Market analysis of instant fast food industry

Market analysis of instant fast food industry The concept of non-consumer is vanishing at a faster rate and is becoming almost non existent in the current era of consumerism. Marketers are finding new ways and techniques to rope in new set of consumers previously not looked upon seriously. The trend followed till now was that the housewives bought individual food ingredients ranging from spices, vegetables, butter/ghee, etc. and mixed it in appropriate proportions to prepare a meal. The taste of meal was primarily governed by factors such as expertise of the cook, quality of the ingredients used, cooking time followed, etc. But still one cannot be sure of how will the meal taste. This was more difficult for bachelors, working men living away from family and working women. Marketers were successful to find this gap in highly cluttered food industry. The answer was Ready-to-eat. Ready-to-eat is defined as the status of the food being ready for immediate consumption at the point of sale. It could be raw or cooked, hot or chilled, and can be consumed without further heat-treatment including re-heating.[1] [1] Centre for food safety, Government of Hong Kong These are processed foods and no further processing is required. They are safe to eat and requires few minutes to cook if it requires cooking. The basic principle behind RTE foods is Convenience for normal consumers and Diet nutrition in case of health conscious consumers. The health category of RTE foods is RTE cereals which are rich in vitamins, fibers and have less sugar content. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS United States is one of the major countries of Ready-to-eat foods producers and consumers. All major RTE foods producers with an exception of nestle belong to US. Because of such a big market, advertisers gets quickly attracted. The television advertising budget average for the food industry is 2-4 percent of sales , but the RTE foods segment attract about 13 percent of the sales as advertising budget. India is also emerging market for these products. RTE foods in the normal practice are consumed in a short span of time. The advancement of packaging technology and introduction of retorting technology in India has made these items commercially viable and long lasting i.e. high shelf life. RTE market witnessed a growth of 7% between the year 2000 and 2005. In 2009, Indian RTE foods market was estimated to be around $33.5m, registering a CAGR of approximately 15% over the last five years. RTE segment is expected to grow to a Rs. 2900 cr (US$ 604.20 mn) industry by 2015. (Source: Tata Strategic Management Group) RETORTING PROCESS The operating principle of retorting process is heating foods prone to microbial spoilage in hermetically sealed containers to extend the shelf life. Three factors responsible are : These factors must be taken into consideration while designing a retorting process. Safety is the foremost concern. The retorting process involves inactivation of microorganism that can result in spoilage and in turn affect public health. For this, the F value is the measure followed. F value is the number of minutes to destroy the organism at 250 degree Fahrenheit. Under the food safety standard, different F value has been specified for each microorganism. Over heating also affects the finished product quality. So the product and process has to be designed carefully. Quality of Retort process is determined by two factors: From microorganism side, how much heat is required to inactivate the organism. From processing side, how much heat is reaching the product. The selection of specific retort style is largely affected by following factors : Container shape and size : easier in case of cylindrical shaped Product type : formulation , ingredients , etc. Throughput required Energy Efficiency VARIOUS RTE BRANDS IN INDIA Some other players are : Gits MTR Priya foods Rajbhog Foods Inc. Rainbow Foods India Satnam Overseas Ltd. Tasty Bite, etc. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN READY-TO-EAT (RTE) AND READY-TO-COOK (RTC) Most consumers often lacks clarity to differentiate between RTE and RTC, and often refer both as RTE. But they are different. RTC products are different type of pastes and consumer adds vegetables or meat to prepare a meal/dish. On the other hand, RTE products are complete products which seldom require any preparation and are often in the frozen form/cans/packets. Out of the estimated current production of 20,000 T, about 80 percent is exported. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS AND FACTORS AFECTING FOOD SELECTION There are various factors influencing buying behavior and motivation among the consumers. In the broader sense, the most dominant factors in food selection are food availability and cultural factors. Societal Considerations With the increase in environmental awareness in the past few years, the food product composition and packaging has become a major determinant of the buying behavior. Health factor has become the primary concern for almost every consumer. This has given rise to the use of natural ingredients (i.e. it contains no additives and no artificial ingredients) and environmentally friendly packaging. Safety and Environment Quality are other food choice motivations by consumers. This is now become the competitive weapon for food marketing. Other factors linked to societal considerations and in turn shape purchase motivations are : Well Being Social relationships Enjoyment Pleasure Personal Identity Food defines the consumer personal identity and it also acts as a self-referent part. Diet change can trigger in redefining the self. Food habits change throughout the life cycle. Consumer in the adolescence stage will have different food habits than in the later stages of life. Gender differences also define the food selection habits. As per the normal understanding men are considered that they have more food than women. The figure conscious female counterpart highly influenced by the slimming industry often vary their food selection based the motivation they have to look good. Weight control (i.e. low in calories, fat and in turn control my weight) is a determinant. Men are more interested in Vitamin content and women are more concerned about the sugar content. Familiarity also kicks in while making food selection. Consumers carry these questions in mind while planning and shopping stuff : Is what I usually eat Is familiar Is like the food I ate when I was a child Convenience Another important factor in food selection is convenience. The stages of consumption process define the relevance of convenience. The most time and energy consuming step is Preparation. But the effort required in this step defines the consumer behavior and factors affecting the food selection. RTE foods producers look forward to this gap while defining their strategies. Sensory Appeal In this era of consumerism and competition, one of the main differentiator is Sensory Appeal. Every consumer want the food to smell and look nice, have a pleasant texture and should taste good. Packaging here plays an important role. In RTE foods, the physical evidence for the consumer is the packed unit. The taste is bound to be as per the standards followed by the company selling the product and is always in line with what consumer want. The difference is created in terms of the look of the packet. Price Price is one of the major motivation factor in food selection. Price factor is always considered and monitored in relative terms. Purchase motivation for RTE foods vary on the following factors: Cost of eating out v/s cost of RTE food Effort required to cook food v/s cost of convenience in RTE food Price of RTE food is determined by following factors : Product Brand Value of the company Type of Packaging Country of origin Shelf life of the product Other factors are following: Product and marketing message Availability of the product in terms of constant stock replenishment Reachability to the store stocking the product Ethical Concern: Country of origin, politically approved country. MEDIUM OF INFORMATION Retailers and food producers tap multiple mediums to highlight the offerings present at the store or under the portfolio respectively. Media RTE Food industrys advertising budget is 13% of sales which is second only to the automobile industry. The average budget for other components of the food industry is 2-4% which is much lower in comparison to RTE. Marketers have always believed that RTE foods need more advertising efforts to tap the new customers and retain old ones. Source: British Food Journal , Volume 105 , Issue 3 Advertising has been the primary weapon. The use of media personalities and cartoons in the ads has always been welcomed by the consumers. Marketers have also tried to rope in children through their ads. The basic principle behind it is to gain their loyalty at a very young stage. Also it acts as a catalyst in Impulse buying at the store level. The only disadvantage of Advertising is high cost involved. Direct mail (DM) Direct mail (DM) is another method to provide information to the consumers to assist in their food purchase. It is also referred to as Direct Marketing. Unlike Advertisements which are broadcasted and their reach is subject to the viewership ratings of the slot they were telecasted in, Direct Mail is more personalized and sent to individual consumers. Since each consumer receives a copy of the offer document customization is possible for a group of consumer with common interests. It also permits marketers to experiment with the mailers and its formats. These are generally used by hypermarkets and supermarkets to notify customers of daily, weekly or fortnightly offers. Through these direct mails the store also sends coupons and schemes to the customers catering to a particular festive seasons which are believed to be higher sale period. The new concept in direct mail being followed these days is Targeting Mailing. Marketers define the target group for the mails and then through database analysis send the mailers to only that group. This in turn has following advantages : More Direct Communication Saves cost Only Potential customers are notified and other customers are not disturbed. Disadvantages of Direct Mail : Often treated as junk or spam by the consumers Stores can only differentiate on the basis of offers and the way it is communicated through DM Internet Among the sources of information for food purchase this is the least used method because of low involvement characteristics in the food purchase. Very few