Companies In Controversial Industries Management Essay

Companies In Controversial Industries Management Essay Is it possible for companies in controversial industries to be socially responsible if their products are detrimental to human beings and the environment. Many claim it is impossible for them to be socially responsible because their CSR will always be an inherent contradiction since their business goal is at odds with the aims of public health policies. However as these companies already have a bad reputation, they have no need to be associated with doing good in order to boost sales. Hence when they engage in CSR, it could mean that they are genuine CSR practitioners. This paper examines CSR of firms in alcohol, tobacco and gambling industries and determines whether they can be socially responsible through their CSR implementation by using Porter and Kramers concept of shared value. However while assessing any motives companies may have to determine whether they are genuinely interested in CSR, it may be presumptuous or even unjust to these companies to assume their motives based on the consequences of their actions. Also, the approach used to determine whether the companies have been socially responsible may be too narrow. Nonetheless, companies need not have the best intentions for the society to be socially responsible. Introduction At the mention of controversial industries such as alcohol and tobacco industries, some may be quick to conclude that these industries cannot be socially responsible since they are producing goods that are detrimental to human beings and the environment. Even when firms in these industries practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), some may still find it difficult to start regarding them as being socially responsible. The motive behind these companies for practicing CSR is also often disputed over. As these firms already have a bad reputation, they need not be associated with doing good for consumers to demand for their products, unlike inherently good companies. When these firms practice CSR, does it then mean that they genuinely have the societys welfare at heart? Or could they be doing CSR as a way of obscuring their questionable business and gaining social acceptance? Keeping these arguments in mind, we will now look at specific firms in alcohol, tobacco and gambling industries and their CSR practices in particular to evaluate the possible incentives behind their CSR initiatives as well as to determine whether they can be socially responsible through their CSR implementation. In consideration of the controversies of CSR, in particular, the view that CSR should be conducted in such as a way that it benefits both the society and the owners of the firm, rather than only one side of the parties, we will be using Porter and Kramers concept of shared value to decide whether a company is socially responsible. This requires firms to adopt CSR practices that concurrently benefit the society and the owners of the firm, by addressing societal weaknesses or harms while improving the financial performance of the firm, to be socially responsible. Alcohol Alcohol is an important risk factor for disease. It has implications in birth defects, cases of assault and family violence, alcoholism-related abuse, traffic accidents, reduced workplace productivity and lower life expectancy (Collins Lapsley, 2008; WHO, 2011). Consumption of alcohol is estimated to cost the American society a staggering $223.5 billion/year in health care, road-related accidents, reduced workplace productivity, violence and crime in 2007 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In comparison, federal alcohol tax revenue only amounted to $9.3 billion/year in 2007 (Congressional Budget Office). Case Study Take Diageo for instance. It is the worlds largest producer of spirits and an influential producer of beer and wine. It has 59 brands including Johnnie Walker and Guinness, two of the best-known brands of alcohol, under its portfolio. It generates $25 billion in sales revenue yearly. Diageo uses public awareness campaigns as part of its CSR initiative. It creates advertisements that educate drinking responsibly, including those aimed at discouraging excessive drinking, drink driving as well as underage drinking. However, these may have been the companys subtle attempts at bypassing regulations to advertise its alcoholic beverages to consumers. In Diageos the choice is yours campaign in 2008, it has also conveyed the message that overdrinking would inevitably lead to social disapproval, such as the embarrassing consequences of being thrown out of clubs. However, the University of Bath has found that such incidents are actually perceived as fun by youths (EUCAM, 2009), putting the intended effect of the campaign into question. Furthermore, the website of the campaign highlights the logos of Diageo drinks, casting doubts on whether it may have been aimed at advertising the companys alcoholic beverages to the consumers. The company also has campaigns that are aimed at reaching out to minors in schools. By claiming that they are contributing solutions to alcohol-related problems, the company is able to reach out to a target audience that they would otherwise not be able to reach due to alcohol marketing regulations. By using CSR as marketing gimmicks to make greater profits, the company has failed to manifest itself as a genuine CSR practitioner who does not have the societys best interests at heart when carrying out CSR practices. However, Diageo is making improvements to its corporate governance and has created a multi-prong strategy to take care of the interests of all its stakeholders. This year, it has reduced 9.4% of carbon emission in spite of its increased production and has increased water efficiency by 20% in Uganda through its implementation of better water recovery systems. In addition, it has organized internal DRINKiQ workshops to educate employees on responsible drinking. It also conducts independent audits on its suppliers with issues relating to health, safety and hygiene, working hours and wages. It also provides a confidential whistleblowing service, SpeakUp, to allow anyone who has come across a breach of its Code to report it. This ensures that Diageos Code of Conduct is strictly adhered to. Looking at the various Diageos CSR initiatives and going back to Porter and Kramers concept of shared value, Diageo would be considered a socially responsible company. Through its public awareness campaigns that concurrently discourage excessive drinking and advertise its brand of alcoholic beverages, the company is able to reduce the societal harm of its products and improve the profitability of the firm at the same time, although the effectiveness and the intended effect of the campaigns may be questionable. The implementation of better water recovery systems could also help the company save cost. These show that Diageo is a socially responsible company. Tobacco The health effects of tobacco have long been known. Smoking in particular is a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary heart disease, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease and cancer. Each year, 6 million deaths are caused by the inhalation of tobacco smoke. The irony becomes salient when tobacco becomes the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. With products deemed universally harmful allowed for sale, can tobacco companies be socially responsible? Case Study Altria Group Inc. is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world. It is a pioneer of the tobacco corporate responsibility movement in the late 1990s. Recently, it has come out tops in social responsibility rankings, placing 15th on CR Magazines 100 best corporate citizens list and 4th in Fortune magazine. Altria has implemented a comprehensive corporate responsibility program targeting nine specific issues: tobacco product management, marketing practices, combating illegal trade, environmental management, sustainable agriculture, supply chain responsibility, employees, investing in companies and governance and compliance. Despite the multi-faceted approach, its CSR practices have been a subject of constant criticism, with critics questioning their motivations behind the acts of responsibility. Most argument centers on tobacco product management and marketing practices. Over the years, Altria has sought to manage its tobacco product issues and marketing practices as ethically as possible. They voluntarily communicate health effects with transparency, including health warnings on all its packages and websites. They undertake research and development in developing products with lower risks and also actively partner and collaborate with governments in support of cessation. In marketing practices, they voluntarily limit their reach of marketing to unintended audiences. Based on their actions, we can see the moral duty that Altria has undertaken as a company. Critics however argue against the motivation of their CSR, likening it to the washing of blood money. Some even argue that it is used as a sword and shield against product issues (Friedman, 2009). Yet it can also be seen as an atonement of sin. The term blood money seems to convey a form of coercion or illegal means to gain, yet from how Altria practices its CSR, we can clearly see their admittance to liability, transparency and the absence of coercion. Ironically, Altria has been embarking on initiatives to discourage people from smoking, which is counterintuitive of a profit-oriented business model. This seems to highlight the effort Altria has undertaken as a moral duty to doing right what it has done wrong, clearly fulfilling Kantian and even virtue ethics, and is a display of an ethical practice of social responsibility. Critics also argue that CSR allows tobacco companies to improve their image, leveraging CSR to add value to the otherwise evil company, thereby concluding