Ffdfd Essay Example

Ffdfd Essay Tractors: MILLAT TRACTORS LIMITED Analysis of Financial Statements Financial Year 2004 Financial Year 2010 July 27, 2011 RECORDER REPORT 0 Comments Millat Tractors Limited (MTL) was established in 1964 to introduce and market Massey Ferguson (MF) Tractors in Pakistan. An assembly plant was set up in 1967 to assemble tractors in semi-knocked down (SKD) condition. The company was nationalized under Economic Reforms Order in 1972 and started assembling and marketing tractors on behalf of Pakistan Tractor Corporation (PTC), which was formed by the Government for import of tractors in SKD condition. In 1980, the Government decided to produce indigenous tractors and entrusted this task to PTC. In 1981, the MTL took over this task. This was the turning point in the companys history and it went about the task methodically and rapidly. Just in one years time, the company took a giant step towards self-reliance by setting up the first engine assembly plant in Pakistan. The MTL made a strategic decision right in the beginning to bring those manufacturing facilities in-house for which capabilities did not exist in the country and for parts, which required high precision and investment. Therefore, in 1984, sophisticated manufacturing facilities for the machining of intricate components were set up. Currently, critical components like engine blocks, sump, transmission case, axle housing, hydraulic lift cover, front axle support and centre housing are all being machined most successfully in-house at MTL from local sourced castings. In 1992, the company was privatised. The employees joined hands and took over the management by winning an open bid. To maintain its leadership role in tractor manufacturing in the country, the MTL continues to look towards future, to identify and exploit new opportunities and to consolidate existing ones. The Tractor Assembly Plant is part of this philosophy. The plant started its production in 1992. The establishment of this modern plant not only increased production capacity to 16,000 tractors per year on a single shift basis, but also provided a quantum jump to the quality of the assembled tractors and pushed the MTL into the ranks of the major tractor manufacturing companies of the world. We will write a custom essay sample on Ffdfd specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Ffdfd specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Ffdfd specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In 1993, MTL also acquired the management control of Bolan Castings Limited (a Public Limited Company specializing in intricate automotive castings) in partnership with employees of the company, in 1993. The company established a new company named Millat Industrial Products (Pvt) Limited to manufacture quality automotive batteries, thus enabling the Millat Group to capture the efficiencies associated with vertical integration. In addition, the Millat Group comprises of Bolan Castings Ltd. , which produces thin walled castings such as engine block, cylinder head, centre housing etc. Also, Millat Equipment Ltd. produces gears and shafts of international standard for tractors. However, these subsidiaries contributed 1. 18% to MTLs consolidated net sales and 8. 15% to consolidated profit after taxation in FY10 (1. 14% and 6. 50% respectively in FY09). Due to low contribution to consolidated MTL performance, the financial analysis in this report is based on MTLs standalone tractor operations. Recent results (1Q11) The company achieved a sales volume of 29,718 Tractors in these nine months as against 28,939 tractors for the corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of 2. %. During current period, 30,638 Tractors were produced as compared to 29,865 tractors for corresponding period last year, showing an increase of 2. 6%. distribution and marketing expenses actually declined to Rs 431 million as compared to Rs 500 million, while the administrative expenses increased. Operating profit was slightly higher at Rs 2. 3 billion as compared to Rs 2. 2 billion in the same period last year. Other operating income was however higher by 60. 8%, thus pushing the overall income higher. Pre-tax profit for nine months amounted to Rs 2,594. 1 million as compared to Rs 2,355. million of the corresponding period of previous year showing an increase of 10. 2%. Profit after tax increased to 1,807. 2 million from 1,609. 5 million of the corresponding period of previous year, showing an increase of 12. 28%. EPS was recorded at Rs 49. 37 as compared to Rs 43. 97 the same period last year. A new high-spec tractor model in 50hp range the MF-350, was developed for the small to medium sized farmers. The product was well received and was highly appreciated by the farming community due to its improved features such as power steering, oil immersed disc-brakes, heavy duty straddle axle etc. With the inclusion of this new model, Millat now offers a range of six tractor models that best suit our agro-climatic conditions, size of farms and buying capacities of the farmers. Presently, MTL has the highest deletion level of 90% and 55% in low engine and high engine capacity tractors respectively. The lower deletion level in high engine capacity tractors still makes it susceptible to exchange rate fluctuations. In the wake of appreciation, the company is therefore at a greater advantage and vice versa. Millat Tractors has the potential to export the tractors but is restricted because of the agreement with their principals M/s AGCO. RECENT PERFORMANCE (FY10) Net sales increased by 39. 53% from Rs 15. 91 billion in FY09 to Rs 22. 20 billion in FY10. This was due to the increased production of tractors, which enabled Millat tractors to fulfil the unmet demand for tractors in the market. This was a significant achievement for Millat Tractors, as its major competitor, Al-Ghazi Tractors, did not witness any significant increase in sales due to restricted production capacity. The demand for tractors rose due to government support schemes like the Benazir Tractor Scheme. Cost of sales increased by 36. 03% from Rs 13. 0 billion in FY09 to Rs 18. 