consumers visit internet websites such as store websites to obtain food information. Amazon.com offers the catalogue for the RTE products. Bundled packages are sold in the combo offer. With the growth of internet and families turning to every single purchase, use of internet for food purchases is bound to grow in the coming year. Stores stacking other stuff also such as apparels and accessories, electronics, etc. along with food items, general format followed by the supermarkets and hypermarkets, use internet as a selling medium but not for food items. With the increase in competition and new strategies coming up, time is near when they start selling packed RTE foods also. Groceries or vegetables being sold as loose items will then be only food item left to stock. The benefits of e-commerce have been realized by most retailers. Illustrations from the RTE Food Industry To explain the process of Instant Food or Ready-to-eat food and the consumer behaviour, two companies have been chosen from the Indian Market. MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd. vs ITCs Kitchens of India MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd. is among the major processed food manufacturers in India and is owned by Norwegian Company M/s Orkla. Kitchens of India is an ITC brand which majorly exports various RTE food packages of specialty Indian cuisine. Marketing Mix Analysis Product MTR : Normal Day to day food varieties such as paneer, dal, etc. Portfolio comprises of 22 authentic Indian curries, gravies and rice. 100% Vegetarian offerings 100% Natural and no preservatives added ISO 22000 and HACCP Certified quality product Retorting and packaging technology from Defense Food Research Lab, Mysore. Kitchens of India: Prestigious offerings from the chefs of ITC Welcome Group Restaurants. E.g. Dal Bukhara from Bukhara Restaurant of ITC Maurya Shereton and Dal Dakshin from ITC Dakshin. Four layer packed to prevent the royal taste and smell Standards are monitored to compliance Price MTR offering are normal day to day food and is less expensive than ITCs Kitchens of India which is more expensive in comparison. Also the offerings by ITC are positioned for the target group which wants to experience the pleasure of royal palates at the comfort of their home. MTR Paneer Butter Masala 300g pack is priced at MRP of Rs. 50 On the same hand, Kitchens of India dishes start from Rs. 89 Place Both MTR and Kitchens of India mainly exports to other countries and sell through the retail setup in both India and other countries. Kitchens of India also services its customers through its website www.kitchensofindia.com . It also won the Best Website Award at the PC World Web Awards 2008. Website is the medium to promote the brand and display the recipes of various offerings. Use of classical music has been seen prominent with both the websites to portray the Indian culture. Promotion Kitchens of India promotion strategy circles around the product offering highlighting the essence Feast for the senses. The key message is bringing the royal tastes directly to consumers home without having to visit ITC Welcome group hotel. Kitchens of India promote its brand through various food exhibitions such as Anuga in Germany. These are also displayed and sold at food festivals across the ITC group hotels. MTR promote its offering on the essence Freshly cooked home meal. It targets the price sensitive consumer. Brand Analysis on the basis of factors influencing buying behavior Health MTR has positioned itself as a freshly cooked home food with modest offerings. Kitchens of India on the other hand has positioned as brand offering the royal palates matched to the same standards at the ITC Restaurants. Based on the study done among Indian consumers by Datamonitor, 50% of the consumers considered low or lowers cholesterol and low or reduced fat as a motivator during food purchase. Both brand understand this fact and mentions the health contents of the dish on the packets. Sensory Appeal MTR packaging is as per the standards do not attract the visual senses of the consumer. The product is also home cooked food offerings and smell factor is present as per the home cooked food. On the other hand Kitchens of India packaging is more lavish to support its image and price range. It has an outer paper bag like covering. Natural Content Both brand claim to be 100% natural and contains no preservatives. This is possible only because of the retorting technology used and the packaging. Consumer choices are affected by these factors. Weight Control Kitchens of India offers meals or dishes which are more lavish and specialty dishes high in oil and butter content which is de-motivator for weight conscious people. These dishes are not preferred at the daily basis. On the other hand, MTR offerings are more close to the weight conscious people. Mood Mood factor plays an important role in defining the consumer behavior. This can be specified by the rebellious behavior at the younger age to eat things different from what others in the family are having. Kitchens of India offerings promotes itself on this behaviour to compel consumers to have that royal meal once a while without even visiting any ITC hotel. MTR is not seen utilizing this behaviour characteristic in its promotion or marketing communication.

