wind energy utilization. At the end of March 2010, Tamil Nadu is having the most wind generating capacity of 4889.765 MW and Muppandal wind farm of Tamil Nadu is the largest in India. Suzlon holds 52% of domestic market share, is the largest wind power company in India. In addition to this Suzlon has risen to worlds 5th largest with 12.3% of the global market share. The Indian wind market achieved quality growth with the government incentives and new policy of GBI (Generation Based Incentive) scheme that helped foreign and domestic private power producers and investors to establish large-scale, commercial wind plants across the country. Turbine technology is improving, that may contribute to higher capacity utilization of wind in future. The modern wind turbines produced in India with foreign collaboration have capacities more than 1 MW and they are highly efficient for a tropical country like India. The country has an advantage in the installation of offshore wind plants with 7,600 km of coast. The concept of wind farm became popular with the higher efficiencies and availability due to the development of wind turbine technology over the last decade. Recent studies shows that wind energy can be combined with solar for the generation of self- sustainable renewable energy projects. The relative immaturity of this sector may not be sustainable with the strong economics of wind energy. India is renowned as wind superpower with an installed potential of 4500MW from thirteen states. Solar Energy India is blessed with rich solar energy resource due to its geographical location. It is calculated that the average intensity of solar radiation obtained on Indian subcontinent is 200 MW/km2 and this amounts to 657.4 Million Mega Watts of energy for the whole 3,287 million square kilometer. By considering these characteristics India can generate enormous amount of energy from this resource and it would be likely thousand times greater than the electricity demand in 2015 even with the theoretical assumption of 10% efficiency for photo voltaic modules. Considering these potentials the country is emerging as a strong hub for solar energy production. The amount of solar energy produced in India is very less when compared to other resources of energy and this accounts to merely 0.4%. As of October 2010 the grid-interactive solar power was about 114.74 MW. Report says that India is currently ranked number one along with the United States in terms of installed solar power generation capacity. The applications of solar energy is active in the fields of telecommunications, lighting, water heating, battery charging, cooking and other small power requirements. Today there is some14-15 lakhs of solar photo voltaic systems in operation and around 6 lakhs solar cookers in use and an area of around 200,000M2 has been developed for solar water heating applications. The present scenario of installed capacity is around 33-35 grid interactive solar photovoltaic power plants with an aggregate capacity of around 2-2.5 MW, that generate around 2.5 million units of electricity per annum, in sharp contrast to the estimated potential of 50,000 MW Solar energy is a perfect alternative for conventional energy in the case of domestic and industrial applications, with an advantage of minimum maintenance and maximum viability. Government of India promoting the installation of new solar and other renewable energy projects by giving tax incentives and rebates. The government of India proposed some large projects in solar energy sector, in cooperation with some private investors. Thar Desert in the state of Rajasthan has been set aside for solar power projects, sufficient to generate 700 to 2,100 Giga watts and it would be the next generation powerhouse of India. The ministry for new and renewable energy aims to bolster the annual photovoltaic production to at least 1,000 megawatts a year by 2017, as part of the National Solar Mission. It is estimated that the power generation capacity in India would have to increase to 306 GW in the next ten years in order to sustain an average growth rate around 10%. India unveiled a $19 billion plan, to produce 20 GW of solar power by 2020.Under the plan, solar-powered equipment and applications would be mandatory in all government buildings including hospitals and hotels. On November 18, 2009, it was reported that India was ready to launch its National Solar Mission under the national action plan on climate change, with plans to generate 1,000 MW of power by 2013. Recent developments in technology made solar power as a clean renewable; zero emission resource harvested using a variety of modern devices. Developed countries like USA Australia are switching over to solar energy as their main source of energ y production. 3.3. Hydropower India was one of the pioneers in the establishment of hydro based electric power plants. Presently India ranks 5th worldwide in terms of exploitable hydro-potential and is also enriched with a large potential of hydro power, of which only around 20% has been utilized so far. It is the most abundant and widely used form of renewable energy in the Indian subcontinent. Electricity is generated in hydro power plants through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. The hydro electricity is considered as a clean and renewable source of energy but it also have some bad effects in environment clearance due to the large pondage area. About 21% of the electric power consumed in India is generated by hydro electric plants. As of November 2010, the installed hydro power capacity was around 37,400 MW. The public sector has a major share of 97% in this sector. It is clear from the information given by NHPC (National Hydro electric Power Cooperation) that Economically exploitable and viable hydro potential assessed to be about 84,000 MW at 60% load factor (1, 48,701 MW installed capacity). In addition, 6780 MW in terms of installed capacity from Small, Mini, and Micro Hydel schemes have been assessed. Also, 56 sites for pumped storage schemes with an aggregate installed capacity of 94,000 MW have been identified. Thus, in totality India is enriched with hydro-potential of about 2 50 000 MW. The hydro power project t in Darjeeling and Shivanasamudra was established in 1898 and 1902 respectively and was one of the first of that kind in Asia. The Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station (NJHPS) of Himachal Pradesh is the largest hydro power plant in India, with an installed capacity of 1,530MW. It has been estimated that the potential for small hydropower schemes up to 25 MW are under Ministry of Non-Conventional Sources of energy capable of generating 15000 MW per annum. 