One older man said he served in the Korean War. He complained that at his age he should not have to worry about putting food back from his grocery cart because he needs to make sure he can afford his no prescription medicine. Another woman stated she had lost money in the stock market. She joked that her dog would have to start communion his food with her if the economy didn’t get better.

It was from her I found out that her parents purchased no Rx medicine from Canada wherever it was cheaper. She stated what does our government expect people to do if they have to worry about the basic necessities of life AND the faqs about prescription medication prices?

Later I thought about the nice elderly man who served in the Korean War and his worries. I don’t think those persons who have more than enough money in their bank can judge those who are barely making it about buying no Rx medicine from Canada.

However, if you buy no Rx medication from Canada or over seas please make sure you need to provide a valid prescription from your doctor in the U.S. and that the pharmacy is licensed and in good standing. In other words check them out! Visit http://www.noprescriptionmedicine.net today!

Instead today we have an America where 47% of people say they would definitely not vote for an Atheist president. An America where the president cares more about God than poverty and human rights. What would they think?
KW – The majority of them were not Christians. Thomas Jefferson famously said "Christianity is the most perverted system that has ever shone on man". Try reading a book some time dear.

I don’t think they would care. It wasn’t that they wanted to eliminate religion and God. They just wanted everyone to be able to practice what ever they wanted or not have to practice at all. As long as the president doesn’t push religion on the people and oppress anyone I don’t really care what their personal religious beliefs are. I think people believe that a president who "says" he believes in God is somehow more moral than one who does not. We all know that is completely false but whatever.

Duration : 2 min 31 sec

I’m stumped, any suggestions?
I’m not sure that "juvenile justice system" relates to constitutional law in and ove itself…
of-whoops. it’s been a long week!

Constitutional law regarding juvenile search and seizure…school searches-lockers, etc.

Which ones are they?

FOX and CNN are both right wing. Notice how often they use the word socialism to describe anything which shows the caring face of Americans.

Duration : 1 min 18 sec

HIV/AIDS is the global issue of new era of science and technology and we should know that the problem of widespread AIDS is challenge for human survival. Children and young people need to be equipped with the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills that will help them face these challenges and assist them in making healthy life-style choices as they grow. Education delivered through schools is one of the ways through which children can be helped to face these challenges and make such choices.

Providing information about HIV (transmission, risk factors, how to avoid infection) is necessary, but not sufficient, to lead to healthy behavioral change. Programs that provide accurate information, to counteract the myths and misinformation, frequently report improvements in knowledge and attitudes, but this is poorly correlated with behavioral change related to risk taking and desirable behavioral outcomes. Education can be effective in the more difficult task of achieving and sustaining behavior change about HIV/AIDS. The schools can either be a place that practices discrimination, prejudice and undue fear or one that demonstrates society’s commitment to equity.School policies need to ensure that every child and adolescent has the right to life education; particularly when that education is necessary for survival and avoidance of HIV infection.

HIV infection is one of the major problems facing school-age children today. They face fear if they are ignorant, discrimination if they or a family member or friend is infected, and suffering and death if they are not able to protect themselves from this preventable disease.

It is estimated that 40 million people, worldwide, are living with HIV or have AIDS, at least a third of these are young people aged 15-24. In 1998 more than 3 million young people worldwide became infected including 590,000 children under 15. More than 8,500 children and young people become infected with HIV each day. In many countries over 50% of all infections are among 15-24 years old, who will likely develop AIDS in a period ranging from several months to more than 10 years.

Studies have shown the enormous impact HIV and AIDS have on the education sector and the quality of education provided, particularly in certain regions of the world such as Sub Saharan Africa. Consequences of the AIDS epidemic include a probable decrease in the demand for education, coupled with absenteeism and an increase in the number of orphans and school drop out, especially among girls. Girls are socially and economically more vulnerable to conditions that force people to accept risk of HIV infection in order to survive. A decrease in education for girls will have serious negative effects on progress made over the past decade toward providing an adequate education for girls and women. Reduced numbers of classes or schools, a shortage of teachers and other personnel, and shrinking resources for educational systems all impair the prospects for education.

Effective HIV/AIDS education and prevention is needed in all schools for all children so that no one is left ignorant. Yet in many places schools are apprehensive about providing sex education or discussions of sexuality because of cultural demands to protect adolescents from sexual experience. Women often lack skills needed to communicate their concerns with their sexual partners and to practice behaviors that reduce their risk of infection, such as condom use, which is often controlled by men.

The school can either be a place that practices discrimination, prejudice and undue fear or one that demonstrates society’s commitment to equity. School policies need to ensure that every child and adolescent has the right to HIV/AIDS education; particularly when that education is necessary for survival and avoidance of HIV infection.