Philosophy Of Torture Essay

Defining Torture Torture is any act where severe pain and suffering which is either mental or physical is intentionally inflicted into a person for the purpose of obtaining from him confession or information, by punishing him for the act he or third person is suspected of committing or has committed. It can also be intimidating or forcing him for the reason which is based on discrimination when such suffering is inflicted with consent of or at the instigation of public official or another person who is working in an official capacity. This excludes pain and suffering from incidental or lawful sanctions. In state sponsored torture, groups or individuals inflict torture on one another; in this case, torture is for the motive of sadistic gratification of torturer. There is prohibition of torture under international law and in domestic law in most countries. Amnesty international says that, in world governments, 75% of them currently practice torture. In history, torture has been used to effect political re-education. 21 century considers torture as violation of human rights and is unacceptable to the United Nations article 5. Torture and ill treatments are considered to be immoral by the international legal prohibitions. Torture is ordinarily and accidental discomfort for example, it is torture to be stuck in traffic jam for five hours. The paradox o torture is used where the methods used to inflict pain and humiliations are similar. For example, in games, players endure torturous discipline. This is also true with genitorture which is used in virtual parody because the real things have medical risks that are unacceptable. (Miller, 2006). Doctrine of Double Effect With Respect To Torture In doctrine of double effect, we encounter conflicts of right whereby there is right for a person not to be tortured and right to life and to be secure. The rights set limit to calculations of utilitarian override benefits of utilitarian but the rights themselves can conflict. Question arises as to whether there are some rights which are more basic compared to others, because of being more important to human life. Perhaps, right to liberty is taken to be more important than right to property and right to life more important than right to liberty. Right to life is the most basic right and is a precondition for existence of any other right. Some rights should never be overridden because they are basic. This can help in resolving possible conflicts. There is a contrast in killing an innocent person with the killing of someone in self defense. If someone threatens my life, he has already forfeited his right to life, if I can defend my own life by killing him, then I can do so. Therefore, if there is absolute right to life for an innocent person, it is wrong to kill him except in self defense. If a driver has five people working on his right hand track, and one person on the left hand track. If a tram is steered on left hand track, it would kill one person and if nothing is done, tram will kill five people. The question is as to whether he should steer on the left hand track and kill one person in order to save five people on the left hand track. The doctrine of double effect does not say it is okay to people who are innocent if you don’t intend it. It says that, it is right to do an action that result to unintended death of people who are innocent as the only way of preventing worse evil from happening. This means there is conflict between negative duty and negative duty, in this case, it is right to kill fewer than many. (Miller, 2006) argues that, there exists a moral difference between killing someone and allowing him to die. Some doctors can perform involuntary euthanasia in order to provide organ transplant. The overall benefit produced may be the greatest but the doctors can not just do that to people. Negative duties always correspond to negative right. For example right not to be killed. Positive ideas correspond to positive rights. For example right to give aid to save someone’s life. Duties that are negative are stricter than positive duties. For example, it is our duty to prevent deaths but it is not strict like duty not to kill. Failing to help people who are starving is bad but it is worse if you give them poisoned food. The terrorists announce that, they will use weapons to kill a city unless a young lawyer who is politically active kills his mother. The gang has already murdered several people and their threat is credible. The question is as to whether the lawyer is supposed to torture his mother up to death for him to prevent the terrorist attack. According to doctrine of double effect, if the lawyer does not torture his mother to death, he is not responsible for the murdered people because, terrorists are the ones responsible. The lawyer should not torture his mother to death because; this will encourage the terrorists to make similar threats later. What Is Wrong With Torture Torture inflicts pain that is unspeakable into the body of fellow human being who is at our mercy. A person who is tortured is helpless and bound. The person who is torturing stands before the person to be tortured with instruments. The question of unilateral disarmament is not there because the victim has no arms, even no use of two arms he was born with. Torture results to inequality because killing and abusing a person is as radical and denial of humanity. Torture is widespread, rationalized and sanctioned in memorandum that is long and is written by people who serve in high government authorities. It is easy to ratify this record through