that such a motivation may be of a selfish cause. However, unlike other corporations with the freedom of liberal marketing practices, tobacco companies including Altria undergo some of the strictest regulations on advertising and marketing. In fact, the company is creating advertisements that devalue its products, essentially decreasing the companys value further. There seems to be no tangible benefit for their bottom line with the implementation of CSR; instead, a greater amount of losses are being incurred. This thus further support the ethical motivation behind their CSR practices, as not much value can be leveraged off CSR for the benefit of the companys overall bottom-line. It is evident that a tobacco companys CSR does fulfill Porter and Kramers concept of shared value for both the company and society. However, it is more of a transactional value rather than a transformational one (Palazzo Richter, 2005), after all if tobacco companies really want to change society, the greatest impact will come from its voluntary demise. Therefore, it is justified for tobacco companies to do CSR, but it will never be able to transform or make good itself. Casino Casinos, like tobacco and alcohol, have contributed to a range of social and economic harms to the society (Hancock, Schellinck Schrans, 2008), with the most apparent social impact being the increase in problem gambling. It has been estimated that 1.2% of U.S. adults are pathological gamblers and another 1.5% are problem gamblers at some point of their lives, with the likelihood doubling for people living within 50 miles of a casino (Community Research Partners, 2010). Problem gambling impacts peoples lives in many negative and consequential ways; this includes unemployment, poor physical and mental health, risked social relationships as well as increased crimes (Community Research Partners, 2010). Large sums of social costs, including those spent on bankruptcies, imprisonments and divorces; have to be spent every year as a result of these impacts. Case Study Caesars Entertainment Corporation is the largest gaming company in the world with $8.83 billion in revenue in 2011. The company has carried out CSR extensively. It launched its comprehensive sustainability program, the CodeGreen, in 2004 and has displayed a strong commitment to achieving a broad set of sustainability goals for carbon emissions reduction, energy conservation, water consumption as well as waste recycling. Harrahs Lake Tahoe Casino and Harveys Lake Tahoe Casino, two of the companys casinos, have received the prestigious Gold Certification from Travelife, a certification body that recognizes companies within the tourism industry that adopt sustainable practices. Only four U.S.-based hotels out of 400 worldwide are Gold Certified in 2013 and three of them are Caesars properties (Stevens, 2013). Besides their commitment to responsible stewardship of the environment, the company also has codes of commitment to treat all their employees with respect and to provide them with good career opportunities, to promote responsible gaming as well as to help make all their communities healthy and vibrant places to live and work. To foster responsible gaming, the company only allows adults to visit their casinos, trains their employees on how to offer help to customers who may need it and provides toll-free helpline numbers for problem gambling. They have also adopted a policy to donate part of the company profits to community and charitable causes (Caesars Entertainment). As casinos fundamentally offer products that have adverse social and economic consequences, it may be unnecessary or even irrelevant for the company to conduct CSR to appear altruistic to the public. This may therefore imply that any CSR efforts from such companies could only be genuine. However, companies nowadays are increasingly expected to embrace wider responsibilities and roles and adhere to greater ethical, legal and responsible standards. Companies that fail to do so are found to receive weakened public support and less positive views from the media (Yani-de-Soriano, Javed Yousafzai, 2012). Therefore, it remains unclear as to whether Caesars Entertainment Corporation is a genuine CSR practitioner, or that they have conducted CSR to gain social acceptance. Caesars Entertainments CodeGreen sustainability program is a great example of creating a shared value through CSR. Through committing to responsible stewardship of the environment, the company strives to conserve energy, save water and recycle waste. These are environmental-friendly practices that also bring about cost-savings for the company. While not all the companys CSR initiatives, such as those targeted at promoting responsible gaming, directly bring about economic benefits to the stockholders of the company, they can help to gain social acceptance of the public, increasing sales and thereby giving rise to indirect economic benefits. Since Caesars Entertainments CSR practices create shared value for both the society and the owners of the firm according to the Porter and Kramers model, it is a socially responsible company. Limitations In evaluating the respective companies on whether they are genuine practitioners of CSR given that there do not seem to be a need for them to appear socially responsible, we have looked at how conducting CSR could benefit them to assess the motives that they might have in executing their CSR initiatives. However, it may be presumptuous or even unjust to these companies to assume their motives based on the consequences of their actions. The companies may indeed have been genuine practitioners of CSR, even if their CSR initiatives turn out to benefit the company as well. The approach that has been used to establish whether the specific companies have been socially responsible may also have been too narrow. In applying Porter and Kramers concept of shared value, our criteria for determining whether the companies are socially responsible only lies on whether the companys CSR initiatives benefit both the stockholders and the other stakeholders of the firm; however, we did not apply the model to take into account the inherent nature of the company that their products are detrimental to the society in determining whether they are socially responsible. As a result, all the three firms examined can easily be classified as being socially responsible. On the other hand, to take into consideration the inherent nature of the company, which could only create value for the owners of the firms at best, would mean that these companies could never be socially responsible so long as they continue to operate, according to Porter and Kramers model of shared value. Conclusion Corporate social responsibility is a complex and contentious subject that many businesses have to address and commit their resources to implement. When companies whose products are detrimental to the society practice CSR, their motives are often questioned and their ability to be socially responsible may still be contested. However, as have been discussed and elaborated on above, companies do not need to have the best intentions for the society to be socially responsible. In fact, companies who are not genuine practitioners of CSR, but have both the firm and the society at heart when practicing CSR are the ones who are the most socially responsible. Finally, we conclude that companies whose products are detrimental to the society can be socially responsible companies.

Free Essays - The Hounds of Tindalos :: Hounds

Textual Analysis The Hounds of Tindalos             The Hounds of Tindalos is a short science fiction story containing many and varied elements that have been long associated with the genre of science fiction. This essay will identify these elements, examining their placement within this short text and also the interchange of these elements with the characteristics of other genres, more specifically, horror. Belknap Long, the author, was clearly intent of incorporating the elements of horror within the genre of science fiction and this amalgamation of these two genres was a popular combination employed by future horror and SF writers. Perhaps the inclusion of horror within the SF genre is a comment in itself about perceptions of SF held by writers, the elements of horror being a cautionary warning to those in the science world. Long’s main character is Halpin Chalmers, a self proclaimed â€Å"rebel and champion of originality and lost causes†. From the start it is clear there are present within this text some elements of the SF genre that seem to be in just about every SF story, beginning with the main character. Many writers have as their main characters people who are non-conformists, who wish to boldly go where no one has gone before and who are willing to take seemingly illogical and irrational risks in the hope of furthering makinds’ scientific discoveries. Chalmers is no exception in this as he willingly partakes in an ancient Chinese drug that is a known powerful hallucinogen in a bid to go back in time. There is of course the proverbial â€Å"wet blanket† in the shape of the narrator, known only as Frank, who believes his friend Chalmers to be quite mad, but who never-the-less agrees to aid his friend in his bizarre experiment despite the risks he is taking. Frank represe nts all those characters in SF stories who are the skeptics, the non believers, who have a solid faith in the science of the present, and who consider characters like Chalmers to be eccentric and bizarre.       The setting of The Hounds of Tindalos is in the late 1920’s and the location is Central Square. Chalmer’s apartment room is where most of the story takes place. The room is in keeping with Chalmer’s character as a rejector of modern science and one who is still entranced with the historical side of science and history preferring â€Å"illuminated manuscripts to automobiles and leering stone gargoyles to radios and adding machines†.