37 billion in FY10, due the depreciation of PKR against JPY, USD and GBP over July 2009-June 2010. This, coupled with the rise in steel prices, negatively impacted the margins of auto manufacturers and assemblers who import steel and the required components from Japan or elsewhere. With major imports of CKD kits coming from UK, the gross profit of the company is directly related to the Pound Sterling to Rupee price movement and leaves the company susceptible to changes in exchange rate. This resulted in a net 59. 15% increase in gross profit, from Rs 2. 1 billion in FY09 to Rs 3. 83 billion in FY10. Millat Tractors also managed to boost its fundamentals in the operating expenses category, allowing a minor 5. 71% increase in distribution and administrative expenses. Thus the operating profit increased by a large 79. 04%, from Rs 1. 76 billion in FY09 to Rs 3. 14 billion in FY10. Other operating income greatly increased by 126. 47% mainly due to increase in gain on sales of short-term investments. Other operating expenses increased by 52. 54% due to investment in workers profit participation fund. Thus an 86. 1% increase was recorded in the EBIT from Rs 1. 79 billion in FY09 to Rs 3. 35 billion in FY10. Finance cost decreased by 76. 15% due to settlement of short term borrowing from banks, leading to a marked reduction in finance cost. However, taxation incr eased by 95. 85% due to imposition of 17% Value Added Tax on local tractor sales. Thus the profit after taxation increased by 88. 01%, from Rs 1. 22 billion in FY09 to Rs 2. 28 billion in FY10. A lesser increase was witnessed in the earnings per share, which increased by 50. 40% from Rs 51. 87 per share in FY09 to Rs 78. 01 per share in FY10. Market comparison The demand for tractors increased significantly in the year 2009-10. The industry booked a total of 74,000 units as against 40,836 units booked in the preceding year, thus registering an increase of 81%. Federal and Provincial tractor schemes and better support prices of crops, especially wheat and rice, were the main contributing factors towards increase in demand. However, the governments role as not entirely supportive of the industry as import of tractors was allowed free of taxes or duties while the local industry was subject to tariffs under the Tariff Based System. However, despite these odds, Millat Tractors continued to dominate the market and retained its market share. At present there are two tractor companies in Pakistan, which are involved in manufacturing of indigenized tractors: a local company, Millat Tractors Limited, which produces Massey Ferguson Tractors under franchise from AGCO; and Al-Ghazi Tractors Limited which is an entity of a foreign UAE-based Group Al-Futtaim purchased under privatisation in 1992 and manufacturing Fiat New Holland tractors. Millat Tractors possesses 57% of the market share while the rest 43% is held by Al-Ghazi Tractors. The production capacity of each company is currently 30,000 tractors per annum, although Millat Tractors achieves this capacity in double shifts whereas Al-Ghazi Tractors needs to employ a single shift only, due to its larger plant size. In the past, both the companies had failed to meet the supply against increasing demand and the limited capacity of production resulted into abnormal delay in deliveries to the farmers. Thus in FY10, Millat Tractors adopted the policy of working on overtime schedules, to meet the high demand, resulting in a significant increase in sales and profitability from 29,785 tractors produced in FY09 to 40,177 tractors produced in FY10. The sales statistics in terms of the number of tractors similarly increased from 30,234 to 40,080. However, the major competitor, Al-Ghazi Tractors, did not manage to increase its production, where production marginally from 30,183 units in FY09 to 31,430 units in FY10. The market comparison ratios are based on the financial statements of Millat Tractors and Al-Ghazi Tractors for FY10. The financial year of Millat Tractors ended on 30th June 2010, whereas Al-Ghazi Tractors ended its financial year on 31st December 2010. Hence this market comparison is only indicative as the companies may have been subject to different market conditions over their respective periods under review. The profitability ratios show that Millat Tractors achieved a 17. 27 gross profit margin in FY10, compared to 18. 51 of the industry average. This indicates that Millat Tractors is achieving its profit margins satisfactorily, although its competitor Al-Ghazi Tractors is better able to manage its cost of goods sold. The net profit margin of Millat Tractors is similarly slightly lower at 10. 29 compared to 11. 54 prevalent in the industry. Return on assets for Millat Tractors is also lower at 19. 42, compared to the 22. 16 industry average. This means that Millat Tractors is not fully deploying its assets to generate the maximum amount of sales. However, return on equity is much higher at 54. 49 compared to 42. 5 industry average. This is because Millat Tractors has a much lower proportion of equity in its equity-liabilities structure, and coupled with an impressive profitability performance, this gives rise to a high return on equity. The current ratio of Millat Tractors is lower at 1. 40 compared to 3. 57 for the industry. This is because Al-Ghazi Tractors has much lower amount of trade payables, Rs 1. 24 billion, compared to Rs 7. 48 billion of trade payables on Millat Tractors balance sheet. However, since the current ratio of Millat Tractors is higher than the benchmark of 1. 0, it means that Millat has a sound liquidity position and unlike Al-Ghazi, it does not hold excess current assets on its balance sheet. The inventory turnover of Millat Tractors at 40. 15 days is higher than the industry average of 33. 01 days. This indicates that inventory management at Millat Tractors is poorer, thus requiring more number of days to sell the entire inventory stock on hand. However, this can be expected with Millat Tractors approach of meeting the unmet demand for locally manufactured tractors. The day sales outstanding for Millat Tractors is also higher at 7. 37 days compared to 6. 