A UNAIDS review (1997) of 53 studies which assessed the effectiveness of programs to prevent HIV infection and related health problems among young people concluded that sex education programs do not lead to earlier or increased sexual activity among young people, in fact the opposite seems to be true. 22 reported that HIV and/or sexual health education either delayed the onset of sexual activity, reduced the number of sexual partners or reduced unplanned pregnancies and STD rates. 27 studies reported that HIV/AIDS and sexual health neither increased nor decreased sexual activity, pregnancy or STD.

The review concluded that school based interventions are an effective way to reduce risk behaviors associated with HIV/AIDS/STD among children and adolescents.

There are three main objectives for this paper to integrate the education effectively with the HIV/AIDS preventions and other health aspects related with it.

These are as follows:

Objectives:

1) Health education focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention.

2) Raising awareness about HIV/AIDS among educators and learners.

3) Stimulate peer support and HIV/AIDS counseling in schools.

The main focus of the paper is to give the importance to the HIV/AIDS precaution with the health education raising the awareness about it among all the students as well as their teachers also and provide the supportive environment for the HIV/AIDS education for all.

Need of HIV/AIDS education:

In area such as HIV/AIDS prevention individual behavior, social and peer pressure, cultural norms and abusive relationships may all contribute to the health and lifestyle problems of children and adolescents. There is now increasing evidence that in tackling these issues and health problems, a healthy approach to HIV/AIDS and sex education works, and is more effective than teaching knowledge alone. T

here are numerous studies indicating that providing information about issues such as sex, STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) and HIV (transmission, risk factors, how to avoid infection) is necessary, but not sufficient, to lead to healthy behavioral change (Hubley, 2000). Programs that provide accurate information, to counteract the myths and misinformation, frequently report improvements in knowledge and attitudes, but this is poorly correlated with behavioral change related to risk taking and desirable behavioral outcomes (Gatawa 1995, UNAIDS 1997a). HIV/AIDS with health education can be effective in the more difficult task of achieving and sustaining behavior change.

Health education with HIV/AIDS is widely applicable:

This problems largely affecting men and women as well as older children and adolescents, both this age group and younger children also face a wider range of health problems where education can play a vital role in sustainable prevention and management. Health education with HIV/AIDS programs plays a vital role in preventing infections. This is done through promoting knowledge of areas such as symptoms, transmission, and behaviors that are specifically relevant to many infection in each community; attitudes such as responsibility for personal, family and community health, confidence to change unhealthy habits; skills such as avoiding behaviors that are likely to cause infection, encourage others to change unhealthy habits, communicate messages about infection to families, peers and members of the community (WHO, 1996).

 This kind of health education with HIV/AIDS prevention focuses upon the development of Knowledge, Attitudes, Values, and Skills (including life skills such as inter-personal skills, critical and creative thinking, decision making and self awareness) needed to make and act on the most appropriate and positive health-related decisions. Health in this context extends beyond physical health to include psycho-social and environmental health issues.

This approach utilizes student centered and participatory methodologies, giving participants the opportunity to explore and acquire health promoting knowledge, attitudes and values and to practice the skills they need to avoid risky and unhealthy situations and adopt and sustain healthier life styles.

HIV/AIDS – a critical need for health education:

HIV/AIDS is an area where the scale and impact of the problem is such that the urgency of implementing preventative measures, including health education, is critical. Health education programs are being increasingly adopted as means of reaching children and young people to help halt the spread of this crippling epidemic. Studies from African countries show that children between the ages of 5 and 14 have the lowest prevalence of HIV infection. Below the age of 5 they are susceptible to mother to child transmission and after they become sexually active, the rate of infection increases rapidly – especially for girls (Kelly, 2000). Children aged 5-14 need to be reached at this critical stage in their lives and offer the ‘window of hope’ in stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.

 Health Education with HIV/AIDS prevention Does Change Behavior:

There is now strong evidence from an increasing number of studies that health education HIV/AIDS prevention applied in an appropriate context, changes behavior – including behavior in sensitive and difficult areas where knowledge based health education has failed.

For example: Sexuality and HIV education –USA:

This study was implemented in 4 schools in New York City with 9th and 11th grade students (867 students), in intervention (AIDS prevention program) and control classes (no AIDS prevention program). The program focused on correcting facts about AIDS, teaching cognitive skills to appraise risk of transmission, increasing knowledge of AIDS-prevention resources, changing perceptions of risk-taking behavior, clarifying personal values, understanding external influences and teaching skills to delay intercourse and/or consistently use condoms. An evaluation carried out three months after the end of the program found that the intervention group showed the following positive behavioral outcomes when compared with the control group: decrease in intercourse with high risk partners, increase in monogamous relationships and an increase in consistent condom use. (Walter & Vaughan, 1993).

