My first fight

I was a ferocious lion. I lost my temper uncontrollably. Nathan was bleeding incessantly from his nose. Blood imputed on my right knee and my left hand. The entire playground stood motionless. I could perceive each and every person looking at me with sheer admiration. They gazed at me like I was a lion and Nathan was a gazelle, regardless of Nathan being virtually twice my stature. I can still remember the events of my first fight as if they took place yesterday. I was pushed in to taking part in such an abhorrent incident on the first day of primary school during my first six months in the country. My uncle revealed to me that the reason that I had not begun school immediately was because my family arrived to the country halfway through the academic year. My family and I had just started to settle down in the country, adapting to the weather and the environment when my parents wounded me with the news that they had found me a school to grace with my presence. Endeavouring to learn a new language was demanding enough, let alone new children, teachers and books all of whom spoke a different language. The majority of the children in my class had all attended the nursery and infants before entering primary school. Therefore, I did not share, or relate to the experiences they shared together, like playing with the sand building castles, competing in various skipping games, riding on bicycles, drinking milk in the afternoons and having much fun with the paint. As a result, I felt disconcerted by so many questions rushing through my head. Was I going to be accepted into one of or any of these groups of eight year olds? Was I going to be the only one without a partner when doing paired work? Was I going to be the only one sitting unaccompanied in the dining hall? Unfortunately, the events that took place aggravated me more than I expected. On the first day when the teacher was introducing me to the class, I felt so unbefitting and mortified when she publicized I had just arrived from another country. There was that split-second when some of the children looked at me like I was an outsider, an alien. Voices were whispering from each corner of the room â€Å"who is he?† I felt isolated, remote, and would never have contemplated that after two days their thoughts would be on the contrary. After being introduced to the class by my teacher, Ms fielding introduced me to Carl, who would accompany me for the day. She then seated the pair of us on a table with two other children Nathan and David. It was time for literacy hour and everyone had to write about what they accomplished over the half-term break. As my skills were not to the standard of the other children, I decided to have a peak at what the others were writing about. To my amazement, nobody actually seemed to be doing any work apart from Carl, who later spent the majority of the morning session at the toilet. Meanwhile, David decided to smell a mixture of pens, which to this day I think is very peculiar. Nathan had written down the title â€Å"My First Fight†, but then started to doodle on a spotless new table. David brought his sniffing to a standstill and began a conversation with Nathan about football. The rest of the class were having extremely noisy conversations, in contempt of the teacher's numerous shrieks to bring the noise to an end. It seemed that she had absolutely no control over people a third of her age. Nevertheless, there was one person who had an immense effect on the class, Mrs Fassal, the deputy-head teacher. The second she walked in the class was so quiet a pin drop could be heard. As she walked in she had a quick glance around the classroom and she became aware of the vandalising offence Nathan had committed. She bellowed at our table asking â€Å"Who did it?† There was a slight pause. The whole class was listening as if they were an audience to a verdict. Mrs Fassal shouted again, â€Å"Who did it?† â€Å"The new boy did it Mrs Fassal†, Nathan alleged. â€Å"Yeah, the new boy did it Mrs Fassal†. David accused. â€Å"And you Carl, did you see anything?† â€Å"No Miss, I was at the toilet† Carl replied. I felt trapped like a wild animal in a cage big enough only for a mouse. I was so infuriated with Nathan's spitefulness, blaming me for his relentless vandalising acts. Nonetheless, I had a feeling that soon, very soon, Nathan would pay for his horrendous accusations. Mrs Fassal would not listen to any of my cries for help. However, she kept me back at morning break and yelled at me so loud, Carl later said he heard her in a playground full of screaming children. After morning break, I remained with Mrs Fassal until lunchtime, but I was sanctioned to have my lunch break. As Carl was my escort for the day, he invited me to play a game of football with him and his friends. Nevertheless, some of Carl's acquaintances particularly Nathan, seemed uptight on the subject of allowing me to engage in recreation. I was not perturbed in the slightest way, even so Carl managed to persuade them for me to join the game. During the first five minutes of the game, I did not touch the ball, instead I decided to see how everyone played. It emerged that Nathan was physically the biggest in comparison to the other boys and was using this to his advantage. I noticed that all Nathan was doing was jostling anyone that came near him, or whenever he wanted the ball. None of the players seemed to confront Nathan or show any sign of discomfort. Instead, they gave out the impression they were frightened Nathan would hurt them if they showed any sign of discomposure. Throughout my observation of the game, unexpectedly the ball arrived at my feet. Nathan was scampering towards me. We all knew what he was out to do. He had that look on his face like a tiger just about to take down his prey. Passing the ball was not an option, it was a game of knockouts, and it was everyman for himself. There were two options available to me, either to be clamped down and fall to the ground, or move out the way as soon as he lunged at me. I felt like a gazelle being run at by a lion. It was a split-second decision, so I decided to kick the ball to the left and spin around to the right as soon as he lunged at me. He fell to the ground as if he had been shot in the back. The entire playground stood in total and complete amazement. Nathan was a raging bull. He went on his knees and tilted his head up with a fuming look, as though he was about to eradicate someone. I warned him and said â€Å"No fighting, fighting no good† however I knew he was going to take no notice. He roared like a lion and charged at me like a rampant bull. As Nathan tried to rugby tackle me I seized him in a headlock and kneed him in the face continuously. Fortunately, for Nathan we were detached by Mr Chiriste, the school keeper. All the anger Nathan had caused me earlier, all the fury, all the upset, in addition to me being yelled at until I nearly cried was released in those few seconds. Thankfully I did not get into a great deal of trouble despite the fact I caused Nathan to bleed. The majority of the children in the playground backed me up by saying Nathan started the fight and I fought in self-defence. The chance of me losing my temper was as likely as Mike Tyson not losing his after being slapped in the face. Even at the tender age of eight, I never lost my temper unless exceedingly provoked. It is almost impossible to imagine what it takes for such a tranquil eight year old to reach that point of anger. On that particular Wednesday, that level of anger was caused by Nathan Tyler, and he paid the price for his actions. Looking back on my first fight, I think it is quite comical why I became so discoloured over such a minor incident. If I was in Nathan's situation I would have almost certainly preferred to blame the new boy, rather than face a monster like Mrs Fassal. Nevertheless, the thought of eight year olds making each other bleed is quite frightening.