Eating Disorders :: essays research papers

Addiction is having a devotion to something to a point where it becomes a habit and even obsessive. Anorexia and bulimia are forms of addiction (www.addictionscience.net). Eating disorders are patterns of persistent eating or dieting behavior. They can be caused by significant emotional, physical, and relational distress (www.addictionscience.net). Some eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge eating. Anorexia is the relentless pursuit of thinness. Bulimia is the uncontrollable urge to eat large amounts of food in a short amount of time (Exploring Science 6th Edition Myers, David G). The media plays a big part in this it creates an artificial image that people are supposed to look picture perfect, such as supermodels and athletes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People with anorexia are unable to maintain there average body weight and height for their age (www.aedweb.org). Most are afraid of gaining weight and usually see themselves as being fat, even thought they might be underweight (www.aedweb.org). People with anorexia often deal with depression and withdrawal. They begin strange behavior such as dividing there food into a â€Å"good/safe† category, and a â€Å"bad/dangerous† category (www.calpsy.net/org).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Individuals with Bulimia usually overeat during meals. After eating, they usually feel guilty and punish themselves by forcing themselves to vomit, or by using laxatives, enemas, or by over exercising (Exploring Science 6th Edition Myers, David G). They also deal with depression and loneliness often. People with Bulimia have difficulty talking about their inner feelings. They also have anxiety depression, and anger (Exploring Science 6th Edition Myers, David G). They also might have problems with impulse control, shoplifting, and may be very sexually adventurous. They may also take in the habit to abuse drugs and alcohol depending on severity (www.anred.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People who binge eats are usually overweight. They diet to make themselves hungry and then binge eat to make up for the hunger. However, also eat for emotional reasons because they feel it substitutes for their depression (www.addictionscience.net).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some of the warning signs of eating disorders are with food behavior (Exploring Science 6th Edition Myers, David G). They will usually skip meals or only eat a small portion. They will not eat in front of other people and they mix strange food combinations, they will also have an excuse to never eat. Suddenly they will stop eating their favorite foods and only eat a few â€Å"safe† foods. Often find themselves wearing baggy clothes to cover up their â€Å"non-perfect† appearance (www.

Thesus vs Achilles

Dumbledore said, â€Å"It is the choices†¦ that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. † This theory applies to everyone. Through the choices and actions of Theseus and Achilles, we learn a lot about their characters. We find Achilles to be motivated by rage and pride, with ambitions of glory and vengeance. Theseus, on the other hand, seems to be motivated by others’ needs, and aspires to do right by those who he should help. Theseus also likes to challenge expectations and overcome the â€Å"impossible†. Theseus begins his saga with a journey to Athens. He chooses the difficult and dangerous land route, as opposed to the sea route, because he wants the challenge. On his way, he completes six tasks that make him a great hero. He kills robbers and murderers, helping innocent potential victims, delivering justice, and making a name for himself. Once he arrives in Athens, he kills some of the people who plan to attack him. Even though they are not innocent and pose a threat to him, he doesn’t kill about half of them, including his uncle Pallas. This shows his solid reasoning. When Theseus captured the bull of Marathon, he met a normal, old lady, and paid her significant respects in her death. Theseus was seen as a â€Å"champion of the oppressed. † For example, he gave Oedipus a place to live after he chose exile. Achilles’ ambitions and motivations had little in common with Theseus’. He was driven by anger, the need for vengeance, bloodlust, and excessive pride. He strived for eternal glory. Achilles played a huge role in the Trojan War, a situation that aligned perfectly with his personality. He showed no humility in slaying others. He mutilated Hector’s body. He refused to accept Agammemnon’s great gifts out of his hubris. In the end, his need for vengeance overcame even his dispute with Agammemnon, and his sole purpose was to destroy Hector, afterward mutilating his body. He was miserable, but finally learned compassion. Achilles and Theseus were very different heroes. Their choices and actions clearly outline their motivations and ambitions for us. Theseus is motivated by the excitement of challenges, and the opportunity to help others. His ambitions are greatness, but, more importantly, justice and aiding those in need. Achilles’ motivations are negative and his ambitions shallow. However, at the end of his life, we see a positive change in his personality.

Lab Test: Tensile Testing

The mechanical properties of materials are determined by performing carefully designed laboratory experiments that replicate as nearly as possible the service conditions. In real life, there are many factors involved in the nature in which loads are applied on a material. The following are some common examples of modes in which loads might be applied: tensile, compressive, and shear. These properties are important In materials selections for mechanical design. Other factors that often complicate the design process Include temperature and time factors.The topic of this lab is confined to the tensile property of polymers. Figure 1 shows a tensile testing machine similar to the one used in this lab. This test is a destructive method, in which a specimen of a standard shape and dimensions (prepared according to ASTM D 638: standard test method for tensile properties of plastics) is subjected to an axial load. During a typical tensile experiment, a dog-bone shaped specimen Is gripped at I ts two ends and Is pulled to elongate at a determined rate to Its breakpoint; a highly ductile polymer may not reach its breakpoint.The tensile tester seed in this lab is manufactured by Insertion (model 5569). It has a maximum load of 2 or 50 ink and a variable pulling rate. The setup of the experiment could be changed to accommodate different types of mechanical testing, according to the ASTM standard (e. G. Compression test, etc). For analytical purposes, a plot of stress (o) versus strain (E) Is constructed during a tensile test experiment, which can be done automatically on the software provided by the instrument manufacturer. Stress, in the metric system, is usually measured in N/ mm or Pa, such that 1 N/mm = 1 Pa.From the experiment, the value of stress is lactated by dividing the amount of force (F) applied by the machine in the axial direction by its cross-sectional area (A), which is measured prior to running the experiment. Mathematically, It Is expressed In Equation 1. T he strain values, which have no units, can be calculated using Equation 2, where L Is the Instantaneous length of the specimen and LO Is the initial length. (Equation 1) (Equation 2) A typical stress-strain curve would look like Figure 2. The stress-strain curve shown In Figure 2 Is a textbook example of a stress-strain curve.In reality, not all stress-strain curves perfectly resemble the one shown In Figure 2. This stress-strain curve Is typical for ductile metallic elements. Another thing to take note is that Figure 2 shows an â€Å"engineering stress-strain† curve. When a material reaches its ultimate stress strength of the stress-strain curve, its cross-sectional area reduces dramatically, a term known as necking. When the computer software plots the stress-strain curve, it assumes that the cross sectional area stays constant throughout the experiment, even during necking, therefore causing the curve to slope down.The â€Å"true† stress- change in the cross section al area of the specimen throughout the experiment. Theoretically, even without measuring the cross-sectional area of the specimen during the tensile experiment, the â€Å"true† stress-strain curve could still be constructed by assuming that the volume of the material stays the same. Using this concept, both the true stress (UT) and the true strain (ET) could be calculated using Equations 3 and 4, respectively. The derivation of