Human

Abstract

The need of organizations for people and people for organizations will be more difficult to satisfy in the today’s competitive business environment. Organization’s competitive advantage could be generated from human resources (HR) and organization performance is influenced by a set of effective HRM practices. Software is a wealth and job creating industry, which has in just a few years, grown to US $ 1 trillion, employing millions of professionals worldwide. The Indian software industry has burgeoned, showing a nearly 50% compounded annual growth rate over the recent years.

Being a knowledge-based industry, a high intellectual capital lends competitive advantage to a firm. With a global explosion in market-opportunities in the IT sector, the shortage of manpower both in numbers and skills is a prime challenge for HR professionals. The related issues are varied indeed: recruitment of world-class workforce and their retention, compensation and career planning, technological obsolescence and employee turnover. This paper explains the HR challenges and practices in software Industries.

Keywords: HRM, IT,HR Strategy, Services

Introduction

The economy has transitioned to what some call „The Age of Information? an economy in which gross domestic product is increasingly dominated by services. Services permeate every aspect of our lives. We use transportation services; restaurant services; hotels; electricity and telephones; postal, courier and maintenance services; services of hairdressers; services of public relations and advertising firms; lawyers; physicians; dentists; stockbrokers and insurance agents; movie theatres; and swimming pools . When we do buy goods, such as new car or a washing machine, we often still rely on services to keep them running and repair them when they break down.

Services allow us to budget our time as well as our money. “The twentieth century was the age of machine; the twenty-first century will be the age of people” Buzzwords like globalization, empowerment, cross functional teams, downsizing, learning organizations and knowledge workers are changing the way of life of managers and the way they manage people.

Strategies & Policies Of Software Industries

Motivation & Retention of Employees

Retention and motivation of personnel are major HR concerns today.

People a Gartner group company specializing in management of human capital in IT organizations has observed that the average tenure for an IT professional is less than three years. Further, the use of new technologies, the support of learning and training, and a challenging environment ranked higher than competitive pay structures as effective retention practices. Our own recent survey of 1028 software professionals from 14 Indian software companies, showed that while the professional gave importance to personal and cultural job-fit, HR managers believed that the key to retention was salary and career satisfaction.

Money was a prime motivator for ‘starters’, but for those into their third or fourth jobs, their value-addition to the organization was more important. Monetarily, offering ‘the best salaries in industry’ is the minimum every company is doing, apart from performancebased bonuses, long-service awards, and stock options. Many organizations frequently conduct employee satisfaction and organization climate surveys, and are setting up Manpower Allocation Cells (MAC) to assign ‘the right project to the right person’.

In fact, some are even helping employees with their personal and domestic responsibilities to satisfy & motivate their workforce!

Best Talent Attraction

In a tight job market, many organizations often experience precipitous and simultaneous demands for the same kinds of professionals. In their quest for manpower, they are cajoling talent around the world. In such a seller’s market, software companies are striving to understand which organizational, job, and reward factors contribute to attracting the best talent one having the right blend of technical and person-bound skills.

This would mean a knowledge of ‘the tools of the trade’ combined with conceptualization and communication skills, capacity for analytical and logical thinking, leadership and team building, creativity and innovation. The Indian software industry suffers from a shortage of experienced people such as systems analysts and project managers, and attracting them is a key HR challenge.

Compensation and Reward

Increasing demands of technology coupled with a short supply of professionals (with the requisite expertise) has increased the costs of delivering the technology.

This makes incentive compensation a significant feature, with the result that software companies have moved from conventional pay-for-time methods to a combination of pay-for-knowledge and pay-forperformance plans. With the determinants of pay being profit, performance and value-addition, emphasis is now on profit sharing (employee stock option plans) or performance-based pay, keeping in view the long-term organizational objectives rather than short-term production-based bonuses.

Skills, competencies, and commitment supercede loyalty, hard work and length of service. This pressurizes HR teams to devise optimized compensation packages, although compensation is not the motivator in this industry.

Increasing loyalty and commitment

As with any other professional, what really matters to software professionals is selecting ‘the best place to work with’, which is what every company is striving to be. The global nature of this industry, and the ‘project-environment’ has added new cultural dimensions to these firms.

In a value-driven culture, values are determined and shared throughout the organization. Typically, areas in which values are expressed are: performance, competence, competitiveness, innovation, teamwork, quality, customer service, and care and consideration for people. Flat structure, open and informal culture, authority based on expertise and ability rather than position, and flexi-timings are some of the norms software firms follow. The idea is to make the work place a ‘fun place’ with the hope of increasing loyalty and commitment.

The Demand Supply

Gap Shortage of IT professionals is global in nature and not peculiar to the Indian software industry alone. W. Strigel, founder of Software Productivity Centre Inc. (1999) has projected the shortage of software professionals to be one million by 2006. In fact, a survey reports that 75 per cent of US companies planned to reengineer their applications using newer technologies, but found that 72 per cent of their existing staff lacked the skills needed in these technologies, and 14 per cent were not even retrainable. Graph No. 1.

Annual demand for IT Professionals For India, it is predicted that in the year 2004 itself, the IT sector will need 1,95,000 professionals. This trend will continue, and in the year 2010 almost 3,70,000 IT professionals will be required (Strategic Review Reports, NASSCOM 19962001). Consequently, recruitment managers are exploring new sources of IT manpower from non-IT professional sectors, as well fresh, trainable science graduates. 6. Integrating HR strategy with Business Strategy The strategic HR role focuses on aligning HR practices with business strategy.

The HR professional is expected to be a strategic partner contributing to the success of business plans, which to a great extent depend on HR policies pertaining to recruitment, retention, motivation, and reward. The other major areas of concern for HR personnel in this context are, management of change, matching resources to future business requirements, organizational effectiveness, and employee development.

 Encouraging Quality and Customer focus

Today’s corporate culture needs to actively support quality and customer orientation.

With globalization and rapid technological change, quality is of utmost importance for the Indian companies, which earn most of their revenues through exports. Hence, the HR professional as a strategic partner needs to encourage a culture of superior quality to ensure customer satisfaction, the only real measure of quality of a product or service. To be competitive today, an organization needs to be customer responsive. Responsiveness includes innovation, quick decision-making, leading an industry in price or value, and effectively linking with suppliers and vendors to build a value chain for customers.

Employee attitudes correlate highly with customer attitude. The shift to a customer focus redirects attention from the firm to the value chain in which it is embedded. HR practices within a firm should consequently be extended to suppliers and customers outside the firm.

Value Addition training for up-gradation of Skills

Rapid and unpredictable technological changes, and the increased emphasis on quality of services are compelling software businesses to recruit adaptable and competent employees.

Software professionals themselves expect their employers provide them with all the training they may need in order to perform not only in their current projects, but also in related ones that they may subsequently hold within the organization. As observed by Watts Humphrey, Fellow of the Carnegie Mellon University, “as software professionals gain competence, they do not necessarily gain motivation. This is because a creative engineer or scientist who has learned how to accomplish something has little interest in doing it again.

Once they have satisfied their curiosity, they may abruptly lose interest and seek an immediate change”. And when the rate of technological change is high may be higher than the time required to acquire competence in one area professionals could undergo psychological turbulence owing to the need to work in a new technology throughout their career. They want to gain new knowledge, which will be utilized by their organization. On the basis of the new learning they want to work in higher segments of software value chain. Therefore, constant up-gradation of employee skills poses yet another challenge for HR personnel.

Challenges For IT Industry

The main challenges to the IT Industry are

• Recruitment planning
• Performance management
• Training and development
• Compensation management
• HRM as whole 1

Recruitment Planning

Recruitment planning is most important component in new people management with special reference to IT industry.

We have to deal with human assets so it becomes important and have good quality of people in the organization. We have to take the recruitment planning in very serious manner to ensure that we can get best talent in the organization.

Performance management

Now the challenges how to manage the performance of your employees. You have to get right person in a organization to manage your business. The challenge should be to create a performance culture where you can provide opportunities for enhance performance, where optimum performance becomes a way life.