The Blue Sword CHAPTER TEN

Harry had trouble falling asleep that night; she listened to the gentle sound the water made walking down the three stone steps, and often she stretched out her hand to touch the hilt of the blue sword that lay beside her, carefully laid upon a small carpet of blue and green and gold that she had found in a corner of a hall on her way back to her mosaic palace after the feast. She had appropriated it, rolled it up, tucked it under her arm, and glared at the woman of the household who was conducting her. The woman dropped her eyes, but did not seem unduly disturbed. Who would grudge a damalur-sol a little rug? Harimad-sol thought airily. But each time she touched the blue sword it was as if a shock ran through her, and she listened to the quiet night, hearing the echoes of sounds that had rung themselves to silence hundreds of years ago. Her restlessness made Narknon grumble at her, although the cat did not offer to leave the bed and sleep elsewhere. At last Harry tucked her hands firmly beneath her chin and fell asleep, and in her sleep she saw Aerin-sol again, and Aerin smiled at her. â€Å"Gonturan will do well for you, I think, child, as she did well for me. You can feel it in the way she hangs in your hand, can you not?† Harry, in her dream, nodded. â€Å"Gonturan is far older than I am, you know; she was given me with the weight of her own years and legend already upon her. I never knew all she might lead her bearer into – and as it was, I learned more than enough. â€Å"Gonturan has her own sense of honor, child. But she is not human, and you must not trust her as human; remember it. She is a true friend, but a friend with thoughts of her own, and the thoughts of others are dangerous.† Aerin paused, and the dream began to fade; her face was pale, and half imagined, like a cloud on a summer's dawn, with her hair the sunrise. â€Å"What luck I had, may it go with you.† Harry woke up, and found the sword gleaming blue in a light that seemed to come from the blue mosaic walls, from the blue stone in the hilt, even from the silver water of the stream. Several days passed, while some of the Riders went forth on errands; but the newest Rider did not. She spent long hours in the mosaic palace, staring at the air, which hung, or so it seemed to her, like tapestry around her; and in that tapestry was woven all of history – her own, her Homeland's, as well as Damar's. Sometimes she saw a little bright shimmer like someone tossing back a fire-red mane of hair; and sometimes she saw the glint of a blue jewel – but that was no doubt only some chance reflection from the glossy walls around her. But most of all, she slept. Mathin had been right about the sorgunal. For several days she was content to sleep, and waken to do nothing in particular, and sleep again. Narknon enjoyed it as much as she did. â€Å"I'm sure Mathin did not put any of that stuff in the porridge,† Harry said to the cat; â€Å"there's no excuse for you.† On the fourth morning Mathin came to her, and found her pacing from fountain to fountain and from wall to wall. â€Å"This is not a cage to enclose you, Hari,† he said. She turned, startled, for she had been deep in her thoughts and had not heard his approach. She smiled. â€Å"I have not felt caged. I have †¦ slept a great deal, as you warned me. It is only today I have begun to †¦ think again.† Mathin smiled in return. â€Å"Is it so ill, this thinking?† â€Å"Why am I a Rider?† she replied. â€Å"There is no reason for Corlath to make an Outlander girl, even the laprun minta, a Rider. Riders are his best. Why?† Mathin's smile twisted. â€Å"I told you, long ago – long ago, more than a week since. It is a good thing for us to have a damalur-sol. It is a good thing for us to have something to look to, for hope. Perhaps you do yourself too little honor.† Harry snorted. â€Å"Has a laprun ever been made a Rider before?† Mathin took a long time to answer. â€Å"No. You are the first to bear that burden.† â€Å"And an Outlander at that.† â€Å"You Outlanders are human, for all of that – as the Northerners are not. It is not impossible that some Outlander might have †¦ a Gift, kelar, like ours, as you do – for you do. There is something in you we recognize, and we know it is there, for Lady Aerin has chosen you herself. Corlath makes you a Rider to †¦ to take advantage of whatever it is you carry in your Outlander blood that has made you Damarian, even against your will.† Harry slowly shook her head. â€Å"Not against my will. At least not any more. But I do not understand.† â€Å"No; nor do I. Nor even does Corlath. He – † Mathin stopped. Harry looked sharply at him. â€Å"Corlath what?† The faint smile drifted across Mathin's face again. â€Å"Corlath did not steal you of his own free will. His kelar demanded it.† Harry grinned. â€Å"Yes; I had guessed, and once he told me – something of the sort. I saw dismay on his face often enough, those early days.† Mathin's face was expressionless when she raised her eyes again to his. â€Å"You have not seen dismay there for a long day since.† â€Å"No,† she agreed, and her eyes went involuntarily to the mosaic walls around her. Mathin said, â€Å"You are a token, a charm, to us, Daughter of the Riders and Rider and Damalur-sol.† â€Å"A mascot, you mean,† Harry said, but without bitterness; and still she looked at the mosaic walls. She asked timidly, not certain of her own motives, â€Å"Does Corlath have no family? I see here, in the castle, the people of the household, and the – us – Riders, but no one else. Is it only that they are cloistered – or that I am?† Mathin shook his head. â€Å"You see all there is to see. In Aerin's day the king's family filled this place; some had to live in the City, or chose to, for privacy. But kings in the latter days †¦ Corlath's father married late, and Corlath is his queen's only surviving child, for she was a frail lady. Corlath himself has not married.† Mathin smiled bleakly. â€Å"Kings should marry young and get heirs early, that their people may have one thing less to worry about. There has been no one in generations whose kelar is as strong as Corlath's; it is why the scattered folk along our borders and in the secret hearts of our Hills, who have acknowledged no Damarian king for many years, rally now to Corlath. Even where he does not go himself his messengers are alight with it.† After Mathin left her, Harry thought of taking another nap, but decided against it. Instead she rode out on Sungold, Narknon deigning to accompany them. She found at the back of the stone castle and beyond the stone stables a practice ground, stepped into the sides of the Hill, for those wishing to practice horsemanship and war. It was deserted, as though the menace of the Northerners was too near to permit of practice. But she jogged slowly around the empty field, Sungold stepping up or down as they came to each edge, and decided to practice anyway: she who was laprun victor, who had never held a sword till a few weeks ago, who was suddenly a Rider: she felt, a little wildly, that she needed all the practice she could get. She was wearing Gonturan, a little self-consciously, but she had felt somehow that it would be impolite to leave her behind. She unsheathed her and wondered if the ancient sword had ever been used to hack at straw figures and charge at dangling wooden tiles. She galloped Tsornin over poles laid on the ground, piles of stone and wooden logs, and up and down turfed banks, and over ditches. She felt a little silly; but Tsornin made it plain that he enjoyed it all, whatever it was and however humble, and Gonturan always struck true. Harry took Tsornin back to his stable and put him away with her own hands, studiously ignoring the brown-clad groom who hovered near her. Hers was the first human face she had seen since she rode out. The stables were on the same scale as the castle: large and grand, the loose-boxes the size of small fields. There were over a hundred stalls – Harry lost count when she tried to multiply them out in her head – in the barn Sungold was quartered in, and two other barns as big stood on either side of it. Sungold's stable was nearly full; sleek curious noses were thrust out at them as they left and returned. Harry saw no other men or women of the horse; they must reappear at some point, she thought, to tend the horses. Unless Hill horses can be trained to take care of themselves – it wouldn't surprise me. The silence was uncanny. Tsornin's hoofs had echoed around the practice field; and when she thanked the brown woman and said no, she needed nothing, her voice sounded strange in her ears. Over the next few days she rode out again and again, and spent some hours slaying straw men with the Dragon-Killer's sword, and then some hours riding out from the stone ring of the castle, and into the stone City, down the smooth roads. She saw mostly women and young children, but even of them there were rarely more than a few. The women watched her timidly, and smiled eagerly if she smiled at them first; and the children wanted to pet Sungold, which he was good enough to permit, and Narknon, who usually eluded them; and sometimes they brought her flowers. But the City was as empty as the castle was; there were people, but far fewer than its walls might hold. Some of this, she knew, was because the army was massing elsewhere – on the laprun fields, before the City; messengers came and went swiftly, and the gathering of forces hung heavily in the air. But most of it was because, as the king's family had dwindled, so had the king's people; there were few Damarians left. She thought again of the mounting strangenesses of her recent life; and she wished, if she was to be given to Damar, as apparently she was, that she would be given no more long pauses of inaction in which to brood about it all. One of the young women who had assisted her at her bath brought her food, in the blue front room with the fountain, or outside in the sunshine where the other fountain played; and she managed to convince her and the other women sent to wait upon her that, at least as long as there were no more banquets requiring special preparations, she might bathe herself. For three more days she slept and watched the shimmering of the air and rode Tsornin and played with Narknon. There was a friendship between the horse and the hunting-cat now, and they would chase one another around the obstacles of the practice field, Narknon's tail lashing and Sungold with his ears back in mock fury. Once the big cat had hidden behind one of the grassy banks, where Harry and Sungold could not see her; and as they rode by she leaped out at them, sailing clean over Sungold and Harry on his back. Harry ducked and Sungold swerved; and Narknon circled and came back to them with her ears back and her whiskers trembli ng in what was obviously a cat laugh. And Harry polished Gonturan and tried not to brood, and looked often at the small white scar in the palm of her hand. But with all her inevitable musings she found that a certain peace had come to her and made its way into her heart. It was not like anything she had known before, and it was only on that third day that she found a name for it: fate. Yet she wished that the business of war were not so all-consuming, that she might have someone to talk to. On the fourth day when the woman came with her afternoon meal, Corlath came with her; and evidently he was expected, although not by Harry, for there were two goblets and two plates on the tray, and far more food than she could eat alone. She was sitting on the flagstones beside the fountain in the sunshine, watching the prisms that the falling drops threw into the air; and Narknon was washing Harry's face with her razored tongue, and Harry was trying not to mind. She was trying not to mind with such concentration that she did not realize till she looked up, still dazzled by tiny intricate colors, that he was there; and she remained sitting, blinking up at him, as the woman set down her tray and retired. â€Å"May I eat with you?† he said, and Harry thought that he seemed ill at ease. â€Å"Of course,† she said. â€Å"I would – er – be honored.† She pushed Narknon's head away and started to scramble to her feet, but Corlath dropped silently down beside her, so she settled back again, grateful that her bones decided not to creak. He gave her a plate and took his own; and then sat staring into the fountain much as she had done, and she wondered, watching him, if he felt any of the queer peacefulness that crept into her with the same looking; and if he would call it by the name she had discovered. â€Å"Eight days,† she said, and his eyes drew back from the water spray and met hers. â€Å"Eight days,† she repeated. â€Å"You said less than a fortnight.† â€Å"Yes,† he replied. â€Å"We are counting the hours now.† He made a swift sweeping motion with his right hand, and Harry said suddenly: â€Å"Show me your hand.† Corlath looked puzzled for a moment, but then he held his right hand out, palm up. There was one short straight pale mark across it, obviously new; and many small white scars; she didn't have to count them to know there would be eighteen of them, the still-fresh – and longest – cut a nineteenth. She studied the hand a moment, cupping it in her own, not thinking that she was poring over a king's hand; then she looked at her own right palm. One tiny straight line looked back at her. He closed his hand and rested it on his knee. â€Å"They don't fade,† Harry said. â€Å"The old ones don't disappear.† â€Å"No,† said Corlath. â€Å"It is the yellow salve, before we make the cut; it is made of an herb called korim – forever.† She studied her own palm again for a moment. The scar cut through the lines a fortune-teller would call her life line and her heart line; and she wondered what Damarian fortune-tellers might see in her hand. She looked up at Corlath, who absently put a piece of bread in his mouth and began to chew; he was staring into the fountain again. He swallowed and said: â€Å"There is a story of one of my grandfather's Riders: the Northern border was restless then – but only restless, and this man had gone North to see what he might learn. But they caught him, and recognized him as from Damar; but he knew they would find him a little before they did, and he slashed his hand that they might not find the mark and hold him for ransom – or torture; for the Northerners, if they wish, can torture with a fine prying magic that no mind can resist.† Harry thought: If the Northerners know about the Riders' mark, they must be a bit slow not to wonder about a spy caught with a cut-up hand. Corlath continued after a moment: â€Å"He had traveled dressed as a merchant, so when he knew they would find him he freed his horse and sent it home, and took off his boots, and began to climb the near-perpendicular face of one of the Hills that is the boundary between our land and theirs. When they found him he was half mad with sunstroke and his hands and feet were as tattered as autumn leaves. They decided they had not caught a prize at all, and after they had beaten him a bit, they let him go. He finished climbing the mountain with his hands and feet, because he remembered that much of what he was doing; and just over the summit, just inside the border of Damar, his horse was waiting for him, and she took him home. He recovered from the sunstroke, but he never held a sword again.† Harry swallowed a lump of bread that didn't want to go down, and there was silence for a bit. â€Å"What happened to the mare?† she said at last. â€Å"Your Tsornin's dam is a daughter of his mare's line,† Corlath said, but it was as if he were tracing some thought of his own. â€Å"The mare lived till she was almost thirty, and dropped a foal every year till the last. Many of our best riding-horses are descended from her.† Corlath looked at her, coming back from wherever he had been. â€Å"That mare's line is called Nalan – faithful. You can see it in Tsornin's pedigree.† Harry asked lightly: â€Å"And is there a name for the line of the kings of Damar?† Corlath said, â€Å"My father's name, and his father's, and mine, is Gulkonoth: stone.† Harry looked at his right hand resting quietly on his knee. He paused and added as if inconsequentially, â€Å"There are other names for the king. One of them is Tudorsond. Scarred hand.† â€Å"Does the korim scar the foreheads of the household, and the faces of the hunt and the horse as well?† And Corlath said, â€Å"Yes.† There was a silence again, and Harry wondered how many other questions she might be able to gain answers for. She said, â€Å"Once in the mountains before the trials, Mathin said to me that he could teach me three ways of starting a fire, but that you knew a fourth. He would not tell me what the fourth was.† Corlath laughed. â€Å"I will show you one day, if you wish. Not today. Today it would give you a headache.† Harry shook her head angrily, her feeling of contentment gone. â€Å"I am tired of having things only half explained. Either I am damalur-sol, when it is convenient, or I am to be quiet and sit in a corner and behave till it is time to bring me out and show me to the troops again. Did you choose Mathin to teach me because he is close-mouthed?† Corlath looked a little abashed, and Harry guiltily remembered how much Mathin had told her, although – she defended herself – it was not enough. Never enough. But she could not help remembering his answer when she had asked him why he had been chosen for her training. â€Å"I chose Mathin because I thought he would teach you best; there are none better than he, and he is patient and tireless.† And kind, thought Harry, but she would not interrupt when she might learn something. â€Å"We of the Hills – I suppose we are all, as you say, close-mouthed; but do you think you have learned so little of us?† And Corlath looked at her – wistfully. â€Å"No,† she said, ashamed of herself. There was a pause, and she said, â€Å"Could you perhaps, please, tell me why Mathin would not tell me any of the legends about the Lady Aerin? They are a part of your lives that all of you share – and it is her sword you have given me – and the legends, why, there are a few sung even at the spring Fairs in the west, where Outlanders can hear them.† Corlath tapped his fingers, one-two-three, one-two-three, on the brim of the fountain. â€Å"Aerin is a part of your destiny, Harimad-sol. It is considered unlucky to †¦ meddle with destiny. Mathin would feel that he was doing you a disservice, speaking much of Aerin to you, and I – I find, now, that I feel the same.† Tap-tap-tap. â€Å"If you had grown up †¦ here, you would have heard them. But you did not. And if you had, perhaps you would not now be what you are. â€Å"I am sorry.† He turned and looked at her. â€Å"If – after we have met the Northerners, and the gods have decided between us, if you and I are left alive, I will tell you all the stories I know of Aerin Dragon-Killer.† He tried to smile. â€Å"I even can sing a few.† â€Å"Thank you.† Corlath's smile became more successful. â€Å"There are a very great many of them – you may not wish to hear them all.† â€Å"I do wish to hear them all,† said Harry firmly. Corlath took his hand away from the stone brim and began to shred a chunk of bread into fragments on his plate. â€Å"As for the first question,† he said, â€Å"watch.† He blinked a few times, closed his eyes, and a shudder ran through him; then he opened his eyes again and gave a hot yellow glare to the little heap of bread crumbs, which burst into flame, crackled wildly for a few minutes, and subsided into black ash. â€Å"Oh,† said Harry. Corlath looked up; his eyes were brown. They stared at one another. Harry found herself saying hastily, in a voice that was a little too high-pitched, â€Å"What is this place – here – ?† and she jerked her eyes away, and waved to the mosaic walls. â€Å"I have seen nothing else like it anywhere in the City.† Corlath shook his head. â€Å"Nor will you.† He got slowly to his feet, and looked around, and cupped his scarred hand under the fountain, and drank from it. â€Å"My father built it for my mother just after he married her. She was fond of the color blue – and I think he wanted to tell her that he did not mind that she would never carry the Blue Sword, the greatest treasure of his family, the woman's sword.† He looked down at her inscrutably, but his eyes did not focus on her. Then he turned and left her, going through the door into the castle. Two days later the army rode away from the City. Corlath and his Riders rode together down the highway from the castle to the gates of the City, with men and women of the household and the hunt and horse, and pack horses behind them; and the people of the City lined the streets and silently watched them go, although many raised their hands to their foreheads and flicked the fingers as they rode by. Harry had not seen so many before; some were refugees from northern Damarian villages, and farmers from the green lands before the Bledfi Gap. And they rode down to the plain where the army Harry had not seen, for she had not left the City since she rode into it, lay before them; and behind her she heard a sound no Damarian had heard in generations: the City's stone gates closing, heavily, mournfully. Tsornin was restless. Now, with the ranks upon ranks of the Hill army drawn up upon it, the plain looked like some other place than the plain where Harry and Tsornin had fought with blunt staves and sword points. Tsornin was too well bred to do more than fidget slightly in place; but his shoulder, when she ran her hand down it, was warmer than the morning air deserved. The muscles under the golden skin were hard; she felt that if she rapped her knuckles against his shoulder ridge it would ring like iron. She stood, a little awkwardly, in the group of Riders, only a little way into the plain from the end of the City highway. They were on a little rise of land, so they looked out and down over the rest of the company, and Harry felt unnecessarily conspicuous. â€Å"Why couldn't you be liver chestnut or something?† she whispered to Tsornin, who bowed his golden head. A new helm fitted closely down over her bound-up hair, and there were new boots on her legs, with tops that rolled up and lashed into place for battle; and she felt Gonturan hanging expectantly at her knee. Ten days were not enough to accustom herself to being a Rider, however hard she had driven herself and Tsornin round the lonely practice fields with their stiff wooden silhouettes of enemy swordsmen; and while the Riders themselves – particularly one or two: Mathin, and the merry (for a Rider) young Innath – closed ranks around her and accepted her as one of them, she could not believe that they did not themselves wonder, a little, about her presence among them. Sungold blew impatiently and began to dig a hole with one front foot. She booted his elbow with her toe and he stopped, but after a moment he lowered his head and blew again, harder, and she could feel him shifting his weight, considering if she might let him dig just a small hole. She looked around: the other horses were showing signs of stress as well. Mathin stood next to her; Windrider, although rock still, unlike the younger Tsornin, wore a dark sheen of sweat down her flank. Corlath's Fireheart was standing on his hind legs again; the king could bring him down as he chose, but Harry rather thought the horse was expressing the mood of both of them. Narknon, so far as Harry could see, was the only one of their company who remained undisturbed. She sat in front of Sungold, just beyond the reach of pawing forefeet, and washed her chest and combed her whiskers. They marched west. They crossed the low but steep ridge of mountains between the City and the desert plain that stretched far away, up to the back door of the Outlander Residency in Istan. They retraced Harry and Mathin's route, going in single endless file through the narrow paths; and they came to the desert edge at the end of the second day. Beyond the ridge they turned north. All the spies – those still living, for the North had caught a few – that Corlath had sent out in the last several years had come back in the last few months, in a rush, all with the same word: the waiting was over, the Northerners were moving. The last man of them had returned not six days before; it had taken him so long because they knew about him, and he had dodged and fled and scrambled to get away from their creeping tracking magic. His tale was that their army was only days behind him, and that it was many thousands strong. He had delayed and delayed to take a fairer tally of the total; and yet, he said, even as the army marched south, hundreds and more hundreds appeared as if out of the air to march with it. Out of the air, Harry thought, and wondered if the phrase was more than just a manner of speaking. She had been included in the council of Riders that heard the man's tale; and the candlelight seemed to cast more shadows when he was through. Yet there was no thing to be done; the army that would stand for Damar was already gathered; the plans to face the Northerners were already laid. Of the Northerners' dread captain no spy was sure; no Damarian dared get that close, for the uncanny way he was said to smell foreign blood. There were hundreds of mounted men and women now following Corlath's word; and as they rode with the eastern Hills at their right hand, they looked a great many. A few hundreds more would join as the southern army made its way to the wide plain before the Gap. But that was all. Innath, riding at her elbow, said conversationally, â€Å"Less than half of the Northern army will be mounted; and not many of them will be riding horses; and very few of their horses will match the poorest of ours. One can double our tally at least, just for our horses; for they are Damarians and will fight for Damar as fiercely as we human beings, for all that we are the only ones who talk about it.† â€Å"Yes,† said Harry, her voice only a little muffled. Noontimes they stopped briefly, loosening girths to let the horses breathe, and eating bread and dry meat and water. At night they camped behind ridges of shale and scrub, and lit fires enough to boil the terrible dry meat to a slightly more edible consistency, and rolled up in their blankets to sleep where they sat. A few of the hunting-cats and a dozen dogs were with them; but they could not spare the time at present to use them. Narknon continued at Harry's heels and, as she had done once before, began hunting on her own, and brought back some of her grisly victories to lay at Harry's pillow. As the days passed and Mathin's stew pot became generally known as the only one reliably containing fresh meat, it grew very popular. The nights were clear and quiet, and the weather-casters among them promised no sudden windstorms; the edges of the Damarian Hills were known for their unpredictable weather, where mountain storms bottled up by the steep slopes might suddenly find their way to the flatter lands where they could rage and riot as they chose. Corlath was not trying to strike at once for the center of the northern mountains and the Bledfi Gap. After the Hill army crossed the narrow range behind which the City lay, they worked their way around the curve of the mountains, trotting through the sandy sour grass and broken rock at their feet. At first this made them ride almost due north, then in an increasing arc to the west; and the sun moved across the sky before them. Often in the mornings when the mist was still lying around them, trailing from the mountains' shoulders into their camp, a little group of riders, or even a solitary figure on horseback, would loom up at them from nowhere; but Corlath always seemed to be expecting them, and they always knew what to say to the guards that they might pass; and in this way the army a little swelled its ranks. Occasionally Harry heard a woman's voice among the strangers, and this made her glad; and often she'd rub a finger over the blue gem in the hilt of Gonturan and think of the sword no man could carry. Mathin said to her once: â€Å"We did not think to see so many women – few have fought with us within any man's memory, although in Aerin's day it was different. But I think many fathers are letting their daughters join us who had not thought to till they heard of Harimad-sol, and that Gonturan went to war again.† Many of these women she met; particularly after Mathin had spoken to her, for then she began to feel a little uneasily responsible for them. Senay she saw several times – and saw too that she was wearing a sewn-together sash as if she were proud of it. Harimad-sol asked the names of the women when she had a chance, and they answered gravely; and they often gave her the back-of-hand-to-forehead gesture of respect, and none ever asked her her name, even when she was not carrying Gonturan and ought to look – she thought – like any other disheveled soldier. Most of those who came thus late to join Corlath's army did not carry a sword, and wore no sash; these were men and women who had spent their lives in their own villages, on their own farms and in their own shops, and had never attended laprun trials, nor felt the lack that they had not. One evening they rode into a hollow where nearly a hundred strangers, all mounted, and with several pack horses and hunting-beasts besides, waited for them; and Corlath rode forward with a great hearty cry of welcome, a sound nearer happiness than any Harry had heard from him since they began their march north. A rider at the head of the group rode to meet him, and they seized each other by the shoulders while their horses bumped uneasily together and rolled their eyes at each other. A third man then detached himself from the new group and joined Corlath and his friend. â€Å"Murfoth and his son, Terim,† said Mathin in Harry's ear. â€Å"Murfoth was one of the old king's friends, though he's not much more than ten years older than our king. He might have been a Rider, had he wished, but he chose instead to stay at home and look after his lands; and a good job he's made of it too. Some of our best horses now come from him, and grain to feed many more.† â€Å"We Riders,† said Innath from her other side, â€Å"as you may have noticed, tend to be fourth sons or otherwise penniless – or incurable wanderers like Mathin here – but Murfoth now, when he comes to ride with his king, can bring eighty men with him.† Innath's voice, for all its careless pride, sounded almost wistful. Harry found herself remembering her father's words to her – it seemed decades ago: â€Å"You haven't a penny, you know.† Terim was Harry's age, and when he and his father came to sit at the king's fireside he came to her and sank down beside her, folding up his long legs as all the Hillmen did. She looked at Terim and he looked at her; his look was eager and a little, to her embarrassment, reverent. â€Å"I was First at my laprun trials three years ago,† he said; â€Å"but when I took my turn against Corlath my sash was on the ground before I had a good grip on my sword.† He thumped the hilt of his sword, which jangled as it bit into the ground. â€Å"My father gave me Teksun here anyway, he said no one ever got a grip on a sword against Corlath. You did, though.† His eyes shone in the firelight. Harry ran a meditative finger over the careful seam in her sash, which she had put in under Mathin's promised tutelage. â€Å"I didn't know it was he – I never thought. And he allowed me to cross swords with him; and when I realized how much of it was allowing, I got †¦ mad.† She paused. â€Å"I was surprised too.† She frowned, remembering the awful headache she'd had for most of that day, and then the more awful sick lurch that seemed to start behind her eyes, where the headache was, and quiver all the way through her body, when she saw the face behind the scarf she had just removed. No one had called her baga for the cut at the corner of Corlath's mouth, though. She met the boy's eyes somewhat ruefully and said, â€Å"It wasn't as pleasant an experience as you might think.† Terim gave a little snort of laughter and said, â€Å"Yes, I believe you,† and Harry looked across to where Corlath sat with Terim's father and found him watching her. She wondered if he had heard what she had just said.

