Indias Foreign Exchange System: An Analysis

Indias Foreign Exchange System: An Analysis CHAPTER-2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction: It is a fact that the currencies of different countries have different values that is based upon their actual economic and monetary strength. It is from this difference that the genesis of foreign exchange occurs. Foreign exchange can be termed as the act of matching the different values of the goods and services that is involved in the international business transaction process in order to attain the exact value that is to be transferred between the parties of an international trading transaction in monetary terms. Foreign exchange as an activity had started the day civilization and independent principalities got established in the world. But in those days it was a case of exchanging value in the form of transfer of goods and services of identical value that is commonly identified with barter system. Moreover the transactions were done on a one-to-one basis, and the terms and conditions were determined by the parties entering into such transactions. There was no universal system or rule that determined these transactions. In that way foreign exchange and international monetary system is a modern day trend that gained an institutional form in the first half of the twentieth century and has been developing since then. 2.2 Foreign Exchange: According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Foreign Exchange is defined as different forms of financial instruments like foreign currency notes, deposits held in foreign banks, debt obligations of foreign banks and foreign governments, monetary gold and Special Drawing Rights (SDR) that are resorted to make payments in lieu of business transactions that is done by two business entities or otherwise, of nations that have currencies having different inherent monetary value (www.imf.org). Leading economist Lipsey Richard G.,1993 has mentioned that the foreign exchange transactions are basically a form of negotiable instrument that are resorted to deliver the cost of goods and services that form a part of trading transactions and otherwise, between business and public entities of nations of the global economy. Sarno, Taylor and Frankel, 2003 gives the definition of foreign exchange as denoting the act of purchase and sale of currencies of different economies that is performed over the counter for various purposes that includes international payments and deliverance of cost of various business transactions, where the value is usually measured by tallying the value of the currencies involved in the foreign exchange transaction with that of the value of U.S. Dollar. According to Clark and Ghosh 2004, Foreign Exchange denotes transactions in international currency i.e. currencies of different economies. In such transactions the value of a currency of one country is tallied and exchanged with similar value of the currency of the country in order to exchange the cost of a business transaction or public monetary transfer that is taking place between two entities of these economies. 2.2.1 Foreign Exchange Transactions: Transactions in foreign exchange are done through various types and various modes between different countries of the world. According to information mentioned in the Reuters Financial Training Series, 1999,TOD Transactions, TOM Transactions, Swap Rates, Spot Rates, Forward Rates, Margin Trading and Buy / Sell on Fixed Rates foreign exchange transaction methods are some of the commonly used methods that are widely used by global managers for their foreign exchange transaction activities. 2.2.1.1 TOD Operations: TOD Operations are foreign exchange transaction methods where the trader uses the exchange rate of the day on which the foreign exchange transaction order is to be executed. In other words TOP operations are commonly used in intra-day foreign exchange transactions. As a result they are commonly resorted to by speculators in foreign exchange transactions and those who general speculate on the rates of different foreign exchange markets of the globe. 2.2.1.2 TOM Operations: In this type of transactions the transaction process carried forward to the next day instead of it being an intra-day trading. TOM transactions rate is fixed on the day the transaction is signed, but the rate of exchange is agreed upon to be that of the next day. 2.2.1.3 SPOTTransactions: SPOT Transactions can be compared with TOM transactions because here also the exchange rate is fixed at a value that prevails over the exchange rate of intra-day trading of shares. But SPOT transactions have been separated as a different category because unlike TOM transactions, SPOT transactions contracts are executed on the third day after the signing of agreement between the Bank and the client. 2.2.1.4 Forward Contract: Forward contracts are those exchange rate contracts where the currency conversion exchange rate agreement is decided at a certain rate at a time that is well before the date of execution of the exchange contract. In that way they are similar to TOM transactions. The only differ from them in the fact that these transactions are made for a long term i.e. generally for one year, and the parties involved in making this foreign exchange transaction deposit five percent of the contract value with the bank involved in facilitating the transaction at the time of executing the contract which is then returned to the client after execution of the exchange transaction. The need for depositing this amount is to secure the transaction against any loss due to market fluctuations. 2.2.1.5 SWAP: The greatest advantage of SWAP transactions is that the clients involved in the foreign exchange get prior information about the exchange rate of the currencies that are part of the transaction. In this type of transaction the bank first buys the amount of transaction form the client and resells it to the client after a few days after disclosing the exchange rate of the currencies involved in the transaction process. SWAP transactions are much sought after by traders because here they get to know beforehand the exchange rate of the currencies involved in the transaction process that helps them in avoiding fluctuations in market rate and gives them the advantage of determining the prices of goods, the nature of the currency market notwithstanding. . 2.2.1.6 MarginTrading: The key element of Margin trading is that any trader can opt for SPOT trading round the clock by going through the margin trading mode. The other key element of margin trading is that the traders can make deals with a minimal spread for a huge amount of funds by projecting fraction of the needed amount. In that way it is a unique form of global financial transaction where the threshold value that can be transacted through the margin trading mode is $ 100000 with bigger deals being multiples of $ 100000. But in order to deal in margin trading the trader has to make a security deposit of five recent of the contract value that has to be replenished from time to time in order to maintain the amount from which the probable losses from margin trading transactions are accommodated. 2.2.1.7 Buying/Selling on Fixed Rate Order: This is a mutual agreement between the buyer and seller of foreign exchange. Neither its rate nor its other terms and conditions are based upon actual conditions. Rather the deal is based keeping the mutual profitability of the buyer and seller intact where both of them get their desired amount. 2.3 Global Foreign Exchange Market: According to the table depicting the Triennial Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity done by Bank for International Settlements (BIS)2007, as shown below the global foreign exchange market has an average daily turnover of over $ 2 trillion, which is an increase of around forty percent in terms of volumes . This rise in foreign exchange transactions it is observed has been due to rise in the volume of trading in Spot and Forward markets. This is indicative towards increase in volatility of foreign exchange markets around the world. (www.bis.org). Global Foreign Exchange Market Turnover Daily averages in April, (in billions $) Year 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 Spot Transactions 317 394 494 568 387 621 Outright Forwards 27 58 97 128 131 208 Swaps in Foreign Exchange 190 324 546 734 656 944 Gaps in Reporting (Estimated) 56 44 53 60 26 107 Total Turnover (Traditional) 590 820 1,190 1,490 1,200 1,880 Memo: Turnover (At April 2004 Exchange Rates) 650 840 1,120 1,590 1,380 1,880 (BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey, 2004) As observed by Jacque Laurent L.1996, Studies in foreign exchange point to the fact that the volume involved in foreign exchange transactions in the total markets around the globe has the potential to affect the overall functioning of the global