 HIV/AIDS prevention-Nigeria:

Health education programs are being implemented in many schools in Nigeria to increase levels of knowledge, influence attitudes and encourage safe sexual practices among secondary school students. A study to evaluate one such program was conducted comparing 223 students who received comprehensive sexual health education with 217 controls. Students in the intervention group received 6 weekly sessions lasting 2-6 hours, with activities including lectures, film shows, role-play stories, songs, debates, essays and a demonstration of the correct use of condoms. Following the intervention, students in the intervention group showed a greater knowledge and increased tolerance of people with AIDS compared to the control. The mean number of sexual partners also decreased in the intervention group, while the control group showed a slight increase. The program was also successful in increasing condom use (Fawole et al., 1999) Above mentioned studies shows that health education with HIV/AIDS prevention does change the behavior of students especially adolescents.

 Method for implementing Health Education with HIV/AIDS prevention:

Although there is strong evidence that HIV/AIDS prevention is effective when properly applied and supported, implementing this approach and achieving this success on a larger, countrywide scale is one of the greatest challenges to be faced.

To be effective, HIV/AIDS prevention programs must address the following areas:

•Reassure stakeholders that these messages are beneficial:

Talking and teaching about reproductive health and HIV/AIDS issues does not result in earlier initiation of sex or promiscuity. The evidence suggests that well implemented skills-based programs, conducted in an atmosphere of free discussion of all the issues, is likely to lead to young people delaying the initiation of intercourse and reducing the frequency of intercourse and number of sexual partners (Kirby et al. 1994, UNAIDS 1997a).

•Provide support to teachers: The lack of support for implementation of new programs is one of the most important factors affecting success. For most teachers both the content and methods of HIV/AIDS prevention programs are new and perhaps sensitive, and yet the approach has great potential to assist teachers both in their work and also their personal lives since HIV/AIDS is, of course, also affecting teachers. Sufficient support, training, practice and time needs to be available to teachers, in both pre- and in-service training sessions and workshops, to facilitate reflection and development of their own attitudes, and to motivate them to apply their new knowledge and skills, rather than continue with the more didactic, traditional teaching methods, which are often focused on information alone (Gatawa 1995, Gachuhi 1999). In addition, sufficient time and an appropriate place must also be given in the curriculum so that all students have access to HIV/AIDS prevention.

•Start early: As well as targeting adolescents, programs need to be targeted at children at an early age, with developmentally appropriate messages, before they leave school (Gachuhi 1999, Partnership for Child Development 1998). Because younger children are generally not sexually active, these programs will address the building blocks for healthy living and avoiding risk, rather than the very specific issues related to sexual relationships and HIV/AIDS which are progressively introduced to programs for older ages. However, the large number and diverse age range of children within primary schools is an enduring challenge, especially when addressing sensitive issues. Active and self-directed learning methods which are commonly used in education can be helpful in overcoming these classroom management issues to some extent.

•Provide a supportive environment: Schools need to have strong policies and a healthy supportive environment in terms of behavior of students towards each other, teachers and school personnel. Sexual abuse can occur in schools, with both boys and girls reporting abuse by school staff (Kinsman et al. 1999, Lowensen et al. 1996). Programs need to address this potential problem by training and supporting teachers, so that they can become role models rather than neutral or adverse figures in relation to sexual behavior.

•Respond to local needs: Many of the models for HIV/AIDS prevention have been developed in western, developed countries. The available evidence from developing countries, although more limited in scope than the studies from non-developing countries, supports skills-based health education for HIV/AIDS and reproductive health (Hubley, 2000). The main issue is that wherever programs are to be implemented they must be shaped to meet the local socio-cultural norms, values and religious beliefs, and need to include ongoing monitoring (Kirby et al 1994, UNAIDS 1999, Kinsman et al.1999).

Elements of a Health Education for HIV/AIDS prevention:

Reviews of school-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs (23 studies in the USA (Kirby et al. 1994), 37 other countries (reported in UNAIDS 1999) and 53 studies in USA, Europe and elsewhere (UNAIDS 1997a) have identified the following common characteristics of successful programs:

1.Focus on a few specific behavioral goals, (such as delaying initiation of intercourse or using protection), which requires knowledge, attitude and skill objectives.

2.Provision of basic, accurate information that is relevant to behavior change, especially the risks of unprotected intercourse and methods of avoiding unprotected intercourse. 3.Reinforcement of clear and appropriate values to strengthen individual values and group norms against unprotected sex.

4.Modeling and practice in communication and negotiation skills particularly, as well as other related “life skills”.

5.Use of Social Learning theories as a foundation for program development.

6.Addressing social influences on sexual behaviors, including the important role of media and peers.

7.Use of participatory activities (games, role playing, group discussions etc.) to achieve the objectives of personalizing information, exploring attitudes and values, and practicing skills.

8.Extensive training for teachers/implementers to allow them to master the basic information about HIV/AIDS and to practice and become confident with life skills training methods.

9.Support for reproductive health and HIV/STD prevention programs by school authorities, decision and policy makers, as well as the wider community.