Training and development

This is another challenging area in IT industry. We have to chalk out a suitable strategy for training & development so that employees are well equipped to handle the challenges in advance.

Compensation management

The IT industry is one of the high paying industries. This is very competitive industry, we have to attract best talent, offer best possible compensation package to the employees. Now IT companies are having ESOP with the compensation package. But the really challenge should be how we are able to incorporate all the subsystems in HR.

Ultimately this would help the organization for achieving exceptional performance. People have to be groomed to get in with the performance culture. We have to create an environment that stimulates the creation of knowledge, its sustenance will be the challenge for IT companies in the future. HR department cannot function with traditional systems. Now the role will shift to HR facilitator, to facilitate change process. HR facilitator will have to involve the whole organization in this process and act as a guide, coach, counselor and facilitator.

Any organization in the IT industry will have to face these challenges like Infosys, Satyam, Pentafour, DSQ Software, Micro soft India, Intel India. These IT companies are leaders in their own stride. They have excellent recruitment policies, huge data bank, and placement agencies. They are also having rigorous tests to ensure that they can get high profile talent that will fit in their culture. They have best performance system that evaluates the organization as whole. They have been able to tackle the quantum of performance with fairly efficient manner.

The prime tasks for these IT companies are to build corporate culture. They are diverting all the efforts to build performance driven culture. The major issue for these companies to get right man for right job. We have to find person with the required skills, experiences, mindsets, and also he must be suitable for these organizations.

Attrition and Retention

IT companies are having high degree of attrition. The challenges for these companies are to keep this attrition rate as low as possible. Various companies adopt different techniques to retain their employees like high pay packets, ESOP, other benefits.

So we have to keep this attrition rate as low as possible to retain super achievers.

Conclusion

With the advent of a work situation where more and more companies are having to concede that their valued employees are leaving them, a new concept of career and human resource management is bound to emerge. The focus of this new paradigm should not only be to attract, motivate and retain key ‘knowledge workers’, but also on how to reinvent careers when the loyalty of the employees is to their ‘brain ware’ rather than to the organization.

With lifetime employment in one company not on the agenda of most employees, jobs will become short term. Today’s hightech employees desire a continuous up-gradation of skills, and want work to be exciting and entertaining a trend that requires designing work systems that fulfill such expectations. As employees gain greater expertise and control over their careers, they would reinvest their gain back into their work. HR practitioners must also play a proactive role in software industry. As business partners, they need to be aware of business strategies, and the opportunities and threats facing the organization.

As strategists, HR professionals require to achieve integration and fit to an organization’s business strategy. As interventionists, they need to adopt an allembracing approach to understanding organizational issues, and their effect on people. Finally, as innovators, they should introduce new processes and procedures, which they believe will increase organizational effectiveness

References

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Democracy is a very popular form of government. Every nation of the world today either desires to be a democracy or claims to be one. Today, it is a magic word. If truly interpreted it means freedom, justice and equality for all classes of people. Democracy assumes human beings to be basically good, rational and capable of self-restraint. In other words, democracy ensures human rights. Broadly speaking, human rights include right to life, liberty, property and security of an individual which have been guaranteed in our Constitution. Democracy confers certain rights on the people.

But unfortunately these rights are abused in the name of resisting oppression. The rights that those systems of governments bestow on everyone need to be balanced by certain duties and limits. Rights give status to each human being irrespective of his or her talents or the lack of them. They imply that each human being counts purely by virtue of the fact that he or she is human and that he or she is entitled to be treated in a particular way. Rights which are largely based on the fundamental objective of social good provide protection from oppression.

It ensures protection to every section of society including the neglected and weaker sections against oppression and harassment by the powerful-individual or government. These rights hold that individual entitlements are of such overriding importance that they eclipse all other considerations. The entitlements of these rights are accrued to human beings just because of their being human. Accordingly, every human being is entitled to assert his or her rights. Indeed, it is very difficult to ensure that individual rights will not be violated in a society.

However, it is necessary to institute a norm that rights are of such primary importance that whosoever violates, should have good reasons for this, i. e. in the larger interests of society. They should be liable to prove this. No doubt this is the unique characteristics of democracy that everyone has the freedom to dissent. But there is certain limit to the expression of dissent, if crossed, it may prove dangerous to social fabric and the unity and integrity of the country, as well. In fact, the success of democracy requires certain conditions which include tolerance, compromise, mutual regard for everyone’s rights and freedoms.

It requires rational conduct, good character, an intelligent understanding of public affairs, independent judgement, preferences of public interest. People need to think and work in the broader perspective, sacrificing their own self. They are expected to realise their responsibilities towards community and society. Preference to self-interest leads to the emergence of some negative qualities which may be dangerous to the both society and country itself. Such action hurt the cause of democracy and very often paves the way for dictatorship.

Democracy in real sense means perfect equality between one man and another and in all spheres of human activity. With its liberal democratic institutions and parliamentary system of government, India stands in good position in case of human rights. Indian Constitution incorporates a vast range of political, social, economic, cultural and religious rights of citizens. For ensuring the rights of all citizens, our Constitution allows for some special provisions for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other weaker and backward sections of society through the policy of reservation and other means.

Untouchability is banned and its practice in any form and anywhere is an offence. Primary education is free and secondary and higher education is subsidised and is being made progressively free. Physical and mental health is recognised as one of the social rights. India has recognised that human rights and democracy are inseparable and one cannot be secure without the other. The existence of the judiciary, free press and voluntary nongovernment organisations, in a way, ensures the protection and promotion of human rights.

In this regard the system of public interest litigation immensely helped in establishing the rule of law and maintaining a check on the arbitrary behaviour of politicians and public authority. The role of judiciary is highly appreciable in promotion and protection of human rights. Besides, remarkable achievements made in various fields of life such as education, science and technology, economics, sports, medical science, etc. have all led to better human conditions.

Furthermore, the land reform movements and other developmental programmes targeting weaker sections of society have added to the better human rights conditions in India. Labour legislation also constitutes an integral part of establishing better human rights conditions. Despite constitutional commitment and legislative reforms, the age old structure of inequality continues to remain a bitter reality. A significant portion of population is subjected to multiple deprivations. Poverty still remains a formidable challenge with 22 per cent of its population living below the poverty line.

Education, health care, drinking water, etc. remain a distant dream for a large portion of society. Child labour is still present in society, a large portion of them engaged in various hazardous industries. The difference between male and female wages still persists. There are many instances of violation of human rights of particularly the weaker sections of society. Police force in India is still colonial in their character and behaviour. Charges of human rights violation on the police is almost a daily affairs.

The gravest unfortunate reality is that the targeting of civil population has become the scary strategy of the new breed of terrorism unleashed by fundamentalist forces. Latest in the series is the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife in fake encounter at the hands of police in Gujarat. Sometimes the killings of innocent citizens in the name of mistaken identity expose the cruel face of our police. Though the presence of a fair judiciary in India is a matter of great relief, justice is done to the victims and guilty is punished.

Thus, there is a need to make them sensitive to civilian needs and human rights. They are required to exercise restraint in exercising their duties. However, it is equally desirable to guard against its misuse by an adversary. In brief, we may conclude that despite instances of human rights violations, India continues to be the largest democracy of the world, having democratic and open society, giving importance to liberty, equality, freedom and people’s other rights with the supreme fair judiciary protecting them.

The first Secretary General of the United Nations on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights puts his views in these words, “Freedom from fear could be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights. ” Hence, the people of India need to come forward and join hands with the people of the world in the noble task of making them free from sense of fear and promoting human rights and democracy inseparable to each other.

This paper is about nature where I have used different metaphor to define different natural thing and a poem at the end. A metaphor is like a simile because it is a comparison that is made between things. However, the explicit use of the word ‘like’ or ‘as’ which you see in a simile, is not used in a metaphor which is rather a comparison of two unlike things using the verb “to be”. Hence, a metaphor sounds more forceful and suggestive, but is still very common in speech.