Global Operations Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Operations Management - Research Paper Example 334). Other issues are clearly disclosed by Fisher (2003) as: â€Å"whether globalization results in unfair labor practices in developing countries; whether globalization damages the environment; whether multinational corporations have become too powerful to the detriment of developing country citizens and governments; whether globalization gives rise to tax competition that undermines the capacity of governments to raise revenues and thus to provide necessary services to their citizens; whether intellectual property protection is damaging the health of developing country citizens† (p. 7). Political issues include government regulations imposed on foreign organizations including policies on deregulation, risks faced from local violent groups and insurgents, level of organized crime and terrorist activities in the host foreign country. 2. Explain what cultural barriers and diversity issues are commonly encountered by international/multinational (MNC) and global organizations. C ultural barriers and diversity issues are commonly encountered by international/multinational and global organizations for the reasons that each country has developed its own set of values, traditions, cultural norms and beliefs that could be significantly different from the home country. For instance, Japan and Germany have different cultural mindsets and practices that have been ingrained in the general population since the beginning of time. Operating in Japan or Germany should therefore necessitate orienting oneself on cultural disparities and business practices to ensure that expanding to these countries would not compromise, intimidate, impose oneself and run contrary to the people’s beliefs and value system. As emphasized by Firoz, Maghrabi and Kim (2002), â€Å"theoretical reasoning and statistical analysis revealed the four main dimensions on which country cultures differ. They were labeled Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism, and Masculinity† (p. 32). 3. Why has diversity become such an important topic in the international arena? Diversity has become such an important topic in the international arena because in order for global organizations to effectively operate in a foreign country, the barriers to effective operation must be addressed: language and communication barriers, business ethics, value systems (religion), business practices, and external factors that impinge on the expanding organization. Due to diversity in culture, there could be significant differences in cultural norms, values and traditions that could not simply be imposed on the host country. 4. What can occur when issues related to multiculturalism and diversity are ignored in an international company? If these are not effectively and appropriately addressed, the risk of failure is increased. There would be eminent problems in communication, in expecting that policies and procedures would simply be adhered to or followed, and in imposing one’s normal way of doing things on another culture that has been accustomed to a different way of doing business or a way of life. 5. Describe at least 2 political and 2 economic issues that may arise during global expansion and proposed methods of addressing them. The political issues that may arise during global expansion are: (1) barriers to entry and (2) political upheaval.

Fair value Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Fair value - Essay Example value measurement, there is need to know the meaning of fair value which is basically â€Å"exit price of† a market transaction rather than specifically applicable only to an entity. Said fair value depends basically whether or not there is an active market or not but preferably the exit price must be that of active market, if there is any. Thus if there is active market, the exit price would refer to quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities that a company or entity can access at measurement date. Thus if there is no active market, that which is observable or objective available should be the basis for said fair value as much as possible. However, IFRS categorizes the fair value into three (3) inputs which are arranged in hierarchy giving priority giving the highest priority to (adjusted) quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs as provided or in IFRS 13:72 (Deloitte 2014a). When it is required to use fair value? It is required for certain assets and liabilities as implemented in each IAS or IFRS issued by the IASB. As such, the measurement and disclosure requirement under IFRS 13 do not apply to the following according to IFRS 13.6: (1) Share-based payment transaction within the scope of IFRS 2 – Share-based Payment; (2) Leasing transactions within the scoped of IAS 17 – Leases; (3) Measurements that appear similar to fair value but are not the same, such as the net realizable value in IAS 2 – Inventories, and; (4) Value n use in IAS 36- Impairment of assets (BDO, nod) When it is permitted? It is permitted as provided for certain assets and liabilities also as implemented by specific IAS or IFRS issued by IASB. In both cases however, there is a requirement of disclosure about the fair value measurement being used by the entity (Deloitte, 2014a). In so applying the categorization of inputs to measure fair value using different levels of the fair values

Electricity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Electricity - Assignment Example Franklin's key contribution to the understanding of electricity was his discovery that lightning shared similar characteristics as the electricity that was found in rubbed amber by the ancient Greeks. Franklin's work was situated at around 1752, whereas the work of the ancient Greeks extend way back into the early history of western civilization, to the time of the flowering of Ancient Greek literature and philosophy (The Electricity Forum, 2012). Meanwhile, work on the early modern history of electricity exists that date back to 1769, testifying to the jump starting of the science of electricity generation not too long after Franklin's work with lightning (Priestley, 1769; Tom Henry's Code Electrical Classes Inc., 2012). Volta and Galvani would advance the understanding of electricity even further, by giving to the world the understanding of how electricity works in the context of Galvani's experiment with frogs. Volta's understanding of the way electric current is made from Galvani 's frog experiments would drive the field forward. Volta understood that when two metal conductors contact water/moisture in frog bodies, electricity was generated. This insight paved the way for the creation of the first modern batteries, in 1792. Moreover, another important derivation of Volta's work on electricity is that of the ability of electricity to travel through conductor wires (The Electricity Forum, 2012): In this way, a new kind of electricity was discovered, electricity that flowed steadily like a current of water instead of discharging itself in a single spark or shock. Volta showed that electricity could be made to travel from one place to another by wire, thereby making an important contribution to the science of electricity. The unit of electrical potential, the Volt, is named after Volta (The Electricity Forum, 2012) On the other hand, whereas Volta demonstrated electricity transfer by wire, the development of large-scale transmission of electricity is credited to Michael Faraday. Faraday inverted the hypothesis that electricity is able to generate magnetism, and posited that magnetism could also bring about the generation of electricity, a hypothesis that was proven to be correct from his own experimental setups. The answer to Faraday's problem of generating electricity with the use of magnets lay in setting the magnets into motion. He was able to then show that magnetic fields in motion set into play the dynamics of electricity generation in this fashion. Four decades from that work by Faraday, on the other hand, Thomas Edison would set in motion the experiments that would bring about the production of the electric DC generator on a scale that could be considered practical. It was with DC electricity that Edison first lit up his experimental transmission and lighting infrastructure in New York and in his lab. On the other hand, while the Edison setup was functional, DC current faced many criticisms of its shortcomings, which led to AC elec tricity being developed and eyed as a more suitable mode of electricity generation and transmission on large scales (The Electricity Forum, 2012). The work of Edison deserves special mention for the vast number of peripheral

