Invasive Alien Species free essay sample

The White Goby (Glossogobius giuris) This specie has a depressed head while the body takes on a compressed appearance towards to caudal fin. This fish usually has brown or light brown spots on the side. It ranges from 40 – 50cm. Place of Origin: This was first introduced in the Philippines by the Philippine Fisheries Commission in 1960. It was believed that the goby was unconsciously part of the Mozambique Tilapia also an IAS. Distribution: The goby is distributed from tropical and subtropical countries. It can be found on the East Coast of Africa, Southern Asia (e. g. India) and South East Asian countries such as the Philippines. In the Philippines the first recorded white goby to be found is in Lake Mainit, Agusan Del Sur. It can also be found in Lake Lanao in Lanao Del Sur. Feeding Ecology: The white goby is said to be a carnivorous fish; it will feed on any smaller fish that comes across with it. We will write a custom essay sample on Invasive Alien Species or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In Lake Lanao, the white goby is said to have an impact on one of the cyprinid species. Positive Impact: Although the white goby eat the cyprinids it does not have a large impact on the cyprinids compared to eleotrid which feeds on three endemic cyprinid species. Negative Impact: The white goby swims in fresh water. In Lake Mainit the fish was found in their fresh water container and this was the farm’s main water stock. The white goby threatens the cyprinids and paleomonid shrimps. This affects the fish production. It is said that cyprinids are able to help total fish production by 9. 1% and the goby only helps by 0. 9% (Guerrero, 2002). 2. Rice Black Bug (Scotinophara coarctata) The specie is a sap feeding insect that causes a lot of damage to our rice industry. These bugs prefer marshy and wet land environments. Locally known as the â€Å"itim na atangya†. The adult bug is oval-shaped of about 8-9mm long. Place of Origin: In the Philippines, the first records introduction of the specie was in Palawan in 1972, Bicol and Sorsogon in 2004. (International Rice Research Institute, 2010). Distribution: The Rice Black Bug can be found in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand. Feeding Ecology: The rice black bugs’ main host plants are rice and corn. At daytime the specie is in base of the plant and moves up to the fruit of the plant at night time. Positive Impact: More extensive research can be done on the specie especially in our agricultural country. One of our country’s main crops is rice and if the specie continues to disrupt research can be done to mitigate the problem. This can also help countries that are infested with the same species. Negative Impact: The rice black bug infests rice at almost all stages of growth. When the rice field is infested by the specie, the center of the leaves turn brown and die. During the booting stage, rice panicles become empty. Both adult and young rice black bug suck the sap of the rice panicles causing the crop to decay and die (Phil Rice Los Banos OPAPA Team, 2008). 3. What are Invasive Alien Species (IAS)? Invasive Alien Species include exotic, non-native, micro and macro-species that are introduced to our country. These may be accidentally or deliberately to a place where it is not their natural habitat. Most exotic species that are introduced to areas where they have no predators or competitors tend to flourish and increase their population rapidly. IAS may become aggressive and dangerous. Studies show that Invasive Alien Species can affect native species by being its competitor, predator, and niche displacer that can result for native species to be totally extinct. Also, few reported cases that Invasive Alien Species can transfer diseases to other animals and humans. Invasive Alien Species are similar to Global Warming that threaten our environment, food security, human health and economic development especially on the agricultural sector (Joshi, 2007). 4. How are IAS introduced to the Philippines? The Philippines is described to have a high degree of biodiversity. With rapid increase in population, poverty and unlimited wants and needs have resulted to environmental destruction; increase of global trade, import and export have served as an impact to increase invasive alien species in our country. The Philippines have a few data on IAS, most of the time misunderstood due to lack of knowledge about taxonomic identity of IAS. The country also lacks on more extensive information. Most information are modes of introduction to our country. These may be one or a combination of: †¢Transport of organisms to a new habitat between islands and countries. †¢Establishment and propagation of IAS in the new habitat. It may be natural or man-made. †¢Uncontrolled population that may be from deliberate release or accidental escape (Joshi, 2007). The Global Invasive Species Database lists that there are 47 alien species have been introduced in our country. 6 have uncertain biological status and 23 are Philippine native and invasive in other areas. 5. Read articles about the â€Å"janitor fish† in the Philippines. Present solutions to minimize, if not eradicate, these invasive alien species in our freshwater ecosystem. The most recent IAS that is causing an alarm is the â€Å"janitor fish†. The janitor fish has become in Marikina River, Lake Paitan, Nueva Ecija and Laguna de Bay. It was introduced by the aquarium trade industry and has escaped into natural waters. Many solutions to this problem have been implemented by Local Government Units, NGOs, and other organizations that fund different projects. In Marikina, the janitor fish have been sold to about P5. 00 per kilo then deliberately kills the fish afterwards. A World Bank has funded a project where the â€Å"janitor fish† is converted to pig meals in Laguna (Guerrero, 2005). Articles show that the â€Å"janitor fish† does not invade our ecosystem similar to a rice black bug that destroys our rice crops. Some studies show that direct consuming of the janitor fish can have side effects due to different elements found in it such as mercury and lead. Increasing awareness about this problem can help open up ideas to other people that can provide better ways of eradicating the â€Å"janitor fish†. Continued research on the â€Å"janitor fish† skins to be used as handy craft materials is one way of addressing the problem. Research on elements that are inside the â€Å"janitor fish† that can be used in producing bio-fuels. With the studies and researches of people have done in the past years we should insert the idea of an â€Å"economic demand†. With extensive information in the future the â€Å"janitor fish† may help is both economic and environmental concerns in our country. Images of the Species: Rice Black Bug Photo Courtesy of IRR White Goby by Raphael Guerrero References: Sinohin, V. O. Cuatermo, W. R. (2002) Special Reports: Country Reports on Invasive Alien Species. ASEAN BIODIVERSITY Retrieved on November 26, 2011 from http://www.arcbc.org.ph/ https://www.yumpu.com/en/www.bolinfonet.org http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Glossogobius_giuris http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/1238522/invasive-species http://www.stii.dost.gov.ph/

Student Portfolios for Middle and High School Teachers

Student Portfolios for Middle and High School Teachers Definition: Student portfolios are collections of student work that are typically used for an alternative assessment grade in the classroom. Student portfolios can take a couple of forms. Two Forms of Student Portfolios One type of student portfolio contains work that shows the students progression through the course of the school year. For example, writing samples might be taken from the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. This can help show growth and provide teachers, students, and parents with evidence of how the student has progressed. The second type of portfolio involves the student and/or teacher selecting examples of their best work. This type of portfolio can be graded in one of two ways. In many cases, these items are graded normally and then placed in the students portfolio. This portfolio can then be used as evidence of student work for college and scholarship applications among other things. The other way that these types of portfolios can be graded is to wait until the end of a term. In this instance, typically the teacher has published a rubric and students collect their own work for inclusion. Then the teacher grades this work based on the rubric.

Project Performance and Control on the London 2012 construction Essay

Project Performance and Control on the London 2012 construction programme - Essay Example Equally, the program did not suffer from any noticeable or significant deviation from the set goals and measures as detailed in the governing blueprint of the schedule. The orderly and harmonious connection of the different aspects of the program was an enabling factor to the attaining of the different goals attained at the various levels and stages of the program. Most project deliverables were within the stipulated range of time and measures. The overall performance of the program is indicative of the accuracy of methods employed, the appropriate estimations, and the quality of controls and management systems employed before and in the course of the construction. The success of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games depended nearly entirely on the nature of logistics and state of infrastructure. The entire construction project was placed under the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) (Elson, 2012). Experts in the fields of construction, planning, sports, and finance worked together to achieve a level of efficiency that contributed significantly to the successful model of construction and architecture. In essence, analysts contend that much of the efficiency and effectiveness of the program was a factor of appropriate consultation and the assessment of utility, resources, and the element of time. Analysts observe that the performance of the construction program surpassed benchmarks and established standards and that it demonstrated the capacity of London construction industry to overcome the usual inequalities and logistical mishaps that have defined nearly similar projects in the past. Forensic schedule analysis and cost management are some of the key indicators of success that attend to construction projects in many parts of the world. The application of this analysis was manifest in matching of specific processes to respective estimates of time. Teams comprising of contractors, the academia, industry partners, and multiple government bodies worked together with the ODA to assess the kind of synergies that would be required in the development of other systems that are consistent with the nature of success achieved in the London 2012 Construction Program (Elson, 2012). On this note, it becomes important to assess the program as a case in point of the effect of coordination and management on the performance of processes as understood within the construction industry. Appropriate systems of risk management were enlisted throughout the various processes to serve as the safeguards against possible and unforeseeable mishaps to the program. The enlisting of the risk management systems was premised on the awareness of the impact of external factors to the performance of the program. As such, estimates of costs and other operational variables were determined in recognition of the possible variations that determine the nature of performance of processes against the set goals and benchmarks. The preliminary stage of the program focused on the dev elopment of the most appropriate strategy. This stage was one of the most important because it determined the course of action to be taken regarding the other kinds of processes. Some of the details that informed the development of strategy included matters of funding of the specific aspects of the program. Details of internal and external funding were discussed with the view of determining the most appropri

