Apple Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Apple - Essay Example This is a unique technique to apple. It contains a wide range of products that welcomes support from many customers who purchase them. The company is a leading innovator of mobile devices. It enjoys most profits from the sale of mobile technology than other companies. The retail stores ensure a strong customer relationship with the company. High pricing of commodities differentiate it with the prices at Hp. While Hp specializes in manufacture of PCs, apple switched and concentrated on producing mobile devices. Apple enjoys a cost strategy to remain and sustain the market. Their products have a unique technology that enjoys the market share. Despite the high pricing that rocks the market, still the company registers large number of sales. The customers believe that the products are of high quality because of the company’s reputation. This technique puts the company as the second most valued brand in the whole world. Despite the high competition that is in the technology business, apple still uses high pricing as strategy that enables them remain relevant in the

Quality and IT Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Quality and IT Management - Essay Example 2. Role of Quality Gurus Some of the most famous quality gurus include Armand Feigenbaum, Edwards Deming, Philip Crosby, Kaoru Ishikawa, Genichi Taguchi, and Shigeo Shingo (Beckford 2002, p. 54). All of these gurus brought different concepts of quality which not only helped the companies achieve competitive advantage in the past but also provide appropriate directions towards success to the companies belonging to the present world. We can take example of Masaaki Imai who came up with the concept of Kaizen in 1986, which led Japan’s way to huge success in the field of technological development. Kaizen is an umbrella, which includes all Japanese practices related to quality management. Imai focused on continuous improvement in all departments of a company. Shigeo Shingo was a Japanese quality guru who focused on zero quality control and brought the concept of Poka-Yoke which means to identify the errors before they become some real defects. Kaoru Ishikawa was another Japanese qu ality guru who also believed in some other concepts other than just provision of quality products to the customers. He focused on after sales service, company and the customers, and quality of the management. One of the main teachings of all quality gurus was quality control, which means to ensure quality in all stages of a product development. In the engineering domain, quality control results in accepting or rejecting a manufactured product (Unhelkar 2003, p. 303). In the view of quality gurus, the process of quality control includes certain actions which are necessary for the control and verification of required characteristics of any product or services provided by a company. Fryman (2002, p. 6) found that the main purpose of quality control is to eliminate all factors which can result in unsatisfactory product performance. Along with quality control, some American quality gurus, such as, Dr. Joseph Juran and Dr. W. Edwards Deming also focused on quality management that leads a company’s way towards success. The primary objective of quality management is to increase customer satisfaction with the company’s products and services. Deming’s quality cycle comprised of some key steps, which included Plan, Do, Study, and Act. Deming focused on bringing improvements in quality of products and services by reducing the elements of variability and uncertainty in design and features of the products and services. On the other hand, Juran believed in the philosophy of ‘fitness for use’ and advocated the use of ‘quality cost measurement’. Philip Crosby was a Western American quality guru who believed in the concept of ‘conformance to requirements’. Crosby came up with four main concepts related to quality management. The first one was that quality is not goodness or elegance rather it is conformance to the requirements of the customers. The second concept was that the system for creating quality has nothing to do with appraisal rather it is concerned with prevention. Third concept was the zero defects standard of quality whereas the fourth concept was that measurement of quality should be the price of nonconformance. Crosby focused on reducing the manufacturing expenses by doping things right at the first time instead of correcting them. In the past, the teachings of quality gurus really helped companies become more competitive in nature, lower the product manufacturing costs, improve

Capital Punishment | Should Capital Punishment be Abolished?

Capital Punishment | Should Capital Punishment be Abolished? Death sentence being one of the harshest punishments known to man has taken a gradual humanized change over the years. Being a mode of punishment prominently followed in most parts of the world has now been abolished in many countries because of a wave of abolishment initiated a few decades back. India seems to be stuck between the global trend to end death penalty and the nations that is still follow. It has taken a very safe ground by giving a minimal provision and leaving it to the discretion of the judiciary to award the punishment in special circumstances. The aim of this paper is to analyze whether capital punishment should be banned or not? While considering the historical as well as present scenario of capital punishment and comparing with other countries where it has been abolished. Introduction Capital punishment is the practice of executing someone as punishment for a specific crime after a proper legal trial. It is usually only used as a punishment for particularly serious types of murder, but in some countries treason, types of fraud, adultery and rape are capital crimes.  [1]  In Indian the traditional way of awarding this punishment is handing by the neck till the death of the criminal. In other countries, shooting, electric chair, etc,are the various devices used for the purpose. The term capital originates from capitalis, literally regarding the head (Latin caput). Hence, a capital crime was originally one punished by the severing of the head.  [2]   Amongst democratic countries today, it is rare to find capital punishment being practiced. In fact, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S. are the only ones who still have the death penalty. However, it is mainly found in poor, undemocratic and authoritarian states that the death penalty is still being used, and usually as a means of political oppression. The European Union and the Council of Europe refuses its member states to practice the death penalty, or at least desire them to show that they no longer actively practice it (i.e. a moratorium). Although the United States had suspended executions in 1973, they resumed them in 1977. However, not all the states perform capital punishment, with at least 12 of them having banned it at the time of writing? Most of the countries except China, a few countries in South Africa and Belarus in Europe, have moved towards abolishing death penalty  [3]  . Though being a member of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which is adopted by the United Nations and stands to bring countries to abolish death penalty, India has not taken this important step to abolish such a grave punishment. Capital punishment is nothing but judicial murder, it is said, especially when an innocent life is destroyed. Besides this, capital punishment, as is generally supposed, is not deterrent. Murders and other heinous crimes have continued unabated, in spite of it. The result of such views has been that in recent years there has been an increasing tendency in western countries to award life imprisonment instead of capital punishment. Muslims countries, to be more serve in this respect. Despite frequent demands from all society Indian has not so far abolished capital punishment. But even in India there has been a decline in the frequency of such punishment. It is now awarded only in cases of hardened criminals and only when it is established that the murder was not the result of a momentary impulse, the result of serious provocation, but well-planned and cold-blooded. In such cases, it is felt that nothing else than capital punishment would be executed for that crime. Those who indulge in anti-social and sternest possible measures should be taken against them, specially when they are habitual offenders. India has not so far abolished capital punishment but used it more judiciously. Sociologists are of the view that capital punishment serves no useful purpose. By sending the criminals to gallows, we in no way help or provide relief to the family of the murdered. The sociologists, therefore, suggest that the murderer should be sentenced for life to work and support the family of murdered person as well as his own. In this way, innocent women and children would be saved from much suffering, hunger and starvation.  [4]   Philosophers view on capital punishment According, to Kants view no state can exist if there is no law and if there is no law then there is no society and no state. Therefore legislation of law is necessary. Therefore by Kants view if a person has violated such laws by doing a crime then a person who has violated such law must be punished. According to Kant punishment is a legal act that definitely has a certain basis. This basis is a crime. If there is no crime there must be no punishment. Punishment of innocent people is a result of a worthless legislation; this means that the legal system is unable to establish guilt and make a differentiation between innocent people and criminals.  [5]  Kants opinion towards death penalty is justified only if there is a murder. According to him if there is a murder then he must die. Theory of punishment:- by both H.L.A Hart and (1959) in England and John Rawls (1955) in the United States. Defining the concept of punishment must be kept distinct from justifying punishment. A definition of punishment is, or ought to be, value-neutral, at least to the extent of not incorporating any norms or principles that surreptitiously tend to justify whatever falls under the definition itself. To put this another way, punishment is not supposed to be justified, or even partly justified, by packing its definition in a manner that virtually guarantees that whatever counts as punishment is automatically justified. (Conversely, its definition ought not to preclude its justification.)  [6]   Historical Background Capital punishment is regarded as one of the severest form of punishment in the history of mankind. During the medieval era, capital punishment was sentenced even for extremely trivial and inconsequential matter or in other words we can say that they were executed for minor crimes such as stealing, cheating or even trespassing. Also, the methods of administering death penalty were immensely harsh and gruesome. Most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. This was the only method for them to provide justice for every crime done by a person. However, during medieval times the capital punishment was rather insensitive. The punishment which was given to the accused cant be compare to the act which has been done by accused. One of the oldest methods of practicing capital punishment was hanging. This method was originated from Persia and was restricted only for male criminals. The method was considered to be comparatively less harsh as it was relatively simpler with no involvement of blood. This form of punishment is prevalent to date in countries such as Singapore, Japan, India, Pakistan and three states in US.  [7]   In the earlier time death penalty laws can be found in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon (18th century BCE), in which death penalty was given for different crimes. But in the Draconian Code of Athens (7th century BCE), times where every crime was punishable by death and was the most extreme capital systems in ancient times. Later on under Roman law in the 5th century BCE, a person could even be sentenced to death for simply writing an insulting song  [8]  . The Romans also used it for a wide range of offenses, though citizens were exempted for a short time during the republic. It also has been sanctioned at one time or another by most of the worlds major religions. In medieval and early modern Europe the death penalty was largely used as a generalized form of punishment, and often accompanied by torture. Similarly, in medieval and early modern Europe, before the development of modern prison systems, the death penalty was also used as a generalised form of punishment. For example, in 1700s Britain there were 222 crimes which were punishable by death, including crimes such as cutting down a tree or stealing an animal.  [9]  Thanks to the notorious Bloody Code, 18th century (and early 19th century) Britain was a hazardous place to live. For example, Michael Hammond and his sister, Ann, whose ages were given as 7 and 11, were reportedly hanged at Kings Lynn on Wednesday, September 28, 1708 for theft. The local press did not, however, consider the executions of two children newsworthy.  [10]   Present scenario But the time has changed now, the judiciary in most countries has adopted a more civilized attitude towards this punishment and death penalty is reserved for extremely heinous crimes. Three quarters of executions worldwide occur in Asia. 95% of Asians live in jurisdictions that carry out capital punishment. China alone accounts for 90% of all executions in Asia. The country executed approximately 5000 people in 2008. Thats a rate per capita dozens of times higher than in the U.S., and yet its a steep drop for the numbers of some decades earlier. India is also retentionist (meaning the opposite of abolitionist) but only executed one person in the first decade of the new millennium. Singapore used to kill a similar proportion of its citizens as China, but the rate has dropped recently. Japan, on the contrary, is executing more and more people. Saudi Arabia is known for its particularly gruesome methods  [11]   We can see from the above graph there is lot of change in figures earlier only death penalty was sentenced as compared to medieval times. Pakistan , U.S. and China are at the highest peak. Pakistan and china are the main contributors in increasing the percentage of death penalty in Asia. The most recent executions in South Korea took place in December 1997, when 23 people were executed at short notice on the same day. Similarly, nineteen executions occurred in 1995 and 15 in 1994, in each instance occurring all on the same day. No executions have occurred since 1998, but this de facto suspension has not been reinforced by law. Since 1999, lawmakers have thrice endorsed a bill favoring life imprisonment without parole in place of the death penalty, but each time the proposal has stalled and failed to move forward. The need remains to develop a culturally appropriate pro-abolition argument that could persuade the Korean public that the death penalty is unworkable and wrong. On 21 January 2007, in the Inhyeokdang case, the Korean Court acquitted 8 persons who had been executed 32 years earlier. The hope is that, in light of strong arguments based on the risk to innocent persons and the irreversibility of capital punishment, Korea will effectively transition from de fact o to formal abolition. Capital Punishment should be banned or not? Most of the people now feel that punishment for crimes like murders should not be death but some re formative or deterrent sentence. Death sentence cannot reform a criminal since once dead he cannot be reformed. The governments, which have abolished death sentence, find that there is no increase in the number of murders in the countries after the abolition. Some social reformers still feel that life imprisonment is a more severe kind of punishment. However, capital punishment puts an end to the criminals life, life imprisonment forces him to spend his whole life within the boundaries of a prison. Over 37 countries have already abolished the death sentence and the after-effects of it have not been harmful. India, which is the birthplace of great luminaries, should also abolish death sentence and replace it with some other kind of punishment, which aims to abolish crime, not merely kill criminals.  [12]   In India, capital punishment is granted for different crimes, counting murder, initiating a childs suicide, instigating war against the government, acts of terrorism, or a second evidence for drug trafficking. Death penalty is officially permitted though it should be used in the rarest of rare cases as per the judgement of Supreme Court of India. Amongst the retentionist countries around the world, India has the lowest execution rate with just 55 people executed since independence in 1947.  [13]   In the case of Bachan Singh v State of Punjab  [14]  , wherein a Constitutional Bench with a 4:1 majority upheld the constitutional validity of death penalty and the scope of the provision which enabled the imposition of death penalty. Justice Bhagwati took a dissenting opinion and held that the death sentence is unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. laws which are to be used to avoid and prevent people from committing such offences and not to take the life a person using the same laws. The State has no right to take the life of a person. India according to me should abolish death sentence. Article 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution provides for Right to equality before law and protection of life and personal liberty respectively. Article 14 states, The state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India  [15]  . And Article 21 states, No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law  [16]  . If a procedure of law itself takes a life of a person, who is to be blamed, and who should be punished for it? Is it fair to kill a person? If not, what is the difference between a murderer and the society who takes the life of a murderer by sentencing him to death? In a landmark case of Bachan Singh vs. State of Punjab  [17]  , a panel of four judges of the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of death penalty but Justice Bhagwati differed in his opinion. The four judge panel led by Chief Justice Y.V. Chandrachud suggested a set of guidelines for determining the aggravating circumstances which would warrant the imposition of death penalty and other mitigating circumstances for awarding the lesser punishment of imprisonment for life. Further, the Supreme Court held that the aggravating circumstances which result in special reasons as per the Criminal Procedure Code must be considered to be sentenced to death. And finally held that death sentence should be imposed only in Rarest of Rare cases. The death sentence as a punishment can also have a deterrent effect against the potential murderers. But J. Bhagwati argues that death sentence will have a greater deterrent effect as opposed to the life sentence. J. Bhagwati enriches the court with various scholars over the world who would agree with his opinion and this very opinion has favored the abolition of death penalty in their countries. He says it is not a rational conviction but merely an unreasoned belief which is entertained by some people including a few penologists, judges, jurists and legislators that death penalty has a uniquely deterrent effect  [18]  . Reference was also made to the Fifty Fourth Law Commission report  [19]  which also took a view that death sentence acts as a deterrent. It says that every human being dreads death suggesting that death sentence had a greater deterrent effect than other punishments. As the punishment is more deterrent than others it becomes arbitrary and unreasonable and viol ates article 14 ad 21 of the Constitution. Therefore it should be not be completely abolished. Hence, it should be executed only in rarest of rare cases. Conclusion Death penalty is the harshest of punishments provided in the IPC, which involves the judicial killing or taking the life of the accused as a form of punishment  [20]  . It is a mode of punishment which extinguishes the life of an accused. In India, death sentence has gone through a number of changes but still remains as the harshest punishment. It is the punishment for murdering another human being. It is true that killing someone is cruel, but it is also not reasonable for a society to kill someone. The only difference between these is that the accused in a murder case is punished by the society but there is no one to punish the society. The rule of law is set up to protect and regulate both the society as well as the people in the society. In conclusion, I feel that death penalty should be completely abolished. Though I am also morally against death penalty this analysis has made my views even stronger. But it should be executed only in the rarest of rare case like there is nothing else left instead of capital punishment for giving justice to someone. The views suggested by philosophers also suggest the same meaning that it should be executed only in the case of murder or we can say that in the rarest of rare cases.