SPEAKER NOTES 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SPEAKER NOTES 2 - Essay Example Without passion, one can never be able to enjoy their occupation or fruits of their hard work because money can come and go but job satisfaction will always remain as a testimony. Perhaps another insight that comes up in the presentation is the fact that most people do not realize their full potential due to lack of self-esteem of adequate confidence. Undeniably, real success can never visit any person unless they discover their inner ability to the maximum and exploit it fully. Although the presentation is fair enough as far as giving insight into the business world is concerned, it is worth noting that certain issues such as the art of winning contracts and tenders require more consideration. Before one ventures into private practice, they need to consider whether they will be able to win and implement contracts successfully, as there is more to it than meets the eye. Additionally, one needs to consider whether the capital they have is enough to finance their prospective businesses . This is especially so because while some ventures require small amounts of finances to start, others require huge capital input that might drain an individual hoping to establish a start-up. Lastly but more importantly, one ought to conduct an accurate cost benefit analysis in every endeavor in order to ensure that the adverse consequences of a particular project do not exceed the anticipated benefits. When it comes to controversial issues such as the ability to achieve success without prior experience, I slightly differ with the presenter due to a number of reasons. Essentially, one needs a bit of experience so that they can be able to execute their duties effectively the absence of which they ought to learn first. This means that can has to undergo various significant stages in life before being fully qualified for any eventuality, an aspect that the speaker dint seem to mention. The controversy struck when the speaker simply mentions that they can achieve both personal and prof essional success without having to gain initial experience. Besides, the speaker does not explicitly reveal the fundamentals of professional growth that encompass dedication, discipline, and motivation from those who have achieved success. From the issues discussed in the presentation, I personally connect with the idea of having a positive attitude in whatever one is doing. Since success in career and business largely depend on the audacity with which one believes in themselves and their undertakings, I find the speakers words quite motivating to the extent that they are worth emulating. Indeed, I have interacted with these interesting perspectives in the past whereby I had to take courageous steps in choosing a career that most of my peers shunned owing to its relative toughness. Similarly, when I once wanted to start a business, I had to sacrifice my pride and begin small so that I could grow my business from strength to strength. Finally, one important insight that I gained from the presentation besides having the audacity to try out new things was that everyone is unique in their own ways and can influence the world in a different way. According to Venkataramany and Bhasin, financial inclusion and government intervention plays a major role in enhancing financial success of citizens, contrary to what was said by the speaker in the

Managment Style Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Managment Style - Research Paper Example b. Customer Satisfaction – Bibu and Moniem (2011) contend that customer satisfaction also correlate to employee satisfaction, as well as, the latter’s sense of productivity and performance. Thus, in organizational development, the company shouldn’t be just interested in customer satisfaction but also must improve the capacity of human resource to make them competitively leverage and distinction in their services. Making them customer-focused needs a healthy interactive capacity while deployed in varying tasks to fulfill customer needs. c. Role and Responsibility—this is a general concept that relates to specific tasks, functions, and accountability of workers. d. System and Process – includes the conduct of training, improvement of communication, recognition of good and efficient workers, and the utilization of technology to advance organizational operations and to improve the services of human resources. The system is either internal or external. I nternal system relates to defined rules and procedures of the company while the external system are those regulations mandated by the government and its agencies which compel an organization to follow as a matter of policy. e. Results and Measures— in business strategic management, result and measure relate to performance management and the use of evaluative measures to ascertain that the employee has achieved, where one failed, and who needed more capacity enhancement. In many companies, this is called as quality control and could be furthered through constructive criticism or feed-backing system. f. Business Growth – Growth are based on some economic principles such as â€Å"protection of property rights, market-based competition,... This essay will explicate the comparative management styles of cited nations. American business managers also seriously practice transactional and transformation leadership with incessant interest for company growth and development. Thus, most of them are adept on change management by optimizing open communication system. To maintain the motivation of their employees, they include them in planning and in strategizing the business plan. According to the paper experts posit that entrepreneurial leadership in an organizations demand the need to quantifying leadership behaviors because of the revolution and changes in measuring the behaviors of both leaders and managers. It is but exact that human resource managers must have in-depth understanding the cognitive skills and the intellectual intelligence of its workers. This is because, as discussed earlier, leadership skills are crucial in organizational developments and in decision-making. Ward suggested that organizational performance is related leadership skills where models are suggested to be followed and appreciated for organizational stability and sustainability. It makes a conclusion considering all these, it is but essential for Saudi-based managers to restudy some excellent or best practices in HRM and OD practiced in American society. They may later identify what is practicable for effective and efficient organizational management under its Muslim culture and practices. What is significant here is that there are theories in leadership for organizational development and human resource management that can be utilized for practical ends—and hopefully influence for a more effective organization management. It’s a necessity that the company is able to reinvent and innovate for high performance and success.

ART Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

ART - Essay Example The Gothic style of art was experienced from 12th to the 16th century and was mostly related to architecture. Ancient art is a term used to depict the various artifacts produced by difference cultures and the societies of the ancient periods. These forms of arts were not in written format but were in visual format such as sculptures and painting and architecture. The ancient art produced by the Egyptians was related to religion as they were very religious people and their art reflected different Gods and situations experienced by Gods. Art work produced by the Greek during ancient times mostly comprised of architecture, poetry and sculpture, they had various forms and styles of arts including Classical and Archaic styles of art. It is a myth and a common believe that Roman copied Greek art but their art was very different and much advanced than Greek art. They used their art to depict great events such as wars and victories of

Abundance of drama Essay Example for Free

Abundance of drama Essay She and the other girls give the names of innocent people who had nothing to do with witchcraft leaving the act with a dramatic hysterical close as all the girls try to cleanse themselves of the confrontation with Beelzebub hinting at the future prospects of the play. The act steadily builds up to when Tituba is accused at the end of the act of witchcraft. Each ingredient of the, story, which we know is hearsay, is added until it comes together and there is sufficient evidence for her to be accused by Hale. The story, which has been building, takes a turn and instead of the inquisitive nature of which it started, it becomes more action orientated and becomes a name and shame game where people are incorrectly blamed and gives a dramatic effect to the audience. This final dramatic scene of the act is placed there to end the act with a mini peak of the story and to keep the audience interested and wanting more. Act two begins with a long conversation between Proctor and his wife. They talk about the every day things but the stage directions and language Miller uses, like the scene with Proctor and Abigail, strongly projects the dramatic effect on the audience and emotions of the relationship. Proctor is not at ease with his wife, the atmosphere appears tense and uncomfortable. He attempts to make conversation, are you well today? which is not the sort of thing a husband would say to his wife. He tries to make her happy by complimenting her: its well seasoned and grinning. It is obvious that the atmosphere could be cut with a knife as gently as he can depicts that he is carefully choosing his words and trying to be a good husband but desperately trying not to bring up the affair. But it is not in vain as Goody Proctor reacts warmly to him, blushing with pleasure; giving an inkling that she still loves him. Though the feeling is that of betrayal and guilt there is a warm, gentle fragment of loyalty and love emancipated out of their conversation, which proves they still both feel love towards one another. Mary Warren comes in to the house-hold to discuss the events which took place in Salem earlier on and that, Aye a proper court they have now. Theyve sent four judges out of Boston, and that 39 women have been accused of witchcraft. She then proceeds to talk about the accused and that Mrs Proctor has been accused. This shocks them and that Rebecca nurse has also been accused, as she is a well-respected person in the Salem community and adds to the drama. Both of the women have enemies who wish to destroy them (Abigail and Mrs Putnam) and two rival factions are now clearly taking form, Goody Proctor is arrested. The home scene between Proctor and his wife is placed before she is arrested to dramatically show how innocent and plain Goody Proctor was and the contrast of her seeing John in the wrong by her being arrested, this dramatically portraits injustice. Proctors actions towards the arrest of his wife are dramatic as he runs out adding to the action and pace of the scene, I will not have her chained! The fact he will not have her chained when they are authorised to do so indicates conflict and gives drama, the use of an apostrophe shows his anger again adds gives a dramatic effect to the audiences Towards the end of the act pressure is placed on a character this time it is Mary who is being pressurised by the now fiery Proctor due his wifes imprisonment. Proctor tries to force Mary to tell the court about the poppet which Mrs Proctor was arrested for, You will tell the court how the poppet come here. Mary claims she cannot, which she repeats and she begins to cry. Proctors language creates his mentality with the omnipotence of his language and the harsh anger which has built up inside to terrify Mary to get her to divulge her information to the court, Aye naked! And the wind will, gods icy wind will blow! His use of the word icy creates the chilling ominous threat to all the people who are dishonest and shows that he himself would not do it or he would be severely hypocritical. This, from what he said, is the first indication of his stern and ethical character and that Marys character is frail and easily manipulated both by Abigail and Proctor. Not only does the dramatic structure give the end of the act a dramatic finish but also the end of the act uses language to get across the seriousness and religious terror being brewed in Salem. Act three is set in the courtroom, the cases are being investigated and the questions and debating ensues. Mary now forced by Proctor to support Goody Proctor tells the court that she lied the day before. However she shows her weakness when she herself is blamed by Abigail, and cracks when Abigail condemns her by pretending that there is a spirit conjured by Mary, Let me go Mr Proctor, I cannot, I cannot. This leads to Proctor to loose his cool and condemn Abigail for doing all of this to spite him and to rid the world of his wife. He now has to admit to committing the sin of adultery: I have known her sir! This leads us to the turning point in the play. Proctor reveals to the court that his wife never tells a lie and that she would tell the court about his affair. By stating the truth it would obviously mean that she was telling the truth about the witchcraft and proving her innocence but would she be able to disgrace Proctors, name, which means so much to the people of the time period that the play was set. Millers dramatic structure brings the play to a mini climax if not the most important one by great structuring of the play; the play reaches a cross-roads. If Goody Proctor tells the truth it undermines everything that Abigail has said and shows her as a liar and everyone wrongly accused is released and brings about the end of court. But if she lies it means that all the people who have kept their morality and not lied will be charged. It defines the future of the factions and the play, having been built up throughout the opening acts. This is well dramatically structured to create complete unpredictability and a sense of curiosity as to how it will end. She is brought in and interrogated. Goody Proctors body language portraits the tension: liking her lips to stall for time now created in the court, as they all know this is the defining moment. She thinks about what she should say and glances at Proctor looks for help. In, agony, she answers the questions. Hard thought and constant silent pauses build the pressure within the room, Is your husband a lecher? Danforth the judge asks her. No. The pressure is lifted and the stomach churning feeling of the characters and audience takes over, this is summed up by the comment, oh god! when Goody Proctor realises what shes done. But by lying, going against everything she stands for. She obviously forgives Proctor as she took one for him when he had committed adultery this shows the romantic drama that she loves him so much she would give up her morals for his name. Abigail then starts off again pretending to draw attention on to herself, that Mary is conjuring spirits and uses her power to create mass hysteria. Miller liberally uses exclamation marks to emphasise the shouting and adding to the general madness of the courtroom. Abigails actions are dramatised and create a lot of fear, Abigail pointing with fear and which is added to by having all the girls at once shouting. It gives a fearful representation that the girls are possessed by some sought of satanic spirit. Mary shifts the blame onto Proctor who is then accused by the court. This is dramatically used as the story declines after the climax in act three and the story needs to be built up quickly to reach the final climax. In Act four this is done by the hysteria and the fact that Proctor is now being blamed by Abigail and ironically the reason the trouble started was because she wanted him, now she is getting rid of him and achieving nothing. In Act four Proctor has an emotional talk with his wife as she tries to persuade him to confess and be released. Miller goes to work on giving the audiences heart strings a pull using again language and stage actions to show the emotions of love and despair and create a great sense of drama using dramatic devices. Goody Proctor has forgiven him and believes; whatever, he does it is good man that does it, and thinks she drove him to have an affair. She states that, John, I counted myself so plain, so poorly made no honest love could come to me! Suspicion kissed you when I did. She thinks that there was nothing to love about her and before it was not her who kissed him but personified. This also implies that now when they talk and hold each other it is pure love for the first time in their relationship bringing a sense of romanticism to the ordeal that theyve been through. Millers dramatically structure places the conversation before the final and ultimate climax to act as the calm before the storm and to increase the pressure on John and ultimately be decisive to the final sequence of events. Proctor is to be hung but because he was persuaded he confesses but all the official figures want his confession in writing. By doing this he is giving up his, name. He realises that he will die before he will give up his name and rips up his life which he had signed. This then brings us to the most powerful and dramatic action within the whole play in my opinion as, His breast heaving, his eyes staring, Proctor tears up the paper and crumples it, and he is weeping in fury, but still erect. This shows that he will not sign away his, name, showing his courage. He has thrown away his life but still stands erect, theyve pushed him all the way physically and mentally but he has not fallen keeping his dignity, ethics and pride, which we know mean so much to him as does his life which is why it is so dramatic. Miller has created a twist luring the audience in with Goody Proctors persuasion, hooking them in with signing the confession but masking the fact he was to rip up his life, and die for what he believes and becoming a type of martyr or tragic hero. Millers, The Crucible, is structured to gain dramatic effect. Each act takes on the same structure and has very similar properties. The first two scenes to begin with build up information about different events, which take place off stage. All acts build up to a climax, giving away hints about the next act and each act ends with pressure being placed on a certain character. Act one it is Tituba; act two it is Mary; act three Mary and Mrs Proctor and act four John Proctor. The Crucible is a fitting name for the play as a crucible is a melting pot, which eventually displaces the pure from the waste. Which also happens in the play each act is a small melting pot as in act one, the different things are added by way of the story being built up and then heated. The heat in act one is Hale and overall the whole play is a melting pot. The story built up, the heat added by the way of the court and the pure displaced from the waste. The pure, being the characters that wouldnt pass on the blame because they were too strong and would not give up their morals. The irony is that the people who deserved to be killed i. e. Abigail and Paris compared to the remorseful Proctor and the innocent Rebecca nurse. Miller created a dramatic play by incorporating dramatic language, stage directions and the play is structured in such a way that it gives the audience an abundance of drama.

