Sport success in qatar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Game accomplishment in qatar - Essay Example s accomplishment in sports improve as it began by building sports city, making a national day for sports in its schedule, aside from facilitating the world cup football and the Doha athletic big showdown. The Federation for International Football Association (FIFA), is the global overseeing assemblage of football, with central command situated in Zurich (Simon, 2013). The establishment was established in 1904 under the Swiss law. It has an aggregate of 209 part relationship, of which, Qatar is one among the number. One of its objectives is to continually improve football through sponsorship, advancement, and association. The body utilizes more than 305 individuals from in excess of 35 countries, and it is made out of the Congress, Executive Committee, General Secretariat, and the boards accountable for helping the official body. Through its official board of trustees, FIFA does world cup facilitating biddings as per the FIFA Provisions and Statutes. Four years prior, FIFAs Executive Committee declared Qatar the victor of the 2022 world cup facilitating, an opposition that was exceptionally fought. The Executive Committee, be that as it may, affirmed that the specific date for this facilitating will be examined in their gathering in March 2015. While anticipating that choice, the team answerable for the universal match schedule of 2018-2022 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatars group, led by the President of the AFC Shk. Salman receptacle Ebrahim al-Khalifa will hold an earlier gathering in Doha, in February of 2015 (FIFA.com, 2014). The FIFA Executive Committee affirmed to emphatically bolster the making of a free body that will direct the procedure of usage of the change program in Qatar in regards to the issues of work rights. This will occur on the side of the proposal put across by the DLA Piper report. This report likewise offered order to the FIFA President Blatter, with Dr. Theo Swanziger to proceed with and examine this issue with the political specialists of Qatar and be certain that the

Living Lyrics free essay sample

I needed to hustle/My luck run out, Ashy knuckles/, Pockets loaded up with a great deal of loaned/Not a penny/gotta vent. These were a mind-blowing verses at this specific point in time. It was the center of my eighth grade year. I was the new person at Texas Middle School. I had quite recently moved from Houston to Texarkana, Texas. My mother and I were continually migrating. She had a monotonous nature for harsh connections. Some were passionate, yet most were physical. In spite of the fact that I never let them get excessively physical. She guaranteed me she would attempt the single life for a few months and perceive how things worked out. In all actuality, she makes a few bogus guarantees; I was eager to trust her this one time. I had figured out how to make the school b-ball group. I never got any playing time. During the initial seventy five percent, the seat and I would banter. We will compose a custom paper test on Living Lyrics or on the other hand any comparative theme explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page At that point final quarter fancied me; we acclimated something other than a couple of times. I have consistently been littler than others my age so simply the idea of myself playing secondary school football caused me to recoil He just sits/and watches the individuals in the cases/Everything he see’s he assimilates and receives it/He copies and he derides it/Really abhors the case however he can’t recollect how to stop it/I don't know what it is about me but rather I generally take a gander at the negative side of things. One may state I see the glass half unfilled. It was truly simple to meet new individuals who state â€Å"hi† and â€Å"bye† to me every now and then, yet with my being the new person and being timid simultaneously, it would be some time before I obtained any genuine companions. So as one would expect I got entirely forlorn. Of course, I could never be excessively single. Regardless of where I went my old buddy destitution would trail not very a long ways behind. Indeed, even with such a lot of going on, I was attempting my best to fit in. I was gradually being etched by congruity and friend pressure. A decent level of the understudy body with whom I was natural were either into medicate use, or they were explicitly dynamic. I was an over the top weakling occupied with either. In spite of all my dread, the entirety of my solitariness, the entirety of my afflictions, there was constantly one thing that was steady. There was consistently that one thing that kept me normal: verse. Regardless of what state of mind I was in, in spite of the fact that it was normally a negative one, I would have the option to make an interpretation of my feelings to paper with no issue. The crucial step was making them rhyme. Gradually innovatively communicating my contemplations began to get simpler step by step. One day I would expound on the amount I disdain my English instructor, Ms. Harnes, and the following I would write down minima l hogwash rhymes since they were interesting. It was not until this point I had understood that I didn't have such a large amount of a negative disposition any more. The school days appeared to take off by like a Lear stream in the light blue sky. Out of nowhere I began seeing things from an alternate perspective. Despite the fact that nothing had changed my perspective had. B group was not all that terrible. At any rate I made it. I marshaled up the mental fortitude to go for the football my first year of secondary school and I was not all that terrible. I increased a companion to a great extent and even began partner with him outside of school. Destitution despite everything lingered behind me, yet I did whatever it takes not to concentrate on it to such an extent. Also, free lunch isn't unreasonably awful. I was a superior me, and all since I figured out how to communicate my feelings through composition. Presently these are the verses to my life: At last I can say, Everything today has gone my direction It’s a Lovely Just go paid Stack it up, be on my way It’s a stunning day, Lovely day A Lovely day

Network Administrator Resume Examples, Template, and Resume Tips

Network Administrator Resume Examples, Template, and Resume Tips If you are reading this you must be wondering how to create the best network administrator resume so you could land a job in the company you’ve dreamed about?Or it may be a position you didn’t even think you would be applying for?Are you are maybe fresh out of school and the time to send out your resume has finally come?Whatever the scenario may be, we are here to help you create the best network administrator resume there is! Be sure to prepare your interview shoes, because you will need them pretty soon!We understand that sending your resume might be very nerve-wracking, now more than ever, since we live in a world that often resembles a shark tank where everyone is out and ready for their prey.The competition is larger than ever; people try to land as best paid jobs as possible (and network administrators can earn a lot), so one must be prepared for elbowing with many other potential candidates.This is why your resume needs to shine and stand out from dozens or even hundreds a nd thousands of other ones.It is most probable that it will first be scanned by software and only then if it is good enough to get in the hands of a real person.However, it is time to stop worrying, because the resume is just a piece of paper and we are here to help you have the best one.We will first show you some examples of well-written network administrator resumes.Afterward, we will do our best to explain thoroughly every individual section of the resume and what the information that it should contain is.Your resume should serve one purpose: to give as complete and as the best picture about you as possible.By doing this it should also cover several points:as we said it needs to stand out among many other, mostly similar resumes so it attracts the recruiter’s attentionit needs to feature and highlight important information and distinguishing which ones are important and which aren’t can often be trickyyour resume should have a very good template, with big headings and white space so it shows your professionalismit needs to be just right in length which is connected with the upper point that concerns the importance of the informationLet us start!Network Administrator Resume Example Right Network Administrator