Health Studies- Discuss the origins, structure and function of the NHS Essay - 1

Health Studies- Discuss the origins, structure and function of the NHS and discuss the major challenges the NHS will face over the next five years - Essay Example For this reason, it was prudent to form a dependable health provider. In the country, not all people can afford to pay for their health care, and for those who can it is not affordable for emergency cases and treatment for terminal diseases. Therefore, the government had to set up this facility to accommodate the less privileged in society (Wills, Evans & Samuel, 2008). Secondly, the hospitals available could not offer quality services to the needy. Moreover, there was no proper health equipment that could be used to diagnose and treat some ailments such as cancer (Lewis & Blount, 2014). The government intervened by creating the National Health Service with the intention of empowering such health care systems. The facility organisation aims at offering universal health services regardless of an individual’s income (Humphrey & Russell, 2005). The ease of access to health care services was important because the country had just come out of the Second World War and had many Briti sh casualties that needed care. There was need to re-establish health services to deprive war veteran of injuries inflicted on the battlefield. Therefore, the setting of the principles of the National Health Care was opportune for the subjects. Upon its foundation, the countries well-being has increased since then (Tucker et al., 2009). The general specialist was one of the classifications offered to the subjects. In this category, workers who earned a low pay could access the hospital for free. This services was only provided to the worker with a low pay, but their spouses and children were not covered. In other words, the cover only provided health care to the individual worker who earned the least basic salary (Pierloot & Vancoillie, 2008). People with better salaries or retired are required to pay a substantial amount as fee in acquiring the general practitioner’s services. Doctors facility was an alternative administration

Sustainability and waste management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Sustainability and waste management - Case Study Example During the examination, Env Consultant took note of all the waste disposal facilities at the store. These consisted of Waste Bins kept at various locations for emptying the general wastes of the Store. (Env Consultant, 2005, p.7) Along with the site assessment, Env Consultant also carried out a survey of the existing waste management practices at the Acme Facility. The Central Store had a number of General Waste Bins kept in various locations, where the employees could throw their waste products. In addition to the bins, there were cardboard bales situated in certain places of the Store which could also be used for the disposal of solid wastes. The Waste Bins and the Bales were emptied at regular intervals to ensure that the solid wastes did not accumulate in the Acme Store site. Therefore, Acme had a fairly well regulated system of solid management on its store location. (Env Consultant, 2005, p.7). Modern organizations are engaged in a number of complex business processes. Usually corporations employ several inputs like capital, raw materials, human resources etc. to generate products and services which can be sold in the market to earn revenue. The production of goods and services are accomplished through complicated processes which generate waste materials in addition to the desired products. These waste materials need to be managed and disposed in a proper manner so that they do not create a hazard for the surrounding environment. Most of the countries have administered strict laws regarding the appropriate disposal of waste products and corporations are expected to abide by these laws. This is where the importance of conducting Waste Assessment Programs in Organizations can be considered. Corporations themselves engage different environmental consultancies to assess the former’s existing waste management and disposal practices. Such assessment programs are carried o ut for mainly serving two purposes. From the Waste Management Report, firms can