Scientific Developments During the Renaissance Essays -- European Hist

Scientific Developments During the Renaissance Historians often refer to the renaissance as a Scientific Revolution. It was during this period that Nicolas Copernicus first suggested the revolution of the Earth around the Sun. This was groundbreaking, as previous to this it was generally thought that the Earth was stationary, and all the planets, including the Sun, orbited the Earth. It was also Copernicus' theory that directly led to the discoveries of Kepler, Galileo and Newton. It could therefore be argued that Copernicus' discovery was the most important of the Renaissance. However, the huge advances in the field of astronomy often overshadow many of the developments in other scientific fields, where the scientists Vesalius, Harvey and Boyle also made an impact. Copernicus' theory, outlined in De Revolutionibus orbium coelestium (`On the Revolutions of Heavenly Bodies,' 1543) is often cited as the greatest discovery of the renaissance. However, at the time of its publication, in the year of Copernicus' death, the theory was widely disregarded. The historian Arthur Koestler comments that `it does not seem to have generated heated discussion.' Moreover, the theory wasn't wholly invented by Copernicus; it was merely revived from ancient texts, and the publication was postponed until the year of Copernicus' death, for fear of public reaction. The astronomer Galileo comments on this: Our teacher Copernicus, who though he will be of immortal fame to some, is yet by an infinite number (for such is the multitude of fools) laughed at and rejected. This evidence throws a somewhat uncertainty onto whether Copernican theory is as important as previously suggested. It would appear that the hypothesis made little or ... ... universe today. Kepler used mathematics to support and strengthen Copernican theory as well as hypothesising the laws of planetary motion. Galileo became well known, due to his findings with his telescope, whereas Copernicus' and Kepler's ideas were largely ignored. Galileo again proved Copernican theory by discovering sunspots and the infinity of the universe. I therefore suggest, in response to the question, that there was not one discovery in the renaissance that was more significant than the others, but that the work of these three scientists was equally significant, in that they provided evidence for an astronomical theory, that is still believed today. The discoveries in other fields such as medicine and chemistry were undoubtedly important, but I feel that the discoveries made by Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo were the most significant of the renaissance.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty-seven

Eddard It's the hand's tourney that's the cause of all the trouble, my lords,† the commander of the city watch complained to the king's council. â€Å"The king's tourney,† Ned corrected, wincing. â€Å"I assure you, the Hand wants no part of it.† â€Å"Call it what you will, my lord. Knights have been arriving from all over the realm, and for every knight we get two freeriders, three craftsmen, six men-at-arms, a dozen merchants, two dozen whores, and more thieves than I dare guess. This cursed heat had half the city in a fever to start, and now with all these visitors . . . last night we had a drowning, a tavern riot, three knife fights, a rape, two fires, robberies beyond count, and a drunken horse race down the Street of the Sisters. The night before a woman's head was found in the Great Sept, floating in the rainbow pool. No one seems to know how it got there or who it belongs to.† â€Å"How dreadful,† Varys said with a shudder. Lord Renly Baratheon was less sympathetic. â€Å"If you cannot keep the king's peace, Janos, perhaps the City Watch should be commanded by someone who can.† Stout, jowly Janos Slynt puffed himself up like an angry frog, his bald pate reddening. â€Å"Aegon the Dragon himself could not keep the peace, Lord Renly. I need more men.† â€Å"How many?† Ned asked, leaning forward. As ever, Robert had not troubled himself to attend the council session, so it fell to his Hand to speak for him. â€Å"As many as can be gotten, Lord Hand.† â€Å"Hire fifty new men,† Ned told him. â€Å"Lord Baelish will see that you get the coin.† â€Å"I will?† Littlefinger said. â€Å"You will. You found forty thousand golden dragons for a champion's purse, surely you can scrape together a few coppers to keep the king's peace.† Ned turned back to Janos Slynt. â€Å"I will also give you twenty good swords from my own household guard, to serve with the Watch until the crowds have left.† â€Å"All thanks, Lord Hand,† Slynt said, bowing. â€Å"I promise you, they shall be put to good use.† When the Commander had taken his leave, Eddard Stark turned to the rest of the council. â€Å"The sooner this folly is done with, the better I shall like it.† As if the expense and trouble were not irksome enough, all and sundry insisted on salting Ned's wound by calling it â€Å"the Hand's tourney,† as if he were the cause of it. And Robert honestly seemed to think he should feel honored! â€Å"The realm prospers from such events, my lord,† Grand Maester Pycelle said. â€Å"They bring the great the chance of glory, and the lowly a respite from their woes.† â€Å"And put coins in many a pocket,† Littlefinger added. â€Å"Every inn in the city is full, and the whores are walking bowlegged and jingling with each step.