Rubber Industry In Srilanka Economics Essay

Rubber Industry In Srilanka Economics Essay There are no export restrictions and no licensing requirements for rubber dealers and exporters; however, the Government imposes duty on the import of synthetic rubber and related input materials. At present synthetic rubber imports are subjected to a CESS37 of SL Rs 15 per kg, which has led to higher prices for final products. The Government also charges SL Rs 4 per kg as CESS on procurement of natural rubber (EDB 2007), and this has significantly impacted the cost of rubber products. The rubber products manufacturing sector could be further encouraged, if the CESS on domestically consumed natural rubber is reduced while the CESS on raw rubber exports is increased, thus favoring domestic rubber demand without affecting the Government revenue. The changes in CESS policy should aim at natural rubber to become more competitive locally and to increase export of higher value added rubber products. Although the total CESS collection is said to be available for the development of the rubb er industry and the long-term production of raw rubber, both the rubber cultivation and rubber manufacturing sectors complain that the CESS is not utilized for that purpose. However, at present the Government uses the CESS to finance replanting of rubber trees and provide certain social benefits to smallholders. The Government also plays a pivotal role in rubber research and development, and by extension, rubber cultivation. However, the industry lacks expertise on product and compound developments, introducing only limited innovations. There is currently no centralized rubber- and/or polymer-based product testing facilities, especially the ones focused on quality improvements in Sri Lanka. Although polymer-based and compound material testing facilities exist at several research and academic institutions, cost testing procedures in these institutions do not have official accreditation and their certification is not internationally recognized to testify the quality of Sri Lankan rubber products an important requirement in the export market. Finally, all rubber product manufacturers must obtain Environmental Protection License (EPL) from the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), affirming their continuous compliance with minimizing noise and dust levels to protect the environment. Conclusion: Government has no any restriction on Export and licensing. Government imposes duties on import because of that its leb to higher prices for final product. Government also apply CESS on procurement so, its directly impact on its price. If CESS reduced in domestically and increased in exports than favouring domestic rubber demand without affecting the government revenue. Government are not provide polymer based product testing facilities, especially the ones focus on quality improvement in srilanka. 7. Economic Factor Effect on Rubber industry in Srilanka: In general, the economy of Sri Lanka has not been adversely affected by the currency crisis that occurred in the South East Asia (SEA) starting on the 2n d July 1997; compared to other SEA countries due to following factors: a. Majority of foreign investments in Sri Lanka were not confined to SEA countries only like Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia. b. Sri Lankan rupee was allowed to devalue gradually over time as a floating currency. Among the SEA countries, Malaysia had been the largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the past decade followed by Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea and Philippines. In comparison to US $ Mn 32348 and 18198 received by Malaysia and Indonesia respectively the investment in Sri Lanka in terms of FDI is not significant at all. Total FDI attracted by Sri Lanka between 1985 and 1996 amounts to just over US$ Mn. 800 only. A further amount of US$ Mn 85 has been invested in Sri Lanka during the I* half of 1998. Hence, the distribution of FDI between these Asian countries clearly explains the reason as to why Sri Lanka did not experience a noticeable impact of the Asian financial crisis. Other issue that needs to be investigated is that the nature of International borrowing and capital account convertibility adopted in Sri Lanka. Owing to the borrowing restrictions enforced by the Sri Lankan monitoring authorities, opportunities given to the private sector for borrowing mon ey from the lending organizations in International financial market is limited. Further, the capital convertibility becomes important only if Sri Lanka has substantial foreign investments. One of the reasons for less foreign investments in Sri Lanka during the past decades is the war that is going on from 1983 and if not for that definitely there would have been very much more foreign investments in the country by now and the situation in the country as a result of SEA financial crisis would have been much worse. Out of the 19.7 billion US$ invested in Malaysia investments from Japan alone is 8.2. bn US$. In Indonesia out of 48.3 on US$ total investment, 22.0 bn US$ is from Japan. In Thailand, out of 61.7 bn US$ investment, 37.9 bn US$ is from Japan. But in Sri Lanka, out of the total investment though South Korean component is about 20%, the balance 80% is evenly distributed among all countries in the world. However, due to the possible drop in both export revenue and FDI, the possibility of Sri Lankan economy getting affected in the future remains fairly strong. As a result of the currency devaluation in major rubber producing countries in the world viz. Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, the effective farm-gate price paid to their rubber farmers rose rapidly and hence they produced more rubber since July 97 than the anticipated target figures for 1997. Releasing of buffer stocks kept in Thailand during this period to ease their economic problems worsened the situation for rubber and as a result the rubber production recorded a surplus of over 10% by the end of 1997. Hence, the global rubber price dropped rapidly until May 1998, recording a figure of Rs. 45.00 per Kg. for average grades of RSS from the figures above Rs. 65.00 recorded before July 1997. Similarly in the case of other industries like the garment industry and commodity export industries, the revenue fell far bellow the expected targets. Due to the financial hardships faced by South Korea, Malaysia, and Honkong, a fall in foreign investment in Sri Lanka too, is excepted. Eventhough the total rubber production in the country dropped from 112 000 MT to 106 000 MT in 1997, the amount of latex crepe produced out of the total production remained even slightly above the production in 1996. This was mainly due to the attractive premium price paid for this top quality commodity in the world market which has already reached Nitch status. In order to maintain this position for this commodity in the world market, RRI owned Dartonfield Estate gained ISO 9002 in the middle of 1998 while few other crepe factories in the country are already very close to gain this important standards registration. However, Sri Lankan authorities have taken all necessary precautions to prevent an over supply situation of latex crepe rubber in the International Market. The environment safe water soluble bleaching agent introduced to the crepe industry by RRI Sri Lanka is now exported to both India and Indonesia by Chemanex Ltd. In order to help the small holders who were badly effected by the 25-40% price decline in sheet rubber and the farmgate price paid to them for their latex by the centrifuged latex manufacturers, a cess of Rs.5.41 levied on raw rubber exports was abolished by the Government of Sri Lanka from May 1998. This along with the gradually declining rupee value against the US Dollar helped the small holder to withstand the sharply declining rubber prices at least to some extent. Central Bank of Sri Lanka is maintaining a 10% depreciation of the rupee in 1998 compared to the 7.4% depreciation maintained through out 1977. Conclusion: Majority of foreign investments in Sri Lanka were not confined to SEA countries only like Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia. Sri Lankan rupee was allowed to devalue gradually over time as a floating currency. 9. Technology Factor Effect on Rubber Industry in Srilanka: Natural rubber plays a key role in the economies of many of the nations that have the climate and resources for growing and processing this valuable commodity. Among these countries is Sri Lanka, where rubber exports are one of the highest foreign exchange earners. The rubber therefore is an important agriculture crop to Sri Lanka, having around 151, 000 Ha of rubber plantation in it. Sri Lanka is the worlds leading supplier of solid rubber tires. But Sri Lankas rubber production has shown a declining trend since 1996 though Sri Lanka is bestowed with rich resources of natural rubber and other process materials as well as the availability in comparatively cheap labour. So it is obvious that there is a burning problem in the raw rubber industry and Researcher therefore made a hypothesis that there can be a major component missing in the whole supply chain of this industry and that would have been the technology component, which is more advanced in other countries. Researcher therefore made an effort to do a detailed study to check whether Sri Lanka is technologically lagging with compared to the Natural rubber processing state of art country by assessing the Technology status of Sri Lankan raw rubber industry. Having assessing the technology status, research was targeted to check the significance of technology status to the industry productivity, i.e. annual yield per hectare. For that researcher has integrated the APCTT model, 1988- increasing degrees of sophistication of Technology components, and the framework for technology based development, technology content assessment developed by Asian and Pacific Center for Transfer of Technology (APCTT)- UNESCAP( 1988) to assess the technology status of this industry. According to the model analysis, it can be concluded that technologically Sri Lankan raw rubber industry is lagging behinbestd to the technology status of global industry leaders like Malaysia, Thailand and India and that has resulted in a lower productivity of this industry. According to the statistical analysis, especially lower status of technology factors like Info ware, Orga ware and Human ware as well as non-technology factors like lower number of trappable trees per hectare have affected the Sri Lankan raw rubber industry productivity i.e. actual annual yield per hectare though there are hardly any relationship with the industry productivity