Imran Khan Essays

Imran Khan Essays Imran Khan Essay Imran Khan Essay Imran Khan was born on the fifth of November 1952 in Lahore. His father, Ikramullah Khan Niazi was an engineer by profession. His family was most accurately described as upper-middle class, and comfortably off rather than rich. Eight of Imrans numerous cousins who grew up in his home suburb of Lahore, Zaman Park, became first class cricketers. Among them are Javed Burki and Majid Khan, both of whom preceded Imran in going to Oxford and captaining Pakistan. Imran started playing cricket at the age of thirteen and was inspired by his cousins . He completed school n Lahore and then moved on to England for higher studies at Oxford. He completed his education at Oxford. He initially played cricket for his college and later represented the English county Worcester at the first class level. He made his debut for Pakistan during the 1972 England series when he was eighteen and then went on to become a major force in world cricket. Imran Khan was a fine fast bowler and inspirational captain whose crowning achievement was leading Pakistan in winning the 1992 World Cup. A genuine all-rounder he consistently made useful contributions with the bat in all forms of cricket. Imran was also a bowler capable of producing enormous swing due to his somewhat unique action. He could also produce deadly bouncers, which terrorized batsmen all over the world. As a fast bowler Imran traded bouncer for bouncer with particularly the West Indians and any side that he felt had a weakness against short-pitched bowling. In the mid-70s, a bouncer from Andy Roberts, a tailender to whom Imran had bowled too many bouncers, almost killed him. It is often said that fast bowlers hunt in pairs. Imran had developed a patnership with Sarfaraz Nawaz in his early days and then combined with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis to take Pakistan to the top. A determined and committed individual, Imran bowled fast up until his retirement at the age of 39, an exceptionally long career for a fast bowler. Imran Khan is still the highest wicket taker for Pakistan in Test matches with a career haul of 362 wickets. Imran Khan was a batsman with a tremendous hard-hitting ability. He would often come in to bat in the slog overs and would increase the run-rate with the help of some aggressive batting. Imran had a liking for the slow bowlers and was particularly severe on the spinners, often hitting them out of the ground for sixes. He was a stylish hard-hitting batsman generally orthodox in his approach, but an effective improviser when conditions demanded . His most memorable batting performance was in the final of the World Cup when he scored 73 valuable runs against a strong English attack. For a bowler to take 362 wickets and then to score runs at an average of 37. 69, add to that the burden of captaincy, is Just a remarkable achievement . Imran Khan is regarded as the greatest all-rounder cricket has ever produced. From the late 70s to the early 90s, four all-rounders bulked large on the international ricket scene. Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee vied, during all that time, for the title of the worlds finest all-rounder. Statistically their achievements are remarkable. The four are the only players to have achieved the exciting match-dominating fgures, and each played decisive hands to win tests for his country. By examining their career averages, it should be recognized that Imran had the best career batting average of the four as far as Test cricket is concerned, while his bowling average was second to Richard Hadlees by only a very small margin. And when the four all-rounders are compared with each other generally, Imran comes out the best of all. And this is an assessment with which at least one of Imrans rivals, Richard Hadlee, agrees. In his 1989 book, Rhythm and Swing, the New Zealander confidently tags him: The Best of the Age . Following a revolt by some of the senior members in the team, Imran was made captain for the tour of England in 1982. As a sportsman, Imran is best remembered primarily for his leadership. Pakistan has long been one of the most troublesome sides to captain. But Pakistan got the Just the right captain in Imran. Gradually during his term, Imran became the most influential figure in Pakistans cricket setup. His success as captain owed largely to his own match-winning performances. When Pakistan started off badly at the 1992 World Cup and at a stage were completely out of contention for the title, Imran told his players to fght like cornered tigers and they did. Imran led Pakistan to a well-deserved World Cup victory at Melbourne. This was surely Imrans greatest moment as a cricketer. Imran oversaw Pakistans emergence and maturing as a force in world cricket and was responsible for the nurturing of the ext generation of Pakistani players most notably Saeed Anwar, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Inzamam-Ul-Haq. Imran is the most successful Pakistani Captain to date . Imran was victimized by a shoulder injury throughout his career which had prompted him to retire in 1988. But he came out of retirement for a number of reasons. The most important reason, which lured Imran out of retirement, was the cancer hospital appeal. The appeal evidently needed him to remain in the public eye. But the very apex of Pakistans autocratic society provided the impetus for him to return. The State President, General Zia-Ul-Haq, himself. It was at a dinner, hosted by the President in honor of the sides successes in India and England that the President made his public appeal to Imran to make a return to cricket. After presenting the players with gold medals, he praised Imrans decision to retire while at his peak, but added: A sportsman is like a soldier who is always ready to help his country. Imran was left with little choice than to respond: I am always ready to serve the nation and the game. In September 1992, shortly before his fortieth birthday, Imran announced his retirement from all cricket. Imran had taken six months to take the decision. The reason for taking the time was that he wanted to be doubly sure of retirement to avoid facing the embarrassment of a second comeback. The most painful decision that he took as captain was to drop his cousin, Majid Khan, who was also his childhood hero. His most satisfying moments were beating India in India, Pakistans performances against the West Indies in 1988 and winning the World Cup. The lowest point was when, after taking 87 wickets in 18 Tests, he developed his stress time, Michael Holding as the fastest and Ian Chapel as the finest captain. Imrans criterion was value to the side in time of need rather than skill alone. Statistically Imrans achievements were remarkable both as a batsman and a bowler. He is one of the only four cricketers to have achieved the feat of scoring 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Test cricket. Imran Khan played 88 Test matches for Pakistan and scored 3807 runs at an average of 37. 69, he also took 362 wickets. And in 175 one-day internationals he has scored 3709 runs at an average of 33. 1 and has taken 182 wickets. Imran led Pakistan in 47 Test matches and 139 one-day internationals with 4 Test match victories and 75 one-day international victories, which makes him the most successful Pakistani Captain to date . Imran Khan had always been very close to his mother and had enjoyed her support. In 1984, Imrans mother, Shaukat Khanum became ill to such an extent that once properly diagnosed, she was almost inoperable. She suffered from cancer, which was known to be a rich mans disease in Pakistan in that only well off people could afford to fly to Europe to receive the treatment. Inspite of flying to Cromwell Hospital in 1984, Shaukat Khanum died the following year in acute pain. Imran was by her side during her last days when she suffered terribly. He felt her pain but could not do anything for her. Imrans career was thus determined. When he retired from cricket he would build the first cancer hospital in Pakistan in honor of his mother. His mothers death and his own serious injury made Imran appreciate Just how precarious was the existence he had taken for granted. He was at his peak as a cricketer only to be told that he would not play again. His mother, a constantly reassuring presence in his life, suddenly was dying. He reassured his values and sense of direction. His visits to hospitals in Pakistan where he would see three or four children suffering from cancer having to share a bed and uneducated people unable to afford basic medicine, made him appreciate how desperately the poor needed specialist cancer treatment. He then vowed to raise five million pounds to build and equip a hospital in Lahore, his home city. Since Imran retired in 1992, his study of the Quran has supplanted his assimilation of cricket. He prays everyday and punctuates his conversation with quotations from the Quran, which he feels, encompasses the wisdom of the Bible and Torah and is a ractical guide to life. His belief in fate that his life was being shaped for him strengthened his faith, which had wavered after his mothers death. He had long believed in adhering to the guidelines of the Quran as he was best able to do. It was not practical for him to attempt to pray five times a day when he was playing cricket but he would say prayers every morning on a mat facing Mecca when his belief in God had returned. His study of the Quran satisfied a desire for knowledge that could no longer be stated by textbooks of cricket. Imrans sudden awakening to the realities of life did not happen overnight. Watching his mother, die slowly of cancer made him stop and see where his life was going. He explains that it was a gradual awakening His fundraising and his faith were interfluent, although he would not improve either on anyone else. During Imrans cricketing days the likelihood was that he would not marry. Though he dated a string of glamorous women in London. Imran said that by not marrying he was being saved for something that should not be constrained by marriage. As the years went by, an arranged marriage became increasingly improbable in Pakistan as most girls were married at a very young age. It surprised and shocked his friends and countrymen when Imran announced his marriage with Jemima Goldsmith, the 21 -year-old daughter of British tycoon, Sir James Goldsmith. Imran married Jemima Goldsmith in a Muslim ceremony on May 16th 1995 in Paris, France, then in a civil ceremony in Richmond on June 21st. Before Marriage Jemima converted to Islam and was renamed Haiqa. They live part of the year in Lahore, Jemima visiting London often. In June 1996, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child. Jemima gave birth to a baby boy, named Suleiman Isa on 8th November 1996, in London. After deciding to set up a cancer hospital in memory of his mother, Imran Khan decided that he had to work extremely hard to succeed in his mission. Imran was forced to come out of retirement in 1988 because of the cancer hospital project. His friends and relatives insisted that he wont be able to achieve his goal without playing an active and significant role in cricket. He had vowed to raise five million pounds to build and equip the hospital in Lahore. Even though the Government of Pakistan donated twenty acres of land on the outskirts of Lahore, it was to become pparent that five million pounds would cover only the initial phase. When eventually the construction was complete and the equipments installed, the running costs would be such that Imran would be shackled to the project for the rest of his life. Inspite of knowing the difficulties he would have to face, Imran did not turn back. The World Cup victory in 1992 went a long way in fulfilling Imrans dream project. Pakistan had to win the World Cup if Imrans appeal was not to collapse. Imran had worked very hard to win the Cup. In the run up to the World Cup Imran used to work ut Pakistans best side and the strengths and weakness of the others. On the journey home from Australia, Imrans team stopped at Singapore for a reception given by the Pakistani Ambassador. A cheque was handed over for money raised by the Asian community in that area. Imran had given his own prize money from the World Cup, 85,000 pounds, to the appeal. By the following year he had donated 200,000 pounds, the extra contribution coming from his shares at Wall Street. His was the single largest private donation. He had also invested in a supermarket in Lahore and pledged that a proportion of the profits would go to the appeal. It had taken more than two years to raise the first one and a half million pounds; in the six weeks immediately after the World Cup the same amount was raised. After years of hard work and the collection of money worldwide, the time had come to turn Imrans dream project into reality. He had received tremendous support from the people of Pakistan who had always seen him as a hero. The Shaukat Khanum more than anything in this world. Today the hospital runs on charity, without any assistance or aid from government organizations and with Imran being the largest contributor to the funds . Imran soon began to emerge as a public figure in Pakistan and began to face continuous problems and harassment at the hands of government officials. From leading the Pakistan team, to waging a personal crusade against cancer and the substandard education system in Pakistan, Imran always fought from the front and in the process won million of hearts. Even today thousands worship him and are playing an important role in ensuring the smooth functioning of the hospital in Lahore. The lively cricketer had been around the country giving fiery speeches like a politician rather than a former cricketer raising funds for his project. The politicians began to see him as their possible rival. Imran was banned from appearing on Pakistan Television for his call to raise money. He wasnt given free tickets by the national carrier of Pakistan, PIA, which other airlines offered . Imran began to see a conspiracy framed against him and felt the urgent need to reform the society. After the success of Imrans hospital there was wide speculation from the media that Imran would soon be entering politics. Imran had never thought of entering politics during his cricketing days. General Zia-Ul-Haq, the late President of Pakistan and a lose friend of Imran, had offered Imran a post in his government days before his death, but Imran had declined the offer. He had declined a further offer of a cabinet position in 1993 from Pakistans interim government. After his experience of collecting funds, where he had direct interaction with the poorest and learnt of their grievances, Imran decided that there was the need for a revolution. Imran wanted to save Pakistan, which is one of the most corrupt nations in the world, from disaster. He wanted to serve the people who had given him fame and respect. He wanted to change the system for the better. Imran Khan had no previous experience in politics except when he had accepted an unpaid position as Ambassador of Tourism during the 1993 interim government . At the time of his appointment there were riots in Pakistan, and the country was not a tourist destination. As Ambassador of Tourism, he planned to attend functions, to write books or documentaries promoting Pakistan and to bring out influential visitors two or three times a year. Imran truly believed that Pakistan had considerable potential. Although through his fame the hospital was a tourist attraction itself, Imran was aware that Pakistan would never attract mass tourism. He felt that Pakistan had bad publicity abroad because it was branded with Muslim fundamentalism and a military dictatorship that leads people to think of suppression. He also expressed that Pakistanis love tourists, but there was always this fear of Islam which was always portrayed as an evil religion. In April 1996, Imran launched the Pakistan Tehrik-e-lnsaaf, which was Just a movement against the corrupt. In November 1996 Imran Khan, who had never voted in his life, Joined politics and announced that his party would contest the general lawyers, doctors and other well-educated people who had no previous experience in politics . The main aim of his party was to fght the evil of corruption from society. He started campaigning for the elections and worked almost 18 hours a day. Imrans rivals started campaigning against him and indicated a Zionist hand behind his movement, as his father-in-law was a Jew. Furthermore, as a celebrity bachelor in London, Imran had affairs with A number of women, one of them, Sita White, claimed that Imran is the father of her four-year-old daughter. Imran has admitted the affair but says that he is not the father. This allegation proved to be a major setback to Imrans campaign, although the allegation wasnt proved. The general elections in Pakistan were held on the 3rd of February 1997 in which Tehrik-e-lnsaaf failed to win a single seat. His party, which was projected as a third force in Pakistan, was completely wiped out in the elections. Imran had contested from nine seats. In seven constituencies, he lost his security deposit by securing less than ten percent of the votes of the winning candidates. Imran said that a low turnout of voters was the main reason of his defeat. He also said that he got very little time to prepare for the elections as Tehrik-e-lnsaaf was formed only four months before the elections. But Imran was successful in raising issues like corruption and accountability. There can be little doubt that the long and painful journey he undertook to turn his hospital project in reality was testimony to his social and humane commitment. He has been criticized for being over zealous about the project, he has been accused of exploiting his star status, his connections, and even the game itself for achieving his goal. I would like to know, if there is, another instance in human history where a single human being, a sportsman at that, who has staked his fame, fortune and future on such a humanitarian project. Five hundred years of bloody tribal feuds merge in this deeply proud Pathan whose genes, more than the knowledge he assimilated in England, made him the cricketer he was. The red mists that clouded his eyes when he was hit for four made him only want to bowl the next ball faster because Pathans are an avenging race. Imran was always a controversial fgure, always a man who gave rise to a hot debate on account of his strong conviction and hard line views. The bottom line was always the honesty, commitment and conviction with which he played cricket and it was by his conviction alone that he won over many to his point of view.