7 days for the industry, due to the higher trade debts of Rs 454 million fort Millat, compared to Rs 364 million for Al-Ghazi. This implies poorer receivables management at Millat, although the higher receivables are to be antic ipated in line with Millats higher sales. Overall, the operating cycle at Millat was recorded at 47. 52 days, compared to 39. 88 days for the industry. Total asset turnover for Millat Tractors was slightly lower at 1. 89 compared to 1. 92 for the industry, implying that Millat has yet to achieve the high sales turnover in line its investments in assets. However, sales to equity ratio for Millat is 5. 0, higher than the industry average of 3. 83. This is to be noted in connection with the fact that the equity-liabilities breakup of Millat is Rs 4. 19-7. 57 billion whereas Al-Ghazi employs Rs 6. 36-1. 30 billion of equity-liabilities. Thus the lower proportion of equity and high sales at Millat Tractors enables it to enjoy a high sales to equity ratio and this indicates a proper utilization of equity investment to generate the healthy sales turnover. The debt to asset ratio at Millat is higher at 64. 37 compared to 40. 69 for the industry, hence the industry can be deemed to be able t o meet its debt bligations in a better manner, compared to Millat. Similarly, the debt to equity ratio is higher at 1. 81 compared to 1. 01 prevalent in the industry. However, this implies the usage of more leverage at Millat Tractors, which is a positive indicator of being able to generate a high return for investors. Times interest earned for Millat Tractors is consequently lower at 352. 30 compare to 1271. 86 for the industry, due to the employment of Rs 10. 29 billion security deposits borrowing whereas AL-Ghazi does not employ any borrowings. However, Millats long term debt to equity ratio is lower at 0. 3 compared to 0. 51 for the industry, implying that the greater proportion of Millats debt is in the category of current liabilities. In line with its impressive profitability performance in FY10, Millat achieved higher earnings per share of Rs 78. 01 per share compared to Rs 61. 24 for the industry. The positive indicators of profitability performance were accordingly transmit ted to the market, hence the market price for MTL stock averaged at Rs 395. 97 per share in FY10, compared to Rs 306. 30 per share for the industry. The price earnings ratio for Millat was also slightly higher at 5. 08 compared to 4. 8 for the industry, indicating that the strong position as the market leader was greatly reflected in the share price of MTL stock. Millats profits were reflected in the dividend per share, which was recorded at Rs 65. 00 per share compared to Rs 43. 75 per share for the industry. However, the book value per share was lower for Millat Tractors at Rs 143. 16 per share compared to an industry average of Rs 219. 92 per share. This was due to a higher total shareholders equity at Al-Ghazi Tractors of Rs 6. 36 billion compared to only 21,468,200 shares, whereas at Millat the figures were Rs 4. 9 billion of equity with 29,284,400 shares. Stock performance Stock returns of weekly continuously-compounded returns over January-December 2010 shows that the standar d deviation of these stock returns is fairly high at 5. 83%. The future stock returns are expected to vary with a standard deviation of 5. 83%: this is to be expected from MTLs high capital gain and healthy dividend payout stock. In addition, the stock price has consistently exhibited an increasing trend throughout FY10, which reemphasizes the strong position of Millat Tractors in the tractor industry. Beta analysis of the company stock over Jul09-Jun10 shows that the beta of Millat Tractors is relatively low at 0. 45, as given by the slope of the trend line. This indicates that the stock is not highly reflective of KSE-100 performance. However, this means that the market factors influencing KSE-100 do not greatly impact Millat Tractors and the company is well poised to outperform the market, in line with its strong fundamentals and secure positioning in the tractor industry. Financial analysis (FY04-10) The profitability ratios of Millat Tractors improved significantly over FY09-10. The gross profit margin improved from 15. 4 in FY09 to 17. 27 in FY10 due to the well-managed cost of goods sold, even in the scenario of depreciating PKR and rising steel prices. The net profit margin increased by a larger amount, from 7. 64 in FY09 to 10. 29 in FY10 since the operating expenses were only allowed a 5. 71%, thus preserving the gross profits of the company. Return on assets increased fr om 17. 91 in FY09 to 19. 42 in FY10 on the back of an 88. 01% increase in profit after taxation, compared to a 73. 47% increase in total assets. The increase in assets was driven by an 86. 73% increase in current assets resulting from a 19. 0% increase in stock in trade, 257. 26% increase in trade debts and a 250. 83% increase in short-term investments. Return on equity increased from 36. 05 in FY09 to 54. 49 in FY10 due to the 88. 01 increase in net income, compared to a 24. 37% increase in total equity. The increase in equity resulted from a 57. 70% enhancement in unappropriated profit, pointing to the strengthening bottom-line of the company. The current ratio decreased from 1. 69 in FY09 to 1. 40 in FY10. This was the consequence of an 86. 73% increase in current assets as mentioned above, compared to a 124. 83% increase in current liabilities. Current liabilities mainly increased due to a 139. 60% increase in trade payables. The increase in current assets and current liabilities was the result of higher working capital requirements at Millat Tractors, in order to sustain the 39. 53% increase in sales over FY09-10. Asset management ratios analysis indicates that inventory turnover decreased from 48. 74 days in FY09 to 40. 15 days in FY10 due to 19. 20% increase in stock in trade. Thus the improved bottom-line performance at Millat Tractors was driven by an increase in sales augmented by improved inventory management, as a result of the implementation of IFS software. However, the day sales outstanding increased from 2. 88 days in FY09 to 7. 37 days in FY10 due to the increase of 257. 26% in trade debts. This points to deteriorating receivables management at the company which resulted in more number of days being required to recover trade debts. Overall, the operating cycle decreased from 51. 