and the status of techno ware component. Factors affected to lower the status of each technology component was evaluated with the qualitative techniques like, SWOT analysis, value chain analysis and the cause an effect diagrams and found out that lower consideration on workforce and their education background as well as training and retraining facilities, bad management practices due to the poor Managerial competence, rigid organizational structure has become major drawbacks of this industry. Conclusion: Since 1996 rubber industry is declining and rich resources of natural rubber and other processing material became more costly than labor cost. By the doing research on technology status India Malesiya, Thailand are playing a best role in producing rubber but Srilanka is also producing best quality of solid rubber tire which is having a good demand in the market . In Srilanka the technology used by most of raw rubber manufacturers is very old and this results in low productivity. 10. Environmental Factor Effect on Rubber Industry in Srilanka: Rubber Industry is a major industry in Sri Lanka, which has a significant contribution to national economy. Also, Rubber Industry generates many employment opportunities to rural population having lower level of education. The technology used by most of raw rubber manufacturers is very old and this results in low productivity and high environmental damage which people to do not tolerate any longer. A closer look reveals that rubber industry consumes large volumes of water, uses tons of chemicals and other utilities and discharges massive amounts of wastes and effluents. The few cleaner production assessments and implementation programs carried out in Sri Lanka has shown tremendous benefits. Some of them are lesser usage of chemicals, energy and utilities including water, improvement in productivity and profitability, lesser loads and volumes of effluent discharged to the neighborhood, better image and relationship with employees internally and with the neighborhoods externally. These benefits should encourage many rubber industrialists to follow a cleaner production program in their own places. Many have realized cleaner production is the only way to survive in todayà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s competitive market where cost of production is on the increase and prices are decreasing. Conclusion: In Sri Lanka, raw rubber manufacturers are mostly use very old technology and because of that low productivity and high environment damage are increased which harm a lot to the people as well as environment and creates more pollutions. http://www.sjp.ac.lk/ http://environmentlanka.com/blog/2006/environmetal-impacts-of-rubber-industry-in-sri-lanka/Bottom of Form

My Philosophy Essay -- Teaching Education Essays

My Philosophy A teacher plays a very important role in a child’s life, and that is the main reason I want to be a teacher. I want to be able to inspire, empower and help children to discover their unique learning ability, special interests and qualities. As a teacher I will be able to give students the gift of an education, which will help them advance as adults. I feel that there are many ways to go about teaching and managing a positive learning environment. I want to have a classroom in which students feel personally altered by their experience in my classroom. Progressivism is one major philosophical approach that I plan to use in my classroom, along with an assertive discipline approach. In my classroom I want students to accomplish new material, learn to overcome the subjects they struggle with and develop confidence in what they do. I hope to help students acquire more of themselves in their education and strengthen their qualities. I not only want them to succeed in subjects but also grow as individuals. I plan to use the progressivism approach in my classroom because I believe that hands on education in a very effective way of learning. It helps students to get a first hand experience to see and feel what it is they are learning. I also think that working with groups in their classroom is very beneficial to students. By interacting with their peers they will learn how to share their ideas, accept others points of view and learn how to develop relationships , which is a very important part of life that will help them to succeed in their careers. I hope that my students leave my class with lots of new information , positive attitudes about learning, co nfidence and an open mind. ... ...gh teaching and getting a better perceptive on children will make my life a fulfilled one because I will have been blessed by God in being part of a child’s life in a positive way. I want to continue to learn how to be an effective teacher and become an encouraging figure for a child’s life. Teaching is more than instructing or giving information to students. It is about empowering students, inspiring them to grow intellectually, giving them courage to be creative, expanding their curiosity and providing opportunities. As a teacher I will always be learning just as my students. I will listen to them and grow from experiences with them. Learning in a multifaceted process that is different with every individual. As a teacher I want to be able to attend to all my students ways of learning, therefore I will continue myself to learn and understand students.