Ideas for Christmas Journal Writing Prompts

Ideas for Christmas Journal Writing Prompts Journal writing, at least three times per week, is an important part of any language arts program in elementary school. These Christmas writing topics will inspire your students to write about the festive and seasonal ideas that are on our minds every December. Christmas Journal Writing Topics What does it mean to have the holiday spirit?Why do you think red and green are the Christmas colors?What are you and your family most grateful for this holiday season? Write about three or more things.Describe what you know about the North Pole. Describe a typical day for the elves.Take five minutes to draw your family celebrating the holidays. Then write in detail about your traditions. Use your five senses to describe the celebrations tastes, looks, smells, and textures.Tell about how each member of your family contributes to your Christmas traditions.If Christmas is one of your favorite holidays, describe why you enjoy it so much. Are there any parts of the holiday that you dont like? If you dont enjoy Christmas the most, how do you think it could be made better?What is your favorite Christmas book? Describe the plot and your reactions to it.What are your wishes for the world this holiday season?Use your imagination to describe Santas journey with his reindeer. Start from the mom ent he packs up the sleigh to when he returns back to the North Pole. Do you wish Christmas was every day of the year? Why or why not?Pick three New Years Resolutions. Describe why you picked them and how you will accomplish them.

Ferguson's article Diglossia, is his prognosis for Arabic accurate Essay

Ferguson's article Diglossia, is his prognosis for Arabic accurate today (50 years later) Is Arabic on its way to becom - Essay Example Since Arabic does not use Roman alphabet, there will be a lot of difficulties along the way. Ferguson (1963) said that Arabic alphabet is even less feasible than the Greek. He identified two most serious and obvious problems in Arabic diglossia. The first problem is transliteration of Arabic spelling and the next is the phenomic transcription of Arabic (Ferguson, 1963). Transcription is not a very easy process. Thus, this possesses a difficulty in Arabic diglossia. But even if diglossia is said to be unstable and have lots of problems, Ferguson said that it is not the case. Evidences show that it can last over the years. According to Ferguson, the use of relatively uncodified, unstable, intermediate forms of languages and repeated vocabulary items from H to L can resolve the issues of diglossia. Constant use of the language can help resolve the problem of instability. When people use the language as often as they can or even every day, they will surely keep up and get used to new wor ds and will eventually fully understand the language.