62 days in FY09 to 47. 52 days in FY09. Total asset turnover decreased from 2. 35 in FY09 to 1. 89 in FY10, indicating that Millat Tractors has yet to generate a sufficiently high sales turnover to justify the 73. 47% increase in the value of total assets portfolio over FY09-FY10. However, the sales to equity ratio improved from 4. 72 in FY09 to 5. 30 in FY10 due to the lesser 24. 37% increase in total equity compared to 73. 47% increase in total assets. Debt to assets increased from 50. 30 in FY09 to 64. 37 in FY10 as a result of the 121. 97% increase in total liabilities compared to 73. 47% increase in total assets. This implies decreasing ability of Millat Tractors to meet its debt obligations, which are mainly in the category of trade payables; trade payables increased by 139. 60% over FY09-10. Similarly, the debt to equity ratio increased by a lesser amount, from 1. 1 in FY09 to 1. 81 in FY10, because the increase in equity was lesser at 24. 37%. While this bodes negative for Millat Tractors, it also indicates that the company is employing a greater amount of leverage in its working capital requirements, which is likely to enhance sales of the company and ultimately generate higher return for investors. In addition, long-term debt to equity decreased from 1. 53 in FY09 to 0. 43 in FY10, since a 65. 17% decrease was recorded in long-term liabilities. This was mainly due to settlement of deferred revenue and decrease in deferred tax liability. However, the times interest earned increased significantly from 44. 09 in FY09 to 352. 30 in FY10 due to the 86. 71% increase in EBIT coupled with the 76. 15% decrease in finance cost. Finance cost decreased due to the settlement of short-term borrowings since the mark-up accrued on short-term borrowings in the current liabilities category also decreased by 42. 87% over FY09-10. The earnings per share of Millat Tractors increased from Rs 51. 87 per share in FY09 to Rs 78. 01 per share in FY10 on the back of high profitability achieved in FY10. The market price per share also exhibited a strong growth from Rs 227. 0 per share in FY09 to Rs 395. 97 per share in FY10. The growth in profits was shared with the stockholders, by increase in cash dividends per share from Rs 45. 00 per share in FY09 to Rs 65. 00 per share in FY10. Thus MTL stock proved to a high capital gains as well as a high dividend payout stock. Thus the price earnings ratio increased from 4. 38 in FY09 to 5. 08 in FY10, as the healthy performance of the company based on strong fundamentals, was reflected in investors perceptions and the market price of the company. However, the book value per share remained almost constant from Rs 143. 88 per share in FY09 to Rs 143. 6 per share in FY10. This was because the increase in total shareholders equity was 24. 37% compared to a 25% increase in total number of outstanding shares over FY09-10. Future outlook Today, Millat Tractors Limited is the leading company that specializes in the manufacturing of tractors, diesel engines, Forklift Trucks, and a range of other agricultural equipments. Presently the market share of MTL hovers around 57% in terms of sales. With a present production capacity of 30,000 tractors, the company plans to expand it to 40,000 in the years to come. Capacity utilization, however, exceeds 150%. Machining capacity of major components is being bolstered along with Double Shift operation to come at par with the ever-growing demand. High price of oil in the international market is creating inflationary pressure in the economy. As a result, the cost of borrowing has become higher than the preceding years. This coupled with worldwide shortage of steel is gradually rendering the company inefficient in terms of manufacturing cost. Furthermore, the GoP has regulated the prices of tractors. This coupled with lower deletion level for new entrant is creating an uneven playing field. However, the proposal to allow local assemblers to increase the price of agricultural tractors is under consideration. This will provide a breather to the company and will consequently augment the company revenue. Worst energy crisis prevailing in the country and lack of skilled manpower are the major risks which are being addressed through standby energy arrangements and in-house training of workforce. The recent natural catastrophe in the form of floods has worsened the conditions and has posed new challenges of rebuilding the infrastructure and rehabilitation of farming community. Development of new products through innovation and diversification remain in focus for continued growth and progress. Millat has made investments in new machining lines for cylinder block and engine head to maintain high quality standards. In addition, implementation of the IFS software means that the procedural automation and visibility brought by IFS would enable Millat to achieve greater production efficiency in future. The support of the government to the agriculture sector in terms of support prices to the local farmers provides greater opportunities for MTL. This enhanced income available to the farmers will not only enable them to buy agricultural inputs, but also educate themselves to modern agricultural practices to improve productivity, which is low compared to international standards. The government policy to encourage corporate farming will also create a demand for the companys products, which could also include higher horse power range of tractors and implements. COURTESY: Economics and Finance Department, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, prepared this analytical report for Business Recorder. DISCLAIMER: No reliance should be placed on the [above information] by any one for making any financial, investment and business decision. The [above information] is general in nature and has not been prepared for any specific decision making process. [The newspaper] has not independently verified all of the [above information] and has relied on sources that have been deemed reliable in the past. Accordingly, the newspaper or any its staff or sources of information do not bear any liability or responsibility of any consequences for decisions or actions based on the [above information].