† Lord Renly laughed. â€Å"We're fortunate my brother Stannis is not with us. Remember the time he proposed to outlaw brothels? The king asked him if perhaps he'd like to outlaw eating, shitting, and breathing while he was at it. If truth be told, I ofttimes wonder how Stannis ever got that ugly daughter of his. He goes to his marriage bed like a man marching to a battlefield, with a grim look in his eyes and a determination to do his duty.† Ned had not joined the laughter. â€Å"I wonder about your brother Stannis as well. I wonder when he intends to end his visit to Dragonstone and resume his seat on this council.† â€Å"No doubt as soon as we've scourged all those whores into the sea,† Littlefinger replied, provoking more laughter. â€Å"I have heard quite enough about whores for one day,† Ned said, rising. â€Å"Until the morrow.† Harwin had the door when Ned returned to the Tower of the Hand. â€Å"Summon Jory to my chambers and tell your father to saddle my horse,† Ned told him, too brusquely. â€Å"As you say, my lord.† The Red Keep and the â€Å"Hand's tourney† were chafing him raw, Ned reflected as he climbed. He yearned for the comfort of Catelyn's arms, for the sounds of Robb and Jon crossing swords in the practice yard, for the cool days and cold nights of the north. In his chambers he stripped off his council silks and sat for a moment with the book while he waited for Jory to arrive. The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms, With Descliptions of Many High Lords and Noble Ladies and Their Children, by Grand Maester Malleon. Pycelle had spoken truly; it made for ponderous reading. Yet Jon Arryn had asked for it, and Ned felt certain he had reasons. There was something here, some truth buried in these brittle yellow pages, if only he could see it. But what? The tome was over a century old. Scarcely a man now alive had yet been born when Malleon had compiled his dusty lists of weddings, births, and deaths. He opened to the section on House Lannister once more, and turned the pages slowly, hoping against hope that something would leap out at him. The Lannisters were an old family, tracing their descent back to Lann the Clever, a trickster from the Age of Heroes who was no doubt as legendary as Bran the Builder, though far more beloved of singers and taletellers. In the songs, Lann was the fellow who winkled the Casterlys out of Casterly Rock with no weapon but his wits, and stole gold from the sun to brighten his curly hair. Ned wished he were here now, to winkle the truth out of this damnable book. A sharp rap on the door heralded Jory Cassel. Ned closed Malleon's tome and bid him enter. â€Å"I've promised the City Watch twenty of my guard until the tourney is done,† he told him. â€Å"I rely on you to make the choice. Give Alyn the command, and make certain the men understand that they are needed to stop fights, not start them.† Rising, Ned opened a cedar chest and removed a light linen undertunic. â€Å"Did you find the stableboy?† â€Å"The watchman, my lord,† Jory said. â€Å"He vows he'll never touch another horse.† â€Å"What did he have to say?† â€Å"He claims he knew Lord Arryn well. Fast friends, they were.† Jory snorted. â€Å"The Hand always gave the lads a copper on their name days, he says. Had a way with horses. Never rode his mounts too hard, and brought them carrots and apples, so they were always pleased to see him.† â€Å"Carrots and apples,† Ned repeated. It sounded as if this boy would be even less use than the others. And he was the last of the four Littlefinger had turned up. Jory had spoken to each of them in turn. Ser Hugh had been brusque and uninformative, and arrogant as only a new-made knight can be. If the Hand wished to talk to him, he should be pleased to receive him, but he would not be questioned by a mere captain of guards . . . even if said captain was ten years older and a hundred times the swordsman. The serving girl had at least been pleasant. She said Lord Jon had been reading more than was good for him, that he was troubled and melancholy over his young son's frailty, and gruff with his lady wife. The potboy, now cordwainer, had never exchanged so much as a word with Lord Jon, but he was full of oddments of kitchen gossip: the lord had been quarreling with the king, the lord only picked at his food, the lord was sending his boy to be fostered on Dragonstone, the lord had taken a great interest in the breeding of hunting hounds, the lord had visited a master armorer to commission a new suit of plate, wrought all in pale silver with a blue jasper falcon and a mother-of-pearl moon on the breast. The king's own brother had gone with him to help choose the design, the potboy said. No, not Lord Renly, the other one, Lord Stannis. â€Å"Did our watchman recall anything else of note?† â€Å"The lad swears Lord Jon was as strong as a man half his age. Often went riding with Lord Stannis, he says.† Stannis again, Ned thought. He found that curious. Jon Arryn and he had been cordial, but never friendly. And while Robert had been riding north to Winterfell, Stannis had removed himself to Dragonstone, the Targaryen island fastness he had conquered in his brother's name. He had given no word as to when he might return. â€Å"Where did they go on these rides?† Ned asked. â€Å"The boy says that they visited a brothel.† â€Å"A brothel?† Ned said. â€Å"The Lord of the Eyrie and Hand of the King visited a brothel with Stannis Baratheon?