Nature is the beautiful world around us apart from human made phenomena. Nature is beyond the human imagination, every creature has it’s own behavior and responsibility towards nature. We humans think ourselves most superior creature but we are the one not being responsible towards the nature. Nature has such power that we forget our sorrow when we are in it’s lap. “Nature is wisdom”, it has such a large creation that no human can ever think of it.

I think Real wisdom lies or exists within the greenery of Nature. Nature consist of galaxies, solar systems, planets, vegetation, including plants, grass and trees, Fowls, including birds, chickens and peafowl’s, Animals, including man the masterpiece of Creation nature’s brainchild and other mammals, both on land and in the sea, Insects, reptiles, fish, bees and a host of other named and unnamed, known and unknown, species. The beauty of Nature is for all to see.

The music of Nature an amazing thing where birds chirp and sing, soft sky has no end it’s like endless tunnel to nowhere, flowers are nature’s makeup, thunder is the anger of clouds, volcano is the earth getting angry, mist is floating tear drops, rising sun is the wakeup call where as sunset is bedtime for all, stars are peek holes to heaven, moon is the flash light of god, snow is the cloud’s dandruff , trees are apartment buildings for bugs, wind is nature’s breath. I think nature is really great. Nature is smile on our face.

Nature has such a power that brings smile in our face. Even in this age of high technology, where many people who live in cities and work full time with computers are still aware of weather and the seasons. We all know that the short, rainy winter days is less pleasant than a warm sunny June day. Most of us cheered at the return of spring, and we mostly have certain pleasant or striking memories we associate with each season. But nature has lots of things beyond seasons which can really pleasant our life and make lots of beautiful memories.

Nature is mother she feeds us like a child. We all know that basic things that keep us alive come from nature. But we are so selfish that we think of ourselves rather than thinking of nature. We just take from nature and never think of returning. Humans are greedy beast . We are busy fulfilling our desire rather than remembering our responsibility. We think that we are in the industrialized world and there is nothing that human being cannot achieve nowadays we have been to the moon, and have invented the Internet.

Mesmerized by these fascinating achievements, there is one thing that people should not forget: what we depend on. How long would we be able to live without nature and without technological advancement? We had been living without technology for thousand of year but without nature we have not spend a single moment. Even if we destroy us, plus most of other life form, there will still be nature. The soil, ocean, atmosphere and weather would still interact with solar power to allow some life to exist. Earth cannot be a barren place like the moon with any life.

Nature is life. Thus we have to be aware of nature and raise our voice to save nature. Nature Nature is our mother she feeds us like a child. All creatures are our siblings so let’s keep them alive. Flower and plants are her makeup that keeps her like a bride Do plantation to keep the bride pride. Wind is her breath that keeps us alive Say no to pollution to have a healthy life.

Rivers are blood in her vein Never put harmful chemical that makes her pain. Today everything seem to be modern and computerized But actual thing is that nature is our life Nature is our mother; Nature is our life, Save the nature, and save your life. Reference:- http://www. saidwhatguides. co. uk/metaphors. php http://www. pandorascollective. com/naturemetaphors. html Number of words: 751 Paragraphs: 5

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. ” Mahatma Gandhi Human rights are commonly understood as “inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being. Human rights are thus conceived as universal (applicable everywhere) and egalitarian (the same for everyone). These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national and international law. The doctrine of human rights in international practice, within international law, global and regional institutions, in the policies of states and in the activities of non-governmental organizations, has been a cornerstone of public policy around the world.

Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the atrocities of The Holocaust, culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The ancient world did not possess the concept of universal human rights. Ancient societies had “elaborate systems of duties… conceptions of justice, political legitimacy, and human flourishing that sought to realize human dignity, flourishing, or well-being entirely independent of human rights”.

The modern concept of human rights developed during the early Modern period, alongside the European secularization of Judeo-. The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the concept of natural rights which appeared as part of the medieval Natural law tradition that became prominent during the Enlightenment with such philosophers as John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, and featured prominently in the political discourse of the American Revolution and the French Revolution.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, partly in response to the atrocities of World War II. Although the UDHR was a non-binding resolution, it is now considered by some to have acquired the force of international customary law which may be invoked in appropriate circumstances by national and other judiciaries. The UDHR urges member nations to promote a number of human, civil, economic and social rights, asserting these rights as part of the “foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. The declaration was the first international legal effort to limit the behaviour of states and press upon them duties to their citizens following the model of the rights-duty duality. The right to food, and its variations, is a human right protecting the right for people to feed themselves in dignity, implying that sufficient food is available, that people have the means to access it, and that it adequately meets the individual’s dietary needs. The right to food protects the right of all human beings to be free from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.

The right to food does not imply that governments have an obligation to hand out free food to everyone who wants it, or a right to be fed. However, if people are deprived of access to food for reasons beyond their control, for example, because they are in detention, in times of war or after natural disasters, the right requires the government to provide food directly. Right to Food and right to be free from hunger are the human rights which are protected under various international human rights and humanitarian laws.

Right to food is explicitly mentioned in the Article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948; and the Article 11 of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966. It is also recognised in the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Right to food of indigeneous people is implicit in the ILO Convention No-169 which is approved by 17 countries. Approximately 20 countries in the world have incorporated the Right to Food for their people. THE CONCEPT OF FOOD SECURITY

World Development Report (1986) defined food security as “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. According to Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the UNO, “Food security exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient and nutritious food to meet the dietary needs and food preference for an active and healthy life. ” Staatz (1990) defined food security as “The ability to assure, on a long term basis, that the food system provides the total population access to a timely, reliable and nutritionally adequate supply of food. Thus food security may be of short-term or sustainable. In case of short-term food security we consider food security of the present population only. But in case of sustainable food security we consider the food security not only of the present generation but also of the future generation as well. According to Swaminathan, “Sustainable food security means enough food for everyone at present plus the ability to provide enough food in future as well. ” In the long-run sustainable food security is very important. ELEMENTS OF FOOD SECURITY Food security is a state of being.

Like literacy or good health, food security is a state that everyone wants to enjoy. Governments have decreed that every person has an inalienable right to food. The fundamental purpose of economic activity is to ensure adequate access to food for oneself and one’s family. The primacy of food security as an objective for human activity is reflected in the frequency with which the term “food security” appears in UN declarations and NGO advocacy efforts. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture acknowledges the legitimacy of food security concerns.

South Africa, Brazil and Norway have all enshrined the right to food in law. There are basically three principle elements of Food Security. These are: Supply: Global food production has by and large kept up with or exceeded demand over the past century. The application of new technologies to agriculture, including mechanized vehicles to till, plant and harvest crops; improved seed and breeding stock; and the use of herbicides, pesticides and inorganic fertilizers, has vastly increased productivity.

At the same time , one third or more of agricultural land used to be dedicated to growing fuel (wood to burn) or feed for the animals that provide muscle for transportation and production (hay for horses and oxen). Much of that land is now available to grow food for humans instead, adding to the total overall supply. Distribution: Distribution depends on such things as markets, transportation, infrastructure, relative purchasing power and the source and nature of the supply.

Where the food is traded commercially , the volume and type of food traded is related to purchasing power and the ease with which the trader can reach a market. Access: Food security is about individuals , families and communities, not about regional and national aggregates. That is why, supply is only one piece of the food security puzzle. Only rarely does a whole country face hunger or famine. Rather, when the food supply is insufficient, those with greater purchasing power get food while those without sufficient income or entitlement go hungry.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR ENSURING FOOD SECURITY In India there is a deeply rooted tradition of respect for food – it stresses the importance of growing and sharing food. Sharing or offering food is a universal tradition shared by all religious entities that have roots in the Indian soil. Accordingly, in 1950, India adopted a very progressive Constitution aimed at ensuring all its citizens social, economic and political justice, equality, and dignity. Therefore any law to be valid in Indian Territory must be within the constitutional framework.

Like in many countries of the World the “The Right to Food” in Indian Constitution is not recognized as a “Fundamental Right”. Therefore, there is no constitutional mandate to have a claim over it. Regarding right to food, one has to look for relevance in Article 21 of the Constitution, entitled “Protection of life and personal liberty” and Article 47 “Duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living […]” as well as in judicial interventions of the Supreme Court and various Acts, which have cumulatively strengthened the right to .