Examining Race-Related Aspects of James Cameron’s Avatar

Examining The Race-Related Aspects Of Avatar While evident that many who saw the film Avatar were more than satisfied with it visually, I found it interesting that I heard little about the plot or characters. After all, as a writer, these elements, to me, are what make or break the outcome. After going to see the critically acclaimed film, I was left with a blatant feeling of injustice regarding the film’s race issues. The problem I had with the film is the concept of a white male entering into a world of ethnic people (in this case, aliens), with the sole intent of using them for his own personal gain.Not only has this all too familiar story been used again and again, but also, the outcome is always the same. While I do not believe that the film endorses racism, I do believe that certain racial ideologies play a major role in the film. Whilst some may argue against that point, by simply breaking down the story, it is simple to make the connections. Regardless of if it was int entional or not, there are some obvious racial undertones in Avatar, and they should not be ignored no matter how impressive the graphics are.In the specific clip I have chosen to analyze, Jake, the human who joins the Na’vi to fight against his own kind, has returned to Pandora after being labeled a traitor and losing the trust of the Na’vi. To gain it back, he immediately tames a Toruk, a red dragon who the natives are very fearful of. The dragon had never been tamed by anyone from the Na’vi clan. The ability and heroism just spewing from Jake makes it seem as though he is the only one with the answers that the Na’vi need to save Pandora. The scene transitions to the clan praying to the Hometree, despite their knowledge of the tree having never â€Å"taken sides†.In the midst of all of this, Jake comes flying down on the red dragon, the sun beaming behind him, illuminating his path. Then comes the very demeaning imagery of Jake dismounting the dr agon in front of the Na’vi, while they practically bow to and worship him as if to say, â€Å"You are superior to us, after all! † Jake certainly assumes as much, because he soon starts yelling about how this is â€Å"our† land, and they need to do what he says to save it. While watching the film, I first began drawing a lot of parallels to class discussions of how Columbus and the Spaniards conquered America. In Avatar, human corporation is mining a valuable mineral on Pandora, an Earth-like moon that is inhabited by the Na’vi, an â€Å"alien† race. In the late 1400’s, despite also having discovered an entire race of people, the Spanish found gold in America and began mining.Once it became difficult for them, they enforced slavery upon the natives of the land, and mercilessly killed them upon resistance. In the article Sex And Conquest: Domination And Desire On Ethnosexual Frontiers, Joane Nagel reminds us of the â€Å"relative powerlessne ss of many native women, and reports that sexual exchanges were often coerced, involving rape, forced prostitution, and slavery. In Avatar, the human scientists uncover that underneath Hometree, the Na’vi clan’s dwelling, lies the richest deposits of the mineral that they value, and by the end of the film, are ready to destroy it and its’ inhabitants. This, to me, is an example of racism in how the humans were willing to treat the Na’vi (kill them) in order to acquire more â€Å"gold†. While elements are different, Columbus’ conquest of America strays not so far from the plot that drives Avatar: a â€Å"civilized† race relentlessly compromises what they deem to be an â€Å"uncivilized† race.It can even relate to how American factories are built in foreign countries to avoid specific labor laws. As Americans, how can we justify that the people working in foreign countries assembling our iPhones are equal to us? If so, wouldnâ₠¬â„¢t we demand that they deserve equal pay? The ideology of the self-righteous, superior race and their ultimate disregard for all others is, sadly, an overused theme present in this film and our audiences should be seeing less of it.Despite all â€Å"humans† being expelled from Pandora in the end, a white male, in this case, Jake, Avatar’s protagonist, gets to be the boss in the end. In exchange, he gives up his body, his culture, and every â€Å"human† aspect about him. The one thing he fails to let go of is his superiority. With the film ending like this, and not allowing one of the original Na’vi to ultimately prevail, a subconscious message is being delivered. Just like in Dances With Wolves, a white male goes native and soon ends up as the great leader.In just three months of immersion in their culture, Jake learns enough about the Na'vi (their folkways, their animal-taming skills, and even the secret to their ultimate test of warrior prowess, some thing no other Na'vi has mastered in five generations) to become their leader in their struggle against genocide by his own former allies. Hometree even answers a prayer of Jake’s, and she had never answered prayers of the natives, her own people, even once before then. An interesting contrast is set up to disguise the fact that Jake’s character is representative of racism.On one side, there are the power-hungry, militaristic humans who show no moral restraint against the Na’vi. Their opposition is Jake and the rest of the humans who want peace with the natives. While the first group is presented as obviously racist, most would draw the conclusion that the second group, the protagonists, must not be. While the characters themselves are not racist, the age-old â€Å"white Messiah† fable is. This story has played out in American race politics several times. Progressive, liberal white males were responsible for Indian â€Å"removal† and â€Å"schooli ng† replacing Indian genocide, and segregation replacing slavery.Each time, it seems that supporters of progressive policies just have to say, â€Å"Look, I’m progressive. I’m not like those old-fashioned racists,† and then they simply cannot be deemed as racist. This is the trend in our society that the outcome of Avatar is glorifying. Forms of racial supremacy have been changed over time, but have never been ended altogether. To be fair to the â€Å"humans† of Avatar, the Na'vi and their entire planet ended up regarding the humans as a disease with which there can be no peaceful existence.Their solution is, simply, the expulsion of humanity from the planet, or