Analysis of Local Government Finances in Multan District

Analysis of Local Government Finances in Multan District Abstract Public finance deals with the financial management of public entities. This paper provides an overview of the financial affairs of local government of district Multan and identifies issues faced by the systems to deliver efficiently and effectively. It also highlights areas or improvement and opportunities to fund these activities. The district government heavily relies on the provincial grants and has very limited self generated revenue. Although it is responsible to manage various institutions of social services and carry out developmental activities in the district, its reliance on provincial grants make its effort less effective. TMA on the other hand have significant revenue generation and use this to their advantage and work with autonomy. However they still rely on provincial grants for any developmental activities. The stale business process and hurdles in the legal framework also contribute significantly towards the in efficiency of the systems. There are solutions that can help turn around the situation but it needs a sincere effort on part the provincial and local government. Automation and legal reforms could cover a lot of issues. They would not only increase efficiency but would help curtail corruption at various levels. However strong political could change the scene altogether. A comprehensive process was adopted in collecting secondary data through official documents, template and meetings with officials. District Multan was chosen due to its importance specially in the current political setup and based on convenience. Introduction Despite some modest achievements, the economic and social progress in Pakistan has been far from satisfactory during the last more than five decades of independence. Average annual growth rate of 6.8, 4.8, 6.5 and 4.6% (Government of Pakistan, 2003) respectively in the decades of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s is not comparable with the rapid economic progress made by South Korea, Malaysia, China and many other countries which were initially at nearly the same level of economic development (or even below) as that of Pakistan. The performance on social indicators has been gloomier. Despite average figures for economic growth, many countries like Vietnam and Cuba have been able to eradicate illiteracy and have achieved health statistics comparable with developed countries (Zaidi, 2000). Pakistan still ranks at the tail end of social development ranking. Pakistan is also a signatory to the Millennium Declaration, a landmark event showing commitment of political, corporate and civil society leadership to eliminate extreme hunger and poverty and to improve education, health, gender and environment situation through global partnerships for development. A study of the progress achieved on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that the performance of Pakistan has not been noteworthy in the decade of 90s. There has been a gradual convergence of opinion amongst all stakeholders à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" government, civil society as well as international development partners à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" that the failure in social sectors is a direct outcome of the crisis of governance and macro economic imbalances. Further, there is a broad consensus that governance cannot be improved without a meaningful devolution of authority to functional tiers and without ensuring peoples participation in decision making processes at all levels. This stakeholder consensus provided the necessary impetus for the present government to introduce its devolution reforms conceived in 2000 and launched simultaneously in all provinces of Pakistan through introduction of Local Government Ordinances in 2001. Until the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances, the elected local government tiers had a precarious existence depending upon the will of the provincial governments. Many times these would be dissolved and un-elected administrators appointed. Working under the ambit of Local government Ordinances of 1979, there were urban and rural local councils. While urban local councils consisted of Metropolitan/Municipal Corporations and Municipal/Town committees, the rural councils were called District Councils and Union Councils. Traditionally the local councils in Pakistan have performed municipal functions like water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, fire fighting, maintenance of slaughter houses, promotion of cattle markets, fairs and exhibitions and street lighting. They also had varying roles in primary and preventive health care, maternal and child health, promotion of literacy and rural infrastructure development. Devolution reforms in Pakistan, introduced by the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances of 2001 have provided a 3-tier local government system consisting of District Government (DG), Tehsil/Town Municipal Administration (TMA) and Union Administrations (UA). Working under the direction and control of elected councils and Nazims, the present local government system attempts to create institutions and mechanisms for public participation in design, management, monitoring and control of social service delivery. Many of the functions previously performed by the local offices of provincial government departments now clearly fall within the domain of DGs. These reforms are aimed to increase local governments responsibility for efficient and effective social and municipal services delivery. Municipal functions with a wider scope are being carried out by Town Municipal Administrations and City District Governments (established initially in provincial headquarters but subsequently in sele cted big cities as well). Access to adequate resources for the local governments is now considered essential. Additional fiscal space is required for enhanced allocations for the social sector as well as infrastructure development. These resources are also required to meet the social deficits that have accumulated over the past due to inadequate funding coupled with low utilisation in social sectors. Devolution reforms, as originally conceived and articulated, envisaged large scale fiscal decentralisation to follow the administrative and political decentralisation. While a fiscal relationship has been forged between the province and the districts, an extensive reorganisation of resources has not taken place and the vertical financial imbalance stays in place with the major financial collections being made at the federal (and to a lesser extent at the provincial) level. On the other hand, the service provision has fallen at the DG level where the tax base and collection potential is the lowest. Courtesy: Decentralization Support Program, Role Book: 4-day workshop for elected local leadershipResultantly, the biggest challenge facing the local councils in Pakistan (which are more empowered today and have a wider scope of functions than ever) is to ensure consistent, reliable and fool proof mechanisms of transfers from provincial governments and to expand own source revenues in order to provide efficient and effective service delivery as envisaged in devolution reforms. Public Finance  is that part of finance which hovers around the central question of allocation of resources subjected to the budget constraint of the government or public entities. It is that branch of economics which identifies and appraises the means and effects of the policies of the government. Public sector finance tries to examine the effects and consequences of different types of taxation and expenditures on the economic agents (individuals, institutions, organizations, etc.) of the society and ultimately on the entire economy. Public finance also analyzes the effectiveness of the policies aimed at certain objectives and consequently to the development of procedures and techniques for increasing the effectiveness of the policy (Economy Watch, 2010). Literature Review Much of the functional autonomy of the local governments depends upon their ability to raise the required resources from their own sources and to get the balance from the provincial/federal government through consistent and assured mechanisms. This requires not only devising institutional mechanisms for formula and criteria based fiscal transfers but also exploring revenue potentials of local own source revenues. These own source revenues can be in the form of taxes and fees for services provided. It is quite surprising that despite the significance of this, very few local studies have been carried out to examine the resource potential of the local bodies in Pakistan. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) of Pakistan, formulated after considerable debate and input from all major stakeholders, admits that the local governments depend primarily upon fiscal transfers from provincial governments and recognises the need for local revenue mobilisation as an important activity for the sustainability of local government system. Factors steeped in political economy and elite structures have influenced local revenue generation decisions. Howe and Reeb (1997) conducting a survey of the local tax system in USA since the colonial times have determined that economic and political considerations have influenced the tax systems. Bird (2000) gives the desirable characteristics of a local tax. First, the tax base should be relatively immobile so that local governments can vary the rates without losing a significant portion of the base. Second, the tax yield should be adequate to meet the local needs, increase overtime as expenditure increases, and be relatively stable and predictable. Third, the tax should be one that is not easy to export to non residents. Fourth, the tax base should be visible to ensure accountability. Fifth, the tax payers should perceive the tax to be reasonably fair. Sixth, the tax should be reasonably easy to administer. According to Bird (1999), international experience tells that the most responsible and accountable local governments are those that raise their own revenues and set their own tax rates. Meaningful local autonomy and accountability can only take place if the local governments are able to set their own tax rates. In Pakistan, on the other hand, provincial government has the power to vet the tax proposal and no tax can be levied by a local council without publication in official gazette. Kitchen and Slack (2003) after a comprehensive analysis of local taxes in developed world, including Canada, are of the view that in order to meet the growing needs of municipalities, it is mandatory that new resources in addition to the traditional property tax and user fees must be explored. There is little autonomy in preparing district development and non development budgets because of inability to convey the quantum of provincial transfers and vertical programmes. There is more budgetary certainty in TMAs because of increased reliance on OZT replacement tax and own source revenues. Formula based transfers to districts through Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) awards have several weaknesses. District governments have weak tax base in terms of buoyancy and potency of taxes assigned. Urban Immovable Property Tax (UIPT) assigned to TMAs is a buoyant tax but there are administrative confusions. According to Shah et al. (1996) and World Bank (2000) the existing provincial taxes and user charges are inefficient and inequitable and are incapable of meeting significant share of provincial expenditures. Frequently changing and low yield tax instruments with poor tax records create incentives for tax evasion. Considering that agriculture contributes approximately 25% of the GDP in Pakistan, it is estimated that a properly enforced Agricultural Income Tax (AIT) could generate over Rs. 500 million in NWFP only. Presently due to collusion between revenue officials and landowners, lack of understanding, improper assessment and poor collection by the tax collectors, very little of the potential is realised. Bahl (2004) states that in the contemporary world nearly 80 countries are implementing fiscal decentralisation policies. Local government should have the power to define revenue bases, set tax rates and raise taxes. A good tax system should be administratively feasible, revenue burden should correspond to the general condition of local economy, revenue yield should be stable and it should be adequate both for payer and local government. A research study carried out by Provincial Program Support Office, DSP, Punjab Tax and Non Tax Receipt Database Development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" TMA Khanewal in 2005 indicates that there is substantial potential of increase in revenues without enhancing the rates. It has been observed that service delivery potential of the TMA is weak because of its inability to meet all the expenditures. The record of TMA is old; there is no practice of periodic update; and monitoring system is weak. The study also noted that revenue generation can improve dramatically by improving record keeping through maintenance of disaggregated information of taxes and tax payers in all details by the use of information technology. The study recommended computerisation of tax records, capacity building of tax/revenue staff, and increase in transparency of tax records, wider dissemination of information about tax policies, rates and procedures through establishment of people friendly frameworks. Research Methodology The paper examines the current financial situation of district Multan and identifies areas of potential improvement. It also recommends areas that need restructuring and legal reforms to bring about the change that would not only improve systems but would make it robust and ready for future economic growth of the district, keeping in mind the potential the district. Mixed methodology including quantitative and qualitative tools was employed for data collection and analysis. Broadly speaking, it had the following three components. Component 1: The first component involved conducting a comprehensive literature review to see the national, regional and international trends in local resource mobilisation and issues faced by the system. The range of sources accessed and reports/publications examined is broad and includes similar studies conducted for other districts in Pakistan (e.g. Khanewal) and elsewhere. Unfortunately, to the extent of Pakistan, the Khanewal study is so far the only study available as a reference for examination of local resource enhancement in the local government. Greater reliance, therefore, had to be placed on studies conducted in other countries. Nevertheless, the literature review helped in identifying the issues involved in local taxation (levy, assessment and collection) and an examination thereof in a comparative perspective. The success of local governments to raise resources locally is largely contingent on framing appropriate laws and rules in consonance with the ground realities. Therefore, an important part of the literature review exercise was to identify relevant laws, rules, regulations, notifications and circulars that in some distinct manner impinge upon the resource mobilisation at district/tehsil level. Component 2: Along with the