Knowing the constitutional and legislative framework in India regarding the right to food is crucial for identifying right to food violations and supporting victims in realizing their right to food. Indian Constitution Part III, Article 21 “Protection of life and personal liberty – No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except to procedure established by law. ” The phrases “Protection of life” and “personal liberty” have called several times for interpretation. A series of judicial interventions and interpretations have deepened the normative content of this fundamental right.

Indian Constitution Part IV: Directive Principles The right to food or in general the economic, social, and cultural rights are defined in Part IV of the Constitution as Directive Principles of State Policy, which are guidelines to the central and State Governments for framing laws and policies. The provisions are not enforceable by any court, but the principles laid down therein are considered as fundamental in the Governance of the country. There are several Articles under the Directive Principles offer remote relevance for the right to food, but the clearest statement regarding the right to food is provided by Article 47.

Article 47:  Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health. The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavor to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs, which are injurious to health.

Putting together Article 21 and 47 and various interpretations of the Supreme Court of one can safely say that the Government of India has a constitutional obligation to take appropriate measures to ensure a dignified life with adequate food for all citizens. The right to food can be regarded as a fundamental right by virtue of interpretation. NATIONAL MEASURES TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY There has been a continous appeal to the Government for passing a legislation on food security.

The government is likely to accept most of the recommendations of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) on the proposed food security law despite warnings that the suggestions would add to subsidy burden, increase dependence on imports and distort the country’s food economy. The food ministry has set out plans that are in line with the NAC’s proposal to widen the scope of the legislation, which seeks to provide legal guarantee of subsidised grains to the poor.

Several experts have warned that the NAC recommendations would force the government to substantially raise its grain procurement, which in turn would lead to a larger subsidy burden on its already stretched finances. The council had proposed legal subsidised food entitlements for at least 72% of the country’s population in Phase-I by 2011-12. The NAC had also proposed legal subsidised food entitlements for 75% of the country’s population, covering the ‘priority’ (below the poverty line) and ‘general’ (above the poverty line) households, in Phase-II by 2013-14. National Food Security Bill, 2011

The government has introduced the much anticipated National Food Security Bill — a legislation aimed at shoring up the UPA’s support base — in Parliament. The “landmark social legislation” will guarantee grain at extremely cheap rates to more than half of the population. Food minister KV Thomas, who introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha amid thumping of desks by Congress members led by party president Sonia Gandhi, said that it would ensure that all Indians “live a life with dignity”. The bill marks a shift in approach to the problem of food security — from the current welfare paradigm to a rights-based approach.

The proposed legislation confers eligible beneficiaries the legal right to receive grain at highly subsidised prices. The National Food Security Bill, 2011, considered to be the world’s largest experiment in ensuring food security to poor, has been a key project of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The bill brings under its purview 63. 5% of the country’s population —75% of rural households and 50% of urban households. The bill classifies all entitled households as “general” and “priority”. At least 46% of rural households and 28% of urban households would be designated as “priority”.

Every person belonging to a “priority household” will be provided with 7kg of grain per month, comprising rice, wheat and coarse grain. Rice will be provided at Rs 3, wheat at Rs 2 and coarse grain at Rs 1 per kg. Others belonging to the “general category” would be entitled to not less than 3kg of grain per month at a rate not exceeding 50% of the minimum support price. Once passed, the food subsidy bill is expected to rise to Rs 95,000 crore. Initial estimates pegged the increase in subsidy at nearly Rs 28,000 crore.

However, on Thursday, the government made a downward revision of the additional burden on the central government — between R 21,000 crore to R 23,000 crore. The bill’s financial memorandum estimates the total annual expenditure on food subsidy under the targeted public distribution system at about Rs 79,800 crore. “The estimate of food subsidy is however dependent, among other things, upon economic cost, central issue of price of grain, number of beneficiaries covered and quantities of grain allocated and lifted, and therefore subject to change with changes in any or all of the variables affecting food subsidy,” the memorandum states.

Experts maintain that the annual increase would be to the tune of Rs 27,500 crore. However, Thomas said “an additional amount of not more than about Rs 20,000-21,000 crore annually would be required by way of subsidy. ” The minister argued since the food bill merges many ongoing programmes meant for women, children and the poor, there would be no additional financial burden. The total financial liability to implement the law is expected to be Rs 3. 5 lakh crore, with funds being required to raise agriculture production, create storage space and publicity.

A sum of roughly Rs 1,11,000 crore would be required to boost farm output with grain requirement increasing, on account of this intervention, from 55 million tonne to 61 million tonne annually. Thomas stressed that “this Rs 1,10,600 crore is not an additional burden. We need to invest in agriculture to boost production anyway”. The proposed law entitles every pregnant woman and lactating mother to meal free of cost during pregnancy and six months after childbirth. Cash benefits of Rs 1,000 per month to meet increased food requirements of pregnant women would be provided for the first six months of pregnancy.

At Rs 1,000 per month and covering 2. 25 crore women, an expenditure of nearly Rs 13,500 crore has been estimated. This will be borne by the central government and the states. Schemes to Ensure Food Security: There are also certain central food schemes and other assistance programmes for the poor in India. These are: * Targeted Public Distribution System; * Antyodaya Anna Yojana; * Mid-day meal scheme; * Annapoorna Yojana; * Integrated Child Development Services; * National family benefit scheme; * National maternity benefit scheme; and National old age pension scheme. The Public Distribution System (PDS) Public Distribution System (PDS) is an Indian food security system. Established by the Government of India under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution and managed jointly with state governments in India, it distributes subsidised food and non-food items to India’s poor. Major commodities distributed include staple food grains, such as wheat, rice, sugar, and kerosene, through a network of Public distribution shops (PDS) established in several states across the country.

Food Corporation of India, a Government-owned corporation, procures, maintain and issue food grains to the state. Distribution of food grains to poor people throughout the country are managed by state governments. As of date there are about 4. 99 lakh Fair Price Shops (FPS) across India. Annapoorna Yojana This scheme was started by the government in 1999-2000 to provide food to senior citizens who cannot take care of themselves and are not under the targeted public distribution system (TPDS), and who have no one to take care of them in their village.

This scheme would provide 10 kg of free food grains a month for the eligible senior citizens. The allocation for this scheme as off 2000-01 was Rs 100 crore. Antyodaya Anna Yojana Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is an Indian government sponsored scheme for ten millions of the poorest families. It was launched by NDA government in December 2000. It is on the lookout for the ‘poorest of the poor’ by providing them 35 kilos of rice and wheat at Rs. 2 per kg. Mid-Day Meals Scheme The Midday Meal Scheme is the popular name for school meal programme in India which started in the 1960s.

It involves provision of lunch free of working days. The key objectives of the programme are: protecting children from classroom hunger, increasing school enrollment and attendance, improved socialization among children belonging to all castes, addressing malnutrition, and social empowerment through provision of employment to women. The scheme has a long history, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu. The scheme was introduced statewide by the then Chief Minister K. Kamaraj in the 1960s and later expanded by the M. G. Ramachandran government in 1982.

It has been adopted by most Indian states after a landmark direction by the Supreme Court of India on November 28, 2001. The success of this scheme is illustrated by the tremendous increase in the school participation and completion rates in Tamil Nadu. Status of the Food Schemes in India The framework of the right to food is one of the basic economic and social rights that are essential to achieve the “economic democracy” without which political democracy is , at best, incomplete. The right to food is nowhere being realized in India.