in Jake's case, culture transfusion. Forced assimilation with the native culture in Avatar is almost too familiar to how their still exists an ideology in America that â€Å"foreign† residents must assimilate to the â€Å"white† culture. Forgotten is that every white citizen of America is descendant of some foreign culture. America should be a melting pot for all cultures, and if James Cameron, the director, producer and writer of Avatar, had truly agreed, perhaps the outcome of the film would be different.So did James Cameron write and direct this because he is a racist white male? No. But does James Cameron even acknowledge that his film carries racist undertones? No. The casting for the film had his seal of approval, so why were actors of color used to portray the Na’vi people? The Na'vi may be tall, blue aliens, but they seem to resemble the noble savages in older Hollywood movies: they're played by actors of color, they live a primitive lifestyle in harmony with nature, they sport tattoos and dreadlocks and exotic jewelry, and they have courage and athleticism but not necessarily rationality or ambition.Most importantly, why does white Australian Sam Worthington star as the cultural infiltrator? Cameron has more than once stated that Avatar is meant to encourage people to respect each other’s cultures and differences, and while that may be the overt meaning, he fails to touch on the issue of racial superiority. Again, Cameron did not sit down and consciously make a decision to write a racist film. However, he did indirectly use the film to express his white liberal understanding of anti-racism. Really, his views are just a kindler, gentler, more patronizing racism.If not, perhaps the Na’vi would have saved Jake instead of being incapable of saving themselves. Avatar doesn’t ask the moral question of â€Å"Should the natives be conquered? † It asks, â€Å"How should the natives be conquered? † Had the film been written and directed by a person of color instead, there may have been an opportunity to avoid this. Columbia College professor Kristin Pichaske’s excerpt, Historical And Political Framework: Race, Colonialism And African Cinema discusses how most filmmakers are Western whi te males who control the portrayal of Africans, or minorities, in cinema.In addition to holding the purse strings, Western interests controlled the production infrastructure. As recently as 1993, Diawara would write that Africa lacks film-processing laboratories, sound-dubbing and synchronizing studios, and editing facilities, a fact which significantly limits an African director’s ability to complete a film on his own terms, in his own country and within a reasonable span of time (1993: vii).While this is not universally true at this point (the facilities he describes now being available in South Africa and also rendered somewhat obsolete by the development of high-definition video), it is certainly true that most of Africa suffers from a dearth of film infrastructure and that this creates yet another form of dependence on the West. Having to rely on the West for the skills that they cannot afford, the absence of African directors involved in the depiction of their culture i s blatantly apparent.Perhaps James Cameron was not the right person to direct Avatar, as he cannot truly understand the racial ideology that his film is perpetuating. However, if an African director were given the opportunity, a white Western moneylender who demands that he cater the story to white audiences will undoubtedly be funding him. Present day racist ideologies are best understood when comparing them to Magic Eye images: bizarre images concealing a seemingly hidden, 3-D picture.While some people see the 3-D image right away, others have to look for a while before they can find it. Some people never do find it. However, once you know that the 3-D image is there, you end up wondering how you didn’t see it in the first place. The racism depicted in this film is a lot like a Magic Eye image. It is a fantasy story about race told from a white man’s perspective, for white people. I believe this to be true after simply looking at the history of Cameron’s films : Titanic, Aliens, and The Terminator all contained predominantly white casts.Had he intended his films to be seen by a racially diverse audience, I’m sure he would have had enough common sense to diversify his cast of characters. Avatar is also at the end of a very long history of similar films. Avatar’s storyline has been compared to that of Dances With Wolves and Pocahontas. In all three films, white male characters realize they are unhappy with the treatment of the â€Å"others,† but go beyond assimilating and skip to leading the people who they so recently oppressed.Since there have been so many films spanning all genres telling the same story, when will the white directors begin to use the issue of race in a different light? African-American scholar Donald Bogle, who literally wrote the book on how black people have been portrayed throughout Hollywood history (Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies ;amp; Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films) says that while not overtly racist, it is â€Å"a movie that hasn't yet freed itself of old Hollywood traditions, old formulas. If I were to have written a film like Avatar, I would have made the Na’vi completely capable of saving themselves by reversing the power roles of Jake with the clan. It would mean straying from an age-old format, but also, challenging the racial insecurities of the white audience that the film was intended for. Would the film be as popular if the natives of Pandora did not possess traditional, savage-like qualities? The juxtaposition of the film Avatar with historical events such as Columbus onquering America, and also, overused tales of the white protagonist bringing a race of â€Å"savages† to victory predates most steps towards civil rights equality. Filmmakers of minority races are far and few between, and are often funded by white Westerners when directing. With every film in Hollywood being produced by the â€Å"white man†, will our society ever see things from the point of view of a minority race? If no, then Hollywood’s inability to realize that the decision to continue producing the same point of view is interfering with our society’s ability to think outside of racial boundaries. | | | | | |

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