10.Evaluation (e.g. of outcomes, design, implementation, sustainability, school, student and community support) so that programs can be improved and successful practices encouraged.

11.Age-appropriateness, targeting students in different age groups and developmental stages with appropriate messages that are relevant to young people. For example one goal of targeting younger students, who are not yet sexually active, might be to delay the initiation of intercourse, whereas for sexually active students the emphasis might be to reduce the number of sexual partners and use condoms.

12.Gender sensitive, for both boys and girls.

 Conclusions:

 Health Education with HIV/AIDS prevention offers an effective approach to equipping children and young people with the knowledge, attitudes and skills that they need to help them avoid risk taking behavior and adopt healthier life styles. The scope of health education means that it can be applied to a wide range of areas, especially STDs and HIV/AIDS prevention, but also including violence, substance abuse, unwanted situations such as early pregnancy and all areas where knowledge and attitudes play a critical role in promoting a healthy lifestyle for children and young people growing up in the 21st century. We can sum it in following points- •The constitutional rights of learners and educators must be protected equally.

•There should not be compulsory disclosure of HIV/AIDS status.

•No HIV positive learner or educator may be discriminated against.

 •Learners must receive education about HIV/AIDS and abstinence in the context of life- skills education as part of the integrated curriculum.

•Educational institutions should ensure that learners acquire age and context appropriate knowledge and skills to enable them to behave in ways that will protect them from infection.

•Educators need more knowledge of, and skills to deal with HIV/AIDS and should be trained to give guidance on HIV/AIDS.

Suggestions for implications for policies and programmes:

•Male and female condom promotion efforts need to recognize, identify and address gender issues including sexual and other forms of violence, that inhibit condom use.

•HIV/AIDS, peer education, and sex education programmes for adolescents that incorporate gender equality issues into their framework should be fostered. Such programmes should enable a better understanding of how norms related to masculinity and femininity may increase risky sexual behaviour, and help young people begin thinking about how to work towards equal and responsible relationships.

•Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) services should take into account the risk of violence and other adverse consequences when evaluating different approaches to disclosure. For example, patients can be given the choice of counsellor-mediated disclosure if that would help minimise adverse consequences.

•Both men and women should be involved in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMtCT) programmes. Antenatal services can educate men about sexuality, fertility and HIV prevalence to raise their awareness and sense of responsibility. This would avoid reinforcing the belief that women alone are responsible for pregnancy and for HIV transmission to the infant.

•Community Home Based Care (CBBC) approaches need to include a special effort to promote the role of men as care-givers in the family and community, and to provide adequate support and guidance to enable male participation. At the very least, such programmes should acknowledge that reliance on “home care” is, at present, largely reliance on “women’s care”.

References:

1.Fawole, I.O., Asuzu, M.C., Oduntan, S.O., Brieger, W.R. (1999). A school-based AIDS education program for secondary school students in Nigeria: a review of effectiveness. Health Education Research – Theory & Practice, 14: 675-683.

 2.Gachuhi, D. (1999). The impact of HIV/AIDS on education systems in the Eastern and Southern Africa region and the response of education systems to HIV/AIDS: Life Skills Programs.

3.Gatawa, B.G. (1995). Zimbabwe: AIDS Education for schools. Case Study. UNICEF Harare Zimbabwe.

4.Hubley, J. (2000). Interventions targeted at youth aimed at influencing sexual behavior and AIDS/STDs. Leeds Health Education Database, April 2000.

5.Kelly, M.J. (2000). Standing education on its head: Aspects of schooling in a world with HIV/AIDS. Current Issues in Comparative Education. 3(1).

6.Kinsman, J., Harrison, S., Kengeya-Kayondo, J., Kanyesigye, E., Musoke, S. & Whitworth, J. (1999). Implementation of a comprehensive AIDS education program for schools in Masaka District, Uganda. AIDS CARE, 11(5): 591-601.

7.Kirby, D., Short, L., Collins, J., Rugg, D. et al. (1994). School-based programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors: a review of effectiveness. Public Health Reports, 109(3): 339-361.

8.Lowensen, R., Edwards, L. & Ndlovu-Hove, P. (1996). Reproductive health rights in Zimbabwe. Training and Research Support Centre (TARSC).

9.UNAIDS (1997a). Impact of HIV and sexual health education on the sexual behavior of young people: a review update.

10.UNAIDS (1997b). Learning and teaching about AIDS at school. UNAIDS technical update, October 1997.

11.Walter, H. & Vaughan, R. (1993). AIDS risk reduction among a multiethnic sample of urban high school students. JAMA, 270(6): 725-730.

12.WHO (1996). Preventing HIV/AIDS/STI and related discrimination: an important responsibility of health promoting schools. WHO series on school health, document six.

sarita
http://www.articlesbase.com/k-12-education-articles/hivaids-and-education-602664.html

Human Growth Hormone was first discovered in 1956 and its structure was identified in 1972. It was extracted from cadavers, sold at very high prices, and injected with needles into the body.