voting in order to confirm the chief authors in highest legal office in executive arm of government. Torture causes destruction to the soul and destroys body of the victim. There is boundary between humane treatment in prisons and the clear boundary is torture that exist between civilization and barbarism. Torture threatens the safety of someone’s family and inflicts suffering on the family in front of that person. Torture makes someone care for nothing other than the cessation of suffering. It breaks autonomy of someone by manipulating them in a manner that is dehumanizing. The cruel treatment is bad enough and is like slavery and lacks respect to someone’s humanity. Torture demoralizes someone and makes the tortured become anxious to spear out what tormentors would like to hear. He will be willing to remove the pressure by saying anything. Torture makes it easy to extract a confession of guilt through being ruthless that makes the innocent give in quickly. The process of dehumanization quickly obliterates the distinction between falsity and truth. All what will matter is what stop the torture. Torture make people who are tortured desire to end suffering, as a result, they can say anything and therefore they can not be taken to be truthful. This is opinion of many observers who are involved in interrogations. Torture results to flattering one another where senators showered each other with compliments, senator Hatch said that senator specter who is new judiciary chairman is the best lawyer who has ever served in senate of United States. This was agreed upon by Senator Biden who called Senator Specter, the finest lawyer of constitution in the country. This was laughter because; it is not in the country but in the senate. Torture hurts the image of United States to the whole world according to Senator Lindsey Graham. When United States wins the hearts and minds of the Arab world, this will be important for them to succeed in the world of terror. There are photographs that hurt their efforts. Gonzales refused every opportunity for repudiating the policies that brought about torture, it was agreed that, the person who was responsible for harming United States image is Abu Ghraib. This means that torture is unacceptable. (Miller, 2006). Dynamics of Torture According to united nation convention against torture, when people imagine torture, what they imagine is they being the victim. Perpetrator is seen as a sadist, diabolical in manner, someone inhuman, most likely male, foreign in accent and uncivilized. Yet the available evidence shows that, most of the torturers are normal people. We could be barbarians of our dreams as easy as we become victim. Many perpetrators take torture as a job and nothing more. In notorious case of police brutality, a prisoner was burned with a radiator and a cigarette; he then suffocated after the plastic bag was put over his head by police officers. His fingers, nose, ears and genitals were electro shocked. Goldstone argues that, the described type of abuse was not in any way limited to the usual beatings but went to esoteric areas such as planned torture and psychological techniques. Other members in the command were aware of systematic abuse and they actively participated in the same or failed to put that action to an end.   In torture of the republican sympathizers, Ordinary people become torturers and feel that society condone and protect the abuse and know who the victims are how their response to torture is and how citizens are bystanders who have the knowledge of what is happening and can never act. In totalitarian states, the appearance of torture in United States is thought to be free from that kind of thing. Many people want various places to be visited that are known to use torture; many people think torture is done in some backward civilization by ignorant and barely human people. But torture is something that everyone is capable of doing. Complicated perception of torture gives room for moments of identification with perpetrators and does not loose sight of moral center. There are two separate incidents of Israel raids into Palestine and questioning of the murder suspect in Chicago. Credible details were examined by policemen and torture was acknowledged as being necessary by the authority and was carried out methodically by policemen and soldiers. The torturers said that, extraordinary evil becomes an act which is casual to the torture when combination of personal frustrations and official duties are achieved. Any person can become torturer if he has the right opportunity, most torturers are bewildered by what has been done and their reluctance to accept full personal responsibility and how those seem to realize futility and inhumanity of the acts they have done. The important thing about unspeakable acts ordinary people is not in the unspeakable nature of neither act nor people ordinariness but the way people admit the torture fails to produce desired effects. The fact of torture being done and will continue to be performed despite available reasons is an argument which is very powerful. (Conroy, 2001) Torture for a Political Purpose Torture is used for political reasons, it is enforced through the policy of state and means of law administers it. It raises problems to people in the whole world and gives and indication of new responsibility. It is part of long struggle of mankind out of the shape of civilization that gives permission to full flowering of human rights. The state uses its powers to torture through the capacity it has to incarcerate and its monopoly on force. There are long