Resume Sample Right Create your own resumeHOW TO WRITE THE PERSONAL INFO SECTION 101Now that we have taken a look at two different well-written network administrators resumes we hope you have a clearer picture of what yours should be like.As we have already said, your resume needs to give a clear picture about who you are, what you have done so far, what is your field of interest, etc without meeting the recruiter face to face.That being said, your resume is more or less your business identification card.To be able to give a clear picture of who you are one thing is clear no matter what internship, job or any other position you are applying your resume needs to start with your personal information.Those are your first and last name, professional title, your home address and of course contact information, such as phone number and e-mail address.As you have seen in the previous two examples, social media profiles are stated as well, since they have become a big part of our lives and a mean for communica ting just like any other.Many employees wish to visit your profiles to get a better picture of who you are in your every-day life and do it match their criteria, mission, and vision, that is, are you a suitable candidate for their company.Your NameSome might find this explanation unnecessary, but we wish to emphasize how important it is that you start your resume with your (real) first and last name.It needs to be easy for the recruiter to read it and put a name to the photo they are seeing on your resume.This is a sign of your professionalism and is something everyone does without thinking about it.This is why you should avoid putting any other (funny) nicknames beside your name.This goes for most of the jobs unless we are talking about certain professions, such as the ones in the gaming and movie industry where it is quite normal to have a nickname or an alias under which you perform.Let’s see the following example:Annette Perry RightAnnie Perry WrongYour ProfessionRight under your name should go your job title, which shows what it is that you went to school for and if you have any experience (if you are a student, you will state Student and that will show that you are still studying, or if you are an electrical engineer you will put electrical engineer there)Your PhotoFirst of all, having a photo is not mandatory and there are actually different “’rules” when it comes to resume writing in different countries.Some say we shouldn’t upload them since people are subject to changing their opinion when they see a photo of someone; we can be subject to discrimination or that it is enough that all of our social media feature them.However, millions off people upload them regularly, so we leave it up to you to decide.If you opt for one, then please make sure to upload one where you look presentable and professional. This photo is very important!We are all humans who can be subjective and judgmental sometimes and uploading a photo where you are sipping a m artini in your bathing suit will give such a wrong impression.People often can’t control themselves when it comes to first impressions and we know how important it is to leave a good one.This is why you should take a few minutes to create a professional headshot that will represent you in the best light.Here is what makes a good headshot.Photo instructionsOpened eyesNatural makeupCombed hair or a nice hairdoShirt, nice sweater or a blazer (formal clothes)Neat or shaved beardBright and clean surrounding (preferably a single colored background)Straight postureNatural smile RightPhoto instructionsWinking or keeping eyes closedStrong evening makeupMessy, uncombed hairDeep cleavage, bathing suit, nudity, sport clothesMessy and long beardToo dark or too colorful busy surroundingSlouch postureToo serious, grinning or having a fake smile WrongPhone NumberWe know you might b reluctant to share your private phone number, however, this is a very important thing to do for obvious reasons.Re cruiters often wish to speak to a candidate and hear their voice, have an interview via phone and hear their thought train live which altogether lets them get a better picture of somebody.This way you also save your and their time, since e-mail correspondence often takes a long time, even several days, e-mail tends to get lost and all of it leads to confusion and boredom.That being said, please do share your cell phone and you will make your and the recruiter’s job much easier.AddressThis one is not mandatory and it will not do you any harm if you don’t wish to share this information.However, it can also allow the recruiters to know more about you and for example see if you will need a business car, payment for busses, etc since they will know where you come from.E-mail AddressThis is a vital piece of your contact information since all of the official correspondence anywhere in the world goes through e-mails and is used as a written document.We are sure you already use it regula rly for various purposes, so your job search will be just one more of them.This way you will be able to hear from the recruiters, ask about any inquiries in case you have them, etc.However, it is important not only to give an e-mail address that you have access to but that it also professional. Let us look at this example.francis.mcclendon@gmail.com Rightwarriorfrank@gmail.com WrongAs you can see, these examples look funny and unprofessional, just try typing them and you will think about the person: “what a goofy guy/girl”So, use your real name and last name, or any shorter version if it’s too long.The new Age of Social Media in ResumesAs you might have experienced it yourself or heard from friends and family, it has become very common for recruiters to ask for your social media profiles.This might sound odd, since it shouldnt really interest them what you do in your personal life, what photos you take or what you tweet, post to your Instagram stories, etc.However, if we thi nk about it for a second, social media profiles are pretty much our online identities that are more and more exposed to many people, some of which we don’t even know.This is why recruiters ask for them and wish to see what is out there, just like they ask for a resume so they know what you have done so far.But, please be careful with giving your profiles, especially if you haven’t doubled checked them recently.There are so many people who just copy the links and don’t give it a second thought, but then leave the recruiters mortified by the content.If you have any photos, posts or have made comments that could be interpreted in a wrong way, are explicit in any way, have cuss words, or anything similar, delete them first.Or, you could make your profile private and buy some time for the cleanup.It happens regularly that people get hired and then post something that contradicts the companys views, what they stand for, their mission and values, so they, unfortunately, have to let t hat person go.Also, if your profile’s link has many random numbers and letters, and if it looks too tacky, you can remove them without damaging the address to which the link leads. This will make it look professional.linkedin.com/in/Annette-Perry Rightlinkedin.com/in/Annette-Perry-bhrt85c4587 WrongNow, if you are really opposed to sharing your private profiles, that is fine, and nobody can judge you for it, but it is recommended that you at least share your LinkedIn profile, as it presents your online business identity and is something you shouldn’t worry about.THE PERFECT SUMMARY 101Okay, now that we have covered the basics we have actually just scratched the surface of your network administrator resume.The next section on it is your summary.Summary exists just to summarize your whole experience in a few sentences and it needs to be in the beginning because that is where the recruiters naturally look after seeing your personal information.It is quite important how you will wr ite your summary because it will give the first impression of how long youve worked, what your accomplishments are, what your area of expertise is, and give an insight into your skills and abilities.We recommend that you keep it at around 6 sentences that will hold as much important information about you as possible.This will inspire the reader too look at the whole resume and learn more about your background and work experience.It is especially helpful if your prior experience and skills align with what the company you are interested in is looking for and how you can contribute to them.SummaryA network administrator and CCNA with four years of work experience in installing and configuring computer networks and systems seeking, assembling