In mid-1998 the 191 chain Hgh molecule was genetically engineered in the laboratory. Since then all HGH is synthetically produced and HGH from cadavers is no longer in use. Synthetic HGH (Somatrophin) is available to us now in two forms. One is through a costly doctor’s pharmaceutical prescription, and secondly at a reasonable price through a homeopathic oral spray. A third therapy alternative would be Secretogogues and Stacked Amino products which contain absolutely no HGH. The idea here is to coax your own body, by stimulating the Pituitary Gland, to produce more of it’s own HGH. Unfortunately this latter therapy works for only a month or two.

It should be noted that the Federal Drug Administration does not allow any nutritional product (HGH pills) to claim that it can “cure” any disease. However, the FDA does approve Pharmaceutical drugs and Homeopathic preparations to claim they can cure a particular disease and the testing to achieve this status is quite rigorous as we all know.

So, a doctor is permitted to prescribe Human Growth Hormone to a patient for anti-aging even though it is approved by the FDA only as a cure for dwarfism. The Pharmaceutical manufacturer is not permitted to suggest it’s use as an anti-aging therapy, only as a treatment for dwarfism, and one company ended up paying substantial fines and penalties for doing just that.

The large majority of Homeopathic remedies do, with FDA approval, claim to cure various ailments. Homeopathic HGH is one of only a handful of preparations that claims to “cure” nothing. 21st Century HGH is manufactured at an FDA monitored and approved laboratory. The curious difference between pharmaceutical HGH (hgh prescription shots) and homeopathic HGH (oral spray) is that even though the former injects huge amounts of the actual hormone, compared to only a miniscule amount in the homeopathic preparation, the rejuvenation levels are remarkably similar!

Being very conservative the idea of stimulating my own body’s production of HGH through nutritional supplements sounded the most “natural” to me. However, the authoritative Physician’s Desk Reference Manual rates different forms of absorption by the body and yields eye-opening information. It says that when you swallow a pill, less than 10% of the nutrient actually gets into the blood stream. The other 90% is processed as waste by the gastrointestinal tract.

Oral absorption through the mucosa (the lining of the mouth) is the preferred choice of medical experts because the body absorbs 90% of the nutrient into the bloodstream. That’s a huge difference. What was not a big difference to us, but was still very interesting, was that oral absorption (90%) was higher than intra-muscular injection (80%).

So, piling a bunch of substances into my body in the form of stacked amino acids and secretagogues, most of which would actually pass through me, just to coax my Pituitary Gland into a little bit of action didn’t seem like a plan to me.

The Human Growth Hormone market is beset by some overzealous marketeers who sometimes make claims that are somewhat misleading, especially in the area of human growth hormone clinical studies. I’ve read through many entire websites which make claims, based on pharmaceutical HGH, that imply the same results will occur with their nutritional product. They are just “fast talking” their clientel and many have had action taken against them by the Federal Trade Commission.

If you are interested in a great rejuvenation therapy stick to either pharmaceutical injections under the care of a doctor or homeopathic oral sprays that can be purchased over-the-counter. The FDA has approved oral sprays for over the counter sales. They are generic in nature. There is only one “recipe” that works and all the companies use this recipe. Beware of companies that claim that their oral spray is more potent than the next. It’s impossible.

Good Luck and Happy Living!

Michael Harvey
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/whats-the-real-deal-on-hgh-human-growth-hormone-anyway-28107.html

BY

Dr.V.V.S.K.PRASAD.,M.Com.,M.B.A.,Ph.D.,

Professor and Head

E-Mail: vskprasad.vempati@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Reforms of the financial sector constitutes the most important component of India’s programme towards economic liberalization.  The recent economic liberalization measures have opened the door to foreign competitors to enter into our domestic market. Deregulation in the form of elimination of exchange controls and interest rate ceilings have made the market more competitive.  Innovation has become a must for survival.

Many  of the providers and users of capital have changed their roles all over the world.  Financial intermediaries have come out of their traditional approach and they are ready to assume more credit risks.  As a consequence, many innovations have taken place in the global financial sector which have its own impact on the domestic sector also. The emergences of various financial institutions and regulatory bodies have transformed the financial services sector from being a conservative industry to a very dynamic one. In this process this sector is facing a number of challenges.

In this changed context, the financial services industry  in India has to play a very positive and dynamic role in the years to come by offering many innovative products to suit the varied requirements of the millions of prospective investors spread throughout the country.

Overview

Reforms of the financial sedctor constitutes the most important component of India’s programme towards economic liberalization.  The recent economic liberalization measures have opened the door to foreign competitors to enter into our domestic market. Deregulation in the form of elimination of exchange controls and interest  rate ceilings have made the market more competitive.  Innovation has become a must for survival.