campaigns of agitation that produce restraints which curtail them eventually. (Levinsion, 2004). The torture of prisoners under saddam Hussein was widespread and ended in death. This is also true with dozens of other regimes all over the world because torture is torture. It puts permanent scars in the victim even if reasonable marks are not seen in the body and other scars are left in the lives of those who perform it and those who allowed and encouraged it and these scars last for a long time. In Zimbabwe, independent journalists work under severe restrictions on whatever they report; those who criticized Mugabe in their article or offend the government are subject to arrest, imprisonment and are unofficially subject to torture. Every time a story is written, a journalist is likely to be arrested according to the words he used. Those words that do not please the government are not taken lightly and can result to arrest of the journalist. The European said, pressure against Mugabe would be increased if elections were stolen but have not done so because, there is a feeling that Zimbabwe crisis goes beyond responding to the diplomatic pressure. The united nation seems to be blind to the crisis, Security Council and human rights spoken and acted out against Mugabe’s tyranny. After Reeler requested human rights commission to help, they noted there were more killings in Gaza than Zimbabwe. Torture is used in punishment of prisoners. Prisoners in the United States are routinely treated as animals, they are brutalized and degraded. There are very few Americans who have raised their voices in the opposition to the shameful prison policies due to the inmates being viewed as being less than human. Torture is a vile and the dignity and right of individual is depraved, it is crime against humanity with no possible justification due to need to obtain information from a terrorist or a prisoner. It is sad because, in such instances, torture is inexcusable and overshadowed by due to the fact that it is regarded a punishment. (Miller, 2006) Social Context and Ethics of Torture   According to the United Nations convention against torture, prisoner abuse and other institutional violence blame a few isolated individuals. Social psychology put emphasis on the social contexts, which can make anyone confront, oppress and obey in abetting social behavior that is destructive. Meta analysis demonstrates quantitative reliability and imports of social context. The recent data indicates that the reaction to low status and oppositional out-group involves contempt, disgust and consistent with abuse. Together, social prejudices and social pressures are helpful in explaining recent scandals of abuse. Torture is never justifiable because, it depends on the context. A direct target of command of an enemy and control center with smart bomb with intention of killing is justifiable in combat. Even when you shoot an enemy, it is also justifiable in combat and nobody will have an argument that, when you kill somebody somehow, it causes less permanent damage than electrocution. However, in the torture of prisoners, they are in unique position and are not able to fight back. There are rules of protecting combatants so that they can surrender willingly. If an enemy can kill you or torture you if you surrender, you can fight to the last minute which cause loss of life. However, if intelligence indicates that major attacks averted by successful interrogation and holding back of information by prisoners can cause loss of life, then torture of last resort may be justified but not in a legal manner. It is unethical to take an action which is aggressive against a person with action that can result to loss of life. Legitimate government function is to protect the people from violence and force, if government consigns its people to death by protecting people who initiate violence, the government is failing in its responsibilities. We seek to offer protection to people who are innocent and protect their freedom. Sharia law tries to take our freedom away and enemies should not be allowed to achieve their goals. When we are not dealt with rationally, we can deal aggressively with initiators of war against us as the only moral response. Never initiate force but be against those who do and show them the true meaning of their violence. It is unethical if defenders shirk their duties to people through pulling punches with the people who would enslave and at the same time murder us. As we conduct ourselves in war on terror, we should always remember the meaning of true victory for the enemy. (Levinsion, 2004). Does Torture Work? Proponents insist that, it does while opponents say it doesn’t. The truth is somewhere between that it would give rise to key information in some cases, but it would be harmful in others. If a harsher interrogation yields valuable intelligence, the benefit must be weighed against enormous strategic cost. If reliability of a given argument is a wash, meaning no side will win, torture may or may not work as intended. The question that arises is the exact method that is used to extract information from suspects of terrorism and whether it is considered morally acceptable. Building trust is recommended method if there is enough time to build it. According to high court of justice in Israel, it was ruled that torture is illegal in spite of it being immediate threat to terrorist attack. If torture is used as last resort in order to save lives of enormous members, it should be done in the open; it should have accountability and be approved by Supreme Court of justice. Once torture