literature review an exercise was also undertaken to collect data for the District Government (DG) Multan and each of the six Tehsil Municipal Administrations included in the two districts. A comprehensive template was developed to standardise data collected from various councils. It lists all major and minor sources of revenue for a local council; the legal framework (law/rule/regulation) authorising its levy; business process for assessment and collection; the amount budgeted against each tax/levy/fee/cess etc for each of the last four fiscal years 2007-10; budgetary revisions (if any) and collections actually realised. The budget documents for the last four years were used as the starting point and the amount budgeted for each source was picked from the budget documents. Component 3 A detailed analysis of receipts, expenditure, development initiatives, review of business process and relevant legal provision and their issues was carried out. Component 4: Then a series of individual interviews were held. This included meeting the Tehsil Municipal Officers, Executive District Officers (Revenue, Finance and Planning, Municipal Services), various District Officers, Excise and taxation officials, Multan Development Authority and Water and Sanitation Agency officials The suggestions and recommendations on the perspectives emanating from these interviews. Data Analysis and interpretation Overview of Public Finance (district government budget) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Actual Actual RE Non-development 2,762.80 3,912.51 4,066.98 Development 1,462.49 1,539.14 882.19 Development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" tied grant 300.12 512.19 965.16 Total 4,525.41 5,963.84 5,914.34 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Opening balance 386.16 995.15 1,086.13 Provincial grants 3,780.30 3,853.29 5,172.88 Own Source revenue 201.07 149.37 140.13 Tied grants (development and non-development) 475.84 801.40 1,017.88 Total 4,853.37 5,726.64 7,417.02 Revenue of the district is of two types i.e. Own source revenue and provincial transfers. In district Multan there is a heavy reliance on funding from provincial government since district OSR is almost negligible. Efforts are needed to change the scenario and move the district towards sustainability A sharp rise of 37% in provincial grants could be noticed in the FY 2008-09 over FY 2007-08 endorsing districts dependence on these transfers. The provincial grants are transferred as per the PFC criteria which will be discussed in depth later in the chapter. Tied grants being the second highest source has been transferred for development and non development expenses of the district government. For the FY 2008-09 the tied grants are Rs. 1,018m which constitute 13.7% of the total sources. These grants are for specific expenditure and are not in districts control. The own source revenue (OSR) of the district govt. forms a very insignificant amount (2%, 2008-09), rendering the district to re ly heavily on provincial transfers. The OSR of the district has been on a decreasing trend compared to overall resource requirement. This is a major cause of concern as this not only increases dependence on provincial transfer but it also affects the autonomy of the district to make decisions. A sincere effort to revamp the taxes and their collection mechanism is required with the focus on generating more resource. In budget for FY 2009-10 there is an increase in OSR of 40% which includes estimation of arrears that are more than 3 years old. These balances are very old and have been appearing in budget estimates for over more than 3 years. However the increase is still insignificant compare to the requirement of the district. A detailed analysis of item by item sources of income was done. Issues relating to a few significant items will be highlighted in the section of recommendations. Expenditures are categorized in to two broad categories i.e. Development and Non development. The ratio of development vs. non development expenditure has changed over the years with a downward trend in development expenditure. This trend should be a cause of concern as the development projects loose priority to make way for funding ongoing activities In 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 the ratio of non developmental expenses vs. development expenses is 61% to 39%, 66% to 34% and 69% to 31% respectively. This shows the declining trend of developmental budget. The year 2008-09 saw a drop in the allocation for developmental activities out of district government resources from Rs. 1,538 m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 1,082 m in FY 2008-09. This huge reduction was somewhat compensated through increase in development expenditure through tied grants which rose from Rs. 512m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 965m in FY 2008-09. In FY 2008-09 the budget estimate for development activities other than CCB and tied gr ants stood at Rs. 558 m for ongoing activities and Rs. 742 m for new activities. The revised estimate for same expenditure came out to be Rs. 656m. Which means that not only new activities were not initiated nor ongoing expenditure targets were met. The major reasons identified during discussion is the change in political setup in the province resulting in delay tactics for funds transfer. The development budget for the district government consists of funds allocated towards Annual development program, Citizen Community board and Tied grants (provided by provincial government against specific development projects). In the FY 2009-10 the total budget for development stands at Rs. 2,749 m which is 38% of the total budget for this year. The total allocation towards ADP is Rs. 1,492 m which is 54% of the total development budget. This ADP has Rs. 966m as ongoing projects that have started in previous years. This is a large allocation and has taken up approximately 35% of the share from development budget. The new projects identified for the year are 19% of the total development budget. The ADP (ongoing and new) are mainly focused on following sectors Annual development program 2009-10 % Sectors Rs. in millions    Education 214.342 14% Health 159.877 12% Dist. Govt. facilities 52.166 3% Solid waste management 26.188 2% Sports 47.14 3% General bus stand 64.259 4% Livestock and Fisheries 24.027 2% Firms to market roads 223.931 15% Roads, Building and Roundabouts 348.837 23% Others 332.034 22% Total 1492.801 The above table reflects district governments priorities for sector development. The social services such as health and education take up 26% of the share whereas the roads network takes up 38% of the allocation. Overview of Public Finance (All 6 TMAs) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Non-development 251 247 326 Development 470 449 584 Total 721 697 910 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Provincial grant 246 303 290 Own Source revenue 293 339 414 Total 540 642 704 There are 6 TMAs in the district and all of them have a reasonable amount of OSR to help them fund their activities. However there is still potential to increase their revenue specially taxes that form a major component of their OSR. Receipts of TMA consist of provincial transfer and OSR. In TMAs OSR contributes significantly. The ratio of contribution of OSR has in fact increased in FY 2008-09. This is a positive sign as far the TMAs ability to make decisions is involved. However there is still room for increase in revenue. The major source being taxes should be tapped into for more efficiency. It is worth noting, looking at the combined figures for all 6 TMAs, that the OSR in all the 3 FY under discussion has been sufficient to fund the non development activities even leaving a surplus to be spent on development activities. The development vs. non development expenses are more or less consistent at a ratio of 64:36 over the last 3 years. The above table shows the break up of development expenditure for the TMA. The allocation towards development expenditure is 64% of the total outlay. It has remained at this level over last 3 years. The allocation in FY 2008-09, which comprises of the annual development projects, CCB contribution and payment against liabilities amounts to Rs. 255m, Rs. 262m and Rs. 66 m, respectively. Payments against these liabilities were frozen by the government of Punjab and have asked the TMAs to present these liabilities as new projects under the ADP. Optimistic planning and change in political setup at the provincial level resulted in huge payment liabilities being carried forward to the next year. PFC award à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" This is another source of income for the DG and TMAs. The criteria for distributing the PFC grant is specified by the Punjab Government and takes into consideration the population and socio economic indicator of the district (GOP, Budget White Paper, 2009-10) The district government and the TMAs have received funds at around 5% level from the provincial allocation over last 4 years. If we take a simple benchmark of population to compare the level of funding, Multan district has 4.26% population of Punjab (GOP, Punjab Development Statistics, 2009). This reflects that district Multan has been receiving fair share of the pie. 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Resources transfer by Province to DG 90,794 96,952 99,413 108,822 TMA 13,541 14,431 15,320 15,209 Total 104,335 111,383 114,733 124,031 Allocation to DG and TMAs of Multan 4,512.56 4,885.02 6,480.43 6,108.37 % share 4.325% 4.386% 5.648% 4.925% Population Punjab 87,548 89,036 90,550 92,089 Multan 3,727 3,792 3,858 3,925 % population 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% Recommendations Business process and legal reforms In this section we will focus our discussion on business process and relevant legal reforms to help identify areas of improvement. Section 116 of PLGO 2001 empowers the council to impose, increase, reduce, abolish, suspend and/or exempt any tax mentioned in the second schedule there in. However the section also mentioned that any amendment to taxes is vetted by the provincial government. This process hampers the local governments autonomy to set their own tax rates as the provincial government plays a controlling role. If full autonomy to fix rates etc. is not to be devolved, then the issue can be resolved by providing band widths within which the DGs and the TMAs would be free to act. To address the issue of stale process it is recommend that automation of business process, a comprehensive revenues base assessment and capacity building of staff should take place. The automation of business processes would result in better accounting, efficiency in tax collection mechanism hence increasing revenue, provide up to date databases, availability of information to be used by various department and timely reporting. It has been assessed that without increasing the rates of present taxes the yield can improve dramatically by maintaining records/registers properly, regular survey and incorporation of changes in tax records, improved monitoring and inclusion of systems of rewards and punishments for tax collecting machinery. Capacity and training of staff are critical to success of any initiative for enhancement of own source revenues. Local government officials dealing with these issues (in many cases) do not have up to date information about government laws and rules. Training with respect to financial management and procurement plus IT is also critical for bringing positive change. Low yielding taxes/fees are an administrative hassle for the collecting authority and they should be done away with or their rates be revised upwards to increase revenue. Dissemination of information about process, assessments, valuation table, and fees would help curtail corruption. One of the major reason people fall in the trap of providing kick backs is lack of information. This information could be made available through IEC material, notices in newspapers, display through posters in relevant offices and media awareness campaign. The business process of all OSR items such as taxes, rents and fees and user charge in the DGs and TMAs have mostly been defined a long time ago and the current LG setup has inherited them. There has not been any significant investment in review and reform of business processes of the taxes. Our research has shown that many improvements in the system can result from identification and removal of various loopholes and weaknesses in the processes. We recommend a comprehensive effort to be made to overhaul these processes which would result in collection efficiencies and significant improvement in tax payer facilitation. A quality control mechanism should be introduced to check functioning of various departments in the district. Conclusion This study briefly discusses the financial position of District Multan. It also carries out the financial analysis of the current situation and identifies issues faced by the local government. The major issues highlighted are capacity of the local government and the will to address issues. Multan being the 5th largest city of Pakistan has the potential to grow economically. It is well geographically well positioned since it lies in the middle of the trade route connecting south with north. A major initiative to revamp the systems would result in positive outcome for the people of the district. This paper also recommends few areas of improvement. A much larger effort needs to go into this. Recommendations such as legal reforms, revamping business process, trainings and automation needs to be implemented together to bring quick change. However this whole effort needs to be financed. The financing could take place with one or all of the following options; Lists of 11 properties were identified on a pilot basis. These properties/facilities are all in prime locations inside the city and are owned by the DG. We propose to sell of these properties and either abolished these facilities or relocate them to a more economical location. Through this proposal we would be able to raise Rs. 4,682 m. This in only the tip of iceberg, a more comprehensive study would reveal a lot more properties. Another area of resource generation is the property given on rent. The DG and TMA have many shops, stores and buildings that have been rented out. One of the ways forward could be to revise the rents and bring them at market level. Another option is to sell out these properties on market value and receive a good cash inflow that could be used for major initiatives. There are many government educational institutions with city limits many of them being on prime locations. A designated education city should be developed and all these institution should be shifted. A cost benefit analysis should be carried out to assess the potential of this option. Municipal bond is issued by a city or municipal bodies. The bond holders receive Interest income. Municipal securities consist of both short-term issues (often called notes, which typically mature in one year or less) and long-term issues (commonly known as bonds, which mature in more than one year). Short-term notes are used by an issuer to raise money for a variety of reasons: in anticipation of future revenues such as taxes, state or federal aid payments, and future bond issuances; to cover irregular cash flows; me