financial system due to the systematic risks that are part and parcel of the foreign exchange transaction system. Most of the transactions occur in the major markets of the world with the London Exchange followed by New York and Tokyo Stock Exchange accounting for over sixty percent of the foreign exchange transactions done around the globe. Among these transactions the largest share is carried out by banks and financial institutions followed by other business transactions i.e. exchange of value for goods and services as well as dealers involved in securities and financial market transactions. According to the studies by Levi Maurice D., 2005, in foreign exchange transactions most of the transactions happen in the spot market in the realm of OTC derivative contracts. This is followed by hedging and forward contracts that are done in large numbers. The central banks of different countries of the world and the financial institutions operating in multiple markets are the main players that operate in the foreign exchange market and provide the risk exchange control mechanism to the players of the exchange market and the system where around $ 3 trillion amount of money is transacted in 300000 exchanges located around the globe. The largest amount of transactions takes place in the spot rate and that too in the liquidity market. The quotation on price in these markets sometimes reaches to around two thousand times in a single day with the maximum quotations being done in Dollar and Deutschemark with the rates fluctuating every two to three minutes with the volume of transaction for a dealer in foreign exchange i.e. both individual and companies going to the range of $ 500 million in normal times. In recent years the derivativ e market is also gaining popularity in OTC dealings with regards to the foreign exchange market. 2.4 Global Foreign Exchange Market Management Risks: According to the researcher Kim S. H., 2005, Foreign exchange transactions are identified by their connection with some financial transactions occurring in some overseas market or markets. But this interconnectivity does not affect the inherent value of the currency of the country which is determined by the economic strength of that country. This means that the inherent value of each currency of the world is different and unequal. So when the need arises to exchange the value of some goods or service between countries engaged in such activity it becomes imperative to exchange the exact value of goods and services. Considering the complexity and volume of such trading and exchange activity occurring in the global market between countries it is but natural that the currencies of individual countries is subject to continual readjustment of value with the currency with which its value has to be exchanged. This gives rise to the importance of foreign exchange transactions as a separate ar ea of study and thereby needs much focus for its understanding (Frenkel , Hommel and Rudolf , 2005). In addition to this it is to be realized that with the growing pace globalization and integration of global economic order there has been a tremendous increase in international business transactions and closer integration of economic systems of countries around the world especially between the members of WTO, that has led to the increase in economic transactions and consequent activity in international foreign currency exchange system (Adams, Mathieson and Schinasi, 1998). Added to this is the fact that the exchange value of currencies in the transactions is not determined by the respective countries but by the interplay of value of the currencies engaged in an international foreign exchange transaction and the overall value of each currency in the transaction prevailing at that time. In fact each country in the global economic order would want to determine the value of its currency to its maximum advantage, which was possible a few years ago in when the countries used to determine the value of their currency according to the existing value of their economy. The individual countries till the early nineties used to follow a policy of total or partial control over the exchange value of their currency in the global market. At the same time there also were a group of countries that followed the policy or system in determining the exchange value of their currency i.e. left it to the interplay of global economic activity where the value was determined by its economic performance. The currencies of countries that provide full or partial amount of control in the international exchange value of its currency are known to follow a Fixed Rate whereas the currencies of countries that allow its currency to seek its inherent value through its performance in the global economic system are termed as following the Floating Rate of foreign exchange conversion mechanism. Though lo gically both the type of mechanism of foreign exchange face the effect of exchange rate fluctuations and consequent volatility in rate it is the currencies having a floating rate that are continually affected by the fluctuations in exchange rate in the global market when in the case of currencies with a fixed rate it is more of a controlled and regulated affair (Chorafas Dimitris N., 1992). 2.5 Foreign Exchange Risks Prevailing in the Global Market: Risks related to the exchange rate of a currency in the global market as has been mentioned, occurs due to the interplay of inherent value of each currency of the respective countries that are part of the global financial mechanism. Risks related to foreign exchange come into picture and are also inevitable in this world marching towards increased interaction due to globalization. The risks will occur due to business interaction and consequent exchange of value for goods and services. According to Kodres LauraE., 1996, the risks related to foreign exchange occur when there is increased interaction between the currency of a country with that of other countries in the international market and that too if the currency has a floating exchange rate. In that case the value of the currency is continually affected by its business and financial performance. This relation with other currencies in the market affects it during the time when the need arises to exchange it with another currency for settlement of financial transaction in some business or financial purposes and gives rise to various types of risks. The prominent risks associated during this situation are Herstatt Risk, and Liquidity Risk. 2.5.1 Herstatt Risk: Herstatt risk is a risk that is named after a German Bank that got liquidated by the German Government in the seventies of the last century and made to return all; the claims accruing to its customers. This is because its creditworthiness was affected and it could not pay the settlement claims to its customers and also on behalf of its customers to their clients. It is basically connected to the time aspect of foreign exchange value claim settlements in which the foreign exchange transactions do not get realized as the bank loses its ability to honour the transaction in the intervening period due to some causes. In the particular case the German bank failed to honour the financial settlement claims of its clients to their counter parties that were to be paid in values of U.S Dollars. The main issues that arose were regarding quantifying the amount to be delivered and the time of the transaction process due to the two countries financial systems being located and working according to different or separate time zones. This case has established a phenomenon in foreign exchange market where there may erupt situations in which the working hours of banks located in different time zones may never match with each other leading to foreign exchange settlement transactions getting affected during the mismatch of the two banks closing and opening time. In fact the Alsopp Report that studied this phenomenon in detail said that though the foreign exchange transactions are made in pen and paper on a single day the actual transfer of value takes place within three to four days. And with the exchange value of currencies operating in the international market always remaining in a state of flux they either get jacked up or devalued. In either case it affects the clause of transactions that was decided on an intra-day rate, as the value of both the currencies in the international market has changed during these days. 2.5.2 Risks related to Liquidity: There can crop up different problems related to the banking systems operations and dynamics i.e. in both technical and management systems as well as inability in terms of volume of available liquidity strength or in mismatch in tallying of time etc; that can affect the capacity of banks to honour foreign exchange transactions in terms of transfer of liquidity. These types of risks are being commonly witnessed in newly emerging economies that are being unable to cope with the sudden surge in volume of global business transactions thereby leading to exchange rate settlement and payment delays, outstanding payments and dishonouring of financial commitments in the exchange rate transaction market. 