3.4. Biomass Biomass is defined as A renewable energy resource derived from the carbonaceous waste of various human and natural activities. This can be derived from a number of sources like; agricultural/crops, raw material from the forest, household waste and even with the by-products from the timber industry. There is a sort of high potential of biomass energy available in the country at about 540 million tonnes/year covering resources such as agro residues, firewood, and other organic wastes. These kinds of resources are mainly utilized by the people of villages and rural areas of the country. The potential to install 19500 MW capacities through biomass conservation technologies like combustion, gasification, incineration and also bagasse has been rectified. This sector is in lack of technological advancement and proper utilization so that India could only tap around 380 MW capacities so far. There is a wide scope for the utilization of these resources for the benefit of rural population in the remote areas of India. India ranks 2nd in the utilization of biomass based power generation with an ideal environment of water based vegetation as well as organic wastes. Today bio energy has became an essential add up to Indias energy mix with the favorable climatic conditions. As on October 2010, the cumulative installed capacity of grid-interactive biomass and bagasse cogeneration power was 2313.33 MW. Bio mass sector attracted an investment worth USD 120 million providing vast employment opportunities to village men and also generating an amount of 5,000 million units of electricity in every year. As per the notification in 11th plan period the Government of India plans to add as much as 1700 MW through biomass and bagasse cogeneration in various states. Various promotional policies in the form of incentives, financial assistance, concessions and duty exemption are available for biomass power projects. In addition to these, SERC (State Electricity Regulatory Commission) IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency) provides capital subsidies and loans for the setting up of biomass based units. In present day scenario, biomass utilization for generation of energy has gained momentum due to the scarcity of the conventional energy resources as well as to prevent environment from GHG emissions. The development of efficient biomass handling technology, improvement and establishment of small and large-scale biomass-based power plants can play a major role in rural development. The orientation on green power marketing will leads to tremendous growth of the bio energy industry in the future. 3.5. Geothermal energy According to the geological, geochemical, shallow geophysical and shallow drilling data, it is predicted that India has a great potential of geothermal power about 10600 MW. This can be economically harnessed for various purposes including industrial and domestic applications. India holds 15th rank in the utilization and applications of geothermal power when comparing to other leading countries. India will need to depend more on renewable and eco-friendly energy sources in coming days due to the increasing environmental problems and cost with fossil fuel as well as nuclear based projects. Geothermal energy is the natural heat available inside the core of earth. This energy is accessed by drilling water or steam wells in a process similar to drilling for oil. Geothermal energy is an enormous, underused heat and power resource that is clean and reliable. Rocks covered on the surface of India ranging in age from more than 4500 million years to the present day and distributed in different geographical units. Geological survey of India has been identified more than 300 hot spring locations suited for geothermal utilization. Geothermal power projects in India have not been exploited at all due to the abundant supply of coal at comparatively cheap rates. Some of the potential sites for geo thermal in India are listed below Puga Valley-Jammu Kashmir Tatapani-Chhattisgarh Godavari Basin Manikaran-Himachal Pradesh Bakreshwar-West Bengal Tuwa-Gujarat Jalgaon-Maharashtra Unai-Maharashtra India will further strengthen its clean energy portfolio with geothermal energy and open the gates for more investments in the future. The MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) of India is moving forward with geothermal and other renewable energy sources by the implementation of research, development and demonstration program. Tidal energy The geographical location of India is most favorable for harnessing tidal energy as the country is surrounded by sea on three sides. Government of India took some initiative for the tidal power development and certain places with potentials have also been located. The most favorable locations are the Gulf of Cambay and the Gulf of Kachchh on the coastal area of Gujarat state. The maximum tidal range in these proposed sites are 11 m and 8 m with average