Free Essays on Sabriel

Sabriel by Garth Nix Published by Harper Collins „ ¶ 1995 Sabriel is a story of heroic romance and a bond between father and daughter. Sabriel is of about 491 pages long. Sabriel was born in The Old Kingdom, her father was Abhorsen. She grew up in Ancelstierre at Wyverly College, while her father, who still lived in The Old Kingdom, came to visit her twice a year. This autumn he never came all day. Late in the night a friend of Sabriels came running through the door of her room. There was a disturbance behind a tower door and Sabriel got there quickly. It was a creature, but he was in death. Sabriel went into the realm of death to find the creature. The creature was holding a sack, she heard her father ¡Ã‚ ¦s voice  ¡Ã‚ §take the sack ¡Ã‚ ¨ so she grabbed it out of the creature ¡Ã‚ ¦s hands and returned to life. In the sack she found her fathers sword and charter bells. She left Wyverly College to go The Old Kingdom and find out why her father was dead, and bring him back to life. Sabriel crossed the wall to go to The Old Kingdom. She made it to her father ¡Ã‚ ¦s house but he was not there. She found a cat there he addressed himself as Mogget. Mogget told Sabriel that her father had gone to Belisaere and that they (Mogget and Sabriel) could fly the Paperwing not to far from the house. When they got to the Paperwing Sabriel cast a spell and the engine less aircraft took off. Sabriel remembered that she had to land the aircraft before the sun set, or the Paperwing would crash. Just as she started to land the sun set and her landing was uncontrollable but she safely hit the ground but she skidded all the way into a hole about four hundred feet deep. She woke up injured and Mogget had al ready found a tunnel. They followed the tunnel until it ended in another hole two hundred feet deeper but it had a spring. There were lots of ships there all of them standing there. One ship had a perfect carving of a figurehead so life like. Sabriel saw that... Free Essays on Sabriel Free Essays on Sabriel Sabriel by Garth Nix Published by Harper Collins „ ¶ 1995 Sabriel is a story of heroic romance and a bond between father and daughter. Sabriel is of about 491 pages long. Sabriel was born in The Old Kingdom, her father was Abhorsen. She grew up in Ancelstierre at Wyverly College, while her father, who still lived in The Old Kingdom, came to visit her twice a year. This autumn he never came all day. Late in the night a friend of Sabriels came running through the door of her room. There was a disturbance behind a tower door and Sabriel got there quickly. It was a creature, but he was in death. Sabriel went into the realm of death to find the creature. The creature was holding a sack, she heard her father ¡Ã‚ ¦s voice  ¡Ã‚ §take the sack ¡Ã‚ ¨ so she grabbed it out of the creature ¡Ã‚ ¦s hands and returned to life. In the sack she found her fathers sword and charter bells. She left Wyverly College to go The Old Kingdom and find out why her father was dead, and bring him back to life. Sabriel crossed the wall to go to The Old Kingdom. She made it to her father ¡Ã‚ ¦s house but he was not there. She found a cat there he addressed himself as Mogget. Mogget told Sabriel that her father had gone to Belisaere and that they (Mogget and Sabriel) could fly the Paperwing not to far from the house. When they got to the Paperwing Sabriel cast a spell and the engine less aircraft took off. Sabriel remembered that she had to land the aircraft before the sun set, or the Paperwing would crash. Just as she started to land the sun set and her landing was uncontrollable but she safely hit the ground but she skidded all the way into a hole about four hundred feet deep. She woke up injured and Mogget had al ready found a tunnel. They followed the tunnel until it ended in another hole two hundred feet deeper but it had a spring. There were lots of ships there all of them standing there. One ship had a perfect carving of a figurehead so life like. Sabriel saw that...