The schemes introduced by the Government are well designed, yet their implementation has been poor. In India, food security exists at the macro level in terms of physical access to food. Economic access is far from satisfactory, both at the micro as well as the macro level. The statement that economic access to food is far from satisfactory is confirmed by the fact that a significant proportion of the society lives in poverty and is malnourished. This section of the society is underprivileged and has less voice. INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY

The right to food imposes on all States obligations not only towards the persons living on their national territory, but also towards the populations of other States. These two sets of obligations complement one another. The right to food can only be fully realized where both ‘national’ and ‘international’ obligations are complied with. CONSTITUTION OF FAO, 1965 Preamble The Nations accepting this Constitution, being determined to promote the common welfare by furthering separate and collective action on their part for the purpose of: raising levels of nutrition and standards of living… and thus… nsuring humanity’s freedom from hunger. WORLD FOOD SUMMIT PLAN OF ACTION, 1996 Commitment Seven We will implement, monitor and follow-up this Plan of Action at all levels in cooperation with the international community. Objective 7. 4 To clarify the content of the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, as stated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other relevant international and regional instruments, and to give particular attention to implementation and full and progressive realization of this right as a means of achieving food security for all.

To this end, governments, in partnership with all actors of civil society, will, as appropriate: a. Make every effort to implement the provisions of Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (the Covenant) and relevant provisions of other international and regional instruments; b. Urge States that are not yet Parties to the Covenant to adhere to the Covenant at the earliest possible time; c. Invite the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to give particular attention to this Plan of Action in the framework of its activities and to continue to monitor the mplementation of the specific measures provided for in Article 11 of the Covenant; d. Invite relevant treaty bodies and appropriate specialized agencies of the UN to consider how they might contribute, within the framework of the coordinated follow-up by the UN system to the major international UN conferences and summits, including the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna 1993, within the scope of their mandates, to the further implementation of this right; e.

Invite the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in consultation with relevant treaty bodies, and in collaboration with relevant specialized agencies and programmes of the UN system and appropriate intergovernmental mechanisms, to better define the rights related to food in Article 11 of the Covenant and to propose ways to implement and realize these rights as a means of achieving the commitments and objectives of the World Food Summit, taking into account the possibility of formulating voluntary guidelines for food security for all. UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 1948

Article 25 Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food… INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, 1966 Article 11 1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food. · The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international cooperation based on free consent. 2.

The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international cooperation, the measures, including specific programmes, which are needed: a. To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources; b.

Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need. Article 2 1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures.

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, 1989 Article 24 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to health care services. 2. States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures: c. o combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods. d. to ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health and nutrition. Article 27 States Parties, in accordance with national conditions and within their means… shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition.

Apart from these the Right to Food has also been recognized in many specific international instruments as varied as the 1948 Genocide Convention (Article 2), the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Articles 20 and 23), the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (Articles 24(2)(c) and 27(3)), the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Articles 12(2)), or the 2007Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Articles 25(f) and 28(1)). JUDICIAL INTERPRETATIONS 1.

KISHEN PATTNAYAK VS. STATE OF ORISSA, In this petition, the petitioner wrote a letter to the Supreme Court bringing to the court’s notice the extreme poverty of the people of Kalahandi in Orissa where hundreds were dying due to starvation and where several people were forced to sell their children. The letter prayed that the State Government should be directed to take immediate steps in order to ameliorate this miserable condition of the people of Kalahandi. This was the first case specifically taking up the issue of starvation and lack of food.

In this judgement, the Supreme Court took a very pro-government approach and gave directions to take macro level measures to address the starvation problem such as implementing irrigation projects in the state so as to reduce the drought in the region, measures to ensure fair selling price of paddy and appointing of a Natural Calamities Committee. None of these measures actually directly affected the immediate needs of the petitioner, i. e. to prevent people from dying of hunger. More importantly, the Supreme Court did not recognise the specific Right to Food within this context of starvation. . PUCL VS. UNION OF INDIA, This is a landmark case relating to Right to Food and food security. This case, technically known as “PUCL vs Union of India and others (Writ Petition [Civil] No. 196 of 2001)”, is handled by an advisory group consisting of a few members from the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), former support group of the RIght to Food Campaign and other active individuals in the campaign. Supreme Court hearings have been held at regular intervals since April 2001, and the case has attracted wide national and international attention.

Although the judgment is still awaited, significant “interim orders” have been passed from time to time. For instance, the Supreme Court has passed orders directing the Indian government to: (1) introduce cooked mid-day meals in all primary schools, (2) provide 35 kgs of grain per month at highly subsidized prices to 15 million destitute households under the Antyodaya component of the PDS, (3) double resource allocations for Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (India’s largest rural employment programme at that time, now superseded by the Employment Guarantee Act), and (4) universalize the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). . CHAMELI SINGH VS. STATE OF U. P. , In this case, it was held that right to life guaranteed in any civilized society implies the right to food, water, decent environment, education, medical care and shelter. The method in which the constitutional social rights or the DPSP have been enforced or made justifiable by the Supreme Court has been through an expansion of the existing fundamental rights, particularly the Right to Life guaranteed in Article 21. CONCLUSION Starvation deaths and high prevalence of hunger clearly show that India needs to wake up.

The judiciary cannot monitor the implementation of the schemes forever. The government needs to review policy from time to time and take corrective measures for effective implementation of different schemes and programmes, establish effective mechanisms of accountability and ensure the right to food for all. As the problem of food insecurity relates to both the demand and supply of food, a solution could be to empower people towards greater purchasing power, as well as addressing the inadequacy of the distribution system, and checking corruption and leakages.

Awareness among the people with regard to their right to food can escalate the process of equitable distribution and thus help to realize the right to food for all citizens. The right to food is not just a basic human right, it is also a basic human need. It essentially requires the state to ensure that at least people do not starve. Implementation of the right to food does not imply that impossible efforts be undertaken by the states. The obligation to protect and respect the people compels the state to implement the right to food effectively, without recourse to extensive financial means. ——————————————– 2 ]. Food Crisis and Sustainable Food Security in India by Jaydeb Sarkhel [ 3 ]. Right to Food- Reforms and Approaches, 2007, The Icfai University Press, pp5-6 [ 4 ]. Dev, S. M, and R Evenson (2003) ‘Rural Development in India:Rural, Non-farm and mitigation’ SCID Working Paper No. 187. [ 5 ]. See available at http://socialissuesindia. wordpress. com/2010/08/05/human-rights-to-food-in-indian-constitution/ [ 6 ]. See available at http://articles. economictimes. indiatimes. com/2011-05-23/news/29574365_1_nac-recommendations-food-security-law-food-entitlements [ 7 ]. See available at http://articles. economictimes. ndiatimes. com/2011-12-23/news/30550903_1_food-subsidy-national-food-security-bill-grain [ 8 ]. Right to Food- Reforms and Approaches, 2007, The Icfai University Press, p. 230 [ 9 ]. As amended in 1965. [ 10 ]. Adopted by the World Food Summit, Rome, 13 to 17 November 1996. FAO. 1997. Report of the World Food Summit, Part One. Rome [ 11 ]. Adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948. UN doc. A/811. [ 12 ]. General Assembly Resolution 2200 A (XXI), Annex, of 16 December 1966. [ 13 ]. General Assembly Resolution 44/25, Annex, of 20 November 1989. [ 14 ]. AIR 1989 SC 677. [ 15 ]. 2001. [ 16 ]. (1996) 2 SCC 549.

A. In the past two centuries, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of farmers worldwide. 1. United States an extreme case: only around 5 percent of Americans, many of them over 65 years old, were still on farms in 2000 2. reat increase in the productivity of modern agriculture B. The modern retreat from the farm is a reversal of humanity’s first turn to agriculture. II. The Agricultural Revolution in World History A. Agriculture is the second great human process after settlement of the globe. 1. started about 12,000 years ago 2. often called the Neolithic (New Stone Age) or Agricultural Revolution 3. deliberate cultivation of plants and domestication of animals 4. transformed human life across the planet B. Agriculture is the basis for almost all human developments since. C.