2.5.3 Financial Repercussions: According to the Studies in foreign exchange related risks by Dumas and Solnik, 1995 aver that risk related to transactions in foreign exchange have increased with globalization and the rise of global economic integration process with the countries getting affected in relation to the volume of their transactions in the global financial and business marketplace. This is because the market is now more oriented towards market value driven convertibility of currencies that is influenced by the global financial movements and transactions, and any independent transaction especially of transnational and multinational companies; will automatically affect other transactions happening in the global financial marketplace (Klopfenstein G.,1997). However, according to another study by Gallati Reto R., 2003, these multinational and transnational companies are simultaneously being affected by the fluctuations in exchange rate of different currencies of the global market that is exposing their business operations in different global markets to exchange rate related risks especially due to difference in Spot and Forward rates and the inevitable fluctuations (Choi , 2003) that give rise to foreign exchange settlement related problems. 2.5.4 Remedies to Foreign Exchange Settlement Risks: As there risks that have cropped up in foreign exchange transactions due to increase in volume and frequency of transactions mainly as a result of globalization so, also there have come up remedies to minimize the risk related to adverse conditions in foreign exchange transactions. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in one of its studies in 1999 has said that settlement of claims is the most predominant risk that is related to foreign exchange transactions, especially the speed with which these transactions are materialized and the roadblocks that they may face in the process due to tremendous increase in volume of foreign exchange transactions that cannot be cleared in expected times. The solution to these risks according to the study is to simultaneously clear transactions on either side i.e. for both the parties side so that they simultaneously give and receive payments at the agreed rate of exchange. This would solve the problem of extended time of actual payment when the rate of exchange fluctuates, thereby creating problems for both the parties. This arrangement is related to deals being processed simultaneously, which requires the concurrence and common cause of both the parties. This is because the party that is expecting a hike in value of it s currency may not agree to such a proposal. In that case there should be some law or arrangement that would make it mandatory for both the parties to settle their intra-day payments on that day itself so that there is no scope left for speculation by them. According to the study, such arrangements have been made in USA and Europe where systems like Fedwire and Trans- European Automated Real-Time Gross Settlement Express Transfer (TARGET) have been established. Fedwire facilitates payments in foreign exchange transactions under the mode of Real Time Gross Settlements (RTGS)and TARGET facilitates intra-day transfer of foreign exchange between parties of member countries of Europe on the same day itself. But, for simultaneous release of funds by both the parties and the intra-day settlement of claims to succeed it is imperative that the member countries of the global economic system should come together have concurrence on these issues. This is because all said and done the foreign exchange transaction related rules and laws are still governed by the respective countries. And most of these countries are reluctant to make any headway in linking their currency system to the global currency system for speedy disposal of foreign exchange transactions for fear that such a move would expose their currency end financial system to the baneful effects of risks and volatility of global foreign exchange system (Hagelin and Pramborg, 2004). At the level of international trading corporations there has been initiated some steps whereby they have formed a private arrangement known as Group of Twenty. They are a group of twenty internationally acclaimed global clearing banks who have formed an system called the Global Clearing Bank that acts as a connection between the payment systems of different countries and verifies international foreign exchange transactions in order to simultaneously satisfy both the parties regarding authenticity of the process of transaction. The thing is that this system puts a high amount of strain on the financial and foreign exchange system as well as reserves of individual countries along with requiring them to bring about some amount of commonality between the financial rules and regulations of individual countries which is easier said than done. All the same the establishment of Bilateral Netting System and Multilateral Netting Systems as well as of Exchange Clearing House (ECHO) are trying t o facilitate foreign exchange transactions and minimize the inherent risks involved (McDonough ,1996). 2.6 Indian Foreign Exchange System: 2.6.1 Historical Background: The historical background of foreign exchange system in India was a saga of excess control and monitoring with even minor transactions being made to undergo the rigorous scrutiny of concerned government authorities to avoid any risks associated with such transactions and save the scarce foreign exchange reserves from being frittered away in some transactions considered unimportant or anti-national by the government. The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) that was enacted in 1947 and made more stringent in 1973 was the embodiment of the prevailing sentiment of the governments of those days, which was to completely regulate and control all the foreign exchange transactions and protect the foreign currency reserves. (Mehta, 1985) All these changed in the nineties of the last century with the opening up of Indian economy in 1991 in keeping with the recommendations of the High Level Committee on Balance of Payments set up under the chairmanship of Dr C. Rangarajan by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India and subsequent entry of India into World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994. This was preceded by the liberating of current account transactions and establishing full convertibility of current account transactions in 1993. In 1994 also the Government of India accepted Article VIII of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund that established the system of current account convertibility and the exchange value of rupee came to be determined according to the market rates with only the convertibility of capital account being under the control of the government (Krueger,2002) as the Tarapore Committee on Capital Account Convertibility of 1997 (Panagariya A., 2008) suggested the government to keep adequate sa feguards before allowing the convertibility of capital account to be determined according to the market forces as there was need to consolidate the financial system and have an accepted inflation target before such a venture. The Tarapore Committee also suggested that the legal framework governing the foreign exchange transaction system in India also needs to be modernized before going for total convertibility of the capital account due to which the Government repealed the FERA Act of 1973 and promulgated the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) in 2000. This new act did away with the system of regulation and control and established a system of facilitation and management of foreign exchange transactions thereby promoting all the activities related to foreign exchange transactions. The most important thing that was done by FEMA was to recognize violations or mistakes in foreign exchange transactions as a civil offence instead of a criminal offence as was done by FERA. FEMA also shifted the responsibility of proving the violation or mistake in foreign exchange transaction and related rules from the prosecutor to the prosecuted. And if the prosecuted was proved guilty he or she was to pay only monetary fine or compensation instead of being jailed as was the earlier provision under FERA. FEMA also simplified many of the rules and notified specific time frames for delivering judgments related to violations of foreign exchange rules and regulations and provide rules for establishing special tribunals and forums to deal with such cases. Th e compounding rules were also made less stringent and all matters related to compounding rules were notified to be dealt by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) instead of the previously assigned Enforcement Directorate. RBI was made the designated Compounding Authority in all related matters. Only the cases involving hawala transactions were left from its purview As per Mecklal and Chand