Analysis of Local Government Finances in Multan District Analysis of Local Government Finances in Multan District Abstract Public finance deals with the financial management of public entities. This paper provides an overview of the financial affairs of local government of district Multan and identifies issues faced by the systems to deliver efficiently and effectively. It also highlights areas or improvement and opportunities to fund these activities. The district government heavily relies on the provincial grants and has very limited self generated revenue. Although it is responsible to manage various institutions of social services and carry out developmental activities in the district, its reliance on provincial grants make its effort less effective. TMA on the other hand have significant revenue generation and use this to their advantage and work with autonomy. However they still rely on provincial grants for any developmental activities. The stale business process and hurdles in the legal framework also contribute significantly towards the in efficiency of the systems. There are solutions that can help turn around the situation but it needs a sincere effort on part the provincial and local government. Automation and legal reforms could cover a lot of issues. They would not only increase efficiency but would help curtail corruption at various levels. However strong political could change the scene altogether. A comprehensive process was adopted in collecting secondary data through official documents, template and meetings with officials. District Multan was chosen due to its importance specially in the current political setup and based on convenience. Introduction Despite some modest achievements, the economic and social progress in Pakistan has been far from satisfactory during the last more than five decades of independence. Average annual growth rate of 6.8, 4.8, 6.5 and 4.6% (Government of Pakistan, 2003) respectively in the decades of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s is not comparable with the rapid economic progress made by South Korea, Malaysia, China and many other countries which were initially at nearly the same level of economic development (or even below) as that of Pakistan. The performance on social indicators has been gloomier. Despite average figures for economic growth, many countries like Vietnam and Cuba have been able to eradicate illiteracy and have achieved health statistics comparable with developed countries (Zaidi, 2000). Pakistan still ranks at the tail end of social development ranking. Pakistan is also a signatory to the Millennium Declaration, a landmark event showing commitment of political, corporate and civil society leadership to eliminate extreme hunger and poverty and to improve education, health, gender and environment situation through global partnerships for development. A study of the progress achieved on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that the performance of Pakistan has not been noteworthy in the decade of 90s. There has been a gradual convergence of opinion amongst all stakeholders à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" government, civil society as well as international development partners à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" that the failure in social sectors is a direct outcome of the crisis of governance and macro economic imbalances. Further, there is a broad consensus that governance cannot be improved without a meaningful devolution of authority to functional tiers and without ensuring peoples participation in decision making processes at all levels. This stakeholder consensus provided the necessary impetus for the present government to introduce its devolution reforms conceived in 2000 and launched simultaneously in all provinces of Pakistan through introduction of Local Government Ordinances in 2001. Until the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances, the elected local government tiers had a precarious existence depending upon the will of the provincial governments. Many times these would be dissolved and un-elected administrators appointed. Working under the ambit of Local government Ordinances of 1979, there were urban and rural local councils. While urban local councils consisted of Metropolitan/Municipal Corporations and Municipal/Town committees, the rural councils were called District Councils and Union Councils. Traditionally the local councils in Pakistan have performed municipal functions like water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, fire fighting, maintenance of slaughter houses, promotion of cattle markets, fairs and exhibitions and street lighting. They also had varying roles in primary and preventive health care, maternal and child health, promotion of literacy and rural infrastructure development. Devolution reforms in Pakistan, introduced by the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances of 2001 have provided a 3-tier local government system consisting of District Government (DG), Tehsil/Town Municipal Administration (TMA) and Union Administrations (UA). Working under the direction and control of elected councils and Nazims, the present local government system attempts to create institutions and mechanisms for public participation in design, management, monitoring and control of social service delivery. Many of the functions previously performed by the local offices of provincial government departments now clearly fall within the domain of DGs. These reforms are aimed to increase local governments responsibility for efficient and effective social and municipal services delivery. Municipal functions with a wider scope are being carried out by Town Municipal Administrations and City District Governments (established initially in provincial headquarters but subsequently in sele cted big cities as well). Access to adequate resources for the local governments is now considered essential. Additional fiscal space is required for enhanced allocations for the social sector as well as infrastructure development. These resources are also required to meet the social deficits that have accumulated over the past due to inadequate funding coupled with low utilisation in social sectors. Devolution reforms, as originally conceived and articulated, envisaged large scale fiscal decentralisation to follow the administrative and political decentralisation. While a fiscal relationship has been forged between the province and the districts, an extensive reorganisation of resources has not taken place and the vertical financial imbalance stays in place with the major financial collections being made at the federal (and to a lesser extent at the provincial) level. On the other hand, the service provision has fallen at the DG level where the tax base and collection potential is the lowest. Courtesy: Decentralization Support Program, Role Book: 4-day workshop for elected local leadershipResultantly, the biggest challenge facing the local councils in Pakistan (which are more empowered today and have a wider scope of functions than ever) is to ensure consistent, reliable and fool proof mechanisms of transfers from provincial governments and to expand own source revenues in order to provide efficient and effective service delivery as envisaged in devolution reforms. Public Finance  is that part of finance which hovers around the central question of allocation of resources subjected to the budget constraint of the government or public entities. It is that branch of economics which identifies and appraises the means and effects of the policies of the government. Public sector finance tries to examine the effects and consequences of different types of taxation and expenditures on the economic agents (individuals, institutions, organizations, etc.) of the society and ultimately on the entire economy. Public finance also analyzes the effectiveness of the policies aimed at certain objectives and consequently to the development of procedures and techniques for increasing the effectiveness of the policy (Economy Watch, 2010). Literature Review Much of the functional autonomy of the local governments depends upon their ability to raise the required resources from their own sources and to get the balance from the provincial/federal government through consistent and assured mechanisms. This requires not only devising institutional mechanisms for formula and criteria based fiscal transfers but also exploring revenue potentials of local own source revenues. These own source revenues can be in the form of taxes and fees for services provided. It is quite surprising that despite the significance of this, very few local studies have been carried out to examine the resource potential of the local bodies in Pakistan. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) of Pakistan, formulated after considerable debate and input from all major stakeholders, admits that the local governments depend primarily upon fiscal transfers from provincial governments and recognises the need for local revenue mobilisation as an important activity for the sustainability of local government system. Factors steeped in political economy and elite structures have influenced local revenue generation decisions. Howe and Reeb (1997) conducting a survey of the local tax system in USA since the colonial times have determined that economic and political considerations have influenced the tax systems. Bird (2000) gives the desirable characteristics of a local tax. First, the tax base should be relatively immobile so that local governments can vary the rates without losing a significant portion of the base. Second, the tax yield should be adequate to meet the local needs, increase overtime as expenditure increases, and be relatively stable and predictable. Third, the tax should be one that is not easy to export to non residents. Fourth, the tax base should be visible to ensure accountability. Fifth, the tax payers should perceive the tax to be reasonably fair. Sixth, the tax should be reasonably easy to administer. According to Bird (1999), international experience tells that the most responsible and accountable local governments are those that raise their own revenues and set their own tax rates. Meaningful local autonomy and accountability can only take place if the local governments are able to set their own tax rates. In Pakistan, on the other hand, provincial government has the power to vet the tax proposal and no tax can be levied by a local council without publication in official gazette. Kitchen and Slack (2003) after a comprehensive analysis of local taxes in developed world, including Canada, are of the view that in order to meet the growing needs of municipalities, it is mandatory that new resources in addition to the traditional property tax and user fees must be explored. There is little autonomy in preparing district development and non development budgets because of inability to convey the quantum of provincial transfers and vertical programmes. There is more budgetary certainty in TMAs because of increased reliance on OZT replacement tax and own source revenues. Formula based transfers to districts through Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) awards have several weaknesses. District governments have weak tax base in terms of buoyancy and potency of taxes assigned. Urban Immovable Property Tax (UIPT) assigned to TMAs is a buoyant tax but there are administrative confusions. According to Shah et al. (1996) and World Bank (2000) the existing provincial taxes and user charges are inefficient and inequitable and are incapable of meeting significant share of provincial expenditures. Frequently changing and low yield tax instruments with poor tax records create incentives for tax evasion. Considering that agriculture contributes approximately 25% of the GDP in Pakistan, it is estimated that a properly enforced Agricultural Income Tax (AIT) could generate over Rs. 500 million in NWFP only. Presently due to collusion between revenue officials and landowners, lack of understanding, improper assessment and poor collection by the tax collectors, very little of the potential is realised. Bahl (2004) states that in the contemporary world nearly 80 countries are implementing fiscal decentralisation policies. Local government should have the power to define revenue bases, set tax rates and raise taxes. A good tax system should be administratively feasible, revenue burden should correspond to the general condition of local economy, revenue yield should be stable and it should be adequate both for payer and local government. A research study carried out by Provincial Program Support Office, DSP, Punjab Tax and Non Tax Receipt Database Development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" TMA Khanewal in 2005 indicates that there is substantial potential of increase in revenues without enhancing the rates. It has been observed that service delivery potential of the TMA is weak because of its inability to meet all the expenditures. The record of TMA is old; there is no practice of periodic update; and monitoring system is weak. The study also noted that revenue generation can improve dramatically by improving record keeping through maintenance of disaggregated information of taxes and tax payers in all details by the use of information technology. The study recommended computerisation of tax records, capacity building of tax/revenue staff, and increase in transparency of tax records, wider dissemination of information about tax policies, rates and procedures through establishment of people friendly frameworks. Research Methodology The paper examines the current financial situation of district Multan and identifies areas of potential improvement. It also recommends areas that need restructuring and legal reforms to bring about the change that would not only improve systems but would make it robust and ready for future economic growth of the district, keeping in mind the potential the district. Mixed methodology including quantitative and qualitative tools was employed for data collection and analysis. Broadly speaking, it had the following three components. Component 1: The first component involved conducting a comprehensive literature review to see the national, regional and international trends in local resource mobilisation and issues faced by the system. The range of sources accessed and reports/publications examined is broad and includes similar studies conducted for other districts in Pakistan (e.g. Khanewal) and elsewhere. Unfortunately, to the extent of Pakistan, the Khanewal study is so far the only study available as a reference for examination of local resource enhancement in the local government. Greater reliance, therefore, had to be placed on studies conducted in other countries. Nevertheless, the literature review helped in identifying the issues involved in local taxation (levy, assessment and collection) and an examination thereof in a comparative perspective. The success of local governments to raise resources locally is largely contingent on framing appropriate laws and rules in consonance with the ground realities. Therefore, an important part of the literature review exercise was to identify relevant laws, rules, regulations, notifications and circulars that in some distinct manner impinge upon the resource mobilisation at district/tehsil level. Component 2: Along with the literature