Agriculture brought about a new relationship between humans and other living things. 1. actively changing what they found in nature rather than just using it 2. shaping the landscape 3. selectively breeding animals D. “Domestication” of nature created new mutual dependence. 1. many domesticated plants and animals came to rely on humans 2. humans lost gathering and hunting skills E. There was an “intensification” of living: getting more food and resources from much less land. 1. more food led to more people 2. more people led to greater need for intensive exploitation III. Comparing Agricultural Beginnings

A. The Agricultural Revolution happened independently in several world regions. 1. Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia 2. several areas in sub-Saharan Africa 3. China 4. New Guinea 5. Mesoamerica 6. the Andes 7. eastern North America 8. all happened at about the same time, 12,000–4000 years ago 9. scholars have struggled with the question of why agriculture developed so late in human history B. Common Patterns 1. Agricultural Revolution coincided with the end of the last Ice Age a. global warming cycle started around 16,000 years ago b. Ice Age was over by about 11,000 years ago . end of Ice Age coincided with human migration across earth d. extinction of some large mammals: climate change and hunting e. warmer, wetter weather allowed more wild plants to flourish 2. gathering and hunting peoples had already learned some ways to manage the natural world a. “broad spectrum diet” b. development of sickles, baskets, and other tools to make use of wild grain in the Middle East c. Amazon: peoples had learned to cut back some plants to encourage growth of the ones they wanted d. Australians had elaborate eel traps 3. omen were probably the agricultural innovators 4. gathering and hunting peoples started to establish more permanent villages a. especially in resource-rich areas b. population growth perhaps led to a “food crisis” 5. agriculture developed in a number of regions, but with variation a. depended on the plants and animals that were available b. only a few hundred plant species have been domesticated c. only fourteen large mammal species were domesticated C. Variations 1. the Fertile Crescent was the first to have a full Agricultural Revolution a. resence of large variety of plants and animals to be domesticated b. transition to agriculture triggered by a cold and dry spell between 11,000 and 9500 b. c. e. c. transition apparently only took about 500 years d. much more societal sophistication (mud bricks, monuments and shrines, more elaborate burials, more sophisticated tools) 2. at about the same time, domestication started in the eastern Sahara (present-day Sudan) a. the region was much more hospitable 10,000–5,000 years ago b. domestication of cattle there about 1,000 years before Middle East and India c. n Africa, animals were domesticated first; elsewhere, plants were domesticated first d. emergence of several widely scattered farming practices e. African agriculture was less productive than agriculture in the Fertile Crescent 3. separate development of agriculture at several places in the Americas a. absence of animals available for domestication b. only cereal grain available was maize or corn c. result: replacement of gathering and hunting with agriculture took 3,500 years in Mesoamerica d. Americas are oriented orth/south, so agricultural practices had to adapt to distinct climate zones to spread IV. The Globalization of Agriculture A. Agriculture spread in two ways: 1. diffusion: gradual spread of techniques and perhaps plants and animals, but without much movement of human population 2. colonization or migration of agricultural peoples 3. often both processes were involved B. Triumph and Resistance 1. language and culture spread with agriculture a. Indo-European languages probably started in Turkey, are spoken today from Europe to India b. similar process with Chinese farming . spread of Bantu language in southern Africa d. similar spread of Austronesian-speaking peoples to Philippines and Indonesian islands, then to Pacific islands 2. the globalization of agriculture took about 10,000 years a. did not spread beyond its core region in New Guinea b. did not spread in a number of other regions c. was resisted where the land was unsuitable for farming or where there was great natural abundance 3. by the beginning of the Common Era, gathering and hunting peoples were a small minority of humankind C. The Culture of Agriculture 1. griculture led to much greater populations 2. changes in world population a. 10,000 years ago: around 6 million people b. 5,000 years ago: around 50 million people c. beginning of Common Era: around 250 million people 3. farming did not necessarily improve life for ordinary people a. meant much more hard work b. health deteriorated in early agricultural societies c. new diseases from interaction with animals d. the first epidemics appeared due to larger communities e. new vulnerability to famine, because of dependence on a small number of plants or animals 4. ew constraints on human communities a. all agricultural people settled in permanent villages b. the case of Banpo in China (settled ca. 7,000 years ago) 5. explosion of technological innovation a. pots b. textiles c. metallurgy 6. “secondary products revolution” started ca. 4000 b. c. e. : a new set of technological changes a. new uses for domesticated animals, including milking, riding, hitching to plows and carts b. only available in the Eastern Hemisphere 7. deliberate alteration of the natural ecosystem a. removal of ground cover, irrigation, grazing b. vidence of soil erosion and deforestation in the Middle East within 1,000 years after beginning of agriculture V. Social Variation in the Age of Agriculture A. Pastoral Societies 1. some regions relied much more heavily on animals, because farming was difficult or impossible there 2. pastoral nomads emerged in central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Sahara desert, parts of eastern and southern Africa 3. relied on different animals in different regions a. horses were domesticated by 4000 b. c. e. ; encouraged the spread of pastoral peoples on Central Asian steppes b. omesticated camels allowed human life in the inner Asian, Arabian, and Saharan deserts 4. no pastoral societies emerged in the Americas B. Agricultural Village Societies 1. most characteristic form of early agricultural societies, like Banpo or Jericho 2. maintenance of equality and freedom (no kings, chiefs, bureaucrats, aristocrats) 3. Catalhuyuk, in southern Turkey a. population: several thousand b. dead buried under their houses c. no streets; people moved around on rooftops d. many specialized crafts, but little sign of inherited social inequality e. o indication of male or female dominance 4. village-based agricultural societies were usually organized by kinship, group, or lineage a. performed the functions of government b. the Tiv of central Nigeria organized nearly a million people this way in the late nineteenth century 5. sometimes modest social/economic inequality developed a. elders could win privileges b. control of female reproductive powers C. Chiefdoms 1. chiefs, unlike kings, usually rely on generosity, ritual status, or charisma to govern, not force 2. hiefdoms emerged in Mesopotamia sometime after 6000 b. c. e. 3. anthropologists have studied recent chiefdoms in the Pacific islands 4. chiefdoms such as Cahokia emerged in North America 5. distinction between elite and commoner was first established VI. Reflections: The Legacies of Agriculture A. Agriculture is a recent development in world history. 1. was an adaptation to the unique conditions of the latest interglacial period 2. has radically transformed human life and life on the planet more generally B.

One species, Homo sapiens, was given growing power over other animals and plants. C. Agriculture also gave some people the power to dominate others. Key Terms AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION: ALSO KNOWN AS THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION, THIS IS THE TRANSFORMATION OF HUMAN (AND WORLD) EXISTENCE CAUSED BY THE DELIBERATE CULTIVATION OF PARTICULAR PLANTS AND THE DELIBERATE TAMING AND BREEDING OF PARTICULAR ANIMALS. Austronesian: An Asian-language family whose speakers gradually became the dominant culture of the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Pacific islands, thanks to their mastery of agriculture.

Banpo: A Chinese archeological site, where the remains of a significant Neolithic village have been found. (pron. bahn-poe) Bantu: An African-language family whose speakers gradually became the dominant culture of eastern and southern Africa, thanks to their agricultural techniques and, later, their ironworking skills. (pron. BAHN-too) Bantu migration: The spread of Bantu-speaking peoples from their homeland in what is now southern Nigeria or Cameroon to most of Africa, in a process that started ca. 3000 b. c. e. nd continued for several millennia. broad spectrum diet: Archeologists’ term for the diet of gathering and hunting societies, which included a wide array of plants and animals. Cahokia: An important agricultural chiefdom of North America that flourished around 1100 C. E. (pron. cah-HOKE-ee-ah) Catalhuyuk: An important Neolithic site in what is now Turkey. (pron. cha-TAHL-hoo-YOOK) chiefdom: A societal grouping governed by a chief who typically relies on generosity, ritual status, or charisma rather than force to win obedience from the people. iffusion: The gradual spread of agricultural techniques without extensive population movement. domestication: The taming and changing of nature for the benefit of humankind. end of the last Ice Age: A process of global warming that began around 16,000 years ago and ended about 5,000 years later, with the earth enjoying a climate similar to that of our own time; the end of the Ice Age changed conditions for human beings, leading to increased population and helping to pave the way for agriculture.