Christian family Essay

The authors of several books are celebrated for the different artistic works that they produce. In their real lives, not it is everything can however be celebrated. This is because some have undergone a hard time throughout their lives. Some have gone to the extent of committing suicide so as to end the problems in their lives. Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickenson are good examples of authors who have faced a hard life and who used their writing works to express their feelings. They have undergone through a hell of life by losing their parents and enduring the extramarital affairs of their husbands as well as degenerative diseases in their late life. Further, they have manifested some similarity in their early lives because they were all brought up in a Christian family. They also had a desire to learn, an aspect that made them achievers in developing artworks. Plath and Dickenson had very tragic and troubled lives. To start with, Dickenson was born during the month of December 1830 in Amherst community. She was the second daughter of Edward Dickenson. Throughout her life, her mother was not accessible emotionally and this absence caused Dickenson to depict some eccentricity. Being born in a Christian tradition, she was forced to espouse her father’s religious beliefs without any argument. These are some of the things that came to be challenges in Dickenson’s late life as is evident through her poetry. Her family was very popular in Amherst with her father being a lawyer who made that family to enjoy immense popularity and excitement. Dickenson did not enjoy this; instead, she withdrew (Paul). When her father realized that she had a problem with his Christian religion he began to censor the books that she was reading because of their potential of drawing her away from faith. In her early life, she was silent and shy; she used to depreciate in the presence of strangers. Dickenson was very successful in college but after her life in seminary in 1848, she began her life of seclusion. The culmination of these problems made her life miserable. To add to her tragic life, she was never married although she had significant relationships which did not however work out. She lived in a private society and she could refuse to see certain people who paid her a visit. It may sound very sad that by the time she was twenty years, she had no extended exposure to the world which was outside her home. She started authoring her poetry as a way of expressing how her life was and how she hated some of her friends and family pressures. It was so unfortunate that Dickenson’s late life was full of mourning because of several deaths that occurred during a time frame of a few years. Her father died in 1874, her brother died in 1878, her mother died in 1882, and her nephew in 1883 (Burt 110). Due to these deaths, her speculations for poetry started to come to a halt in 1884 whereby she suffered her first attack of one of her terminal illnesses such as hypertension. The whole of 1885, she was bedridden and on May 1886 she took her last breath. She lived in solitude and had a very boring life that was full of tragedies and problems. On the other hand, Plath had several problems which made her life miserable. To start with, she was born during the time of The Great Depression when the nation was being faced with severe economic problems. Secondly, when she was only eight years old her father died from complications following a foot amputation due to untreated diabetes. This event introduced a lot of pain in Plath’s life because her father had refused any treatment because his friend had died. It impacted negatively in her life because she lost her Christian values that her father had instilled in her. She enrolled at Smith College – a place where she broke her leg when she was skiing. She had a great desire to learn and she had so many trophies because of her art in poetry when she was eight years only. Her leg made her to lose confidence in herself and her life in general. This made her to make her first suicide attempt when she took an overdose of sleeping pills after she crawled under her house. After this incident, she was taken to a mental institution where she received treatment. To add to her problems, during her marriage, her husband – Hughes – had an affair with Plath’s best friend, Assia Wevill. She had earlier experienced an accident which many people belief was another suicide attempt. Plath was faced with many problems which resulted to depression and finally, she committed suicide, thus killing herself together with her two children in an inferno of gas which she lit. This was the same way through which that her friend – Assia – had committed suicide earlier. We can thus argue that Plath’s life was full of tragic incidences which made her to think of killing herself. Plath and Dickenson were authors of poems and novels and in their work they used their real life details as the raw materials. Before Dickenson died, she had written over 2000 poems. Most of her poetic work was discovered by her sister in a bag after her death. Further, a great deal of her poetic work reflected most of the tragedies that she had passed through. For example, Most of her poems talk about death – which is a major aspect that made her life miserable by taking her loved ones. To illustrate, in the â€Å"Because I could not stop death† poetry, Plath personifies death as a gentleman. In the first line, she states that since she was not in a position to stop death, it will kindly stop her, meaning that she was preparing to meet her death. There are various themes that she explored through the poems. To start with, she used love as a theme. She employed this concept to explain the situation that she was in because she was never married. Secondly, despair was another theme that she used in her poems. One can argue that she did this to express the despair that she had faced in her tragic life. Her poems – which she wrote while she was in the seminary – show her tendencies in her academic years. The prominent themes include the hard time that she faced trying to maintain close family ties, her preference for solitude over society, her intellectual curiosity, and her hesitation to accept Christianity in a manner that her family and friends wanted On the other hand, Plath described her tragic life indirectly in her poems and books. She used her life details as the raw materials for her art work. After the death of her father, Plath was a frequent caller at her father’s grave and this prompted her to write â€Å"Electra on Azalea Path,† which is a poem that described the memorable moments of her father’s life (Horvath 61). Conversely, Plath pointed out her idea of committing suicide through her various poetic works. She wrote a book named â€Å"The Bell Jar,† which is a semi-autographical work describing her entire life. She used the â€Å"Fig Tree† as an analogy; a ripe fruit represented her intended future. She also used a woman who is ready to â€Å"Learn German† but is haunted by her past. This shows that Plath did not like her past and the only way to show this was by putting it through poems and books In conclusion, the lives of these two authors were full of similar tragedies. They were both rebellious to the Christian religion and to the efforts of their friends and family in forcing them into it. They have used poetry to describe the lives that they have lived and the injustices that they have faced in their entire lives. They died being heroes of poetry even though they were not aware. In their poetic work, these two women were similar in the fact that they used examples of repressed women who have been able to write their work in poetry and other writings. This was despite the fact that the society did not give a chance for women to do so. Both have manifested themselves as people who are not destroyed by the repression of the male-dominated society. The main difference between them is the time in which they started to write. Dickenson started writing after her twenties whereas Plath started when she was very young. Works Cited Burt, Daniel S. The Biography Book: A Reader’s Guide to Nonfiction, Fictional, And Film Biographies of More Than 500 of the Most Fascinating Individuals of All Time. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. Horvath, Rita. Never Asking Why Build – Only Asking Which Tools†: Confessional Poetry And The Construction Of The Self. Andrea Pok, Hungary: Akademiai Kiado, 2005. Paul. C. Emily Dickinson’s Life. July 23, 2010. .