new systems, identifying and solving any problems that arise with computer networks and systems. Highly motivated to leverage proven Cisco skills and contribute to Target. Managed 30+ servers in a Windows 2012 system with 99.9% uptime and improved network performance 10% via monitoring and application prioritization. RightSummaryNetwork administrator and CCNA with 4 years of experience managing servers and improving network performance. WrongOnce we compare the possible versions side by side, you can see how much better it is to state more facts and inform the reader how good of a candidate you are.For example, Annette on the left says that she ”managed 30+ servers in a Windows 2012 system with 99.9% uptime and improved network performance 10%via monitoring and application prioritization.”That gives the perfect picture of what she did, what her accomplishment was and what she brought to the company.And that is much nicer than saying: “…4 years of experience managing servers and improving network performance.”Someone might ask: “How many servers did she manage, how did she improve network performance”, “Did she really do it, or just wrote it to try to wow me?”Please don’t be lazy to give your best and cre ate a very good summary that will fascinate someone in the very beginning.Just be sure to keep it short, since the whole resume needs to be as short and informative as possible â€" recruiters dont like to spend 10 minutes reading just one of the dozens of resumes and get bored.BEST WAY TO SHOWCASE YOUR WORK EXPERIENCEWhen you start lining up your present and past positions, there is a common rule to do it in reverse-chronological order.This means that you should start with the present or last position you held and go backward towards your very first job.Now, an important question often comes to mind â€" How far back should you go with your positions and should you list each and one of them.Well, the answer is Maybe.It depends on how many positions you held, if they were meaningful for this particular one you are applying for and if you feel that they bring additional worth to your resume.So if you are applying for the network administrator position, and have several years of work ex perience you don’t have to state that you’ve worked in concession stands during high school games or sold ice cones during summer.They do showcase how diligent youve always been but dont do much for the wanted position.On the other hand, if this is the first job you are applying for then please go on with stating all of your previous work experience, since you don’t have the relevant one connected with the job you are applying for.Just be sure to give many details about your positions and try to turn them around so they show your achievements and your diligence.For example: Right WrongHere we see a clear difference between the informative and detailed work experienced and this short version which can’t even be called a work experience section.When applying for a certain position, especially a dream one, you need to make sure to state all of the relevant duties performed in previous companies and do your best to turn them into tangible results and achievements.By doing this there are better chances that the recruiter will say: “Wow, we need this person, they will be an amazing asset in the company”, and that is precisely your goal.We recommend that you to use several bullets where you will state what we have just said, however, be moderate, 3-5 is enough, because you don’t wish to have too many and lose the reader at the 12tth one.YOUR EDUCATION HISTORY WILL STAND OUT LIKE THISWriting about your education background is no different than writing about your past work experience and using a reverse-chronological order.You will start with the last educat ion and go back to high school. Listing to your elementary school is unnecessary.If you have attended several high schools and then switched colleges, it is not needed to list all of them. You can pick only the ones where you graduated or insert also the ones where you had some special results.This education section shouldnt be very long since your whole resume should be between 1-2 pages long and you dont wish to use up precious space, especially if youve got a lot of work experience.Here is an example to look at. Right WrongIt is important that you mention valuable details about your education such as any honors, significant research, the presidency of any club or student parliament, (almost) perfect GPA, gradation in top of the class, a minor if you have it, etc.ABCS OF NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR RESUME SKILLSSo far we have covered all of the mandatory sections of a resume: personal information, summary, work experience, and education background.Besides these, any other sections such as extracurricular activities that students mostly put or skills and qualifications are optional sections.Most of the attention is paid on work experience end education, so by the time you come to the Skills section, there usually isn’t any space left.This is why many people decide to leave it out, especially if they wish to fit the resume on a single page.Unfortunately, this optional section suffers that decision and is left out.We strongly recommend that you don’t throw the “Skills” away and use this part as an other and last “selling point” for yourself.It is one thing to state work and education history and any relevant facts, but another to pay attention solely to your attributes and specific competencies that will make you stand out.For example, you are fluent in 3 languages? Imagine how many people couldn’t say that about themselves and you are thinking about skipping to mention it!Skills are usually divided into hard and soft skills.Hard SkillsThe best way to describe them is to say that they are quantifiable and measurable. They are the ones you usually learn in school or at work and here are the examples of the hard skills that a network administrator could have:IT and technical skillsNetwork ConfigurationSystem AdministrationCiscoTechnical SupportSecurityVendor ManagementResearchSoft SkillsThese are known as People skills or interpersonal skills and they may have been given to you at birth, or you may have acquired them through life and work.Compared to the hard skills, they aren’t that measurable. Identifying these skills is very subjective and depends from person to person. Some of them are:CommunicationCollaborationProblem SolvingDetail OrientedPatienceTeamworkCritical thinkingForeign LanguagesTechnical SkillsThese are specific mostly for people working in the engineering and IT industry and are stated separately for the purpose of this article and to make it easier for writing your network administrator resume.TCI/IPDNSDHCPWAN/LANWindows environmentLinux environmentUbuntuNetwork automationCloud managementTIPS AND TRICKS FOR APPLYING FOR NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR POSITIONWe are about to give you several tips and tricks that should help you with creating your first resume or editing the existing one.Using the Right Font The right font is much more important than you would think. You should pick one that is” clean” and easy to read. Because of this, avoid using hand-written fonts, as they are a big “no”. Bulleting As you’ve probably seen, the bulleting list is the most used way of listing things. When you create one, don’t exaggerate with too many of them. Let’s say that three to maximum five (in case you had amazing achievements at work) lines are just enough.Format The most professional format that you should use for your resume is PDF. It looks very professional as it cannot be edited (like Word documents that tend to look unfinished) and it is easier to print and read. After saving the document, change the name to “FirstName LastName_JobPosition.pdf”Design We are not exaggerating when we say that there are thousands of possible designs for your resume. Thanks to this you can choose the one that you like the most and that describes your personality the most. If not, you can always try and create your own.Adapting your resume to the desired position This is one of the biggest mistakes people make. Just because you may be applying for several positions at once, doesn†™t mean that you should send everyone the same resume. On the contrary, take some time to see what skills they are looking for and adapt your resume to every position.Grammar It is impossible to emphasize how important it is to use impeccable grammar. The last thing you wish to cause is that someone picks through your grammar and thinks that you are illiterate instead of picking through your skills and work experience. Be sure to double-check every single work of your resume.CONCLUSIONWell, we have come to an end of this How to write the best network administrator resume journey and we hope that picking through every detail of it will help you with creating or editing your own.Even if you made the best possible one a few years ago it doesn’t hurt to give it a glance once in a while, because trends change and you wish to stay up to date with them.Following our steps closely will definitely help you and will, more importantly, increase your chances of landing that dream job.How fun ny it is to think that one piece of paper has such weight, huh?Well, we are sure that you will have the best one possible!Oh, and we hope you got your interview shoes that we mentioned! Create your own resume