tidal range of 6.77 m and 5.23 m respectively. The Ganges Delta in the Sunderbans in West Bengal also has a very good potential for small scale power projects. As per the surveys and data available, the economic tidal power potential in India is of the order of 8000-9000 MW with about 7000 MW in the Gulf of Cambay about 1200 MW in the Gulf of Kachchh and less than 100 MW in Sundarbans. The proposed project of Kachchh with an installed capacity of about 900 MW is able to generate electricity at about Rs. 0.9/unit. With reference to the recent data available, the first tidal project of India is coming up in Durgaduani Creek of the Sundarbans. The project is aimed on technology demonstration with a capacity of 3.75MW, span over an area of 4.5 KM. Structure of Indian Power Industry Indian power industry comprises of various governmental bodies in charge of installation, generation and supply of electricity. Public owned State Electricity Boards (SEB) is the controlling agency for planning and implementing the power development programmes in their respective states, with major input from resources inside the state. These state level electricity boards are controlled and co-ordinate by the central ministry of power. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) along with its subsidiaries is in charge of managing all renewable energy projects in India. Ministry of Power: The whole public and private power producers of conventional energy in the country is monitored and managed by this central ministry, previously known as Ministry of Energy. This central agency comprised of separate departments for power, coal and nuclear sources of energy. Ministry of Power is an independent government body with the functions of planning and strategizing the Indian power policies projects. Monitoring power companies, power production plants, power generation and solving the issues of shortfall etc are the responsibilities of this department. The funds are generated by the ministry of government for the public enterprises with the aid of public issues, global funds and international agencies like World Bank, Asian Development Bank etc. The Power Finance Corporation of India provides funds to major projects in power production, transmission and supply of electricity. The Ministry of Power, India is coordinated by the subsidiary organizations in all economic and technical aspects. The subsidiary organizations are as follows: Central Electricity Authority (CEA) National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) National Hydro Electric Corporation (NHEC) Power Finance Corporation of India (PFCI) Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPC) Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (Power Grid India) Power Trading Corporation (PTC) Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) The generation of electricity in India is based on various sources include thermal power, hydropower, solar power, biogas energy, wind power etc. The distribution of the generated power is committed by Rural Electrification Corporation for electricity power supply to the rural areas, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation for electricity supply to the North East India regions and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for an all India supply of electrical power in India. Thermal Power: Generated through the burning of fossil fuels, coal forms a majority share of the source of electricity generation in Indian subcontinent. The generated power from various thermal power stations situated across the country linked through power grids for the distribution. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is responsible for the countrywide operations of thermal power. Hydroelectricity: National Hydro Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) operates hydro electric power plants and power generation companies. Generation of electricity through the kinetic energy of flowing water has been utilizing in Indian land for many years till date. Wind Power: The high potential of wind energy in India encouraged the government to utilize this natural source of energy. Huge wind farms for the tapping of wind energy have been set up by the government to meet the future energy requirement Solar Power: Installation of massive solar panels is being very common in the country, for the utilization of large scale solar energy. Small industrial and domestic applications can be meet with this form of energy. This sector is achieving a high growth with the new government initiatives. Nuclear Power: The energy generated from huge nuclear plants and power stations are making the path for industrial development in India. Nuclear fuels are the source of energy production in these plants. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCL) manages all nuclear power plants and distributing generated power under the nuclear project scheme.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Auditor Predecessor Successor