Many  of the providers and users of capital have changed their roles all over the world.  Financial intermediaries  have come out of their traditional approach and they are ready to assume more credit risks.  As a consequence, many innovations have taken place in the global financial sector. Which have its own impact  on the domestic sector also. The emergence of various financial institutions and regulatory  bodies have transformed  the financial services sector from being a conservative industry to a very dynamic one. In this process this sector is facing a number of challenges.

Growth in financial services (comprising banking, insurance, real estate and business services), after dipping to 5.6% in 2003-04 bounced back to 8.7% in 2004-05 and 10.9% in 2005-06. The momentum has been maintained with a growth of 11.1% in 2006-07.

Impressive progress in information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services, both rail and road traffic, and fast addition to existing stock of telephone connections, particularly mobiles, played a key role in such growth.

      Because of Globalization, the financial services industry is in a period of transition. Market shifts, competition, and technological developments are ushering in unprecedented changes in the global financial services industry. Organizations in this highly competitive and increasingly regulated industry will especially need to focus on making themselves more:

Ø      Adept to face increasing transaction volumes, regulation and the integration of previously disparate global markets

Ø      Agile at identifying and managing risk

Ø      Operationally efficient

Ø      Customer – centric

Ø      Optimized in both business & technology

In this scenario, spearheading IT initiatives has become critically important.

Major spending initiative priorities tend to focus on automation to reduce costs and lessen risk, along with using BPO to gain efficiency and allow internal IT organizations to focus on strategic initiatives. Delivery of these capabilities at a high efficiency level but at low costs is one of the major success factors for any financial services business.

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of the present paper is to  examine the status of Financial Services Industry in India and to study the challenges before this industry due to globalization

          To enhance their competitive advantage in this changed environment, financial services institutions are increasingly harnessing new technologies to provide superior customer offerings and streamline internal processes. Today’s dynamic marketplace demands that financial services providers emphasize on technologically advanced, feature-rich solutions, that can operate in real-time and with the highest degree of precision and reliability.

Information technology is increasingly being considered as critical to the strategic direction and the day-to-day operation of financial services firms.

Growth in financial services is being bolstered by the opportunities of demography, emerging markets and ever more innovative products and services. Yet, organisations also face the challenges of mounting competition, more complex regulation and ever more exacting customer expectations. Effective growth strategies are therefore likely to cut across all operating processes and functional boundaries. Key priorities include ensuring that the business model takes full account of customers’ needs, tax, financial and regulatory considerations and the organisation’s capacity to change the way it does business. In turn, the objectives and criteria for success need to be clearly measured.

                    A survey of more than 250 financial services executives carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2006, found that respondents believe that existing customers will be their main source of organic growth. Creating operations that can retain and deliver profits from customers through their lifetime will demand a significant investment in data gathering and relationship management and may therefore require a shift in the prevailing cost-income model. This includes a re-think of training, reward and performance management strategies including a move from volume-based incentives to rewards geared to client satisfaction and the profitability of the customer over the lifetime of the relationship. Success will also require timely and insightful metrics on customers’ evolving attitudes and preferences.

The  Financial Services & banking industry is changing at a fast pace. These changes are throwing up fresh challenges like managing complex technological divergence in a converging market. Banks strive to constantly offer more to the existing customer base. To achieve this, they emphasize on more targeted technology investments and high-quality service. To remain competitive, financial institutions will have to renew their commitment to investing in new technology strategically — to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and boost revenue-generating initiatives.

Taking full note of these challenges, OFS puts together its banking practice to help financial institutions improve enterprise performance, comply with regulatory mandates, boost operational efficiency, and better serve their customers through OFS’ spectrum of solutions and services derived from proven track record of domain expertise.

The Challenges

Among the key IT challenges facing the Financial Services industry today is:

• Preserving investments in old systems while leveraging new technologies to drive down transactions costs, expand and improve customer service
• Integrating enterprise wide disparate systems to gain operational efficiencies
• Substantially reducing time for deployment of new systems
• Reducing IT costs and obtaining better ROIs for new investments in the long-term

                Only a carefully thought out long-term IT strategy backed by execution, implementation and support capability can meet these challenges successfully.

Today’s financial services firms face mounting pressures on all fronts:

• Credit markets are creating industry turmoil
• Tightening credit guidelines that threaten revenue streams
• Growing reporting and risk management obligations like Sarbanes-Oxley, Know Your Customer and Basel II
• The difficulties of sustaining growth in overly-saturated markets
• Innovative products that address the needs of a diverse client base such as retirees and young emerging and ethnic segments
• Growing concerns over customer data security and identity management
• Increasing competition not just from traditional competitors, but from other organizations that expand their service offerings
• The complexities that arise from mergers and acquisitions and from expanding into the global marketplace

          Whether we are trying to maintain competitive advantage, looking for ways to position our self better for mergers or acquisitions or expanding into the global marketplace, the challenges are as complex as they are varied. And while we deal with these fundamental concerns, we are met with increasing demands from investors, regulators and customers.