_Couples Counseling Interpersonal Communications - 1774 Words

COUPLES COUNSELING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS Dear Mike and Karen: First, let me say that I am extremely flattered, and at the same time, somewhat apprehensive by your request for my input into your relationship. Please keep in mind that I am not a professional counselor, at least not yet, and that I have only begun to study the field. I also value my friendship with both of you and am slightly hesitant to provide even informal advice because I would never want to jeopardize our friendship in any way. That said, I believe that your letter does raise several important issues that I have already begun studying in school and I will do my best to share with you the benefit of what I have learned. Specifically, I have learned that: (1) With a little effort, it is usually possible to identify some of the barriers to effective interpersonal interactions; (2) There are appropriate and inappropriate levels of self-disclosure in relationships; (3) It is important and often quite helpful to understand the process by which our self-concept is developed and mai ntained; (4) It is equally important to recognize how our self-concept relates to both defensive messages and supportive messages (and behaviors) because they often corresponding to positive and negative communication climates in our relationships; (5) Our subjective perceptions, emotions, and nonverbal styles of expression affect interpersonal relationships; and (6) The words we use have the power to create and

1979 Seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca

The seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979 is a seminal event in the evolution of Islamist terrorism. Yet the seizure is mostly a footnote in contemporary history. It shouldnt be. The Grand Mosque in Mecca is a massive, 7-acre compound that can accommodate some 1 million worshippers at any one time, especially during the annual hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca centered on circling the sacred Kaaba in the heart of the Grand Mosque. The marble mosque in its current shape is the result of a 20-year, $18 billion renovation project began in 1953 by the House of Saud, the ruling monarchy in Saudi Arabia, which considers itself the guardian and custodian of the Arab Peninsula’s holiest sites, the Grand Mosque topmost among them. The monarchy’s contractor of choice was the Saudi Bin Laden Group, led by the man who in 1957, became the father of Osama bin Laden. The Grand Mosque, however, first came to wide Western attention on November 20, 1979. Coffins as Weapons Cache: Seizure of the Grand Mosque At 5 that morning, the final day of the hajj, Sheikh Mohammed al-Subayil, imam of the Grand Mosque, was preparing to address 50,000 worshipers through a microphone inside the mosque. Among the worshipers, what looked like mourners bearing coffins on their shoulders and wearing headbands made their way through the crowd. It wasnt an unusual sight. Mourners often brought their dead for a blessing at the mosque. But they had no mourning in mind. Sheikh Mohammed al-Subayil was shoved aside by men who took machine guns from beneath their robes, fired them in the air and at a few policemen nearby, and yelled to the crowd that â€Å"The Mahdi has appeared!† Mahdi is the Arabic word for messiah. The mourners set their coffins down, opened them up, and produced an arsenal of weaponry that they then brandished and fired at the crowd. That was only part of their arsenal. An Attempted Overthrow by a Would-Be Messiah The attack was led by Juhayman al-Oteibi, a fundamentalist preacher and former member of the Saudi National Guard, and Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani, who claimed to be the Mahdi. The two men openly called for a revolt against the Saudi monarchy, accusing it of having betrayed Islamic principles and sold out to western countries. The militants, who numbered close to 500, were well armed, their weapons, in addition to their coffin arsenal, having been stashed gradually in the days and weeks before the assault in small chambers beneath the Mosque. They were prepared to lay siege to the mosque for a long time. The siege lasted two weeks, though it did not end before a bloodbath in underground chambers where militants had retreated with hundreds of hostages--and bloody repercussions in Pakistan and Iran. In Pakistan, a mob of Islamist students enraged by a false report that the United States was behind the mosque seizure, attacked the American embassy in Islamabad and killed two Americans. Irans Ayatollah Khomeini called the attack and the murders a great joy, and also blamed the seizure on the United States and Israel. In Mecca, Saudi authorities considered attacking the hold-outs without regard for the hostages. Instead, Prince Turki, the youngest son of King Faisal and the man in charge of reclaiming the Grand Mosque, summoned a French secret service officer, Count Claude Alexandre de Marenches, who recommended that the hold-outs be gassed unconscious. Indiscriminate Killing As Lawrence Wright describes it in The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, A team of three French commandos from the Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN) arrived in Mecca. Because of the prohibition against non-Muslims entering the holy city, they converted to Islam in a brief, formal ceremony. The commandos pumped gas into the underground chambers, but perhaps because the rooms were so bafflingly interconnected, the gas failed and the resistance continued.With casualties climbing, Saudi forces drilled holes into the courtyard and dropped grenades into the rooms below, indiscriminately killing many hostages but driving the remaining rebels into more open areas where they could be picked off by sharpshooters. More than two weeks after the assault began, the surviving rebels finally surrendered. At dawn on Jan. 9, 1980, in the public squares of eight Saudi cities, including Mecca, 63 Grand Mosque militants were beheaded by sword on orders of the king. Among the condemned, 41 are Saudi, 10 from Egypt, 7 from Yemen (6 of them from what was then South Yemen), 3 from Kuwait, 1 from Iraq and 1 from the Sudan. Saudi authorities report that 117 militants died as a result of the siege, 87 during the fighting, 27 in hospitals. Authorities also noted that 19 militants received death sentences that were later commuted to life in prison. Saudi security forces suffered 127 deaths and 451 wounded. Were the bin Ladens Involved? This much is known: Osama bin Laden would have been 22 at the time of the attack. He would have likely heard Juhayman al-Oteibi preach. The Bin Laden Group was still heavily involved in the renovation of the Grand Mosque: the company’s engineers and workers had open access to the mosque’s grounds, Bin Laden trucks were inside the compound frequently, and bin Laden workers were familiar with the compound’s every recess: they built some of them. It would be a stretch, however, to assume that because the bin Ladens were involved in construction, they were also involved in the attack. What’s also known is that the company shared all maps and layouts they had of the mosque with authorities to facilitate the Saudi Special Forces’ counter-attack. It would not have been in the bin Laden Group’s interest, enriched as it had become almost exclusively through Saudi government contracts, to aid the regime’s opponents. Just as certainly, what Juhayman al-Oteibi and the â€Å"Mahdi† were preaching, advocating and rebelling against is almost word for word, eye for an eye, what Osama bin Laden would preach and advocate subsequently. The Grand Mosque takeover was not an al-Qaeda operation by any means. But it would become an inspiration, and a stepping stone, to al-Qaeda less than a decade and a half later.