these equations is beyond the scope of this lab report. Consult any standard mechanics textbook to learn more about these equations.In these equations, LO refers to the initial length of the specimen, L refers o the instantaneous length and o refers to the instantaneous stress. (Equation 3) (Equation 4) Figure 2 also shows that a stress-strain curve is divided into four regions: elastic, yielding, strain hardening (commonly occurs in metallic materials), and necking. The area under the curve represents the amount of energy needed to accomplish each of these â€Å"events. † The total area under the curve (up to the point of fracture) is also known as the modulus of toughness.This represents the amount of energy needed to break the sample, which could be compared to the impact energy of the sample, determined from impact tests. The area under the linear region of the curve is known as the modulus of resilience. This represents the minimum amount of energy needed to deform the sample. The linear region of the curve of Figure 2, which is called the elastic region (past this region, is called the plastic region), is the region where a material behaves elastically. The material will return to its original shape when a force is released while the material is in its elastic region.The slope of the curve, which can be calculated using Equation 5, is a constant and is an intrinsic property of material known as the elastic modulus, E. In metric units, it is usually expressed in Pascal (Pa). (Equation 5) Figure 3(a) shows typical stre ss-strain curves of polymers. The figure shows that materials that are hard and brittle do not deform very much before breaking and have very steep elastic modulo. The mechanical property of polymers generally depends on their degree of crystalline, molecular weights and glass transition temperature, Tug.Highly crystalline polymeric materials with a Tug above the room temperature are usually brittle, and vice versa. When a semi-crystalline polymer undergoes a tensile test, the amorphous chains, will become aligned. This is usually evident for transparent and translucent materials, which become opaque upon turning crystalline. Figure 3(b) shows a diagram showing the mechanical property of some common polymers. Important! Make sure you wear safety glasses before starting any operation. Your eyes could be hurt by a broken piece of polymer. Also wear gloves to protect against any residue on the machine and samples. . 1 Specimen Preparation The polymer specimens were injection-molded int o dog-bone shapes. Their dimensions were determined according to the ASTM D 638 standard mentioned earlier in the introduction. (1) Measure the thickness, width and gage length of polymer samples in mm. These dimensions should be approximately the same for each sample. (2) Also make note of any sample defects (e. G. Impurities, air bubbles, etc. ). The following samples will be tested: 1) Polypropylene (UP), polystyrene (AS), polycyclic acid (polymer), high density polyethylene (HIDE), and Dentally for analysis of mechanical properties. ) Polystyrene: to compare effects of feeding direction on mechanical properties. 3) Polypropylene: to analyze effects of strain rate on mechanical properties. . 2 Bluebill Software Setup 1) Turn on the tensile test machine. The switch is located on the right side of the machine. Also turn on the video extensors. (2)Go to the desktop and double-click on the â€Å"Bluebill† icon. (3) On the main page, select Test to start a new sample. Name your test and click Browse to select the folder you would like to save it in. Click next. (4) Choose which method you would like to use.Create and save a new method if needed. (5) Method set up: Save after any changes are made. General: used for display purposes Specimen: specifies sample dimensions and parameters. A doggone sample is used for tensile testing. Select rectangular, and specify the width, thickness and gauge length of the sample. The gauge length is the distance between the clamps before starting the test. Control: describes the actual test. Select extension for mode of displacement, then specify the rate of extension. Most use 5 mm/min or 50 min/mm, depending on if you want a slow or fast test.End of Test: identifies the criteria for the end of the test. A large load drop is experienced when sample failure occurs. For this test, when the sample load drops by a certain percentage of the peak load, he machine will stop. Data: specifies if the data is acquired manually or au tomatically, while the strain tab recognizes whether the strain is measured from the video exterminates or the extension. Results and Graphs: select what data is shown and how it is displayed. (1) Make sure the proper load cell is installed, either 2 ink or 50 ink depending on the load range and sensitivity of the sample.To switch load cells, make sure the machine is off. Unscrew the bolts and remove using the handle. Make sure to plug the new load cell into the port behind the machine. (2) Calibrate the load cell by licking on the button in the upper right hand corner. Make sure all loads are removed from the load cell and click calibrate. (3) Install the correct type of clamps for the testing. For tensile testing, non or ink samples can be used. Install the clamps using the pins. Also install height brackets if needed. Zero the load once the clamps are installed. 4) Press the up and down arrows on the controller until the clamps are Just touching. Press the reset gauge length butt on at the top of the screen to zero the position of the clamps. (5) Use the up and down arrows until the clamps are about 100 mm apart. This is a typical gauge length for the dog bone samples. (6) Place the polymer sample between the grips of both the tensile test machine. While holding the sample vertically with one hand, use another hand to turn the handle of the top grip in the closing direction as tightly as possible. The specimen should be gripped such that the two ends of the specimen are covered by the grip, approximately 3 mm away from its gage-length. It is important that the specimens are tightly gripped onto the specimen grips to prevent slipping, which will otherwise result in experimental errors. ) (8) Make sure that the specimen s vertically aligned, if not a torsion's force, rather than axial force, will result. (9) Turn the bottom handle in the â€Å"close† direction as tightly as possible. Visually verify that the sample is gripped symmetrically at its two en ds. 10)Zero the extension by pushing zero extension button at the top of the screen. Also zero the load if needed. Wait for a few seconds to let the computer return its value to zero. 2. 4 Tensile Test (1) Enter geometry of the sample before starting. (2) Click on the Start button. Both the upper and bottom grips will start moving in opposite directions according to the specified pulling rate. Observe the experiment at a safe distance (about 1. 5 meters away) at an angle and take note of the failure mode when the specimen fails. (NOTE: Be sure to wear safety glasses.Do not come close to equipment when the tensile test is running). (3) A plot of tensile stress (Amp) versus tensile strain (mm/mm) will be generated in real-time during the experiment. 2. 6 End of Test (1) The machine will stop automatically when the sample is broken. (2) Press the â€Å"Return† button on the digital controller. Both the upper and lower grips will be returned to their original positions automatica lly. 3) Turn the two handles in the open directions to remove the sample (4) Repeat the previous steps for any additional tests. 5) When finished, save your file and click Finish. This will export your data into a PDF and individual data files. (6) Clean up any broken fragments from the specimens. (7) Turn off the machine and exit the program when finished. Graph UP (50 mm/mm extension), AS (2 feed inputs), PLAN, HIDE and Dentally results using raw data files. There should be two tests for each polymer, but Just pick one to graph. Construct the true stress-strain curves for each polymer (hint: use Equations 3) and (4) provided in the Introduction section).Calculate Young Modulus for each material and testing condition and compare experimental values with literature values. Discuss any differences in mechanical behavior between the polymers (use pictures! ) Analyze the fracture modes of each sample (ductile fracture, brittle fracture, or intermediate fracture mode). Using the data fo r polypropylene, discuss the effects of strain rate on the mechanical behavior of the polymers. Using the data for polystyrene, compare effects of feed direction on the mechanical behavior. Explain any unexpected results.