The Answers

How do we succeed in this environment? The first step is to ensure that we have the infrastructure and solutions to support our business strategy. With the right systems in place, our organization can more rapidly comply with regulations, operational risk and security issues. We can also open up new product offerings, reduce customer turnover and minimize fixed costs and maximize productivity. In addition, the companies can leverage outsourcing opportunities to reduce overhead, while still enjoying the scalability they need to support future growth or new initiatives.

The process of globalization has paved the way for the entry of innovative and sophisticated financial products into our country.  Since the Government is very keen in removing all obstacles that stand in the way of inflow of foreign capital, the potentiabilities for the introduction of innovative international financial products in India are very great.   Moreover, India is likely to enter the full convertibility era soon.  Hence, there is every possibility of introduction of more and more  innovative and sophisticated financial services in our country.

Realizing all these factors, the Government of India has initiated many steps to reform the financial services industry.

Ø      The Government has already switched over to free pricing of issues from pricing issues by the Controller of capital issues.

Ø      The interest rates have been deregulated

Ø      The private sector has been permitted to participate in banking and mutual funds and the public sector undertakings are being privatized.

Ø      The Finance Act, 1992 has brought into effect large scale amendments in the tax structure of long term capital gains.

Ø      The Finance Act, 1994 has given a further boost by lowering the lock – in period from 3 years to 1 year, in order to get the entitlement as a long – term capital asset.

Ø      The SEBI  has liberalized many stringent conditions so as to boost the Financial Services Industry.

In this changed context, the financial services industry  in India has to play a very positive and dynamic role in the years to come by offering many innovative products to suit the varied requirements of the millions of prospective investors spread throughout the country.

                                                            *****

Dr.V.V.S.K.PRASAD
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/impact-of-globalization-on-indian-financial-services-industry-737929.html

Conservative Academy Winston Churchill

Churchill was the 20th century’s most influential person, because he personified, defended, and extended the franchise of the orthodox Anglo-Saxon inspired [big L] Liberal-Parliamentary order. Yet his lessons, attitudes and beliefs are already forgotten. In this sense he was indeed the last of the ‘Conservatives’.

The Liberal-Parliamentary order is not the ‘end of history’ but merely the most successful method of organising society yet developed. But we need to clarify some terms. First big L ‘Liberal’ in my usage does not mean the sick modern small l liberalism of left wing Marxists and chattering media elites with their empty headed politically correct rhetoric and matchless support of corrupt political friends. ‘Liberal’ in my vocabulary references the orthodox Enlightenment based Liberalism of the 18th and 19th centuries – small government, low taxation, a strong military, a society keen on progress, innovation and self-reliance. In essence these ideals are branded in today’s parlance by the term ‘Conservative’ used as a pejorative by the weak-minded and power hungry. I in no way support the modern welfare or mommy-state as espoused by small l liberalism or the legal-gay-feminist axis that runs roughshod in today’s politics. Neither would or did Churchill.

Second I use ‘parliamentary order’ on purpose. I am not a big fan of ‘mass democracy’ which in my view leads to mob rule, socialist pandering to buy votes and widespread ignorance. Representative parliamentary and republican processes and institutions are necessary for society to develop. ‘Parliamentary order’ references legal, political, and systemic processes that allow a society to progress morally, spiritually, legally, economically and militarily. When politicians blather about mass democracy I have the suspicion that few know what they are talking about and that even fewer understand that it is systemic processes [as opposed to an all knowing liberal elite, educated at Ivy League schools reshaping society in their vanity], and institutions which are far surer guides to progress, then vacant rhetoric about mass democratic mob rule. In any event mass democracy has led not only to the emasculation of systemic processes and virtues but also to the establishment of a massive system of welfare and vote-buying which breaks society apart into little groups that must be catered to and bought. Mass democracy leads in short to corruption and the curtailment of freedom.

In contradistinction to what we have today, orthodox Liberals or Conservatives in the common parlance believe that systemic processes, virtues and respect for individual rights and private property ownership trump socialist vote buying and pandering to ‘rights’ groups. Churchill was one of the great defenders of systemic Conservative human progress based on orthodox Liberal ideas. This creed is premised on millennia of experiences, millions of social, economic and moral transactions and the affirmation that collective results premised on freedom of information and the accumulation of literally billions of decisions, coupled with parliamentary institutions, are far better guides to enlightenment and progress than following the utopian dreams and dictums of a self-appointed and self-absorbed corrupted elite who desire to create the mommy-state to accrete power and control.