† He shook his head, incredulous, wondering what Lord Renly would make of this tidbit. Robert's lusts were the subject of ribald drinking songs throughout the realm, but Stannis was a different sort of man; a bare year younger than the king, yet utterly unlike him, stern, humorless, unforgiving, grim in his sense of duty. â€Å"The boy insists it's true. The Hand took three guardsmen with him, and the boy says they were joking of it when he took their horses afterward.† â€Å"Which brothel?† Ned asked. â€Å"The boy did not know. The guards would.† â€Å"A pity Lysa carried them off to the Vale,† Ned said dryly. â€Å"The gods are doing their best to vex us. Lady Lysa, Maester Colemon, Lord Stannis . . . everyone who might actually know the truth of what happened to Jon Arryn is a thousand leagues away.† â€Å"Will you summon Lord Stannis back from Dragonstone?† â€Å"Not yet,† Ned said. â€Å"Not until I have a better notion of what this is all about and where he stands.† The matter nagged at him. Why did Stannis leave? Had he played some part in Jon Arryn's murder? Or was he afraid? Ned found it hard to imagine what could frighten Stannis Baratheon, who had once held Storm's End through a year of siege, surviving on rats and boot leather while the Lords Tyrell and Redwyne sat outside with their hosts, banqueting in sight of his walls. â€Å"Bring me my doublet, if you would. The grey, with the direwolf sigil. I want this armorer to know who I am. It might make him more forthcoming.† Jory went to the wardrobe. â€Å"Lord Renly is brother to Lord Stannis as well as the king.† â€Å"Yet it seems that he was not invited on these rides.† Ned was not sure what to make of Renly, with all his friendly ways and easy smiles. A few days past, he had taken Ned aside to show him an exquisite rose gold locklet. Inside was a miniature painted in the vivid Myrish style, of a lovely young girl with doe's eyes and a cascade of soft brown hair. Renly had seemed anxious to know if the girl reminded him of anyone, and when Ned had no answer but a shrug, he had seemed disappointed. The maid was Loras Tyrell's sister Margaery, he'd confessed, but there were those who said she looked like Lyanna. â€Å"No,† Ned had told him, bemused. Could it be that Lord Renly, who looked so like a young Robert, had conceived a passion for a girl he fancied to be a young Lyanna? That struck him as more than passing queer. Jory held out the doublet, and Ned slid his hands through the armholes. â€Å"Perhaps Lord Stannis will return for Robert's tourney,† he said as Jory laced the garment up the back. â€Å"That would be a stroke of fortune, my lord,† Jory said. Ned buckled on a longsword. â€Å"In other words, not bloody likely.† His smile was grim. Jory draped Ned's cloak across his shoulders and clasped it at the throat with the Hand's badge of office. â€Å"The armorer lives above his shop, in a large house at the top of the Street of Steel. Alyn knows the way, my lord.† Ned nodded. â€Å"The gods help this potboy if he's sent me off haring after shadows.† It was a slim enough staff to lean on, but the Jon Arryn that Ned Stark had known was not one to wear jeweled and silvered plate. Steel was steel; it was meant for protection, not ornament. He might have changed his views, to be sure. He would scarcely have been the first man who came to look on things differently after a few years at court . . . but the change was marked enough to make Ned wonder. â€Å"Is there any other service I might perform?† â€Å"I suppose you'd best begin visiting whorehouses.† â€Å"Hard duty, my lord.† Jory grinned. â€Å"The men will be glad to help. Porther has made a fair start already.† Ned's favorite horse was saddled and waiting in the yard. Varly and Jacks fell in beside him as he rode through the yard. Their steel caps and shirts of mail must have been sweltering, yet they said no word of complaint. As Lord Eddard passed beneath the King's Gate into the stink of the city, his grey and white cloak streaming from his shoulders, he saw eyes everywhere and kicked his mount into a trot. His guard followed. He looked behind him frequently as they made their way through the crowded city streets. Tomard and Desmond had left the castle early this morning to take up positions on the route they must take, and watch for anyone following them, but even so, Ned was uncertain. The shadow of the King's Spider and his little birds had him fretting like a maiden on her wedding night. The Street of Steel began at the market square beside the River Gate, as it was named on maps, or the Mud Gate, as it was commonly called. A mummer on stilts was striding through the throngs like some great insect, with a horde of barefoot children trailing behind him, hooting. Elsewhere, two ragged boys no older than Bran were dueling with sticks, to the loud encouragement of some and the furious curses of others. An old woman ended the contest by leaning out of her window and emptying a bucket of slops on the heads of the combatants. In the shadow of the wall, farmers stood beside their wagons, bellowing out, â€Å"Apples, the best apples, cheap at twice the price,† and â€Å"Blood melons, sweet as honey,† and â€Å"Turnips, onions, roots, here you go here, here you go, turnips, onions, roots, here you go here.† The Mud Gate was open, and a squad of City Watchmen stood under the portcullis in their golden cloaks, leaning on spears. When a column of riders appeared from the west, the guardsmen sprang into action, shouting commands and moving the carts and foot traffic aside to let the knight enter with his escort. The first rider through the gate carried a long black banner. The silk rippled in the wind like a living thing; across the fabric was blazoned a night sky slashed with purple lightning. â€Å"Make way for Lord Beric!