The Epic Of Gilgamesh, And The Mahabharata - 971 Words

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Rotor   Living with Nature School on Blog Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid  with Ms  Melly C TenorioDZRB 738 AM, 8 to 9 Evening Class, Monday to Friday Lesson: Epic. What epic is popular in your place, country? How do you compare it with  Lam-ang, or say, the  Iliad  or the  Odessey? The theme of the epic revolves around the bravery and courage of the main character portrayedRead MoreThe Birth of Civilization18947 Words   |  76 Pagesmyhistorylab.com Read the Document CRAIMC01_xxx-031hr.qxp 2/8/11 3:42 PM Page 5 6 P A R T 1 HUMAN ORIGINS AND EARLY CIVILIZATIONS TO 500 B.C.E. In about 2125 B.C.E. the Sumerian city of Ur rose to dominance. Sumerian culture and literature flourished. Epic poems glorified the deeds of the ancestors of the kings of Ur. A highly centralized administration kept detailed records. After little more than a century, the Third Dynasty of Ur disintegrated in the face of famine and invasion. Elamites attackedRead MoreLet Majorship English4572 Words   |  19 Pagesknown as the greatest dramatic poet of the Elizabeth Age? A. Sir Walter Raleigh C. William Shakespeare B. Edmund Spencer D. Christopher Marlowe 12. What narrative poem tells of the heroic exploits of great heroes? A. Ballad C. Epic B. Lyric D. Romance 13. Which of the following statements is not an accurate reflection of ancient Greek religious beliefs? A. The Greek god Zeus was subject to the mysterious power of fate. B. The Greek gods were expressions of theRead MoreThe Origins of Dream Interpretation4085 Words   |  16 Pagesrecords showing the belief that there was an association between gods, peoples dreams, and hidden meanings in dreams (Oppenheim, 1956). In approximately 2000 B.C. the mythic hero Gilgamesh appeared for the first time (the epic was expanded in later Assyrian mythology). He is guided in his quest by his dreams and his epic also contains the first known recurring dream as well as the idea that dreams can predict future misfortune and can be interpreted by means of several different techniques (Van de

Drinking Age Should Be Lowered - 1039 Words

Malena Chim English 4 Mr. Tachella 25 September 2017 Drinking age is already dangerous as is In recent discussions of the drinking age limit, people have always said that the drinking age limit should be lowered. Some may argue that alcohol is not bad and that it can actually be beneficially. Many people would want the drinking age limit to be lowered so that it is legal for young adults to drink. If the drinking age limit were to be lowered there would be a drastic difference in society. In my perspective I will argue that the drinking age limit should not be lowered. If the drinking age limit were to be lower than Twenty-One in the state of California, it will have a drastic affect to society. Keeping the drinking age at Twenty-One will†¦show more content†¦When paramedics arrived they stated that 3 month old Julian was in cardiac arrest and not breathing. Under all the circumstances they had to continue to perform CPR and was giving oxygen before being rushed to the Royal Bournemouth hospital. Julian was diagnosed with severe head injuries, as well as some fractured collarbone and ribs. He was then transferred to Southampton General Pediatric Intensive Care Unit where he then died at 5:10am even with all the efforts of the medical staff. Robert Hinz was later convicted and charged for the murder of his son. He did a foolish thing that changed his family forever because of his alcoholic rage. This is only one of many things that can happen if you are under the influence of alcohol and/or liquor. Nicole LaFreniere drove drunk and killed 3 people. She was just starting off her career. She had finish cosmetology school and had just gotten a job at a salon in Livermore, California. She decided to let loose and celebrate her accomplishments. She went to the Livermore Saloon bar with a couple of friends, Kyle and Jennifer and ran into some other friends she knew at the bar. She was 20 years old with a fake ID in order to buy some drinks but the bar did not ID her. She had a couple of mixed drinks, had a shot of Jagermeister and downed some Vodka. She then started dancing to the music and just having fun. Her and her friends then walked down the street toShow MoreRelatedShould The Drinking Age Be Lowered?995 Words   |  4 Pages Should the legal drinking age be lowered to age 18? Recently people have been debating whether If the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Some people think 18 is a better age but others think it’s outrageous to lower the drinking age to 18. Aft er much reading and observing, I myself think the drinking age should be kept at 21 years old,because young adults who drink while they re underage make poor decisions and majority of the young adults are in college lacking in classes. The legal drinkingRead MoreShould The Drinking Age Be Lowered?853 Words   |  4 Pagesactivities around their friends to feel like they are a part of the team. Many people often wonder if the court of law stepped in and changed the age of drinking would this help the case of underage drinking. This proposed law would lower the drinking age to make the teenagers less rebellious and allow them to feel more like adults. If the drinking age were to be lowered then teenagers would feel as if they didn’t have to drink every day because they wouldn’t have to wonder when this opportunity will happenRead MoreShould The Drinking Age Be Lowered?875 Words   |  4 Pages Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered? Should the legal drinking age be lowered to age 18? Recently people have been debating whether If the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Some people think 18 is a better age but others think it’s outrageous to lower the drinking age to 18. After much reading and observing, I myself think the drinking age should be kept at 21 years old,because young adults who drink while they re underage make poor decisions and majority of the young adults are in collegeRead MoreThe Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered1135 Words   |  5 Pages In today’s society, underage drinking is seen all around us. It is in TV shows, movies, schools, and even in our own communities. Although it may be understood as something we are not supposed to do, many of these shows do not depict the real issues that can come from drinking under age. While only 11% of the alcohol sold in America is consumed by those under the age of twenty-one, it is still a horrific, nationwide problem. Alc ohol is a drug that can make you do things you would neverRead MoreThe Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered1705 Words   |  7 Pagespassed The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 which enforces the legal drinking age and purchasing of alcohol in the United States to be twenty-one. Since then, the debated idea of whether or not the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen has been an ongoing topic for decades. Alcoholism affects many people in the United States but promoting it at such young age would not be such a great idea for the youths in today’s society.The drinking age should not be lowered due to the fact that itRead MoreShould The Drinking Age Be Lowered? Essay2027 Words   |  9 PagesShould The Drinking Age Be Lowered? One of the major problems today in United States society is the amount of people in college who are drinking while underage. Every day on college campuses we see rebellious young adults disobey the law and drink alcohol under the age of 21. How would things be different if the drinking age was lowered? Would college students abuse it or is it a good idea? Many people believe the drinking age should be kept where it is now based on statistics. I feel the drinkingRead MoreShould The Drinking Age Be Lowered?994 Words   |  4 PagesShould the Drinking Age Be Lowered? Approximately 2 out of every 3 high school students have drank to the point of getting intoxicated (binge drink), in more than one occasion (Centers for Disease and Control Prevention [CDC], n.d.). Binge drinking has become increasingly common for youth under the minimum legal drinking age, making it increasingly dangerous because of the lack of supervision that young adults have that can consequently, lead to death because of fear of the law (Bonnie O’ConnellRead MoreThe Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered1639 Words   |  7 PagesMost people would concur that alcohol should not be given to teenagers. Despite the fact that we concede to this essential truth, underage drinking is still a noteworthy issue in our nation. Since adolescents need development and information with regards to liquor, they put themselves, as well as others in incredible danger when they decide to consume. Regardless of the risk, there are individuals out there who believe that the drinking age should be lowered. However, their argument is weak, andRead MoreThe Drinking Age Should Be Lowered2353 Words   |  10 PagesDrinking Age Over the years the drinking age or the drinking laws have been questioned and changed many times. For a few years now more recently question being, should the drinking age be lowered to eighteen? Or why shouldn’t it? In the United States, binge drinking has been a big problem. Its one of the top causes for traffic tragedies as well as other health issues that come along with it, especially among college students. However since the drinking age has changed from being 18 to 21 thereRead MoreThe Drinking Age Should Be Lowered1599 Words   |  7 Pagesmany years is whether the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen years old, as opposed to where it is now, at twenty one. Some argue that at age eighteen, a person is legally an adult and able to go to war, vote, and partake in other adult activities. If they are an adult at this age, why are they unable to legally drink alcohol? There are numerous reasons why drinking is unsafe for those under twenty one. The drinking age is s et at age twenty one for a reason, and should stay that way. Some states