Early childhood education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Early childhood education - Essay Example Rationale Young children can learn mathematics from anywhere. Number is all around them such as their age, their address and their telephone number and children need to find meaning and connections between numbers, as if trying to understand another language In a sense, math’s is another language in another form that children need to decipher. At a very early age, children can already learn the concepts of numerical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, but of course, presented in a developmentally-appropriate manner This research proposal aims to find out how teachers in Key stage 1 approach the teaching of mathematics to their children At this age, it is important that children use a lot of concrete materials to learn math concepts since they still think in more concrete ways. That is why the use of manipulative materials is essential to their learning (Ruthven, 1987). Maths is viewed by some people as being complicated and a number of adults admit that they are not successful in math-related tasks. It is therefore important to study how young children can be helped to make maths more fun and easier to understand so that they will develop a positive disposition towards it. That way, it is assumed that they will be more successful in learning maths. Aim To explore how numeracy skills may be better learned using manipulative materials in key stage 1. Objectives 1. To research related literature on how numeracy skills are developed in KS1 including what strategies teachers use to involve manipulative materials.... The researcher is in a position to compare existing literature and decide which information will best answer the research aim. A literature search strategy was devised, involving identification of certain keywords. Online libraries were searched for full-text articles with the key topics: Key stage 1 maths, use of manipulatives, maths strategies, numeracy skills, perception of math teachers and the like. Matches that came up were analyzed according to the relevance to the study based on the following inclusion criteria: information was from 2005 or more recent, studies conducted in the UK only, author’s credentials were compared and only sources which referenced their information were included. This inclusion criterion enabled papers relevant to math education, numeracy skills and math teaching to be accessed. Forward and backward citations were also used. The qualitative information was based on the literature search which was specifically relevant to developing numeracy skil ls with manipulative materials. In addition, research on quantative methods, specifically on survey questionnaires and interviews were also sought. All the references were charted in a literature matrix as shown in the Appendix 1. Literature review Piaget (1969) theorised that intellectual development is influenced by both maturation and experience. â€Å"Cognitive development is indicated by a growing ability to plan, to employ strategies for remembering and to seek solutions to problems† (Brewer, 2001, p.26). Piaget describes the cognitive development of children progress in stages. Key stage 1 children belong to the Pre-Operational period (two to seven years) of Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development. This period marks the time when a child

W.M Morrisons Plc and Oracle Essay Example for Free

W.M Morrisons Plc and Oracle Essay In March 2004, WM Morrisons PLC completed the takeover of Safeways with a ? 3bn offer of cash and shares, this deal instantly made Morrisons a nationwide company and the 4th largest retail supermarket in the UK with its total store count jumping up from 199 to 403 currently, after the purchase of stores from the Somerfield/Cooperative group. With â€Å"every week 9 million customers pass through our doors and 124,000 colleagues across the business work hard each day† Morrisons (N/A), this is a far cry from its humble beginnings in 1899. In 1899 William Morrison, an egg and butter merchant, started he’s selling from he’s stall in Bradford Market. Jump forward to 1958 and William Morrison’s son Ken, company chairman from 1958-2008, took control of Morrisons, from he’s ailing father, and moved the company from market stalls and opened a small town centre shop in Bradford the first of its kind in Bradford to offer self service and have products are priced. In 1961 Morrisons opens its first ‘supermarket’ converting a cinema in 5,000sq ft of retail space. By 1967 Morrisons becomes a public company after significant growth and expansion, with the share offer being oversubscribed with more than 80,000 investors trying to purchase shares. Now building infrastructure with the completion of a distribution centre in Wakefield completed in 1988 and expanded in 1990. But further expansion outside of Bradford and Northern England does not happen until 1998 when it opens its first store in Southern England, located in Erith, Greater London. Followed by its inclusion in the FTSE 100 in 2001 it’s acquisition of Safeways in 2004. To its meteoric growth in that period of 2004-2009 where Morrisons became one of the ‘Big Four’ supermarket chains and winning various food retail awards such as Food Retailer of the Year and picking up multiple awards at The Grocer awards and its total stores jumped from 119 to 403. It was clear to many analysts and its competitors that Morrisons would suffer from growing pains in all aspects of its business with many questions being asked of Morrisons, such as; Did Morrisons have the infrastructure in place to support such rapid expansion? †¢Was its current business model suitable for such large scale revamp? Could its current operations support the strain of this expansion? Would Morrisons have to change its business image for being the ‘food specialist for everyone’ to compete effectively with the ‘big four’? This case study will focus on Morrisons infrastructure, specifically it’s IT systems and will look at the decision making process that went into and led to Morrisons deal with Oracle in 2008 to â€Å"implement a complete Oracle retail suite of merchandising, planning and stores applications, plus the Oracle E-Business Suite for financials, HR/payroll and manufacturing. IDG (2008). It will also look at the key challenges companies face when implementing such wide sweeping changes to its IT systems and review the outcomes of this system against Morrison’s original strategy. Firstly, with the increasing developments in IT systems it is becoming more common for companies of all sizes to utilize some form of IT in their business, from a sole trader compiling monthly sales figures to a big plc like Dell who gener ate and complete sales completely from an online setting. When it came to Morrisons making significant changes to its IT systems it had a wealth of information and real examples to follow or in the case of J Sainsburys with its rushed and failed ? 290million implementation of IT systems aimed at lowering costs, successful business model change in regards to Dell Inc and it’s change to operate completely online which help massively in stock control technology while dealing with custom orders.

Physics of Skiing :: physics sport sports ski skiing

Skiing is an old sport; the oldest artifacts date back over 4000 years. It was developed in the Scandinavian region, especially Norway, and didn't spread to the rest of Europe until the sixteenth or seventeenth century. It probably came over with Norwegian and German immigrants during the nineteenth century. Skiing relies on many different forms physics. Newton's Laws of Motion, the transformation of potential energy into kinetic energy, air resistance, circular motion, even conservation of circular momentum is used as skiers pump upwards during a turn. Friction is by far the least understood of these forces. The surface of snow is a strange interaction between water, ice and water vapor, the three forms of water found on Earth. Snow changes properties and is difficult to measure and study in its natural environment. Snow changes properties and is difficult to measure and study in its natural environment. Ice Crystals form when water vapor condenses around and freezes upon a foreign particle such as dust or sea salt. These Ice crystals then form various varieties of snow flakes. Snowflakes can fall in many forms, including ferns, crystals and needles. These snow flakes begin transforming as soon as they hit the ground. They begin to morph in a combination of melting, freezing, evaporation and sublimation*. They become needles, columns, and finally simple round pellets. * Sublimation is when ice evaporates directly instead of melting first to water and then evaporating. These pellets the bond again through a process of melting, freezing, evaporation and sublimation at their contact points, this creates a strong snow pack. Snow Compaction and Work One thing that slows a skier down is the compaction of the snow beneath a skier. Snow is mostly air and this allows a great degree of compaction. On packed trails, this compaction is negligible and contributes only slightly to the friction of the snow on the skis. This diagram shows a skier who travels l distance on unpacked snow and sinks in h into the snow. Logically, the distance the skier sinks in, h, is proportional to the skiers weight, FN. Work is defined as a force applied over a distance. The work needed to propel the skier l distance through the snow is the same as the work done be the skiers weight along the height, h. the force used to move the skier is defined as FFORWARD then FN*h= FFORWARD*l With different types of snow, a skier with the same weight will sink in different distances.