The Help by Kathrynn Stockett Themes Free Essays

In fact, the Justice system, thought to promote equality in â€Å"the and of the free,† was useless towards the idea of racial harmony and African Americans were treated bitterly and relentlessly during this time. The author Kathy Stocked wrote a novel In the perspective of mistreated black maids and one helping white woman during the time of the call rights movement. Through the historical events, characters, and setting compiled Into Kathy Stockpot’s novel, The Help, the theme of Injustice and racial Inferiority Is portrayed. We will write a custom essay sample on The Help by Kathrynn Stockett: Themes or any similar topic only for you Order Now During the novel, the bus Abilene is riding stops at a roadblock and all the black people are told to get off the us. The civil rights leader and NAACP field secretary, Meager Veers, had been shot and killed by the UK Klux Klan. Abilene states, â€Å"White peoples with guns, pointed at colored peoples. Cause who gone protect our peoples? Into no colored policeman’s† (230). The blacks are trapped and have no jurisdiction to control what happens in the community, or to themselves. Even a person with authority, Mayor Thompson, denoted the idea of a biracial committee and said that he â€Å"believes in the separation of races† (231). Instead of protecting the blacks, the government was useless In aiding them. The Jim Crow laws, found by Skitter In the library, also resembled how government only contributed to the destruction of racism. The events that are embedded throughout the novel reveal how the characters feel helpless to what occurs around them. In addition to resembling the theme of injustice, Hilly Holbrook is the symbol for whites who used power and influence to have blacks fired, evicted, imprisoned, fined, and even subjected to physical violence. She used her social status to influence the courts and businesses in the community to punish black omen, like Yule May, whom she targeted. After Yule May went to trial for stealing one of Hills rings, Abilene states that â€Å"A regular sentence be six months for petty stealing, but Miss Holbrook, she get it pushed up to four years† (295). For many of the black characters in the novel, and the black maids during that time, there was little justice. Acts of violence and injustice were committed against them and there was nothing they could do to fight it. The scale was of Justice was Imbalanced, heavily sloping downwards for the blacks who had no power compared to the whites. The eating also reinforces the theme of Injustice and racial Inferiority. The novel Is set In Jackson, Mississippi, one of the most segregated towns in the united States, during ten time AT ten call relents movement. I Nils was a parlor consisting AT organelle boycotts, student protests, and mass marches towards the struggle against racial segregation. The Jim Crow laws were enforced and there were strict rules and norms concerning the actions of blacks. Jackson, Mississippi was teeming with racial tensions and this affected the characters and events of the novel. Kathy Stocked rote the novel, The Help, and captured the image of life as a black maid during the sass’s. In her novel, she compiled historical events, characters, and the setting to portray the emotions and hardships of blacks during this time in history. By using these devices, Stocked formed the theme of injustice that readers can either relate to or comprehend. Through her writing, she accurately demonstrated how racial inequality, injustice, and inferiority played a role in the lives of many blacks. The Help represents how the blacks, the inferior, began to stand up to the whites, the superior, through words and stories. How to cite The Help by Kathrynn Stockett: Themes, Papers

Pds in India Essay Example

Pds in India Essay Research Paper No. 2006/98 The Public Distribution Systems of Foodgrains and Implications for Food Security A Comparison of the Experiences of India and China Zhang-Yue Zhou1 and Guanghua Wan2 September 2006 Abstract A comparative study of the public distribution systems of foodgrains in India and China is expected to reveal lessons and experiences that are valuable to policymakers. This is particularly important for developing countries in their endeavour to ensure food security. This paper undertakes such an exercise. The main features and developments of the two public distribution systems are first highlighted. This is followed by a comparative analysis of their similarities and differences. The role of public foodgrain distribution systems in ensuring food security is then evaluated. Finally, policy implications are drawn. Keywords: public distribution system, food security, poverty, food subsidy, India, China JEL classification: I31, I38, Q11, Q18 Copyright  © UNU-WIDER 2006 1 School of Business, James Cook University, Australia email: zhangyue. [emailprotected] edu. au; 2 UNU-WIDER, Helsinki, email: [emailprotected] unu. edu This paper was prepared for the UNU-WIDER project on Hunger and Food Security: New Challenges and New Opportunities, directed by Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis. The project was carried out in collaboration with the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). UNU-WIDER gratefully acknowledges the financial contributions to its research programme by the governments of Denmark (Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Finland (Ministry for Foreign Affairs), Norway (Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Sweden (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency—Sida) and the United Kingdom (Department for International Development). ISSN 1810-2611 ISBN 92-9190-882-7 (internet version) Acknowledgements We wish to thank the participants at the Jaipur workshop for their comments on the paper. In particular, we wish to thank Dr Benjamin We will write a custom essay sample on Pds in India specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Pds in India specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Pds in India specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Davis of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Professor S. S. Acharya of the Institute of Development Studies (Jaipur) for their constructive and helpful suggestions. Acronyms APL BPL FCI PDS (families) above poverty line (families) below poverty line Food Corporation of India public distribution system FAO Food and Agriculture Organization MSP minimum support price PL480 global food aid programme established by the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 into law as US Public Law 480, commonly known as PL480 TPDS targeted public distribution system (of India) The World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER) was established by the United Nations University (UNU) as its first research and training centre and started work in Helsinki, Finland in 1985. The Institute undertakes applied research and policy analysis on structural changes affecting the developing and transitional economies, provides a forum for the advocacy of policies leading to robust, equitable and environmentally sustainable growth, and promotes capacity strengthening and training in the field of economic and social policy making. Work is carried out by staff researchers and visiting scholars in Helsinki and through networks of collaborating scholars and institutions around the world. www. wider. unu. edu [emailprotected] unu. edu UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) Katajanokanlaituri 6 B, 00160 Helsinki, Finland Camera-ready typescript prepared by Liisa Roponen at UNU-WIDER The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s). Publication does not imply endorsement by the Institute or the United Nations University, nor by the programme/project sponsors, of any of the views expressed. Introduction The issue of food security has been around for a long time and the right to adequate food and to be free from hunger have been repeatedly affirmed in a number of documents adopted by the United Nations (e. g. , the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1966, and the Rights of Child in 1989). Nev ertheless, by the early 1990s, there were still more than 800 million people, mostly in the developing countries, who did not have enough food to meet basic nutritional needs. This led the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to assemble a World Food Summit in 1996, in which 194 countries took part and during which the Rome Declaration on World Food Security was drawn up. The World Food Summit called on the international community to cut the number of hungry people by half to about 400 million by 2015. However, the progress towards achieving the target, as reviewed in the World Food Summit: Five Years Later in June 2002, remained disappointingly slow (FAO 2002). According to FAO (2004: 6), in 200002, the number of undernourished people worldwide remained as high as 852 million, including 815 million in the developing countries. The number of people undernourished in India and China, the world’s two most populous countries, currently stands at 363 million (two-thirds are in India), accounting for 43 per cent of the world total (FAO 2004: 7). Sources of food insecurity for both countries, i. e. , huge population, limited agricultural resources, and unstable and unpredictable world markets, still prevail, presenting potential threats to national food security. Looking into their past practices, especially the access to food by the poor, may reveal valuable experiences and lessons. In this paper, we focus on the institution of the public distribution systems of food in these two countries and discuss how these systems have helped to improve food security. 