The Encyclopedia Of Dna Elements - 2407 Words

The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) is a project designed to compare and contrast the repertoire of RNAs produced by the human cells and cross verify with other methods like NGS. After a five year start-up since the beginning of the ENCODE project just 1% of the human genome has been observed and what was achieved was just the confirmation of the results of previous studies. RNA has functions of coding, regulation, decoding, and gene expression. RNA highlights the sequential output from genomes which gives the genetic information. They define the cells regulatory capabilities by their synthesis, translation, transport, processing, and modification. DNA, RNA and cellular proteins are the three most essential macromolecules responsible for the existence of life as we know it. This paper paves way for the generation of a catalogue that contains all the RNAs and their functions. The ENCODE project, which stands for Encyclopedia of DNA elements aims to catalogue and classify the RNA elements generated by human cells. This data acquisition is required to characterize and identify the functionalities that result due to the presence of the human genome sequence. The entire ENCODE project duration is divided into two phases: †¢ Phase I: (1-5 years): examined 1% of the human genome †¢ Phase II: (5-10 years): The interrogation of the complete human genome As per the findings of the ENCODE project, it is concluded that new RNAs consist of either of the two major cellularShow MoreRelatedThe Encyclopedia Of Dna Elements2709 Words   |  11 PagesINTRODUCTION The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) is a project designed to compare and contrast the repertoire of RNAs produced by the human cells and cross verify with other methods like NGS. After a five year start-up since the beginning of the ENCODE project just 1% of the human genome has been observed and what was achieved was just the confirmation of the results of previous studies. RNA has functions of coding, regulation, decoding, and gene expression. RNA highlights the sequential outputRead MoreThe Human Genome Project And Encyclopedia Of Dna Elements2847 Words   |  12 Pagesour life as we know it must start at the basics with our own DNA. DNA is the building blocks for all life, so to understand life we must analyze the mechanism of genetics. Projects like the Human Genome project and Encyclopedia of DNA elements (ENCODE) analyzes DNA to give society an interpretation of what the building code is and means. Our genetic code holds coding and non-coding sequences, at first researchers focused solely on coding DNA for it carried the function and means to life. The other non-codingRead MoreThe Cumulative Prognosis Time Distribution For The Selected Signaling Pathways904 Words   |  4 Pagesprognosis time distribution for the selected signaling pathways are shown in Fig. 4. The later activation of the IL-10 pathway in the symptomatic subjects can be explain ed by the anti-inflammatory nature of IL-10 and†¦. Similarly, the fact that the DNA sensing pathway is quick to become anomalous is likely due to the initial detection of viral ssRNA by RIG-I (Pichlmair, et al., 2006). In fig. 5, we show further evidence of the pathway cascade, i.e., the fraction of the subjects that have k pathwaysRead MoreStructure And Structure Of Membrane Proteins Essay922 Words   |  4 Pagesforms of genetic information in bacteria DNA sequence stored, i.e. bacterial chromosome and plasmids. The following are the properties of a bacterial chromosome. †¢ Location: Within nucleoid region , not surrounded by nuclear envelope. †¢ Number: 1 chromosome each cell. †¢ Size: E.coli 4640 kbp. †¢ Component: Single, double-stranded circular DNA. Also includes RNA and its participation in DNA replication, transcription and gene expression of regulatory proteins. DNA does not interact with histone proteinsRead MoreGenome Decoding: A Review of Three Articles1724 Words   |  7 Pagessubject by describing the mechanism of the human DNA itself far more complex than originally thought. The third has taken a totally new perspective and approached DNA from the point of cancer. I find the third the most persuasive since He-suk (2012) approached the subject from the readers perspective. He realized that cancer is one of our largest concerns today. It remains an undefeated epidemic that arouses huge interest and concern. 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(See Figure 2) Through the advancement of DNA sequencing through â€Å"Next Generation Sequencing† platform, such as Illumina (Solexa) sequencing and Roche 454 sequencing, the genomic industry has been able to go from a viable concept to deploying profitable genomic companies. (See Figure 2) With the continuous development of the Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE), through HGP and National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), companies have beenRead MoreEssay on The Human Genome Project1437 Words   |  6 PagesEmbedded deeply in our body is the complex biological story. The Human Genome Project is the exploration of this intricate yet crucial storyline. The Genome is a complete set of genes that make up an organism. Genes are made up of DNA (deoxynucleic acid) which subsequently is made up of long paired strands. These paired strands attach in a specific manner, for example, Adenine (A) attaches itself to Thymine (T) and Cytosine(C) to Guanine (G). 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How to Write Book Review Free Essays

How to write a book review Perhaps the best way to offer guidelines on how to write a book review is to give you an example of the kind of instructions and guidelines we (i. e. the academic staff) would be given by journals who invite us to review books for them. We will write a custom essay sample on How to Write Book Review or any similar topic only for you Order Now So, here are the instructions given to authors by the ‘Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders’. â€Å"A book review should be an objective and tactful evaluation of a book. The review should offer logic and fact in support of its evaluations.Without being just an abstract of the book, the review should indicate the nature and scope of the book’s content. It should indicate the goals of the author, the techniques used to achieve those goals, and the success of those techniques. You may also discuss how the book relates to its field and how it compares to other books in the field. It is important for your review to discuss what audience the book or other media best serves and to state whether the reviewer recommends it.The review should attempt to place the book within a context (e. g. , Is this a new approach? One that builds on an earlier one? ). Reviews should attempt to convey a flavor of the book overall (i. e. , not just summarize the table of contents. Quotes (see below – AQ: are there examples to be provided? ) can often help in this process. If you feel that the book does not merit a review in the Journal please let us know – there is no requirement that we review every book received and it is perfectly acceptable to do a negative review! † †¦. nd here is an example of an actual review written by Dermot Bowler and published in the European Journal of Disorders of Communication (Volume 31, pp 210-213). Note, however, that this review is somewhat longer than your word-limit permits. SAMPLE REVIEW (reproduced with permission of the author): Review of Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness: An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind. Cambridge, MA. : MIT Press. The integration of a range of theoretical perspectives to provide a coherent scientific account of a natural phenomenon is an easy task only for those who have never had to do it.In this volume, Simon Baron-Cohen has attempted such a difficult exercise by integrating currently fashionable modularist cognitive science accounts of the social dysfunction found in people with autism into neuropsychological and evolutionary frameworks. In the first three Chapters of the book, he aims to persuade us firstly that the explanation of the behaviour of other people using the mentalistic language of folk-psychology (John took his umbrella with him because he thought it might rain) is both highly efficient and evolutionarily advantageous to a species such as ourselves that relies heavily on social organisation for survival.In Chapter 4, he generates a model of development which can account for the emergence of the capacity to mindread in non-autistic children and, taking the well documented deficits in autism of lack of protodeclarative pointing, lack of symbolic play and the failure to understand that another person can act in accordance with a belief that the observer knows to be false, their failure to develop in