Auditor Predecessor Successor Question: What is the purpose of predecessor-successor auditor communications? Which party, the predecessor or successor auditor, has the responsibility for initiating these communications? Briefly summarize the information that a successor auditor should obtain from the predecessor auditor. The purpose of the predecessor-successor auditor communications is to help an auditor determine if a firm should engage with a new client. This communication will inform the auditor about the history of the client with the previous auditor and possibly expose some information that would suggest that accepting this client is not in the best interest of the firm. In recent times it has become important to carefully choose with whom a firm engages in an agreement with for representing them as their auditor. Not only is the firms reputation at stake but they can be held liable for their clients fraudulent activities. The Auditing Standards Board has issued a Statement on Auditing Standards Number 84 in October of 1997. SAS No. 84 replaced the SAS No. 7 which has the same title and was written to update the statement to the present environment. SAS No. 84 defines the required communications between the predecessor and successor auditor before accepting an engagement; what to do when the predecessor limits the responses to the successor; contains sample client consent and an acknowledgement letter and a successor auditor acknowledgement letter. Many of the CPA firms use caution when accepting new clients and go through a detailed procedure before accepting a new client. This is necessary to protect the firm from potential future liabilities based on their clients activities. SAS No. 84 made several modifications or improvements to SAS No. 7 which include communications prior to engaging with the client, discusses the usage and types of working papers, discusses the use of different types of correspondence letters for the predecessor-successor with examples, and outlines actions that the successor should follow if the financial statements are found to be misstated. This Statement was then amended by no. 93 because the statement didnt address the case where an auditor started an audit but didnt complete it. SAS No. 93 clarifies the definition of the predecessor auditor to include this situation. The definition was refined to include any auditor who is engaged to perform an audit but does not complete it. In the ZZZZ Best case study, Greenspan was an independent auditor that completed an audit of the ZZZZ Best Company in 1986. He used analytical techniques to look at the financial data and he confirmed the existence of their jobs by reviewing their documents. After completion of the audit, Minkow that owned the ZZZZ Best Company dismissed Greenspan and retained Ernst Whinney as the companys auditor. A congressional subcommittee was probing into the predecessor-successor communications that occurred when this transition occurred. When the congressional subcommittee asked what information he provided to the successor auditor, Greenspan was said â€Å"Nothing. I did there was nothing because they never got in tough with me. Its protocol for the new accountant to get in touch with the old accountant. They never got in touch with me, and its still a mystery to me.†According to SAS no. 84, the successor cannot accept the new client until they have communicated with the predecessor and have reviewed their responses. Even though the successor is required to initiate the communication, the predecessor is required to respond. The predecessor is required to get permission from the client before providing any information about the client. This means that there is a possibility that the predecessor will state that they will not be providing any information but they must respond stating this. If the predecessor doesnt provide any information, this most likely means that the client doesnt want them to disclose some potentially harmful information about the client and raises some concerns about accepting the new client. In the ZZZZ Best Company case, Ernst Whinney said that they communicated with Greenspan prior to accepting ZZZZ Best as an audit client. They didnt state any details related to the communication and Greenspan did not confirm this communication. Even if Ernst Whinney did initiate communication with Greenspan, given that neither one confirmed the details of what was communicated means that Ernst Whinney didnt follow requirement of reviewing the predecessor responses before accepting the client. The successor auditor should obtain information that will help decide whether to accept the client as their auditor. The type of information that the successor auditor should be inquiring about is related to the integrity of the management and any disagreements that the predecessor had with the management over accounting or auditing procedures. If theres has been issues with management integrity or concerns about their integrity from the predecessor auditor, it most likely will be an ongoing concern which may cause problems in the future. Also, if the predecessor auditor had disagreements with the client about accounting or auditing procedures then it would best to discuss these procedures with the client before starting the engagement with the client. Another item that the successor auditor should request is access to the predecessors working papers. â€Å"SAS no. 84 includes a list of the working papers ordinarily made available to the successor, including documentation of planning, internal control, audit results and other matters of continuing accounting and auditing significance†.1 The predecessor may limit the access to this working papers for reasons such as confidentiality agreements or litigations. These working papers provide the good insight into the client and give exposure to the predecessor and clients working arrangements. They will be the fastest and most detailed information for evaluating the client. When responding to the successor after the initial communication, the predecessor may request a written agreement disclosing the terms of what they disclose. They may request that the successor keep the information confidential and agree not to engage in litigations against the predecessor related to the material disclosed. Another item they should discuss is the reasons for the change in auditors. This information could show some insight into any management integrity issues if the predecessor auditor withdrew as the auditor. The successor will need to document the communications with the predecessor. They should document when the communications occurred, the results of the communications, and details of what material was disclosed. Even though the communications may be oral instead of written, it is good practice to document the details of what communications were made and the nature of the communications. SAS No. 84 doesnt require the documentation of this communications but the successor auditors working papers should show the details of communications that occurred. The predecessor-successor auditor communications is the key to determining if the firm should accept the new client. This communication will allow significant information to be gathered in determining whether to proceed into an agreement or not. The success auditor must initiate the communication with the predecessor. The completion of this exchange of information is vital to protect the firm from potential future liabilities based on their clients activities.