† the rider shouted. â€Å"Make way for Lord Beric!† And close behind came the young lord himself, a dashing figure on a black courser, with red-gold hair and a black satin cloak dusted with stars. â€Å"Here to fight in the Hand's tourney, my lord?† a guardsman called out to him. â€Å"Here to win the Hand's tourney,† Lord Beric shouted back as the crowd cheered. Ned turned off the square where the Street of Steel began and followed its winding path up a long hill, past blacksmiths working at open forges, freeriders haggling over mail shirts, and grizzled ironmongers selling old blades and razors from their wagons. The farther they climbed, the larger the buildings grew. The man they wanted was all the way at the top of the hill, in a huge house of timber and plaster whose upper stories loomed over the narrow street. The double doors showed a hunting scene carved in ebony and weirwood. A pair of stone knights stood sentry at the entrance, armored in fanciful suits of polished red steel that transformed them into griffin and unicorn. Ned left his horse with Jacks and shouldered his way inside. The slim young serving girl took quick note of Ned's badge and the sigil on his doublet, and the master came hurrying out, all smiles and bows. â€Å"Wine for the King's Hand,† he told the girl, gesturing Ned to a couch. â€Å"I am Tobho Mott, my lord, please, please, put yourself at ease.† He wore a black velvet coat with hammers embroidered on the sleeves in silver thread, Around his neck was a heavy silver chain and a sapphire as large as a pigeon's egg. â€Å"If you are in need of new arms for the Hand's tourney, you have come to the right shop.† Ned did not bother to correct him. â€Å"My work is costly, and I make no apologies for that, my lord,† he said as he filled two matching silver goblets. â€Å"You will not find craftsmanship equal to mine anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, I promise you. Visit every forge in King's Landing if you like, and compare for yourself. Any village smith can hammer out a shirt of mail; my work is art.† Ned sipped his wine and let the man go on. The Knight of Flowers bought all his armor here, Tobho boasted, and many high lords, the ones who knew fine steel, and even Lord Renly, the king's own brother. Perhaps the Hand had seen Lord Renly's new armor, the green plate with the golden antlers? No other armorer in the city could get that deep a green; he knew the secret of putting color in the steel itself, paint and enamel were the crutches of a journeyman. Or mayhaps the Hand wanted a blade? Tobho had learned to work Valyrian steel at the forges of Qohor as a boy. Only a man who knew the spells could take old weapons and forge them anew. â€Å"The direwolf is the sigil of House Stark, is it not? I could fashion a direwolf helm so real that children will run from you in the street,† he vowed. Ned smiled. â€Å"Did you make a falcon helm for Lord Arryn?† Tobho Mott paused a long moment and set aside his wine. â€Å"The Hand did call upon me, with Lord Stannis, the king's brother. I regret to say, they did not honor me with their patronage.† Ned looked at the man evenly, saying nothing, waiting. He had found over the years that silence sometimes yielded more than questions. And so it was this time. â€Å"They asked to see the boy,† the armorer said, â€Å"so I took them back to the forge.† â€Å"The boy,† Ned echoed. He had no notion who the boy might be. â€Å"I should like to see the boy as well.† Tobho Mott gave him a cool, careful look. â€Å"As you wish, my lord,† he said with no trace of his former friendliness. He led Ned out a rear door and across a narrow yard, back to the cavernous stone barn where the work was done. When the armorer opened the door, the blast of hot air that came through made Ned feel as though he were walking into a dragon's mouth. Inside, a forge blazed in each corner, and the air stank of smoke and sulfur. Journeymen armorers glanced up from their hammers and tongs just long enough to wipe the sweat from their brows, while bare-chested apprentice boys worked the bellows. The master called over a tall lad about Robb's age, his arms and chest corded with muscle. â€Å"This is Lord Stark, the new Hand of the King,† he told him as the boy looked at Ned through sullen blue eyes and pushed back sweat-soaked hair with his fingers. Thick hair, shaggy and unkempt and black as ink. The shadow of a new beard darkened his jaw. â€Å"This is Gendry. Strong for his age, and he works hard. Show the Hand that helmet you made, lad.† Almost shyly, the boy led them to his bench, and a steel helm shaped like a bull's head, with two great curving horns. Ned turned the helm over in his hands. It was raw steel, unpolished but expertly shaped. â€Å"This is fine work. I would be pleased if you would let me buy it.† The boy snatched it out of his hands. â€Å"It's not for sale.† Tobho Mott looked horror-struck. â€Å"Boy, this is the King's Hand. If his lordship wants this helm, make him a gift of it. He honors you by asking.† â€Å"I made it for me,† the boy said stubbornly. â€Å"A hundred pardons, my lord,† his master said hurriedly to Ned. â€Å"The boy is crude as new steel, and like new steel would profit from some beating. That helm is journeyman's work at best. Forgive him and I promise I will craft you a helm like none you have ever seen.† â€Å"He's done nothing that requires my forgiveness. Gendry, when Lord Arryn came to see you, what did you talk about?