children with autism. His account draws heavily on Fodor’s (1983) notion that the mind is made up of independent domain-specific modules, the outputs of which interact to yield mental life and behaviour.He also develops earlier accounts such as that of Leslie and Roth (1993), which posit a specific modular mechanism that enables people to understand minds. Specifically, Baron-Cohen outlines four modular systems that are necessary for the process he calls ‘mindreading’. The first of these he terms an intentionality detector (ID) which is triggered by stimuli exhibiting self-propelled motion and computes desire- or goal-based dyadic representations. The second is the eye direction detector (EDD) which is fired by eye-like stimuli and generates representations of the contents of agents’ visual fields.Mechanism number three is called the shared attention mechanism (SAM) which takes input from IDD and ED to compute triadic representations of the kind ‘Daddy sees I see the cat at the window’. Finally, there is the theory of mind mechanism (ToMM), a term borrowed from Leslie’s work, which takes inputs from SAM and knowledge of mental states and their consequences which can be used in a hypothetico-deductive way by someone possessing a full ‘theory of mind’. I n Chapters 4 and 5 of the book, Baron-Cohen marshals a considerable body of evidence in support of the existence of these modules and of their selective breakdown in autism. Briefly, he argues that ID and ED are functional in autism, although he acknowledges that there are still considerable gaps in the evidence. By contrast, SAM and ToMM are severely impaired. In Chapter 6, he draws together evidence from neuropsychological and neurological studies on humans and other species to attempt to localise these modular systems in the brain.In the final two Chapters, he develops the theme that the capacity to read minds depends crucially on the ability to decode information from the eyes of others, and returns to the theme that this capacity can best be understood within an evolutionary framework. As I said at the outset, Mindreading is a tour de force, in that it draws together evidence from a variety of fields with the aim of providing a coherent picture of the phenomenon of how homo sa piens can account for and predict the behaviour of her conspecifics by means of reference to hypothetical internal mental states.Baron-Cohen’s account is worthy of our admiration not just because it describes the current state of scientific play, but also because it permits us to generate propositions which, when tested against data, will refine and improve our understanding. Nevertheless, admirable as this attempt at integration of a range of perspectives might be, a reviewer is duty bound to point out unstated assumptions, weaknesses in analysis, un-expressed counter-arguments and problems of interpretation in an author’s exposition.To this end I will now try to clarify what I see as the three major areas of weakness in this book. The first concerns Baron-Cohen’s overall modularist orientation. Although accounts of psychological functioning that see behaviour as caused by discrete mental processes that are self-contained, domain-specific, automatic, impenetrable to conscious analysis and localised in specific brain sites has a respectable history, it is not, as its originator, Jerry Fodor would have us believe, the only game in town.It is quite possible to argue that the relationship between the categories we use to analyse behaviour and categories of brain state may be more subtle and more complex than a simple one-to-one correspondence, and that localisation of function may be the result either of anatomical happenstance or may not be a serious contender, given the global and integrated manner in which some neuroscientists think brains work. Readers who might be tempted to call a child ‘SAM-impaired’ or ‘IDD-but-not-EDD-impaired should read Bates et al. s (1988) critique of modularism, as well as of what she termed in a 1993 talk ‘thing-in-a-box neurology’, before forming such opinions. My second problem with the book concerns the way in which evidence is presented in support of the argument. Baron-Cohen draws on a wide range of evidence to support the four main planks in his argument; evolutionary, cognitive, neuropsychological/neurological and cultural. Evolutionary evidence is notoriously difficult to assess, since it inevitably has a post-hoc element to it.This is all the more true of the evolution of behavioural adaptations, since they do not leave fossil records that can allow us to detect non-advantageous changes that have died out. I am also worried by arguments that infer survival value and evolutionary success on the basis of the widespread use of a particular behaviour. Baron-Cohen attributes the survival of Homo Sapiens to the fact that we have developed mindreading skills. But many other organisms – from a-social HIV through bees to the social great apes – are evolutionarily successful without mindreading skills. Moreover, I am suspicious about evolutionary accounts that argue that increasingly complex social organisation in primates led to the development of mind-reading skills. This is as if the behaviours called forth by the survival demands of living in complex societies produced a gene that coded for a brain structure that made a particular social behaviour possible. In my view, there is a worrying circularity about all this, not to mention a whiff of Lamarckianism. On the cognitive front, there is undoubtedly an impressive amount of evidence that supports Baron-Cohen’s case, evidence which he presents cogently and skilfully.Indeed, this is the strongest and most closely-argued section of the book. However, there are worrying instances where counter-evidence is either glossed over (e. g. Ozonoff et al’s, 1991 evidence on the possession of mindreading skills in high-functioning individuals with autism) or relegated to footnotes (Ozonoff et al’s, 1991 failure to replicate Baron-Cohen et al’s, 1986 picture sequencing task). There are other instances where evidence appears to be presented where none exists – for example in his discussion of non-autistic people’s use of mental state terms when describing Heider and Simmel’s (1944) cartoon sequence.At the time the book was written, no published data existed on the use of this instrument with people with autism (but see Bowler ;amp; Thommen, 1995), although a less than careful reading of this text might lead one to conclude that there had been. My third set of reservations centre on often inconsistent or imprecise use of terminology. For example, is it justifiable to speak of a module such as ID as ‘interpreting’ stimuli, rather than just generating output when such st imuli are present and not when they are not?On pp126-127, the discussion slides from ‘psychopathology’ to ‘neuropathology’ without explanation. In this section also, I am certain that blind people would not welcome being labelled as having a psychopathology. Examples can also be found of references cited in the text but not in the reference list at the back. All these shortcomings suggest a hasty compilation of the volume. A little more time spent on reflection, exposition and the more technical aspects of production would have paid dividends here.Most of the reservations I have expressed so far all seem to stem from the most major problem of this book, namely its length, or rather the mis-match between its length and the aims the author has set himself. Baron-Cohen acknowledges that he faced a difficult task in trying to write for experts in biological and cognitive sciences, students of psychology and the general reader. Trying to please this four-faceted audience is a difficult enough task; it is even more difficult when the debate has to be engaged at several levels of academic discourse. It is well-nigh impossible in an essay of about 120 pages of printed text.Its very length constrains the book to contain a little, albeit very important, knowledge. However, a little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. Although I would recommend this book to anyone with a personal, scientific or clinical interest in autism, to avoid danger, I would also recommend that it be consumed with some complementary material. The best I can suggest is a paper by the author himself (Baron-Cohen, 1994), which is accompanied by several commentaries and a reply by the author that gives a better flavour of the subtleties of the field than does the volume under review here. How to cite How to Write Book Review, Papers

Agenda Setting And Global Television