Historical Background and Status

Historical background and status of textile engineering industry By: S. Chakrabarty Preamble Industrial Revolution in U. K. during 1750 – 1850 gave birth to Textile Machinery. The dominance of India in the field of cotton textiles produced by very skilled manpower was disturbing the British. Systematic development of textile industry with spinning and powerloom machinery was initiated in Lancashire and Manchester to discourage the Indian weavers. Rest is however known to everybody how the machinery industry was developed and nurtured by the respective Governments in the UK and later by Germany and Switzerland followed by others in Europe.In India, machinery manufacture started in the 50s, continued and progressed during 60s & 70s and thereafter. The Government policy to ban expansion of the organized weaving sector during late 60s created/ supported the decentralized powerloom sector. Too much of importance to handlooms and low level technology power looms in the subsequent ye ars, keeping a large list of reserved items for handlooms, throttled the mill industry which lost its initiative for creativity as well as production for the masses. Low level of production in handlooms and low quality production in powerlooms made us uncompetitive in the subsequent years.The Government’s regulative pressures on the Mill Industry continued to play havoc for the weaving industry till the introduction of 1985 Textile Policy and finally revolutionary Industrial Policy in 1991. Development and technology growth in the TEI The Textile Engineering Industry (TEI) during the late 60s, 70s and 80s had received some Government support in the form of foreign collaboration approvals, import assistance by way of phased manufacturing programme and concessional customs duty certification for imported parts and components for manufacture of specified textile machinery.Import duty on components and parts in general was very high at 85% excluding CVD and not conducive for indi genous development. The concessional duty on imported parts, components etc. mentioned above did help the Industry. The then Government’s policy was also supportive that no import of machinery was allowed if there was adequate indigenous production. The local textile industry therefore had no choice but to buy the Indian machinery. This policy helped the TEI to develop and manufacture spinning machinery in the country of the desired quality and quantity. There was no competition from outsider.Internal competition among various players made the development easier and faster. Foreign manufacturers had no choice but to enter into collaborations with local manufacturers. This happened not only in spinning but also in processing machinery. The following collaborations are worth mentioning: Sr. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Names of Foreign Collaborators M/s. Textile Machinery Makers Ltd. U. K. , Platt Bros. , U. K. M/s. Whitin Machine Works, U. S. A. M/s. Howa, Japan M/s. Zinser, Germany M/ s. Marzoli, Italy M/s. Hispani Suiza (Suisse) S. A. , Switzerland M/s. Rieter, Switzerland M/s. Schubert & Salzer, Germany Names of IndianManufacturers M/s. National Machinery Mfrs. Ltd. , Bombay* M/s. M M C. , Calcutta M/s. Texmaco, Calcutta* M/s. Texmaco, Calcutta* M/s. M M C, Bangalore* M/s. Indequip Engineering Ltd. , Ahmedabad M/s. LMW, Coimbatore M/s. New Standard Engg. Items Produced Spinning – Cards, Draw Frame, Speed Frame, Ring Frame Spinning – Carding Engines and RH Can Fed Inter Frames Spinning – Flat Revolving Carding Engines, Draw Frame, Speed Frames Spinning – Narrow Gauge Ring Frame Spinning – Entire Range Spinning – Ring Frame Spinning – Entire range Spinning – Blow Room, Cards, 9. M/s. Zinser, Germany M/s. Trutzschler, Germany M/s. Toyota, Japan 10 11 2 M/s. Suessen, Germany * Presently not in operation Co. Ltd. , Mumbai* M/s. Padmatex Engg. , Baroda* M/s. Trumac, Ahmedabad M/s. Kirloskar Toyoda Textile Machin ery Pvt. Ltd. , Bangalore M/s. Suessen Asia, Pune Draw Frames Spinning – H. S. Draw Frame Spinning – Blow Room, Cards, Draw Frames Spinning – Ring Frame Spinning – Ring Frame Due to acute and long recession in the Textile Industry, initial higher import content coupled with high rate of import duty, non-transfer of latest technology under collaboration agreements leading to import of machinery etc. , the following Indian Companies were closed down during 80s and early 90s.These are M/s. MMC, Kolkata and Bangalore; M/s. Texmaco, Kolkata; M/s. Indequip Engineering, Ahmedabad; M/s. New Standard Engg. Co. Ltd. , Mumbai; M/s. Mafatlal Engg. Co. Ltd. Mumbai; M/s. Textool Co. Ltd. , Coimbatore; M/s. Jeetstex Engg. Ltd. Coimbatore etc. while M/s. LMW, M/s. Trumac, M/s. Zinser India, M/s. Suessen Asia, M/s. Kirloskar Toyoda could manage to stay in production. Why we are better in spinning machinery? There was Government support by way of†¢ †¢ †¢ Res tricted import of spinning machinery – virtually no import of spinning machinery of the same technology available indigenously was allowed.No import of second hand spinning machinery was allowed. Import duty concession on raw materials, parts, components & accessories for production of specified machinery as the import duty in general, was very high. Besides, competition among the machinery manufacturers resulted in production of better quality machines. Reasons for non-development in the Weaving Machinery Sector While the Textile Engineering Industry took up manufacturing of Spinning machinery in full swing with the adequate Government's supportive measures mentioned above, the same did not happen in case of weaving machinery.During 60s (prior to 1970) the Industrial Policy prohibited the organized mill sector to expand their weaving capacity. This was perhaps to support employment generation in the villages by the decentralized and dispersed handloom sector. It was due to t his wrong policy, the unauthorized powerloom clusters started gaining grounds. Even many of the handloom clusters started converting into powerlooms. Since the domestic demand for fabrics was growing fast due to the population growth, the powerloom sector in different parts of the country started growing fast while the handloom sector started shrinking in reality. The fact is still not accepted by the Government). Today, there are over 20 lakh powerlooms but handlooms, may not be more than 8 lakh, if not less! During 70s the organized mill sector was allowed to replace ordinary powerlooms by automatic looms and shuttleless looms on 4:1 basis. However, compulsory manufacture of controlled cloth by the mills sector dampened the spirit of the mills sector. Controlled cloth scheme was done away with during 80s. Expectation of a good demand due to replacement policy prompted the manufacture of automatic looms by M/s.Cimmco, Gwalior in collaboration with M/s. Sakamoto, Japan and M/s. Mafa tlal Engineering Co. in collaboration with M/s. Ruti, Switzerland during 70s. In the late 70s M/s. Lakshmi Automatic Loom Works Ltd. (LALW) started manufacturing Ruti `C’ Type of automatic loom in collaboration with M/s. Ruti, Switzerland. M/s. Cimmco as well as M/s. Mafatlal Engineering Co. tried to manufacture shuttleless looms in collaboration with M/s. Dornier, Germany, Toyoda, Japan and M/s. SACM, France respectively during early 80s. M/s. LALW also started making shuttleless rapier and airjet looms during 80s.During 80s, the powerloom population which was hardly 7 lakh had grown to more than 10 lakhs. The policy of scrapping of powerlooms of the mill industry after replacement or closure failed miserably, all these powerlooms found their way to the decentralized sector. The Government had no option but to regularize all unauthorised powerlooms due to political pressure after announcement of 1985 Textile Policy and subsequent Textile Control Order 1986, doing away with t he age old powerloom permit system. The textile strike during 1980s crippled the Textile mill industry in Mumbai and Maharashtra.During this period the composite structure of the mill industry broke almost completely. While the spinning sector prospered with the modern machinery, the number of working looms in the organized mills sector shrunk