India Asean Free Trade Agreement

INDIAN-ASEAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT A TERM PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (HONOURS SCHOOL) Supervisor :Submitted by: Dr. Rajesh KumarKumar Ranjan M. S. Sc. (Hons. ) 2nd Semester Roll No. 12 [pic] SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY AMRITSAR 2009 INTRODUCTION India and the association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have concluded negotiations for a free trade Agreement (FTA) after years of difficult negotiations. This agreement will be signed into a treaty at India-ASEAN summit to be held in Bangkok on February 26,2009 (Economic times, January 27, 2009) if every thing goes as planned. Expectation from India ASEAN FTA are high. Joint Media statement of Sixth ASEAM Economic Minister (AEM)-India consultations states that â€Å"the AIFTA (ASEAN-India free trade agreement) could be major avenue in harnessing the region’s vast economic potentials towards sustained progress and improved welfare not only for ASEAN and India but for greater East Asian regions as well†. The India-ASEAN FTA is the result of many international and domestic factors on one hand, the trend of international regionalization and the proliferation of FTA’s and the failure of the Doha round of Multilateral talks to yield concrete results led both India and the ASEAN countries to consider alternative solution towards free trade. On the other hand the adoption policies by India and ASEAN to develop better cooperation with their immediate neighbours in recent years has helped accelerate this negotiation. (www. e_pao. net) INDIA AND ASEAN: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Although India and ASEAN countries have shared cultural and historical ties, India’s interaction with ASEAN countries was quite limited during the cold war as the two pursued policies which were not very conducive to deep rooted interaction. Soon after the end of second world war, India championed the process of decolonization and drew recognition and appreciation from different parts of the world. It become one of the founding members of Non-aligned Movement (NAM). Even though Indonesia was also a member of NAM alongside India, this relationship did not extend beyond that (Sinha, 2007 pg. 357) The arrival of bipolar politics in southeast Asia, the Vietnam crisis and India’s close ties with the Soviet union led to the adoption of divergent policies by both India and ASEAN. ASEAN was formed in 1967 during the Vietnam war primarily to diffuse regional conflict and to promote better relations between members. Communists victory in Vietnam, Laos and combodia soon worsened the already fragile security situation of southeast Asia. Thus by 1976, ASEAN was forced to contemplate to become an association with security as its main concern. The reunification of veitnam and the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia created another security dilemma. Sinha, 2007 pg. 350). While ASEAN chastised Vietnam, India supported Vietnam. ASEAN’s suspicions of the soviet union and the paronoia it had with anything communist led many including India, to regard ASEAN as allies of the capitalists and pro-American bloc. Suspicions was so high during this time that refused to hold dialogues with A SEAN twice in 1975 and 1980. But with end of the cold war, interactions between India and ASEAN became more frequent: and relations between the two began to improve at very fast pace. Following the end of cold war and collapse of soviet union, India began to adopt liberalization policies. Mean while, ASEAN has also emerged as an important regional organization with great potential and opportunities for growth. The transformation of the international system and new outlook led to the adoption of the Look East policy in 1991, it marked a strategic shift in its foreign policy and perceptions towards its eastern neighbours. ASEAN’s strategic importance in the larger Asia-Pacific region and the potentials it has in becoming India’s major partner in trade and investment also added an impetus to India to develop closer ties with it. In addition, considering the proposed South Asian Free Tade Area (SAFTA) is unlikely to produce any solid outcome, this policy shift and agreement on the part of India is a strategic s it is important. In continuance of India’s Look East policy, the process of interregional cooperation was institutionalized with India becoming a sectoral Dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992; a full dialogue partner in 1995 and member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 1996. India because a summit level partner of ASEAN in 2002 and concluded the ASEAN-India partnership for peace, progress and shared prosperity in 2004. India also became enganged in regional initiatives such as Mekong-guga cooperation (MGC) and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic cooperation (BIMSTEC). India has also became member of EAST Asia Summit (EAS) in December, 2005, (Chakraborti, World Focus, 2008, 436). INDIA’S LOOK BEST, ASEAN LOOK WEST POLICIES The real turning point in India-ASEAN relations came with economic liberalization in 1991, the end of the cold war and enunciation of India’s â€Å"Look East† policy by Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao. As publication of Indian ministry of external affairs observed. â€Å"There was confluence of nterests. A new world order, the economic Reforms in India along with its â€Å"Look East† policy, coincided with ASEAN’s â€Å"Look West† and regionalization drive. (Baru, February 2001 pg. 13. ) Under the â€Å"Look East† policy pursued increased trade and investment cooperation with South Korea and Singapore. Apart from extending India’s enduring relation with Vietnam, the policy also pursued greater economic relations with Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. India became a ‘Sectoral Dialogue Partner’ of ASEAN at the ASEAN’s Singapore, summit in 1992, and a ‘Full Dialogue partner’ of ASEAN at the Bangkok Summit in 1995. In February 1995 the ASEAN-Indian Business council was set up. India was invited to the meeting of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in July, 1996. At this it was decided that ARF would only admit as participants countries that have a direct influence on the peace and security of East Asia and pacific region. (Baru, 2001; pg 13). A key objective of India and ASEAN to move from derivative to direct relationship so that there are no distortions, no misperception, no ignorance and no intermediation. There has been doubling of trade between India and ASEAN countries in 1990s and a marked increased in joint ventures and foreign direct investment between the two. Section VI and VII provide a comprehensive account of India-ASEAN trade and investment relation. Suffice it to say that ASEAN has emerged as the third largest foreign investor in India’s after US and EU. There are two dimensions of India’s new relationship with ASEAN. First, the trade and investment dimensions; second, the foreign policy and strategic dimension. Neither of these relations has equal value to all the ASEAN countries clearly, India’s economic relations with some are more developed than with others. Similarly India’s political and strategic relation with some are more developed than with others. Suffice it to say that in no case is the relationship purely undimensional (Baru, 2001, pg 14) DEEPENING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDIA AND ASEAN The deepening of relationship between India and ASEAN is reflected in the buoyancy of trade figures between the two. During April-September 2007-2008, trade grew from US$ 15. 06 billion to US$ 17. 2 billion that is trade grew by 13 percent. India foreign trade with ASEAN, according to directorate General of commercial intelligence and statistics (DGCIS), is also on the rise. During the period 2005-06 to 2006-07 India’s export to ASEAN registered a growth rate of 20. 67 percent. Similarly India’s imports from ASEAN during the same period registered a growth rate of 66% In dia ASEAN trade stoo at US$ 38. 37 billion in 2007-08 and is projected to reach US$ 48 billion during 2008-09 (Economics times, Jan 10). At the first India-ASEAN summit held at Phnom Penh on November 5, 2001. India called for an India-ASEAN within a 10 year time frame. In this context the second India-ASEAN summit held at Bali on October 8, 2003 was significant landmark in India-ASEAN relations. The summit saw the signing of the framework agreement for comprehensive economic cooperation between India and ASEAN. This agreement envisaged the establishment of an FTA within a period of ten years. In March 2004, an ASEAN-India Trade Negotiation committee (Al-TNC) was established to Negotiate the implementation of the provisions of the framework agreement. India, since than entered into numerous agreement with ASEAN. (Sharma, Third concept vol 21, pg 9,10) At the Sixth India- ASEAN summit held at Singapore on November last year, India proposed to increase its bilateral trade with ASEAN to the time of US$ 50 billion by the year 2010. The latest agreement is therefore the result of many years of tactfull policies that led to the thawing of the ice between these two important emerging power in Asia. In addition to these agreements with ASEAN, India has also made consistent efforts to develop bilateral ties with ASEAN members. With Thailand, India has 61 years of diplomatic relation. India also has free trade agreement with Thailand that was signed in 2004. The framework agreement on bilaterals FTA of 2003 was the basis of this FTA with Thailand. Trade b/w the two increased from a mere US $ 606 million to US$ 3. 14 billion in 2006-07. With the CLV countries Cambodia, Laso and Vietnam, India entered into a number of bilateral agreements for cooperation in the fields of trade, science and technology, agriculture, defence, visa exemption, tourism, IT and culture. India has major projects I in the projects in the field of education entrepreneurship development and IT in these three countries. In 2004, India extended a credit line of US$ 27 million to Vietnam. Malaysia is a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for India, particularly in the areas of LPG, power plant and highway construction. Trade between the two rose from US$ 2. 2 billion in 2002-03 to US$ 6. 