Tobacco Smoking and Its Effect on Periodontal Disease Essay Example for Free

Tobacco Smoking and Its Effect on Periodontal Disease Essay The purpose of oral health research is to find out more information on areas which can be improved to benefit not only the public’s oral health knowledge and status but to improve oral health professional methods of practice as well (Petersen, 2003). The research’s main objective is to inspect tobacco smoking and its effect on periodontitis on the New Zealand adult population. Principal methods to be used include collecting data from participants that would be randomly selected from a sample which could represent the New Zealand adult population and interviewed from a telephone using a survey. The participants would categorize themselves as either as a non-smoker, former smoker or current smoker. The participants would then have their probing pocket depth and gingival recession clinical measured at three different tooth sites with 2.5-3.5mm, 3.5-5mm and over 5mm range recorded. The research hopes to impact the fact that smoking is a risk factor to periodontitis and that smoking should be prevented. Summary of PROPOSED Research Background: Periodontal disease arises from inflammation of the gingivae that is untreated commonly known as gingivitis. The inflammation and infection moves from the gingivae to the bone and supporting ligaments of the teeth. This loss of bone and support will cause the tooth to become mobile and this may lead to it eventually falling out. Being susceptible to periodontal disease is different according to a person as bacterial flora and local and systemic factors (Thomson et al, 2007). It is an important area to research for the New Zealand adult population as tobacco Smoking is known to effect periodontal disease this is done through affecting the level of bone attachment and the soft tissues around the gingivae (Obeid Bercy, 2000). The appearances clinically of gingivae for a smoker is different as it is fibrotic with rolled margins that are thick, pocketing depth which is larger consistently in maxillary lingual sites, the gingivae being less inflamed compared to the disease level seen and a person having a deeper probing depth, attachment loss and tooth loss than a person at the same age who never has smoked. Smokers have also been known to have impaired healing of gingivae due to blood flow and poorer clinically results to both surgical and non-surgical treatment (Obeid Bercy, 2000). It is necessary to research this area to find out if the amount of cigarettes smoked has more of an effect on the stage of periodontitis. When researching this topic the necessary confounding factors such as age, sex and socio economic status has to be considered (Bergstrom et al, 2000). Aim: The research’s main objective is to inspect tobacco smoking and its effect on periodontitis on the New Zealand adult population. Description of Study and Design: A descriptive cross sectional study will be researched to try and find out if tobacco smoking is a casual risk factor for periodontal disease. Principal methods to be used include collecting data from participants 18 and over that would be randomly selected from a community sample which could represent the New Zealand adult population and interviewed from a telephone using a survey. The participants would categorize themselves as either as a non-smoker, former smoker or current smoker. The current smokers would then have their smoking listed as heavy, moderate or light depending on the amount of cigarettes smoked daily. The participants would then have their probing pocket depth and gingival recession clinical measured at three different tooth sites with 2.5-3.5mm, 3.5-5mm and over 5mm range recorded by a Dentist and Dental Hygienist. The periodontitis will be recorded as no, moderate and severe depending on the bone attachment loss. Age and sex would be used as main confounders. The study will have to be ethically approved by the Otago University Human Ethics Committee. The adults income will be a confounder factor also as it effects their ability to have dental care. The data will be statistically analysed and the results published. Participants: The research study requires randomly selected participants male and female over eighteen which will give a sample of adults which could represent the New Zealand adult population. The recruitment process will be through telephone numbers provided from a district health board such as Public health south. The inclusion criteria would be adults over the age of 18 that do not wear full dentures, have enough dentition to be examined at three different random tooth sites and also do not have a medical condition which prevents them from partaking in the clinical examination. Main Outcome Measures: The research’s main goal is to prove through a descriptive cross sectional study that tobacco smoking is a casual risk factor on periodontitis regarding the New Zealand adult population. Another goal is to measure the severity of periodontitis regarding the amount of cigarettes the person smokes weather the risk is increased with more cigarettes smoked or not. References: Bergstrà ¶m, J., Eliasson, S., Dock, J. (2000). A 10-year prospective study of tobacco smoking and periodontal health. Journal of periodontology, 71(8), 1338-1347. Obeid, P. (2000). Effects of smoking on periodontal health: a review. Advances in Therapy, 17(5), 230-237. Petersen, P. E. (2003). Tobacco and oral health-the role of the World Health Organization. Oral Health and Preventive Dentistry, 1(4), 309-316. Thomson, W. M., Broadbent, J. M., Welch, D., Beck, J. D., Poulton, R. (2007). Cigarette smoking and periodontal disease among 32†year†olds: a prospective study of a representative birth cohort. Journal of clinical periodontology, 34(10), 828-834.

Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBA) Analysis

Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBA) Analysis INTROUCTION The Industrial Development Bank of India Limited, was established as wholly-owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India. The foundation of bank was laid down under an Act of Parliament, in July 1964. The main aim behind the setting up of IDBI was to provide credit and other facilities for the Indian industry, which was still in the initial stages of growth and development. In February 1976, the ownership of IDBI was transferred to Government of India. After the transfer of its ownership, IDBI became the main institution, through which the institutes engaged in financing, promoting and developing industry were to be coordinated. In January 1992, IDBI accessed domestic retail debt market for the first time, with innovative Deep Discount Bonds, and registered path-breaking success. The following year, it set up the IDBI Capital Market Services Ltd., as its wholly-owned subsidiary, to offer a broad range of financial services, including Bond Trading, Equity Broking, Client Asset Management and Depository Services. In September 1994, in response to RBIs policy of opening up domestic banking sector to private participation, IDBI set up IDBI Bank Ltd., in association with SIDBI. In July 1995, public issue of the bank was taken out, after which the Governments shareholding came down (though it still retains majority of the shareholding in the bank). In September 2003, IDBI took over Tata Home Finance Ltd, renamed ‘IDBI Home finance Limited, thus diversifying its business domain and entering the arena of retail finance sector. The year 2005 witnessed the merger of IDBI Bank with the Industrial Development Bank of India Ltd. The new entity continued to its development finance role, while providing an array of wholesale and retail banking products (and does so till date). The following year, IDBI Bank acquired United Western Bank (which, at that time, had 230 branches spread over 47 districts, in 9 states). In the financial year of 2008, IDBI Bank had a net income of Rs 9415.9 crores and total assets of Rs 120,601 crores. The Present Today, IDBI Bank is counted amongst the leading public sector banks of India, apart from claiming the distinction of being the 4th largest bank, in overall ratings. It is presently regarded as the tenth largest development bank in the world, mainly in terms of reach. This is because of its wide network of 688 branches, 1139 ATMs and 457 centers. Apart from being involved in banking services, IDBI has set up institutions like The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), The National Securities Depository Services Ltd. (NSDL) and the Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL). Products Services Personal Banking Deposits Loans Payments Tax Payments, Stamp Duty Payments, Easy Fill, Bill Payment, Card to Card Money Transfer, PayMate, Online Payments Mutual Fund Demat Account IPO Insurance FamilyCare, Weathsurance Cards Debit Card, Credit Card, Cash Card, Gift Card, International Debit-cum-ATM Card, World Currency Card Institutional Banking Lockers India Post NRI Services Phone Banking SMS Banking Account Alerts Internet Banking Corporate Banking Project Finance Infrastructure Finance Syndication, Underwriting Advisory Services Carbon Credits Business Working Capital Cash Management Services Trade Finance Tax Payments Derivatives Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) Film Financing Scheme Direct Discounting Bills Rehabilitation Finance Others SME Finance Agri-business Products Main Functions of IDBI- IDBI coordinates between various financial institutions who are highly involved in provide financial assistance, promoting, and developing various industrial units IDBI is also engaged in a variety of promotional activities such as development programs for the fresh entrepreneurs, planning of consultancy services for both the small scale enterprises and the medium sized industrial units IDBI works for the advancement of technology and other welfare schemes to ensure economic development. Industrial Development Bank of India acts as a catalyst in various industrial development programs. IDBI provides financial assistance to all kinds of industrial units which comes under the provisions of the IDBI Act. IDBI has served various industrial sectors in India for about three years and has grown leaps and bounds in its size and operating units. IDBIs role as a catalyst IDBIs role as a catalyst to industrial development encompasses a wide spectrum of activities. IDBI can finance all types of industrial concerns covered under the provisions of the IDBI Act. With over three decades of service to the Indian industry, IDBI has grown substantially in terms of size of operations and portfolio. Developmental Activities of IDBI Promotional activities In fulfillment of its developmental role, the Bank continues to perform a wide range of promotional activities relating to developmental programmes for new entrepreneurs, consultancy services for small and medium enterprises and programmes designed for accredited voluntary agencies for the economic upliftment of the underprivileged. These include entrepreneurship development, self-employment and wage employment in the industrial sector for the weaker sections of society through voluntary agencies, support to Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Parks, Energy Conservation, Common Quality Testing Centres for small industries. Technical Consultancy Organizations With a view to making available at a reasonable cost, consultancy and advisory services to entrepreneurs, particularly to new and small entrepreneurs, IDBI, in collaboration with other All-India Financial Institutions, has set up a network of Technical Consultancy Organizations (TCOs) covering the entire country. TCOs offer diversified services to small and medium enterprises in the selection, formulation and appraisal of projects, their implementation and review. Entrepreneurship Development Institute Realising that entrepreneurship development is the key to industrial development, IDBI played a prime role in setting up of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India for fostering entrepreneurship in the country. It has also established similar institutes in Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. IDBI also extends financial support to various organisations in conducting studies or surveys of relevance to industrial development. IDBI Lending Process, Institutional Structure, Training, Information and Data Needs IDBI was established in 1964 under an Act of Parliament for providing credit and other facilities for the development of industry. It also acts as the principal financial institution for coordinating the activities of institutions engaged in the finance, promotion, or development of industry. The Government of Indias shareholding in IDBI amounts to 72% and the rest of the shares are owned by the general public. IDBI has also offered specialised schemes for energy conservation viz. Equipment Finance for Energy Conservation and Energy Audit Subsidy Scheme. Presently, IDBI provides rupee and foreign currency term loans for the acquisition and installation of energy conservation equipment, and for pollution control and prevention projects in highly polluting industrial sectors, funded inter alia, out of World Banks Industrial Pollution Prevention Project (IPPP) or the US Agency for International Development-funded Greenhouse Gas Pollution Prevention (GEP) Project. Besides, finance is made available for EE/EM out of the on-going Industrial Energy Efficiency Project of the ADB of which the TA forms a part. Under this project, finance is given to industrial units in rupee as well as in foreign currency. Additional funding needs left unmet by the ADB funds are supplemented by IDBIs own funds as well. 3.1 IDBI Institutional Structure IDBI is governed by a Board of Directors and its operation is carried out under the supervision of the Chairman and Managing Director assisted by four Executive Directors and one Adviser. With its head office in Mumbai, IDBI has 43 additional offices throughout India. As of November 1998, IDBI was structured into 33 departments, which are organized into five groups to facilitate proper distribution of responsibility. Among these departments, the ones relevant to the efficient lending for ee/em activities are briefly described below. 3.1.1 Project appraisal department The Project Appraisal Department (PAD) appraises all the industrial project proposals. PAD projects constitute the majority of projects sanctioned by IDBI in terms of value. Besides a number of smaller projects are funded at the branch level. 3.1.2 Corporate finance departments The three Corporate Finance Departments (CFDs) follow up on the projects that have already been sanctioned, in order to ensure their timely implementation and proper utilization of funds. In addition, a new concept of a Relationship Manager was instituted within the CFDs. These managers will be dedicated to manage IDBIs interactions with a major industrial (ownership) group, such as Reliance Industries, the Tata Group, etc. While the relationship manager system works well from the perspective of consolidating knowledge about an industry group, it may not work as well where the focus has to be on an aspect of technology within an industry sector. For example, a relationship manager cannot be expected to be an expert on energy efficiency in every industry sector that forms a part of the industry group being dealt with by him/her. Hence, in order to develop some expertise in some of the industries, which are not necessarily dominated only by a few major industry groups, industry-sector-wise approach is also adopted. Thus the organization of a CFD is a workable mix of industry group and industry sub-sector, with the expertise of one Dealing group drawn upon by another. 3.1.3 Forex services and treasury departments: The Treasury and Funding Division contracts, decides on utilization and monitors all lines of credit from multi-lateral institutions like the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It manages the various specialized loans and grants for energy and environmental technology projects, including this TA project. Organizational Structure IDBIs organization structure is driven by its business objectives of offering the best services to the major industry groups. At the same time it is so organised to have industry specialists in important industrial sub-sectors as well. The organisational structure is geared to provide the best products and services in the present competitive environment while simultaneously attempting to meet its developmental role governed by â€Å"issue-based† lending. Following financial sector liberalisation, the environment has turned highly competitive compelling IDBI to organise itself in a manner to prioritise the objective of offering the best services to the major industry groups over focus exclusively for energy efficiency and environmental activities. There is a need to create a â€Å"home or center† for energy and environmental technical activities. This center needs to be located at the highest level within IDBI in order to ensure visibility, and to provide a resource base, which could be accessed by all the concerned departments described above. IEEP and other such lines of credit are being managed by the FSD, which is not directly engaged in either project appraisal or in implementation. Hence its role is one of being a facilitator and co-ordinator for giving the needed focus to the ee/em activities. It is quite possible for this Section to be upgraded to be the â€Å"home† suggested above with appropriate technical staff for policy making, facilitation of the lines of credit, developmental activities, etc. in ee/em issues. This will help clarify the varied roles of CFD and FSD and avoid duplication of effort, better coordination and communication between the FSD and the CFD. A system of built-in incentives for co-operation and co-ordination between the concerned departments will also aid the organisation in playing a more effective role in ee/em activities  relating to policy formulation, loan approvals and subsequent disbursement. 3.3 IDBI Lending Procedure The current procedure for lending at IDBI includes: (1) an inquiry stage, (2) an application stage, (3) site visits, (4) preparation of an appraisal note, (5) an evaluation by IDBI committee, (6) the issuance of a Letter of Intent, and (7) preparation of a legal agreement for lending for suitable projects. IDBI also operates special credit lines for the mitigation of pollution, implementation of the Montreal Protocol commitments, modernization and expansion of energy intensive industry, etc. The technical norms for these lines were determined individually, but the lending procedure is the same as that for other IDBI projects. The lending procedure followed by IDBI is comprehensive, based on accepted methods of evaluation and collective wisdom, and is transparent. The procedure, however, does not provide for a serious attempt to evaluate the energy and environmental components of any lending proposal. At each stage of the application for a loan, a company is required to provide information on energy consumption, along with that of other utility services. Energy consumption information is disaggregated into fuels and electricity categories. The company is not required to provide indicators of energy use to IDBI, which makes the information difficult to evaluate. Indicators could link the energy (fuel and electricity) consumption to physical activity levels and permit comparison with best practice in India and abroad. IDBI could also ask for additional information on technical indicators in the loan application that industries are required to complete. Conclusions and Recommendations Our evaluation of IDBIs institutional structure, lending procedures, and training and information needs revealed that there is a clear need for greater focus towards ee/em activities, by strengthening the existing institutional structure and capability in this area. This strengthening can be accomplished through the creation and establishment of a â€Å"resource center† that will provide the necessary technical backup for IDBI officers at all levels. The center resources will include access to technical experts, handbooks, and databases. The technical experts will assist in the organization of seminars, workshops, and training programs. Role of Financial Institutions in industrial development To accelerate the process of industrialization, immediately after independence, Government of India took appropriate steps to create a network of financial institutions to fill the gaps in the supply of long-term finance to industry. IFCI was the first institution which was set-up in 1948 followed by SFCs established by different States/Union Territories under the SFCs Act.1951. The NIDC (1954), ICICI (1955), NSIC (1955), and RCI (1958) were established. IDBI was established in 1964 as the apex institution in the field of industrial finance. UTI was also established in the same year. LIC came into existence in 1956 and GIC in 1972. SIDCs/SIICs strengthened institutional set-up at regional level. IRCI was set-up in 1971 which was later renamed as IRBI. Reserve Bank has played an important role in creation of all these institutions. Thus, structure of financial institutions in India has become so greatly diversified  and strengthened that it has the ability to supply finance to a variety of enterprises in diverse forms. In this , an attempt has been made to analyze the role of specialized financial institutions in meeting the term-requirements of our growing industrial sector. For this purpose, an effort has been made to ascertain the extent and rapidity of financial assistance granted by financial institutions to industrial sector in general and private sector in particular. Apart from analyzing purpose wise, industry wise and state wise assistance granted by financial institutions, special attention has been given to evaluate their role in removal of regional imbalances through provision of finance to projects located in identified backward areas of the country. In order to make an in depth study, three financial institutions of diverse nature namely, IDBI, ICICI and SFCs have been chosen which together provided about two-third of the total financial requirements of the industrial sector. During 1970-90 assistance sanctioned and disbursed by IDBI has increased at an annual average growth rate of 32.3 per cent and 27.7 per cent respectively, which were higher than the growth rate of sanctions and disbursements of all financial institutions. IDBI has granted 37.4 per cent of its total assistance by way of direct assistance and remaining 62.6 per cent indirectly through other financial institutions. Loans were major form of direct assistance with 88.7 per cent share, while refinance of industrial loans with 59.5 per cent share was the major form of indirect assistance. Private sector has been the largest beneficiary of IDBIs assistance followed by public, joint and cooperative sectors. IDBI has taken keen interest in granting finances to small scale sector which received 30 per cent of the total assistance sanctioned by IDBI. More than half of its assistance has gone to basic and capital goods industries while consumer goods and services have got a little more than one-third of total assistance of IDBI. It has paid equal attention to new and existing projects in its financing operations. Though IDBIs assistance is spread over all State and Union Territories, but its substantial proportion is concentrated among few relatively developed and large states. Similarly, a major part of its total assistance granted to projects located in identified backward areas, which formed about two-fifth of its total assistance, has gone to few developed and large states. In chapter five, the contribution of ICICI in meeting the financial requirements of the industrial sector has been analysed. During 1970-90 assistance sanctioned by ICICI increased at a rate of 26.5 per cent per annum while disbursements increased 23.1 per cent. In accordance with its objective, ICICI has sanctioned 35.7 per cent of its total assistance in the form of foreign currency assistance. Rupee loans constituted 37.5 per cent of total assistance sanctioned by ICICI. More than four-fifth of its total assistance has gone to private sector. ICICI has granted greater part of its assistance (61.7 per cent) to existing projects for their expansion, modernisation, etc. while new projects accounted for 38.3 per cent of total assistance. More than  two-third of ICICIs assistance has gone to non-traditional growth oriented industries like chemicals and chemical products, Iron and Steel, Machinery, etc. Assistance of ICICI is basically concentrated among few relatively developed state s despite some reduction during eighties. Over the years, ICICI has been granting an increasing proportion of its total assistance to backward areas of the country, but its major part has gone to backward areas of few developed  states. Household sector has contributed an increasing share in the total financial resources of ICICI, while governments share has declined. SFCs which are state level development banks set-up for financing small and medium scale industries in their respective states. Till about 1970, operations of all SFCs grew at a slow pace but during seventies there was rapid growth in their operations and the pace has been sustained during eighties also. During 1970-90 sanctions of SFCs increased at a rate of 20.5 per cent per annum while disbursements increased by a marginally higher rate of 21.2 per cent. Performance of different SFCs has varied from one another and from year to year. In accordance with their basic objective, 76.1 per cent of total assistance sanctioned and 91.4 per cent of the total number of units assisted by SFCs were in the small scale sector. Services have been the largest beneficiary of SFCs assistance followed by chemicals and chemical products, food products, textiles, etc. SFCs have, by and large, confined their assistance to new projects which accounted 84.4 per cent of total assistance. SFCs have granted more than half of their assistance to projects located in identified backward areas of their respective states. An important feature is that SFCs of relatively backward states have performed better in this regard than that of developed states. However, SFCs depend heavily on government sources for their financial