2 Inception and evolution of the public distribution systems Adequately feeding the huge populations in India and China has been a challenge. At the time of independence of the Republic of India and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in the late 1940s, both countries ncountered severe shortage of food. Since then, governments have made considerable efforts to improve food production and great achievements have been made. In both countries, the supply and reach of food are more comfortable, famines rarely occur, and large foodgrain imports are not required. One of the important policy instruments is the use of the public distribution systems (PDSs). In this section, we hi ghlight how the PDSs are operated in each of the two countries. Due to significant reforms to the PDSs in both countries in the early 1990s, we present the PDSs in two stages: the period up to the early 1990s and the period since the early 1990s. 2. 1 The public distribution systems effective until the early 1990s India In India, foodgrain is distributed through a combination of private markets and the public distribution system (PDS). The origins of the PDS can be traced back to the Second World War period. Before the war, small deficits in foodgrain supply already existed 1 and were met from imports. When the war broke out, imports became difficult and grain prices rose sharply (Suryanarayana 1985: 20). To ensure an equitable distribution of food, ration was introduced in 1942, with supplies from domestic procurement and imports, and distribution through ration shops. From December 1947 the government reverted to decontrol. However, prices had increased steeply by July 1948 and control was re-introduced in September 1948. A new scheme of distribution, the fair-price shop system, was established to ensure low market prices through large supplies to the market. In 1965 the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was set up with the goal of handling grain procurement, distribution, and building a buffer stock. In the same year, the Agricultural Prices Commission (now Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices) was set up to advise the government on prices to be paid to farmers. Around 1967/68, the name fairprice shop scheme was changed to the public distribution system (PDS) but the role and organization of the system remained unchanged. The PDS is run jointly by central and state governments. While the responsibility of the central government (through FCI) is to procure, store and transport grains from purchase points to central godowns (warehouses) across the country, the responsibility of state governments is to transport these commodities from central godowns and distribute them to consumers through the network of fair-price shops. Fair-price shops are owned privately or cooperatively and make profits from the commission on sales. They are licensed by state governments and principally distribute food items (wheat, rice, sugar, and edible oil) to customers at fixed prices. A shop Table 1 Government subsidy on foodgrain consumption in India * Subsidy: Year 1976/77 1977/78 1978/79 1979/80 1980/81 1981/82 1982/83 1983/84 1994/85 1985/86 1986/87 1987/88 1988/89 1989/90 1990/91 Note: * Rs million US$ million % of GDP 4,773 4,801 5,694 6,000 6,500 7,000 7,110 8,350 11,010 16,500 20,000 20,000 22,000 24,760 24,500 544 586 698 761 749 738 703 735 892 1,310 1,545 1,438 1,357 1,415 1,078 0. 53 0. 47 0. 52 0. 50 0. 45 0. 42 0. 38 0. 38 0. 45 0. 59 0. 64 0. 56 0. 52 0. 51 0. 3 Year 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 Subsidy: Rs million US$ million % of GDP 28,500 28,000 55,370 51,000 53,770 60,660 75,000 87,000 92,000 120,100 174,940 241,760 251,600 277,460 1,013 896 1,764 1,572 1,514 1,668 1,815 2,018 2,044 2,543 3,598 5,189 5,557 6,372 0. 44 0. 37 0. 64 0. 50 0. 45 0. 44 0. 49 0. 50 0. 48 0. 57 0. 77 0. 98 n. a. n. a. Financial year, April-March, subsidies on foodgrain include sugar for some years. All are at current prices. Exchange rates obtained from www//research. stlouisfed. org/fred2/categories/15, accessed on 13 July 2005. Source: GOI (various years). 2 covers about 2000 people. Any person with a designated residential address, rich or poor, urban or rural, can draw supplies from these shops. In 2002, there were about 474,000 shops, 75 per cent in the rural areas. The grains distributed in these shops are of fair-to-average quality. Many well-off people prefer to purchase on the open market for grains of higher quality albeit at a higher price. Pricing is crucial for PDS in India. It is based on current and anticipated open market prices. If prices are too high, the PDS cannot not justify its existence; if too low, a heavy financial burden ensues. When the price of grain is below its cost (procurement, storage, distribution, wastage, etc. ), a government subsidy results. Since the early 1970s, procurement prices were increased annually to ensure reasonable remuneration to farmers. However, the prices at which the PDS dispatched grains could not be raised accordingly. Despite periodical revisions of the centrally-set prices, they were generally kept below costs. Consequently, the subsidy has increased from Rs 67 million in 1970/71 to over Rs 10 billion by 1984/85 and Rs 25 billion by 1989/90 at current prices (see Table 1). The increase in subsidy has attracted much attention and criticism (Parikh 1994; George 1996). It should be noted that subsidy figures in Table 1 are not deflated. No comparable deflators are available for these two countries. Considering that both India and China experienced high levels of inflation during the periods covered, the subsidy in real terms would be smaller. Nonetheless, we calculated the proportion of the subsidy to total GDP and in India in most years it has been typically around 0. 5 per cent. The proportion is higher in recent years due to a higher level of public stocks. China When the Communist Party of China came to power in 1949, there was a food shortage caused by decades of war. The new government took various measures to promote grain production, crack down on hoarding and speculation, and establish as well as strengthen state grain organizations. By the end of 1950, the grain situation was basically brought under control and the state grain organizations had gained a commanding position in the grain market. China started its First Five-Year Plan in 1953. With economic reconstruction underway on a large scale, the demand for grain outpaced availability. In October 1953, it was proposed that the government procure grain directly for supply to consumers in urban areas through a ration system. This was endorsed by the government and implemented in December 1953. Consequently, the ‘unified grain procurement and sale system’ was established, and state grain agencies became the sole buyers and sole sellers in the grain market. Three kinds of buyers were covered by this system: (i) the non-agricultural population (urban) who were issued with grain coupons, (ii) the agricultural population who were engaged in non-grain production or did not produce grain in sufficient quantities, and (iii) other grain users (e. g. , restaurants, bakeries, and food-processing factories or factories using grain as input). An important element of the rationing system was that the grain coupons could be used in government grain stores, restaurants, and manufactured food stores, etc. Usually they could only be used within the issuing area (e. . , a city or a province) but a local grain coupon could be exchanged for a more general one (i. e. , issued by a higher level government) to facilitate travellers. The local grain coupons were usually distributed 3 monthly, but could be used at any time or within a specific period. Although varying across provinces/cities, the proportion of fine to coarse grains was often fixed for a partic ular location. Food items sold through government grain shops primarily included cereals (chiefly rice and wheat flour), other coarse grains, and edible oil. Up till the early 1990s, the system underwent few significant changes. These included: i) ii) iii) Per capita ration was reduced by one kilogram per month in late 1960 in response to the nationwide famine; There were three selling price increases in the mid-1960s; and In 1985, the selling price of grain supplied to qualifying agricultural population was increased to equal the procurement price (the non-agricultural population was still provided with grains at the unified selling price which was below its procurement price). In the same year, changes in the provisions for other grain users were also made. As a result of significant increases in the procurement prices of grains in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and with no increases in the selling price to the non-agricultural population, the government subsidy increased rapidly. By 1990 it had reached 27 billion yuan (see Table 2). This soon triggered much attention and debate within the country. Some advocated de-control over grain marketing, while others proposed that grain prices be determined by the market (see, for example, Liu et al. 1986; Cheng, Lu, and Yan 1987; Yu 1987). But many argued that China’s grain situation could not be left totally to the market because of the critical importance of grain in feeding the people and maintaining social stability (Liu 1986; Ma 1987). The government kept the selling price of grain unchanged in order to maintain social stability. Table 2 Government subsidy on foodgrain consumption in China * Subsidy: Year 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 Note: * ? million US$ million % of GDP 1,114 5,485 10,280 14,222 15,619 18,213 20,167 19,866 16,937 19,543 20,403 26,252 26,761 706 3,666 ,719 8,322 8,232 9,194 8,638 6,747 4,894 5,237 5,468 6,965 5,580 0. 