6 billion in 2006-07. India public sector undertaking such as BHEL and IRCON have also undertaken and completed a number of projects in Malaysia (www. _pao. net). Presently after India-ASEAN FTA negotiations, it is reported that about 150 Indian Engineering firms are eying to diversify their export base in ASEAN markets and are planning to make Malaysia the Regional hub to penetrate the region. Many of these companies are exploring the possibilities of joint ventures, technology transfer and investment opportunities. It was mainly because of the insistence of Indonesia that Ind ia became a part of the East Asia summit in 2005. Relations between the two had been very good for many years. Bilateral trade between the two increased by 44% from 2005-06 to 2006-07. India has a comprehensive Economic cooperation agreement (CECA) with Singapore since 2005. This agreement include bilateral investment promotion treaty. Double taxation avoidance agreement, an air service agreement and an FTA. Singapore, along with Indonesia had been an important factor for India’s inclusion into the East Asian summit. In addition, it was Singapore’s role that paved the way for India’s association with the ARF. Singapore is the biggest source of FDI for India among ASEAN countries. During the period 2000to 2008, the cumulative FDI of Singapore into India was worth a whooping US $ 4. 35 billion. Concurrently, over two thousand Indian companies were based in Singapore (www. e_pao. net) India also has plans for a free trade area with Brunie, Indonesia and Malaysia by 2011 and with the remaining ASEAN countries by 2016. Since 1995, India have actively engaged Myanmar in Trade. It has singed several agreements and MOU’s including Tripartite Maritime Agreement with Myanmar and Thailand, border trade Agreement and for cooperation between civilian uthorities between India and Myanmar. Since 2000, a number of high level visits have taken place. During these visits, several agreements and MOU’s have been signed in areas ranging from hydroelectric projects on the Chindwin River and IT cooperation to cultural exchange programs. In year 2003 alone, Seven Agreements/ MOU’s were signed to promote trade and communication facilities. By 2006-07 bilateral tr ade between India and Myanmar reached US$ 650 Million as compared to US$ 341. 40 million in 2004-05 (www. e_pao. net). RECENTLY CONCLUDED FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN INDIA AND ASEAN India is in process of signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with ASEAN. On 28 August 2008, India ASEAN concluded a trade in goods agreement which will operationalize the FTA in merchandize trade. They will formally signing this TIG agreement in ASEAN-Indian Summit now to be held on 26 Feb 2009. (Economic times, 27 Jan 2009). When India and ASEAN Kicked off Negotiation on the bilateral FTA in 2002, they were supposed to finalise a comprehensive agreement that covers goods, service and investment. However, regional grouping prevailed in India to conclude talks on goods, first and than move on to service and Investment. However signing of TIG Agreement was delayed as the negotiation got stuck a few times due to difference between parties on the coverage of the negative list. In free trade agreement countries are allowed to keep a small number of products out of coverage of the agreement. The issue of the negative list or the list of items that would be excluded from proposed FTA agreement had at one stage brought negotiations to a stands till. The items on the list would have limited or no tariff concession. Indian negotiaters were cautious as there were apprehensions that the ASEAN countries are more competitive in sectors like agriculture, textile, auto and auto components and electronics. India would face negative consequence unless sensitive items in these sectors are protected India submitted a list of aground 1414 products as a negative list. These products counted for 42% of total exports of ASEAN to India. But as the Negotiations from ASEAN insisted that the products include in the FTA, should cover at least 90% of exports to India, a pruning of negative list was done by Rao, Inderjit Singh, (India’s Deputy Minister for Defence). He reduced the number of items to be placed on a negative list from 1414 to 850 on 27 July 2006. In August 2006 These items were further reduced to 560 items. At the end it was decided that each signatory country of INDO-ASEAN FTA can have at most 489 products in its negative list provided that these products do not exceed more than 5% of total bilateral imports. India’s negative list includes 302 agriculture items, 81 items from textile and clothing, 52 items from machinery and auto and 32 items from chemicals and fertilizer plastics. There are 22 other items from various other sectors which are also part of negative list (Thakurta, South Asian Journal, 2007, 107-108). It has been decided in Negotiation that for products which are not in negative list duties will be reduced in phased manger starting from 2009 and the duty cut will be completed by 2018. Under the pact, India and ASEAN will eliminate import duties on 71% products by December 31, 2012 and another 9% by 2015. Duties on 8-10% products that have been kept in the sensitive list will also be brought down to 5%. For all product in non negative list duty will be reduced to zero by 2018. India has also identified 611 products, which will only get a partial duty cut. Among these products India has put five products on highly sensitive list. They are Tea, Coffee, pepper, palm oil and refined palm oil (The Economic Challenger, 2008). India stances during the negotiations indicates some what defensive position in goods sector. This is not surprising because India runs a fairly large trade deficits vis-a-vis ASEAN. Acc to data of Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS) published by IMF, India had a trade deficit of $ 14,562 million in 2007 with ASEAN. This is around 15% of India’s total trade deficits. Fore individual ASEAN members, India Trade Pattern show that for the last 10 years (1998-2007) it has a trade deficit each year with Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar. India runs a trade surplus with other ASEAN member including Vietnam and Philippines (TABLE 1). Table 1: India’s Trade surplus/Deficits with ASEAN Member countries (in million $) |1998 |1999 |2000 |2001 |2002 |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 |2007 | |Brunei Daressalam |3. 05 |1. 73 |2. 63 |2. 90 |3. 72 |4. 22 |4. 31 |32. 64 |40. 34 |50. 07 | |Cambodia |2. 85 |6. 60 |6. 88 |2. 48 |16. 97 |18. 55 |17. 10 |21. 68 |24. 43 |30. 32 |Indonesia |-556. 28 |-635. 64 |-536. 55 |-717. 28 |-541. 06 |-883. 68 |-1160. 84 |-1492. 88 |-2450. 39 |-3975. 02 | |Laos |0. 98 |1. 35 |5. 00 |5. 52 |1. 84 |0. 59 |2. 00 |1. 59 |5. 68 |7. 05 | |Malaysia |-1137. 28 |-1504. 35 |-820. 68 |-1032. 57 |-627. 00 |-1044. 68 |-1206. 95 |-1231. 50 |-4429. 51 |-4599. 52 | |Myanmar |-151. 45 |-139. 05 |-131. 31 |-144. 76 |-274. 11 |-304. 77 |-295. 35 |-383. 30 |-473. 73 |-587. 90 | |Philippines |113. 80 |85. 83 |126. 53 |147. 41 |299. 41 |236. 62 |208. 86 |272. 87 |233. 00 |176. 98 | |Singapore |-754. 57 |-862. 95 |-655. 53 |-2001. 17 |-92. 87 |26. 29 |919. 87 |209. 5 |-4000. 42 |-5664. 81 | |Thailand |63. 60 |103. 33 |174. 60 |81. 65 |301. 66 |250. 02 |72. 60 |95. 74 |-513. 20 |-1035. 06 | |Vietnam |116. 70 |136. 25 |195. 85 |157. 36 |280. 97 |356. 22 |427. 08 |534. 92 |648. 69 |1035. 88 | |Overall trade deficits |-2298. 61 |-2806. 93 |-1632. 41 |-3498. 46 |-630. 45 |-1340. 29 |-1011. 32 |-244. 77 |-10915. 11 |-14562. 02 | | Source: – (EPW, 15 Nov 2008) However, overall trade balance is significantly negative. The concern is that if India has already such a huge trade deficit, reduction of tariff rates may worsen the situation unless there is a significant export boost. Among ASEAN members, India already has preferential trade agreement with Thailand Myanmar and Singapore. India, Myanmar and Thailand are part of the Bay of Bengal Institute for multi sectoral technical and economic cooperation (BIMSTEC) which is now knows as Bangladehs, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand economic cooperation (BIMSTEC) (Thakurata, South Asian Journal No. 16, pg 108). India also has a seprate FTA with Thailand. India and Singapore have signed a comprehensive Economic cooperation agreement (CECA) few years back. Though the terms and tariff reduction conditions of these agreements may be different from the present agreement but still it can be assumed that the marginal impact of Indo-ASEAN FTA will be less for these three ASEAN countries (i. e. Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore). Among other ASEAN members, India has significant trade with Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. Though the current volume of trade with Vietnam is low, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing countries in the world and trade potential between India and Vietnam is considered to be significant. Nityanand Deva, India’s look-East policy, www. indianmba. com/occasional_papers/ OP104/ OP104html. HOW TARIFF PROFILE EFFECTS FTA? Tariff reduction, especially of custom duties on imports of Agricultural commodities, is an extremely sensitive issue in India. Till India initiated economic reforms in 1991, the peak custom duty rate used to be as high as 150 percent. (Thakurata, South Asian Journal, pg 110). One assumed that In dia will have some advantage in the ASEAN market because of tariff margin given TIG agreement. The India-Asean pact on goods trade will result in the signatory countries abolishing customs tariffs on 80% of goods including key raw material like Iron ore and aluminum, plastic goods and certain kinds of machinery. The deal is likely to be operational from January 2009 when the signatories to the pact will begin cutting import tariff in phased manner, import duties on normal goods will be reduced to zero over a period of six years and on items in the sensitive list will have a partial tariff reduction over longer period of time. (The Economic challenger, pg 18). It look six long years for the two sides to conclude the negotiation of ROO’s (Rules of origin). ROO means that goods exported from certain destination must have a minimum value addition in the country of origin of proportion specified. India has reportedly agreed to have 35 percent value addition and changes in tariff at level of sub heading whereas in case of bilateral arrangements with individual countries like Thailand and Singapore, the rules specify 40% value addition and tariff changes at the level of headings. ROO’s are major reason why negotiations between India and Thailand over expansion of items in FTA list are stalled. New Delhi fears that further relaxation of ROO’s could lead to imports for third world via Thailand that would, in turn, antagonize Indian industry. (www. bilaterals. org/article. php3? id_artilce=13650) India lowered its duties on crude palm oil (CPO) and refined palm oil to 37. 