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Ernest Hemingway and Fitzgerald on the Expatriate Experiance Essay exam
Hemingway and Fitzgerald on the Expatriate Experiance "You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed with sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see?" (Sun Also Rises, 115)1 Paris in the 1920's was a place that seemed to embody dynamic artistic achievement. Many of the great artists of modernist movements were either there or had passed through at some point. It became the living embodiment of the old joke "So Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Modigliani walk into a bar..." For Americans traveling to Paris after the war with artistic intentions, it was a win-win situation: Freedom from stultifying artistic conventions and the burgeoning corporate culture, and life in a bohemian community with cheap francs, an old order debunked by the war, and an already established network of expatriate heavy hitters (Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound). Even among the American expatriate class, however, there was a division between groups. There were those who went to Paris to fully immerse themselves in the bohemian lifestyle (even if part of it was more show than reality) and interact and bicker with other self-proclaimed artists, while the other went to Paris due to its burgeoning reputation as a place to see and be seen among the literati (much like the latest trendy eatery in Los Angeles). Some were there for the art, others for the atmosphere. Hemingway, in his retrospective "A Movable Feast", would consider himself a staunch member of the former and Fitzgerald a hopeless member of the latter. While Paris had a crucial formative effect on Hemingway that it did not have on Fitzgerald, it would be... ...n R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, St. Martin's Press, 1998 4. http://ntsrv2000.educ.ualberta.ca/nethowto/examples/bradley/mansfiel/paris.htm 5. http://www.lib.unc.edu/rbc/french_expatriates/paris.html [1] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg 1 [2] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg 6 [3] 5 [4] Hemingway, Ernest A Moveable Feast, pg 69 [5] Hemingway, Ernest A Moveable Feast, pg 35-36 [6] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg 233 [7] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg 167 [8] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg Ernest Hemingway and Fitzgerald on the Expatriate Experiance Essay exam Hemingway and Fitzgerald on the Expatriate Experiance "You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed with sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see?" (Sun Also Rises, 115)1 Paris in the 1920's was a place that seemed to embody dynamic artistic achievement. Many of the great artists of modernist movements were either there or had passed through at some point. It became the living embodiment of the old joke "So Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Modigliani walk into a bar..." For Americans traveling to Paris after the war with artistic intentions, it was a win-win situation: Freedom from stultifying artistic conventions and the burgeoning corporate culture, and life in a bohemian community with cheap francs, an old order debunked by the war, and an already established network of expatriate heavy hitters (Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound). Even among the American expatriate class, however, there was a division between groups. There were those who went to Paris to fully immerse themselves in the bohemian lifestyle (even if part of it was more show than reality) and interact and bicker with other self-proclaimed artists, while the other went to Paris due to its burgeoning reputation as a place to see and be seen among the literati (much like the latest trendy eatery in Los Angeles). Some were there for the art, others for the atmosphere. Hemingway, in his retrospective "A Movable Feast", would consider himself a staunch member of the former and Fitzgerald a hopeless member of the latter. While Paris had a crucial formative effect on Hemingway that it did not have on Fitzgerald, it would be... ...n R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, St. Martin's Press, 1998 4. http://ntsrv2000.educ.ualberta.ca/nethowto/examples/bradley/mansfiel/paris.htm 5. http://www.lib.unc.edu/rbc/french_expatriates/paris.html [1] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg 1 [2] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg 6 [3] 5 [4] Hemingway, Ernest A Moveable Feast, pg 69 [5] Hemingway, Ernest A Moveable Feast, pg 35-36 [6] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg 233 [7] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg 167 [8] Kennedy, J. Gerald and Bryer, Jackson R. French Connections: Hemingway and Fizgerald Abroad, pg
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Why Is Religion Important? Essays -- Why Study Religion?