The Script Writing of Ancient China

The Script Writing of Ancient China Ancient China is one of the places where writing appears to have developed independently, along with Mesopotamia, which developed cuneiform, and Egypt and the civilization of the Maya, where hieroglyphs developed. The earliest examples of ancient Chinese writing come from oracle bones at Anyang, a Shang Dynasty capital, and contemporary bronze inscriptions. There may have been writing on bamboo or other perishable surfaces, but they have, inevitably, disappeared. Although Christopher I. Beckwith thinks the Chinese may have been exposed to the idea of writing from Steppe nomads, the prevalent belief is that China developed writing on its own. Since the oracle bones belonging to the Shang dynasty were discovered, it is no longer doubted by sinologists that Chinese writing is an autochthonous and very ancient invention of the Chinese....The Use of Writing in Ancient China, by Edward Erkes. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Sep., 1941), pp. 127-130 Origins of Chinese Writing The Cambridge History of Ancient China, by Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy, says the likely date for the earliest oracle bones is about 1200 B.C., corresponding with the reign of King Wu Ding. This speculation is based on the earliest reference to the origins of writing, which dates to the 3rd century B.C. The legend developed that a scribe of the Yellow Emperor invented writing after noticing bird tracks. [Source: Francoise Bottero, French National Center for Scientific Research Chinese Writing: Ancient Indigenous Perspective.] Scholars in the Han Dynasty thought the earliest Chinese writing was pictographic, meaning the characters are stylized representations, while the Qing thought the first writing was of numbers. Today, the earliest Chinese writing is described as pictographic (picture) or zodiographic (graph of the name of the thing), words that for non-linguists mean similar things. As the writing of the ancient Chinese evolved, a phonetic component was added to the pi ctographic, as is true of the paired writing system of the Maya. Names of the Chinese Writing Systems Ancient Chinese writing on oracle bones is called Jiaguwen, according to AncientScripts, which describes the characters as pictographic. Dazhuan is the name of the script on Bronze. It may be the same as the Jiaguwen. By 500 B.C. the angular script that characterizes modern Chinese writing had developed in the form called Xiaozhuan. Bureaucrats of the Qin Dynasty used Lishu, a script still sometimes used. Pictographs and the Rebus During the Shang Dynasty, the writing, which was pictographic, could use the same graphic to represent homophones (words with different meanings that sound the same). Writing could be in the form of what is called a rebus. The rebus example AncientSites lists is two pictures together, one of a bee, and one of a leaf, to represent the word belief. Over time, signs known as determinative symbols were added to clarify the homophones, phonetic symbols were standardized, and symbols were put together to form new words. Chinese and the Sino-Tibetan Language Family Writing and spoken language are different. Period. The cuneiform of Mesopotamia was used to write a variety of languages, including languages from the Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic families. As the Chinese conquered their neighbors, their writing was exported to neighboring countries where it was applied to the indigenous languages. This is how the Japanese came to use Kanji. The spoken language of Chinese is thought to be a member of the Sino-Tibetan language family. This connection between Chinese and Tibetan languages is made on the basis of lexical items, rather than morphology or syntax. However, the similar words are only reconstructions of Old and Middle Chinese. Ancient Chinese Writing Implements According to Erkes (above), the usual objects used in writing were a wooden stylus, to write on wood with lacquer, and the brush and ink (or some other liquid) used to write on oracle bones and other surfaces. Inscriptions also produced Chinese scripts by means of tools that removed rather than wrote on surface material. Suggested Appreciation Activities for Chinese Writing Ancient writings seem so much more artistic than modern computer-generated script or the scrawls most of us now use when we need to leave a handwritten note. To appreciate the elegance of the ancient Chinese writing system, observe and try to emulate it: Try writing letters with a brush and ink.Compare the characters in a column of Chinese writing with Japanese Kanji preferably for the same text (possibly something connected with their shared religion of Buddhism)Look at old Chinese characters and rewrite them, then copy them without the determinatives. (The AncientScripts site has samples to work from.)