is committed, the person should plead guilty to criminal charges. If there is a situation that is grave enough to give warrant resort to torture, it should be enough to loose job and go to jail. According to Palestinians detainees, there exists significant difference between abuse and methods used by Israel interrogators. In Israel they have rules and sophisticated techniques of breaking down prisoners. Prisoners are done much more than beatings. This is by going without food and sleep for three days which make them become eager to say anything. In social contract, an individual would surrender his liberty to exchange for protection but United States does not believe in that. Therefore, social contract is an agreement between government and people. (Miller, 2006). Are There Moral Justifications For Torture? Historically, psychologically and physically, torture is being used to suppress dissents, extract confession, force denunciation of other people, humiliate, punish and gather information. Torturers claim state of necessity. Other claim to get significant information that is why they justify torture. They emphasize on significance of information they gain than the torture itself. Torture is taken to be an evil that is necessary in fighting battle against greater evil. There exists information that is of moral significance and can only be discovered through torture. Torture is justified by state of necessity. The ticking time-bomb gives a crude utilitarian justification as to the use of torture. One man is tortured to save many innocent people. This serves as the basic claim of absolute prohibitionist. If one man can provide information about the timing of bombing, why not torture him in order to uncover information that is morally significant and of priority. If the information today justifies torture, there must be trained torturers and trainers and administrative and legal apparatus. Many professional say that there are better methods of obtaining actionable intelligence than by use of torture even if it is conducted under time constraints. When justifying morally significant information, it demands prior knowledge as to whether torture victim has information. Information must be actionable and avoid serious, imminent threat. For one to justify information using torture, the information must be previously unknown. It may not be meaningful information until someone has tortured, gotten the information and verified it for it to be meaningful. Should Torture Ever Be Justified? Failure to use interrogational torture is immoral and coldhearted. It is coldhearted because, in cases of true catastrophe, the failure to use preventive interrogative torture can lead to death of people who are innocent. When rights of suspects are upheld, it negates the rights and even the right to life of innocent people. Refusal to use torture is hypocritical especially when we are faced with serious threats to the life of Nation. Measures which are necessary in order to abate crisis should be taken. An uncompromising prohibition of torture may result to unrealistic standards that no one can wish to meet when in circumstances that are extremely exigent. (Miller, 2006) REFERENCES Miller S. (2006): Torture, Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy: Stanford university. Levinson S. (2004): ethics and politics of torture: Oxford University press. Conroy J. (2001): the dynamics of torture: university of California press. RL 32276, the UN convention against torture: CRS report.

The India of My Dreams

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action– Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.Goes a poem written by rabindranath tagore, renowned writer, author nd poet, and more importantly, an indian who dreamt of a better india in the future. Well, talking of dreams, a dream is a sub-conscious psychic vision of the ‘Ideal';coloured by personal affections and framed by the human yearning to reach what one wants. But for all the myriad personal fantasies and dreams,the only common dream born out of the heart of patriotic sensibility is that of the country of our d reams. And when the country at the heart of such a dream is as great as India,the dream is rather vivid,colourful and I daresay complex.The India of my dreams is nothing but an amalgamation of its ‘Indianess' manifested in its past glory and promised in its gleaming future. In other words, The India of my dreams is also the India of your dreams. India, being a country of social contrasts and enormous ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity should be in a state where there would be no racism and regionalism. First of all, I would want to curb communalism, whatever its shape or form may be. All such tendencies, which fan the forces of separatism and disruption, have to be eliminated.Secondly, I want India to be scientifically and technologically advanced. I would like India to be at the apex of scientific and technological progress, and give due importance to science and information technology because modern age is an age of science and information technology, which with much ease control the developemental status of any country. All of us want India to become a respectable super power in the world, don’t we? The India of my dreams, again, would be an India that is self-sufficient in food.All the barren lands should be cultivated for achieving self-sufficiency in food-grains. Agriculture should be given special attention because agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. It provides employment to over 60 percent of the country's work force