Fertile Crescent: Region sometimes known as Southwest Asia that includes the modern states of Iraq, Syria, Israel/Palestine, and southern Turkey; the earliest home of agriculture. horticulture: Hoe-based agriculture, typical of early agrarian societies. intensification: The process of getting more in return for less; for example, growing more food on a smaller plot of land. Jericho: Site of an important early agricultural settlement of perhaps 2,000 people in present-day Israel.

Mesopotamia: The valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq. native Australians: Often called “Aboriginals” (from the Latin ab origine, the people who had been there “from the beginning”), the natives of Australia continued (and to some extent still continue) to live by gathering and hunting, despite the transition to agriculture in nearby lands. pastoral society: A human society that relies on domesticated animals rather than plants as the main source of food; pastoral nomads lead their animals to seasonal grazing grounds rather han settling permanently in a single location. “secondary products revolution”: A term used to describe the series of technological changes that began ca. 4000 b. c. e. , as people began to develop new uses for their domesticated animals, exploiting a revolutionary new source of power. stateless societies: Village-based agricultural societies, usually organized by kinship groups, that functioned without a formal government apparatus. teosinte: The wild ancestor of maize. (pron. tay-oh- SIN-tay)

Ben Vu The effects of THC, Spice, and Opiates on the human body In the modern generation, many kids have experimented with all sorts of drugs. They are looking for a euphoric feeling that nothing else gives them. Some of these drugs have been used for medical reasons and recreational use since the beginning of man. Humans naturally are curious and try many different things to give them the high they are looking for. The most common of these drugs are marijuana, spice, and opiates. Cannabis, also known as marijuana, has over hundreds of different chemicals that affect the human body.

Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol or THC is the main chemical that gives the user the euphoric high they are looking for. Along with the euphoric feeling, the user also receives relaxation. Marijuana can be used in many different ways such as smoking it in a joint or cooking it in to food or sweets. The most common way of getting high is by smoking it. This can either be achieved by rolling a simple joint or blunt to smoking it out of a bong or a vaporizer. Marijuana has been so common for many generations that the brain has adapted to have cannabinoid receptors.

When ingested, the THC flows from the lung into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream it goes to the brain attaching to the cannabinoid receptors. The most common receptor, CB1, is mainly found in the part of the brain that associates with movement and memory. This explains why marijuana affects the users balance and coordination. While THC is in the brain, it makes the user have short-term memory lost; this is why it is used to treat nausea, pain, and lost in appetite. Other effects on the user’s body include laughter, altered perception of time, increased appetite and heart rate, paranoia and panic attacks.

When marijuana is ingested or inhaled the effects appear as soon as the chemicals enter the brain and may last from one hour up to two hours. If it is ingested in food the short-term effects such as short-term memory lost and coordination begin more slowly usually taking up to half an hour to an hour to kick it. The benefits of ingesting it would be that the effects of marijuana would last longer, up to four hours. When smoking marijuana more of the chemicals are being deposited in the bloodstream.

It only takes a few minutes after smoking that the user’s heart rate begins to beat more rapidly resulting in the blood vessel to expand resulting in bloodshot eyes. As the THC enters the brain, it causes the brain to release a chemical called dopamine, which in turns gives the user the high feeling. When high the user may experience pleasant sensations, colors and sounds may seem more intense, time appears to pass by a lot more slowly. The user’s mouth begins to feel dry this is known as cottonmouth causing the user to become suddenly very hungry or thirsty.

After the euphoric high goes away the user begins to feel drowsy. There are two different strains of marijuana, indica and sativa. Indica strains have more cannabinoids than THC. This affects the user in more of a physical high resulting in an influx of appetite, laughter and a couch lock feeling. This is when the user gets the stoned effect where they do not want to move around. Indica is the most common strain of marijuana that is smoked by the average person. As a result of the higher CBDs indica strains are helpful to those who need sleeping aid and people wit insomnia.

Whereas sativa which has a lot more of the chemical THC which gives the user more of a head high than a body high. This strain is prescribed to patients who have anxiety and depression. It gives the user more of a jubilant feeling without the feeling of being couch locked. The smoke of marijuana contains of a toxic mixture of gases and other particulates that are harmful to the lungs. The lungs of someone who smokes marijuana on a daily basis resembles those of a tobacco smoker. Marijuana has the potential to promote lung cancer because of the carcinogens in the smoke.

Nowadays most companies, businesses, and schools drug test for THC. This has caused people to move on to another drug even more dangerous and marijuana, spice. Spice is synthetic marijuana, made to give the user the same high as marijuana. Most people are not aware of what is actually in the spice and just smoke it because they cannot smoke marijuana. The most dangerous thing about spice is the fact that it is not regulated; anybody can make spice in his or her own privacy. Spraying chemicals such as JWH-018 on herbs and plants makes spice.

When the government decides to make the chemical illegal producers tweak the chemical just a bit to create a whole knew molecule. Spice affects each user different; one smoker may a certain way and the other another way. Spice is a rarely new drug and scientist are still not certainly sure about how it affects the human body. A few minutes after smoking spice the user have side effects such as nausea/vomiting, severe paranoia, involuntary movements, hallucinations, and prolonged headaches lasting up to days after use.

Some cases have shown that teenagers under the influence of spice are unable to speak or move; they are conscious but respond to normal situations in a weird way. User who smoke spice on a daily basis have a high risk of becoming addicted an addiction, which is similar to those of meth, cocaine, and opiates. The effects of spice usually wear off in about thirty minutes to an hour and this causing the user to want to keep smoking more and more. Scientists do not know the long-term effects of smoking spice; this makes it more dangerous because teens are smoking something that has the potential to harm their bodies.

Opiates have been used as a pain reliever for over hundreds of generations. Opiates are the common name for any narcotic that was derived from opium. Painkillers such as morphine, codeine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone are all obtained from opium. Opiates the most additive an abusive substances in the world today. Opiates obtain their powerful effects by attaching themselves in opiate receptors in the brain and body. The effects of opiates include extreme relaxation, euphoria, fatigue, confusion, decreased feeling of pain, and decreased sexual drive.

While on opiates they cause the pupil of the eyes to dilate. Other effects include nausea and vomiting if too much of the opiate is taken. Opiates attach themselves to the neurotransmitters in the brain, which control body movement, moods, digestion, body temperature and breathing. They cause to the neurotransmitter to work at a very high rate. The short-term effects can show soon after a dose and lasting up to a few hours. Regular use of opiates leads to a higher tolerance, meaning the user needs more of the opiate to achieve the same effect as before.

After a time of increasing tolerance the body becomes addicted to the drug, developing dependent on the opiate to function properly. Death from an opiate overdose usually occur when a user who has been off of opiates for some time again starts to take the same amount of the opiate as they are used to and because the user’s tolerance has gone done the result is an overdose. After repeated use of opiates, long-term effects soon appear. Most addicts who have been using for a long time seem to just ignore their health because they are only concerned about obtaining the opiate.

Longtime users may develop collapsed veins, infection in their heart and valves, and liver disease. Due to the fact that opiates decrease reparation rate, pneumonia may occur in longtime users due to respiratory depression and the poor health of the user. When trying to stop the use of opiates, the withdrawal is very dangerous and painful. Withdrawl symptoms can occur as soon as a few hours after the last does. Symptoms include intense craving for the opiate, restlessness, body pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, and cold flashes.

In perhaps his most important contribution to rhetorical theory and the understanding of human communication, Walter Fisher presents an explanation of his narrative paradigm in Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value and Action. This book essentially elaborates on and refines Fisher’s previous articles on the narrative paradigm and aims to present a more complete explanation of the theory’s roots, as well as its main tenets and relevant applications.

Human Communication as Narration begins with an exhaustive examination of the history of narratives and logic, which includes his assertion that the logic by which human communication should be assessed return to the roots of the original meaning of logos: “story, reason, rationale, conception, discourse, thought” (p. 10). He asserts that Plato and Aristotle transformed the word logos into a specific term that applied only to philosophical/technical discourse, which launched a “historical hegemonic struggle” that has lasted for more than 2,000 years (p. 10).