"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." -- Dalai Lama In a world where religions plays such a major role in people’s lives, it is not surprising why it is such a major focus in the way choices and decisions are made. There are many religions throughout the world. Some are faiths with a very concentrated following in specific geographic areas, while others span the entire globe and have enormous numbers of followers. Each of the world’s major religions has definite distinctions that set themselves apart from others and that make them unique. These religions, however, all follow the same basic morals and guidelines that are quite similar. The most widely followed faith on the planet is Christianity. Followers of Christianity believe that God sent his own son Jesus to earth to save them from their own sinful ways. They believe that Jesus was killed for his teachings and was then resurrected after lying in a tomb for three days. The main Christian holy day is celebrated on the day Jesus rose from the dead. This day is known as Easter Sunday and is the center of the entire faith. The ultimate goal for Christians is to have their souls join God in heaven when they die where they will live forever in eternal happiness. Christianity is broken up into three different groups that follow similar beliefs but do differ on some. Roman Catholics are the first type. They make up the largest single faith in Christianity. Catholics are united under their leader, the Pope who resides in Rome. They interpret meaning from the Bible to use in everyday life. Roman Catholic scholars, who spend their lives interpreting ... ...s teachings say that all of life is suffering and that this suffering is caused by desire. He said that the only way to end suffering is to end desire and to end desire you must follow the Eight Paths of Enlightenment. There are other smaller groups of religious beliefs like Confucianism, which is basically a respect for elders. Most people in Japan follow this belief. Animism is a faith followed by more primitive cultures throughout Africa and Asia. This centers on the fact that spirits inhabit everything in nature and are thus worshipped for it. Religion remains a crucial part of world politics. It is the driving force behind much of today’s biggest problems, and until everyone learns to respect one another’s differences this unnecessary violence will continue. Dalai Lama Quote http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_religion.html#vM6qqb6vc2q3bDQk.99
Friday, August 2, 2019
The Role of Chronology in Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper and Faulkners A Rose for Emily :: Yellow Wallpaper essays
The Role of Chronology in Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper and Faulkner's A Rose for Emily Chronology is the sequence of time as it occurs in events. The chronology of a story is important in order for the reader to understand the work of literature. Many stories, such as "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, have chronological events that happen in sequence, in order of the time they happened. Other stories, such as "A Rose for Emily" written by William Faulkner, have complicated chronologies. Faulkner uses "a complicatedly disjunctive time scheme that twists chronology almost beyond recognition" (Qtd. in Moore). His story begins with an event happening in the present, regresses to an earlier event, and finally returns to the initial event. This sometimes confuses the reader. Although "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "A Rose for Emily" have different chronologies, each story's chronology affects how the reader is able to understand the work as well as the order in which the events happened. Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" has a basic and simple chronology that tells a story in an ordered time line. The protagonist Jane, also the narrator, tells the story in present tense, just as it is happening to her. The story is an "account of a woman's gradual decent into madness" (Bak 1). It starts with the narrator telling the reader "it is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer" (Gilman 13). Jane and her husband rent the summerhouse in order for Jane to rest and recover from a slight depression. Jane is isolated in an upstairs nursery in a colonial mansion three miles away from the village (Bak 1). As the story progresses, the reader is able to see what Jane goes through while isolated in the house. The next instance of time that Jane mentions in the story is the passing of the Forth of July (Gilman 17). As time progresses to the end of summer, the reader is able to see how time in the house has cause d Jane's condition to deteriorate. The story ends in a mystery, but the reader is allowed to see how the story unraveled in an ordered chronological time, which makes the story less confusing.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Ernest Hemingway Legend Essay
Ernest Hemingway is the ideal of an American legend, rugged, no-nonsense, with personal adventures rivaled only by those in his groundbreaking fiction. His sparse newspaper style created a literary furor and his success came early and grew until the day he died. In addition to his canonical novels, Hemingway was also adept at short fiction, including one only six-words long. Besides, his male bravado, he also managed to capture the alienating effects of modern life in his fiction. The modern themes of abortion, feminism, and alienation are expressed simply and eloquently in â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants.†In the short story â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants,†Hemingway explores modern alienation in a tense discussion between a couple waiting for a train. Two Americans in Spain, the man is trying to pressure the woman into some operation, though it is never revealed what this operation is. Throughout the tense, yet sparse conversation, the man insists she have the operation, yet the woman resists. It becomes increasingly clear that the operation they discuss may be an abortion, and the tension between the two symbolizes something uniquely modern. Though abortions have been performed for centuries, it remained taboo until the twentieth century. Hemingway, though never specifically citing abortion as the subject in the story, displays the alienating effect it has on relationships and couples: â€Å"‘It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,’ the man said. ‘It’s not really an operation at all.’  The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on. ‘I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in’†(Hemingway). The man refuses to completely acknowledge the significance of the situation, perhaps suggesting either his refusal or dismissal of Jig’s role as a woman worthy of making her own decision. According to critic Paul Lankin, â€Å"as the man persists in opposing the continuance of Jig’s maternity, he grossly oversimplifies the issue, even to the point of self-contradiction, calling abortion first ‘an awfully simple operation’ and then ‘not really an operation at all’†(234). His dismissive attitude speaks of a former socially acceptable condescension by men towards women during a time when women were often treated as second class citizens. This frank discussion between the man and the woman seems only possible in modern literature and seems unimaginable during Victorian times. The tension between the man and the girl is palpable in the short story. Though they are travelers, imbibing alcohol and waiting for the train to their next destination, the conversation is filled with underlying themes of male dominance and female perseverance. The man continuously belittles the girl’s feelings towards the pregnancy, and his argument includes many attempts at downplaying the importance. The man persistently tries to convince her, even though he seems to feign sincerity in much of his words: â€Å"‘Well,’ the man said, ‘if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple’†(Hemingway).  The girl does her best to contend with the man, believing that if she listens to him the relationship will be back to normal. She hides her worry with levity, including her comment about the hills looking like white elephants. It becomes apparent that more than fear over the procedure, the girl is coming to the realization that her relationship with the man is not what she thought it was: â€Å"the girl clings to a dream of family and togetherness until the last minute, and finally decides to give it all up as the requisite price of staying with the man-not knowing, as the reader does, from the many hints provided by Hemingway, that the man is likely to leave her, even if she goes through with the abortion†(Hashmi 3). Her final declaration that she is fine is the affirmation that a man cannot dictate her womanhood and her life decisions. In the end, she becomes the one with the strength and wisdom, understanding that the relationship is forever changed. The newfound disconnect between the man and the girl will be permanent after this episode, exemplifying the theme of alienation brought by many modern decisions. Though the man believes that the only way to preserve the comfortable relationship is to maintain the status quo, even if it means aborting their baby, the woman disagrees. The American tries to make himself sound perfectly reasonable and rational, but as the dialogue continues, it becomes clear that he is both selfish and hypocritical (â€Å"Overview: Hills Like White Elephants†). The couple’s disagreement, about something as monumental as creating human life, is a clear sign that they have little that bonds them other than their superficiality. The girl even comments in the beginning of the story how, â€Å"That’s all we do, isn’t it – look at things and try new drinks?’†The man responds, â€Å"I guess so†(Hemingway). Later, when the man claims that everything will be the same after the abortion and the baby is the only thing that made them unhappy, it seems like a statement lacking all truth. The very fact that keeping or aborting a baby is a choice, is a uniquely modern issue. The reality of having to even consider it completely destroys their carefree lifestyle as travelers in Europe, and underlines their existences as solitary beings alienated from each other. Ironically, the man claims that he only wants her and no one else, but his statements seem insincere. The girl realizes their alienation from each other and the happiness they once knew with the â€Å"claim that Europe ‘isn’t ours anymore,’ which expresses her knowledge that such an innocent return to a secularized American-in-Europe experience of time is impossible†(Grant 3). Europe is not theirs to share, seemingly as if enjoyment is also no longer theirs to share. The complexity of their modern dilemma illustrates the true distance between them. Hemingway’s story is one that could only be written during modern times. Though not many years removed from the Victorian Age, the themes of abortion, feminine independence, and modern alienation have continued to echo throughout the literature of modernity. While short and devoid of lengthy descriptions, the dialogue and significant themes give â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†a lasting power that only continues to grow as time goes by. Works Cited: Grant, David. â€Å"Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ and the tradition of the American in Europe.†Studies in Short Fiction. Summer, 1998. 25 July 2008. . Hashmi, Nilofer. â€Å"‘Hills Like White Elephants’: The Jilting Of Jig.†The Hemingway Review.  Fall 2003. 25 July 2008. . Hemingway, Ernest. â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants.†The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lauter, Paul. 3rd Ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants.†Short Stories for Students, Vol. 6. The Gale Group, 1999. Lankin, Paul. â€Å"Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants.†The Explicator. Summer 2005; v63.
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