Question: Discuss about theAgenda Setting and Global Television. Answer: Introduction The media covers most occurrences in the world. A large percentage of the world's population has access to a gadget which enables access to information. The gadgets could be a mobile phone, television set, a computer and several other platforms. With the advancements in the field of technology, the way in which news spread from one corner of the world to the other has also changed. The communication speed has also increased. The use of the internet has created a platform for media convergence. Information can be sent to the audience in different forms over the internet. Audio, video, pictures, as well as print media, can be sent via the internet. An event happening in The United States of America can be easily followed by someone from India or any other part of the world through live streaming; all you need to do is just get the link of the airing television channel. (Mccombs, 2013, P.85). The Agenda-Setting Theory The agenda setting theory explains how the media affects the audience by setting up the topic to think about. It was formulated by Max McCombs and Donald Shaw in the year 1968 when they were studying the impact of the media to the American Presidential elections. (Bowles, Hamilton Levy, 2014, P.53). What people watch on the television is what they will think about and decide the course to follow. However, this theory has mostly been linked to the wrong happenings in the society which include war, increased crimes and immorality in the societies. A study was done to see the impact of television programs and games on young children. It was found out that those children who were found to be violent watched war-related films and played games such as the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) (David, 2016, P.124). The Consequences of Conflict Reportage in Global Television Global television channels are watched in several places of the world. These channels include BBC, which is found in the United Kingdom, Aljazeera, found in the Middle East, CNN, found in the United States, Sky News, Fox News, and several other television channels. These television channels have a large viewership in the world. News or any other media material aired in these channels will affect a large percentage of people. The attack on the US in September 2011 led to the bombing of Afghanistan which was believed to hide the terrorist responsible, Osama Bin Laden. This event was covered in several media houses with the major one being Aljazeera which even gave the clips of speeches of Bin Laden. The US was forced to regulate the activities of the station; it did not succeed and therefore decided to bomb its operational base killing journalists of the station. What Aljazeera was showing the people was that they knew where Bin Laden was but could not tell the US of his hiding. If they did not know, the question among many was, how did they interview him? It was a time of crisis in Afghanistan, and many innocent people were killed along with the suspects, yet the person behind all these is viewed on the television, what agenda is the Channel setting? Aljazeera set an agenda for the military to bomb its operational base which was not in their plan till they watched their content. Most places during the times of war are attacked because the media has revealed the ongoing activities. The government is then forced by the media to formulate policies to favor different activities in the regions. Most people in the world will expect the government to act in the direction provided by the global media since they feel it is the right decision after being convinced. A video footage from WikiLeaks, in 2010 which showed how the US soldiers killed several civilians and two journalists brought the world into attention on the ongoing crisis. This was not a good image to the world. It made the US military to regulate its attack activities in the fight towards terrorism in the world. So many blamed the incident which resulted in the US government to call upon the military to change their attack policies. Government and organization policies in the world can be set by the global media either directly or indirectly. In an indirect way, the video footage mobilized human rights organizations in the world to rise against the killings. In such cases, the blamed organization will always try to paint such a media negatively. Global television reporting creates a public sphere to any military operations in the world. Mass killings are therefore stopped. This is a positive impact to the society. However, at times it is believed to spread propaganda in the world. This in most cases does happen when the media has been denied freedom by the government. The government will in most cases try to prevent the media from covering the truth about its operations, most of the time political leaders are the ones responsible. They want to be painted positively in the world despite their doings. For example, the US never wanted to be blamed for attacking Iraqi in 2003. (Freedman, Thussu, 2013, P.77). President George W. Bush saw that he was right after all. The news was spread globally that Iraqi was harboring terrorists and that was the reason behind the attack. According to many, this was propaganda to attack Iraqi, the US could have arrested President Saddam Hussein, whom they wanted and stop killing innocent civilia ns. In order to cover tracks which will lead to revealing the truth, global media is made to spread propaganda in the world nations so that they can see the essence of the attack on Iraq. (Haridakis, Hugenberg Wearden, 2016, P.111). The US assumed that it had rights to implement its policies in Iraq without consent from the international ruling bodies. Media Freedom The media is the fourth estate in a country; it deserves freedom. It needs to operate under minimal regulation from the government to avoid it becoming a propaganda tool. Does global media have freedom? The media has not been fully permitted to work in the world. This is why we still have propaganda spread through the global media, misleading people to follow a certain direction intended for them. Media freedom is the reason behind the killing of journalists in the world to cover the truth which they would have revealed to the world. We have had cases of BBC and Aljazeera journalist's being attacked and killed. This is not only in the global television network but also in the local and regional television networks. For instance last month, in Kenya Joseph Masha, who was a news reporter of The Standard Newspaper was attacked after he had had a meal with his rival, who was a politician. He had published an article which could have made the politician to lose in the elections (Zavattaro Bryer, 2016, P.116) He is believed to have killed Masha to stop publications about him. It is according to the media laws to protect your sources of information. (Plaisance, 2012, P.32). The US, during their attack in Afghanistan, attacked the global television networks of Aljazeera for airing clips of the most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden. They wanted to destroy the footage of the video clips and ended up killing journalists in the process. This is an indication that the media has not been given permission to cover certain events. They wanted Aljazeera to tell them where they got the footage from. This is against the media laws in the world. News sources are not to be revealed for their security purposes. Respect to the media laws is missing in the world. (Baran Davis, 2015, P.34) With the advancements in technology, media convergence has greatly improved. The global television networks have a wide coverage. People in different parts of the world can easily access the channels like BBC and CNN in any place through live streaming as long as they possess a gadget that is network enabled like for instance a phone. With the increased internet speeds, there are no difficulties when live streaming. Because of this, most people get news and programs from these channels. As per the agenda setting theory, most of their decisions are made from watching these programs. (Stewart, 2016, P. 63). Now that media has been denied full freedom by governments in which they operate, propaganda is quickly spread all over the world within a very short duration. In the US attack against Iraq, the American government stopped its media from using footage from Aljazeera due to the content covered. At that time, the Iraq attacks were what dominated the media, and so many people who were following the occurrences were denied the opportunity. In this case, the US infringed the media freedom. (Seethaler, 2013, P.47). Freedom of expression and speech has also been invaded in several instances in the global media. When denied an opportunity to air the news or articles you have researched on, then you are being silenced. Since there are so many people watching the global television, access to information is denied to them. Freedom of expression and access to information goes hand in hand in several ways. If one of them is hindered, then the other one is affected. For example, CNN was asked to tell the civilians that Afghanistan was being bombed because of the Taliban's regime to support Al-Qaeda. This was also implemented to the rest of the media houses in the world. The media was directed on what to say therefore it had no freedom to express and exercise what they understood. (Allen Seaton, 2013, P.16) Conclusion The CNN theory that television has usurped the function of governments in setting the agenda therefore dictating international relations holds in some circumstances. What we always have to remember is that the media does not tell people what to think, but what to think about. People are the final decision makers. (Ohair, 2015, P.9). The circumstances under which this theory works include when superpower nations like the USA use the media to spread propaganda to other nations. (Ess, 2009, P.97) The other countries (developed nations), will abide by what they will watch the television or other social media. For instance, when CNN aired news that Afghanistan was to be attacked for supporting terrorists despite the fact that consent was not sleeked from the United Nations organization to apply military force to the state. Most countries believed in it. References Allen, T., Seaton, J. (2013). 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