31 1. 36 2. 28 2. 92 2. 95 3. 07 2. 81 2. 22 1. 66 1. 63 1. 37 1. 55 1. 44 Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Subsidy: ? million US$ million % of GDP 26,703 22,435 22,475 20,203 22,891 31,139 41,367 56,504 49,229 75,874 60,544 53,524 55,015 5,005 4,059 3,891 2,338 2,735 3,734 4,972 6,807 5,947 9,165 7,315 6,467 6,647 1. 24 0. 84 0. 65 0. 43 0. 39 0. 46 0. 56 0. 72 0. 60 0. 85 0. 62 0. 51 0. 47 Calendar year, subsidies on grain, cotton and edible oil. Data excluding cotton not available. All are at current prices. Exchange rates obtained from www://research. stlouisfed. org/fred2/categories/15, accessed on 13 July 2005. Source: SSB (various issues). 4 2. 2 The public distribution systems since the early 1990s Clearly, both India and China had spent a large amount on subsidizing food consumption in the early 1990s. By then, however, majority of consumers in both countries were enjoying increased disposable income resulting from economic reforms and could afford foodgrains at market prices. To reduce the food subsidy, many argued that the PDSs need to be reformed so as to target specifically the poor and needy (Deng 1991; Jha 1992; Ahluwalia 1993; Pal, Bahl and Mruthyunjaya 1993). Since the early 1990s, both governments have reformed the PDSs but have chosen different paths. India has endeavoured to make the PDS increasingly targeted to the poor while China has tried to reduce the subsidy burden by cancelling the PDS. India Despite the heavy burden on the public exchequer, few in India have proposed reducing or dismantling the PDS in order to reduce the subsidy. Many agree that the PDS should be viewed as an instrument of income transfer in favour of the poor. From this perspective, existence of the PDS is justified on the ground of providing food security to the poor (Ahluwalia 1993; Dantwala 1993; Pal, Bahl and Mruthyunjaya 1993). Such a view is shared by the government, which believes that (i) eliminating the food subsidy is neither desirable nor feasible in the short and medium term although there is a strong reason to contain it, and (ii) the PDS, as it has now evolved and grown, needs to pay more ttention to the poor and vulnerable (GOI 1994: 66). Under such guidelines the government first launched a scheme in early 1992 to revamp the PDS in some 1800 backward and remote areas. Additional grains were allotted to the states at prices lower than the issue prices for normal PDS. During 1992-95, measures were undertaken to reduce the PDS entitlements to the non-poor or less poor population in an effort to reduce subsidies. Different types of ration cards (in different colours for different rations) were introduced for different groups of the population. In 1997, the government launched a revised scheme of distribution known as the targeted public distribution system (TPDS). Under TPDS, foodgrains were distributed under two-tier delivery system to households below poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL), with each BPL family receiving a set amount of foodgrains per month at heavily subsidized prices (see Table 3). Under the TPDS, the amount of heavily subsidized grains supplied to each of the BPL families was set at 10 kg per month. This set amount, however, has varied over time since 1997, depending on the size of the buffer stock. When the stock level was high, it was increased in an attempt to reduce the stock; for example, in 2001 this amount was increased to 25 kg per month per family (GOI 2002: 128). It was further increased to 35 kg in 2002 (GOI 2003: 94). The price at which the grain is sold to BPL families is set to equal half of its cost. In practice, however, the issue price to BPL families is often less than this stipulated cost (Table 3), and in the earlier years, it was significantly less than half its cost. The issue price to APL families was intended to represent 90 per cent of the cost but in the past years the actual price was often below this target level. The share of grain to BPL families has also changed over the years, and is closely linked to the amount available in the buffer stock. In 1997-98, of the 17. 5 million tons of total BPL and APL allocation, some 41 per cent (7. million tons) were for BPL 5 Table 3 Costs and issue prices of wheat and rice in India (1991-2003) Wheat Cost (Rs/kg) 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 BPL APL 1998-99 BPL APL 1999-00 BPL APL 2000-01 BPL APL 2001-02 BPL APL 2002-03 April BPL APL July BPL APL Source: GOI (2004). 3. 91 5. 04 5. 32 5. 51 5. 84 6. 63 7. 98 Issue price Issue price/cost (Rs/kg) (%) 2. 80 2. 80 3. 30 4. 02 4. 02 4. 02 2. 50 4. 50 8. 00 2. 50 6. 50 8. 87 2. 50 6. 82 8. 58 4. 15 8. 30 8. 59 4. 15 6. 10 9. 15 4. 15 5. 10 4. 15 6. 0 45 56 45 67 48 71 11. 84 5. 65 7. 30 5. 65 8. 30 48 62 48 70 48 97 11. 96 5. 65 8. 30 47 69 28 77 11. 80 5. 65 11. 30 48 96 31 81 10. 74 3. 50 9. 05 33 84 72 56 62 73 69 61 31 56 9. 95 3. 50 9. 05 35 91 Cost (Rs/kg) 4. 97 5. 85 6. 65 6. 95 7. 63 8. 58 9. 37 Rice Issue price Issue price/cost (Rs/kg) (%) 3. 77 3. 77 4. 37 5. 37 5. 37 5. 37 3. 50 7. 00 76 64 66 77 70 63 37 75 population (GOI 1999: 69). In 2000-01, 18. 5 million tons (64 per cent) were allocated for distribution to BPL families, compared to 10. 3 million tons to APL families. Since the TPDS was implemented in 1997, over 60 million BPL families benefit from this revised distribution scheme every year. In addition to TPDS, the Indian government initiated or strengthened a number of schemes to further assist the very poor in the form of cheaper grains. In December 2000, the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (grain scheme for the poorest of the poor) was launched (GOI 2001: 92). It seeks to identify the ten million poorest households out of the 65 million BPL families, and to provide them with 25 kg of foodgrains per family per month at a low price of Rs2/kg for wheat and Rs3/kg for rice. The Annapurna scheme, commenced in 2000-01, provides 10 kg of foodgrains per person per month free to indigent senior citizens above the age of 65 but who are not drawing pension under the national old age pension scheme. In August 2001, the Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (integrated rural employment scheme) was announced, under which states are provided with five million tons of foodgrains annually for undertaking work 6 programmes. Other existing welfare programmes were also strengthened to provide foodgrains to benefit the poor. These include the midday meal scheme, wheat based nutrition programme, scheme for supply of foodgrains to scheduled caste/scheduled tribe/other backward classes, the scheme for supply of foodgrains to indigent population living in welfare institutions (GOI 2002: 128). These schemes are used primarily (i) to make the TPDS more focused and targeted towards the poor, (ii) to increase the employment opportunities of the poor, and (iii) to help reduce the overstock of foodgrains in the central reserves. After revamping PDS in the early 1990s, rains are still supplied to consumers at prices lower than cost. Hence, the subsidy on foodgrain consumption remains. Since the introduction of the TPDS, the subsidy has continued to rise (Table 1) because the issue prices for grain for BPL are significantly lower than cost and the distribution of almost free grain has expanded through special schemes. China By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the issue of grain subsidy was receiving considerable atte ntion (Du 1989; Gu 1990; Ke 1990; Huang 1990; Deng 1991). In May 1991, the government moved to reduce subsidies for rationed grain by increasing the unified grain selling prices. But they were still below procurement prices. In April 1992, however, selling prices were further increased to equal procurement prices. Due to a succession of good harvests, market grain prices were low in the early 1990s, and