5 and 45% (against 80%) respectively. It has also agreed to lower duties on coffee and tea to 45% and pepper to 50% (against 100%). Under the pact India-ASEAN will eliminate import duties on 71% products by December 31, 2012 and another 9% by 2015. Duties on 8-10% products that have been kept in the sensitive list will also be brought down to 5%. India will keep 489 items in negative list of products to be excluded from tariff reduction commitments. Tariff rates in manufacturing goods in India is high whereas in major ASEAN countries are quite low. Therefore India is unlikely to get too much advantage because of tariff preference (The Economic Challenger, vol41, pg 18). On the other hand, the FTA is likely to allow the ASEAN countries to take advantage of the large gap between high Indian applied tariff rates and the preferential rates. It is expected that agreement will open up considerable market for ASEAN countries in Agriculture, electronics, motor car equipment and other light manufacturing goods in India. This way negatively affect domestic farmer in agriculture and small and medium enterprises in light manufacturing including textile in India. There are reports that Asian development bank to contribute to a fund to help compensate industries that likely to be hit by Indo-Asean free trade agreement (Dasgupta and PAL, EPW Nov, 15, 2008). WHAT ARE EFFECTS OF SERVICE TRADE ON FTA The crux of welfare gains from India ASEAN market integration does not rest on free trade in goods, but on free flow of service and investment. That is India’s service industries-IT services, design services and call operators-have long been a hub or source of outsourcing and off shoring from develop economies especially United States and the European Union. The India-ASEAN FTA that successfully liberalises trade in service and investment will therefore provide economic opportunities companies in ASEAN countries to strengthen their competitiveness in global market by fragmenting their production and establishing industrial clusters. www. bilaterals. org/article/phg3? id_article=13650). A treaty which involves services will be extremely important for India also because India sees a big market for its services export in ASEAN. India presently is one of top exporters of services and according to WTO data it is ranked 10th in the world ahead of ASEAN countries like Singapore (rank ed 16th), Thailand (ranked 27th) and Malaysia (ranked 20th). In 2006 reports of services from India were around $74 billion. India is particularly strong in Information technology enables services (ITES), professional services, telecommunication services, health care, financial services and distribution services. ASEAN is also big market for service imports. It is not importer of services and according to WTO (2007), total imports of service by ASEAN members was close to $ 150 billion in 2006. To put this figure in perspective, US imports of services was around $ 300 billion in the same year. ASEAN also has a major export interest in some services sector. Tourism in one of the most important services trade for ASEAN countries. Apart from that they are major exporter of air transport, construction, logistics insurance and financial services. (Dasgupta and PAL, EPW Nov 15, 2008). When India and ASEAN kicked off negotiations on the bilateral FTA in 2002, they were supposed to finalize a comprehensive agreement that covers good, service and investment. However, regional grouping prevailed on India to conclude talks on goods first and then move on to services and investment. India’s trade with the ASEAN, its fourth largest trading partner after the EU, US and China has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 27%. Bilateral trade stood at 38. 37 billion in 2007-08 and is project to reach $ 48 billion in 2008-09. The agreement on services allow Indian service providers to access the ASEAN Market and set up operation there. The investment agreement in expected to work both ways in terms of attracting FDI from ASEAN member, especially Singapore and Malaysia, and providing opportunity to Indian companies in sectors like pharmaceuticals, coal mining and automobiles to invest in ASEAN region (Economic times, Jan 10, 2008). For a major region which has liberal policies for merchandise trade, services trade in ASEAN in highly regulated. As Karmakar (2005) points out, services trade in ASEAN in highly regulated for foreign suppliers but the restrictions are also there for intra ASEAN, trade. Efforts are being made to gradually integrate service trade among ASEAN members. The ASEAN Framework agreement on services (AFAS) provide broad framework to achieve this. The target is to make ASEAN a single market and production base through free flow of goods, services, investment, skilled labour and free flow of capital by 2015 (Dasgupta and Pal, EPW Nov 15, 2008). HOW ENERGY SECURITY HELPFUL TO FTA? Apart from other items, closer economic and political ties with ASEAN are likely to held India’s quest for energy security. Indian position on global civilian nuclear cooperation received a boost as the 16 leader’s of ASEAN and its dialogue partner signed what was described as landmark declaration on Energy security at the second East-Asia summit. The Cebu Declaration on Energy security was signed by leaders of East Asia summit-an evolving regional forum that includes the ASEAN and six dialogue partners (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand). The declaration calls for reducing dependence on hydrocarbons and fossil fuel in the context of surging global crube oil prices and seeks to intensify the search for new and renewable energy resources and technologies with focus on civil nuclear power and biofuels (Thakurata, South Asian Journal No 16, pg 107). India is heavily dependent on west Asia for oil imports, which is geopolitically tense part of the world. India is currently the world’s sixth largest energy consumer, and third largest oil and gas consumer in Asia after China and Japan. For India oil imports account for about 72% of total oil consumption of which 67% is being sourced from west Asia. Hence on external front India is pursuing diversification of supply sources and trying to significantly increase exploration of oil and gas. Among the ASEAN countries, India at present import crude oil from Malaysia and Brunei, which contributes 5. % of its total oil from Malaysia which comprises just 3. 5% of its total LPG import on the other hand, among the ASEAN countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have about 1% of total world’s proven oil reserves and 3% of the world’s proven gas reserves (Dasgupta and Pal, EPW Nov 15, 2008). CONCLUSION To conclude it can be said that the Indo ASEAN trade in goods agreement may not be beneficial for trade in short run but it can be thought of as a part of long runs strategy to improve India’s economic, and strategic presence in the neighbourhood. Though India shares a land border with Myanmar and maritime border with Indonesia and Thailand, the ASEAN countries has never been economically very close to India. In fact India and the ASEAN countries are not considered natural trading partners. This is indirect contrast to China which was established a distributed regional network of production and trade in this region. The Indo-ASEAN FTA can be perceived as an intial step towards increased economic integration of India with South east Asia. From a broader perspective, the Indo-ASEAN FTA can also be viewed as other cog in the wheel of increasing South-south cooperation. This is important because the world economic system is presently going through some significant changes. On the one hand there is severe economic showdown and major financial problem in the developed world. On the other hand there is talk of developing countries like China and India emerging as driver of southern economic growth. Though the impact of China on other developing countries is much stronger. India can play a complementary role. While China provides a big market for exports, via a manufacturing supply chain for other Asian countries, India can potentially become a hub of services-led growth. If India aspires to play a prominent role in global economy and Governance, increased cooperation with ASEAN make a sense as a strategic move. BIBLIOGRAPHY Baru, Sanjay, â€Å"India and ASEAN: The Emerging States Relationship Towards a Bay of Bengal community†. Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relation, February, 2001. Chakraboti, Tribdib, â€Å"India and Indo China states in the 21st century; Challenges and opportunities† World Focus Vol 347-348; Nov-Dec 2008. Dasgupta and Pal, â€Å"Does a Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN make sense† Economic and Political weekly. Nov 15, 2008, Economic Times, January 27, 2009. Joseph and Parayil, â€Å"India-ASEAN cooperation in Information and Communication Technology: Issues and Prospects: RIS Discussion paper (www. ries. org. in) Sharma, Madan Lal, â€Å"India ASEAN Relation†; Third Concept Dec 2007, Vol 21. No 250. Sinha, Prabha Chandra, Handbook of ASEAN and Regional Cooperation. 2th Summit and beyond 2007. Takhurata, â€Å"India’s free Trade Agreement with ASEAN† South Asian Journal, April June 2007, NO. 16. â€Å"The Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN†. The Economic Challenger 2008, No 11, issue 11. WEBSITES www. aseansec. org/4920. htm. www. artilcebase. com/politics_articles www. bilateral. org/rubrique. php3? id_r ubriqu+159,13650,12959 www. econoimctimes. com www. e_pao. net/epsubpageextracts. asp? src=education. scientificpapersIndia-ASEANFTA. www. heindia_au. org/pr_072. html. www. indianmba. com/occasional_papers/OP104. op104. html