considerably and most of the mills found it profitable to close down their weaving section due to bad market condition, high cost of labour, low productivity and tough competition from the powerloom sector. As a result, there was practically no demand for the shuttleless looms manufactured by the two Companies mentioned above which prompted them to close down their shutters one by one.In the meantime, due to the pressure from the decentralized powerloom sector the Government was forced to allow import of second hand weaving machinery which added to the woes of indigenous manufacturers of shuttleless looms. M/s. LALW also had to discontinue the production of shuttleless looms subsequently. During 80s and upto 1991 there was protective market for spinning and processing machinery but not for the weaving machinery due to high production cost and import of second hand looms. Initiatives discouraged after liberalizationThe Industrial Policy announced in 1991 liberalised the Industry in general to a considerable extent. The market became open to the foreign manufacturers and there was tough competition. The spinning machinery makers came of age technologywise and capacitywise and there was also very high demand for spinning machinery. The weaving machinery could not prosper due to the onslaught of import of second hand machinery. There was no restriction on import of second hand weaving machinery before and after 1991. After 1992, there was no support of the Government either for development of weaving machinery or any other textile machinery.In this regard, the only commendable fact was that we became self-sufficient in Weavi ng Preparatory Machinery viz. High Speed Sectional Warping, Direct Warping and Sizing matching with world class technology. M/s. Rabatex Industries, Ahmedabad; M/s. Prashant Gamatex Pvt. Ltd. , Ahmedabad, M/s. Amritlakshmi Machine Works, Mumbai and M/s. Jupiter Engineering Co. , Ahmedabad are the most reputed domestic manufacturers. This could happen because there was less import of second hand machinery and the cost differential between domestic and imported machinery was large and the machines were custom built.The indigenous shuttleless looms (older technology) which have been developed during the late 90s and early 2000, however, could not find a good market due to the adverse policy of the Government i. e. import of second hand shuttleless looms under concessional duty and also under concessional rate of interest under TUF. The situation continues. However, indigenous machinery manufacturers viz. M/s. Aalidhra Weavetech Pvt. Ltd. , Surat; M/s. Bhavin Sales Corporation, Surat; M /s. Dynamic Loom Mfg. Co. , Ahmedabad; M/s. Dinkier Sokerjee Machines, Surat; M/s. Friends Engg.Works, Panipat; M/s. Himson Textile Engg. Inds. Pvt. Ld. ; Surat; M/s. Industrial Engg. Works, Bangalore; M/s. Lakshmi Automatic Loom Works Ltd. , Coimbatore; M/s. Laxmi Textile Stores, Ahmedabad; M/s. Lifebond Machines Pvt. Ltd. , Surat etc. have developed and are producing crank beat up type shuttleless looms with a speed between 450 – 500 mpm. All latest generation shuttleless looms i. e. Airjet, Waterjet, Projectile & Rapier of European and Japanese origin are high speed, high tech, high productive and energy efficient running at a speed of 500 rpm and above.This machinery, though at a higher cost, is economically viable due to its quality and productivity, cost of fabric per meter being less than second hand machinery. Since last 4/5 years, all new large textile units as well as existing reputed textile units expanding capacity had been importing these kinds of machinery to ma ke them commercially viable, e. g. Alok Industries, Welspun, GHCL, Vardhman Group, Century, Raymonds, etc. Therefore, machinery, if made/developed indigenously need to be cost competitive in all respects and cost of production per meter of fabric should be same or less with equivalent quality standard.Then only the manufacturing would be viable and accepted by the Mill Industry/ Organized Sector. Unless there are disincentives for second hand machinery, there is no hope that the decentralized powerloom sector would go in for new machinery. Processing & Finishing Machinery Sector The history of the processing machinery manufacturing sector was somewhat different. During 70s and 80s there were a number of foreign collaborations : M/s. Mather & Platt, U. K. M/s. Reggiani, Italy M/s. Stork, Holland M/s. Gerber, M/s. Menzel and M/s. Eduard Kusters, GermanyMather & Platt (I) Ltd. * SBM Engg. * ATE (Stovec/Stormac*) Calico Indl. Engineers* M/s. Artos & Benninger, Germany M/s. Famatex, Germ any M/s. Obermeaier, Germany M/s. Toshin Kogyo, Japan * Presently not in operation T. Maneklal* Famatex India Ltd. * Dalal Engg. Star Indl. Engg. * Some Companies developed machinery by copying the imported technology viz. M/s. Harish Textile Engineers, M/s. SM Engg. etc. As mentioned earlier, composite structure of the textile industry broke in Europe during 70s. The same happened in India during 80s. This affected the processing sector.While spinning industry became more organized, competitive and export- worthy, the weaving and processing sectors became uncompetitive, decentralized and export unworthy. Since the Government encouraged low technology for the weaving sector (handlooms and ordinary powerlooms), the organized weaving sector in the mill industry could not come up. Similarly, the decentralized processing sector, which started with second hand machinery from the composite mill industry, did not modernize the units in course of time. The domestic manufacturers which had o llaboration prior to 1991 could not continue with their collaborators after 1991 as the market became open and the foreign manufacturers found it easier to market their machines in India rather than making the same under collaboration. During 80s as well as 90s strenuous efforts were put in by some of the Companies to develop machinery by way of re-engineering. Some of them became successful. However, some of the Companies had to close down their shutters due to tough competition in the open market after 1991. Many manufacturing units came into existence to produce low technology cheap machinery to bridge the gap between demand and supply.This had resulted in manufacture of poor quality machines and poor quality processing of textiles thereof. The encouragement given by the Government to the hand processing sector was misused and low technology prevailed. The prominent processing machinery makers who developed quality machines during 80s and 90s were: 1. M/s. Calico Indl. Engineers, Mumbai* 2. M/s. Dalal Engg. Pvt. Ltd. , Mumbai 3. M/s. Devrekha Engineers, Surat 4. M/s. Harish Textile Engineers Ltd. , Mumbai 5. M/s. Mather & Platt (I) Ltd. , Mumbai* 6. M/s. Primatex Machinery Ltd. , Mumbai* 7. M/s. SLM Maneklal Ind. Ltd. , Mumbai* 8. M/s.SM Energy & Electronics, Mumbai 9. M/s. Standard Fabricators (I) Pvt. Ltd. , Mumbai 10. M/s. Stovec Industries Ltd. , Ahmedabad 11. M/s. Texprint Engineers Pvt. Ltd. , Ahmedabad * Presently not in operation In the latter half of 90s again saw acute demand recession from the Textile Industry which continued upto 2002. During this period the Textile Engineering Industry started looking beyond the domestic demand. Export which was never more than Rs. 100 crore until 1988-89 started increasing and reached the level of Rs. 406 crore during 2002-03. There were exports of spinning as well as processing machinery.Some of the manufacturers could compete with the European manufacturers in processing machinery abroad with their high qual ity machines. Improved Demand The demand for textile machinery started picking up slowly after 2002 as the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme became popular by then. The Textile Industry was also expecting a better market after the st liberalized Quota Free Regime under WTO from 1 January, 2005. Major demand for machinery started after 2004 which has prompted the Textile Engineering Industry to increase its production from the level of Rs. ,341 crore during 2003-04 to Rs. 2,780 crore during 2006-07. However, this happened mainly in spinning machinery and weaving preparatory machinery and to some extent