were not much different from the prices of grain in government shops. Urban consumers bought more grain from the market to ensure better quality and selection. Further, the consumption of non-grain food in urban areas started to increase at the expense of foodgrain. This resulted in less importance being attached to the grain coupon and some urban residents started to sell coupons for cash. After certain experiments during late 1992 and early 1993, the state-operated unified grain sale system virtually disappeared around mid-1993. From October 1993, grain prices in the free market increased sharply and this was aggravated by panic buying. Having been sensitive to grain prices, the government immediately mobilized measures to cope with the price surge, including price ceilings on grain traded in the free market. Although grain prices were brought under control early December of that year through heavy administrative interventions, price fluctuations continued in some areas in the first half of 1994. From July 1994, grain prices rose again quickly all over the country. Certain areas reintroduced the coupons in late 1994 and by September 1995, about half of the 30 provinces restored the use of coupons (Anon. 995; Ka 1995). Prices were stable during much of 1995, thanks to additional grain imports and increased grain supply through government shops at subsidized prices. That year local governments were assigned the primary responsibility of handling grain matters under their jurisdiction. Consequently, the public distribution of grains differs across regions, although all regions procure grains under a quota regime at gov ernment-set prices. Some cities sell subsidized grains through government shops without ration; others apply the ration. A few cities, led by Shanghai and Beijing, also attempted to target the low-income population. This was later followed by other cities (Anon. 1996a, 1996b; Shen 1999). 7 However, the need for government provision of subsidized grain through its outlets did not last long. The grain supply in the market turned to abundance from 1996 and prices remained relatively low (Tian and Zhou 2005). For the majority of the population, buying grains at the market price was no longer a problem, although assistance was continued for some low-income consumers. However, approach to providing assistance started to change mainly in the urban areas and a cash income subsidy is currently provided to the needy instead of cheap subsidized foodgrain. From 1993, reform of the old social security system led to the establishment of a new social security system that is cash income transfer based. Since 1994, there has been an increased number of publications addressing China’s social security issues (see, for example, Ding 1997; Shi 1997; Yan 2003; Yu 2003; Guo 2004). Prior to 1994, attention was paid to social security issues by Beijing Review (1994) and Jiao (1994). Jiao (1994) points out that as a result of economic reforms, the old social security system could no longer ‘live up to its functions of promoting production and social stability, helping the underprivileged, and helping to guarantee a basic living standard for all’. It is interesting to note is that in recent years, increasing attention has also been paid to the establishment of a social security system in rural areas (e. g. , Yu 2003; Guo 2004). Wei (2003) attempts to address social security issues for rural migrants working in urban communities. In summary, the PDS in China gradually disappeared around the mid-1990s. Assistance to the poor was no longer provided in the form of subsidized foodgrain. Instead, under the reformed social security system it was gradually replaced with a cash income transfer. Government subsidy on grains, however, was not completely eliminated (see Table 2) but is being spent on maintaining stocks to cover any temporary market fluctuations and the occurrence of large-scale food insecurity. 3 Comparison of the PDSs: similarities and differences Originally introduced to combat food scarcity, the food distribution systems in both India and China have played an important role in ensuring an adequate food intake, particularly during periods of food shortage. Both countries supply their people with food at subsidized prices under a ration system. In this section of the paper, the two PDSs are compared and their similarities and differences are highlighted. 3. 1 The objectives of PDSs Both countries have chosen not to rely completely on the private market but to have instead a government food distribution system. The main objectives of the system in both cases are threefold: i) ii) iii) To contain rises in food prices and keep them within reasonable limits in the wake of production shortage and increasing food demand; To ensure availability of minimum amount of food at a reasonable price to those who do not produce it (or produce it in insufficient quantity); and To make food available at reasonable prices to low-income groups whose food security is most severely affected by high prices. 8 The system has evolved in both countries from a history of periodic food shortages and corresponding sharp price hikes in the private market system. The distribution mechanism also serves as an early warning and quick response system in case of local famine situations. 3. 2 The system The PDS included subsystems for the procurement, storage and distribution of foodgrains. Both countries took steps to involve the local/state governments in the system. China sought to establish a command position for government organizations in the grain market, and thus monopolized grain marketing. The government of India also tried the same but failed. Consequently, less than 10 per cent of the grain production in India is handled by the government and the rest is left to the private market. The Indian PDS does not attempt to meet the public’s entire grain requirement but the PDS is instead intended to cover a certain minimum of the eligible groups coming to the fairprice shops. In contrast, the Chinese government assumed responsibility for feeding the entire registered urban population. As a result, quantities andled by the government of India are much lower than those handled by the government of China (Figure 1). Figure 1 also shows that the quantities despatched through the PDS in India have varied, depending on grain availability and prices on the open market, while in the case of China, with the increasing urban population, the quantity of grains supplied through government shops rose continuously until the mid-1980s when additional agricultural market reforms wer e initiated (Figure 1). In China grains were procured by the local governments according to quotas as assigned by the national government. Total procurements and any imports were allocated to Figure 1 Quantity of foodgrains distributed through the PDSs * 120 100 million tons 80 60 40 20 0 19 84 19 86 19 98 20 00 19 80 19 82 19 88 19 90 19 92 19 94 19 96 20 02 India China Following the price surges in 1993, ration was reintroduced in some regions, and was carried out jointly by the central and local governments. The distribution of foodgrain by the various tiers of government gradually disappeared from 1993 onward. Data for 1994 and thereafter not available to the authors. Sources: GOI (2004); SSB (various issues). Note: * 9 different provinces by the national government, which also managed the stocks. In India the entire procurement process is the responsibility of central government through FCI, which constitutes a part of the farmer price support system. FCI, who handle the distribution to the states, also manages the stocks and distributions across godowns all over the country. Thus, the costs and subsidies involved in the operations of the PDS in China seem to have been shared between the national and provincial governments, whereas in India they are largely borne by the central government. 3. 3 Operation and performance Both countries’ food distribution systems, despite their various shortcomings, have played a significant role in distributing food to the people, particularly during shortages (Acharya 1983; Zhou 1998; Jharwal 1999; Swaminathan 2000; Zhou, Liu and Perera 2001). In addition, the public food distribution system has had a significant role in stabilizing prices in the market and this is particularly true in the case of India (Jharwal 1999). The unit cost of grain handled through the Indian PDS has been rising in recent years (Table 3). This is partly attributable to the high post-procurement cost and leakages to the open market (Ahluwalia 1993). In recent years, India’s excessive public stocks (Table 4) have added to the increasing cost of its PDS (GOI 2002, 2003). Table 4 shows that the actual stock in the beginning of 2002 was more than three times greater than the buffer norm. On the other hand, in China low operation efficiency is a key factor contributing to the increasing cost of its PDS. Although the government has gradually given up supplying grain to consumers through its outlets, it still procures grain for a buffer reserve and various other uses. Low efficiency is a significant