† â€Å"He asked me questions is all, m'lord.† â€Å"What sort of questions?† The boy shrugged. â€Å"How was I, and was I well treated, and if I liked the work, and stuff about my mother. Who she was and what she looked like and all.† â€Å"What did you tell him?† Ned asked. The boy shoved a fresh fall of black hair off his forehead. â€Å"She died when I was little. She had yellow hair, and sometimes she used to sing to me, I remember. She worked in an alehouse.† â€Å"Did Lord Stannis question you as well?† â€Å"The bald one? No, not him. He never said no word, just glared at me, like I was some raper who done for his daughter.† â€Å"Mind your filthy tongue,† the master said. â€Å"This is the King's own Hand.† The boy lowered his eyes. â€Å"A smart boy, but stubborn. That helm . . . the others call him bullheaded, so he threw it in their teeth.† Ned touched the boy's head, fingering the thick black hair. â€Å"Look at me, Gendry.† The apprentice lifted his face. Ned studied the shape of his jaw, the eyes like blue ice. Yes, he thought, I see it. â€Å"Go back to your work, lad. I'm sorry to have bothered you.† He walked back to the house with the master. â€Å"Who paid the boy's apprentice fee?† he asked lightly. Mott looked fretful. â€Å"You saw the boy. Such a strong boy. Those hands of his, those hands were made for hammers. He had such promise, I took him on without a fee.† â€Å"The truth now,† Ned urged. â€Å"The streets are full of strong boys. The day you take on an apprentice without a fee will be the day the Wall comes down. Who paid for him?† â€Å"A lord,† the master said reluctantly. â€Å"He gave no name, and wore no sigil on his coat. He paid in gold, twice the customary sum, and said he was paying once for the boy, and once for my silence.† â€Å"Describe him.† â€Å"He was stout, round of shoulder, not so tall as you. Brown beard, but there was a bit of red in it, I'll swear. He wore a rich cloak, that I do remember, heavy purple velvet worked with silver threads, but the hood shadowed his face and I never did see him clear.† He hesitated a moment. â€Å"My lord, I want no trouble.† â€Å"None of us wants trouble, but I fear these are troubled times, Master Mott,† Ned said. â€Å"You know who the boy is.† â€Å"I am only an armorer, my lord. I know what I'm told.† â€Å"You know who the boy is,† Ned repeated patiently. â€Å"That is not a question.† â€Å"The boy is my apprentice,† the master said. He looked Ned in the eye, stubborn as old iron. â€Å"Who he was before he came to me, that's none of my concern.† Ned nodded. He decided that he liked Tobho Mott, master armorer. â€Å"If the day ever comes when Gendry would rather wield a sword than forge one, send him to me. He has the look of a warrior. Until then, you have my thanks, Master Mott, and my promise. Should I ever want a helm to frighten children, this will be the first place I visit.† His guard was waiting outside with the horses. â€Å"Did you find anything, my lord?† Jacks asked as Ned mounted up. â€Å"I did,† Ned told him, wondering. What had Jon Arryn wanted with a king's bastard, and why was it worth his life?

Cash flow analysis

The company's cash flows from operating activities were inadequate to cover depreciation and dividend payments from FYI to IFFY. This indicates that HEAD Banks cash flow engine is not generating enough cash to keep the company whole for those three years. However, the company generated excess cash in IFFY, which was used for growth and investment purposes. Thus, the cash flow engine is not very powerful. However, it is showing signs of recovery in the recent years. Pinpointing the Good News and the Bad News The capital expenditure shows an increasing trend and is around 1 . Xx of appreciation.In addition, it made significant investment in subsidiaries and Joint-ventures, which is another growth indicators. However, these indicators have not remained consistent throughout. Such investments were only made in FYI 1 and IFFY. HEAD Bank has consistently borrowed from other banks in the form of term deposits and demand deposits to pay dividends and for capital expenditure. This can be cons idered as a bad news because it doesn't have sufficient cash flow from operating activities. Puzzle Since the company is operating in the Banking and Finance Industry, Reserve Bank ofIndia norms mandate that the company hold a large proportion of cash along with significant deposits with the RIB (CAR and SSL norms) in order to maintain liquidity. The cash and bank balances held by the company has ranged from xx to xx of their net income. Earlier, we identified a few unusual line items, which are explained as under: In IFFY, RIB increased policy rates by 1 . 75% and Rib's borrowings against SSL increased by almost 270%. After adjusting for this, cash flow from operating activities shows a positive figure in IFFY.In the cash flow from operating activities, the cash used in distributing loans & advances as well as making investments (operating activity since it is a bank) exceed the cash generated from increase in deposits. This has resulted in a negative cash flow from operating activ ities in 3 out of 5 years. This requires the company to seek outside sources for funding such as financial borrowings from other banks and financial institutions. This may not necessarily be a negative sign if the returns from operating activities exceed the net borrowing costs and hence reaping the benefits of leverage. Housing Development Finance Corporation