review an exercise was also undertaken to collect data for the District Government (DG) Multan and each of the six Tehsil Municipal Administrations included in the two districts. A comprehensive template was developed to standardise data collected from various councils. It lists all major and minor sources of revenue for a local council; the legal framework (law/rule/regulation) authorising its levy; business process for assessment and collection; the amount budgeted against each tax/levy/fee/cess etc for each of the last four fiscal years 2007-10; budgetary revisions (if any) and collections actually realised. The budget documents for the last four years were used as the starting point and the amount budgeted for each source was picked from the budget documents. Component 3 A detailed analysis of receipts, expenditure, development initiatives, review of business process and relevant legal provision and their issues was carried out. Component 4: Then a series of individual interviews were held. This included meeting the Tehsil Municipal Officers, Executive District Officers (Revenue, Finance and Planning, Municipal Services), various District Officers, Excise and taxation officials, Multan Development Authority and Water and Sanitation Agency officials The suggestions and recommendations on the perspectives emanating from these interviews. Data Analysis and interpretation Overview of Public Finance (district government budget) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Actual Actual RE Non-development 2,762.80 3,912.51 4,066.98 Development 1,462.49 1,539.14 882.19 Development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" tied grant 300.12 512.19 965.16 Total 4,525.41 5,963.84 5,914.34 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Opening balance 386.16 995.15 1,086.13 Provincial grants 3,780.30 3,853.29 5,172.88 Own Source revenue 201.07 149.37 140.13 Tied grants (development and non-development) 475.84 801.40 1,017.88 Total 4,853.37 5,726.64 7,417.02 Revenue of the district is of two types i.e. Own source revenue and provincial transfers. In district Multan there is a heavy reliance on funding from provincial government since district OSR is almost negligible. Efforts are needed to change the scenario and move the district towards sustainability A sharp rise of 37% in provincial grants could be noticed in the FY 2008-09 over FY 2007-08 endorsing districts dependence on these transfers. The provincial grants are transferred as per the PFC criteria which will be discussed in depth later in the chapter. Tied grants being the second highest source has been transferred for development and non development expenses of the district government. For the FY 2008-09 the tied grants are Rs. 1,018m which constitute 13.7% of the total sources. These grants are for specific expenditure and are not in districts control. The own source revenue (OSR) of the district govt. forms a very insignificant amount (2%, 2008-09), rendering the district to re ly heavily on provincial transfers. The OSR of the district has been on a decreasing trend compared to overall resource requirement. This is a major cause of concern as this not only increases dependence on provincial transfer but it also affects the autonomy of the district to make decisions. A sincere effort to revamp the taxes and their collection mechanism is required with the focus on generating more resource. In budget for FY 2009-10 there is an increase in OSR of 40% which includes estimation of arrears that are more than 3 years old. These balances are very old and have been appearing in budget estimates for over more than 3 years. However the increase is still insignificant compare to the requirement of the district. A detailed analysis of item by item sources of income was done. Issues relating to a few significant items will be highlighted in the section of recommendations. Expenditures are categorized in to two broad categories i.e. Development and Non development. The ratio of development vs. non development expenditure has changed over the years with a downward trend in development expenditure. This trend should be a cause of concern as the development projects loose priority to make way for funding ongoing activities In 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 the ratio of non developmental expenses vs. development expenses is 61% to 39%, 66% to 34% and 69% to 31% respectively. This shows the declining trend of developmental budget. The year 2008-09 saw a drop in the allocation for developmental activities out of district government resources from Rs. 1,538 m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 1,082 m in FY 2008-09. This huge reduction was somewhat compensated through increase in development expenditure through tied grants which rose from Rs. 512m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 965m in FY 2008-09. In FY 2008-09 the budget estimate for development activities other than CCB and tied gr ants stood at Rs. 558 m for ongoing activities and Rs. 742 m for new activities. The revised estimate for same expenditure came out to be Rs. 656m. Which means that not only new activities were not initiated nor ongoing expenditure targets were met. The major reasons identified during discussion is the change in political setup in the province resulting in delay tactics for funds transfer. The development budget for the district government consists of funds allocated towards Annual development program, Citizen Community board and Tied grants (provided by provincial government against specific development projects). In the FY 2009-10 the total budget for development stands at Rs. 2,749 m which is 38% of the total budget for this year. The total allocation towards ADP is Rs. 1,492 m which is 54% of the total development budget. This ADP has Rs. 966m as ongoing projects that have started in previous years. This is a large allocation and has taken up approximately 35% of the share from development budget. The new projects identified for the year are 19% of the total development budget. The ADP (ongoing and new) are mainly focused on following sectors Annual development program 2009-10 % Sectors Rs. in millions    Education 214.342 14% Health 159.877 12% Dist. Govt. facilities 52.166 3% Solid waste management 26.188 2% Sports 47.14 3% General bus stand 64.259 4% Livestock and Fisheries 24.027 2% Firms to market roads 223.931 15% Roads, Building and Roundabouts 348.837 23% Others 332.034 22% Total 1492.801 The above table reflects district governments priorities for sector development. The social services such as health and education take up 26% of the share whereas the roads network takes up 38% of the allocation. Overview of Public Finance (All 6 TMAs) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Non-development 251 247 326 Development 470 449 584 Total 721 697 910 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Provincial grant 246 303 290 Own Source revenue 293 339 414 Total 540 642 704 There are 6 TMAs in the district and all of them have a reasonable amount of OSR to help them fund their activities. However there is still potential to increase their revenue specially taxes that form a major component of their OSR. Receipts of TMA consist of provincial transfer and OSR. In TMAs OSR contributes significantly. The ratio of contribution of OSR has in fact increased in FY 2008-09. This is a positive sign as far the TMAs ability to make decisions is involved. However there is still room for increase in revenue. The major source being taxes should be tapped into for more efficiency. It is worth noting, looking at the combined figures for all 6 TMAs, that the OSR in all the 3 FY under discussion has been sufficient to fund the non development activities even leaving a surplus to be spent on development activities. The development vs. non development expenses are more or less consistent at a ratio of 64:36 over the last 3 years. The above table shows the break up of development expenditure for the TMA. The allocation towards development expenditure is 64% of the total outlay. It has remained at this level over last 3 years. The allocation in FY 2008-09, which comprises of the annual development projects, CCB contribution and payment against liabilities amounts to Rs. 255m, Rs. 262m and Rs. 66 m, respectively. Payments against these liabilities were frozen by the government of Punjab and have asked the TMAs to present these liabilities as new projects under the ADP. Optimistic planning and change in political setup at the provincial level resulted in huge payment liabilities being carried forward to the next year. PFC award à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" This is another source of income for the DG and TMAs. The criteria for distributing the PFC grant is specified by the Punjab Government and takes into consideration the population and socio economic indicator of the district (GOP, Budget White Paper, 2009-10) The district government and the TMAs have received funds at around 5% level from the provincial allocation over last 4 years. If we take a simple benchmark of population to compare the level of funding, Multan district has 4.26% population of Punjab (GOP, Punjab Development Statistics, 2009). This reflects that district Multan has been receiving fair share of the pie. 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Resources transfer by Province to DG 90,794 96,952 99,413 108,822 TMA 13,541 14,431 15,320 15,209 Total 104,335 111,383 114,733 124,031 Allocation to DG and TMAs of Multan 4,512.56 4,885.02 6,480.43 6,108.37 % share 4.325% 4.386% 5.648% 4.925% Population Punjab 87,548 89,036 90,550 92,089 Multan 3,727 3,792 3,858 3,925 % population 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% Recommendations Business process and legal reforms In this section we will focus our discussion on business process and relevant legal reforms to help identify areas of improvement. Section 116 of PLGO 2001 empowers the council to impose, increase, reduce, abolish, suspend and/or exempt any tax mentioned in the second schedule there in. However the section also mentioned that any amendment to taxes is vetted by the provincial government. This process hampers the local governments autonomy to set their own tax rates as the provincial government plays a controlling role. If full autonomy to fix rates etc. is not to be devolved, then the issue can be resolved by providing band widths within which the DGs and the TMAs would be free to act. To address the issue of stale process it is recommend that automation of business process, a comprehensive revenues base assessment and capacity building of staff should take place. The automation of business processes would result in better accounting, efficiency in tax collection mechanism hence increasing revenue, provide up to date databases, availability of information to be used by various department and timely reporting. It has been assessed that without increasing the rates of present taxes the yield can improve dramatically by maintaining records/registers properly, regular survey and incorporation of changes in tax records, improved monitoring and inclusion of systems of rewards and punishments for tax collecting machinery. Capacity and training of staff are critical to success of any initiative for enhancement of own source revenues. Local government officials dealing with these issues (in many cases) do not have up to date information about government laws and rules. Training with respect to financial management and procurement plus IT is also critical for bringing positive change. Low yielding taxes/fees are an administrative hassle for the collecting authority and they should be done away with or their rates be revised upwards to increase revenue. Dissemination of information about process, assessments, valuation table, and fees would help curtail corruption. One of the major reason people fall in the trap of providing kick backs is lack of information. This information could be made available through IEC material, notices in newspapers, display through posters in relevant offices and media awareness campaign. The business process of all OSR items such as taxes, rents and fees and user charge in the DGs and TMAs have mostly been defined a long time ago and the current LG setup has inherited them. There has not been any significant investment in review and reform of business processes of the taxes. Our research has shown that many improvements in the system can result from identification and removal of various loopholes and weaknesses in the processes. We recommend a comprehensive effort to be made to overhaul these processes which would result in collection efficiencies and significant improvement in tax payer facilitation. A quality control mechanism should be introduced to check functioning of various departments in the district. Conclusion This study briefly discusses the financial position of District Multan. It also carries out the financial analysis of the current situation and identifies issues faced by the local government. The major issues highlighted are capacity of the local government and the will to address issues. Multan being the 5th largest city of Pakistan has the potential to grow economically. It is well geographically well positioned since it lies in the middle of the trade route connecting south with north. A major initiative to revamp the systems would result in positive outcome for the people of the district. This paper also recommends few areas of improvement. A much larger effort needs to go into this. Recommendations such as legal reforms, revamping business process, trainings and automation needs to be implemented together to bring quick change. However this whole effort needs to be financed. The financing could take place with one or all of the following options; Lists of 11 properties were identified on a pilot basis. These properties/facilities are all in prime locations inside the city and are owned by the DG. We propose to sell of these properties and either abolished these facilities or relocate them to a more economical location. Through this proposal we would be able to raise Rs. 4,682 m. This in only the tip of iceberg, a more comprehensive study would reveal a lot more properties. Another area of resource generation is the property given on rent. The DG and TMA have many shops, stores and buildings that have been rented out. One of the ways forward could be to revise the rents and bring them at market level. Another option is to sell out these properties on market value and receive a good cash inflow that could be used for major initiatives. There are many government educational institutions with city limits many of them being on prime locations. A designated education city should be developed and all these institution should be shifted. A cost benefit analysis should be carried out to assess the potential of this option. Municipal bond is issued by a city or municipal bodies. The bond holders receive Interest income. Municipal securities consist of both short-term issues (often called notes, which typically mature in one year or less) and long-term issues (commonly known as bonds, which mature in more than one year). Short-term notes are used by an issuer to raise money for a variety of reasons: in anticipation of future revenues such as taxes, state or federal aid payments, and future bond issuances; to cover irregular cash flows; me