in weaving and processing machinery. The weaving and processing machinery sectors though increased their capacity to a considerable extent, has a long way to go. The processing sector started competing with foreign manufacturers since 1991 though sporadically. They have improved their technology and their machines are now capable of producing fault free processed fabrics in short as w ell as continuous lots.The domestic demand for such machinery has also increased. M/s. Dhall Enterprises & Engineers Pvt. Ltd. , Ahmedabad, M/s. Harish Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. , Mumbai, M/s. Tex-Fab Engineers (India) Pvt. Ltd. , Navi Mumbai produced continuous dyeing plants with latest technology for long length of fabric processing which are running successfully in the mills. The following manufacturers have exported their processing machines and earned a good name: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. M/s. Dalal Engineering Pvt. Ltd. , Mumbai M/s. Devrekha Exports (Bhagyarekha Engineers Pvt. Ltd. ), Surat M/s.Dhall Enterprises & Engineers Pvt. Ltd. , Ahmedabad M/s. Harish Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. , Mumbai M/s. Kusters Calico Machinery (P) Ltd. , Vadodara M/s. Lakshmi Card Clothing Mfg. Co. Pvt. Ltd. , Coimbatore M/s. Yamuna Machine Works Pvt. Ltd. , Mumbai These manufacturers are in a position to make many high quality processing machines and compete with foreign manufacturers. Knitting/Hosiery Machine ry Knitting/Hosiery Industry as well as Garment Industry was reserved for the small scale sector. Both these sectors thrived initially with imported second hand machinery.Both Woven Garment and Hosiery Garment put together the total export of the country was only Rs. 5 crore during 1970-71. The exports increased to Rs. 500 crore in 1980 and today it is above Rs. 17,000 crore, thanks to the removal of quota shackles under WTO, implemented by the Government couple of years back. Decentralised character of the Garment industry did not enthuse the TEI to take up the manufacture of knitting machinery. As such this sector remained neglected altogether. Some efforts were made to manufacture knitting machinery by two Companies viz. M/s.Lakshmi Automatic Loom Works Ltd. , Coimbatore and M/s. Himson Textile Engineering Industries Pvt. Ltd. , Surat in late 80s. However, after liberalization of the Industrial Policy in 1991, imported machines became cheaper technology wise than the Indian machi nes due to which obviously there was no demand. Therefore, manufacture of knitting machinery had to be discontinued. Testing & Monitoring Equipments Sector As regards the Testing & Monitoring equipments are concerned, the textile industry was dependent on imported testing and monitoring equipments in 60s and early 70s.The Textile Engineering Industry started developing such testing & monitoring equipments in the late 70s and today all kinds of high quality latest generation testing and monitoring equipments are being manufactured in the country. Some of the items are: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Air Jet Weaving Machine Controller Centralised Computerised Operation of Group of dyeing Machines with Dyeing Data Management Software Package Fully Automatic High Volume Fibre Tester for Length, Strength, Micronaire, Colour, Trash and Maturity module Multi-Channel Pre-Set Yarn Length Indicator & Controller for Winding/Texturising/TFO Machines with Software PackageYarn Evenness T ester Some names of the Companies manufacturing different categories of such instruments are under:†¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Paramount Instruments Pvt. Ltd. Pioneer Instruments & Innovations Premier Evolvics Pvt. Ltd. Semitronik Instruments Tex Lab Industries Thymas Electronic Pvt. Ltd. Growth of the Parts & Accessories Sector The growth of the textile industry along the length and breadth of the country initiated the manufacture of parts and accessories for their machinery. Today, barring a few critical items of equipments and accessories lmost all kinds of parts and accessories of high quality are manufactured in the country. The number of such manufacturers could be around 800. Some of the important items manufactured here are: Blow Room beaters, card clothing, cross-roll attachment for cards, top rollers for high speed draw frame, flyers for speed frames, rings, spindles, inserts, cots and aprons and variable drives for ring frame, production of monitoring data in spinning and weaving online quality checking systems, cloth guides, web straighteners in processing, etc. etc.The TEI not only fulfills the demand for spares from the domestic textile industry but also exports its products to Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Far East, Europe, America and other countries as well. The following table shows data on production of Textile Machinery Parts & Accessories during the last 15 years: Year 1985-86 1990-91 1999-2000 2004-05 2006-07 Rs. in Crores 83. 43 208. 59 288. 79 276. 44 339. 68 Synthetic Yarn and Fabric Processing Machinery Sector Synthetic weaving sector of the textile industry which was scattered in different parts of the country in early 70s became localized in Surat, Bhiwandi, Belgaum.During 80s and 90s the synthetic sector was dominantly established in and around Surat, Gujarat. This simultaneously necessitated the development of synthetic yarn and fabric processing machinery. As a result the Textile Engineering Industry located in and around Surat and Mumbai developed draw texturising machines, draw twisters, two-for-one twisters for filament yarn, zero-twist filament sizing machines, rewinders, precision cone winding machines, etc. etc. More successful manufacturers are M/s. Himson Textile Engineering Industries Pvt. Ltd. , M/s. Aalidhra Textile Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Meera Industries, etc. The synthetic mechanical processing machinery was being imported during 70s and 80s. However, with the development of such machinery indigenously, we are not only catering to the domestic demand but also exporting the same. More and more developments are taking place due to the demand for such machinery. Conclusion Thus the Textile Engineering Industry could develop all types of textile machinery except garment machinery, high speed sophisticated knitting machinery, high speed shuttleless loom (rapier and air jet) and some of the latest generation processing and finishing machinery.The reasons for not developing these mac hinery have been categorically explained in the foregoing paras. What the TEI expects and aspires Under the above background it is felt that there is a real need to develop and manufacture all kinds of textile machinery in the country as per the existing and expected demand. Government should encourage these efforts and should come forward to help this Rs. 3,000- 4,000-crore capacity industry in a comprehensive and systematic manner with short and long term policy measures. It should take note of the developments of textile machinery made by China during the last 10 years.What China did? 1. Forced the foreign manufacturers to start manufacturing their brands in China by not allowing the import of machines from abroad. 2. Financed the domestic manufacturers for setting up the complete plants with large capacities. 3. No second hand machinery import 4. Incentives given for replacement of old machinery with new machinery. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that China had 6 lakhs ordinar y powerlooms/automatic looms prior to 2002. Today, they have shuttleless looms (2, 50, 000 to 3,00,000 approx. ). There may be few ordinary powerlooms in villages and automatic shuttle looms in some corners.No estimate of such looms is available. They have installed large machinery manufacturing capacities and are also exporting all kinds of textile machinery at a cheaper price. Therefore, the following measures are needed to improve the present condition of the Indian TEI A) Policy Measures †¢ †¢ Scheme for Modernisation, technology upgradation and productivity advancement of the Textile Engineering Industry (TEI). The interest remission under the scheme should be 5% with one time 10% Capital Subsidy over & above interest remission (Similar Schemes are available for the Textile Industry).Scheme to support Research & Development. o o †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Suitable capital grants and annual recurring grants for the existing R Centre at IIT, Powai, Mumbai. Suitable capital grants for the R Institutions located at Surat, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Delhi, Panipat and Ludhiana willing to take up R for textile machinery. Capital grant for indigenous development of machinery to the new projects as well as existing projects which got delayed due to lack of funds. Tax break/holiday for the manufacture of High Speed Shuttlelesss Looms/High-tech processing and finishing machinery for a period of five years.To allow import of complete sophisticated machinery in CKD/ SKD condition at concessional rate of import duty for a minimum period of three years without any restrictions for manufacturing textile machinery under collaboration/joint venture/import of designs and drawings or by way of reengineering. Ban import of machinery where similar technology machines are available indigenously e. g. shuttleless rapier loom â€Å"crank beat-up type†, water jet Looms (800 rpm) etc. Import of textile machinery in second hand condition sh ould not be allowed under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme/20% CLCS Scheme.Ban on import of second hand shuttleless looms with weft insertion rate less than 800 mtrs. per minute. Revival of TIFAC scheme for development of textile machinery with 90% loan component and softer rate of interest of 3%. B) Fiscal Measures †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Reduction of excise duty from 14% to 8% Excise duty on parts, components and accessories of the machines be reduced to 8%. Maintaining the floor level customs duty on textile machinery at 7. 5% without any exemptions Uniform rate of customs duty for complete machinery and raw materials, parts, components & accessoriesUniform treatment to the domestic suppliers of machinery to EPCG license holders. 150% weighted Income Tax deduction for R expenditure made by the Textile Engineering units. If the above measures are taken seriously, the TEI aspires to make available modern machinery and equipment both in quantum and qual ity to meet the future needs of the textile industry at short delivery periods coupled with effective and prompt after-sales-service. About the Author: The author is the Secretary of The Textile Machinery Manufactures Association.

Heroism and cowardice in the Odyssey Essay

The most respected and venerated social group in Homeric times was that of the heroic warriors and kings. These were the people who lead their armies into battle and won accolades for their valor or courage displayed on the battlefield. The cowardly on the other hand, were subjected to strong prejudice. Their existence was considered a burden on the earth and they were ignored and ridiculed by everyone. This is evident in the Odyssey when Homer describes the incident of Elpenor’s death. â€Å"There was one called Elpenor, the youngest of the party, not much a fighting man and not very clever. This young man had got drunk and gone to sleep on the roof of Circe’s palace. Roused in the morning by the bustle and din of departure, he leapt up suddenly, and forgetting to go down the ladder and take the proper way down, he toppled headlong down the roof. † As is clear from this description, Elpenor’s death was never much of an issue for Odysseus or his crew, who laughed it off and ignorantly left his body unburied in their haste to go to Hades, because stupid and cowardly Elpenor was not worth mourning for. However the unparalleled sorrow expressed at the deaths of Agamemnon and Achilleus was justified because they were great heroes who deserved to be lamented. Elpenor’s body was only buried when he himself reminded Odysseus to bury him lest he (Odysseus) incurred the wrath of the Gods, at leaving a human corpse unburied. The suitors on the other hand were considered fine men in their own right-handsome and brave. It was only their wanton misuse of Odysseus’s property in his absence and their disrespectful attitude towards Penelope that turned many of the Gods against them. The suitor’s willful insolence directed at the property and wife of an absent man was seen as an act of cowardice and thus excited the wrath of the Gods. The suitors in truth were no more than mere cowards as was evident when they tried to make truce with Odysseus in the following lines-â€Å"So spare us, who are your own people. And afterwards we will make amends to you by public levy for all the food and drink that has been consumed in your house. † Thus they truly deserved their end and there were to be no tears shed in their memory because their cowardly acts had subjected them to an ill-fated end. Homer thus defines a hero not only to be handsome and brave but also god fearing, hospitable and one who never takes unfair advantage of others, especially in their absence. This is also evident in the Iliad when Paris’s abduction of Helen in Menelaus’s absence seals both his fate and that of his homeland- Troy. Odysseus is the only character in the Odyssey who thus comes closest to the ideal of the ‘hero’. He is strong, handsome, brave, and also intelligent and witty. In Homer’s world, no hero is complete without being endowed with the gift of intelligence and astuteness. Odysseus displays his acumen on many occasions-the encounter with Polyphemus the Cyclops and Circe, just to name a few. Odysseus also seems to be the master of deceit as is evident from the countless tales of trickery he tells people in order to avoid detection. In Homer’s eyes, this treachery on the part of Odysseus is justified as he is only trying to protect his own interests without harming anybody else’s. However despite these heroic qualities, Odysseus fails to live up to the ideal of the true hero. In the final conflict with the suitors, Odysseus thinks nothing of shooting a whole quiver full of arrows at unarmed men but his knees go weak the minute he sees the defenseless acquire some form of defense. This is evident from the following lines: â€Å"when Odysseus saw them putting on armour and brandishing great spears in their hands, his knees quaked and his heart failed him. † Odysseus also disguises himself as a beggar instead of appearing in his original form before the suitors because he is scared of their numbers. But despite his infrequent acts of cowardice the Gods still support him and help him in his endeavor to rid his house of the suitors. This is because the very idea of his returning home after twenty years to restore his house and rescue his wife is very heroic and thus the means by which he achieves this end can be ignored. One cannot also help but think that it is more of the Goddess Athene’s help than Odysseus’s courage and bravado, which ultimately wins the day for him. This is evident from the following lines: â€Å"the six did as he ordered and threw with all their might. But Athene made the whole volley miss. † Athene herself made the suitors’ aims miss, but rather partially helped Odysseus’s lances meet their targets. Hence the impartial help of the Gods was the main reason behind Odysseus’s success. But this supernatural aid can be seen as a reward for past bravery and suffering on the part of Odysseus and as a punishment for cowardly insolence on part of the suitors. Hence the theme of cowardice and bravery plays a big part in the Odyssey. The book does take a certain amount of interest in the fate of the cowardly, but its primary focus rests with the heroic. Even the Gods favor the brave over the cowardly. The Gods take a supreme interest in the death of the heroic be it through noble (e. g. Achilleus fighting on the battle field) or poor means (e. g. Agamemnon killed by his wife and her lover) but as long as the cowardly are given a decent burial, the Gods don’t care about them and their name is never mentioned in their premises. (E. g. Elpenor’s death) People who have behaved in a way not suiting their status are also condemned to a coward’s death (e. g. : the suitors) and the Gods do not lament their end.