Linda Hogan's Dwellings - Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Linda Hogan's Dwellings - Knowledge - Essay Example For example, industries dealing with oil continue to be developed, and the remaining land continues diminishing so as to make room for the industrial establishment in the modern world. People have forgotten about the beauty that nature creates, and hence the Mother Nature continues to die day by day. She talks about the relevance of human beings seeking a terrestrial knowledge with the natural world. She melds phenomenal descriptions of the environment with crucial reflections on human’s place in their relationship with nature. A crucial discussion topic in the novel is knowledge. The westernized culture encourages people to gather knowledge through science, and other concrete ways of thinking that are logical. On the other hand, native people gain knowledge through experience and they accept abstract ideas as real ones. Hogan disputes the western definition of knowledge and believes that it is evident through the results, and knowledge of the natural world and cycles. Through her words, it is evident that science has also contributed to evil among humans and also brought isolation of knowledge. Human have developed and are unwilling to accept the things that are superior to them in the natural world. Western culture influence creates a perception that human beings have dominance over nature (Hogan 25). In relation to knowledge, Linda Hogan is a well learned person with a complete knowledge and focuses on the various ways that nature relates with human beings. For example, she had a wider knowledge about terrestrial intelligence. She looks at the various perspectives in the world and has developed philosophies regarding nature. In Dwellings, her focus lies on the terrestrial intelligence of dwelling places and living creatures reinforce the notion of earth as a vital place for all living organisms. Her questioning of Western meanings based on components of the natural world makes us understand the anthropocentric constructions of nature as an ideology wi th many fixed meanings. Dwellings are like a challenge to the places and meanings of people’s perceptive. Dwellings guide us on how to nurture a spiritual connection with everything in the world. Hogan’s approaches are nothing less than magical, mystical, and mythical, which are mostly on the American Indian mythology. She argues that myth is usually false, but after examining myths, they are a form of truth. Animals and places symbolise within the natural world used to dismantle the existing western notion which comes from these myths and shapes her worldview (Hogan 28). In the chapter, â€Å"The Bats†, Hogan describes the bats which associate with blood sucking terrors of Dracula, as sacred creatures that live in two worlds, crediting them with considerable insight and wisdom. There are two animals merged into one as they are milk producing rodents that bear live young and a flying bird. For Hogan, bats have a spiritual relevance in that they act as guardians in the passage into a spiritual state and are intermediaries. According to her, bat people live in between two worlds, and hence referred to as intermediaries between the world and the next. As intermediaries, western culture stigmas have associated them with fear and evil. The bats, therefore, are guidelines to a spiritual existence as opposed to being creatures associated with horrifying darkness (Hogan 42). Another Hogan’s take is on snakes and is similar to that of the bat. She views this in association

The Use of Computers In Psychological Diagnosis Term Paper

The Use of Computers In Psychological Diagnosis - Term Paper Example Psychology has a lot of dimensions and there are different types of psychology present. This paper discusses the use of computers in the abnormal psychology. Abnormal psychology The term abnormal psychology can be defined as a branch or type of psychology that studies the behavior patterns of humans that are unusual, the unusual thoughts and emotions that humans possess that may or may not be causing them to be having a mental disorder. The abnormal psychology tends to consist of various reasons for different types of behaviors. The different behaviors observed in the individuals are due to the situations they have undergone and therefore need to undergo a psychological treatment. The medical professionals that come under this category are the psychotherapists, the counselor, and the clinical psychologists that cater towards the unusual and abnormal psychology behavior of the individual (Barlow and Mark, 2004). Intelligence testing The intelligence testing of an individual tends to f ocus upon the level of the functionality of the intellectual aspects of the individual and this is conducted by carrying out various tests for assessing the intelligence level of the individual. There are computerized tests given to the individuals for their intelligence testing and computerized results are obtained for the tests so that an immediate analysis can be given about the intelligence level of the person (Fernald, 2008). All individuals are at different levels of intelligence and according to their level the intelligence tests are conducted for them on computers. Neurobiological diagnosis Schizophrenia is one of the main diseases that are faced by humans and a neurobiological diagnosis is usually conducted for the... The discussion above depicts that computers are highly vital and an essential element in the field of psychology. Abnormal psychology deals with the unusual behaviors of the individuals such as them having fear or having mood disorders like depression and other such factors. Computers play an important role in the treatment of patients of psychological disorder and also it helps towards the maintenance and evaluation of historical records for longer time periods. Computers can store a large amount of data and results that have been obtained for different types of patients and this makes it easy to refer back to any particular case when in time of need. The assessment results obtained can be categorized as valid and reliable as the age of science has advanced drastically and made things to be conducted systematically, efficiently, and effectively. This report makes a conclusion that the use of computers is the assessment procedures of psychology tend to be reliable and have valid assessments to a large extent as everything has been tested before it has been finally implemented for the individuals. Computer technology has advanced to a very large extent and many aspects in the medical informatics as well as in the field of psychology cannot progress further without the use of computers. Computer use is a necessity in the psychological field and with advancement in science it has proves to give reliable and valid results. It has been analyzed by researchers that computer can analyze results in a systematic way and at a sophisticated level as well.