requirements. The aggregative role of all financial institutions in the industrial development of the country. It clearly reveals that industrial concerns in India depend more on financial institutions to finance their ventures than raising funds directly from the capital market. Conclusions of this study have been given in the last chapter. Major findings of this study are summarised below: During the last twenty years assistance granted by financial institutions has increased at a significantly high rate leading industrial concerns to depend more and more on them. In terms of growth rate of sanctions, IDBI and ICICI have outstripped the average growth rate of sanctions of all financial institutions, but SFCs have fallen behind this trend. The gap between assistance sanctioned and disbursed is more pronounced in case of IDBI and ICICI but it is relatively narrower in case of SFCs. Private sector has been the largest beneficiary of assistance of financial institutions followed by public sector. Proportion of investment-savings gap filled up by financial institutions has increased in private and public sector both during eighties. Financial institutions have provided assistance to new as well as existing projects. However, SFCs have confined their financing operations basically to new projects. IDBI and ICICI have granted major part of their assistance to basic and capital goods industries but SFCs have paid greater attention on consumer goods industries. Statewise break-up of assistance provided by financial institutions reveals considerable concentration among few developed and large states despite some reduction during eighties. North-Eastern states have been almost completely neglected by all financial institutions. A significant part of the total assistance granted by financial institutions has gone to projects located in identified backward areas of the country, but its statewise distribution has helped to reduce intra-state disparities in industrial development and increased inter-state disparities between developed and backward states. Finally, IDBI and ICICI have generated a significant part of their resources from the household sector but SFCs are largely dependent upon the government sources. Role of Financial Institutions in Foreign Investment in India Financial Institutions plays a significant role in Foreign Investment in India. There are various financial institutions in India which undertake significant initiatives to ensure foreign investment inflows in the industrial units in India. The main role of the financial institutions in India in respect to foreign investments is to aid foreign investors in investment activities in India. The funds from overseas countries come in two forms: Foreign direct Investments and Joint Ventures of the foreign companies with Indian companies. Foreign direct investments inflows are approved through automatic route or through government route. Those units that require government approval to get funds require the FIPB approval. Foreign Direct Investment through automatic route, on the other hand, does not require FIPB approval. All these allocation of financial assistance to various industrial units in India are guided by the financial institutions set up in various parts of India. Some of the leading financial institutions in India that play an important role in foreign investments in India are RBI, IDBI Bank, IFCI Bank, ICICI Limited and EXIM Bank. RBI in Foreign Investment- RBI works through automatic route and government route in allocating funds in various sectors of the Indian industry. Its mandatory for all the foreign investors to get approvals from RBI in order to carry out invest activities in the industrial units in India. FDI is allotted up to 100 percent under automatic route and it does not require approval from FIPB. IDBI in Foreign Investment- IDBI acts as a financial institution which allots financial assistance to the industrial sectors which are mainly involved in manufacture or processing of goods, mining, transport generation and distribution of power both in private and public sectors. Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has been a fully owned subsidiary bank of the Reserve Bank of India till February 1976 after which it was disconnected from RBI. ICICI Limited in Foreign Investment- ICICI Limited was set up in the year 1994 and ICICI Bank is a entirely owned subsidiary of ICICI Limited. ICICI Limited is known as one the best financial institutions in India as it offers a wide spectrum of services to its customers. ICICI bank offers a wide array of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through various delivery channels, specialized subsidiaries and affiliated firms, venture capital units, non-life insurance sectors, and so on. EXIM Bank in Foreign Investment- EXIM Bank plays a pivotal role in providing financial assistance to encourage the export production in India. Direct financial assistance, Foreign investment finance, Term loaning options for export production and export development, Pre-shipping credit, Export bills rediscounting, and Refinance to commercial banks are some of the services that EXIM Bank has specialized in. Role of IDBI in Foreign Investment The role of IDBI in Foreign Investment is mainly to provide financial assistance on a consortium basis to various industrial units in India which are mainly involved in manufacturing or processing of goods, mining, transport generation and distribution of power. Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has been a fully owned subsidiary bank of the Reserve Bank of India till February 1976. It was then disconnected from RBI and was made an autonomous corporation owned by the Government of India. IDBI is known to be the tenth largest bank in the world in terms of carrying out developmental activities. Some of the financial institutions set up by IDBI to carry out the activities are The National Stock Exchange (NSE), The National Securities Depository Services Ltd. (NSDL), and Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL). Role of IDBI in Foreign Investment It manages various financial institutions working under IDBI bank Provides financial assistance to various industrial units in terms of developments It also offers refinancing options including term loans to the suitable financial institutions It provides funding to the industrial units that are involved in manufacture or processing of goods, mining, transport generation and distribution of power both in private and public sectors It also provides finance to various projects, expansion of any project, diversifications, or even developing the projects which will exceed Rs. 30 million and it also provides funding to those projects which cost less than Rs. 30 million through indirect means as it offers refinancing to the main financial institutions such as SFC/Commercial Banks etc OBJECTIVES OF IDBI IDBI is the apex institution in the area of long term industrial finance. It was established under the IDBI Act 1964 as a wholly owned subsidiary of RBI and started functioning on July 01, 1964. Under Public Financial Institutions Laws (Amendment) Act 1976, it was delinked from RBI. IDBI is engaged in direct financing of the industrial activities as well as in re-finance and re-discounting of bills against finance made available by commercial banks under their various schemes. The objectives of this institution are to create a principal institution for long term finance, to coordinate the institutions working in this field for planned development of industrial sector, to provide technical and administrative support to the industries and to conduct research and development activities for the benefit of industrial sector. It raises funds by way of market borrowing by way of bonds and deposits, borrowing from Govt. and RBI, borrowing abroad in foreign currency and lines of credit. Its functions include: direct loans (rupee as well as foreign currency) to industrial undertakings as defined in the Act to finance their new projects, expansion, modernisation etc. soft loans for various purposes including modernisation and under equipment finance scheme underwriting and direct subscription to shares/debentures of the industrial companies. sanction of foreign currency loans for import of equipment or capital goods. short term working capital loans to the corporates for meeting their working capital requirements. refinance to banks and other institutions against loans granted by them. Of late, with the reforms in the financial sector, IDBI has taken steps to re-shape its role from a development finance institution to a commercial institution. It has floated its own bank IDBI Bank as also a Mutual Fund. During the financial year 1999-2000 IDBIs total sanctions were Rs.28308 cr (19.2% increase), the total assets were Rs.72169 cr, net worth at Rs.9025 cr, capital adequacy ratio of 14.5%, DER 6.8:1 and PBT Rs.1027 cr (1301 cr previous years). To meet emerging challanges, it has been introducing new products, setting up Mergers Acquistions Divn, increasing fee based business such as corporate advisory services, credit syndication, debenture-trushtee ship etc., setting up of IT sector subsidiary-IDBI Intech Ltd, venture capital fund, joint ventures and transfer of not less than 51% of IDBIs share capital in SIDBI to PSBs as a result of SIDBI (Amendment) Act 2000 effective from 27.03.2000. IDBI scouting for buyouts, two banks on radar After acquiring United Western Bank three years ago, IDBI Bank is at it once again and has identified two domestic lenders as possible targets. Disclosing this, the public sector banks Chairman and Managing Director Yogesh Agarwal told reporters here today that talks were on with the two banks. He did not divulge the identities of the two banks. IDBIs move is in line with the central governments thinking favoring a consolidation in the Indian banking sector. IDBI does not need to raise funds for the acquisitions but may look at capital raising to finance its business growth. The bank has dropped its earlier plan to sell its Pune-based home loan subsidiary, IDBI Home Finance (IHFL). Review of Progress (Operations) IDBI has given special attention to better regional development and innovational and promotional activities. It has conducted surveys of backward regions. It has given special help to backward Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBA) Analysis Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBA) Analysis INTROUCTION The Industrial Development Bank of India Limited, was established as wholly-owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India. The foundation of bank was laid down under an Act of Parliament, in July 1964. The main aim behind the setting up of IDBI was to provide credit and other facilities for the Indian industry, which was still in the initial stages of growth and development. In February 1976, the ownership of IDBI was transferred to Government of India. After the transfer of its ownership, IDBI became the main institution, through which the institutes engaged in financing, promoting and developing industry were to be coordinated. In January 1992, IDBI accessed domestic retail debt market for the first time, with innovative Deep Discount Bonds, and registered path-breaking success. The following year, it set up the IDBI Capital Market Services Ltd., as its wholly-owned subsidiary, to offer a broad range of financial services, including Bond Trading, Equity Broking, Client Asset Management and Depository Services. In September 1994, in response to RBIs policy of opening up domestic banking sector to private participation, IDBI set up IDBI Bank Ltd., in association with SIDBI. In July 1995, public issue of the bank was taken out, after which the Governments shareholding came down (though it still retains majority of the shareholding in the bank). In September 2003, IDBI took over Tata Home Finance Ltd, renamed ‘IDBI Home finance Limited, thus diversifying its business domain and entering the arena of retail finance sector. The year 2005 witnessed the merger of IDBI Bank with the Industrial Development Bank of India Ltd. The new entity continued to its development finance role, while providing an array of wholesale and retail banking products (and does so till date). The following year, IDBI Bank acquired United Western Bank (which, at that time, had 230 branches spread over 47 districts, in 9 states). In the financial year of 2008, IDBI Bank had a net income of Rs 9415.9 crores and total assets of Rs 120,601 crores. The Present Today, IDBI Bank is counted amongst the leading public sector banks of India, apart from claiming the distinction of being the 4th largest bank, in overall ratings. It is presently regarded as the tenth largest development bank in the world, mainly in terms of reach. This is because of its wide network of 688 branches, 1139 ATMs and 457 centers. Apart from being involved in banking services, IDBI has set up institutions like The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), The National Securities Depository Services Ltd. (NSDL) and the Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL). Products Services Personal Banking Deposits Loans Payments Tax Payments, Stamp Duty Payments, Easy Fill, Bill Payment, Card to Card Money Transfer, PayMate, Online Payments Mutual Fund Demat Account IPO Insurance FamilyCare, Weathsurance Cards Debit Card, Credit Card, Cash Card, Gift Card, International Debit-cum-ATM Card, World Currency Card Institutional Banking Lockers India Post NRI Services Phone Banking SMS Banking Account Alerts Internet Banking Corporate Banking Project Finance Infrastructure Finance Syndication, Underwriting Advisory Services Carbon Credits Business Working Capital Cash Management Services Trade Finance Tax Payments Derivatives Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) Film Financing Scheme Direct Discounting Bills Rehabilitation Finance Others SME Finance Agri-business Products Main Functions of IDBI- IDBI coordinates between various financial institutions who are highly involved in provide financial assistance, promoting, and developing various industrial units IDBI is also engaged in a variety of promotional activities such as development programs for the fresh entrepreneurs, planning of consultancy services for both the small scale enterprises and the medium sized industrial units IDBI works for the advancement of technology and other welfare schemes to ensure economic development. Industrial Development Bank of India acts as a catalyst in various industrial development programs. IDBI provides financial assistance to all kinds of industrial units which comes under the provisions of the IDBI Act. IDBI has served various industrial sectors in India for about three years and has grown leaps and bounds in its size and operating units. IDBIs role as a catalyst IDBIs role as a catalyst to industrial development encompasses a wide spectrum of activities. IDBI can finance all types of industrial concerns covered under the provisions of the IDBI Act. With over three decades of service to the Indian industry, IDBI has grown substantially in terms of size of operations and portfolio. Developmental Activities of IDBI Promotional activities In fulfillment of its developmental role, the Bank continues to perform a wide range of promotional activities relating to developmental programmes for new entrepreneurs, consultancy services for small and medium enterprises and programmes designed for accredited voluntary agencies for the economic upliftment of the underprivileged. These include entrepreneurship development, self-employment and wage employment in the industrial sector for the weaker sections of society through voluntary agencies, support to Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Parks, Energy Conservation, Common Quality Testing Centres for small industries. Technical Consultancy Organizations With a view to making available at a reasonable cost, consultancy and advisory services to entrepreneurs, particularly to new and small entrepreneurs, IDBI, in collaboration with other All-India Financial Institutions, has set up a network of Technical Consultancy Organizations (TCOs) covering the entire country. TCOs offer diversified services to small and medium enterprises in the selection, formulation and appraisal of projects, their implementation and review. Entrepreneurship Development Institute Realising that entrepreneurship development is the key to industrial development, IDBI played a prime role in setting up of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India for fostering entrepreneurship in the country. It has also established similar institutes in Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. IDBI also extends financial support to various organisations in conducting studies or surveys of relevance to industrial development. IDBI Lending Process, Institutional Structure, Training, Information and Data Needs IDBI was established in 1964 under an Act of Parliament for providing credit and other facilities for the development of industry. It also acts as the principal financial institution for coordinating the activities of institutions engaged in the finance, promotion, or development of industry. The Government of Indias shareholding in IDBI amounts to 72% and the rest of the shares are owned by the general public. IDBI has also offered specialised schemes for energy conservation viz. Equipment Finance for Energy Conservation and Energy Audit Subsidy Scheme. Presently, IDBI provides rupee and foreign currency term loans for the acquisition and installation of energy conservation equipment, and for pollution control and prevention projects in highly polluting industrial sectors, funded inter alia, out of World Banks Industrial Pollution Prevention Project (IPPP) or the US Agency for International Development-funded Greenhouse Gas Pollution Prevention (GEP) Project. Besides, finance is made available for EE/EM out of the on-going Industrial Energy Efficiency Project of the ADB of which the TA forms a part. Under this project, finance is given to industrial units in rupee as well as in foreign currency. Additional funding needs left unmet by the ADB funds are supplemented by IDBIs own funds as well. 3.1 IDBI Institutional Structure IDBI is governed by a Board of Directors and its operation is carried out under the supervision of the Chairman and Managing Director assisted by four Executive Directors and one Adviser. With its head office in Mumbai, IDBI has 43 additional offices throughout India. As of November 1998, IDBI was structured into 33 departments, which are organized into five groups to facilitate proper distribution of responsibility. Among these departments, the ones relevant to the efficient lending for ee/em activities are briefly described below. 3.1.1 Project appraisal department The Project Appraisal Department (PAD) appraises all the industrial project proposals. PAD projects constitute the majority of projects sanctioned by IDBI in terms of value. Besides a number of smaller projects are funded at the branch level. 3.1.2 Corporate finance departments The three Corporate Finance Departments (CFDs) follow up on the projects that have already been sanctioned, in order to ensure their timely implementation and proper utilization of funds. In addition, a new concept of a Relationship Manager was instituted within the CFDs. These managers will be dedicated to manage IDBIs interactions with a major industrial (ownership) group, such as Reliance Industries, the Tata Group, etc. While the relationship manager system works well from the perspective of consolidating knowledge about an industry group, it may not work as well where the focus has to be on an aspect of technology within an industry sector. For example, a relationship manager cannot be expected to be an expert on energy efficiency in every industry sector that forms a part of the industry group being dealt with by him/her. Hence, in order to develop some expertise in some of the industries, which are not necessarily dominated only by a few major industry groups, industry-sector-wise approach is also adopted. Thus the organization of a CFD is a workable mix of industry group and industry sub-sector, with the expertise of one Dealing group drawn upon by another. 