Why Are Experiences of Stillness and Reflection (Meditation) Important to Buddhism?

Why are experiences of stillness and reflection (meditation) important to Buddhism? Meditation is a mental and physical course of action that a person uses to separate themselves from their thoughts and feelings in order to become fully aware. It plays a part in virtually all religions although some don't use the word ‘meditation' to describe their particular meditative or reflective practice. Meditation does not always have a religious element. It is a natural part of the human experience and is increasingly used as a therapy for promoting good health and boosting the immune system. Anyone who has looked at a sunset or a beautiful painting and felt calm and inner joy, while their mind becomes clear and their perception sharpens, has had a taste of the realm of meditation. Successful meditation means simply being – not judging, not thinking, just being aware, at peace and living each moment as it unfolds. In Buddhism the person meditating is not trying to get into a hypnotic state or contact angels or any other supernatural entity. Meditation involves the body and the mind. For Buddhists this is particularly important as they want to avoid what they call ‘duality' and so their way of meditating must involve the body and the mind as a single entity. In the most general definition, meditation is a way of taking control of the mind so that it becomes peaceful and focused, and the meditator becomes more aware. The purpose of meditation is to stop the mind rushing about in an aimless (or even a purposeful) stream of thoughts. People often say that the aim of meditation is to still the mind. There are a number of methods of meditating – methods which have been used for a long time and have been shown to work. People can meditate on their own or in groups. Meditating in a group – perhaps at a retreat called a sesshin or in a meditation room or zendo – has the benefit of reminding a person that they are both part of a larger Buddhist community, and part of the larger community of beings of every species. Meditation in Buddhism is a form of Bhavana, or self-development. The origins of Bhavana go back to ancient Indian spiritual exercises called Yoga. Hindu Yoga consists of 8 stages: 1,2 Making a conscious effort not to harm others and to establish good relations with them. ,4 Sitting postures and control of the breath. 5 Withdrawing the mind from external things and looking inwards. 6 Fixing the mind on a single object or thought. 7,8 Meditation, allowing the mind to rise above ordinary though and be directly aware of reality. These were taken up and developed by the Buddha. What Buddhists do when they meditate or worship may look very similar to the Hindu religion, but Buddhis ts do it in order to deepen the particular Buddhist view of life. There are two kinds of meditation: Samatha and Vipassana meditation. Samatha meditation is translated as ‘calm meditation’ or ‘tranquility meditation’ etc. Samatha meditation helps to control the mind and to become calm, so that the mind is focused upon a simple object or idea. For example, if we have tendencies towards greed and selfishness we might take death as the idea to focus upon for meditation. We then begin to see that everyone must die whatever they may be or do in their life. We will realise that greed is futile in the face of death and knowing this will produce feelings of calm and dispassion in us. Samatha meditation is practised to attain deep concentration of the mind only. The purpose of Samatha meditation is to concentrate the mind on this touching sensation or respiration. Whenever the mind goes out, the meditator brings it back on to the object of meditation, that is, the respiration or the touching sensation, because he wants to deeply concentrate the mind on a single object of meditation. When the mind goes out in Samatha meditation it must be brought back to the primary object, focusing the mind on the respiration. The Samatha meditator must not observe the wandering thought or thinking mind. He need not realise any mentality or physicality. What he needs to do is attain deep concentration of mind on a single object, focusing the mind attentively, noting the in- and out-breathing. When the Samatha meditator attains to access concentration or to absorption concentration, when his mind is totally absorbed into the object of meditation, there is no mental defilement in that concentrated mind. At that time the concentrated mind is purified from hindrances. This is called purification of mind because there is no greed, hatred, ignorance, conceit, jealousy and so on. So the meditator feels peaceful and happy. That is the benefit of Samatha meditation but when the mind is disengaged from the object of meditation, the concentration is also broken and the mind goes to many different objects. Therefore many thoughts come into the mind. When the mind is defiled with greed, anger or ignorance the meditator does not feel happy or peaceful. He has suffering. The Samatha meditator enjoys peacefulness of mind while his mind is deeply concentrated on a single object of meditation. As long as the mind is absorbed in the object, he feels peaceful calm, tranquil and serene. One type of Samatha meditation that is suitable for everyone is where the subject of concentration is our own breath. The concentration of our own breathing includes feeling the air gently filling your lungs and then flowing out through the nostrils. As you concentrate on breathing you come to realise the value of it because we depend on it for life. Breathing becomes more delicate, and it may even happen that our breaths appear to stop; our thoughts become less and less, and peace and happiness arise within us. Therefore it will bring calmness and a greater awareness of yourself and your physical body. There are many different possibilities of the ways to sit during meditation. The important thing is to feel comfortable and relaxed, but also to be upright and alert. The classical meditation position is ‘the lotus position’. This involves sitting cross-legged with the left foot on top of the right thigh and the right foot on top of the left thigh. While it helps for the body to be alert, relaxed and stable, meditation is really about the mind and the inner experience. Posture is a support to that but most Buddhist traditions do not regard it as an end in itself. Brahma Vihara means ‘Sublime State’ and by meditating upon the Brahma Viharas a person develops feelings of love, compassion, joy and peace towards all living things. The four Sublime States are: 1. Metta – This is usually translated as ‘loving – kindness’. In meditating upon metta, a person first of all wishes himself or herself well, and then spreads the positive and friendly thoughts outwards towards all other beings. 2. Karuna – This means active compassion understanding the nature of suffering and sharing the suffering of others. 3. Mudita – This is sympathetic joy in which the meditator shares the happiness of all other beings. 4. Upekkha – This is a state of peace and serenity, in which, with a well-balanced mind, a person looks on all beings – whether friendly or not – with the same positive attitude of care and well-wishing. Meditating on the Brahma Viharas may take the form of a visualisation. In the case of Metta Bhavana, or Meditation on Love, you would visualise the spreading of love from yourself to friends and family, to the community, and further on to the rest of the world. For the Brahma Viharas thought is action; meditating on the spreading of love throughout the universe. The effect of meditating off the Brahma Viharas is like ripples on the surface of water – gradually spreading outwards. Vipassana meditation is ‘insight’ meditation, it is realisation, seeing or right understanding. Vipassana meditation refers to a system of mental development that consists of looking inwards, looking at your mind as if you were an outside observer. In this way the meditator can break through the predictable workings of the mind to see things as they really are. Vipassana meditation is practises to attain some amount of concentration and to realise these three characteristics, therefore removing all thoughts and to experience the ending of suffering. In Vipassana meditation, the purpose is to realise all mental states and physical processes in their true nature. In this concept, their true nature means the three characteristics which every mental state and physical process possesses. Any mental state or physical process may be the object of meditation. So the Vipassana meditator must not take only a single object but take many varieties of objects. The Vipassana meditation is an important step on the path to enlightenment. In fact, it follows from the seventh step of the Noble Eightfold Path, Right Mindfulness, whereas Samatha relates to the sixth step, Right Effort. The Vipassana meditator follows the mind and observes it by making mental notes of all the movements and senses they observe such as the rising and falling movement of the abdomen and the hearing of a voice or of a distinctive sound. Due to these movements and sense they make notes within their mind, for example, when the abdomen rises the meditatior observes it, making a mental note ‘rising’. When the abdomen falls, the mediator observes it, making a mental note ‘falling’. The meditator does this for every movement for the abdomen and makes mental notes – such as these – for everything he observes. The meditator observes and follows the mind because the purpose of insight meditation is to realise the characteristics of any mental state or physical process. Therefore to realise the three characteristics of a wandering mind, but the meditator has to observe it as it is, making a mental note as `wandering, wandering', `thinking, thinking' and so on until that thought has disappeared. Only after it has disappeared should he return to the primary object, noting as usual. However, the Vipassana meditator needs to realise impermanence, suffering and the impersonal nature of the wandering, thinking mind. He must observe the wandering thoughts, the thinking mind as it really occurs, noting `wandering, wandering', `thinking, thinking', `imagining, imagining'. When you note these thoughts, your noting mind should be more attentive, more energetic and somewhat quick, so that it becomes more and more powerful, more so than the thinking process or the wandering process. When the noting mind becomes sharper, quicker and more powerful, it overwhelms the thinking mind or the thought process, which then stops in a short time. When the noting mind is weak, then it is overwhelmed by the wandering mind. The noting mind is dragged along by the thinking process the thought process goes on and on and the meditator can`t concentrate well. So to make the noting mind stronger, sharper and more powerful, the meditator notes the wandering, thinking mind more attentively, energetically and quickly. Then the thinking process stops and at that time the meditator notices thought doesn't last long. It arises and passes away. So here the arising and passing away of the thought is vaguely realised as impermanent, though not clearly realised. When concentration becomes deeper and deeper, the meditator comes to realise that these individual thoughts arise and pass away, one after another. A series of thoughts arises and passes away. Unless concentration is deep enough, the meditator is not able to realise it. The purpose is to realise these thoughts and their three characteristics. So, whatever thought arises in sitting or walking, the meditator must note them attentively, energetically and more quickly. When thoughts are noted they become less and less, and concentration becomes deeper and deeper. If the thoughts are not noted, they increase and sometimes they persist a very long time. Then concentration is weak. In Vipassana meditation, the meditator concentrates the mind to a certain extent on many mental states or physical processes. Then he realises the true nature of mentality and physicality, their impermanent, suffering and impersonal nature. His mind is purified at that moment because he realises these three characteristics of mental states and physical processes. He realises it, not through theoretical knowledge, not through learning scriptures but through his own personal experience of mental and physical experience, and this experience of the three characteristics is very deep and profound. This experience remains in the mind all the time though this insight knowledge of the three characteristics is also impermanent, suffering and impersonal. It occurs and passes away. The force of this insight knowledge remains in the thought process, in the process of consciousness, which continues for life. Therefore even though the meditator leaves the meditation centre and goes home or back to work, he may sometimes recollect his meditative experiences of these three characteristics, and they appear in his mind as if he is realising them at that moment. Then the mind is purified and he feels peaceful and tranquil. The benefit of Vipassana meditation is not only in sitting but also in the whole life and the next life. Therefore it helps the mind to be purified at any time. That's why the Vipassana meditator lives for peace to a certain extent. If he has attained any stage of enlightenment, the first stage, the second stage, the third stage or the fourth stage of enlightenment, if he has attained in any of these four, his mind is purer because some of the mental corruption have been uprooted by the path knowledge. He has lost some of the mental corruptions which cause suffering and he can live in peace and happiness to a certain extent. However, if he is able to attain all the four kinds of enlightenment, his mind is completely purified all the time and liberated from all kinds of mental corruptions. He will then live peacefully and happily. Zen is about living in the present with complete awareness. The word Zen is the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese Ch’an, meaning meditation. However, we have seen that many different schools of Buddhism place great emphasis on meditation as a means to enlightenment. All schools believe that all people have the ability to be enlightened, just as all people have the ability to be angry or sad. Zen therefore says that enlightenment exists within all human beings all the time. The aim of Zen practice is to become aware of one’s own enlightenment. This is called Satori. One important aspect of meditation is that it enables us to sit still and do nothing. It is said that the aim of Zen is not to aim. The meditation practice of Zen is called Za-zen, or sitting Zen. Sitting in the lotus position is very important, for it allows the meditator to breathe easily and slowly. He will put his hands into the dhyana-mudra and keep his eyes open. This makes them become fully in touch with the true nature of reality. Different schools of Zen do Za-zen in different ways: Soto meditators face a wall, Rinzai meditators sit in a circle facing each other. Zen considers there to be five kinds of meditative practices which go deeper and deeper. 1. Bompu is a very superficial form of meditation. Bompu means ‘ordinary’. 2. Gedo refers especially to meditative practices of other religions. These practices may be useful, but do not lead to enlightenment. The word gedo means ‘outside way’. 3. Shojo refers to Theravada meditation. Mahayana Buddhists often call Theravada ‘Hinayana’ or ‘small vehicle’ because they do not consider it to be capable of leading all people to enlightenment. Shojo is used for the same reason. 4. Daijo is Japanese for Mahayana, or ‘great vehicle’, and refers to meditation which leads to enlightenment. 5. Saijojo is the purest form of daijo, the highest form of meditation. A Zen practitioner tries to experience each moment directly. They don't let thoughts, memories, fears or hopes get in the way. They practice being aware of everything they see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. For example: when they eat they focus totally on the food and on the act of eating and prevent any thoughts in their mind. In Zen Buddhism the purpose of meditation is to stop the mind rushing about in an aimless (or even a purposeful) stream of thoughts. People often say that the aim of meditation is â€Å"to still the mind†. Zen Buddhism offers a number of methods of meditation to people – methods which have been used for a long time, and which have been shown to work. Zen Buddhists can meditate on their own or in groups. Meditating in a group – perhaps at a retreat called a sesshin or in a meditation room or zendo – has the benefit of reminding a person that they are both part of a larger Buddhist community, and part of the larger community of beings of every species.