Animal Farm, by George Orwell :: Animal Farm Essays

One of the things I like about small presses is that they'll take chances on authors who write about things outside of the mainstream. III Publishing has been one of my favorite sources for libertarian/anarchist fiction and science fiction ever since I picked up and totally enjoyed The Last Days of Christ the Vampire. Now they bring us two fine contributions to anarchist SF literature. If you loved George Orwell's Animal Farm, you'll love this "sequel." Many who have read Orwell's classic missed the basic underlying anti-authoritarian message, instead reading it as an allegory about the Soviet Union. In Anarchist Farm we find an extension of the philosophies underlying Animal Farm, but this time with a more upbeat outcome. Contemporary concerns such as ecocide and animal rights are also woven into this readable book. In fact, it is written in a style appropriate for teenage readers. As in Animal Farm, the main characters here are animals and they talk. They also have cute names. Pancho is a pig who has escaped from the regime that has taken over the farm portrayed in Animal Farm. He is befriended by some wild animals, who are later revealed to be the "Forest Defenders." The Defenders turn out to be very similar to Earth First! Pancho eventually finds a farm whose owner has recently died. In response to the death of their benevolent owner, the animals turn the farm into a successful anarchist collective. As the months roll by, the animal start to worry about what might happen to them when the humans come to auction off the farm. The ending will surprise you. It should also be mentioned that the book also deals with monkeywrenching and its consequences. Anarchist Farm is funny, thought-provoking, and inspiring. It's an excellent sequel to Animal Farm. Let's hope that a few more readers "get it" this time. A.D. is a science fiction story set in the U.S.A. in the near future. Radical changes have altered the very political geography of the continent: the Klux Klan Klan and other white supremacists control what was the southern U.S., the Nation of Islam controls what was the Midwest, and the West Coast is all that remains of the old U.S. "liberal democracy." Fred Hampton Rush Sr. is a middle-aged black man living in Chicago, which is now the capital city of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in North America.

Medea

Miguel Pena Mrs. Futrell English 2 28 October 2011 Jason Tragic Hero In the tragedy Medea by Euripides, Jason faces the death of his new wife and two sons that have been killed by his ex-wife Medea. Jason leaves Medea to marry the king of Corinth’s daughter; therefore, Medea takes revenge on him. Jason wasn’t always bad he was a good husband before he did what he did. Jason is a tragic hero because he fits the characteristics of a tragic hero. First of all Jason is a tragic hero because he helped Medea when she didn’t know it.Jason tells her â€Å"You have a home in Hellas instead of some Barbarian land, you have known justice, and had your talents recognized all over Greece. †(Euripides pg. 365) Medea believes that Jason has done nothing but married her and left her for some princess. In that, quote Jason tells Medea that he has help her in many ways such as giving her a new home, teaching her to be civil, and helped make a name for her. Aristotle’ s says that that a tragic hero is usually a good person and that’s what Jason is.Also, Leaving Madea for the king’s daughter shows that being selfish was his tragic flaw. In the play the Nurse says, â€Å"Jason has betrayed his sons and her, takes to bed a royal bride, Creon’s daughter. †(Euripides pg. 337) The text explains that Jason has left his two sons and Madea just to marry a princess. Jason left Medea because he said he will be able to have money to support his children, which is selfish because he can find other ways to get money. Medea also thinks Jason is being selfish and just wants a new wife because he was tired of her.A tragic hero has a tragic flaw, and Jason’s selfishness is his flaw because, after Madea learns what he’s going to do, he begins to lose everything. Finally Jason faces the death of his new wife and his two children when his ex-wife kills them. Jason says â€Å"Let me have the boys – to mourn and bury th em. †(Euripides pg. 388)The quote is what Jason is saying to Medea when he last sees her. Medea has killed his new wife and both their sons and Jason is now asking Medea to let him bury the children but she won’t let him because she wants him to suffer.Jason selfishness to leave Madea and his children caused him to lose Medea, his new wife and his two sons and ended up with nothing but himself. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero states that a tragic hero will end up with nothing at the end, which is what happens to Jason. In conclusion Jason is a tragic hero. In the play Medea, he showed examples as to why he was a tragic hero. His selfishness, being a good person, and ending up with nothing in the end are some examples. Medea The chorus helps you feel for Media and makes her the victim to certain conflicts In the play. An example of this Is, are acting wrongly In thus abandoning your wife. † Media and Jason meet when Jason came to Colitis for the Golden Fleece, If he was able to retrieve it he would become king. On his quest he meets Media who is from Colitis and offers to help Jason. Media was shot by Aphrodite the god of love which makes the two of them fall madly in love.Media moves to Corinth with Jason and soon after hey are married and had two sons Jason finds younger, more respectable women and abandons Media for Gauche. This is Important as Euripides uses this to empathic Media's plight. The Chorus are often also considered as the Ideal audience for a play, in that their reactions to the action on stage reflect the way the playwright hopes the audience might react. This example of the use of the chorus helps to build empathy and make you think about Media's position in the world. It also cre ates mood and a general tone for the story.Rhetorical questions are a form of a question made to have a strong impact on the listeners without any expectation of a reply. It encourages you to think In the direction the author would want. In Media Euripides uses rhetorical questions to have a strong emphasis on emotion and general tone to help build empathy for outsiders. An example of this is when the chorus says, â€Å"Where can you turn for shelter? † When Jason abandoned Media, she felt hurt and was seeking revenge on Jason to get back at him for what he did to her.Media had many plans to kill the princess and their sons to create suffering for Jason. Euripides uses rhetorical questions to create sympathy on the back of what happened to her and to make Media stop and think If she kills these people she will have no one left to turn too and her life will be miserable. It encourages the audience to empathic for Media because it's saying that she is alone, and lost and has no family left, because she killed them all. This example of a rhetorical question helps to create empathy and make the audience think.Euripides effectively uses rhetorical questions to encourage the audience and to empathic about Media's grief and loss. Hyperbole Is used to create a larger-than-life effect and overly stress a specific point. In Media Euripides uses hyperbole to create sympathy. An example of a hyperbole used is when Media says, â€Å"Segues, my husband's the most evil man alive. † Segues is one of Media's good friends and is a person she uses for shelter and safety when she has no one left to turn too.Euripides uses hyperbole to emphasis Media's tuition and the mess she is getting herself into. Media is over exaggerating her point to make Jason sound like the villain in this situation. When he Isn't the most evil man alive, he Is doing what a lot of Greek men did In this time and It was accepted. Realistically possible or believable but helps emphasize an emot ion. Media is an outsider; she was born in Colitis and is a non-Greek woman commonly known as a Barbarian. Euripides creates empathy for outsiders like Media by using the chorus, rhetorical questions and hyperbole. Medea Miguel Pena Mrs. Futrell English 2 28 October 2011 Jason Tragic Hero In the tragedy Medea by Euripides, Jason faces the death of his new wife and two sons that have been killed by his ex-wife Medea. Jason leaves Medea to marry the king of Corinth’s daughter; therefore, Medea takes revenge on him. Jason wasn’t always bad he was a good husband before he did what he did. Jason is a tragic hero because he fits the characteristics of a tragic hero. First of all Jason is a tragic hero because he helped Medea when she didn’t know it.Jason tells her â€Å"You have a home in Hellas instead of some Barbarian land, you have known justice, and had your talents recognized all over Greece. †(Euripides pg. 365) Medea believes that Jason has done nothing but married her and left her for some princess. In that, quote Jason tells Medea that he has help her in many ways such as giving her a new home, teaching her to be civil, and helped make a name for her. Aristotle’ s says that that a tragic hero is usually a good person and that’s what Jason is.Also, Leaving Madea for the king’s daughter shows that being selfish was his tragic flaw. In the play the Nurse says, â€Å"Jason has betrayed his sons and her, takes to bed a royal bride, Creon’s daughter. †(Euripides pg. 337) The text explains that Jason has left his two sons and Madea just to marry a princess. Jason left Medea because he said he will be able to have money to support his children, which is selfish because he can find other ways to get money. Medea also thinks Jason is being selfish and just wants a new wife because he was tired of her.A tragic hero has a tragic flaw, and Jason’s selfishness is his flaw because, after Madea learns what he’s going to do, he begins to lose everything. Finally Jason faces the death of his new wife and his two children when his ex-wife kills them. Jason says â€Å"Let me have the boys – to mourn and bury th em. †(Euripides pg. 388)The quote is what Jason is saying to Medea when he last sees her. Medea has killed his new wife and both their sons and Jason is now asking Medea to let him bury the children but she won’t let him because she wants him to suffer.Jason selfishness to leave Madea and his children caused him to lose Medea, his new wife and his two sons and ended up with nothing but himself. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero states that a tragic hero will end up with nothing at the end, which is what happens to Jason. In conclusion Jason is a tragic hero. In the play Medea, he showed examples as to why he was a tragic hero. His selfishness, being a good person, and ending up with nothing in the end are some examples.