Sixth Sense Technology Essay Example for Free

Sixth Sense Technology Essay As human beings we are most concerned about physical and digital information. We are growing up with the physical objects around us. We are really fond of interacting with physical objects instead of computing devices. Sixth Sense Technology is a mini-projector coupled with a camera and a cell phone which acts as the computer and connected to the Cloud, all the information stored on the web [4]. Before implementing the sixth sense technology the inventor tried to combine the physical world to digital world creating a gesture interface device that actually acts as a motion sensing device. The basic idea behind this is always objects are connected with gestures that are used to interact with both objects and each other. The first thought was basically regarding taking part of the physical world to the digital world by implementing things like sticky notes coming to a sms or a meeting reminder, writing query connected with paper input output system, pen can draws 3D images and Google map without searching key words. Thus computing became so intuitive. The goal was to connect these two worlds in the first. However we know that people don’t like computing [4]. The reverse operation of previously mentioned concept that is taking digital world to physical world occurred due to the reason human is really interested about information. They want to know about things, basically about the dynamic things going around them. The technology is called as sixth sense technology since it is out of our familiar five senses. This technology is based on wearable gestural user friendly interface which links the physical world around us with digital information and uses hand gestures to interact with them. Thus this becomes a vital issue since people get more aware about their day to day information and this technology provides you a way to carry your digital world always with you wherever you go. Sometime ago these things were amazing and nowadays with this technology people’s lives have become more convenient and informative. By this I’m thrilled to research about the way of connecting two worlds, the technology behind sixth sense and what are the uses of this and further improvements since I’m fond of finding ways of interacting with world of information. . Background and motivation The physical world is set to blur into the digital with the invention of a new ‘sixth sense’ device. This is specifically designed with mobility in mind. And if this new prototype manages to see the commercial light of day, it could hold the potential to become the preferred option for multi-touch devices worldwide. The genius behind this technology, Pranav Mistry says i t’s all about integrating the virtual world with reality and it can really let you connect as a sixth sense device with whatever is in front of you. I’m really enthusiastic in this research area of sixth sense technology since I’m searching for a way to interact with these two worlds and information out of the scope which is always with regard to our five senses. On the other hand it’s an amazing idea to carry our digital world with us where ever we go. This is a wearable gestural interface. We are all human beings. As you I’m always keen on making aware of dynamic information. Imagine that we can experience a live discussion while reading a news paper and we can dial a number on our palm and make a call. We can use any surface to modify our information. Therefore we can pinch many physical things to our digital world. I was so motivated to this technology since it will help us to take better decisions about day to day lives by using instant dynamically changed information. It makes our task effective and efficient. Before the arrival of sixth sense technology the inventor implemented a way to connect part of physical world to digital world. What we are doing physically is replicated in digital world. I’m so interested in learning about that area since it was the approach for the concept of sixth sense technology. And this technology is open source. If we are interested in this we can make our own sensing device. Still some of the testings are done on to make this more advanced. The concept is always with regard of connecting these two worlds. 3. The thrilling potential of sixth sense technology Sixth sense is a wearable gestural interface device that augments the physical world with digital information and lets people use natural hand gestures to interact with that information. The prototype implements several applications that demonstrate the usefulness, viability and flexibility of the system like map application, the drawing application and freehand gestures (postures). The device is comprised of a pocket projector, a mirror, a camera, mobile component and colored markers. This is basically for carrying digital world to the every day physical life. We know that people are really interested to use objects , gestures they are familiar instead of sitting in front of a machine and computing devices. Firstly the researches were carried for taking the physical objects to the digital world. These experiments are done by Pranav Mistry and his group in MIT. We know that when we talk about objects the gestures automatically connected with them. So this was his first thought and implementation. Then he thought about reverse operation since people always need information. You can carry digital information source with you. This device recognizes the objects around us displaying information automatically and letting us to access it in any way we need. The technology allows the user to draw icons or symbols in the air using the movement of the index finger and recognizes the symbols as interaction instructions.

Feminism Essay -- social issues

Feminism In the past and present women have had to endure sexism as a part of everyday life. This is unfair and unjust to the female species. In this paper I am going to be talking about some of the issues of sexism and how they affect women. Some of the issues I will be talking about are the white males club and how non-membership effects women. What are the benefits of having a membership to it. How women are kept in their place by society and by themselves. How has this unequal affected women through their lives and the business world. If women are being liberated or not. What types of problems women are experiencing. These are the issues we will be discussing in this paper. The first issue we will be discussing in this paper is the White Males Club and the benefits of being a member are. To become a member of the white males club is easy if your white and a male, but on the other hand if you’re a women, black, or Native American it’s a different story. The Native Americans h ad to endure many hardships such as genocide, broken treaties, club-controlled reservations, and false promises. The Blacks they had two ways to be treated. The southern blacks were permitted to do three things. They could care for white children, cook, or do some housekeeping. In the north they were put into ghettos and could do what they pleased as long as they kept their distance. White women on the other hand were a different question because they were white and women. This questioning left room for white males to come in and manipulate them. Because of this odd position many women praised the white male protection and forgot about their own suppressed living conditions. For women in the south this meant protection from Black male assault. The other section of women realized that they didn’t have that much power as they thought they did. Over the course of history not much has changed women got to vote and gain a little independence but not much. Today the average man still makes more than the average women. A woman is still far more likely to be poorer than a man. So you have to think to yourself have women really been liberated. I think they have but only to some extent. They have made some good gains like they can hold actual corporate positions, and vote. So they have made some gains but not that much. They still don’t get paid as much and it’s harder for them to f... ...uldn’t be any problem. If women can do as much as men do why can’t they stand there ground and fight back. I would just like to say in this last part that I totally disagree with this paper and think it was ridicules to make us write from a females point of view, and not have the girls right from the males point of view. I believe this was a very sexist paper and making us write this paper was defeating the purpose of this paper. By making write this paper you are striving to defeat sexism were you really created it. Making men right from the female point of view and not having the Women right from the male’s point of view you have just created what was meant to be destroyed only this time it was on the other side. You said in the beginning the point of this paper was to make me do the laundry, but in reality if I worked and she worked I cooked all my food and did dishes then it would be an unequal relationship. By her not doing something around the house you have just created sexism so you see sexism will never be destroyed because someone will always be creating it from either side, as did you. I’m not calling you sexist I’m calling us all sexist because we all help to create it.