In the age of fascist Islam, moral equivalency, United Nations corruption and support of illiberal forces, and the sad moral relativity embedded in socialist governance, there is no guarantee that freedom will survive. Churchill embodied the best spirit and hopes of mankind precisely because he defended the Conservative order and view of the world. He expressed clearly and consistently over a 60 year career in politics the belief that systemic and parliamentary forces are the only methods to move society forward in the right direction. Such forces are of course the most reliable means of increasing wealth, justice and morality for all. Though an aristocrat Churchill understood that the Conservative vision – which is so at odds with the modern welfare liberalism and mommy-state creations we have today in the West – was the only path to ensure societal dynamism and freedom for the mass. He also understood that international institutions are limited and that fascism is not reduced by endless jawing and discussions, but only through war.

Many however disagree. Hollywood airheads, pop singers, social-reductionists, leftist’s, Marxists, academics, and defender’s of the Third World’s self induced malaise, these critics and more descry Conservatism, Western history and Enlightenment ideals as being little more than white racist tripe. Such groups hate a man like Churchill who was full of pomp, addicted to empire and war, too manly, and incomprehensibly ignorant in dealing with modern socio-political issues – or so such groups claim. These criticisms take aim at Churchill’s policies; the fact that he was a white Anglo; his aristocratic lineage; his fondness for military affairs to defend empire and civilisation; his penchant for self promotion; his [admittedly] indefensible objection to India’s self-rule; and the politician’s flair for changing goals and objectives in order to succour election. Most of these critics contend that history is shaped by dialectical forces that overwhelm weak human leadership and initiative and in that regard Churchill was not brilliant but only lucky. They maintain that Churchill only rode the ‘tide’ of events and that any thinking politician did or would have done the same. One can analyse these criticisms and perhaps give them fair play but in general they are pathetic, insipid and largely worthless.

Freedom and liberty is a difficult concept to fully comprehend and defend – but they are not premised on ‘dialectical theories’ or luck. In the West it is simply taken for granted that freedom will flourish. There should be a debate however on how free people really are in the mommy-state creations of the 21rst century where tax, spend and programs of all sizes erupt yearly from self aggrandizing bureaucrats and officials. The more government power that we have, the less likely it is that prosperity will march on in a linear progression. The more mommy-state programs that are implemented the less reliable past systemic virtues, institutions and processes become. In the mommy-welfare state Conservative and systemic institutional ideals fade into irrelevance as history is rewritten and codes of conduct reshaped.

Though many people still live in poverty, filth, corrupt kleptocracies and desperation, to quote Churchill, ‘their liberation is sure.’ However, it will only be ‘sure’ if the current system of nation state and international governance does not mutate into anti-Western, anti-republican, or anti-parliamentary socialism and we defeat militant fascist pagan Islam in the Middle East and anywhere else it presents itself. These twin threats are very real. Many Western nations in the world that profess a faith in ‘orthodox liberalism’ are in reality top-down socialist constructs. Unsurprisingly most of these nations are also lax or non-participants in the war on terror against the fascistic elements of Islam preferring to free-ride off the Anglo-Saxon military. There is no evidence in history that socialism is a moral or successful construct yet it has sadly become the de-facto standard of political organisation.

In many countries socialist dogma has little in common with freedom, or what allowed the West to flourish and control history. For instance national defence, projectionable military force and pride in our collective Western greatness and historical dynamism have been jettisoned to establish immoral international or ‘post-modern’ groups, replete with unaccountable and expensive Orwellian programs and double-talk. We have replaced the philosophies of Churchill with the smirking incoherence of ‘mommy figures’ and immoral liars and centralists like Kofi Annan, Clinton and Chirac. The threat to Western freedom lies not only in fascist Islam, but in the oppressive socialism marked by post-modern welfare states, ‘managed’ trade, overbearing government, corrupt politicians and the imposition of the mommy-nanny state to turn individuals into narcissistic automatons and men into half female creatures unable to think and act like their forbears.

The values that Churchill stood for and defended, and in some sense allowed to survive and flourish, are under attack. Freedom is ephemeral and in mankind’s long journey only the late modern era has unshackled the average person’s life from tyranny. Socialism, government control, state managed trade, tariffs, regulations and unaccountable world bodies are as much of a threat to our prosperity – economic, moral, environmental and spiritual – as is pagan fascist Islamic fundamentalism. I hope we can all learn a lesson from one of mankind’s more interesting personalities and not take for granted what we have today and roll back the corrosive tides of socialist and fascistic tyranny. If we fail we deserve our fate. If we don’t understand history and realise that the fascist and illiberal ideas of the 1930s have indeed resurfaced in Islam and in small l liberalism than we truly are, as Churchill said about the human race, ‘un-teachable from infancy to the tomb.’ Unfortunately it may come to pass that Churchill was indeed the last of the Conservatives as the world falls prey to eco-fascist cults; post modern socialist silliness; and the onward march of militant pagan Islam.

C. Read

http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/churchill-his-conservatism-and-freedom-699606.html

Resources:

Wikipedia: Winston Churchill

WinstonChurchill.org