Fisher explains that the positivist, “rational-world paradigm” that emphasized formal logic and reasoning (p. 58) is improved upon with his view of a more post-modern, ontological foundation where meaning is co-created through less formal structures like stories. In resurrecting the original meaning of logos, grounding his theory in ontology, and classifying human beings as “Homo narrans” (p. xi) , or storytelling animals, Fisher rejects the notion that technical logic is the only path to truth and knowledge, and argues that, as the ancients believed, all human communication is rational and contains truth and knowledge (p. 0). This more inclusive account of human communication together with the view that all human communication needs to be seen as stories sets the foundation for Fishers’ theory of narratives. In presenting the main points of his narrative theory over several chapters, Fisher explains that humans experience and understand life as a series of ongoing narratives, and that these stories are symbolic interpretations of “aspects of the world that [are] historically and culturally grounded and shaped by human personality” (p. 9). Given that stories are more than just a figure of speech and have the power to both inform and influence, Fisher establishes “narrative rationality” as a universal logic and means for the assessment for stories that is accessible by nature to all human beings (p. 47). This assessment is tested against narrative “probability (coherence) and fidelity (truthfulness and reliability)” (p. 47) – in other words, humans come to believe in and act on stories in so much as they relate to and identify with them.

Going back to his assertion that human communication doesn’t have to exist in perfect structures of rhetorical arguments, he further explains that all humans possess the ability to reason and can therefore both communicate and accept truth as “good reasons” (p. 105). Perhaps an even better, more succinct explanation of this comes earlier in the book where Fisher states that “the materials of the narrative paradigm are symbols, signs of consubstantiation, and good reasons [are] the communicative expression of social reality” (p. 5). By including both formal logic and a logic of “good reasons” in the basis for argument, Fisher’s narrative paradigm contributes to rhetorical theory by expanding the meaning of persuasion just as Burke’s theory of identification did. Since the average person isn’t trained in formal logic, Fisher believed that the logic of good reasons (i. e. common sense), sits above all other persuasive means since it is universal and inherent in all human communication.

Fisher goes on to assert that narrative rationality should also be “the foundation on which a complete theory of rhetoric needs to be built” (p. 194). In this sense, the selection of stories we tell and come to accept is demonstrative of who we are and what we want others to believe about us. In the final section of his book, Fisher applies his narrative rationality in several real-world case studies including the rhetoric of Ronald Reagan, Death of a Salesman, The Great Gatsby and the philosophical discussion between Socrates and Callicles in Plato’s Gorgias.

These examples provide a helpful demonstration of how narrative rationality can be used to assess the coherence, truthfulness and reliability of stories across a wide range of contexts. In conceptualizing and applying narrative rationality, Fisher contributes an important method for the study of narratives in a variety of communication contexts, which is one of the most important contributions he makes to the study of communication. Through Human Communication as Narration, Fisher provided a more accessible, universal means for communicating and understanding human truth.

Drawing inspiration from the works of Kenneth Burke, Alasdair MacIntyre, Stephen Toulmin and Chaim Perelman, Fisher’s narrative paradigm argues that formal logic and the positivist view are inadequately prepared to account for the motives and values in human communication. He offers a broader explanation that all forms of human communication are driven by and evolve from our inherent need to determine whether an accounting of new knowledge matches up with what we already know.

In the 30 years since Human Communication as Narration was first published, scholars and professionals from a wide range of disciplines have applied Fisher’s narrative paradigm in a variety of contexts. Narrative methods for rhetorical analysis and criticism have been used by Barbara Sharf (1990), Hollihan and Riley (1987), and Michael Cornfield (1992), among many others. In 1993, David Mains argued that the time was ripe for a move toward narrative sociology, which asserted that “sociology’s phenomena is made up precisely of stories” (p. 2) as well as that sociologists are mainly narrators. The use of narratives as a means for persuasion in advertising and public relations has been widely documented in recent years by Cinzia Bianchi (2011); Barbara Stern, Craig Thompson and Eric Arnould (1998); and Melanie Green (2006). The narrative paradigm has also been deployed in interpersonal communication and organizational communication (Ashcraft & Pacanowsky, 1996). And a large body of research has been dedicated to the study of narratives as a strategy in conflict resolution as well (Gergen & Gergen, 2006; Sandole et al. 2009). These are just a few of the ways in which Fisher’s narrative paradigm still contributes to the understanding of human communication today. But while the narrative paradigm has enjoyed a renaissance of late with new research that refines and extends the theory (Currie, 2005; Kirkwood, 1992; McClure, 2009; Stroud, 2002), largely due to its growing multi-disciplinary interest as noted above, it has also attracted much criticism. But while these scholars recognized its value, they have also demonstrated that it is not as useful for critical analysis as it aimed to be.

Stroud (2002) found issue with the lack of account for contradiction in stories when assessing narrative rationality. Kirkwood (1992) felt that Fisher’s narrative rationality is limiting in that it doesn’t allow for the possibilities of new stories to be accepted and acted upon. He goes on to argue that a “rhetoric of possibility” presented through narratives can better account for how rhetors challenge people with “new and unsuspected possibilities of being and action in the world” (Kirkwood, 1992, p. 31).

McClure (2009) also specifically argued that the narrative paradigm must also account for the “inventional possibilities of new narratives, the rhetorical revision of old narratives, and the appeal and acceptance of improbable narrative accounts” (p. 191). He also asserts that by expanding the role of Burke’s identification, the narrative paradigm can become a more viable theory and method of criticism. While several scholars have both praised and criticized Fisher’s narrative paradigm, the part of his story that related to narrative’s origins, philosophical foundation and relevance to human communication rang true for me.

In my study of rhetorical theory I, too, have often felt that the structures of formal argument are too constricting and limiting in their ability to interpret all forms of persuasive communication. When using Fisher’s own narrative rationality to measure the coherence and fidelity of Human Communication as Narration, I find it to be both coherent and true – especially from my viewpoint as a woman living in a post-modern, post-structuralist society who works in the field of public relations where stories are the very fabric of our communication strategies.

And while I recognize the validity of the proposed extensions of his theory by Kirkwood (1992), McClure (2009) and Stroud (2002), I feel they also serve as proof points for the generative power of Fisher’s paradigm in new ways of thinking about stories. References Ashcraft, K. & Pacanowsky, M. (1996). “A woman’s worst enemy”: Reflections on a narrative of organizational life and female identity. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 24, 217-239. Bianchi, C. (2011). Semiotic approaches to advertising texts and strategies: Narrative, passion, marketing.

Semiotica, 183, 243-271. Cornfield, M. (1992). The press and political controversy: The case for narrative analysis. Political Communication, 9, 47-59. Currie, M. (2005). Postmodern narrative theory. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Fisher, W. R. (1987). Human communication as narration: Toward a philosophy of reason, value and action. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. Gergen, M. & Gergen, K. (2006). Narratives in action. Narrative Inquiry, 16, 112-121. Green, M. (2006). Narratives and cancer communication. Journal of Communication, 56, 163-183.

Hollihan, T. & Riley, P. (1987). The rhetorical power of a compelling story. Communication Quarterly, 35, 13-25. Kirkwood, W. G. (1992). Narrative and the rhetoric of possibility. Communication Monographs, 59, 30-47. Maines, D. (1993). Narrative’s moment and sociology’s phenomena: Toward a narrative sociology. The Sociological Quarterly, 34, 17-38. McClure, K. (2009). Resurrecting the narrative paradigm: Identification and the case of Young Earth Creationism. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 39, 189-211. Sandole, D. , Byrne, S. , Sandole-Saroste, I. & Senehi, J. Eds. ). (2009). The handbook of conflict analysis and resolution. Routledge: New York. Sharf, B. (1990). Physician-patient communication as interpersonal rhetoric: A narrative approach. Health Communication, 2, 217-231. Stern, B. , Thompson, C. & Arnould, E. (1998). Narrative analysis of a marketing relationship: The consumer’s perspective. Psychology & Marketing, 15, 195-214. Stroud, S. (2002). Multivalent narratives: Extending the narrative paradigm with insights from ancient philosophical thought. Western Journal of Communication, 66, 369-393.