Book Report Essays - The Chosen, Tzadik, Zionism, The Promise

Book Report Essays - The Chosen, Tzadik, Zionism, The Promise Book Report The Chosen, Chaim Potok The Chosen is about two Jewish boys, one a Orthodox Jew and one a Hasidic Jew, and how different and yet the same their lives are. The orthodox Jew, Reuven, is the main character of the story. He lives with his father and his mother is dead. Reuven is a very nice boy who is fourteen years old and aspires to be a Rabbi when he grows up. Daniel the other boy, is the son of a Hasidic Tzadik (which is like a Rabbi) and so when his father dies he will have to take his place even though he wants to be a psychiatrist. Reuven, like I said before lives alone with his father in their Brooklyn apartment. His father is a teacher of Jewish law, the Talmud, and teaches at Reuven?s Yeshiva(school). Reuven gets along very well with his father and talks with him very often. Daniel, on the other hand , lives with his mother ,father, sister and little brother. Daniel?s father is Tzadik which to Hasidic Jews is like a messen! ger to god. Daniel?s father never talks with him except when teaching him the Talmud. this behavior makes both Daniel and Reuven uncomfortable when they are with him. Daniel is a very bright student and has an almost photographic memory. He also has a craving to learn more which turns him against his religious faith because he wants to know how man really came to be and how man thinks. I admire Daniel because he was brave to stand up to his father and the entire community and tell them that he would not become a Tzadik but that he wanted to become a psychiatrist. I loathe Daniel?s father because he is mean and not understanding at all. Reuven and Daniel met while playing an interschool baseball game . Reuven was pitching and Daniel hit the ball into his which shattered Reuven?s glasses and sent Reuven to the hospital for immediate eye surgery. After Reuven?s eye heals Daniel went to Reuven to beg his forgiveness and the two boys became fast friends. The stor! y takes place during world war two and when the war ends the people of America find out about all the horrible things that happened because of the Natzis. This naturally upsets all the Jews and forced them to take side s about having Palestine turn into a Jewish homeland(this is called Zionism). this made Daniel?s father forbid him to speak to Reuven because Reuven?s father believes in Zionism and Hasidic?s believe it violates the laws of the Torah. But after a mass murder of Jews in Europe after the war because they still hated the Jews. So the Hasidic stopped hating the Zionists because they decided that making Palestine a Jewish homeland was the only way to preserve the Jewish culture. One of the last conflicts in the book is when Daniel decides to tell his father that he wants to become a psychiatrist not a Rabbi like he?s supposed to become. And this causes a conflict because he wants Reuven to be there when he tells his father. I believe that this book is w! orthy of being named a classic because it is extremely interesting and well written. I t was fascinatingly real and the ending is extremely real and spell-binding. The characters seemed so real that I felt like I was there. The story was extremely moving because it helped show how people interact.

Term Paper Example

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Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Coursework - Essay Example With the introduction of retiring age, employers are now refrained from discriminating on the grounds of age, even at the time of recruitment, training, redundancy and other policies that deals with the employer and the employee’s relationship (Harris, et al 56). Harassment There is no specific law, which deals with the issue of harassment at workplace. However, an affected person can knock at the door of competent court of law to get his or her grievances redressed under the criminal law known as "Protection from Harassment Act†. In refined term, harassment in the workplace can be described as "any unwanted attention that causes offence, embarrassment, humiliation, upset". However, if it is based on sex, race or disability, the concerned discriminatory law can be invoked to get protection. Further, in serious cases, some compensation can be had inclusive of damages to hurt someone’s feelings. Offensive remarks, personal comments, jokes based on racism and sex, to uching, vulgar displays, abusive language come under the purview of harassment (Harris, et al 59). In order to make his case strong against discriminatory attitude by the employer and the harassment at work premise, William may adopt the following course a) keep a diary of the incidents that took place b) witnesses of co workers c) confront harassment d) have a word with HR and e) discuss the matter with Union Representative (Harris, et al 61). It is the responsibility of the employer to protect his workers from harassment irrespective of their backgrounds. William has the option to claim compensation by registering his complain with the employment tribunal on the specified form ETI since it is a mandatory requirement. Mentioned form contains a lot of information e.g. name of the complainant, postal address, reasons for complaint, whether the complainant would like to re-instate or to lodge claim for compensation. William has the option to invoke the jurisdiction of competent Tribun al without bothering grievance procedure. By passing the grievance, procedure may lead to reduction up to 25% in any award granted by the Tribunal (Harris, et al 63). At this point of time, the said victim will send a copy of ETI form to be responded on form ET3 within 28 days. If he fails to respond within the specified period of time, there is apprehension that the Tribunal may issue impugn judgment in favour of the complainant. Before filing the complaint with the Tribunal, employee may exercise his or her option of conciliation. If conciliation fails to materialize, the compelling option for remedy is Tribunal (Harris, et al 63-64). The legal process is cumbersome with reference to calling witnesses, cross examine the witnesses by other side, engage a lawyer and to bear legal expenses. Keeping in mind the time consuming legal process, we advise William to confine himself to the process of conciliation. Q. 2. Where should William go to take action on his personal injury claim? Fr om whom should he seek advice and what formal and informal mechanisms might he use to resolve the dispute? To analyse the claim of William with regard to personal injury, we have to have a look on the law of tort and its provisions, which provide relief to the victim of personal injury besides emotional injury. In accordance with English law,  tort falls under the common law

Wal-Mart goes smaller Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wal-Mart goes smaller - Essay Example Well there will be some complaints from small business owners in those towns, but they do not have the same financial might as big corporations. Bigger cities are unafraid at what a Walmart store may bring to the local market. Finally, I also think that some people in the cities are put off by Walmart because they see it as a corporate giant that does not have the best interests of the local citizens at heart. This longstanding reputation has hurt the brand image of Walmart and made city people more aware of what the company can bring to the big smoke. 2) One of the main criticisms of Walmart entering the cities was that the stores were too big for zoning requirements. In order to meet this objective, Walmart executives allowed these urban stores to be no more than 8,000 square feet. This is a huge change for Walmart because the company has been so successful with large stores of more than 42,000 square feet. It says a lot that the company was willing to change its strategy so much in order to be allowed to open stores in the big cities. It is good that Walmart has compromised and find a way to meet zoning requirements. Walmart has also changed its range of products, with customers in the big cities only able to pick up groceries from the store. All other products can be ordered online and then picked up. 3) From an operations management point of view, Walmart will not be able to use economies of scale to its advantage. Because of the limited space available in store, Walmart will have to only keep a select few products on display. This can lead to slow response times and slow down the supply chain completely. Walmart has been successful for so long due to its efficient supply chain, and by giving that away the company may lose ground to some of its competitors. The consumer will be impacted by these changes greatly. Because of the smaller amount of stock available, as well as the fact that