How to Start the Semester Right - Grad Student Study Advice

How to Start the Semester Right - Grad Student Study Advice The most effective way to ensure success in classes learning and getting good grades is to prepare early and often. Most students recognize the value of preparation in ensuring excellent class performance. Prepare for each class, each test, each assignment. Preparation, however, begins before the first reading assignment and first class. Prepare for the semester and youll be off to a great start. So, how do you start the semester right? Start on the first day of class. Get into the proper mindset by following these three tips. Plan to work. Colleges - and faculty - expect you to put in a significant amount of time over the course of the semester. At the undergraduate level, a 3 credit course generally meets for 45 hours during the semester. In most cases, you are expected to put in 1 to 3 hours for every hour of class time. So, for a class that meets 2.5 hours a week, that means you should plan to spend 2.5 to 7.5 hours outside of class preparing for class and studying the material each week. You likely wont spend the maximum time on every class every week - its a big time commitment! But recognize that some classes will require relatively little prep and others may require additional hours of work. In addition, the amount of time you spend in each class will vary during the semester. Get a head start. This one is simple: Begin early. Then follow the class syllabus and read ahead. Try to stay one reading assignment ahead of the class. Why read ahead? First, this permits you to see the big picture. Readings tend to build on each other and sometimes you may not realize that you dont understand a particular concept until you encounter a more advanced concept. Second, reading ahead gives you wiggle room. Life sometimes gets in the way and we fall behind in reading. Reading ahead permits you to miss a day and still be prepared for class. Likewise, start papers early. Papers nearly always take longer to write than we anticipate, whether its because we cant find sources, have a hard time understanding them, or suffer from writers block. Start early so that you wont feel pressed for time. Mentally Prepare. Get your head in the right place. The first day and week of classes can be overwhelming with new lists of reading assignments, papers, exams, and presentations. Take the time to map out your semester. Write down all classes, due dates, exam dates in your calendar.   Think about how you will organize your time to prepare and get it all done. Plan time off and time for fun. Think about how you will maintain motivation over the semester - how will you reward your successes? By mentally preparing for the semester ahead you put yourself in the position to excel.

You Need a Platform as You Dive Into Writing

You Need a Platform as You Dive Into Writing What is a writer’s platform? There are as many definitions as there are experts. In the past, an author’s platform was his reputation (titles, expertise, and past awards). Now Nathan Bransford defines a platform â€Å"as the number of eyeballs you can summon as you promote your book† (http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/09/what-platform-means-for-writers.html). I suspect he’s right, because â€Å"tell-alls† of disgraced, shallow celebrities sell better than well-written memoirs of less famous, heroic individuals. Platforms sell books. What can you do to build this nebulous entity called a platform? You need a website, blog, and/or a newsletter. Let’s be honest: Most of us electronically reach mainly other authors, who are too busy to read our thoughts as they scramble to build their own platforms. What can you do to make your written electronic communications more effective? A few points seem obvious but are often overlooked: 1) Sound bites apply to writing. Short, frequent communications are more effective than longer ones. 2) Most readers and search engines only scan articles. Keywords and tag lines are important. The free Google Ad Words Keywords Tool and similar services can help you sharpen your selection of tags. 3) Cooperation pays. Guest blogs expand your audience, i.e. platform. Public speaking and media appearances are other key elements in building a platform. I know from past experience that drumming up a crowd for a presentation at most libraries takes more than posters plastered around town and a couple event announcements in a local newspaper. Here are ideas that worked: ==One author mentioned a certain brand of wine repeatedly in his novel, then held a book signing at the winery. ==I speak at libraries on â€Å"Science in Your Fiction† not my novels per se. I answer questions like: Could scientists now create a Jurassic Park? Are there real invisibility cloaks? I do this because I was a

Globalization and Social Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Globalization and Social Change - Essay Example It is a fact that even in poor countries; immense resources are available which are unused because of lack of technology or infrastructure facilities. Such countries can seek the help of advanced countries to mobilize their resources more effectively. According to Lauder et al (2006), many people tempted to think that globalization is the process of transportation of jobs, ethnic and cultural composition of nations etc from one country to another (Lauder et al, p.32). Many countries have opened up their economies more. For example, it is easy for an American or British company to establish its subsidiaries in India or China and vice versa. Same way it is possible for Indians or Pakistanis to get work permits in America or UK easily. Moreover, the trades between countries were increased a lot because of globalization. In any case it is an accepted fact that globalization has brought many changes in political, cultural and economical circles in the world. This paper briefly analyses the global social changes with respect to economy, happening in at present because of globalization. Holst (2007) has mentioned that economic interpretations of globalization centered around three forms of capital; financial, productive and commercial (Holst). In fact globalization has opened many opportunities in the financial, productive and commercial sectors. It is possible for a Mexican or Indian company to invest in the American share market at present because of globalization. Same way the exchange of manpower between countries resulted in mutual benefits. International trade has been increased a lot after the introduction of globalization. In fact America and UK like capitalist markets were conquered by the cheap Chinese products at present. It is impossible for China like bulk production oriented countries to sell their products internally alone. Mexico is another example to learn more about how well a country can