and it accounts for over quarter of India's GDP. It also contributes substantially to export trade. Another Green Revolution should be brought about by launching intensive agricultural programmes and farmers should be asked to use better seeds fertilisers as well as modern tools and implements.Another thing, which I would like to see in India of my dreams, would be the abridgement of the gap between the rich and the poor. National income should be distributed rationally among the all sections of the society. Provision of food, housing and clothing to one and all should be given top priority in the India of my dreams. For achieving and accomplishing this, socialism should be the only remedy which, if practised sincerely, will really usher India into an era of economic equality. If these measures are taken with utmost sincerity, India will really be counted among the most powerful countries of the world .Then is the time that one can say that India has achieved the placed that Rabindra Nath Tagore describes in his lines that I told before I started talking regarding the subject. In this age of industrialization, the country is to be taken to the zenith of progress and prosperity. Industrial development plays a significant role in the growth process of developing countries. It helps in raising income levels and in absorbing rural surplus labour. It is believed that prior to 19th century India was a great manufacturing country. However at the time of independence the industry was in bad sh ape.India's literacy rate as per 1951 census was less than 20 percent. In over fifty seven years it has increased to about 65 percent. Despite all this commendable progress , a lot needs to be done to improve the living conditions of agricultural and industrial labor and the people working in unorganized sectors. Steps should be taken to stop crime and violence. Condition of women folk needs drastic improvement. Women empowerment is the demand of a civilized society. Equal opportunities need to be given to the girl child for education and career development. Dependence on other counties should be a thing of the past.India of my dreams is a country where nobody is illiterate and nobody sleeps hungry, where there is no distinction on the basis of gender, religion or caste, where justice to a common man is neither denied nor deleted, where corruption in public life does not exist, where merit counts in every sphere of life, where jobs cannot be purchased, where the Shabad Kirtan from G urudwaras, and Azan from Mosques, the Bhajans from Temples and chiming of the bells from churches merge and mingle and produce a harmonious, melodious, spiritual tune, loved by one and all.I dream of an India where every citizen feels safe and secure, where health facilities are provided to all . I dream of an educational system where every young dreamer is given his chance, and not chained by lack of seats or caste reservations. I dream that the lakhs of unemployed Indians are integrated into employement.I dream of a socially, scientifically, economically better India . I dream of an India which every Indian can be truly proud of. To capture the essence of the India of my dreams I would like to end with a few lines from John Lennon's ‘Imagine': â€Å"U may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one . †I hope someday u'll join us And India will be No. 1.

My Personal Statement On Trust - 1190 Words

There are many things about me that I find hard to change, one of them is how I show affection. No matter how comfortable I am with you, the words â€Å"I love you† do not come easily unless it is vocalized in a joking manner. However hard it is to say those three words, I try to show it in many other ways. My â€Å"I Love You†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s usually take the form of â€Å"Call me when you get home† or â€Å"This made made me think of you† (no matter how serious or trivial that object was). I also show my love through trust. Once trust is given, it’s the foundation of a relationship, in my opinion. I trust you not to lie, I trust someone to know when enough is enough, I trust in your ability to trust in me. As I’ve realized, trust is not a concept you can hand out†¦show more content†¦We clicked only on the level that immature friendships can. We had similar tastes in cars, brands, music, classes and an almost identical sense of humor. We weren’t as close as we could have been, but I thought we were doing alright. And then in the summer of eighth grade, leading into our freshman year, the lies started. It was always common knowledge that, while we shared a common friend group, we also had other friends that we enjoyed talking to. It was never a problem to him and it wasn’t an issue with me until I was told phony stories. I do not believe that I need to know about every one of my friends whereabouts at all times; I am not their keeper and I am not their family so, therefore, it is not my job. I also am a firm believer that a little lie has probably never hurt anybody. Then I was put on the receiving end of the half-truths and, eventually, the frustration built up. The overflow happened in a flurry of text notifications and dimmed screens. sorai 6:38 p.m. What happened to the plans we made? tom 6:42 p.m. sorry sorry i had a family thing sorai 6:48 p.m. if youre gonna make up a lie, at least get your friends in it so they don’t post on social media. tom 6:54 p.m. it’s not that big of a deal tom 6:56 p.m. you don’t need to know where i am all the time sorai 6:59 p.m. you made these plans, so you bailing on us really just doesn’t make sense.