3.1.3 Forex services and treasury departments: The Treasury and Funding Division contracts, decides on utilization and monitors all lines of credit from multi-lateral institutions like the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It manages the various specialized loans and grants for energy and environmental technology projects, including this TA project. Organizational Structure IDBIs organization structure is driven by its business objectives of offering the best services to the major industry groups. At the same time it is so organised to have industry specialists in important industrial sub-sectors as well. The organisational structure is geared to provide the best products and services in the present competitive environment while simultaneously attempting to meet its developmental role governed by â€Å"issue-based† lending. Following financial sector liberalisation, the environment has turned highly competitive compelling IDBI to organise itself in a manner to prioritise the objective of offering the best services to the major industry groups over focus exclusively for energy efficiency and environmental activities. There is a need to create a â€Å"home or center† for energy and environmental technical activities. This center needs to be located at the highest level within IDBI in order to ensure visibility, and to provide a resource base, which could be accessed by all the concerned departments described above. IEEP and other such lines of credit are being managed by the FSD, which is not directly engaged in either project appraisal or in implementation. Hence its role is one of being a facilitator and co-ordinator for giving the needed focus to the ee/em activities. It is quite possible for this Section to be upgraded to be the â€Å"home† suggested above with appropriate technical staff for policy making, facilitation of the lines of credit, developmental activities, etc. in ee/em issues. This will help clarify the varied roles of CFD and FSD and avoid duplication of effort, better coordination and communication between the FSD and the CFD. A system of built-in incentives for co-operation and co-ordination between the concerned departments will also aid the organisation in playing a more effective role in ee/em activities  relating to policy formulation, loan approvals and subsequent disbursement. 3.3 IDBI Lending Procedure The current procedure for lending at IDBI includes: (1) an inquiry stage, (2) an application stage, (3) site visits, (4) preparation of an appraisal note, (5) an evaluation by IDBI committee, (6) the issuance of a Letter of Intent, and (7) preparation of a legal agreement for lending for suitable projects. IDBI also operates special credit lines for the mitigation of pollution, implementation of the Montreal Protocol commitments, modernization and expansion of energy intensive industry, etc. The technical norms for these lines were determined individually, but the lending procedure is the same as that for other IDBI projects. The lending procedure followed by IDBI is comprehensive, based on accepted methods of evaluation and collective wisdom, and is transparent. The procedure, however, does not provide for a serious attempt to evaluate the energy and environmental components of any lending proposal. At each stage of the application for a loan, a company is required to provide information on energy consumption, along with that of other utility services. Energy consumption information is disaggregated into fuels and electricity categories. The company is not required to provide indicators of energy use to IDBI, which makes the information difficult to evaluate. Indicators could link the energy (fuel and electricity) consumption to physical activity levels and permit comparison with best practice in India and abroad. IDBI could also ask for additional information on technical indicators in the loan application that industries are required to complete. Conclusions and Recommendations Our evaluation of IDBIs institutional structure, lending procedures, and training and information needs revealed that there is a clear need for greater focus towards ee/em activities, by strengthening the existing institutional structure and capability in this area. This strengthening can be accomplished through the creation and establishment of a â€Å"resource center† that will provide the necessary technical backup for IDBI officers at all levels. The center resources will include access to technical experts, handbooks, and databases. The technical experts will assist in the organization of seminars, workshops, and training programs. Role of Financial Institutions in industrial development To accelerate the process of industrialization, immediately after independence, Government of India took appropriate steps to create a network of financial institutions to fill the gaps in the supply of long-term finance to industry. IFCI was the first institution which was set-up in 1948 followed by SFCs established by different States/Union Territories under the SFCs Act.1951. The NIDC (1954), ICICI (1955), NSIC (1955), and RCI (1958) were established. IDBI was established in 1964 as the apex institution in the field of industrial finance. UTI was also established in the same year. LIC came into existence in 1956 and GIC in 1972. SIDCs/SIICs strengthened institutional set-up at regional level. IRCI was set-up in 1971 which was later renamed as IRBI. Reserve Bank has played an important role in creation of all these institutions. Thus, structure of financial institutions in India has become so greatly diversified  and strengthened that it has the ability to supply finance to a variety of enterprises in diverse forms. In this , an attempt has been made to analyze the role of specialized financial institutions in meeting the term-requirements of our growing industrial sector. For this purpose, an effort has been made to ascertain the extent and rapidity of financial assistance granted by financial institutions to industrial sector in general and private sector in particular. Apart from analyzing purpose wise, industry wise and state wise assistance granted by financial institutions, special attention has been given to evaluate their role in removal of regional imbalances through provision of finance to projects located in identified backward areas of the country. In order to make an in depth study, three financial institutions of diverse nature namely, IDBI, ICICI and SFCs have been chosen which together provided about two-third of the total financial requirements of the industrial sector. During 1970-90 assistance sanctioned and disbursed by IDBI has increased at an annual average growth rate of 32.3 per cent and 27.7 per cent respectively, which were higher than the growth rate of sanctions and disbursements of all financial institutions. IDBI has granted 37.4 per cent of its total assistance by way of direct assistance and remaining 62.6 per cent indirectly through other financial institutions. Loans were major form of direct assistance with 88.7 per cent share, while refinance of industrial loans with 59.5 per cent share was the major form of indirect assistance. Private sector has been the largest beneficiary of IDBIs assistance followed by public, joint and cooperative sectors. IDBI has taken keen interest in granting finances to small scale sector which received 30 per cent of the total assistance sanctioned by IDBI. More than half of its assistance has gone to basic and capital goods industries while consumer goods and services have got a little more than one-third of total assistance of IDBI. It has paid equal attention to new and existing projects in its financing operations. Though IDBIs assistance is spread over all State and Union Territories, but its substantial proportion is concentrated among few relatively developed and large states. Similarly, a major part of its total assistance granted to projects located in identified backward areas, which formed about two-fifth of its total assistance, has gone to few developed and large states. In chapter five, the contribution of ICICI in meeting the financial requirements of the industrial sector has been analysed. During 1970-90 assistance sanctioned by ICICI increased at a rate of 26.5 per cent per annum while disbursements increased 23.1 per cent. In accordance with its objective, ICICI has sanctioned 35.7 per cent of its total assistance in the form of foreign currency assistance. Rupee loans constituted 37.5 per cent of total assistance sanctioned by ICICI. More than four-fifth of its total assistance has gone to private sector. ICICI has granted greater part of its assistance (61.7 per cent) to existing projects for their expansion, modernisation, etc. while new projects accounted for 38.3 per cent of total assistance. More than  two-third of ICICIs assistance has gone to non-traditional growth oriented industries like chemicals and chemical products, Iron and Steel, Machinery, etc. Assistance of ICICI is basically concentrated among few relatively developed state s despite some reduction during eighties. Over the years, ICICI has been granting an increasing proportion of its total assistance to backward areas of the country, but its major part has gone to backward areas of few developed  states. Household sector has contributed an increasing share in the total financial resources of ICICI, while governments share has declined. SFCs which are state level development banks set-up for financing small and medium scale industries in their respective states. Till about 1970, operations of all SFCs grew at a slow pace but during seventies there was rapid growth in their operations and the pace has been sustained during eighties also. During 1970-90 sanctions of SFCs increased at a rate of 20.5 per cent per annum while disbursements increased by a marginally higher rate of 21.2 per cent. Performance of different SFCs has varied from one another and from year to year. In accordance with their basic objective, 76.1 per cent of total assistance sanctioned and 91.4 per cent of the total number of units assisted by SFCs were in the small scale sector. Services have been the largest beneficiary of SFCs assistance followed by chemicals and chemical products, food products, textiles, etc. SFCs have, by and large, confined their assistance to new projects which accounted 84.4 per cent of total assistance. SFCs have granted more than half of their assistance to projects located in identified backward areas of their respective states. An important feature is that SFCs of relatively backward states have performed better in this regard than that of developed states. However, SFCs depend heavily on government sources for their financial requirements. The aggregative role of all financial institutions in the industrial development of the country. It clearly reveals that industrial concerns in India depend more on financial institutions to finance their ventures than raising funds directly from the capital market. Conclusions of this study have been given in the last chapter. Major findings of this study are summarised below: During the last twenty years assistance granted by financial institutions has increased at a significantly high rate leading industrial concerns to depend more and more on them. In terms of growth rate of sanctions, IDBI and ICICI have outstripped the average growth rate of sanctions of all financial institutions, but SFCs have fallen behind this trend. The gap between assistance sanctioned and disbursed is more pronounced in case of IDBI and ICICI but it is relatively narrower in case of SFCs. Private sector has been the largest beneficiary of assistance of financial institutions followed by public sector. Proportion of investment-savings gap filled up by financial institutions has increased in private and public sector both during eighties. Financial institutions have provided assistance to new as well as existing projects. However, SFCs have confined their financing operations basically to new projects. IDBI and ICICI have granted major part of their assistance to basic and capital goods industries but SFCs have paid greater attention on consumer goods industries. Statewise break-up of assistance provided by financial institutions reveals considerable concentration among few developed and large states despite some reduction during eighties. North-Eastern states have been almost completely neglected by all financial institutions. A significant part of the total assistance granted by financial institutions has gone to projects located in identified backward areas of the country, but its statewise distribution has helped to reduce intra-state disparities in industrial development and increased inter-state disparities between developed and backward states. Finally, IDBI and ICICI have generated a significant part of their resources from the household sector but SFCs are largely dependent upon the government sources. Role of Financial Institutions in Foreign Investment in India Financial Institutions plays a significant role in Foreign Investment in India. There are various financial institutions in India which undertake significant initiatives to ensure foreign investment inflows in the industrial units in India. The main role of the financial institutions in India in respect to foreign investments is to aid foreign investors in investment activities in India. The funds from overseas countries come in two forms: Foreign direct Investments and Joint Ventures of the foreign companies with Indian companies. Foreign direct investments inflows are approved through automatic route or through government route. Those units that require government approval to get funds require the FIPB approval. Foreign Direct Investment through automatic route, on the other hand, does not require FIPB approval. All these allocation of financial assistance to various industrial units in India are guided by the financial institutions set up in various parts of India. Some of the leading financial institutions in India that play an important role in foreign investments in India are RBI, IDBI Bank, IFCI Bank, ICICI Limited and EXIM Bank. RBI in Foreign Investment- RBI works through automatic route and government route in allocating funds in various sectors of the Indian industry. Its mandatory for all the foreign investors to get approvals from RBI in order to carry out invest activities in the industrial units in India. FDI is allotted up to 100 percent under automatic route and it does not require approval from FIPB. IDBI in Foreign Investment- IDBI acts as a financial institution which allots financial assistance to the industrial sectors which are mainly involved in manufacture or processing of goods, mining, transport generation and distribution of power both in private and public sectors. Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has been a fully owned subsidiary bank of the Reserve Bank of India till February 1976 after which it was disconnected from RBI. ICICI Limited in Foreign Investment- ICICI Limited was set up in the year 1994 and ICICI Bank is a entirely owned subsidiary of ICICI Limited. ICICI Limited is known as one the best financial institutions in India as it offers a wide spectrum of services to its customers. ICICI bank offers a wide array of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through various delivery channels, specialized subsidiaries and affiliated firms, venture capital units, non-life insurance sectors, and so on. EXIM Bank in Foreign Investment- EXIM Bank plays a pivotal role in providing financial assistance to encourage the export production in India. Direct financial assistance, Foreign investment finance, Term loaning options for export production and export development, Pre-shipping credit, Export bills rediscounting, and Refinance to commercial banks are some of the services that EXIM Bank has specialized in. Role of IDBI in Foreign Investment The role of IDBI in Foreign Investment is mainly to provide financial assistance on a consortium basis to various industrial units in India which are mainly involved in manufacturing or processing of goods, mining, transport generation and distribution of power. Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) has been a fully owned subsidiary bank of the Reserve Bank of India till February 1976. It was then disconnected from RBI and was made an autonomous corporation owned by the Government of India. IDBI is known to be the tenth largest bank in the world in terms of carrying out developmental activities. Some of the financial institutions set up by IDBI to carry out the activities are The National Stock Exchange (NSE), The National Securities Depository Services Ltd. (NSDL), and Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL). Role of IDBI in Foreign Investment It manages various financial institutions working under IDBI bank Provides financial assistance to various industrial units in terms of developments It also offers refinancing options including term loans to the suitable financial institutions It provides funding to the industrial units that are involved in manufacture or processing of goods, mining, transport generation and distribution of power both in private and public sectors It also provides finance to various projects, expansion of any project, diversifications, or even developing the projects which will exceed Rs. 30 million and it also provides funding to those projects which cost less than Rs. 30 million through indirect means as it offers refinancing to the main financial institutions such as SFC/Commercial Banks etc OBJECTIVES OF IDBI IDBI is the apex institution in the area of long term industrial finance. It was established under the IDBI Act 1964 as a wholly owned subsidiary of RBI and started functioning on July 01, 1964. Under Public Financial Institutions Laws (Amendment) Act 1976, it was delinked from RBI. IDBI is engaged in direct financing of the industrial activities as well as in re-finance and re-discounting of bills against finance made available by commercial banks under their various schemes. The objectives of this institution are to create a principal institution for long term finance, to coordinate the institutions working in this field for planned development of industrial sector, to provide technical and administrative support to the industries and to conduct research and development activities for the benefit of industrial sector. It raises funds by way of market borrowing by way of bonds and deposits, borrowing from Govt. and RBI, borrowing abroad in foreign currency and lines of credit. Its functions include: direct loans (rupee as well as foreign currency) to industrial undertakings as defined in the Act to finance their new projects, expansion, modernisation etc. soft loans for various purposes including modernisation and under equipment finance scheme underwriting and direct subscription to shares/debentures of the industrial companies. sanction of foreign currency loans for import of equipment or capital goods. short term working capital loans to the corporates for meeting their working capital requirements. refinance to banks and other institutions against loans granted by them. Of late, with the reforms in the financial sector, IDBI has taken steps to re-shape its role from a development finance institution to a commercial institution. It has floated its own bank IDBI Bank as also a Mutual Fund. During the financial year 1999-2000 IDBIs total sanctions were Rs.28308 cr (19.2% increase), the total assets were Rs.72169 cr, net worth at Rs.9025 cr, capital adequacy ratio of 14.5%, DER 6.8:1 and PBT Rs.1027 cr (1301 cr previous years). To meet emerging challanges, it has been introducing new products, setting up Mergers Acquistions Divn, increasing fee based business such as corporate advisory services, credit syndication, debenture-trushtee ship etc., setting up of IT sector subsidiary-IDBI Intech Ltd, venture capital fund, joint ventures and transfer of not less than 51% of IDBIs share capital in SIDBI to PSBs as a result of SIDBI (Amendment) Act 2000 effective from 27.03.2000. IDBI scouting for buyouts, two banks on radar After acquiring United Western Bank three years ago, IDBI Bank is at it once again and has identified two domestic lenders as possible targets. Disclosing this, the public sector banks Chairman and Managing Director Yogesh Agarwal told reporters here today that talks were on with the two banks. He did not divulge the identities of the two banks. IDBIs move is in line with the central governments thinking favoring a consolidation in the Indian banking sector. IDBI does not need to raise funds for the acquisitions but may look at capital raising to finance its business growth. The bank has dropped its earlier plan to sell its Pune-based home loan subsidiary, IDBI Home Finance (IHFL). Review of Progress (Operations) IDBI has given special attention to better regional development and innovational and promotional activities. It has conducted surveys of backward regions. It has given special help to backward